Athletics owner John Fisher apologized for the team’s impending departure from Oakland in a letter addressed to fans Monday.
Fisher issued his letter one day before the A’s open their final home series in Oakland, where they have spent the past 57 seasons.
The team will move to Las Vegas in 2028 after Fisher failed to agree with the city of Oakland on a deal to build a more modern stadium. The A’s will have a temporary, multiyear stay in Sacramento until their new Las Vegas stadium is built.
The A’s have called the Oakland Coliseum home for their entire tenure in the city, but fans have complained about the stadium’s deteriorating state in recent years.
Fisher’s decision last November to move the team sparked outrage among fans. The 63-year-old, who purchased the A’s with Lew Wolff in 2005, said he did all he could to keep the franchise in Oakland.
“We proposed and pursued five different locations in the Bay Area. And despite mutual and ongoing efforts to get a deal done for the Howard Terminal project, we came up short,” Fisher wrote.
“… I know there is great disappointment, even bitterness. Though I wish I could speak to each one of you individually, I can tell you this from the heart: we tried. Staying in Oakland was our goal, it was our mission, and we failed to achieve it. And for that I am genuinely sorry.”
The A’s will miss the postseason for the fourth straight season, but the team will leave behind a storied legacy of success in the Bay Area.
The franchise won four World Series titles, six American League pennants and 17 division championships after moving to Oakland in 1968. Under Fisher’s ownership, the A’s made seven playoff appearances, including four as division champions.
“While the A’s previously played in Philadelphia and Kansas City, Oakland has been home for the greatest era in the franchise’s more than 123-year history,” Fisher wrote.
The A’s begin their final series in Oakland, a three-game set, on Tuesday against the Texas Rangers. The team will commemorate its time in Oakland with giveaways including a collectible ticket and a miniature replica of the Coliseum.
The A’s have drawn just over 10,000 fans per game this season, last in the major leagues, but a sellout crowd will cram the 46,765-seat Coliseum one final time on Thursday.
