Oakland Athletics fans chant “Sell the team” as they take part in a “Reverse Boycott” event at the Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, June 13, 2023. Stu Clary, of Vacaville, a longtime Oakland A's fan, came up with the idea in hopes of packing the Coliseum with fans to support the team despite their possible move to Las Vegas. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
I fully understand Oakland A’s fans frustration with John Fisher. He is a contender for worst owner in MLB history.
I know a thing or two about bad professional sports owners, having worked as a sportswriter in the Northwest for several years while George Argyros wreaked havoc on the Seattle Mariners from 1981-89.
Like Fisher, Argyros had a nasty habit of selling off his team’s best players and alienating fans at every turn. His teams never finished over .500 (the Mariners are still the only MLB team that has never appeared in a World Series) and never drew more than 1.1 million fans in a season.
During the summer of 1983, in what would be a 102-loss season, a friend and I bought tickets at the Kingdome for a 1 p.m. game and sat three rows directly behind home plate without any other fans within 20 yards of us. The home plate umpire even responded to me between innings when I politely asked if a pitch he called a ball had been high or outside.
Argyros’ baseball knowledge was, shall we say, limited. In 1987, he lobbied his general manager to pick Mike Harkey over Ken Griffey Jr. Harkey did make it to the big leagues, posting a 36-36 record as a journeyman pitcher. Griffey remains the most beloved player in Mariner history after a brilliant Hall of Fame career.
But for all of his faults, Argyros never followed through on his multiple threats to move the team. Nor did any of his teams break the all-time MLB record for most losses in a 162-game season, as the A’s are in danger of accomplishing this year.
Then there’s Harry Frazee, who turned the Boston Red Sox from World Series champions in 1916 and 1918 into one of the worst teams in baseball.
Frazee made what was arguably the worst deal in baseball history, selling Babe Ruth to the Yankees for $125,000. I say arguably, because soon thereafter he took out a $300,000 loan from the Yankees, using Fenway Park as collateral. That’s right. Once upon a time, the Yankees were in effect Fenway’s owners and had the power to sign off on Red Sox trades.
Fisher’s supporters can argue that since he acquired a stake in the A’s in 2005 and became sole owner in 2016, Oakland has finished over .500 nine times and made it to the playoffs seven times, most recently in 2020. But an argument can be made that the A’s success was more due to former General Manager Billy Beane’s brilliance rather than Fisher’s leadership.
Fisher’s net worth is estimated at $2.3 billion, which puts him in the middle of the pack on the list of MLB’s wealthy owners — the Giants’ Charles Johnson ranks fourth ($4.4 billion), while the Mets’ Steve Cohen ($16 billion) tops the list.
Yet the A’s payroll is consistently among the lowest in baseball. In 2023, at $58 million, it is the lowest of any MLB team. Oakland’s highest-paid player, reliever Trevor May, will make $7 million this year. More than 200 players will make more this year.
Meanwhile, the players the A’s have either traded or let go in free agency under Fisher’s reign could easily contend for a playoff spot this year. Five former A’s — Sonny Gray, Jason Heim, Sean Murphy, Matt Olson and Marcus Semien — played in the MLB All-Star Game in Seattle last month.
But it isn’t Fisher’s decimation of the A’s roster that puts him in the Hall of Shame of baseball owners. It’s the utter disdain he has shown for the team’s loyal, knowledgeable fans.
In 2022, Fisher had the audacity to double ticket prices at the Oakland Coliseum, one of baseball’s oldest and most dilapidated stadiums. Coming into Tuesday, the average attendance at A’s home games for 2023 was 8,555, worst in baseball. Then he insisted that if the team was to stay in Oakland, taxpayers would have to fork over an estimated $1 billion as part of a $12 billion project primarily designed to further line Fisher’s pockets.
Now he’s maneuvering to move the team to Las Vegas, where Nevada officials have agreed to hand over $380 million in public dollars to help him build what is thought to be a $1.5 billion stadium.
I would say good riddance, except the city of Oakland and A’s fans deserve better.
MLB owners should force Fisher to sell the team. Golden State Warriors’ owner Joe Lacob has expressed interest in buying the A’s and has shown a willingness to spend the money necessary to field competitive teams.
But don’t count on the MLB owners to do the right thing. They have an interest in baseball having a team in Las Vegas, because MLB teams stand to generate an estimated $1.1 billion a year from legal gambling interests.
No, the most likely way for the A’s to remain in Oakland is if Nevada officials realize they’re throwing money at one of the worst owners in MLB history and kill the deal.
Don’t bet on it.
Originally published at Ed Clendaniel