To borrow from Major League‘s Harry Doyle: “In case you haven’t noticed, and judging by the attendance, you haven’t, the (Oakland Athletics) have managed to win a few here and there, and are threatening to climb out of the cellar.”
In front of an announced crowd of 9,551 the modern-day equivalent of Major League‘s Cleveland Indians defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 6-3 at Oakland Coliseum on Wednesday. It is the team’s eighth victory of the season, coming nearly three full weeks earlier than win No. 8 did last season.
Don’t start printing playoff tickets just yet. Wednesday’s win avoided a sweep and pushed the Oakland Athletics record to a still-meager 8-11. However, the beleaguered ballclub is not in last place — and in the currently woeful American League West standings, manager Mark Kotsay’s squad is closer to the top floor than the basement.
Oakland Athletics Not Nearly as Pitiful as 2023
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While the Oakland Athletics situation is still a league-wide laughingstock, the on-field product has not been. Pitcher Paul Blackburn has emerged as a legitimate staff ace with a 2-0 record and 1.08 ERA. The eight-year MLB veteran allowed three earned runs Wednesday, the first blemishes in his four starts so far this season.
The team still features a collection of players that remain largely incognito outside of the ballpark, but Kotsay has them playing presentable baseball — even though there are few home fans left to see it.
After Wednesday’s matinee games, the Oakland Athletics have won six of 10 and sit just two games behind the division-leading Texas Rangers — and 2.5 games ahead of the basement-dwelling Houston Astros.
Oakland Athletics’ Off-Field Turmoil Not Going Away
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Wednesday’s announced crowd brought the three-game series total to a paltry 18,355. Justifiably, few more than the diehard-of-diehard Oakland Athletics fans are staying away from the ballpark in droves.
Supporters have been jilted by years of owner John Fisher’s financial antics. With the certainty that this is the final season by the bay — before moving to Sacramento in 2025 and possibly Las Vegas at some point in the future — the organization is assured of the lowest attendance in MLB again in 2024.
The Oakland Athletics have been dead-last in average attendance for three seasons running, and now with the team about to depart, a fourth season is a lead-pipe lock. Attendance has fallen through the floor in 2024, to an average of just 5,968 after hovering around 10,000 per game in 2021-2023.
But for those that do choose to get in a last visit to Oakland Coliseum, they are at least seeing a team worth watching — unlike 2023’s 50-112 abomination.
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Tom Carothers is a sportswriter with more than 20 years of experience covering sports at the high school, collegiate, and professional levels. Still longing for the return of his Minnesota North Stars, he has a high pain tolerance as a big fan of the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Browns, and Tottenham Hotspur.
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