The Oakland Athletics are a team that has seen better days, and fans have plenty of words to describe the current state of the franchise—one of which inadvertently found its way onto a baseball hat that quickly went viral before being pulled from the MLB store.
The A’s, a storied franchise that has called Oakland home for nearly 60 years, are on the brink of playing their final game in the city. Loyal fans, who have stuck with the team through thick and thin, are facing yet another season filled with disappointment.
As of late September, the team sits at a dismal 68-89 record, and it’s likely they will close the season with over 90 losses. This marks their fourth consecutive year missing the playoffs, a far cry from the team’s former glory.
To make matters worse, the A’s are set for a temporary relocation to Sacramento, where they’ll share a stadium with the San Francisco Giants’ AAA affiliate before their planned permanent move to Las Vegas in 2028.
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The relocation saga has only further alienated the team’s fanbase, many of whom have organized protests and campaigns in a bid to convince owner John Fisher to sell the team to someone who might actually care about the franchise’s future. Unfortunately, these efforts have been in vain, leaving fans to watch as the team’s Oakland era comes to a sad and dysfunctional end.
Fisher’s tenure as owner has been defined by cost-cutting, poor team management, and a lack of investment in the fan experience. The result? Empty stands, a decaying stadium, and a once-proud franchise on its way out of town without any semblance of a proper farewell.
Enter an unintentionally symbolic piece of merchandise: a baseball hat designed by New Era, featuring the A’s logo. At first glance, it seemed like a typical “Shadow” design hat, but upon closer inspection, the design was so poorly executed that it inadvertently spelled out a crude word across the front of the cap—one that eerily summed up the current state of the team.
The hat was listed on the MLB store for a brief period, but once the internet got wind of the gaffe, it quickly went viral and was soon removed from the site.
