With the news of the pending move to Las Vegas now official, fans of the Oakland Athletics are more frustrated than ever and making it known, with their absence.
The A’s hosted the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday. Even without the Vegas news, a weekday game against a team without a big national or local fanbase wasn’t likely to draw big numbers. This one certainly did not.
Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle tweeted that the announced attendance was 2,064. Excluding 2020, when COVID-19 kept any fans from attending, that’s the worst attendance the A’s have drawn at the Oakland Coliseum since 1979.
The A's announced a paid attendance of 2,064. That is their smallest home crowd (outside of 2020) since Sept. 1979.
— Matt Kawahara (@matthewkawahara) May 16, 2023
By 1979, the luster of Oakland’s championship teams from earlier in the decade was gone. Charlie Finley’s troubled ownership reign was nearing its end as relocation rumors swirled. They A’s also lost 108 games that year, an Oakland-era record for the team (while still in Philadelphia, they lost 109 and 117 games in 1915 and in 1916, respectively).
According to Baseball Reference, the A’s had three home games with attendance under Monday night’s total in September of 1979. They drew 1,596 for a game against the Chicago White Sox on September 8, 750 against the Texas Rangers on September 18 and 1,037 for a series finale against Texas the following night. For the entire 1979 season, the A’s drew 306,763.
So, in terms of both results and fan interest, it would be fair to say that 1979 was the nadir for the A’s in Oakland. That may not be the case anymore.
Because while the official attendance for Monday’s game was 2,064, a video taken by George Andrews, one of the fans in attendance, tells another story. Andrews noted on Monday that “Tonight’s Coliseum crowd was far less than 2,000.”
Tonight’s Coliseum crowd was far less than 2,000. https://t.co/P8qkJ3nCK6 pic.twitter.com/vKsgVHe2hd
— George Andrews (@gjandrews) May 16, 2023
Furthermore, the ones that were there were clear about their frustrations with the team’s front office.
Fans in Oakland continue to make their frustrations with A's owner John Fisher and president Dave Kaval known. pic.twitter.com/ASNzKhPZFL
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) May 16, 2023
And that really gets to the heart of the problem. If the A’s were contending for a playoff spot and drawing 15,000 fans a night, it would be fair enough to wonder why fans weren’t showing up. But the A’s are coming off of a 102-loss season.
Monday’s loss moved them to 9-34 on the year and gave Oakland a run differential of -160. To say that’s worst than last year’s team is a gross understatement. It’s also a gross understatement to say that the A’s are MLB’s worst team in 2023. The A’s are on pace to go 34-128 with a run differential of -603. That would make this team the worst in MLB history — by a comfortable margin. So, the fans can’t be faulted for not flooding to the Coliseum.
Honestly, the players can’t be faulted for the performance either. Sure, it’s reasonable to wish that the players would play better. But the reality is, they’re trying their best. They’re just not going to wake up one morning with the skills of Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani or Aaron Judge.
The team has been put in a position to fail by its front office. So, when Monday night’s attendance was announced, the front office bore the brunt of the backlash.
WE STILL ARE NOT THE PROBLEM ITS U JOHN FISHER AND @DaveKaval AND YET YALL DONT CARE!!! SELL IT TO SOMEONE WHO DOES CARE AND KEEP THIS TEAM IN OAKLAND!! #Athletics #SellTheTeam https://t.co/zSM7oD3O9j
— Chris Teevan (@BayAreaTeevo91) May 16, 2023
Fisher, Kaval do a high-five. "It's working to perfection." https://t.co/ANYiO2Uuox
— Jerry McDonald (@Jerrymcd) May 16, 2023
I remember going to the A’s games as a kid with my parents and friends during the Tejada, Giambi, Chavez, Hudson, Mulder and Zito years. The place was absolutely rocking and it felt like an event being there. I’m genuinely sad about how low this franchise has fallen. https://t.co/oH5DSMLwUu
— East Bay Chris (@EastBayChris) May 16, 2023
Oakland will never forgive John Fisher or Dave Kaval. #Athletics #RootedInOakland #FisherOut https://t.co/SG36CjxI3u
— Uprooted (@uprootedoakland) May 16, 2023
This is all John Fisher’s fault #SellTheTeam #FisherOut https://t.co/f0rXsE29aM
— Gabriel Hernandez (@gamer_athletics) May 16, 2023
Expect this to continue.
The A’s will likely draw decent numbers for their games against the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and San Francisco Giants. But outside of those teams and other teams who might pack the Coliseum with visiting team’s fans, the A’s fans are going to continue to show the front office the same effort that they feel the front office has shown them.
As bad as Monday night was, it’s only likely to get worse.
[Matt Kawahara, George Andrews]
