A's Taking Down "Rooted in Oakland" Signage at Coliseum
Back in November, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that the A's planned to take down the "Rooted in Oakland" signage around the Coliseum as they prepare for their relocation to Las Vegas. Today, the removal process began.
Casey Pratt of ABC 7 posted this photo of a half-removed sign at the A's home since 1968.
The timing of these things never seems to be accidental with the Oakland A's. We've seen it for nearly a year now, where if the fans make some noise, then there would be a new article in the Las Vegas Review-Journal within hours touting some random amenity that the Vegas ballpark would have.
This past weekend Oakland sports fans flocked to Jack London Square in droves to celebrate The Town, as well as let out a few "Sell the Team!" chants. It's no coincidence that just two days later these signs are coming down. The team has had all offseason to remove them, and yet right after a fan-led Fans Fest is the moment that it's finally happening? Sure, ok.
When baseball fans across the country want to blame the fans in Oakland for not showing up, this is an example of what it's like to be an A's fan. A's owner John Fisher never lets the fans get too excited about the product he's peddling, because then people might actually show up to the ballpark and ruin his plans.
You know, like they showed up for Fans Fest over the weekend. Some have estimated around 10,000-15,000 that made an appearance over the course of the five hour event. It's impossible to know for certain how many fans made it since it was a completely free event and there were no turnstiles.
Whatever the number was, it was enough to get picked up on local media, and Ken Rosenthal even named A's fans his "Dude of the Week" during his Fair Territory podcast for putting on the event in the first place. People across the country and in the national media are starting to wake up to what's been happening in Oakland, and the team needs to counter the drum beat that is getting louder and louder the longer their relocation plans take to manifest.
They can take down the banners, but they were a lie anyway.