For Paul Blackburn, who was not only drafted and developed by the Athletics but also grew up watching games at the Coliseum, Oakland losing its beloved MLB team is disturbing.
The Athletics are leaving town this winter, relocating to Sacramento for three or four seasons until a new stadium is built for the team in Las Vegas. The franchise, which started in Philadelphia and then moved to Kansas City and Oakland, will become the Las Vegas Athletics no later than 2029.
The situation remains in turmoil in Oakland, where attendance has dwindled to 9,087 per game this season, by far the lowest in major league baseball, and fans are angry at the owners because years of political maneuvering have failed to find a solution to build a stadium in or near Oakland.
Blackburn, who joined the Mets at the trade deadline, spent parts of eight seasons as a pitcher in Oakland and said his best years were from 2017-2019, when the team was competitive and fans were still hopeful of a showdown at the ballpark.
But since the pandemic began in 2020, the atmosphere around the A’s has changed.
“I think a lot of the fans and the community were tired of being dragged along,” Blackburn told Sports+ this week. “I grew up in the area, so I remember the Athletics were looking at Fremont and San Jose, and then when I first came to Oakland. [a stadium] They had a base and venue in Auckland, so I think fans were fed up and felt cheated.”
Blackburn grew up a Giants fan but would often go to Athletics games because tickets were cheap and the Coliseum was close to his family’s home in Brentwood, California.
One of the most exciting parts of Blackburn’s time with the Mets was meeting Eric Chavez, the hitting coach who worked for the Athletics in the early 2000s. Blackburn recalls often imitating Chavez’s stance and swing in his backyard.
Despite the animosity Athletics fans have had toward ownership, Blackburn is thankful it hasn’t extended to the players.
“Not a lot of people actually come, but they’re very professional,” Blackburn said. “They’re very happy when you stop and talk to them. … They feel like they’re part of the team, and when you stop and make a connection with them, it makes a difference.”
But it can also be a feeling of loneliness. Blackburn said most ballparks have a “white noise” — the hustle and bustle of the crowd — during games. At the Coliseum, he said, he could hear the opposing dugout.
It was after road trips to cities like New York, Baltimore and Boston that he realized most how dilapidated the Coliseum had become.
“When you play away you’re used to the away environment and atmosphere and nobody’s cheering for you but at least there’s a buzz in the stadium,” Blackburn said. “Then coming back to Auckland it’s a bit different, especially coming back to home and starting your first game and you walk out there and look around and there’s a lot of empty seats.”
Blackburn doesn’t blame the owners or local residents for the stadium deal not going through.
“I don’t know if you can put it all together under one party,” he said. “Attendance is what it is for Athletics games, and I’m not saying the owners are trying to bring the community back to the team and bring back that excitement, but I think it’s tough from their perspective not having people in the seats. So I understand both sides.”
Tyler’s Trouble
This would have been an ideal week for the Mets to give their veteran pitchers some extra rest and bring in a sixth starter, but manager Carlos Mendoza didn’t have that luxury.
A lot of that is down to Tyler Megill, who has been one of the Mets’ most disappointing players this season.
After spring training ended, there was high hope among Mets officials that Megill, who had been working on his splitter and cutter over the winter, would blossom into a reliable starter for the team, but he struggled in his first appearance back at Triple-A Syracuse, which only exacerbated his slump.
Megill will remain under team control next season, but the Mets may be better off letting him go.
Megill had his best season with the Mets in 2021 and the first month of the 2022 season. Since then, it’s been a rollercoaster ride with mostly disappointing results.
Not Northwest
It’s great to see the Mets visit Seattle this weekend for the first time in seven years, but is anyone really excited about this interleague series with a playoff race in the cards?
The highlight of the Mets’ make-up game in St. Louis on Monday was a matchup between two teams vying for a wild card spot.
But last weekend it was Mets vs Angels, the next three games are Mets vs Mariners, and then back on the East Coast it’s Mets vs Athletics. There’s just too much interleague action condensed.
The Mets’ next trip will also be tough against the Padres, Diamondbacks and White Sox, but they’ll at least face two Wild Card teams, and games in San Diego and Arizona should be exciting.
