As someone not only drafted and developed by the A’s, but who grew up attending games at the Coliseum, it bothers Paul Blackburn that Oakland is losing its beloved MLB franchise. The A’s are headed out of town this winter, relocating to Sacramento for three or four seasons until a new ballpark can be constructed for the team in Las Vegas. A franchise that began in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City and then Oakland will be the Las Vegas A’s no later than 2029.
It’s been a messy situation in Oakland , where attendance this season has dwindled to 9,087 fans per game, by far the lowest figure in the major leagues. Fans are angry at ownership after years of political volleyball that failed to produce a stadium solution in or near Oakland. Blackburn, who arrived to the Mets at the trade deadline , spent parts of eight seasons pitching for Oakland.
The good times, he said, were 2017-19, when the team was competitive and fans still held out hope for a ballpark resolution. But after the pandemic began in 2020, the climate around the A’s changed. “I think a lot of the fans and community was over getting dragged along,” Blackburn told Sports+ this week.
“I grew up in that area, too, so I remember when the A’s were looking at Fremont and maybe San Jose. And when I first showed up in Oakland, there was the idea of building [a stadium] in Oakland and they had a site, so I think the fans were just tired of feeling like they were getting strung along.” Blackburn g.