They have the whole city to themselves.
That was the main feeling among the Oakland Ballers fans we spoke with last night as the team opened its second season at a sold-out Raimondi Field in West Oakland.
Last year, amid a sad and long and occasionally angry goodbye to the city’s Major League Baseball team, the Ballers got a ton of local and national attention as the plucky alternative to the Athletics. But now, with the A’s in Sacramento, the focus is on what the Ballers can do on the field and whether the people off it will still support them.
On Tuesday night, at least, the small startup with big aspirations had everyone’s attention.
The Ballers came back from a 4-1 deficit to tie the game in the ninth inning, the rally ending in a pickle play that was exciting if not exactly awe-inspiring. Then came the fun weirdness of Pioneer League baseball: a home run derby to decide the game.
Instituted a few years ago to avoid drawn-out games, the rule replaced extra innings with a system whereby each team chooses one hitter to hit as many homers as possible in two minutes, with any non-home run swing counting as an out. A hitter gets five outs.
After the Raptors’ designated hitter went first and failed to hit one out, the Ballers’ Tremaine Cobb smacked the first ball he saw into the night sky and clear over the left field fence. His teammates mobbed him, the fans went crazy, and a happy old song — Kool and The Gang’s “Celebration,” which the A’s used to play after every home victory — blared from the speakers, leaving everyone to walk away in a familiar ecstasy.
An Oakland Ballers fans watches as the team claws back into the game late in the evening. Credit: Jose Fermoso
Michelle Ottoboni, a first-time season ticket holder, told us that she grew up in Oakland watching baseball and that the presence of the Ballers meant they were now the team getting her full support. We asked if she knew how the old team was doing. She said she did, and it made her even more excited to be in Oakland.
“They’re doing horribly, at least as far as pulling in a crowd, and as far as their win-loss [record], I think they’re not doing very well,” she said. “ I also think it’s interesting that Rickey Henderson passed away, so he didn’t have to see the A’s being over.”
Alex Navarro, Paulina Gonzales, and their children were among the first to enter the game last night. Photo: Jose Fermoso
Alex Navarro, who attended several games last year but was taking his family to Raimondi for the first time last night, told us that he “doesn’t care” about the A’s, even though it was hard to hear from his young daughter that she missed the Stomper mascot. He said the most important thing was maintaining Oakland sports’ atmosphere and unique culture.
“The fans set the atmosphere. It is just nothing like it. I mean, for those who are from around here, they understand, you know? It all comes from the heart,” Navarro said.
Navarro’s wife, Paulina Gonzales, who works at Crocker Highlands Elementary School, told us that she has noticed a heightened excitement for the Ballers from schoolchildren since last year, when the team shared the city’s baseball stage.
“Everyone there is talking about Oakland Ballers, they talk about the Oakland Roots [too]. The conversation has shifted: These teams left us now, so we’re focused on the Oakland Roots and the Oakland Ballers, and we’re supporting Oakland because [they’re part of the] community,” she said.
The Oakland Baseball Foundation’s 12U squad, comprising some of the best young city ballplayers, attended the game last night and walked on the field with the pro team. Photo: Jose Fermoso
Last year, the Ballers also connected with an essential aspect of Oakland baseball: They began sponsoring a travel baseball team made up of Little Leaguers, most of them around 12 years old. The team partnered with the Oakland Baseball Foundation to develop these travel teams and to help the kids build resilience and other soft skills. The head baseball coach of that team, Eric Lytle, was at the game last night with his players, who were all sporting black Ballers jerseys.
He said most of the kids were A’s fans, which led to some hard conversations with them, but they were excited to see a team support their city. “ They’re proud,” Lytle said, as the players messed around with friends and laughed with happy energy.
The coach said the mini-Ballers will play other travel teams with “high-level” players from the Central Valley and Tri-Valley area throughout the year. During its first year last year, the team won one of the tournaments it entered.
Vanessa Sales and Drew Harris ate food and talked to people before the game. Photo: Jose Fermoso
Drew Harris and Vanessa Sales were also enjoying the vibe outside the field as much as the mini-Ballers. We talked to them right after Vanessa danced with the Ballers’ mascot, Scrappy, named after a weird possum that lived at the Coliseum.
Sales said she was still “pissed off” at A’s owner John Fisher for taking away the team but was now focusing on the Ballers. Harris said he was trying to learn more about the Pioneer League to better understand what the team needed to do to get into the playoffs and win. More importantly, Harris said, he saw people at the game giving the Ballers the same level of care that they seem to be giving back to Oakland.
“ Oakland has a really passionate sports fan base. If they’re treated with respect, we obviously show up. And show out. And we’ll always chant loud,” Harris said.
Bryan and Lisa Grow biked in from the hills to watch the game. Photo: Jose Fermoso
As they walked in from the street into the field, Bryan and Lisa Grow loved the good energy emanating from the people and also appreciated that the team had set up an easy bike valet across the street. Both cycled down from their home in Redwood Heights to the game, a seven-mile trip that took 51 minutes and 21 seconds. “I’m ready for a beer,” Bryan said.
Lisa Grow said she has followed some of the A’s games this year, but not very closely. She mostly does it because she loves baseball and the great play-by-play of Ken Korach. “But I’m not really emotionally invested in the A’s,” she said.
Both appreciated the team’s investment in the historic Raimondi ballpark to make the games easier to watch, which also felt like the beginning of something bigger.
“ I think it’s hard to start something, so now that they’ve started, they can build on it. I know they did a lot to the stands a bit, and Prescott Market is open,” he said.
Philip Hall and his mother, both Oakland natives, attended opening day like they did for years at the Coliseum. Photo: Jose Fermoso
After decades of attending A’s games, Philip Hall and his mother were giving the Ballers a try. She said she cried when the A’s fled last year and closed that era of baseball at the Coliseum. She refuses to go to Sacramento to watch the old team.
Philip, a sports management graduate who’s working as a broadcaster, told us that he paid attention to the vast disparity in how the two teams were managed and how they listened to the community. Hall said that if fans want something and the team implements it in some visible way, that’s notable.
“They have the model for what baseball in Oakland should look like from a fan standpoint: for the people and by the people,” Hall said.
Hall also said having more teams in lower-level leagues was great because they could provide more opportunities to players to hone their skills.
Ji Lee and her friends watched the game in the first inning from the stands. Photo: Jose Fermoso
Ji Lee and two of her friends also attended the game, and we talked to them at their seats right behind home plate. Lee, who said she considered herself divorced from the A’s and would not support any other Major League team because they were all involved in the “debacle,” said that she appreciated that the tickets they had were a great value. She never got that type of seat at that kind of price at A’s games.
Lee’s friend Eva Bing told us she walked to the game from her nearby job in West Oakland and would try to make as many games as possible. Many others told us they also appreciated the stadium’s walk-up character, the way you can park your car or bike and be in your seat in five minutes or less.
On the left side of the field, Chris and Anna enjoyed the game and the receding sunset. Photo: Jose Fermoso
Chris and Anna, two transplants to Oakland from Columbus, Ohio, told us they’ve always supported smaller teams. They used to attend AAA games back in the Midwest, even as major teams like the Cleveland Guardians, Cincinnati Reds, and Chicago Cubs surrounded them. When they got to Oakland, they did attend A’s games in the aftermath of the pandemic, but the team’s selloff of important players was a huge turnoff. The Ballers represented an opportunity to return to baseball with a clean slate and an open heart.
“I liked the whole idea about everybody coming together to support the local team and just, you know, be happy to have the sports team here and be able to pull behind them no matter what,” Anna said.
Jerome Atendido, a longtime staffer at the digital music pioneer Pandora in downtown Oakland, was also attending with his daughter. Atendido said it was gutting to see the A’s leave. He had changed his allegiances from the San Francisco Giants when he moved his family to Oakland, around the same time his daughter was born so that they could root for the same team. He is unaware of how the A’s are doing.
“Honestly, I don’t know what’s going on. It’s kind of the same as when the Raiders left. Once they abandoned Oakland, I don’t want anything to do with you anymore. I’m not gonna give you money. You lost my loyalty,” he said.
Atendido said he sees himself and his daughter coming to many games this year, especially as she has a strong interest in the sport as a softball player.
The Oakland 68s’ Jorge Leon spoke with friends and fans in the food concourse, enjoying the fruits of his years of fan advocacy. Photo: Jose Fermoso
Jorge Leon, one of the most public of former A’s fans and the founder of the Oakland ’68s fan group, told us he loved being among his Oakland baseball people. Drinking a beer, he told us he no longer felt the emotional pull of the MLB season as part of his yearly calendar. That started when, as a form of protest, the fan group stopped attending spring break last year after years of vacationing and supporting the team in Phoenix.
Leon said that everyone at his job at EBMUD was talking for days about going to the Ballers game.
“ I was kind of surprised. Everyone was like, ‘Oh, you’re going to the Ballers game?’ Nothing about like, ‘Hey, the A’s are playing the Giants [in San Francisco].’ That’s what made me like, like, ‘Oh shit. Yeah. Baseball season starts today,’” he said.
Carlos and Jillian Martinez left the game a couple of innings early, but they said they’d be back dozens of times this year. Photo: Jose Fermoso
Carlos and Jillian Martinez were also at the game with their two kids, one of whom was celebrating a birthday. Jillian said that the accessible nature of the stadium and the relaxed atmosphere made it perfect for kids. They expected to attend at least half of the teams’ 40-plus home games this year.
“ Last year, we came with a bunch of kids, and we all sat in general admission, and all the kids would just run up on top of the bleachers. And there’s another big group of kids at the bottom of the general admission, and they were doing like arts and crafts,” she said.
Ballers usher Robert Madera, a former A’s staffer, provided needed perspective about the former team and the new one gaining attention citywide. Photo: Jose Fermoso
As the game wound down, we talked to Robert Madera, a Ballers usher holding down the pathway along the left side of the outfield.
Madera said that although he grew up in New Jersey as a Yankees fan, his longtime residence in the East Bay also made him a big A’s fan. He ushered for them for years until the team left in 2024, leaving him and others without a place to go to for fun and work. He took that job in his retirement to get extra cash, so he was more worried about younger A’s staff who relied on their job to raise families. He was also sad that decades of memories no longer had any connection to the present-day team.
” When they left, it was personal. I saw a lot of people whose hearts were broken. I had so many people that used to come up to me and say, ‘My father used to take me [to the Coliseum] and now I’m taking my kids here,’” he said.
Yet, like many others, Madera was bullish about the new team.
As the ball went over the fence and people jumped up and down to celebrate the win, the Oakland retiree could be seen raising his hands in the air, pumping his fist, and looking around at people he’d never met before. They hugged and high-fived as if they’d all known each other their whole lives.
A fun game between innings pitted young children against each other to see who could speak with a mouth full of marshmallows. Photo: Jose Fermoso 
The hot weather turned into a chilly night as the game wore on. Photo: Jose Fermoso
Scrappy joined a young rapper to sing the team’s Scrappy theme song. Photo: Jose Fermoso
Fans began to get excited around the seventh-inning stretch, expecting an exciting finish. Photo: Jose Fermoso
Some old-school A’s hot dog vendors have returned to work for the Ballers. Photo: Jose Fermoso
One of the opposing players waited for his turn to bat. Photo: Jose Fermoso
A group of seagulls flew over the field after the first pitch. Photo: Jose Fermoso
The game was sold out, with more than 4,000 people attending. Photo: Jose Fermoso
People stood for the National Anthem before the game. Photo: Jose Fermoso
The Ballers gave out free baseballs to fans for the first game. Photo: Jose Fermoso
Many fans said they appreciated several of the art pieces around the field, all from Oakland-based artists. Photo: Jose Fermoso
“*” indicates required fields