Unite The Bay Part II: Athletics, Giants fans join forces once again

Aug 5, 2023, 6:50 PM | Updated: 6:50 pm

(Sactown Sports 1140)

Editor & Kings Beat Writer

The ‘Summer of Sell’ continued for the Oakland Athletics on Saturday, and much like the recent ‘Unite The Bay’ game in San Francisco, A’s fans and Giants fans joined forces for another noteworthy ‘reverse boycott’ protest.

A season-high 37,553 fans filed into the Coliseum to see the opening game of this ‘Battle of the Bay’ series just 11 days removed from the most recent San Francsico-Oakland-fan protest.

Oakland fans have made themselves heard all over the country this summer, with A’s fans showing up in numbers to the MLB All-Star Game in Seattle and to Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles in efforts to recruit opposing fans to join in on “Sell the team” chants.

During the Athletics’ game in Los Angeles on Tuesday, A’s and Dodgers fans could be heard chanting “Sell the team” in unison, something that echoed a similar showing from Oakland fans and Giants a week prior.

With just two games against their Bay Area counterpart remaining this season, A’s fans organized the second ‘reverse boycott game’ at the Coliseum for Saturday afternoon, labeling the protest ‘Sell The Team Saturday.’

(Sactown Sports 1140)

Like all prior reverse boycotts and protests, the goal is simple: Make it known that Oakland fans want team owner John Fisher and president Dave Kaval to sell the team and keep A’s baseball in Northern California rather than move the franchise to Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Oakland 68’s, a group that has acted as the driving force behind previous ‘reverse boycotts,’ partnered with local record label ‘1-2-3-4 Go! Records’ to hand out 10,000 towels and cheer cards before Saturday’s game.

A logo on the towels read “sell the team” in a fashion similar to the 1989 ‘Battle of the Bay’ World Series logo. The 68’s handed out thousands of green “sell” shirts before June 13th’s reverse boycott game at the Coliseum and black “sell” shirts before July 25th’s ‘Unite The Bay’ game at Oracle Park.

This time, over 10,000 fans would have rally towels, along with ‘”sell” shirts that many were previously given during prior protest games.

TODAY IS THE DAY! We are proud to be a co-sponsor of this fan driven giveaway. The game today is a similar concept as the original “reverse boycott” but this time 10k rally towels will be given away. #SellTheTeam #FisherOut #OaklandForever pic.twitter.com/nPh0jyhEla

— 1-2-3-4 Go! Records (@1234gorecords) August 5, 2023

Ooooooooooooo! I love the smell of new cheer cards! #SellTheTeam pic.twitter.com/4iEUpdG2AJ

— Last Dive Bar 🏟 (@LastDiveBar) August 4, 2023

The Athletics, who entered play Saturday with MLB’s worst record at 30-80, have averaged 10,076 fans per home game this season (per ESPN).

During the first reverse boycott game on June 13th, Oakland packed the Coliseum with 28,000 fans. For this joint ‘Unite The Bay’ and reverse boycott game, a whopping 38,000 fans showed up for this Bay Area baseball showcase.

Those tens of thousands in attendance stood in silence during the entire first at-bat of the top of the fifth inning to honor 55 years of baseball in Oakland. Once, “Sell the team” chants broke out around the Coliseum.

In yet another showcase of Bay Area baseball unity, San Francisco Giants fans joined Oakland A’s fans to create a chant that reverberated around the ballpark.

A packed Oakland Coliseum stood in silence during the first at bat of the top of the 5th inning to honor 55 years of A’s baseball in the Bay Area.

Then, both A’s and #SFGiants fans sounded off with another message to team owner John Fisher. pic.twitter.com/lRcIG7Nrqq

— Frankie Cartoscelli (@FCartoscelli3) August 6, 2023

For those that have been paying attention to what is happening in Oakland, Saturday’s protest was yet another example of how passionate this Oakland Athletics fanbase can be.

Fisher and Kaval’s push to move the franchise to Las Vegas has soured fans and deterred them from putting money into the enemies’ pockets–enemies as in Fisher and Kaval.

Once again, tens of thousands of fans packed the Coliseum to say, “We’re still here.” Are Fisher and Kaval paying attention?

‘Unite The Bay’ Highlights From Social Media

With over an hour to go until first pitch, #SellTheTeamSaturday is underway at the Coliseum.

It should be an interesting afternoon here in Oakland for #SFGiants vs A’s. pic.twitter.com/Xx07sP7b8Q

— Frankie Cartoscelli (@FCartoscelli3) August 5, 2023

Limited Unite The Bay Posters being handed out in B Lot!#UniteTheBay #SellTheTeam #FisherOut #SellTheTeamSaturday pic.twitter.com/CRwDAYgi6n

— Gabriel Hernandez (@gamer_athletics) August 5, 2023

Anson Casanares gives a free poster to Giants fan Ellena Pruneda, 9, of Manteca, before the start of the MLB game at the Coliseum on Aug. 5, 2023. 10,000 rally towels will be given away for free to baseball fans for what is the second reserve boycott game. #rootedinoakland pic.twitter.com/gRxIAf9tyw

— Jose Carlos Fajardo (@FuzyJoe) August 5, 2023

#Athletics fans are at it again. pic.twitter.com/5DXqH1Omyn

— Casey Pratt (@CaseyPrattABC7) August 5, 2023

More than four hours until game time and it already looks like an NFL Sunday in A lot at the Coliseum. Beautiful day pic.twitter.com/5qv6sO0pGw

— Melissa Lockard (@melissalockard) August 5, 2023

Scenes from the #UniteTheBay tailgate aka Reverse Boycott 2. #Athletics fans crowd-funded their own poster and rally towel giveaways. pic.twitter.com/JsmEZ5ZEyO

— Casey Pratt (@CaseyPrattABC7) August 5, 2023