Good Luck to the Oakland B's
Early this morning, when I opened up the app once known as Twitter, I came across an expertly produced video that would amass over 329,00 views by the end of the day.
“Introducing a new team for The Town,” the caption began.
“The Oakland Ballers.”
Or, more succinctly, the Oakland B’s.
The club’s tagline on social is equally as impeccable.
We’re stealing baseball back for Oakland.
Fans first. Oakland forever.
The club’s launch — from the video with shots of “Sell” chants echoing through the Coliseum to the branding of “stealing baseball back for Oakland” — was perfectly done. The B’s pitched themselves as the anti-A’s. It’s as if they ran the John Fisher playbook in reverse.
And yet, by the time I’d finished watching the 2-minute and 19-second video, I was, well, overwhelmingly skeptical.
Starting in May, the B’s will be playing in the Pioneer League. Before Major League Baseball contracted its minor league system after the 2020 season, that was rookie ball, about the lowest rung on the developmental ladder.
Now, it’s one of four MLB Partner Leagues, which means it has no direct affiliation with an individual MLB organization but does collaborate with baseball on initiatives to grow the game.
So, the B’s are an expansion team in indy ball. Laney College — where the club will debut this summer — might be just a nine-minute drive from the Coliseum, but this is as far from the big leagues as it gets.
And yet, I holstered my take. I didn’t feel the need to share my skepticism.
Then I came across an opinion from Damon Bruce, the Bay Area sports broadcasting legend, that perfectly encapsulated my feelings on the launch (Full disclosure: Bruce is a friend and colleague):
“It’s hard to root against people who care about something that was taken away from them. I’ll be rooting for this team to succeed. I’m also going to tell you that I’ve never met anyone that said, ‘Yea, I’m buying tickets to go see Pioneer League baseball. But maybe there will be a spite fanbase, ya know? A spite-base. Maybe that’s it. That’s what they’re counting on. Alright, good luck to them. Good luck to them.”
So, good luck to the B’s. (Skeptically) they’re gonna need it.