Oakland fans want a 'last hurrah' with A's, -2-

Hal Gordon probably had the most creative idea for A's fans who are struggling with their decision of whether to actually attend games this year. Gordon is known as "Hal the Hot Dog Guy" to fans because he spent years selling hot dogs in the Coliseum stands in full regalia and leading fan chants, a job that helped him work his way to a Ph.D in economics at the University of California, Berkeley.

Gordon suggested that fans donate money to Schools over Stadiums, a group of Nevada teachers who are suing to stop the public funding their state has dedicated to the A's stadium.

"Your money, I think, goes so far with political donations potentially, if we all sort of give together," he told me. "You know, it's sort of like buying carbon offsets. If you're gonna be a bad environmental steward, then you might as well give some money to help out on the other end. It's like John Fisher offsets."

Then there are the fans who are not really boycotting at all. A fan named Colt, who trains service dogs, told me she was planning to go to more A's games this summer, especially after she receives a new prospect puppy in May - a largely empty Coliseum is apparently a great place to train service dogs on how to be in a baseball stadium.

"The Coliseum is my happy place," she said. "If it's gone, I don't ever want to be thinking, 'Why didn't I go to more games while I could?'"

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Organizers of the boycott say they don't mind any approach A's fans take, part of the grassroots ethos of the group.

"Summer of Boycott is not necessarily fully boycotting, because we're not telling people what to do. We're not," Johansen said. "We're not imposing any sort of way that they should be processing this relocation at all. All we're saying is, we're giving an alternative."

That alternative is making history, and it has already accomplished a major goal: Changing the national view of Oakland fans. When the A's announced their move last April, much of the national reaction was to blame A's fans for not showing up to games in recent years, or say they had no fans to begin with.

"I feel like the narrative is shifted after all these years of being annoyed as a fan for people just not understanding the landscape within Oakland, and the relationship between the fans and the empty seats," Johansen said.

"That's a huge weight that's lifted off my chest as a fan that now that's not the status quo of what people come to know about Oakland."

With the loud boycott, the rest of the nation now knows that Oakland has some of the best fans in America. I feel that's an incredible accomplishment that will live on no matter what happens with the A's.

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03-28-24 1713ET

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