The Biggest Rebellion In Baseball History Is Happening Right Now

Baseball is a beautiful thing for two main reasons. The players and the fans. Without those, the game is nothing. It's unfortunate that some owners don't see or understand that obvious statement, the obvious reality, and that when you neglect those players and fans and don't give a damn about the product you're providing on the field to your consumer, the fans, attendance will naturally go down. No good players are going to want to play there, even if the team was willing to pay them, which is never the case. It's just a mess all around. John Fisher, Dave Cavill, and the Oakland A's have completely messed up everything, and it's a shame. As frustrating as it is, though, and heartbreaking for Oakland fans, what this whole A's-Vegas situation has spawned is the greatest rebellion in the history of baseball. The fans, the people, have come together and done stuff that we truly have never seen before. Last year in the midst of a miserable season for the A's, the fans organized their own reverse boycott, deciding to show up and pack the Coliseum for a night and show that they aren't the problem. There were fan-made sell shirts given out, there were specific chants the crowd organized to chant during the game, there was even a random moment of silence in the middle of the game that was orchestrated where you could hear crickets, and all of a sudden everyone started chanting sell the team. The whole thing was pretty surreal, with the cherry on top being that they won the game. Unfortunately, the A's ownership has only continued to push the move to Vegas and make things as official as can be without it actually being official. As bleak as things are seeming though, the fans are not giving up, and what transpired this past weekend may even be more impressive than the reverse boycott. I'm not going to sugar coat it. Oakland is not a great city, at least not in the state that it's currently at with the crime and everything. A lot of cities across the country are going through this crap, but it's been real rough, and some might look at that and say it can be a good thing to move baseball away from a city like that. But don't let that take away from how great Oakland's sports fans are, and specifically A's fans. They're genuinely awesome, and I would argue the rowdiest, most hostile crowd when the stadium is packed. These people deserve a baseball team. They always have, and still do. And if anything, taking away the A's makes the city's issues even worse. You're now removing yet another thing people or families can go to and enjoy, in a city that already doesn't have many things to go to or enjoy. Especially since there's no other major sports teams there anymore, other than the dying A's. So with as ugly as this situation has become, it's also showed even more so how amazing A's fans are. The A's have been held a fanfest since 2020, so before the pandemic, that long ago. Although it's not surprising to see this organization not bother caring to put together any celebration for the fans to greet the players and stuff, something literally every team does. They don't even care to win, so it's expected for them to not even think about a fan event. Especially with the ownership knowing how much hate they'd get if they were there, and the negative publicity that can be brought with it. So with the A's not doing anything for years on or off the field for the fans, you want to know what the people of Oakland said? Fine, I'll do it myself. And guess what? They did it themselves. Spring training is here, and the A's are getting things going in Arizona, but the celebration was going on in Oakland. Speaking of spring training though, that of course means baseball is back, meaning things will be getting more exciting. So if you haven't already, make sure to subscribe and hit the bell to stay notified of everything that goes on. This past weekend, A's fans put together their own fan fest, calling it Fans Fest, that just celebrated the team, organized by the fans, and completely free for all to attend. And look at this scene, just look at how many people showed up to this and showed their love and passion for the team. And not only that, but the organizers, which were the last dive bar in the Oakland 68's, a couple of fan groups, got some former players to show up. Former players Trevor May, who just retired. Grant Balfour, Coco Chris, Ben Grieve, and a couple of real old timers like Mike Norris and Billy North were all there, doing interviews on stage and signing autographs for fans. There were performances by local bands and DJs, a variety of food and drinks from local vendors, with this all being held at Block 15, which is located in Jack London Square where the A's used to host past fan fests. Again, this was a fan organized event, meaning the team had nothing to do with it. And not only did the team have nothing to do with putting it together or promoting it, but there was also speculation that they tried to sabotage it and screw the event over. Actually they did, that's true, but there's another thing that's kind of speculative. Just a few days before the event, one of the top breweries in the Bay Area called Drake's, which sponsors the A's and is sold at the Coliseum during games, pulled their sponsoring of the event due to unforeseen circumstances. Drake's was a really prominent sponsor for the event, so for them to cancel right before was not good. According to the A's, they had nothing to do with it. A spokesperson for the team said they didn't have any conversation with Drake's, with Dave Cavill, the A's president, saying absolutely not. Many are doubting this though, and thinking even if the A's didn't specifically tell Drake's to back out, that they had some third party way of doing it, so they can get away with saying what they said, and they're not lying, but they did find a way to let Drake's know how they felt, and that they didn't want them part of the event. None of this is confirmed, just speculation again, but Drake's also never clarified why they pulled out. Never gave an exact reason, and on top of that, according to Brian Johanson, who's a part of the fan group called The Last Dive Bar, one of the organizers of the event, Drake's claimed the A's weren't involved, but they did have another sponsor that was approached by the A's, and they denied the request from the A's to not be involved, deciding to still sponsor the event. To add on to that, Drake's pulling out of their sponsorship for the event only made things actually better. Because according to Johanson, six beer vendors went on to join and sponsor the event, with them also having other vendors that weren't beer vendors offer to sponsor, but they didn't even have room. So they went from losing a big important sponsor of the event, to not having enough spots for all the vendors who wanted in. This really does remind me of a rebellion, like in Star Wars, a bunch of individuals fighting for a greater good against an evil and powerful bad. John Fisher is Emperor Palpatine, Dave Cavill is Darth Vader, and the people of Oakland are the rebellion. There was even a Dave Cavill impersonator at the event, making fun of the actual Dave Cavill, with a drawing of the newest ballpark rendering. It really is inspiring to see what happens when people come together for a greater good, and it's moments like this that proves baseball is more than just a game. It's a religion, it brings people together, friends, family, strangers, all to unite and root for and represent something greater than themselves. That's what baseball and its teams are all about And it's truly inspiring to see what Ace fans and the people of Oakland have been able to do, from the reverse boycott to now this, putting together their very own fan event that the team itself had nothing to do with and didn't want to happen. And oh, by the way, the team is noticing, and they absolutely hate it. The official Oakland Ace twitter account actually disabled comments, knowing that any tweet they put out will get ratioed to hell and back, so they are preventing anyone from commenting. This is a very powerful movement going on right now in Oakland. Shoutout to all the former players who showed up, the podcast Foul Territory, a show hosted by Scott Braun made an appearance to show support, Casey Pratt from ABC7 News, shoutout to all of them. And most of all, shoutout to Gabriel Hernandez, the biggest, most diehard Ace fan I know who helped organize this whole thing, shoutout Jorge Leon who's a part of the Oakland 68's group, and just everyone involved who helped put this together. It's a lot of people, and I don't want to forget any more names, so just everyone involved, it was amazing. Things still don't look good regarding the possibility of staying in Oakland. But even if the Ace move really does go through, this, what's happening right now needs to be noticed, recognized, and remembered forever. There will be links in the comments and description of some of these people and their coverage of the event, so I recommend checking them out. Let me know what you think, thank you for watching, I'll see you soon.