Would you abandon over 50 years of history, abandoning a dedicated fanbase, just so you can add millions more to your already overflowing pockets? John Fisher certainly would.

It’s been a difficult time for fans of the Oakland Athletics. After years of ownership pinching pennies and actively working against their team, it became official during the offseason that the A’s would be relocating to Las Vegas in the future. However, that left the A’s in a weird position as they are trying to get the funds to build a stadium in Las Vegas while also having to deal with the fact that their lease with the Oakland Coliseum expires after the 2024 season. So, it left the organization scrambling to find a temporary home until the move could happen.

After months of searching, it was announced this week that 2024 would indeed be their final season in Oakland, opting to head 86 miles away to play games in West Sacramento. The A’s made the announcement Thursday, saying the team will play home games at Sutter Health Park – home of the Minor League Baseball side the Sacramento Rivers Cats, the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants– for the 2025-2027 seasons. The plan is to then relocate to Las Vegas in 2028.

How events have played out in Oakland has been nothing short of disappointing, worrisome and heartbreaking.

The situation in Oakland is a sobering reminder to all fans that in the grand scheme of things, owners care very little about them, and only care about their bottom line. We have seen across the league owners that undermine their own team to fill their pockets with more money than they could ever use while trying to bully cities into giving them millions and billions more of public funding to build luxury baseball entertainment districts. America’s pastime is nothing more than a business venture for many owners as they act in servitude to the almighty dollar.

MLB and Fisher should be ashamed of what they have done concerning Oakland. For years, Fisher has actively deployed one of the lowest payrolls in baseball, fielding a team of random names that people would be hard-pressed to spot in a police lineup. Yes, there have been some phenomenal years, but that has nothing to do with ownership, but rather instances of a general manager putting the right pieces together to build a competitor. Every time those high-quality teams went to the playoffs, they would sell off anyone of value the following offseason, starting from square one once again in an effort to save money and be stuck in a perpetual rebuild with a slew of prospects.

The fans of Oakland are passionate and have refrained from the team because of the cheapness of the owner. Oakland’s boycotts of the team have been inspirational, making it known how much they care. On Opening Day this year, they stayed in the parking lot, celebrating together and opting to watch the game on screens rather than in person. They have sold merch and organized their own fan fest to make their voices heard. A group of fans opted to create an independent baseball team and join the Pioneer League with the intention of “stealing baseball back for Oakland.” If MLB and Fisher are trying to blame the fans for why they are moving, it’s a bald-faced lie.

It’s been an absolute embarrassment as Fisher has opted to move with no real plan in place. Seduced by delusions of grandeur that Las Vegas would somehow bring in more money for him, he jumped at the chance to buy land and reach a binding agreement to build a new stadium. However, he still won’t pony up the cash for the project and is still trying to convince the city to build a park for him, something Nevada lawmakers are hesitant to do. While Las Vegas would like a baseball team, I’m not so sure they want John Fisher and his baseball team.

My heart breaks for Oakland. While it hasn’t been a perfect location and there have been problems with their home ballpark that need to be addressed, it’s a place full of history. In the blink of an eye, memories are being ripped away from a fanbase that has shown how rabid they can be in the stands when the team is competitive. Had Fisher been willing to spend some of his millions of dollars to make the current situation better, we would be facing this reality.

The fact that a rich individual can just take his ball and go play somewhere else is despicable. MLB and the other owners could have stepped in to prevent this from happening, perhaps even pressuring Fisher to find a solution in Oakland. Instead, they unanimously approved the move along with MLB and will stand idly by as he alienates and abandons a dedicated fanbase.

Owners like Fisher are out of touch about what makes these teams so special to people. While he may own the team, these teams don’t belong to him or any other owner. They belong to the city and to the people that support them and give them purpose. During his press conference about playing Sacramento, Fisher used Aaron Judge as an example of a player he’s excited to see hit home runs at the new ballpark. He didn’t use any examples of his own players, instead, he went with the most recognizable New York Yankee who will play three or four games in that ballpark in a season.

It’s shameful, disgusting, and awful.

The fans of Oakland deserved better than John Fisher. Hopefully, when he moves to Las Vegas an inevitably fails, MLB will find its way back into the city and begin a fresh start with an ownership group that cares about the city and the sport in general.