Baseball is not dead in Oakland, since despite the Athletics’ departure for Las Vegas, the Californian city will still be able to count on a professional team.
In May 2024, the Oakland Ballers will appear with the intention of winning back the crowd that deserted the old Coliseum, the daily “USA Today” reported Tuesday. This club will play in the Pioneer League, an equivalent of the Frontier League in the western United States.
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The Quebec Capitales and the Trois-Rivières Aigles play excellent baseball in their independent league, but the level of play is still far from the majors. The Pioneer League is also a partner of the Manfred circuit without being affiliated with it.
The Ballers will become the 11th franchise of this championship which operates in the American Rockies region. The Oakland team will be the furthest west geographically, ahead of the Hawks in Boise, Idaho.
Interest already seems strong for this team, as investors have raised $2 million to facilitate its establishment. The Ballers initially plan to play at Laney College, but eventually have their sights set on the Oakland Coliseum.
“We will do our best to fill the place every night. Our goal will be to attract more people than the A’s games. It’ll say, “Look what you’re missing when you leave.” It won’t necessarily ease the pain, but it would be nice to have more people than just the A’s showing that the community is good. It will show the inability of the A’s owners to be able to accomplish anything here,” explained the founder of the Oakland 68’s supporters group Jorge Leon, who was surveyed by “USA Today”.
The Athletics are expected to move to Vegas in 2028, having received unanimous approval from major league baseball owners. Their lease with the Oakland Coliseum will end at the end of the next campaign and they are then expected to split their activities between several venues.
2023-11-28 16:02:18
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