John Fisher of the A's Seizes the Title of Worst Owner in Sports

Not content with simply running his 124-year-old baseball franchise into the ground with back-to-back 100-loss seasons, a ballpark filled with possums and public fornicating and an overall team payroll that is less than what nine NFL quarterbacks make per year, Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher decided to dump gasoline onto the dumpster fire he pretends is a Major League Baseball team and move the A’s to play in Sacramento in a minor league park..for three years…with an option for a fourth.

The move, which will take place after this season, is happening because the A’s were unable to reach an agreement to extend their lease in Oakland and need somewhere to play what they claim to be baseball while their new stadium in Las Vegas is being built. Until construction is complete in the desert, the Athletics will play at Sutter Health Park, the home of the Sacramento River Cats, who are currently the Triple-A affiliate of the Giants. Sutter Health Park holds a capacity of 14,014 — and has no team family room, no bathrooms in the bullpens and only one shared batting cage.

“We understand the disappointment this news brings to our fans, as this season marks our final one in Oakland. Throughout this season, we will honor and celebrate our time in Oakland,” Fisher said in a statement. “We extend our appreciation to the Kings and the city of West Sacramento. And look forward to making Sutter Health Park our home until our new ballpark opens in Las Vegas.”

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What’s especially curious about the situation is — aside from why an MLB franchise couldn’t get its crap together enough to not have to play in a minor league ballpark — why the A’s didn’t just move into Las Vegas Ballpark, a 10,000-seat facility which opened in 2019 and is the home of the Aviators…the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics (who also have one the A’s best players on their roster because Oakland somehow doesn’t want him).

If the A’s already have a ballpark in Vegas, why didn’t they just go there? It almost certainly comes down to why they are leaving Oakland in the first place: money. After all, the team that pioneered Moneyball has always been cost-conscious and Fisher, a Gap heir worth more than $3 billion, has clearly always cared far more about his bottom line than about his team’s batting order, the ballpark they play in or the fans who pay to sit in the stands.

FIsher, who has not attended an A’s game at Oakland Coliseum since April of last year, cares so little about his team that he couldn’t even name one of his own players when pitching fans about the move to Sacramento during a press conference at “intimate” Sutter Health Park.

“We’re excited to be here for the next three years playing in this beautiful ballpark,” Fisher said. “But also being able to watch some of the greatest players in baseball, whether they be Athletics players or Aaron Judge and others launch home runs out of the most intimate ballpark in all of Major League Baseball for the next three years.”

And, if the ballpark in Vegas isn’t done, a fourth. An embarrassment for everyone involved with the A’s, except Fisher, the worst owner in sports.