Red-Hot A's Plead With Fans To Fill Up Oakland Coliseum
OAKLAND (KPIX 5) -- The Oakland Athletics are one of the hottest teams in the MLB right now, especially after notching another win against the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night. But the players wish that more people were watching them. They've turned to Twitter to fill the stands.
The A's are battling for a spot in the playoffs while fighting to fill thousands of empty seats. They played in front of another small home crowd on Tuesday night's win, and the team has taken notice.
The previous game, only 10,000 fans attended to watch the A's win 7-6 against the Mariners in an exciting game.
A seemingly disappointed Matt Chapman ended a post-game interview by speaking directly to the camera to A's fans.
"I want to just use this time to encourage people in Oakland to come out, man. All the fans and support we could get, we would really appreciate it," pleaded Chapman.
By doing this, Chapman laid out one of the A's biggest challenges: filling 47,000 seats in the Coliseum.
"I just wish we could get more people out here. We're fun to watch and we really want our fans to come out and support us. It would be really great," said Chapman.
Chapman's words struck a chord with his teammates. Martin Gallegos tweeted, "A's fans, Matt Chapman has a message for you." Matt Olson and Sean Anthony Manaea also chimed in.
On Tuesday night, Dave Kaval, the president of the A's, wouldn't speak directly about the attendance woes.
"I think it's really important that everyone who comes has a great experience and tells their friends that this is a great place to experience baseball," he said.
But the fans say that the empty seats are obvious. "I was noticing all the empty seats," said Jaden Shabry, an A's fan in attendance on Tuesday night's win. "They're playing really good and no one's coming out to watch them."
Shabry said that it's about time for someone to speak up for the team. "I really wish more people came out to watch the A's because the players have been asking them," said Shabry.
More fans did come out to Tuesday's game--attendance was at 17,000, with 4,000 fans walking up to buy tickets after Chapman's comments. Fans and players are hopeful that this is just the beginning.
