Oakland A's fans ask Giants fans to join forces in their 'sell the team' protest
OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- Ahead of the Bay Bridge Series starting on Tuesday, Oakland A's fans are asking Giants fans to join forces in their push to "sell the team."
Long before talks of the A's moving to Vegas began, the Giants were in the same position back in the 90s.
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They were about to move to Tampa Bay, until a local ownership group stepped in to save them in the last minute.
"We're hoping that they can understand what we're going through because they also went through this back in the 90s," Jorge Leon, president of the Oakland 68's fan club said. "So they almost lost the Giants and we're in the bottom of the ninth and we're about to lose the A's."
That's why, Jorge Leon of the Oakland 68's says, they're hoping to unite the Bay by getting Giants fans on board with their push to "sell the team."
"We're asking the whole Bay Area to unite for this one cause and keep the A's in Oakland, sell the team to someone that can keep the A's in Oakland and so we can keep the Bay Bridge Series alive as well," Leon said.
More than 27,000 A's fans showed up and packed the Coliseum in green "sell" shirts at the first reverse boycott back in June.
VIDEO: More than 27,000 Oakland A's fans show up for reverse boycott urging owner to sell team
Hoping to piggyback off that same momentum, the Oakland 68's have partnered with the Last Dive Bar group.
They'll be handing out 8,500 "Unite the Bay" posters to fans as they walk in the door to Tuesday night's Bay Bridge Series at Oracle Park.
"It is the famous 1989 World Series poster where the A's player is on one side and the Giant's player is on the other and they're ripping the World Series pin it apart," Paul Bailey, co-founder of Last Dive Bar said. "Instead, in our version, we have the Giants player standing over Oracle and the A's player standing over the coliseum and they're shaking hands in unity."
Bailey says each poster also has its own cheer card on the back with detailed instructions on how to join their protest.
"In the fifth inning, to stand up, be silent for the first set back, and then after 55 seconds, to represent all of the years in Oakland, start chanting "sell the team" and we're going to blow the place up, that's the plan, figuratively," he said.
VIDEO: Oakland mayor takes big swing to keep A's, meets with MLB commissioner in Seattle
The Oakland 68's also have plans to hand out around 1,000 "sell" shirts to both A's and Giants fans, except this time, they'll be black and white.
"Just because we are baseball fans and we also recognize that we're not at our home so we're doing a neutral color so the Giants fan can wear this if they choose to," Leon said.
And although the Nevada Senate already passed a $380 million bill last month to help fund a new stadium for the A's in Las Vegas, these fans are still hoping for change in the 11th hour.
"It's turned into an all-out Hail Mary type of situation where we're just trying to stay in the limelight and get eyes on Oakland, so that we don't just fade away and they build somewhere else and they always just blame us," Bailey said.
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