{"id":1490,"date":"2025-10-13T13:28:18","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T13:28:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/1490\/"},"modified":"2025-10-13T13:28:18","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T13:28:18","slug":"things-could-not-have-gone-worse-for-the-as-in-sacramento","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/1490\/","title":{"rendered":"Things could not have gone worse for the A\u2019s in Sacramento"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the last week of the first season of the\u00a0Athletics<\/a>\u2019 multi-year stay in Sacramento begins, it\u2019s safe to say owner John Fisher\u2019s attempt to flee Oakland and find a safe haven before landing in Las Vegas is going, well, poorly.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The first year of three \u2014 or maybe more<\/a> \u2014 in West Sacramento at Sutter Health Park<\/a> has seen the A\u2019s stay in the headlines for mostly troublesome and embarrassing reasons, from the first night<\/a> until the final few weeks of the season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On the field, the A\u2019s put together a solid second half, but a 1-20 stretch in the early summer killed any hope of a playoff run and led to another sell-off at the trade deadline. From the perspective of big league players<\/a>, the stadium and its many flaws<\/a> were clearly frustrating for the home team<\/a> and even left some stars pining to return<\/a> to the downtrodden Coliseum; visiting stars<\/a> have publicly torched<\/a> the faults of the minor league ballpark.<\/p>\n

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There have also been myriad issues off the field. Sacramentans have felt disrespected<\/a> by the A\u2019s refusing to embrace their temporary home city in their branding. Season ticket holders have felt the club<\/a> drastically overpromised the amount of interest in tickets, and lower-than-expected<\/a> attendance figures have cratered the resale market with tickets as cheap as $3 on game days, leading to<\/a> resentment and bitterness. Some of the local businesses are feeling similarly<\/a>, too.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The sun sets on Sutter Health Park and the Tower Bridge in Sacramento, Calif., on Wednesday, June 4, 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Charles Russo\/SFGATE\"Fans<\/p>\n

Fans watch the Athletics play the Minnesota Twins from the lawn inside Sutter Health Park in Sacramento, Calif., on Wednesday, June 4, 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Charles Russo\/SFGATE\"(Left<\/p>\n

(Left to right) Stu Clary and Mike Davie distribute ‘sell’ shirts to Oakland A’s fans before a reverse boycott game at Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, Calif. on June 13, 2023.<\/p>\n

Douglas Zimmerman\/SFGATE<\/p>\n

The embarrassing moments have kept piling up. There\u2019s the glorified tool shed<\/a> that hosts A\u2019s press conferences. The petty attempts<\/a> to stop \u201cSELL\u201d merchandise from appearing on their telecasts. The calamity of errors<\/a> at the team\u2019s Hall of Fame ceremony earlier this month.<\/p>\n

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It isn\u2019t clear how Fisher views these incidents in Sacramento. After\u00a0opening week<\/a>, most of his public comments<\/a> have been focused on<\/a> Sin City. The uncomfortable moments at the ballpark that he tried to avoid in Oakland in the final years<\/a> have instead followed him up I-80. As has been quite clear, the locals in town aren\u2019t letting their excitement over seeing MLB stars in their home area lead to gratitude for the owner.<\/p>\n

\u201cF\u2014k John Fisher. John Fisher\u2019s a piece of s\u2014t,\u201d Lewis McGeorge of Roseville told SFGATE at an A\u2019s game earlier this summer while rocking a \u201cSacramento hates you too\u201d hat.<\/p>\n

Joseph Ferraro is an A\u2019s fan who grew up in Stockton and lived in Oakland for a while but moved to the Elk Grove area recently. While wearing a \u201cF\u2013k Vegas\u201d A\u2019s jersey at a game this summer, he told SFGATE of Fisher: \u201cHe takes the easiest way out in everything. The cheapest, the sleaziest way out. He doesn\u2019t answer to anything either.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ferraro even made sure to include some scorn towards Vivek Ranadive, the billionaire owner of the Sacramento Kings and River Cats who is allowing the A\u2019s to stay in town until Las Vegas is ready for the team.<\/p>\n

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\"Owner<\/p>\n

Owner of the Sacramento Kings NBA franchise Vivek Ranadiv\u00e9 looks on prior to the game between the Chicago Cubs and the Athletics at Sutter Health Park on Monday, March 31, 2025 in Sacramento, California.<\/p>\n

Lachlan Cunningham\/MLB Photos\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Kings owner that brought him in here, he deserves it. Being best friends with John Fisher, this is what you get,\u201d Ferraro said. \u201cThis is what the Kings get too. They just cursed the Kings \u2014 like, the Kings aren’t winning anything. That’s a terrible owner. He’s a terrible, terrible person for dealing with John Fisher. You’re best friends with him, you’re best friends with a rat. That makes you a rat.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe’s gonna run his team the same way \u2014 not caring about championships, selling hope. Those guys are selling hope, that’s it. He’s probably selling hope more than the A’s, for sure. John Fisher ain’t selling hope. He’s just selling $3 tickets right now to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even the few A\u2019s fans who do want to support the team in Sacramento don\u2019t want to give Fisher their money. Anjie Branca is the manager at Sacramento Sports & Souvenirs, which made city-branded A\u2019s gear long before the team haphazardly began to do so<\/a>. She said the Old Sacramento store has sold far more of that merchandise for one reason.<\/p>\n

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\u201cPeople don’t want to put money into his pocket so much. So when they buy the stuff that we’ve made, that money’s not going in his pocket. It’s just going in our pocket,\u201d\u00a0Branca told SFGATE. \u201cAnd that makes a lot of people happy \u2014 true A\u2019s fans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked if the store emphasizes that point while trying to make a sale, Branca replied simply: \u201cIt doesn\u2019t need to be emphasized. His reputation precedes him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Principal<\/p>\n

Principal owner John Fisher of the Athletics speaks during a ceremonial groundbreaking for the USD 1.75 billion, 33,000-seat domed stadium for Major League Baseball’s Athletics at Sutter Health Park on June 23, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada.<\/p>\n

Justine Willard\/Athletics\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

That might be why many of the businesses around the ballpark<\/a> told SFGATE the fans coming to support the teams facing the A\u2019s have been a bigger boost to their bottom lines than A\u2019s fans. And it\u2019s why so many of those businesses circled<\/a> the Fourth of July weekend visit from the San Francisco Giants<\/a> as the real money-making opportunity.<\/p>\n

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In Ferraro\u2019s eyes, that shouldn\u2019t have surprised anyone in Sacramento. And it should be what the next host city for the A\u2019s gets prepared for.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one in Sacramento should trust John Fisher, and it\u2019s funny that the people in Vegas are trusting John Fisher,\u201d Ferraro said. \u201cThey have no idea what they have in store for them. He’s not gonna care for the team. He’s gonna sell tickets, just like he is like this \u2014 the team’s gonna get sold out by the other team’s fans.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Alex\u00a0Danoff,<\/p>\n

Alex\u00a0Danoff, of Oakland, shows off his sign protesting the A’s potential move to Las Vegas, during a game against the Tampa Bay Rays, Tuesday June 13, 2023.<\/p>\n

Charles Russo\/SFGATE<\/p>\n

And if those fans stop coming? Leon Hunt, an A\u2019s fan from Rocklin, thinks there\u2019s a chance that even the minor league stadium could end up looking as empty as the Coliseum did in the final Oakland years.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe novelty is gonna wear off,\u201d Hunt told SFGATE. \u201cThey just need to have a reason for people to be here. I think if the A\u2019s were playing well, I think you\u2019d have more fans here.\u201d<\/p>\n

That won\u2019t change things for some. To no one\u2019s surprise, many of the fans SFGATE spoke to called on Fisher to sell the team, and either send the A\u2019s back to Oakland or let them stay put in Sacramento. (How\u2019s that gone locally<\/a>? Sacramento Bee columnist LeBron\u00a0Hill already called on<\/a> Ranadive to kick the A\u2019s out of town because it\u2019s harming the \u201cculture of Sacramento.\u201d)<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A sign marks the future spot of home plate during ceremonial groundbreaking for the USD 1.75 billion, 33,000-seat domed stadium for Major League Baseball’s Athletics at Sutter Health Park on June 23, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada.<\/p>\n

Justine Willard\/Athletics\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

But as construction seems to be moving along<\/a> in Las Vegas, and the A\u2019s plan to play games in Sin City<\/a> next summer, staying in place likely isn’t in the cards. It\u2019s leaving Ferraro \u2014 and many others like him \u2014 ready to be completely done with the A\u2019s.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI feel bad about when I was a kid and made the decision to be an A\u2019s fan, because they\u2019re never gonna win anything with him as an owner,” Ferraro said.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, back in Oakland, the independent and locally owned Oakland\u00a0Ballers had the greatest regular season<\/a> in Pioneer League history, then came back from down 0-2 in the championship series to win all three games at home and take home the league title\u00a0in front of<\/a> a sold-out crowd of Oaklanders. Even the fire department got involved<\/a> in the celebration.<\/p>\n

How\u2019s that for cosmic karma: All it took for Oakland to win a baseball title was John Fisher leaving town.<\/p>\n

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SFGATE sports reporter Gabe Fernandez contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the last week of the first season of the\u00a0Athletics\u2019 multi-year stay in Sacramento begins, it\u2019s safe to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1491,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122,2225],"class_list":{"0":"post-1490","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sacramento","8":"tag-sacramento","9":"tag-sacramento-headlines","10":"tag-sacramento-news","11":"tag-sfgsports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1490"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1490\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}