The Oakland Athletics are on the brink of playing their final home game in the city they’ve called home for nearly 60 years, and the tension surrounding the franchise’s impending departure reached a boiling point this week. Local sportscaster Larry Beil didn’t hold back in a fiery on-air tirade, ripping into A’s owner John Fisher while literally tearing up an open letter Fisher had sent to fans.
The A’s, a cornerstone of Bay Area sports since relocating to Oakland in 1968, have experienced several ownership changes over the decades. In 2005, John Fisher, heir to the Gap clothing fortune, purchased the team for $180 million during the Moneyball Era, when the A’s were known for their innovative, frugal approach to building competitive teams.
However, under Fisher’s ownership, that penny-pinching philosophy expanded beyond the field, eventually alienating what was once one of the most passionate fanbases in Major League Baseball.
By 2023, Fisher became a villain in the eyes of A’s fans. His decision to relocate the team to Las Vegas sparked outrage, leading to an organized campaign by fans urging him to sell the franchise. Despite these efforts, Fisher pressed ahead with plans to move the team, and the A’s will play their final game at the historic Oakland Coliseum on September 26th.
The team is slated to temporarily move to Sutter Health Park in Sacramento before a tentative debut in a new Las Vegas stadium in 2028. However, questions remain about the timeline and logistics of the stadium’s construction.
On Monday, Fisher sent an open letter to A’s fans, asserting that he had done “everything in his power” to keep the team in Oakland—a claim that didn’t sit well with the fanbase, given the ample evidence to the contrary. The letter was largely seen as tone-deaf, especially coming from an owner who many believe has prioritized profits over the team’s success and its relationship with the Oakland community.
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Among the loudest critics of Fisher’s letter was Larry Beil, a sportscaster for ABC7 in the Bay Area. Beil expressed what many A’s fans were feeling, delivering a scathing on-air rant where he printed out Fisher’s letter, read parts of it, and dramatically tore it up in front of viewers.
Beil didn’t pull any punches. He described Fisher as a “serial penny-pincher” who “destroyed your family’s great name and legacy because of your cheapness.” In his passionate rant, Beil made it clear that he wasn’t buying any of Fisher’s excuses or justifications for the team’s relocation, accusing the owner of letting down not just the team, but the entire city of Oakland.
Fisher’s ownership has been marred by criticism for years, with fans and analysts alike pointing to a pattern of disinvestment in the team. Attendance has plummeted, and the once-electric atmosphere of Oakland Coliseum has dimmed as fans grew increasingly frustrated with the front office’s refusal to invest in competitive rosters or modernize the aging stadium. Instead of building on the storied history of the Athletics in Oakland—a franchise that has won multiple World Series titles and produced Hall of Fame talent—Fisher’s leadership has been characterized by cost-cutting measures and a lack of transparency.
The relocation to Las Vegas, though potentially lucrative for the franchise, feels like a betrayal to many longtime fans. Oakland’s rich baseball history is intertwined with the A’s, and for many, the loss of the team is a painful chapter in a broader pattern of professional sports franchises leaving the Bay Area, following the Raiders’ move to Las Vegas and the Warriors’ departure for San Francisco.
Fisher’s letter was intended to frame the move as a last resort, but for fans like Beil and countless others, it was just another example of Fisher’s inability to take responsibility for his role in the franchise’s decline. In his takedown, Beil called out Fisher for his “cheapness,” accusing him of tarnishing not only his own reputation but also that of his family, which had built a legacy through the success of the Gap clothing empire.
As the A’s prepare to leave Oakland, the emotions surrounding the team’s departure are at an all-time high. For many, Fisher’s letter was the final straw, a hollow attempt to justify what feels like a betrayal of a loyal fanbase that has stuck by the team through thick and thin. Larry Beil’s on-air dismantling of Fisher’s letter captured the frustration and anger that so many in Oakland are feeling as they face the reality of losing a team that has been a fixture in their community for generations.
With the clock ticking down on the A’s time in Oakland, fans and commentators alike are left to wonder what could have been if the team had been treated with the respect and investment it deserved.
For now, though, as Beil so powerfully demonstrated, the anger is real, and it’s directed squarely at the man many hold responsible for the end of an era: John Fisher.
