LOS ANGELES — For the first game of a three-game series against the Dodgers, Oakland A’s fan Gabriel Hernandez navigated through a sea of blue jerseys at Dodger Stadium, eventually finding friends and family.
After joining them, they made their voices heard during the game, shouting out in unison: “Sell the Team!”
But why are they chanting, and why at Dodger Stadium?
“This all started when the Oakland A’s were trying to look for a new stadium,” Hernandez said.
Instead of moving forward on a waterfront ballpark in Oakland, A’s ownership abruptly announced in April that they were moving the team to Las Vegas. So Hernandez and a dedicated fan base started a grassroots movement.
Jorge Leon is another passionate A’s fan.
“Now we are trying to fight to keep our team in Oakland, by asking ownership to sell the team to a local group, who want to keep the team in Oakland, and in the community, and be a part of it,” Leon said.
Hernandez quickly dispelled some myths about poor attendance at Oakland Coliseum in recent years.
“People want to paint us as ‘we don’t show up at games.’ There’s a reason why we didn’t show up,” Hernandez said.
Fans say that’s because A’s ownership traded away some of their best players and now has the lowest payroll in baseball, all while raising ticket prices.
“Imagine trying to watch a team that is purposely trying to lose,” Hernandez said.
“Hopefully, the Dodgers fans can understand where we’re coming from,” Leon added.
Christian Allen is a die-hard Dodgers fan who also showed up to support the A’s cause.
“The reason why Dodger fans should really care about what’s going on in Oakland is that we know a thing or two here in Los Angeles about having bad ownership,” Allen said.
He’s referring to the notorious actions of former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, which led the team to bankruptcy in 2011. MLB forced McCourt to sell the Dodgers to the current ownership group, an analogy to what these A’s fans want to see happen in Oakland.
And Hernandez is optimistic that Oakland’s move to Vegas is not a done deal.
“They’re not officially gone yet,” Hernandez said.
That’s because there’s already controversy with public funding of the proposed Las Vegas ballpark.
In June, Hernandez and A’s fans sprung into action, making Kelly Green “Sell” shirts. Then, thousands chanted their message in Oakland. Also, in rival San Francisco and even at the All-Star Game.
A cause that’s gone around the world. Even Dom Clarke, an Oakland fan from the United Kingdom, came to Dodger Stadium.
Nicole Mullicane, a die-hard fan from Oakland, is passionate because her late grandmother was a long-time season ticket holder.
“If they go away, I lose my grandma all over again,” she said as she fought back tears. “So it’s really hard for me.”
By the top of the fifth inning at Dodger Stadium, chants of “Sell the Team” from both A’s and Dodgers fans echoed throughout Dodger Stadium.
It was so loud and noticeable Spectrum SportsNet LA Dodgers play-by-play announcer Stephen Nelson made a note of it on-air in the middle of the broadcast.
“So what you hear right now are the chants of ‘Sell the Team.’ As the summer of sell continues for Oakland A’s fans, they are calling this the reverse boycott. Everywhere they go.”
“If this doesn’t do anything, this is going to show that we were here in numbers, when it mattered the most,” Hernandez added about the “Sell The Team” efforts.
And they promise to continue to spread their message.
