The Oakland A's are spending their time touring minor league facilities in Sacramento and Utah, or visiting Las Vegas to zero applause these days, so they couldn't be bothered to host a FanFest for the second year in a row. As we saw last year with the "Summer of Sell" A's fans are built differently, so next month they'll be putting on their own Fan's Fest in Oakland to celebrate everything the city has to offer.
Yesterday, Last Dive Bar and the Oakland 68's, the two fan groups putting on the event, made a major announcement that will enrage A's fans--but in a good way. Former A's closer Grant Balfour will be in attendance, joining former players Ben Grieve, Khris Davis, Mike Norris, and Billy North.
Balfour was with the A's from 2011-13 and posted a 2.53 ERA across nearly 200 innings, racking up 64 saves. Just two of those saves came in 2011. He was the final piece of the Doolittle-Cook-Balfour back-end of the bullpen in 2012 that closed out so many important games for the team and lead them to an improbable AL West title.
There have been good closers on other teams before, but the way that A's fans latched onto Balfour was different. When he would come into the game, Metallica's "One" would blare over the outdated speaker system. The graphics on the jumbotron weren't even in color yet. The fans didn't care, because they were at a party, and the headliner was about to perform.
The right-hander would step on the mound and just pound fastballs in the zone, and quite often the A's would seal up a win. If you ask most fans what their favorite baseball season has been in all of their years of going to the Oakland Coliseum, they'd point to that 2012 campaign. The A's didn't win the championship, but not a whole lot was expected of them that year, and this team of young guys just went out and competed all year long, eventually taking the West from the Rangers who had made it to the World Series the previous two seasons.
Not only was the team on the field winning, but the fans in the stands put on a show of their own. They'd imitate Sean Doolittle in the bleachers. They'd bang on drums. When Balfour was coming out, they'd rage.
Just over ten years ago this place that many fans consider home was filled with life. The fans didn't have to worry about the team getting ripped away from them, they could just go enjoy baseball. The A's also happened to be arguably the most exciting team around.
Now, in 2024, owner John Fisher is attempting to relocate the franchise to Las Vegas. The fans don't have the same love for the team that they once held because it's been taken from them. But they still have those cherished memories of that magical season, and on February 24th, A's fans will get to "celebrate good times" for possible the final time.
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