Will 2023 Oakland A's set modern team record for season losses?

[G1911]

Originally Posted by Casey2296

The demise of this franchise started way back when Bud Selig okayed the sale to John Fisher, I have a low opinion of both those people, Fisher who never intended to invest in a winning ball club and is a silver spoon entitled unsuccessful business man whose Schtick is buying sports teams with his Mommys money, and is the furthest thing from a baseball man. Joe Lakob has had a standing offer to buy the team for over a decade.

That Joe Lakob who bought the Warriors, kept them in Oakland, and invested in the team resulting in 4 NBA championships in 8 years. The sport doesn't need Primadonnas like Fisher.

MLB is also to blame. After the announcement fans hung banners asking to sell the Team, when Ryan Noda hit a homer to right MLB cropped out the banners from its video highlights. And later apologized when they were called on their bullshit.

The City of Oakland also bears responsibility for screwing the Pooch, thinking they had more power than everyone else and the arrogance that comes with that.

Bad folks all the way around, and the guy who suffers is the working class fan who cares more about his team than any of the people mentioned. You want an example of what's wrong with society? This clusterfuck is a perfect example.

Bill Veeck, where are we when we need you...

Certainly the A's have not been a high investment team (it's hard to act like the Dodgers and Yankees when nobody goes to your games). The city has done nothing to keep them. Nobody is trying to nominate Fisher for owner of the year. MLB shouldn't censor fan signs or do many things it does. To observe one problem does not mean one is alleging no other problem exists.

The narrative flying around here in the Bay does not stand to even a cursory fact check. From 2005, when Fisher bought the team, to the present day they have won 1,447 games and lost 1,435. Call it .500. Average overall performance. In none of these years, many of them successful winning seasons (4 times they have finished 1st), have they had even average attendance. People have not cared for a long time, even when they are good. They measurably didn't go, win or lose. Tons of people out here whining never went to a game before and didn't care until it was the trendy-subject-of-the-week-to-complain-and-protest-about.

If people don't go, teams leave. That sucks for their ~10,000 actual 'working class' fans (it sucks for me a bit, I like going for $5 in the evening sometimes though I too have fallen off the last few years with the high crime, drug infested BART, and more drug dealers on the walkway), but it's always worked this way. It's harder to spend more when your fans don't bring in nearly what other clubs fans do. It has always worked that way. The fanbase measurably hasn't cared much for a very long time. If people don't go, even when they finish 1st, of course they will leave when they can. If this is the "clusterfuck" that demonstrates "what is wrong with society", then boy are things almost perfect.

I fail to see what bearing the fact that his very successful parents left him money when his father died has to actually do with this. Shame on them for giving their stuff to their child . I'd love to see who the people whining about this leave their money too in their wills. I bet it's a rando.

[Casey2296]

Originally Posted by G1911

Certainly the A's have not been a high investment team (it's hard to act like the Dodgers and Yankees when nobody goes to your games). The city has done nothing to keep them. Nobody is trying to nominate Fisher for owner of the year. MLB shouldn't censor fan signs or do many things it does. To observe one problem does not mean one is alleging no other problem exists.

The narrative flying around here in the Bay does not stand to even a cursory fact check. From 2005, when Fisher bought the team, to the present day they have won 1,447 games and lost 1,435. Call it .500. Average overall performance. In none of these years, many of them successful winning seasons (4 times they have finished 1st), have they had even average attendance. People have not cared for a long time, even when they are good. They measurably didn't go, win or lose. Tons of people out here whining never went to a game before and didn't care until it was the trendy-subject-of-the-week-to-complain-and-protest-about.

If people don't go, teams leave. That sucks for their ~10,000 actual 'working class' fans (it sucks for me a bit, I like going for $5 in the evening sometimes though I too have fallen off the last few years with the high crime, drug infested BART, and more drug dealers on the walkway), but it's always worked this way. It's harder to spend more when your fans don't bring in nearly what other clubs fans do. It has always worked that way. The fanbase measurably hasn't cared much for a very long time. If people don't go, even when they finish 1st, of course they will leave when they can. If this is the "clusterfuck" that demonstrates "what is wrong with society", then boy are things almost perfect.

I fail to see what bearing the fact that his very successful parents left him money when his father died has to actually do with this. Shame on them for giving their stuff to their child . I'd love to see who the people whining about this leave their money too in their wills. I bet it's a rando.

I get it, you blame it on fan support, I blame it on ownership, if Joe Lakob was the owner and the City of Oakland worked together to make this a winning franchise with a new Stadium and exciting marketing there would be no discussion about keeping the team in Oakland, see SF Giants.
If you don't understand the dynamic of generational wealth and self entitled dynamics that's on you, if you don't earn it you don't appreciate it. Fisher is a perfect example of that.

[seanofjapan]

Don't look now, but somehow the A's no longer have the worst record in the American League.

Kansas City Royals 18-50 0.265
Oakland A's 19-52 0.268

[dmoy]

It's also important to note the insane season ticket price increases that the A's implemented after the pandemic. I had been a season ticket holder since 2003, albeit a partial plan. My costs increased by 60% before the 2020 season to 2022 when they reopened seating to no distancing.

With this 60% increase, almost all of the season ticket holder benefits were taken away: parking discounts, merchandise discount at the team store, and various food/drink deals.

This is almost the plot to "Major League" to a tee; going into 2022, they raised prices, stripped away benefits, and dismantled the team's roster to its bones that had been on pace to a historically bad record this year prior to this recent winning streak. And it's important to note that the Coliseum is now 57 years old with a plethora of upkeep issues (sewage, infestation, et al.) Unlike the older stadiums like Fenway and Wrigley, the Coliseum is a dilapidated concrete bowl shaped for "multi-purpose use" since they had shared with the Raiders.

As an analogy, assume you had a favorite restaurant that you'd been going to weekly, but this restaurant just replaced all of its staff with unproven junior staff, while raising prices and letting its decor deteriorate, would you blame the customers for not going to this restaurant after the changes or blame the ownership?

In 2014, the A's averaged 25k in attendance when they started that season on an incredibly hot start (66-41 through July 31st) that sputtered into a miserable loss in the wild card game against the Royals.

I'll quickly give one reminder about the team's ownership behavior recently: they were the only team that had avoided paying their minor leaguers $400/week during the 2020 Covid shutdown until enough public pressure forced their hand to comply.

Final note: when I called into sadly cancel my season ticket plan after 18 years, the phone call lasted two minutes with no effort for retention or any substantial conversation about why I wanted to cancel my plan. At best, this doesn't like a smartly-run business to not try to retain loyal customers; at worst, this was a premeditated plan to actively drive customers away.

[jayshum]

A's now 20-60 which puts them almost on pace to equal the 1962 Mets. Looks like the 7 game winning streak was an aberration.

[mrreality68]

Originally Posted by jayshum

A's now 20-60 which puts them almost on pace to equal the 1962 Mets. Looks like the 7 game winning streak was an aberration.

amazing they could pull off the 7 game winning streak and than lose so many so badly.
Not sure how they pulled it off.
But they may do it again

[mortimer brewster]

Originally Posted by jayshum

A's now 20-60 which puts them almost on pace to equal the 1962 Mets. Looks like the 7 game winning streak was an aberration.

The 1962 Mets actually went on a 9 win in 12 game streak in May of 1962 before embarking on a 16 game losing streak.

The great thing about baseball is no matter how bad the team is there is usually a small portion of the 162 game schedule where they are actually competent. Gives the fan base a shred of hope.

[mrreality68]

I know they have the luxury tax if you spend over certain limits and
I know the bottom revenue teams get that money that they are supposed to use on payroll to make things more competitive
I know they all do not do that

To me there should be a minimum spend level(spending floor) that should be required for a team to spend on payroll

There should be penalties for teams that do not spend to the floor(ie lose the money they get from the luxury tax.

Not fair to the fans but it is also not fair to the teams giving up the money if it is just lining other owners pockets.