We need to talk about how bad the Oakland A’s are.
This isn’t just a bad team.
It’s not just a horrible team.
This is even beyond the worst team of our lifetimes.
This blame lies squarely on the owner John J. Fisher.
He pulled a real life Major League and made the team awful on purpose.
Meanwhile, he put a product out there that has no chance of success.
It’s sabotage and Rob Manfred and the rest of MLB stood by and let it happen.
Teams have gotten off to worse starts in history.
The 1988 Baltimore Orioles started off 0-21.
They fired Cal Ripken Sr. who was the manager after an 0-6 start.
Billy Ripken was an unfortunate Sports Illustrated coverboy during the streak.
So why do I think the A’s will be so much worse than even the 1988 Orioles?
Stats like this don’t help.
Stats like this don’t help either.
Here are the three worst ERA’s in the American League this season by team:
13.
5.43 (Chicago White Sox)
14.
5.50 (Kansas City Royals)
15.
He’s made four starts.
It hasn’t gone well.
It was flush the A’s had no intention of being even remotely competitive during the last off-season.
I have zero issues with tanking.
What redemption do A’s fans get for sitting through this?
MLB is treating them like Brooks.
The Reds are also a horrible team.
These games are in Oakland.
The only promotion all weekend is a Tony Kemp poster giveaway on Sunday.
Tony Kemp is hitting .157.
In May alone, they play the Mariners, Astros, Yankees, Rangers and Braves.
That’s 13 games against the Mariners and Astros alone.
Things are going to get even worse.
A commissioners job is to ensure there is competition in the league.
This is beyond tanking for the future.
The A’s are committing baseball malpractice and Rob Manfred will do nothing.
This script was written years ago.
The A’s moving to Las Vegas was inevitable.
To some extent, I completely understand.
Las Vegas is a deserving MLB market.
It just feels like Oakland never got a real chance to save their team.
The way the A’s are leaving is bad for Oakland and for baseball.
It’s one thing to enter the league like the 1962 Mets and go 40-120.
A new team is exciting and is brimming with hope.
It’s quite another to go 36-126 on the way out the door.
This is right there with General Sherman and Lost as the worst ways to leave anything.
This is a dreadful team that will have a very difficult time getting to 10 wins by Memorial Day.
There is probably no right way to leave a city but there certainly is a wrong way.
