What The Oakland A's And Their Fans Did Last Night Gave Me Chills

The Oakland A's are a dead franchise. Nothing is going to change that. Pretty soon, they'll be shipped to Las Vegas with a fresh coat of paint, and the memories that we all have of the Oakland Athletics will become more and more distant with each passing day. As far as this year's team is concerned, the results speak for themselves. This was a team that many people projected to lose 110+ games, and until about a week ago, it seemed inevitable that they would break the all-time losses record. 

But one of the great things about this game is that even in the worst, most miserable seasons, you can still strike gold. That's what the A's have done the last week. The A's came in last night, having won six games in a row. Most of the world expected that all of that would end as they continued their series against baseball's best team, the Tampa Bay Rays. 

Well, that's why you play the game.

Last night, during what A's fans were referring to as a "Reverse boycott," nearly 28,000 strong brought an electric atmosphere to the Oakland Coliseum one last time. The night began with a chorus of "Sell the team" chants and ended with A's fans celebrating a 2-1 come-from-behind victory. It was their seventh consecutive win, one of the rare moments in which the eyes of the baseball world seemed to be looking toward Oakland. 

Last night's victory won't change the future. The Oakland A's will cease to exist very soon. All that will be left are memories of a once proud franchise. The die-hards will tell stories forever, but the sad truth is that even the die-hards die out one day. But last night proved that the fans in Oakland have never been, nor will they ever be, the problem. Ownership failed them. Whatever attempts ownership may have had to gaslight the fanbase into believing this was somehow a loyalty issue have failed. 

The truth is that most sports fans are entirely irrational. We just are. And many people frown upon the average fan for having a different mentality regarding how they view their teams. The average fan generally doesn't care about tanking for draft picks. They don't care about what the organization will look like five years from now with a new GM and a new crop of young prospects. The average fan works a 9 to 5 job and comes home from work 162 times a year, hoping to see their team with a ball game. Many people roll their eyes at that, but there's nothing wrong with it. We get so caught up in the minutia of whether or not our team is close to being championship caliber that sometimes we forget that winning a random game in June against the Rays can still be a lot of fun, regardless of record. 

And at some point here soon, the A's will inevitably crash down to earth. They'll lose 110 games, and their poor fans must watch their beloved team slowly wither away. But even if it was just for one night, baseball's laughingstock became America's team. It wasn't because of the owner. It wasn't even because of the players. It was the 27,000+ that came out to support their boys. You can remove a team, but you can never remove a fanbase.