Letter from John Fisher to Oakland A's fans: Passionate reaction from ABC7's Larry Beil to the A's owner's farewell message

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) — With the Athletics only having three games left in Oakland, team owner John Fisher finally spoke out on Monday about the team's departure from Oakland and apologized.

Fisher published a letter in which he wrote:

“To our Oakland Athletics fans:

This upcoming series with the Texas Rangers will be the final game of the A's 57-year history of success in Oakland. And although the A's have previously played in Philadelphia and Kansas City, Oakland was home to the greatest era in the franchise's 123-plus year history.

Four World Series championships. Six championships and 17 division titles. Seven members of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Charlie Finley and his mule. Billy Ball. Reggie and his unmistakable demeanor. Rollie and his mustache. Dave Stewart and his stare. Bill King's “Saint Toledo.” Rickey, the best hitter in baseball history. The list goes on.

Triumphs, near-victories, the 1989 Loma Preita earthquake in Game 3 of the Bay Bridge Series, the 20-game winning streak, a Hollywood movie and an unmatched cast of players, coaches and fans. We've seen it all.

And I know that's what makes our farewell so hard.

The A's are part of the fabric of Oakland, the East Bay and the entire Bay Area. When Lew Wolff and I bought the team in 2005, our dream was to win world championships and build a new ballpark in Oakland. Over the next 18 years, we did our best to make that happen. We proposed and pursued five different sites in the Bay Area. And despite concerted and sustained efforts to close a deal on the Howard Terminal project, we were unsuccessful.

It wasn't until 2021, after 16 years of working exclusively to develop a home stadium in the Bay Area and faced with MLB's binding agreement to find a new home stadium by 2024, that we began exploring the possibility of moving the team to Las Vegas.

There are millions of dedicated and passionate A's fans in Oakland and around the world. Countless dedicated staff and employees at the Oakland Coliseum have poured their hearts and souls into this team, and their efforts have meant so much to our community. I know there is great disappointment, even bitterness. While I wish I could speak to each of you individually, I can tell you one thing from the bottom of my heart: We tried. Staying in Oakland was our goal, it was our mission, and we fell short. And for that, I am truly sorry.

Looking ahead, I hope you will join our beloved A's on this amazing journey. I hope to see you in green and gold again. And I hope we make you proud.”

-John Fisher

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ABC7 Sports Director Larry Beil responded to Fisher’s letter during the 4 p.m. newscast:

“All right, you heard Fisher's testimony. Let me tell you what the reality is. OK, John, you tried five different, extremely flawed stadium proposals. You never got anywhere close to breaking ground. Yes, politics in Oakland is often a mess, I'll give you that. But John, you surround yourself with incompetent yes-men, and because you were born into a billionaire family, you apparently never learned that you have to spend money to make money. Look at Joe Lacob and the Golden State Warriors, your buddy who still wants to buy the team. John, you are a notorious cheapskate. You destroyed your family's great name and legacy through your cheapskateness.”

Beil continued, “John, we've been trying to interview you for years, but you always prefer to remain invisible unless you're begging politicians for public money and then standing at the front in Las Vegas.”

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This weekend, the A's hosted the Yankees for the last time at the Coliseum and lost in three games.

The series brought some of the largest crowds of the season to the Coliseum.

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The final series in Oakland begins Tuesday. The A's host the Texas Rangers and the very last game at the Coliseum is scheduled for Thursday at 12:45 p.m.

The game is sold out and the cheapest resale tickets cost around $65.