OAKLAND, Calif. — Dawn Pieper will show her love for the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday night in the spirit of her late husband, Jay, who is the reason she became such a loyal supporter. Lifelong fan Gabriel Hernandez will cheer his heart out in hopes everyone in attendance can make a meaningful, monumental statement that they are far from done fighting to keep their team in the East Bay.
Fed-up fans in Oakland have hatched an unusual plan to protest the A’s despised ownership group.
They’re buying tickets.
Organizers are calling on A’s supporters to stage a “Reverse Boycott” at the Coliseum on Tuesday. They plan to give away T-shirts to the first 7,000 fans to arrive and are hoping to make a statement with the biggest, most spirited crowd of the year when the A’s host Tampa Bay. The goal is a sellout for a team with dismal attendance all season that has regularly been topped by most Triple-A franchises.
The bright green T-shirts made by local company Oaklandish read “SELL” — a message for owner John Fisher to give up the team to someone who might keep it here. Nevada lawmakers, meanwhile, are discussing the A’s proposed financing plan to build a new ballpark in Las Vegas.
Among those planning to attend: the drummers in the right-field bleachers that used to echo their support for the franchise that’s been in the Bay Area since 1968.
Hernandez offered this message to fellow fans: “Be Loud, Be Proud, Bring Sign, Speak Your Mind, Go A’s.”
“I’ve been a fan my whole life. Raised in Oakland my whole life, no other sport connected with me like how the A’s have and started going diehard mode in 2014,” the 24-year-old Hernandez said. “Personally, I’m at a loss for words, as A’s fans try again to keep their team in Oakland with plans already in full swing for a new ballpark in Las Vegas. To see not only A’s fans but other MLB fans help come together supporting the movement, I’m proud of the fans who participated.”
ROYALS: Outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. was cut by the Kansas City Royals after batting .133 with one homer and six RBI in 43 games.
The 33-year-old had signed a $900,000, one-year contract with Kansas City.
Kansas City has seven days to trade Bradley or place him on waivers.
Bradley was 14 for 105 at the plate this season with five doubles.
METS: Former big league home run champion Luke Voit signed a minor league contract with the New York Mets and will report Tuesday to Triple-A Syracuse.
New York signed the first baseman Sunday, nine days after he was released by the Milwaukee Brewers, and assigned him to their top minor league team on Monday.
Voit, 32, hit .221 with a .284 on-base percentage, .265 slugging percentage, zero homers and four RBI in 22 games with Milwaukee, which designated him for assignment on May 29. He had just three extra-base hits, all doubles, in 74 plate appearances.
Voit hadn’t played for the Brewers since May 13. He went on the injured list two days later with a neck issue and had been hitting .259 with a .444 on-base percentage, one homer and eight RBI in eight games during a rehabilitation assignment with Triple-A Nashville.
Voit entered this year having homered 20 or more times in three of his past four seasons, including a major league-leading 22 for the New York Yankees during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
He batted .226 with a .308 on-base percentage, 22 homers and 69 RBI in 135 games with the San Diego Padres and Washington Nationals last season. After earning $5.45 million last year, he agreed to a minor league contract with the Brewers and opted out of it before signing a $2 million, one-year deal just before the start of the season.
CARDINALS: Reliever Ryan Helsley was placed on the 15-day injured list because of a strained right forearm.
Right-hander Jake Woodford was recalled from Triple-A Memphis. He began the season in the rotation, then was shifted into a relief role.
Helsley, a 28-year-old right-hander, is 3-4 with a 3.24 ERA with seven saves in 11 chances. St. Louis has given closing opportunities to Giovanny Gallegos, who has five of the Cardinals’ last seven saves.
RANGERS: Jacob deGrom had reconstructive surgery to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, and Manager Bruce Bochy said the procedure went well.
The typical recovery time after the operation, commonly known as Tommy John surgery, is at least 12-14 months. Rangers team physician Dr. Keith Meister performed the surgery, which came a week before deGrom’s 35th birthday.
• Right-hander Jon Gray will not make his scheduled start Tuesday night against the Los Angeles Angels while dealing with a blister.
MONDAY’S GAMES
TIGERS 6, BRAVES 5: Spencer Torkelson sparked a three-run, ninth-inning rally against Raisel Iglesias with a two-run homer and hit a game-ending single in the 10th, lifting Detroit over visiting Atlanta to end a nine-game losing streak.
Andy Ibañez began the comeback from a 4-0 deficit with a seven-inning homer and threw out Sam Hilliard at the plate from left field in the 10th as Detroit improved to 7-3 in extra-inning games this year.
Atlanta’s Marcel Ozuna was hit on the right wrist by a pitch from Garrett Hill in the fourth and left the game one inning later with what the Braves said was a bruise.
GIANTS 4, CARDINALS 3: Mitch Haniger drove in two runs and Brandon Crawford hit a tie-breaking RBI single in the eighth inning to lead San Francisco to a win at St. Louis.
Wilmer Flores had three hits for the Giants, who have won 5 of 7. San Francisco, which took the opener of the three-game set, has won just two of nine series in St. Louis since 2013.
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