The Oakland Ballers, the scrappy little baseball team that has stepped up to the plate in the aftermath of the Athletics beating town, are continuing to do something few teams in American sports have done: giving a piece of themselves to the fans.
Earlier this year, the Ballers launched an investment round for fans to buy stakes in the team. And starting soon, one of those investors will gain a seat on the team’s six-member board of directors.
The idea is to keep up the momentum and goodwill the team gained with locals over the last year by ensuring community input is at the center of the business.
A team spokesperson said a board member representing the fan’s perspective is “a distinct move towards redefining the relationship between sports teams and their fans.”
Two months ago, the team invited its new, 2,000-plus fan investors to apply for a seat on the board, and more than 75 of them heeded the call. Now that the team staff has pared down the candidates to 11 people, all community team investors are voting this week on which two will move on to the final match. The deadline to vote on the 11 candidates is tonight at midnight.
The team wanted the voting investors to focus on the following parameters: people’s experience in the local community; previous experience on boards; an ability to generate fun, creative ideas; and their connection to the team thus far.
The diverse slate of candidates includes a mother of two girl softball players, a former president of Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, and a passionate leader of the fan protests against Oakland A’s owner John Fisher.
Each of the final candidates created a video to appeal to investors, which is now available on the team’s YouTube channel and Google Drive.
We spoke to several candidates over the phone Wednesday to gauge their feelings before the final group vote and ask what they could bring to the team.
The candidates
Trevor with his family in the East Bay. Photo: Trevor Frandsen
Trevor Frandsen, a marketing manager with clients like Coldwell Banker, is an East Bay native living in Pleasant Hill who grew up attending A’s games. He said his marketing skills could help continue to develop the team’s brand and connection to the community. One thing he would recommend on the board would be creating an advisory council of fans that would meet consistently, possibly over Zoom, and provide honest opinions about the team.
“I always dreamed about being part of a team, especially since my dad was a minor league player and my brother is the strength and conditioning coach for the Texas Rangers,” he said.
Frandsen said he’s been especially excited to teach baseball to his young children and make it a core memory in their lives.
Jorge Leon is the founder of the Oakland ’68s, an A’s fan group and nonprofit Credit: Amir Aziz
Jorge Leon, the founder of the Oakland 68’s, a fan group named for the social movements that happened in 1968, might be a likely favorite to win the contest. He grew his profile by appearing in several regional and national stories as the A’s wound down their tenure here; he even wrote one of them for The Oaklandside. But he said he wouldn’t mind if other candidates won because they all appear to bring excellent qualities to the team. He will still be rooting for the team hard even if he loses because baseball is important to his life and helped him get off and stay off dangerous streets when he was younger.
Leon said he hasn’t thought much about the A’s since the team left two months ago.
“It’s a sad situation, but there is a new opportunity for fans and the community to make the Ballers a staple of this community. We didn’t have that with the A’s. They were worried about the bottom line,” he said.
Pat Kelly was a long-time executive at Pfizer. Photo: Pat Kelly
Pat Kelly, a retiree and former president at Pfizer, has lived everywhere. He was born in Georgia, grew up in North Carolina, lived most of his professional life in New York, and moved to Berkeley years ago. Kelly said baseball had been a part of his life and that he had seen dozens of baseball stadiums, including many no longer around. He said he loved attending A’s games with his family and was sad when they announced they were leaving.
But just this year, his family gifted him Ballers stock for his birthday, and he became energized and excited to join a new startup.
“My family is over the moon about this board candidacy because they know I love baseball and because of the potential of starting something from the ground up that could be meaningful,” he said.
Kelly said he can see himself helping the team have a sustainable business in Oakland, but his veteran executive skills prevent him from promising exactly how he’ll do that. He said his approach is to ask questions first and then figure out what is needed.
Alison ran in one of the condiment races at a Ballers game and told us she still thinks about her loss. Photo: Allyson Yuen
Allyson Yuen, an outreach and community partnerships professional, said she wants to bring nontraditional fans to the Ballers games. Over the years, she said, baseball has gotten a bad rap for being too dull and slow, but maybe people would change their minds if they were part of a community team.
Yuen has been a big baseball fan since she was a child. She has fond memories of attending games at the Coliseum with her dad, who encouraged her and her siblings to wear a glove to catch a ball, even though they usually sat far too deep to catch one. He passed away when she was 10 years old, but Yuen continued to attend games, often thinking about him. That’s why she had such a hard time when the A’s announced their decision to leave.
“It was like a little bit of my dad was gone because he loved baseball. It always felt like I was hanging out again with him there. Before we lost the team to a billionaire who doesn’t give a shit,” she said.
Yuen said that if her dad were alive, he’d be thrilled she was getting involved with a new team.
Sharina loves to support local sports teams. Photo: Sharina Criswell
Sherina Criswell, a social worker for Contra Costa County’s intense self-harm hotline, looks to sports to relax in her time off. She’s always loved following the top local teams, from the San Francisco 49ers to the Golden State Warriors to the A’s, because she also grew up in a house with great athletes. The departure of the A’s embittered Criswell, but she said that one thing she’s learned in her life is that there are always great opportunities for transformation in difficult times. And that is how she sees the Ballers.
“The Ballers were meant to be. Being in the atmosphere and friendly environment they made, it’s something I didn’t think I’d be able to experience [again],” she said.
Criswell said that the Ballers should view their games as an opportunity to partner with city and county departments to bring mental health services to residents. She suggested that people get peer-to-peer counseling before games.
Jade Le has the support of her family members and friends. Photo: Jade Le
Jade Le, a former softball player and community advocate who’s worked to reduce tobacco use among youth, is now running a popular goods company in the East Bay. She has a detailed three-point plan to help the team: improving community engagement, identifying stadium improvements, and creating a five-year strategic plan. She also wants the team to work with local schools to strengthen its connection to the community.
Le said all her friends and family have supported her candidacy and her excitement about the Ballers: “My mom thinks I’m crazy in a good way. ‘If you feel confident, go ahead and try,’” she told me.”
Rachel Egenhoefer’s girls are especially excited about seeing more dogs at Ballers games. Photo: Rachel Egenhoefer
Rachel Beth Egenhoefer, a design professor, said it was a no-brainer to join the team once the investment opportunity came up. A mom of young softball players, Egenhoefer said she especially appreciated the opportunity to think about the positive effect she can have on a local level instead of obsessing over the recent national election. She said part of her work involved thinking about designing environmentally sustainable systems, and she believes what the Ballers are doing fits into that thinking.
“What they’re doing is absolutely sustainable in terms of revitalizing West Oakland, bringing in different community sponsors, community partnerships, building up a neighborhood, building up community, building a team in a different way,” she said.
Egenhoefer said her baseball-loving girls are especially excited to be a part of her campaign and that their idea is to have more games where dogs can attend.
Will Kruse, left, with his father at an A’s game. Photo: Will Kruse
Will Kruse, a fourth-generation union plumber, told us his family had been going to A’s games since the team first came to Oakland. Kruse remembers being taken out of school by his grandfather to go midweek games at the Coliseum and feeling really connected to both his family and the team. When the A’s decided to leave, he thought that the personal connection he had to baseball would be gone. But when the Ballers showed up, he realized that the small-fry Pioneer League could be big league in its own way.
“The day they announced the team, I bought a hat, bought a jersey,” he said. “I was there for opening day. My son Teddy was born in June, but I made it to about six or eight games or so this year. And I just loved everything about it.”
Kruse said he would focus on strengthening the connection to the community if he became a board member, including by making games more accessible to people with disabilities. Just as important, he said, is ensuring that the Ballers are the type of organization that embodies the values and the beauty of Oakland in the face of so many national misconceptions.
“You travel outside the Bay Area and talk to almost anyone and tell them you’re from Oakland, and they’ll go, ‘I’m so sorry to hear that’ or ‘What’s that like?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, it’s beautiful,’” he said. “Like, there’s so much beauty in Oakland, and there’s so much community and togetherness. And that community has gathered around the Ballers.”
We didn’t get to speak to all of the candidates, but if you want to learn more about Nancy McGee, Richard Eichmann, and Willis White, you can watch their videos on YouTube.
“*” indicates required fields