Tom Hanks mourns the loss of A's in Oakland, curses out ownership for move to Las Vegas

In April 2017, actor Tom Hanks announced that he would be boycotting the NFL for two seasons after the Oakland Raiders announced their move to Las Vegas. Born and raised in the Bay Area-city of Concord, local sports franchises are near and dear to Hanks'.

Hanks is one of the most celebrated actors in the world. A back-to-back Academy Award winner, Hanks has also been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his involvement in various causes.

On June 15 2023, Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo signed a bill that earmarked $380 million in public funds towards the contruction of a new $1.5 billion baseball stadium in Las Vegas. The move all but sealed the fate of Hanks' home town MLB team.

"Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo has signed Senate Bill 1 to fund the Athletics' new stadium in Las Vegas. MLB owners are expected to unanimously give relocation approval in the coming weeks" - Talkin' Baseball

With a record of 19-52, the Oakland Athletics are the worst club in baseball. The first team to lose 45 out of their first 55 games, the A's also draw an average of 9,000 fans per game, a number that puts them at the bottom of league attendance averages and puts the team in a very difficult financial position.

Although the process of moving the struggling Athletics to Las Vegas has been in the works for a long time, the events of June 16 appear to have cleared the way for the move. In a move similar to what happened during the Oakland Raiders relocation, Tom Hanks called out the Athletics' ownership.

"We've lost the Raiders. The Warriors moved to San Francisco. And now they're going to take the A's out of Oakland? Damn them all to hell." - Uprooted

Tom Hanks took aim at the owner of the franchise, John Fisher and President Dave Kaval. Fisher, 62, has been the owner of the team since 2005. In that time, fans have relentlessly criticized him from profiting off the team, while reinvesting very little. Many point to O.Co Coliseum in Oakland, which has been largely untouched under Fisher despite its state of dilapadation.

Oakland A's need more than Tom Hanks to save them

Now 24.5 games behind the Texas Rangers in the AL West, things are looking pretty dismal indeed for the A's. While the relocation is, and will continue to be a tough pill to swallow for fans like Tom Hanks, years of mismanagement and neglect have left little in the way of alternative choices.