by Andrew Mbow
A weird switch is going on in Major League Baseball. Something that really can’t be explained using words. So instead, we’re going to use numbers to explain the colossal mess that is underway. A rather expensive mess that is rather expensive, may I add, as they are in the middle of being approved for a $1.5 billion stadium in Nevada. A cradle for a catastrophe of unparalleled magnitude to possibly be built. I am talking about the Oakland Athletics.
The Oakland athletics were initially founded in 1901, first being referred to as the Philadelphia Athletics. They’ve managed to appear in the World Series 14 times and brought home the Commissioner’s Trophy on nine separate occasions. During their tenure in the City of Brotherly Love, they managed to post what is now the ninth worst record in league history: a whopping 36 wins and 104 losses for a winning percentage of around 34%. This would foreshadow one of the biggest quagmires in league history nearly one hundred years later. From 1955 to 1967, the Athletics found themselves a home in Kansas City. Whilst in the windy city they never managed to hold a winning record, and moved into what we’re familiar with now, the vintage Oakland Athletics.
The Athletics held true to their name during their heydays in Oakland. They held multiple outliers on the baseball field, from the quicker-than-lightning Rickey Henderson, the late great workaholic southpaw Vida Blue, slugger David Justice, and Dave “The Cobra” Parker. The Athletics even went onto win three consecutive world series rings, putting them in with company with the New York Yankees as the only team to ever complete this feat. However, after winning the World Series in 1989, the Raiders then won 103 games and only to get swept by the Reds 4-0 in 1990. This would lead to many successful seasons up until the 2000’s. Then, something interesting happened.
Those familiar with the film “Moneyball” by Bennett Miller know that the Athletics had something special cooking in the lab. The A’s only had a (relatively) meager budget of $41 million, which was $84 million behind the Yankees who had knocked them out of playoff contention the year prior. Coach Billy Beane took the money that he had, and instead of focusing on gaining a player or two of superstar caliber ability, he instead opted for handfuls of cheap players that had one universal objective: “get on base”. This motley crew of what seemed like random goobers who had gotten lucky and were picked from the stands went on to win 205 games over two years, and Barry Zito even went onto win the Cy Young, only given to the two best pitchers in the league. With their main prerogative to draw walks and squeeze out weak hits, defenses were often flustered from the amount of pressure being placed on them, as it seemed like an Athletic was always on the baseline. But, just like any sports knows, success isn’t a constant thing as teams simply can’t win 100 games every year. Following the late 2010’s, with occasional playoff berths spread throughout, the downfall of the once mighty Athletics began.
Following the 2019 season, the Athletics season was best comparable to a four-car pileup. The first “automobile” in question being the 2020 Covid year, in which the season was shortened to 62 games (or fewer, depending on player health and quarantine requirements). While our boys in green may have won first in their division and made their way all the way to the ALDS, their attendance would begin to tank like no other. The following year in 2021, their attendance dropped to 701,000 people, more than halved since 2019 (1.67 million). In 2022, the Athletics won 60 of their 162 games, and were 46 games behind their competitors in terms of winning — the most glorious “car” in the whole crash. Like a garbage rear ending, the first three cars at 93 miles per hour, the Athletics were off to the third worst season EVER!
As of this writing (May 15th, 2023), the Athletics have won 9 out of their 41 games. This puts them on pace to win 35/36 games and lose 126/127 games. This isn’t the only outcome of the aforementioned garbage truck as their reputation as a team of guys who can’t finish. The fact is that the Athletics are well on their way to losing even more fans at games. Not having any money from fan attendance to sign better players means that fewer people show up, making for a vicious cycle of not having good enough players to attract crowds, and not enough crowds to have good players. During a regular season game last year in June of 2022, the Athletics hosted around 5,000 people in the Oakland Coliseum, with the league average being around 25,000. This would be a series of unfortunate events; however, this is a car crash that the Athletics have managed to find themselves in all by their own hand.
Remember how I said that the Athletics had a multitude of great players over the years? Well, they had them very recently, and can you guess what the Oakland Athletics did with the potential that fell into their laps? They managed to trade away what would be their entirely all-star caliber infield: Marcus Semien, Josh Donaldson (who would later to go onto win the MVP the year following his trade), Matt Olson and Shaun Murphy (both currently tearing it up on the Braves, with Murphy batting a freakish .403 over the past 30 games), and Sonny Gray (now one of the best pitchers in Major League Baseball) all found themselves traded to other teams for pennies on the dollar.
So, what’s going to happen to the ragtag group of misfits following this loss of all their players? The answer is that the Athletics are becoming the exiles, as the owner Bobby Fischer is trying to move the team to Las Vegas. A request had been placed by the Athletics for a massive 1.5 billion ($1,500,000,000) dollar stadium to be built on 49 acres of land with a retractable roof. While this may seem like throwing money at the problem, this may actually have multiple benefits for the Athletics. With more people who have yet to have a baseball team, there will be much more interest in the sport, and over time, better players either moving through the minor league system or getting signed will hopefully return the investment over time. It’s unknown whether this could be what the Athletics really need right now. With the recent changes to the pitch clock and base sizes, the Athletics will either have to adapt, or perish. The outcome is yet to be seen.
