Former A’s owner Haas calls Fisher’s relocation decision ‘unforgivable’ originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Former Athletics owner Walter J. “Wally” Haas passionately criticized current owner John Fisher and his decision to move the team from Oakland.
Haas discussed Fisher’s “inexcusable” choice to leave the Bay rather than sell the A’s in an exclusive interview with John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle published Wednesday.
“It’s been very difficult for me to see this happen,” Haas told Shea. “Our family had a very different philosophy about owning and operating the team than what’s happening with the current ownership.”
Shea added that Haas, speaking on behalf of himself, his family and the A’s fans, told him that Fisher’s move was “frankly inexcusable,” “tough to watch” and “indefensible.”
Oakland will lose its team at the end of the 2024 MLB season. It’s a foregone conclusion.
Fisher has a league-approved plan to move the A’s to Las Vegas and has agreed to have his club play at Sutter Health Park, home of the Giants’ Triple-A Sacramento River Cats, in West Sacramento for the 2025, 2026 and 2027 seasons.
Haas simply doesn’t approve of the way Fisher has run the franchise since he founded it in 2005. Most frustrating for the former team president, however, is how Fisher turned down opportunities to keep the A’s in the Bay Area by selling to a reputable group or investing more in the roster and fans.
“I think what makes it so difficult for me and obviously a lot of others to watch is the fact that, unlike my father who was the last hope in Oakland at the time, it certainly appears that John was approached by a number of groups — I know he was — to buy the team and keep it here, one in particular, which was pretty public and certainly viable, is of course Joe Lacob and his group,” Haas told Shea of Fisher’s ignorance of the Warriors’ successful, interested owner.
“Here’s a group that already checked all the boxes. He’s proven that he can build a privately funded facility here in Northern California in the modern era. He had championship aspirations and results and, just as importantly, would have given John a much greater return on his investment than he or his father [Don] had considered when they decided to buy the team. And for those reasons, I find John’s decision to move the team to be absolutely inexcusable.”
The A’s have reached the MLB playoffs just seven times under Fisher and consistently rank near the bottom of the league’s attendance charts.
Haas is very disappointed with Fisher’s overall on-field product and lack of community involvement.
“We felt the best way to make it as strong a community asset as possible was to do everything we could to bring a world championship to Oakland, which we were fortunate enough to be able to do,” Haas told Shea of himself and his father, former A’s owner Walter A. Haas.
The Coliseum’s rising ticket prices and constant trading of star players also irritate the former owner, Shea said.
“I appreciate that John made a tremendous investment to find real estate to build the stadium,” Haas told Shea, “but here’s where John made a mistake: He made it very clear that he would not invest in the team until he had a stadium, and I think he got that wrong.
“I think he needed to get community support … Invest in the team … but he let the team go and raised the ticket prices. I mean, that’s not a great combination when you’re trying to get support to build a stadium locally. I think it was a huge missed opportunity and a huge mistake.”
Haas wants the A’s to stay in Oakland. He also told Shea how angry he is with the league for unanimously approving Fisher’s move, especially after MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in 2018 that staying in Oakland was the best option.
“You’re giving up a community where fans, for valid reasons, are staying away,” Haas explained to Shea. “I wish baseball could have done more. I know with the right ownership, the A’s could thrive in this region.”
Fans lose their teams. Kids lose role models. Employees lose their jobs. Haas despises that aspect of the process.
There’s no getting around it: baseball is a tough business.
Haas watches miserably as things — or the Oakland A’s, for that matter — unfold before his eyes. He and his family never imagined the day they would be running the franchise.
But change is here. And Fisher has had change on his mind for a long time.
