BURGER SCOOT

I recently Googled Billy Beane with John Fisher to see if Beane said anything (nasty or otherwise) about the principal owner of the A’s, John Fisher. A childish waste of time, I know. Beane has been in executive management longer than Fisher has been the owner, and Beane clearly loves the organization, while it is difficult to see Fisher really loving anything but money. Whatever Beane thinks of what Fisher has been doing (and not doing) with them for the last fifteen years, I am sure he has kept to himself. Fisher is his boss. Still, there was a hot mic moment. Alas, only crickets. 

While I didn’t find any juicy comments from Beane, I did find an excellent article from Ann Killion of the San Francisco Chronicle. Check it out here. The irony Killion writes is that Fisher’s version of “Moneyball” (Beane’s flavor of James’ Sabermetrics) means bilking Oakland fans, picking the pockets of other team owners through revenue sharing, and ripping off Oakland/Alameda County citizens through property taxes. This wouldn’t be such a crime if Fisher invested in his team and in the disintegrating Oakland Coliseum, but he never has. Though I vow to not follow the A’s if* they move to Las Vegas I cannot stop watching the YouTubers speculate over what will happen and why we are here in the first place. 

Under Fisher, the term Moneyball is no longer a novel idea based on analytics and underdog achievement. It instead has become the cynical ploy of a billionaire doing whatever he can to suck the profits out of his team, without even trying to put a competitive product on the field.

Ann Killion, San Francisco Chronicle

* I say “if” because I am not giving up on my A’s yet. There are rumblings that the A’s just might stay in Oakland for one reason or another. Here are a couple of ways the Athletics could stay in Oakland: 

• MLB team owners might vote to move down in November. If the A’s stay, I doubt this would be the reason. Anyway, it might mean Fisher remains the owner. 

• Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob or some other billionaire group may buy the team. This seems highly unlikely since Lacob has had a standing offer to buy the A’s and Fisher hasn’t bit. Still, Lacob said some interesting things during a press conference introducing his new Bay Area WNBA team. See video below for details.

• Finally, Fisher could move his team to Vegas, but not the team’s name–its identity and legacy. This is complicated, but not unprecedented MLB, NFL, and other teams have done similar things, including Fisher’s MLS team, the San Jose Earthquakes.

These are long shots, I know, but there’s always hope. If not I’ll follow threw with my threat to dump MLB and stick with college teams and the local AAA team.