The Oakland A’s drew their largest home crowd of the season on Tuesday night, but most of the fans were there to express anger and disgust.
A’s fans organized a “reverse boycott” for Tuesday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays at the Oakland Coliseum. The goal for the 27,759 in attendance was to embarrass team owner John Fisher and further pressure him to sell the franchise.
The main event of the night came in the top of the fifth inning, when fans went silent before breaking into a thunderous “sell the team!” chant.
Oakland goes silent to start the 5th, then rapturous, in unison: “Sell The Team!” pic.twitter.com/hJBkz5gqu6
— KNBR (@KNBR) June 14, 2023
The chanting was so loud that A’s pitcher Hogan Harris could not could not hear what was being relayed on his PitchCom device.
"They got wildly loud. At one point, I couldn't even hear my PitchCom." – Hogan Harris postgame
Oakland A's fans were LOUD tonight
(via @NBCSAthletics)pic.twitter.com/K9KmEEZR0j
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) June 14, 2023
For a team that has averaged 8,555 fans per home game this season, the crowd noise was unusual, to say the least.
Many of the A’s fans at the Coliseum wore shirts that said “SELL” across the front. A total of 7,000 of those were handed out, with fans lining up three hours before first pitch to get them. There was also a station where fans could make their own anti-Fisher signs, of which there were many spread throughout the ballpark.
What was once a drawing is REAL!!! A’s fans are the best!!!SCREW JOHN FISHER!!! #fisherout #OAKtogether #selltheteam #oakland pic.twitter.com/eWVxnthELf
— Guy Sliwinski (@GuySliwinski) June 14, 2023
The reverse boycott came on the same day that the Nevada Senate voted to approve $380 million in public funding for the A’s to build a stadium in Las Vegas.
If you have seen some of the pictures from the Coliseum this season, you know how embarrassing the A’s attendance numbers have been. Fans are fed up with how Fisher is running the franchise, but the owner is probably letting it all go in one ear and out the other. His focus is on becoming the next major sports team to move to Sin City.
The A’s defeated the Rays to extend their win streak to an MLB-leading seven games, though they are just 19-50 on the season.
