Hall of Famer and former Oakland Athletics All-Star Reggie Jackson is none too pleased about the latest development surrounding the club's future in the Bay Area.
The Athletics signed an agreement earlier this week to purchase a piece of land in Las Vegas for a new stadium. Jackson believes the blame should fall squarely on the Oakland municipal government.
"You're going to lose the team," Jackson told Sportico's Barry Bloom. "The city, I thought, really needed to do something. Save the A's. You lost the Warriors. You lost the Raiders. What the hell's wrong with you? You can't see that coming? The fans don't deserve that … I blame the people running the deal. You've got to keep the team for the benefit of the city. They lost all three of them."
The Athletics have struggled to attract fans to the Oakland Coliseum for several years. They had MLB's lowest attendance last season, drawing just under 10,000 fans per game.
Jackson believes Athletics owner John Fisher did everything he could to try and ensure that the team remained in Oakland.
"In the same sentence, I think the Fishers did their best trying to get something done," Jackson said. "At the same time, no matter how wealthy you are, you can't continue to lose money every year. So, you have to go whether you want to stay or not. I always thought they bought the team to try to keep it there."
Jackson helped the Athletics win three consecutive World Series titles from 1972-74 and hit 269 home runs over 10 seasons in Oakland.
