Bryce Harper and the Phillies are coming to Oakland this weekend. By the time they visit the A’s next year, though, the games might be in Las Vegas, Harper’s hometown.
That doesn’t mean Harper would be happy to be going home for that series.
“It should have been an expansion franchise, not the A’s,’’ Harper told USA Today’s Bob Nightengale in a piece posted Thursday morning. He then contrasted the A’s with the NHL’s Golden Knights, who won the Stanley Cup on Tuesday night.
“Look at the Knights, they won the Cup, but they were an expansion franchise. They were Vegas-born, as people would say. It’s the first team that came to Vegas. I don’t think you can really match that.”
Harper and teammate Bryson Stott, also a Las Vegas-area native, said the Raiders have not captured the city’s support in the same way that the Golden Knights have. Stott said he has seen a lot of visiting fans at NFL games in Vegas and attributed that to the Raiders’ lack of deep ties to Nevada.
“It’s at best, 50-50 Raiders fans and whoever they’re playing,” Stott said. “You’re selling tickets, but you want your own fans in the ballpark.’’
The A’s proposed relocation to the desert moved one step closer to reality Wednesday when the Nevada Legislature approved $380 million in public funds for a stadium on the Las Vegas Strip. Next, the bill will go to Gov. Joe Lombardo to sign, and then MLB owners will vote on the move.
The Nevada Legislature vote came only one day after A’s fans hosted a “reverse boycott” to express their displeasure with owner John Fisher and his plans to move the team.
The A’s players were largely supportive of the fan action, and some said Wednesday that it gave them an extra boost — including advancing the winning run to second base on an eighth-inning bunt by overpowering the Rays’ infield communication.
“That’s just what home-field advantage is,” A’s veteran Tony Kemp said. “It just goes to show you what it can do for a home team.”
Harper joined a chorus of voices Wednesday expressing admiration for the Oakland fans.
“Those fans are so passionate, they bleed green,” he said. “…It’s just not right. They have so much history in Oakland. You’re taking a team out of a city. I’m pretty sad because of all of the history and all of the greatness they’ve seen there.
“I see the A’s as Oakland. I don’t see them as Vegas.’’
As for Fisher, Harper was clear that the bargain-basement payroll he is currently maintaining in Oakland ($59.6 million, per Spotrac, last in MLB) won’t fly in Las Vegas.
“They better spend money to win,” he said. “Vegas loves a winner.’’
