MLB PET ID TAGS UPGRADE

MLB PET ID TAGS UPGRADE

Plans are underway to upgrade the Laney ballpark to hold upwards of about 3,000 fans. The team will become the first Pioneer League franchise in California, set to play 48 home games in a 96-game schedule at Laney College, about five miles north of the dilapidated Coliseum. The Ballers will feature a familiar look, with a 'B' logo in a nearly identical font to the Athletics' iconic 'A.' 'And so the idea is let's give an alternative, let's give everybody a new team to root for and to come together for.' 'We don't want that to happen, we love baseball, we think that there's a place for it,' Carmel said. 'We just started thinking: 'Where will this go? This can't be the end of the story, and so what is a new chapter for baseball in Oakland?'' Carmel said.Ĭarmel and Freedman feared if they didn't act immediately, the Bay Area would lose a huge number of its baseball fans, who would be bitter about the A's leaving and never come back to the sport.

Now, they will invite anyone to contribute to the early campaign through a crowd-funding platform for the chance at an ownership stake. The Ballers have raised $2 million in seed funding from dozens of diverse investors. 16, Freedman and Carmel were working behind the scenes on the B's, including coordination with fan groups that pushed to keep the low-budget club in Oakland. And regardless of what the A's are going to do, we can't let that legacy end and we have to do something about it.''īefore the A's move was approved Nov. It's too beautiful, it's too intertwined with the city of Oakland. 'Bryan and I were already contemplating it, but after that it was like, 'We cannot let this legacy of baseball end in Oakland. 'That activism, that inspiration, that demonstration of just what a strong fan base was part of the reason. And the moment of silence in the fifth inning, I had goosebumps,' Freedman recalled. 'I found it exciting to kind of thinking outside the box of how can we do something in the city of Oakland, how we can build something, especially with the timing of (the A's) leaving,' Wakamatsu said.Ĭarmel and Freedman were already discussing how they might help A's fans when they were struck by a spirited 'reverse boycott' at the Coliseum on June 13 that attracted a season-best crowd of 27,759. His first game as a fan was at the Coliseum in 1972 and influenced his career path into baseball. He became baseball's first Asian-American big league manager in 2008 and was most recently the Texas Rangers bench coach in 2021.īaseball in the East Bay means so much to Wakamatsu - who has spent the past few years focusing on his non-profit educational organization that helps athletes give back in their communities - that it didn't take a huge sell convincing him to commit. Wakamatsu himself played in the Pioneer League, heading from Arizona State directly to Billings, Montana. And Wakamatsu has a manager in place - San Francisco native and former player Micah Franklin, joined by retired left-hander Ray King as pitching coach. Wakamatsu has already signed nine players, with a roster of 35 to be constructed for the start of spring training in May. I have a real strong history in the Bay Area with players.' 'It gives me an opportunity to kind of build something from the ground up. 'The idea of actually starting an independent franchise in Oakland really intrigued me,' said Wakamatsu, a native of nearby Hayward hired earlier this fall as the B's executive vice president of baseball operations.

Entrepreneurs and co-founders Bryan Carmel and Paul Freedman are putting the team in the hands of former big league manager Don Wakamatsu, who has deep Northern California ties.

The Ballers expect to fill at least some of that void.

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