The A’s might not change their name in Las Vegas, which is dumb

Could the A’s name stay in Las Vegas when the franchise moves?

The Las Vegas A’s?

That could be the franchise name after the Oakland team leaves the Bay Area, although we haven’t gotten that far. So far, all we know is the A’s will be moving to Vegas, although that may officially happen in 2028 after their stadium is finished.

But in an interview back in April, Athletics president Dave Kaval made it sound like no new name is coming (see below).

This is a bad idea. First off, the Vegas move should result in a Vegas-y name for branding purposes. You’ll only anger already-angry A’s fans by keeping it.

Second? As some fans pointed out, the Las Vegas A’s sound like … the Las Vegas Aces, who already exist:

Maybe rethink that one?

4 stadiums (Oracle Park?) the A’s could play in while their Las Vegas home is being built

The A’s will be homeless between 2024 and 2028, when their Las Vegas stadium is

It’s official, as of Thursday: The A’s will be relocating from their longtime home in Oakland to Las Vegas after the move was unanimously approved by MLB owners.

It’s awful news for fans in the Bay Area, who tried so hard through protests, chants and reverse boycotts to force owners to sell the team, and it also brings up a lot of questions: When will the A’s actually play in Vegas?

The answer is: If the new stadium in Las Vegas is done by 2028, the A’s will play there then.

But after the Oakland Coliseum lease expires in 2024? They’ll be homeless. Let’s run through where they could play in those few seasons:

When will the A’s actually play in Vegas after vote officially means they’re out of Oakland?

Now that the A’s are officially moving to Vegas, when will they actually play in Sin City?

It’s an awful day for Oakland A’s fans.

Per USA TODAY Sports’ Bob Nightengale, MLB owners voted to approve the franchise moving from Oakland to Las Vegas, despite season-long protests from die-hards and chants of “SELL THE TEAM!”

If you’re wondering when the A’s will actually play in Las Vegas? It’s slightly complicated.

For one, the lease for the A’s to play in Oakland Coliseum runs through 2024, so they’ll have one more season by the Bay before a move … but a stadium in Vegas will reportedly be ready in 2028.

So where will they play in those three seasons? No official word on that since the news just broke on this vote. Stay tuned.

The careless, frugal A’s messed up with their wine retirement gift for Miguel Cabrera in every way

Miguel Cabrera may have preferred non-alcoholic champagne.

Future Hall of Fame slugger Miguel Cabrera is nearing his retirement from the MLB and he is receiving some love in his final professional games.

It’s not uncommon practice to provide something nice for a legend before they transition into retirement. The Guardians gave him a custom guitar as a nod to the nearby Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, for example.

On Thursday night, meanwhile, the A’s honored Cabrera with a cabernet sauvignon from Caymus Vineyards. It was nice of the team to honor the 12-time All-Star and two-time AL MVP. But a little more thought may have gone a long way.

Cabrera spent three months in an outpatient treatment program to focus on getting sober in 2010. He faced legal issues due to his drinking in 2009 and again in 2011.

When the Tigers won their division in 2012, out of respect for his sobriety, the team made sure to have non-alcoholic champagne available. Still, though, Cabrera excused himself from the celebration.

As recently as last year, when he recorded the 3,000th hit of his career, he celebrated with a glass of non-alcoholic champagne. The A’s really could have used just an extra second of research to make sure they respected his sobriety.

Oakland, however, isn’t the only team to make this sort of mistake. The Marlins (where he played from 2003 until 2007 and where he won his only World Series) got Cabrera a bottle of rum.

Houston got a bottle of wine for Cabrera as well but at least that one was a touch more personal as it was from the vineyard that Astros manager Dusty Baker owns.

The A’s (almost predictably) didn’t have as much to offer in the mindfulness department. If you were wondering if this is some kind of vintage wine that could have value, the results show that he could have gotten his hands on his own at the same size from the same year for around $90.

Now, if your buddy got you a bottle of well-reviewed $90 wine, that is pretty generous. But remember: The A’s are worth over $1 billion!

In fairness to the organization, though, it’s not like they are spending a ton of money on their own players either. They currently have the lowest payroll in the MLB and Cabrera has a yearly salary that is more than 50 percent of the entire books for the A’s.

For what it is worth, the bottle was autographed by the team. But it is unlikely how much that would actually increase the value of the present. It isn’t exactly exciting to have the signatures of a team that is more than 30 games below .500 and the worst record in the MLB.

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MLB fan made a barehanded home run catch while holding his nachos and didn’t spill a drop of cheese

How did he catch this?!?!

The MLB might want to take a look at this Cleveland Guardians fan who made one of the best catches you’re likely to see this season.

During the Oakland A’s 8-5 win over the hosting Chicago White Sox on Thursday night, A’s outfielder Brent Rooker knocked a 418-feet homer out of the diamond and into the White Sox stands.

The ball went flying toward the Guardians fan (who must’ve just wanted to take in some baseball that night), who snagged the ball with one bare hand while holding a plate of nachos.

Yes, seriously, this is what happened, and the guy didn’t spill a single chip.

Rooker’s hit had an exit velocity of 103.8 mph, which makes this fan’s one-handed snag even more impressive.

Like, c’mon, this is ridiculous. He didn’t lose a single chip! Not one!

This guy clearly has some baseball experience in his past. Even if he doesn’t, this guy might get a spring training invitation for some team if he keeps making grabs like this when he attends baseball games.

Tony Kemp made a stellar double play for the A’s while rocking Hey Arnold! cleats

Tony Kemp! Hey Arnold! Baseball!

Oakland A’s second baseman made one of the best plays of the night during a Tuesday road game against the St. Louis Cardinals, and he did so while rocking an awesome pair of cleats.

On the play, Kemp ran for the ball as it was soaring into his zone of the diamond and made the diving catch before throwing out a Cardinals runner that was heading to third base.

It was an awesome snag-and-throw from Kemp, but it was made even cooler by his choice of shoes.

Kemp wore a customized pair of Nike cleats that featured Hey Arnold! characters on them, and they helped him pull off the awesome double play for the A’s.

Kemp also sported baseball bats with Hey Arnold! and Rocket Power theming, keeping the Nickelodeon nostalgia prevalent in his gear.

Kemp might not want to toss these cleats anytime soon, as they’re surely  good luck after the A’s star pulled off such an impressive double play like this. Maybe we’ll see cleats these again on the diamond sometime soon.

A’s pitcher Luis Medina forgot to throw a batter out after catching the ball, and MLB fans were so confused

The Oakland A’s are just not having a good time right now.

Oakland A’s pitcher Luis Medina is probably going to want this moment back.

During a Saturday game against the Washington Nationals, Medina threw a really sharp pitch to Washington slugger Ildemaro Vargas and made an impressive play on the ball right after it was hit.

However, it looked to have briefly slipped Medina’s mind that you still have to throw the batter out before he can get to first. Instead of throwing the easy out to the first baseman, Medina jogged toward the base as Vargas sprinted there and didn’t get the ball there in time to get the out.

Vargas was safe, and A’s fans were left stunned that this wasn’t an incredibly easy out for the Oakland outfield.

How in the world can this happen if you’re a professional pitcher like Medina? While we all make mistakes, this is a pretty routine move in baseball to throw the runner out while they’re gunning it to the base if you’ve got a good window to do so.

Oakland has had a difficult year, so maybe Medina is just feeling the weight of playing for one of baseball’s worst teams. However, we’re guessing this missed opportunity will be one he’ll like to forget as soon as possible.

A’s Ryan Noda responds to ump’s borderline strike call by marking it in the dirt, gets tossed

You can’t do that.

Having a bit of deja vu?

You should be. It was just a couple of weeks ago that Miami Marlins infielder Jean Segura didn’t like a call from an umpire on a strike and drew a line in the dirt to show where that pitch was, indicating it was outside. He was tossed immediately.

On Monday night, it was Oakland A’s first baseman Ryan Noda who saw a strike called — to be fair, it looked like it JUST hit the outside corner according to the broadcast, but we’ll see it’s borderline — and then took his bat and swiped some dirt.

BOOM, he was thrown out immediately, just like Segura.

Yep. Can’t do that.

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Rutgers baseball: Ryan Lasko signs with the Oakland A’s

Ryan Lasko officially signed with the Oakland A’s.

Former Rutgers baseball player Ryan Lasko officially signed with Oakland A’s on Sunday.

Lasko and Drew Conover were both taken in last week’s draft by Oakland.

Last season, Lasko hit .330 and had 11 home runs for Rutgers. From Jackson, N.J., Lasko was the star player of a Rutgers baseball rebuild that has seen the program become one of the top teams in the Big Ten over the last two years.

Over the course of his three-year career at Rutgers, Lasko hit .314. He had 52 extra-base hits and 38 home runs. He is also strong defensively in the outfield.

During his final two seasons at Rutgers, Lasko was selected first-team All-Big Ten. In 2021 as a freshman, he was an all-freshman selection by the conference.

He was a second round pick of Oakland. Jim Callis was the first to report that Lasko had signed his professional contract:

 

Last season, Rutgers went 33-23 and 14-10 in the Big Ten.

Conover was selected in the eleventh round of the draft.

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Oakland A’s fans got the All-Star Game crowd to chant ‘SELL THE TEAM!’

A’s fans got the crowd at the MLB All-Star Game to join in their protest.

The Oakland A’s fans’ “reverse boycott” from June protesting the way the franchise was potentially moving to Las Vegas didn’t stop there.

In fact, they brought the protest to Seattle at the 2023 MLB All-Star Game.

It might have been hard to hear on the FOX broadcast, but in the fifth inning, “SELL THE TEAM!” chants began, thanks likely in part to A’s fans handing out cards (see the video below) informing fans on what they could do to help their cause.

That’s pretty cool stuff. Check out some videos from that moment, from all around the ballpark and on the broadcast: