A 15-year relationship, full of championships and future all stars, has come to an end. News had been looming for months that this money-minded move was going to come, and Susan Slusser reported today that the Sacramento River Cats have filed to end their affiliation with the Oakland Athletics. Players and coaches with the River Cats will continue their play with Oakland affiliation, though. (All Daric Barton lovers, rejoice.)
The Chronicle has learned that the @RiverCats have filed to end their affiliation with #Athletics, as I first reported was likely in May.
— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) September 15, 2014
As reported by Slusser in May, the River Cats have been looking to join cahoots with the San Francisco Giants to bring their minor league team to a city contingent to the capital of California. Although the River Cats led the Pacific Coast League in attendance in eight of the past 10 years, attendance had been decreasing. Raley Field, the Cats home stadium, averaged 10,497 fans per game in 2005, but by 2009 their average had dropped to 9,126 per game and this past season which just wrapped up, had an average attendance of 8,561, according to MILB.com.
May 20, 2014; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Oakland Athletics hat and glove lays in the dugout against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Since Sacramento only has a professional basketball team, the city has been a prime battleground for bay area fans, with some being fans of the A’s, but most, especially since 2010, rooting for the San Francisco Giants. The decision doesn’t come as much of a surprise, since the Giants orange and black has been prominent during River Cats battles with the Fresno Grizzlies, and even at games that didn’t feature the Giants AAA affiliate.
Rumors have swirled over who the A’s will join forces with, with the Fresno Grizzlies being a possibility, but also the likes of the Nashville Sounds being thrown around. The Sounds are currently the Milwaukee Brewers affiliate, but there are rumors saying that the Brewers are looking to affiliate with Fresno, so we’re possibly in store for a three-way shift.
So if those rumors are true, here’s a little bit of info on the Nashville Sounds, future AAA affiliate of the Oakland Athletics:
The Sounds will have a brand new. 10,000 seat, $37 million stadium opening in 2015.
Their mascot is a cougar named Ozzie, and he’s a pretty creepy looking guy.
The Sounds have three league titles, two conference titles and nine division titles.
Last but not least, there are three numbers retired by the team, 00 for Skeeter Barnes, 18 for Don Mattingly and the 42 for Jackie Robinson.