A Farewell to the A's, But Not to Oakland: Platinum Storage's Commitment
Established in 1901, the Oakland A’s have been a cornerstone of Oakland’s sports town charm, until recently. The Oakland based ball club decided to close the doors of it’s iconic stadium “since 2005” said Owner John Fischer told Las Vegas Review reporter Mick Ackers “our goal since then has been to find a new home and build a new home for the team”. However, residents and fans alike pointed to the Fischer families’ repeated attempts to leave the city before the aforementioned 2005 date as an indication of a larger underlying issue plaguing the residents of Oakland; corporate greed, has been pointed to as the primary reason the once beloved Baseball team is leaving a city they called home for over a century. Between 1905 and 1990 the Oakland A’s became World Series champions a staggering 9 times, besting superteams like the Yankees, Cubs and Dodgers (though under different names at the time) and cementing themselves as a top tier organization for years to come. Following their crushing 0-4 series loss at the hands of the Cincinnati Reds, Oakland’s team would face a period of mediocrity only seen in teams that consistently finish at the bottom of the table.
The A’s would make the championship series just two years later against the relatively new Toronto Blue Jays, where they would once again fall short against an inferior team (at least on paper), an aging Mark Mcguire was not able to rescue the A’s after falling behind the Blue Jays in a 3-2 series. Mcguire’s 42 home runs in the regular season were thrown in stark contrast to his .130 batting average for the championship series. Oakland’s woes became so bad that Hollywood took notice, the 2002 season of the Oakland A’s was immortalized in the iconic movie “Moneyball” starring Brad Pitt as the A’s struggling manager who uses analytical tools, data and statistics to make the most important decisions of the team.
Decisions like player personnel, at bats and scouting were no longer made through visual tests and feel, this process would lead to back to back playoff appearances for a ball club that was experiencing and unprecedented slump, Just 4 years later the A’s would find themselves in the championship series yet again, looking to return to the promised land was an angry first baseman named Frank Thomas, hitting 39 home runs during the regular season would see his team face the White Sox in the ALCS. Facing his former team, Thomas and the A’s were swept 4-0 in a lopsided series leading to yet another disappointing season and the last time Oakland would make the championship series.
One might wonder if a team as successful as the A’s would move from an iconic stadium as old as the coliseum for an unproven market like Vegas due to greed, however the residents of Oakland did not seem to have any doubt. A “reverse boycott” was scheduled in the last year of the stadium’s life by residents and fans of the Oakland A’s, the boycott would see a packed stadium chant “sell the team” among other more explicit phrases aimed at ownership in an effort to have their voice be heard. Although it’s doors are closing, the coliseum will remain as a testament to the established tradition of sports the town of Oakland has.
WIth so many corporations moving away we at Platinum Storage would like to reaffirm its commitment to the city of Oakland as well as it’s residents. Our roots in Oakland run deep, from individuals with personal storage, companies with corporate storage or simply storing vehicles we have not and will not back down from providing safe, quality storage for the residents of Oakland as well as surrounding cities.
