The City of Oakland doesn’t want to lose baseball altogether. They plan to have a team one way or another. Thanks to the new Oakland Ballers, the baseball fans in Oakland won’t have to travel across the bay. The Oakland fanbase was not going to let baseball slip away. Jeff Passan was one of many to break the news on Tuesday.
Following the MLB’s unanimous approval for the Athletics to move to Las Vegas. The Ballers or B’s for short have announced they will join the Pioneer League as the first team from California. Before the arrival of the Ballers, the MLB partner league consisted of teams from Idaho, Utah, Montana and Colorado.
“Oakland is stealing baseball back,” reads the Ballers’ official website. “Our team was ripped away from us, but now we’re reclaiming baseball for the people of Oakland. The Oakland Ballers will stay in Oakland forever and build a team alongside fans to make the Town a championship city once again.”
According to ESPN, the new organization was founded by two high school friends, Paul Freedman and Bryan Carmel, who raised $2 million to help fund operations and expand seating at Laney College’s baseball stadium. Former Seattle Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu is on board as the Ballers’ executive vice president of baseball operations, and former St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Micah Franklin will serve as manager.
“We believe that the true value of a sports team is its power to bring people together,” continues the message on the Ballers’ website. “We are dedicated to delivering a joyful, community-focused experience for Oakland and the entire East Bay.”
The fans in Oakland had made their voices heard all season long. They weren’t going to see them get diminished either. The obvious goal would be for an MLB expansion team to land in Oakland, but until then this is the next best thing.
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