Few American professional sports franchises had engendered less goodwill in recent years than the Athletics.
Owner John Fisher’s long-standing fight with the city of Oakland ended when the city refused to fund his vision for a new stadium. The franchise announced a move to Las Vegas, but it will have to wait for a new stadium to be built (something that remains very much in question). In the meantime, Fisher moved the team out of Oakland, where it had played since 1968, and brought them to Sacramento for a stay so temporary that the franchise won’t take the city’s name while there.
Years of animosity between the franchise and its fans (as well as Major League Baseball media) boiled over during those final seasons in Oakland. Given the vitriol that so many heartbroken A’s fans (and others) were understandably throwing their way, the team started turning off comments on social media posts. After a bit of back-and-forth, that became the status quo for all Athletics social media content for almost 2 years.
However, Saturday’s post did two things that immediately stood out to anyone paying attention. First, it called for people to comment on their favorite Athletics home run of the season. Second, they allowed people to share those comments below.
From Silver Sluggers to All-Stars to grand slams—this season had some pretty electric highlights.
Comment your favorite home run our guys hit this year 👇 pic.twitter.com/TnFtQsuEFS
— Athletics (@Athletics) November 8, 2025
Along with X, the ban on their Instagram account had also been lifted.
According to Last Dive Bar, the former A’s fan group, this ended a 655-day ban on user comments across all social media platforms.
With that, two very predictable things happened. One, social media users flocked to comment on the A’s posts. Two, those comments were overwhelmingly about how much owner John Fisher sucks, how he should sell the team, and how Oakland got robbed.
Credit: A’s Instagram account
As Jason Burke of Athletics on SI noted, the comment ban also contributed to a sizable loss in social media followers over the last few years.
“At one point about a year ago, there were up past at least 605,000 followers on Twitter/X,” wrote Burke. “That number now sits at 586,800. Only the Miami Marlins have fewer followers on the social media platform.”
Unfortunately, for those who have remained loyal to the A’s, as well as new fans in Sacramento, the franchise continues to be committed to a Las Vegas dream they may never realize, all the while burying its head in the sand amid the criticism it keeps receiving. The question now isn’t what they’ll do with their comments turned back on, but whether or not they’ll turn them off again when they realize the anger hasn’t gone anywhere.