No to the Sacramento A’s? That’s no way to thank a city for giving you a home | Opinion
The A’s left Oakland last year after a messy divorce and they may or may not move to Las Vegas in 2028 or 2029. Sacramento offered the homeless Major League Baseball team a place to play for the next three years, maybe four, so why not call them the Sacramento A’s? The A’s won’t and that makes no sense.
When they begin their season at Sutter Health Park on March 31 against the Chicago Cubs, I will be calling them the Sacramento A’s when I write about them, think about them, or talk about them. It is a no-brainer.
Before a single game has been played, Sacramento has already embraced this team that played in Oakland for more than 50 years after first residing in Kansas City and Philadelphia in a team history that goes back to 1901.
The A’s are joining a Sacramento community that keeps and loves its teams.
Forty years ago this year, Sacramento went crazy when the Kings moved to town and Kings fans have loved them through highs and many lows and losing seasons. A quarter century ago, the region went all in for the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats. A little more than a decade ago, Sacramento embraced Sacramento Republic FC, the minor league soccer team intent on building a new stadium in the downtown railyard.
And last year, Sacramento welcomed me from Tennessee. My new hometown and region deserve to be the Sacramento A’s even if we’re all being polite because we hope that the A’s will ditch Vegas and stay here long term - or - the A’s will be so well received that it convinces MLB to award the region an expansion baseball team in a few years.
Season tickets are already sold out for this season. Again, why not call them the Sacramento A’s?
This situation is one of the strangest in professional sports today. There is nothing like it in baseball. In the National Hockey League, there is a team called the Utah Hockey Club that is basically the former Arizona Coyotes under a different name. That’s strange, but at least that club is identified with the state of Utah.
Here in Sacramento, all we’ll get is a patch of the Tower Bridge on A’s uniforms. But no location name identification like Sacramento, West Sacramento (the home of Sutter Health Park) River City, City of Trees, Farm to Fork Capitol, or nothing.
For me, this situation evokes the lyrics of “Say My Name,” the 1999 hit song by Destiny’s Child:
“Say my name, say my name / If no one is around you/ Say baby I love you / If you ain’t runnin’ game / Say my name, say my name / You actin’ kinda shady”
The shady party in this scenario is the A’s.
They won’t use a locator name for the team but they trademarked the names “Sacramento A’s” and “Sacramento Athletics.” That’s like making it official with your partner but not posting any photos of the union on Facebook or Instagram.
The justification used by the team for this is odd.
“Out of an acknowledgment and respect for the interim nature of our time in the greater Sacramento region, we decided to refer to ourselves as the Athletics,” Interim A’s President Sandy Dean said in a statement. We appreciate the warm welcome we have received from the greater Sacramento region. This community will be our home for the next three years and the city has embraced us as our interim host until we move to our permanent home in Las Vegas. We hope Major League Baseball in West Sacramento will bring energy joy and sold-out crowds, along with memories and great games for fans. “
A’s need to live in the present
The A’s will get sold-out crowds. It will be much different from many A’s games in Oakland, where it was so quiet, that fans in the stands could hear players’ conversations on the field.
As much as the organization calls their move to Las Vegas a done deal, they haven’t even broken ground on their new stadium.
Being in the Sacramento region will be the most stable, concrete thing about the A’s in years.
We have the fandom that will push the A’s to another level and they need to act like it.
In the words of Destiny’s Child, all they have to do is “say my name.”
This story was originally published February 28, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
