Bleacher Report has apparently taken it upon themselves to rank the most depressed fanbases in baseball and to nobody's surprise, they listed Athletics fans at the bottom of the barrel.
It's an interesting idea to think about because on one hand, yes much of the A's fanbase is sad about the team leaving. But on the other hand, there are overwhelming feelings of anger, resentment, and indifference surrounding this team. The general consensus, at least from the fans that I know, isn't depression - it's frustration.
Maybe those two emotions are related but it's a little disingenuous to call the fanbase depressed when the reason for the general apathy has nothing to do with the on-field performance, but rather with an incompetent executive office that's ripped the soul out of the franchise.
This sucks. I feel for the fans in Oakland who are having their team ripped away by a cruel and inept owner. I also feel for the fans in Las Vegas who will eventually get stuck with him. https://t.co/jYDXvVWRcf
— River Ave. Blues (@RiverAveBlues) April 4, 2024
Perhaps from the outside, it's depressing to watch the A's struggle to draw 5k fans a night, or lose 13 out of 16 games by a combined 45 runs. But for most fans, depressed isn't the right word for this current stage in the grieving process.
Yes, some Athletics fans are still feeling depressed about the farce that is the Las Vegas relocation project. But it's an apples to oranges comparison to what fans of other teams are dealing with.
Most Athletics fans aren't depressed - they're pissed off
For instance, Bleacher Report ranks the Angels fanbase as second most depressed in the sport. This one makes a lot more sense, at least in my opinion.
Their franchise icon is back on the IL and has reached the 100-game mark just once in the past four years. Their superstar two-way player left in free agency just months ago. Anthony Rendon has played in 219 of a possible 595 games since he signed in LA five years ago, and has been open with reporters about he doesn't even want to be here today. And by all accounts, they have one of the worst farm systems in baseball.
But at the end of the day, unlike the situation in Oakland none of that is on purpose. The Angels are still trying to win baseball games and they can't. That's depression. The team sucks and despite their best efforts, there's very little hope that they'll be good at any point in the near future.
Bleacher Report alludes to it in their write up but that's not exactly what's happening in Oakland right now. A's fans know the team is going to be bad. But we also know that ownership doesn't care about the product on the field. Regardless of how the rest of this season plays out, there's a large contingent of A's fans that are already checked out.
A final note - one thing I am interested in is to see if Bleacher Report runs this type of article again a couple years from now, and where the Las Vegas fanbase ranks after realizing they've been duped by the con artist John Fisher.