There’s a lot to say about the Oakland Athletics – must of which I’ve already said in this week’s episode of “Empire Sports Talk” with the same title.

I spent a full 24 hours following the A’s last game at the Coliseum taking in the reactions of local fans and media members who were in mourning over their beloved team. Then, after owner and Public Enemy #1 John Fisher released an ill-advised and poorly executed letter (yes, the letter literally had typos in it), those same fans and media pendants tore it to shreds. It was full of lies, half-truths, deflections and shallow platitudes – and that was all in the first couple of paragraphs.

I won’t go into full detail on the letter or the reactions to it, because I want to try to keep this as brief as possible. If you haven’t seen the letter or want to see some of the more scathing rebukes of John Fisher such as the one from ABC7 Bay Area’s sports director Larry Beil, or from David Sampson of the “Nothing Personal with David Sampson” podcast, they’re all VERY easy to find.

What I want to focus more on is what this means for baseball. Yes, every baseball fan has a prevailing rooting interest, including myself, but if you consider yourself a fan of baseball first, and a fan of X team second, this situation should bother you.

One particular reaction that strikes a chord and seems to sum up the way baseball fans received John Fisher’s letter the best, was that of San Francisco Chronicle reporter and lifelong A’s fan Ann Killion. When asked on the “Foul Territory” podcast about her reaction to the infamous letter, she summed it all up with one resounding sentence:

“No one wants to hear from the murderer at the funeral.”

John Fisher murdered Oakland baseball. It’s that simple. He bought the team in 2005 along with then-managing partner Lew Wolff. He claimed in the letter that his two main objectives when he bought the team were to 1) win World Series championships and 2) build a new stadium IN OAKLAND – and now, all Oakland fans are left with are broken promises and empty stadium seats.

The A’s history in Oakland has been storied, to say the least: Krazy George Henderson and the invention of “The Wave”, Rollie Fingers, Dennis Eckersley, Reggie Jackson, Mark McGwire, Jose Conseco, Rickey Henderson and the stolen base crown, Moneyball…you can’t tell the story of Major League Baseball without the Oakland Athletics.

All of these franchise peaks have two things in common: they took place in the Oakland Coliseum…and John Fisher had nothing to do with them. Everything that we as baseball fans will remember fondly about the Oakland A’s came before John Fisher’s tenure. In 19 years as the owner, after making promises to win championships, Fisher’s A’s only made the playoffs seven times, never getting past the ALCS (which they only reached once). As far as the other goal, Fisher knew this day was coming when he took over the team. He knew the team had ballpark issues, and he knew the contract would eventually come due. The fact that the Coliseum was no longer viable was the worst kept secret in the game. Fisher had 19 years to address ballpark situation – something he claimed was a top priority – and he did nothing. Nothing was even remotely close until they found a site at Howard Terminal. That deal was reported VERY close to being done…until Fisher walked away. He was never serious about staying, we know that now. Even though Lew Wolff is no longer part of the ownership group, it was always in primary intention to move the A’s out of Oakland, and Fisher still partnered with him AND Fisher multiple offers to over the years from people who wanted to keep the A’s in Oakland, including from Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob. The A’s were never staying…

While owner John Fisher is mostly responsible for this debacle and should be held accountable for that, he did not act alone. Despite making a good effort to get the Howard Terminal deal done, getting things done in Oakland is very difficult. In the last five years, the city of Oakland has lost all three of their major professional sports: The Raiders and A’s have moved to Vegas, and the Warriors built their new stadium across the bay in San Francisco.

On November 16, 2023, all 30 MLB owners voted unanimously to approve the move to Vegas. They could have – and should have – made a stand against the move. One potential reason why they didn’t is because Commissioner Manfred wants a team in Vegas. This is what happens when you have owners and front office personnel who care more about money than the integrity of the game. Say what you will about former Commisioner Bud Selig, but one thing was clear with Selig, who was a former owner of the Milwaukee Brewers: Selig loved the game more than anything and made decisions with that love at the forefront. What a novel concept.

In summary, the Athletics and their fans deserve better. This could’ve been avoided. Nobody stood up for the history and integrity of this beautiful game. Not John Fisher, not A’s President Dave Kaval or GM David Forst, not the other 29 MLB owners, not the city of Oakland, and certainly not Commissioner Manfred. The worst part of all this is that the A’s are gone, the door is closed, the deal appeals to be done, and yet the A’s don’t have concrete plans for a place to play beyond 2025. A once proud franchise, one with a bright future coming off a strong finish to the season, is left without a home. What a shame.