BOSTON, MA - MAY 5: Chris Bassitt #40 of the Oakland Athletics pitches in the third inning of a game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on May 5, 2021 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)
In what might be the beginning of the Athletics’ final season in Oakland, thousands of fans gathered in the Coliseum’s south parking lot on Thursday before their opening-day game against the Cleveland Guardians.
Showing up but staying away wasn’t the only way fans displayed their displeasure with the team’s ownership. They also waved hundreds of giant green “SELL” flags, ate free tacos and listened to music. Most fans did not enter the stadium to watch the game and stayed outside watching the game on a blowup projection screen in protest of the approval to relocate the team to Las Vegas. The Coliseum’s capacity is the largest in the MLB at 56,782. The announced crowd during the game? 13,522.
“This will be the first time since 2006 that I’ve missed Opening Day,” said Jorge Leon, the president of the Oakland 68s, an influential fan group. “Opening Day used to be a holiday for all of us. We’d take the day off and celebrate from 11 a.m. to the first pitch. This is hard.”
The lack of support from fans during the game certainly showed in the result. The Guardians ran over the Athletics and won 8-0. Guardians pitcher Shane Bieber struck out 11 in six shutout innings and gave up only four hits on the day. The Athletics lost again on Friday and Saturday in two more home games against the Guardians, scoring 6-4 and 12-3. On Sunday, they play Cleveland in the Coliseum again before starting their home series against the Boston Red Sox in April.
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With the move to Las Vegas approved, this nontraditional boycott method was different than the A’s fans groups’ “reverse boycott” games last season, where fans passionately filled the stadium to show their support.
One fan who went against tradition this year was “Right Field Will,” Will MacNeil. He was in the parking lot pregame but moved to his usual spot in the right-field bleachers when the game started to support Steven Vogt, a long-time fan-favorite manager in Oakland who was managing his first game for the Guardians.
“We texted, and he was hoping I could be there for his debut,” MacNeil said. “That’s the only reason I’m going in.”
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