Frustrated Oakland A’s fans showed up at the rotting Coliseum on Friday with a mission.
If you watched MLB’s video highlights of the team’s loss to the Reds, you’d know nothing about it.
Fans made various signs pleading owner John Fisher, a notorious low spender, to sell the team following news that the team is set to relocate to Las Vegas.
“SELL” and “#FISHEROUT” could be seen hanging over the railing in right-center field, where the most loyal fans congregate to support their team.
“KAVAL=LIAR” also made it into the fold, calling out team president Dave Kaval.
The statements of protest were visible on the local broadcast footage, but not in MLB.com’s highlights, which can be seen in a comparison video by Jomboy featuring a home run hit by Oakland’s first baseman Ryan Noda.
“We were unaware of the edit,” an MLB spokesperson told The Athletic on Saturday. “When it came to our attention, we corrected it as it isn’t consistent with our policy.”
If the deal comes to fruition, the A’s will find themselves in Vegas by 2027, keeping them inside their current lackluster home stadium in front of angry fans for three more years after this season.
Friday night was a taste for the club’s potential future as they fell to the Cincinnati Reds 11-7 in front of 6,423 people.
As the Athletic pointed out, the A’s situation is playing out similarly to the Milwaukee Braves’ relocation to Atlanta in 1966.
During the 1965 season, fans boycotted the club and barely showed up, with those who did make their way to the ballpark protesting with signs.
That was just one season, however, and the product on the field appears as if it will only make tensions worse as the A’s own an MLB-worst 5-23 record entering Sunday.
