Dusty Baker grew up in Northern California and spent plenty of time visiting family in Oakland. Now the manager of the Athletics' division rival Houston Astros, Baker journeys to the East Bay a few times per season.
As the A’s flirt with potentially moving to Las Vegas, Baker made it known he'd prefer to continue traveling to Oakland during the season.
“I have tremendous emotions there. Mixed emotions,” Baker said to NBC Sports California’s Dave Stewart in a recent interview about the A’s potential move. "I understand the business of baseball, but I don’t understand [the potential move considering] the history of Oakland.
"If Oakland has a winner, Oakland will draw [fans]. I have seen it."
Earlier this week, the A’s signed their second binding agreement in less than a month with owners of a new ballpark site in Las Vegas. The franchise now is working with Bally’s Corporation to build a 30,000-seat ballpark on a portion of the current Tropicana Hotel and Casino property on the southern end of The Strip in Las Vegas.
Entering Saturday’s game against Baker and the Astros, the A’s owned MLB’s worst record at 10-36. They rank dead last in attendance, averaging under 9,000 fans per game at home games.
Oakland Athletics
“I get a little bit upset when I see the lack of funds that are put back into the Oakland Coliseum or into the team,” Baker told Stewart. “Or when I hear my friends say, ‘Hey man, I love the A’s but the amenities and the conditions aren’t good so we don’t go to the ballpark.’ “
Even after signing multiple binding agreements, the franchise moving to Las Vegas is not a guarantee. The A’s proposal to use $395 million in public funds for the project has been met with plenty of speed bumps in Nevada legislation.
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Still, though, all signs currently point to the franchise eventually bidding adieu to life in The Town.
"The city of Oakland, man, I’ve been going there since I was a kid," Baker said. " … For Oakland not to have a football team, basketball team or baseball team, to me that’s going to kill the city of Oakland that’s already kind of dying.
“It saddens me that the Oakland A’s [potentially] aren’t going to be the Oakland A’s anymore.”
Baker might be leading the rival dugout across the diamond these days, but his message is one shared by the fan base in Oakland.