While the Oakland Athletics are going to be leaving for Las Vegas, Oakland will still have a baseball team to root for, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN.
The team will be called the Oakland Ballers, as a group of dozens of Oakland-area fans, led by two high school friends, banded together to start the team, according to Passan. The team is also known as the B's, and they plan to play in the independent Pioneer League starting this summer, wearing the same green and gold that the Athletics wear.
The team's co-founders, Paul Freedman and Bryan Carmel said they have hired former Seattle Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu, who went to high school in the nearby area, as executive vice president of baseball operations, according to Passan. Former St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Micah Franklin will manage Paul Freedman and Bryan Carmel's team.
Freedman and Carmel did not want to wait to start up a team after the Athletics announced the move to Las Vegas.
“We just felt like our hearts had been ripped from our chests like all East Bay sports fans,” Carmel said, via Passan. “Oakland is a city that has seen the Raiders leave town, the Warriors move across town. There was a lot of chatter that maybe Oakland isn't a pro sports town. We reject that completely.”
The ownership has reportedly raised $2 million to help fund operations and expand seating at the stadium of Laney College, where the Ballers will play, Freedman said, according to Passan.
While the Athletics leave town, professional baseball will remain in the East Bay.
Follow Us
Subscribe