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

[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.

[packs]

What a game from German. Are there any A's fans left?

[mrreality68]

Originally Posted by packs

What a game from German. Are there any A's fans left?

I wonder how many of the over 12K fans were oakland fans vs Fans going to see the Yankees.

Regardless those fans saw history and have the ticket stubs to prove it(if they were not the electronic version)