| First, the Raiders bailed, bound for Las Vegas. Then the Warriors sold out for plusher digs, across the bay in San Francisco. When the A's left town a year ago, it seemed as though this city of grit and big aspirations could not win for losing. |
| But Oakland regained at least a measure of its athletic glory this year with a scrappy, winning professional baseball team, one owned by the community in every sense of the word. Putting a cherry on top, the Oakland Ballers won the championship of the unaffiliated, under-appreciated Pioneer League on Sunday night. |
| The team triumphed in dramatic fashion, taking three straight games over the weekend at intimate, rocking Raimondi Park, a resuscitated gem on the city's occasionally sketchy west side. With an 8-1 victory over the Idaho Falls Chukars on Sunday night, the Ballers claimed the title of a league centered in the American West, in only their second year of existence. |
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| Andrew Henderson, 35, grew up with with the A's. He says the Ballers have brought back civic pride. (James Rainey / Los Angeles Times) |
| Fans jumped and danced in the aisles, sending a tremor through the bleachers, hours before a real quake hit the nearby Hayward Fault. The rollicking Oakland '68s — a right-field drum squad whose name pays homage to the Oakland A's founding in 1968 — led choruses of "Oakland We Love You." An Oakland City fire truck sprayed a celebratory blast from a water cannon over the left-field fence, while Ballers players romped in the downpour. |
A season of redemption |
| It was a season of redemption, for a city abandoned by three big league sports franchises, trying to rebound from a post-COVID crime wave and a scandal that saw its last mayor indicted on federal corruption charges. |
| "I think people have this really obscure and horrible view about Oakland, instead of seeing the beauty we see in it," said Hannah Redhill, one of the Oakland '68s, who dressed as a mermaid for the championship game. "But this feels like the safest place in the world to me. This place is magic and so is the town of Oakland. " |
| With ticket prices ranging from $10 to $35, families can attend Ballers games without breaking their piggy banks. And the team nurtures a fun, family vibe. Players mix with fans, before and after games. In the right-field bleachers, there's a table with coloring books for kids. At the end of the fifth inning Sunday night, the entire Ballers' bullpen staff ran from the dugout to heave hot dogs wrapped in tin foil to fans in the bleachers. |
| Between innings, contests let kids try to throw the most rolls of toilet paper into toilet bowls. Adults competed to mimic the cries of Kendrick "Ice Cold" Thompson, the beloved beer man who might be as big a celebrity as any of the players, several of them former Bay Area college stars. |
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| The Ballers celebrate their championship Sunday night. (Alex Espinoza / Oakland Ballers) |
| "This is taking me back to being a little kid, growing up with the A's," said a jubilant Andrew Henderson after a three-run homer by the Ballers' Cam Bufford secured the win . "They took so much from us and this is like our last thing. It's an Oakland pride thing, built up from all of us, from the community." |
By and for Oakland |
| Indeed, the entrepreneurs who founded the Ballers have invited community investment. And gotten it. More than 4,000 individuals have given an average of about $650, pumping more than $3 million into the team. |
| Woebegone Raimondi Park had fallen into disrepair from its glory days of Oakland when future Hall of Famers like Frank Robinson and Curt Flood started out there in the middle of the last century.
Mayor Barbara Lee took the field before Sunday's finale and said she had a special message for young people. "I want to make sure you know that champions rise from Oakland," she said to a roar of approval. |
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| The Ballers stadium at Raimondi Park celebrates Oakland sports legends, like Rickey Henderson of the now-departed A's. (James Rainey / Los Angeles Times) |
| The Ballers spent $1.6 million to restore the field, and added bleachers and DIY touches like dugouts and a press box made of cargo containers. The field accommodates 4,100 fans, with the prospect of adding more bleachers, if the team continues to grow. And the tiny baseball stadium has created energy and commerce for the adjacent Prescott Market, a neighboring $40-million development with a tap room, smashburger joint and outdoor patio, where a jazz combo entertained a sun-drenched crowd on Sunday afternoon. |
| The Pioneer League's brand of homey, locally powered baseball — not directly affiliated with Major League Baseball teams — appears to have some momentum. A group that includes Long Beach native and rap star Warren G plans to launch a team next year, with games at Long Beach's Blair Field. |
| The owners of the Ballers promised a gritty baseball team. But, mostly, they promise to hang around. "Hey, Oakland, they tried to steal baseball, but they can't take what belongs to us," says a promotional video, which shows clips of championship A's teams of the past. "What they tried to steal from us we're stealing back." |
Today's top stories |
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| Eddie Patino demonstrates outside the El Capitan Theatre where "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" is taped. ABC said that Kimmel will return on Tuesday night. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times) |
'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' will return to ABC on Tuesday after being benched by Disney |
- Walt Disney Co. reversed its suspension of the late-night talk show after the host's comments about the shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk set off a political firestorm.
- The suspension sparked free speech protests and Disney+ subscription cancellations, putting Disney executives in the center of a divisive political debate.
- Now that Jimmy Kimmel is coming back to ABC, all eyes will be on him as he takes the stage to address his suspension for the first time.
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Celeste Rivas' hometown mourns 'sweet child' found dead in singer's car |
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Kindergarten is important, but illness, tears make chronic absenteeism a challenge |
- Kindergartners have California's highest chronic absenteeism rates, with 26% missing at least 10% of school days in 2023-24.
- A new report that focused on Latino families found parents don't always understand attendance policies or illness guidelines.
- Chronic absences in early grades can severely affect literacy development and long-term educational success.
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More big stories |
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Commentary and opinions |
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This morning's must-read |
| | | UCLA has been described as a school unwilling to invest in football, but the Bruins have actually invested millions in the program. | | | |
Another great read |
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For your downtime |
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| Chef Nancy Silverton and Phil Rosenthal pose for a photo at Pie 'N Burger in Pasadena, the first stop on a diner crawl to discuss Max and Helen's. (Ron De Angelis / For The Times) |
Going out |
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Staying in |
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And finally ... the photo of the day |
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| The Point Arena Lighthouse on the Mendocino Coast in Northern California was built in 1908 to replace the original one built in 1870, which was destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. (Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times) |
| Today's great photo from Times photographer Myung J. Chun at the Point Arena Lighthouse is part of the Times' latest story about 14 of the most spectacular lighthouses in California. |
| For the record: The subject line and introduction text of yesterday's newsletter referred to Jimmy Kimmel's firing and cancellation. Kimmel's show had been suspended, not canceled, and he has not been fired. |
| Have a great day, from the Essential California team |
| Jim Rainey, staff reporter
Hugo Martín, assistant editor, fast break desk
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew Campa, weekend writer
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters |
| How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com. |
