MLB commissioner Rob Manfred responded on Friday to criticism over some comments he made about Oakland Athletics fans following their reverse boycott of the team’s impending move to Las Vegas.
Manfred was asked if he wanted to offer any clarification to his remarks, in which he dismissively referred to the reverse boycott as “an average Major League Baseball crowd.” Manfred essentially said his comments lacked context and that he had said he felt sorry for A’s fans, too.
“My comment about Oakland was that I feel sorry for the fans, that it was my initial preference that we find a solution in Oakland,” Manfred said. “The comment that I made about the fans on a particular night was taken out of context of those two larger remarks."
"I feel sorry for the fans. We hate to move. We did everything we could possibly do to keep the club in Oakland. And unfortunately one night doesn’t change a decade worth of inaction.”
It’s not clear why Manfred thinks context helps him in this case. Even if he is correct that one night would not rescue the A’s, the comment about attendance just seems petty, no matter how sorry he may actually feel for them. Plus, thanks to some of his previous verbal blunders, it is hard to give Manfred the benefit of the doubt.
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