Few sports teams in North America or elsewhere have had as bleak of a 2023 as the Athletics.
Oakland is 10–45, on pace for a 29–133 ledger that would give it MLB’s worst record since 1899. Average game attendance is 8,889, the worst in baseball by a wide margin. The team is openly plotting a move to Las Vegas.
On Sunday, the Athletics’ woes came to a head in the form of a humiliating 10–1 home loss to the Astros—their 11th in a row. With the win, Houston put a bow on a series in which it outscored its once-competitive division rival 21–6.
To add insult to injury, the Astros mocked Oakland’s nonexistent attendance on Twitter after designated hitter Yordan Álvarez's solo home run in the top of the ninth.
“10 runs in front of tens of fans,” Houston wrote, accompanied by a video of Álvarez launching a home run into a barren Oakland Coliseum.
10 runs in front of tens of fans. pic.twitter.com/8gTcs778mE
— Houston Astros (@astros) May 28, 2023
It’s hard to believe that the Athletics were 97-game winners as recently as 2019, but Oakland has hurtled itself into the abyss, seemingly unlikely to return to form until the team completes its move to Nevada.
