Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher says he is “so very sorry” that the franchise is moving after 57 years, but fans aren't buying it.

Fisher penned an open letter to the Athletics fanbase that he released on Monday in which he looked back on the triumphs and more memories from the past half century. He then asked fans to continue supporting the team as it moves to Sacramento and eventually Las Vegas.

“This upcoming series with the Texas Rangers will be the final games of the A's storied 57 years in Oakland,” his letter began. “And while the A's previously played in Philadelphia and Kansas City, Oakland has been home for the greatest era in the franchise's more than 123-year history.”

The letter was both wistful and apologetic, with Fisher adding, “I can tell you this from the heart: we tried. Staying in Oakland was our goal, it was our mission, and we failed to achieve it. And for that I am genuinely sorry.”

That didn't stop fans from torching him in the replies.

“Only thing I want to read is that he sold the team, Oakland deserves so much better,” one fan wrote, though a handful of others echoed that sentiment.

Many other fans used more colorful language, hurling their favorite expletives at the billionaire owner. Fans of other teams joined in the chorus, sympathizing with the Oakland fans about to lose their hometown team.

“Oakland deserves so much more than what Fisher gave them,” wrote an Atlanta Braves fan. “Also, what's bananas, this plan is so bad that we ALL know that it's going to fail miserably and at the end of the day, the “As” (or whatever remnant they are) are going to play in front of an empty stadium in the middle of the desert with no one to love them because Vegas won't love them enough and no amount of money will save a dumb endeavor.”

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Oakland Coliseum has become a ghost town during Athletics games

Oakland A’s players stand for the National Anthem before a game against the New York Yankees at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.
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The Athletics have struggled to bring fans to games for decades now, with the team's record having little effect on the number of tickets sold. Oakland has ranked dead-last in the Majors in average home attendance each of the last three seasons and has not finished better than 23rd out of 30 teams since 2005.

Through 77 home games, Oakland is averaging 10,515 fans per game. For perspective, more than half the teams in the WNBA are averaging more fans per home game, and no WNBA team plays in an arena with more than a third of Oakland Coliseum‘s capacity.

Fans in the replies also vented their frustrations over Fisher's inability to secure a new stadium in Oakland that would have been a better draw than the dilapidated Coliseum. Plans to develop new parks near Laney College and Howard Terminal both stalled, eventually leading to the move.

“Every accomplishment he lists as part of the Oakland legacy of the A’s happened before he bought the team and sank it,” wrote fan account @ColiseumSewage, a nod to the building's frequent problems with sewage flooding into dugouts or other common areas. “John Fisher knows he has nothing to be proud of, and nobody will follow his circus of failure to Las Vegas.”