ABC7's Larry Beil's passionate reaction to A's owner John Fisher sending goodbye letter to fans

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- With the Athletics down to just three games left to play in Oakland, team owner John Fisher finally addressed and apologized on Monday for the team's departure from Oakland.

Fisher released a letter, writing:

"To our Oakland Athletics Fans:

This upcoming series with the Texas Rangers will be the final games of the A's storied 57 years in Oakland. And while the A's previously played in Philadelphia and Kansas City, Oakland has been home for the greatest era in the franchise's more than 123-year history.

Four World Series Championships. Six pennants and 17 division titles. Seven Baseball Hall of Famers. Charlie Finley and his mule. Billy Ball. Reggie and his incomparable swagger. Rollie and his handlebar mustache. Dave Stewart and the stare. Bill King's "Holy Toledo." Rickey, the greatest leadoff hitter in baseball history. The list goes on and on.

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

And that, I know, is what makes our departure so very 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 very best to make that happen. We proposed and pursued five different locations in the Bay Area. And despite mutual and ongoing efforts to get a deal done for the Howard Terminal project, we came up short.

Only in 2021, after 16 years of working exclusively on developing a home in the Bay Area and faced with a binding MLB agreement to find a new home by 2024, did we begin to explore taking the team to Las Vegas.

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

Looking ahead, I hope you will join our beloved A's as we move forward on this amazing journey. I hope I will see you again sporting the Green and Gold. And I hope we will make you proud."

-John Fisher

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Thousands of A's fans packed into the Coliseum this past weekend as the team is approaching their final game ever in Oakland on Thursday.

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

"All right, so you heard Fisher's statement. Let me tell you what reality is. Okay John, you tried five different extremely flawed stadium proposals. You never got even close to a shovel in the ground. Yes, Oakland politics is often a mess, I will give you that. But John, you surround yourself with incompetent 'yes men,' and because you were born into a billionaire family, apparently never learned you have to spend money to make money. See Joe Lacob and the Golden State Warriors, your buddy, who still wants to buy the team. John, you're a serial penny pincher. You've destroyed your family's great name and legacy because of your cheapness."

Beil went onto say, "John, we've been trying to interview you for years, but you always choose to remain invisible, unless you're begging politicians for public funding and then you're out in front in Las Vegas."

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Over the weekend, the A's hosted the Yankees for the final time at the Coliseum, and got swept in three games.

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

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Oakland city leaders are celebrating the new deal to sell the Oakland Coliseum.

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

That game is sold out and the cheapest resale tickets are going for around $65.