A's President Wants Baseball to Be a Tonic in an Age of Uncertainty

Oakland Athletics president Dave Kaval said that during this time of COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, he sees his club, and baseball in general, as a boon to the community.

Oakland A’s president Dave Kaval is a fan of baseball history, so it’s no major surprise that he’s aware baseball is part of the current historical drama prompted by the COVID-19 coronavirus.

The thing is, this history is taking an odd turn. Baseball, basketball, football, hockey and virtually all other sports have shut down. Kaval, who has been talking with representatives of the San Francisco 49ers and Golden State Warriors as Bay Area sports franchises attempt to figure out what they can do to help, is looking for the path forward.

“All of us have a great sense of responsibility and see sports as a really important tool,” Kaval said this week on AsCast, the in-house service which will serve this year as the A’s radio voice. “The challenging things is that oftentimes in a crisis, sports can continue to play, so they can provide a distraction.

“Now, that is not possible. We’re going to have to find a different way we are going to need to lead. We are still finding our footing. But I’m confident that whether it’s baseball, basketball, American football or soccer, that we will do everything that we can and lead in that way.”

The A’s are one of the 30 Major League Baseball teams who have contributed $1 million to a fund for Oakland Coliseum workers who suddenly found themselves out of a job. For many of the security guards, vendors, ushers and other stadium workers, the work they do during the baseball season is a primary source of income, and the sudden loss of it is a major hardship.

The club also has made a $100,000 donation this month to the Alameda County Community Food Bank.

Kaval reached into the movie, Field of Dreams for the idea that “baseball’s been that one constant.”

“It’s like that great quote from Terrence Mann/James Earl Jones,” Kaval said. “No matter what, baseball has rolled on. This time, 150 years into our history as our sport, as the American Pastime, we can once again carry that. We can be an important place for our society, for America to congregate around.

“And also, to meet up again once we start playing. Because that will be a great moment when that happens. It seems like a long way from now, but it will happen before you know it. It will be `Play Ball.’ It will be a tremendous season that we will kick off. In the meantime, we need to do our part in helping Oakland, and helping the East Bay, and really in helping the entire Bay Area.”

As for now, Kaval says with the cancellation of the final 10 days of spring training and the eight-week postponement to the start of the season, he’s treating this shelter-at-home time as “a second hot stove season,” and said he’s hoping AsCast will serve as a bridge until games start up again.

“Everybody is hanging out in their houses,” he said. “They’re sheltering in place. If we can be part of providing a way out or a different take on things, we want to do that.”