Residents are protesting at FanFest Saturday over SF Rec and Park’s plan, in partnership with the Giants, to install 20 acres of artificial turf at Crocker Amazon Park to create five new baseball diamonds, which requires the removal of over 100 trees and the disruption of a vital green corridor.

Last year, San Francisco Recreation and Parks partnered with the San Francisco Giants on a $45 million plan to renovate Crocker Amazon Park, which they would split 50/50. As Mission Local reported last month, Rec and Parks’ portion would come from the city’s 2020 Health and Recovery bond — once the plan is approved.

As the Chronicle reports, the project, which is currently in the environmental review process, still needs approval from the Recreation and Park Commission, followed by the Board of Supervisors. The prospective start date for the project is listed on the project website as 2027/2028 with the launch of the new park scheduled for some point in 2028. According to Tamara Barak Aparton, spokesperson for SF Rec and Park, per KGO, the project would transform the park “into one of the premier baseball and softball complexes in the Bay Area."

The Chronicle reports that the new 20 acres of turf would be used to create five new baseball diamonds, while leaving one natural grass field. The renovation also includes new restrooms, a dog play area, picnic tables, batting cages, and lighting for the ball fields. It also requires the removal of 128 trees along the pedestrian promenade to create infrastructure and drainage.

While the plan stipulates that two new trees would replace every one tree that is removed for the renovation, wildlife would still be displaced during the construction and transition phases. (Any resident who’s frequented the many playgrounds that have been renovated in the city in the last 10-15 years can attest that most lack any real shade, as the new post-renovation trees are still young.)

Additionally, there's no accounting for the loss of 20 acres of natural grass, which provides habitat for the insects that birds rely on for food, per the Chronicle.

“You hear the birds chirping? That all goes away,” Bob Hall, an organizer for the group fighting the project, Keep Crocker Real, told the Chronicle. “Birds can’t survive on 20 acres of plastic. They are dependent on the bugs that live in the grass.”

The Chronicle reports that the park, which includes the community-based Hummingbird Farm, sits at the base of McLaren Park, the city’s second-largest park at 317 acres. Keep Crocker Real emphasizes that the project site is located within a larger green corridor connecting McLaren Park to San Bruno Mountain, where natural grass with synthetic turf could have broader impacts on birds, insects, and mammals, including bats.

“The thing about grass is you can have both human activity and wildlife,” said Hall. “This gives you the feel of the big open meadows in Golden Gate Park. There’s nothing like it on this side of town.”

Per Keep Crocker Real’s website, the proposed plan is being “framed as a ‘gift,’” from the Giants. “However, many neighbors did not ask for this project and do not support paving over meadows, cutting down mature trees, and fencing off large portions of a beloved community park,” says the group.

The group’s goal for the park is for it to become a multi-cultural and multi-use space for the “young and young at heart.” The group says its vision “is a natural setting for picnickers, farmer's markets, music, cricket, football, baseball, soccer, movie nights, birdwatching and kickball games. In other words a park for everyone.”

The Chronicle reports that Keep Crocker Real has been rallying at the park on Sundays, near the grove of trees to be cut down, raising awareness about the plan. Per the group’s website, members have also planned a protest at the SF Giants’ FanFest Saturday at 11 am.

In defense of the project, city officials explained, per the Chronicle that synthetic turf allows sports fields to handle far more hours of play with less downtime, and note the proposed fields at Crocker Amazon Park would use cork-and-sand infill rather than the crumb rubber made from recycled tires used in older turf systems.

As Mission Local reports, rain and mud, as well as gopher holes, have kept the current diamonds at the park closed for months. Per the Chronicle, the park was closed for 57 days in 2024 and 37 days in 2023.

"In recent seasons, the grass fields were closed for weeks at a time due to rain, nearly half the spring season last year,” said Aparton, speaking to KGO in February. “That was a time when nobody could go on them. Not the community. Not baseball players. It meant canceled games. It meant it lost practices, and it meant families scrambling."

Keep Crocker Real also points out the potential health risks artificial turf poses, such as increased ACL injury and asthma rates. Additionally, per the group’s site, which includes environmental info from the SF Planning Department, 85% of Rec and Park’s sites that currently consist of synthetic turf are located in neighborhoods with the highest asthma rates in the city, as well as a documented history of racial and environmental inequities. With the proposed renovation, that number would rise to 90%, according to the group.

Per Mission Local, Catherine Dodd, a public health nurse and former deputy chief of staff to Mayor Gavin Newsom for Health and Human Services, said there is a need for “more physical activity for kids and to get them away from screens,” but the public must still be aware of the potential hazards surrounding artificial turf.  

“We don’t need to expose them to dangerous chemicals that have both short-term and long-term health effects,” Dodd said. “Please base it on science, not just on hours of play.”

Image: Keep Crocker Real

SF Giants players and executives embarked on a goodwill tour of South Korea led by Giants center fielder Jung Hoo Lee, bolstering the team’s visibility in Asia and showing support for Lee, a fan favorite — who was briefly detained at LAX upon arrival back in the US this week.

As the Chronicle reports, San Francisco Giants center fielder Jung Hoo Lee was held for about four hours at Los Angeles International Airport Wednesday evening due to missing paperwork on his return to the US from South Korea. Per the Chronicle, Lee was released fairly quickly with the help of Giants officials, Lee's agent Scott Boras, and Representative Nancy Pelosi’s office and was present at the Giants' FanFest event in San Ramon Saturday.

“Obviously, a bit hectic the last few days, but I’m glad everything’s worked out,” Lee said, with Giants’ ticketing associate Brian Kang interpreting, per Bay Area News Group. “I’m just glad it got resolved and I’m back with my teammates.”

Per Bay Area News Group, Lee, who’s in his third year on the team, hosted 17 members of the Giants team and management in South Korea earlier this month, including president of baseball operations Buster Posey, general manager Zack Minasian, new manager Tony Vitello, and shortstop Willy Adames.

As the New York Times reports, Lee gave his colleagues the VIP treatment during their visit, which included reservations to the coveted Silent Pig, tours of Namdaemun Market and Bukchon Hanok Village, a bibimbap cooking class with a celebrity chef, meetings with KBO officials and Korean sponsors, appearances at MLB Korea studios, and a baseball clinic at the LG Twins complex.

“He planned everything,” said Rachel Heit, the San Francisco Giants’ chief marketing officer. “He selected the restaurant, which is apparently impossible to get into. Kanye West made it very popular. We got a lot of street cred for getting that reservation.”

Per the Times, the goal of the trip was to rally around Lee while also expanding the Giants’ international presence.

“We are here to accomplish a few things: first and foremost, to show our support for Jung Hoo Lee, who has been an amazing host,” Heit told the Times.

Per the Times, despite missing most of his first year due to a dislocated shoulder, Lee has quickly become one of the team’s most popular players, with the Giants boasting a special “Jung Hoo Crew” section, brimming with earnest fans. Per the Times, about 80 percent of Giants games are televised in South Korea.

“You open your window shades, and there he is on a billboard for Tag Heuer watches,” Heit told the Times. “He’s the star of their campaign.”

Per the Chronicle, Lee is set to play with South Korea’s World Baseball Classic team this year and could face off with some of his Giants teammates on Team USA if South Korea advances to Tokyo.

Per the Times, Heit said Giants officials told Major League Baseball they'd love to be part of a potential world tour program in South Korea.

“It’s pretty evident the support that the Giants have in my home country in South Korea,” Lee said, per Bay Area News Group. “It’s pretty cool to see the fans rallying around the team and getting excited about us over here in San Francisco. It’s really cool to see the Giants investing and putting a bigger focus in my home country, and I’m really excited to keep that momentum going.”

Image: From L to R: Willy Adames, Tony Vitello, Jung Hoo Lee/Major League Baseball

Related: SF Giants Season Preview: It’s the Dodgers’ World, Can Buster Posey Ruin It for Them?

The Women’s Professional Baseball League (WPBL), which was co-founded by former Oakland A’s coach Justine Siegal, has chosen San Francisco as one of its four founding cities for its inaugural 2026 season, along with Los Angeles, New York, and Boston.

As the Chronicle reports, the WPBL announced Tuesday that its decision to choose San Francisco as one of four cities taking part in the league’s inaugural season next year was boosted by the recent success of the Golden State Valkyries in the WNBA and Bay FC in the National Women’s Soccer League — as well as the community support surrounding both teams.

“We feel there is tremendous support there in the future of women’s sports, and we think that community will really embrace the women’s baseball league,” said Keith Stein, who co-founded the league with former A’s coach Justine Siegal, per the Chronicle. “We understand the sort of cosmopolitan climate, and we feel we have a sense for the values and thinking of the San Francisco community, and we just think it really aligns well with everything our league stands for, and everything we want to accomplish.”

Per the Chronicle, the 2026 season’s games will be played in neutral cities across the country to help spread the word about the league, with exhibition games potentially taking place in the four teams’ cities, including San Francisco's Oracle Park. The WPBL had tryouts in August and will be drafting 120 top players from a “star-studded list” to fill 15 spots on each team, which don’t have names yet, per the Chronicle.

“Each of the inaugural cities carries deep baseball roots and a passionate fanbase. They’re iconic baseball towns that share our belief that women deserve a place in professional baseball. From the storied rivalries of the Northeast to the innovation and energy of the West Coast, the WPBL’s first four teams create a natural balance,” WPBL organizers wrote in a statement, per KRON4.

Per KRON4, Oakland Ballers player Kelsie Whitmore is one of the most sought-after candidates on the list. “Known for her versatility as both a pitcher and outfielder, she brings a combination of power and poise,” WPBL wrote. Other standouts include pitcher Ayami Sato from Japan and Mo’ne Davis, who made history in the Little League World Series.

KPIX spoke to some local sports fans about the announcement. Matthew Atencio, co-director of the Center for Sport and Social Justice at Cal State East Bay, told KPIX he hopes the league will inspire more young girls to play sports, noting that inclusion and representation have strong roots in the Bay Area.

“There's definitely something going on here in terms of our history, in terms of how we view the inclusion of women and girls in sports; we find it very, very important,” Atencio told KPIX. “We have a long history of that. And as we've come past the 50th anniversary of Title IX legislation, the Bay Area has really set the standard in terms of girls and women's sports participation.”

Sara Yergovich, co-owner of Rikki's, San Francisco's only women's sports bar, told KPIX she stopped playing baseball at age 14 due to the lack of support and representation for women in baseball. “I didn't know that there were other girls out there that played baseball at all, so to go from that, and to stop playing when I was 14  because there wasn't really a future in it to now having a women's sports bar and having a new team in the Bay Area for women's baseball. I can't even believe it,” Yerogvich said. “The younger me couldn't believe it.”

Per KRON4, the WPBL is the second US professional women’s baseball league in history after the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, as depicted in the film, A League of Their Own, which ran from 1943 to 1954.

Image: WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 25: Mia Kruspe celebrates after hitting a double in a scrimmage during tryouts for the Women’s Professional Baseball League at Nationals Park on August 25, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jess Rapfogel/Getty Images)

After a first interim season in the state capital, the former Oakland Athletics are still not going to start calling themselves the Sacramento A's in 2026, but they will have 'Sacramento' emblazoned on their alternate jerseys, in a nod to the local crowd.

The team took some shit for trying to go city-less this past season, officially being known as just The A's, with just a tiny patch that said Sacramento on the sleeve of their jerseys. But next season, as the team just revealed, the A's will have gold colored alternate jerseys — worn for Saturday home games and certain other games — that say 'Sacramento' right across the front.

As the Associated Press reports, the minor gesture in the direction of Sacramento fans, as the team waits for their Las Vegas stadium to be built, may not do much to help their league-low attendance rates at games — but it might help a bit!

"The new ‘Sacramento’ jersey is our way of … saying thank you to the fans, businesses and community leaders who helped bring Major League Baseball to town," said A’s President Marc Badain in a release.

This season, the cityless A's saw an average of 9,487 fans at every home game, per the AP, which is even lower than the low average of 11,529 per game last year at the Oakland Coliseum. And that was even lower than another team playing in temporary digs, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, who saw an average of 9,713 attendees at their games being played at the Yankees' spring training grounds, Steinbrenner Field — due to damage from Hurricane Milton to their Tropicana Field.

As the AP notes, the only thing that may have saved the A's from even lower attendance this season was the relatively mild summer we had across California. Sacramento didn't see anything like the scorching temperatures it had in 2024, with the high temp for a home game being just a modest 90 degrees. The team's hottest game was actually one that they played in 99-degree heat in Atlanta on July 10.

Previously: A's Likely Dreading Playing on Hot Turf For 3 Years In Crummy Triple-A Stadium In West Sacramento

Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee announced earlier this week the city will be hosting a rally and parade on Sunday, October 5 in celebration of the Ballers’ Pioneer League baseball championship win, the city’s first pro-sports championship celebration since 2018.

As KQED reports, Oakland’s independent baseball team the Ballers nabbed the winning title at the Pioneer League Championship, which took place at the team’s home base in Raimondi Park against the Idaho Falls Chukars, 8–1, on September 21 — just one year after the team’s inaugural season. KQED notes this is Oakland’s first baseball championship event since the Athletics won the title in 1989.

Sunday’s rally and parade will begin at City Hall at 1:00 pm and end with a big celebration at Prescott Market in West Oakland, as KGO reports.

The Oaklandside reports that the last professional sports championship parade to take place in Oakland was in honor of the Golden State Warriors’ NBA win in 2018 — their third in four years. The publication also writes that in 2023, Oakland hosted a parade for the Oakland Tech girls and Oakland High School boys basketball teams after they won state titles.

Image: Oakland Ballers/X

Previously: The Newly Formed Oakland Ballers Will Renovate and Play Ball at West Oakland’s Raimondi Field

Nearby kayakers and a boat emblazoned with the Ghostbusters logo came to the aid of three people whose kayaks overturned while they were watching the Giants-Dodgers game Saturday. The Giants lost the game, 13-7.

As KRON4 reports, the kayakers fell overboard around 8:30 pm and were quickly rescued by nearby kayakers and a private boat prior to the San Francisco Fire Department’s arrival on the scene.

As Bay City News reports, the three were evaluated at the scene by EMS who determined they were in good condition. They all refused medical care, per Bay City News.

SFPD reminds folks to wear life jackets on the water, per KRON4.

Image: San Francisco Fire Department

• US envoy Steve Witkoff will meet Qatar’s prime minister in Spain as Egypt and Qatar advance a ceasefire plan trading all hostages for Israel’s Gaza withdrawal. Over 20 nations have condemned the planned expansion as a “dangerous escalation,” and Germany has halted military exports that could be used in Gaza. [Associated Press]
• According to social media reports, Los Angeles protesters are now referring to ICE rallies as “LA Music Festival” on Tik Tok to avoid censorship. Groups have been steadfastly conducting peaceful actions in front of the Metro Detention Center as well as the Federal Building. [Threads]

• Giants pitcher Kai-Wei Teng led the team 5-0 against the Washington Nationals in the first win of his career at Oracle Park, which he dedicated to his dad on Taiwan’s Father’s Day. [Bay Area News Group]
• One child was killed and another injured Friday evening in Burlingame when a vehicle believed to have been driven by a 19-year-old San Mateo woman struck them on the sidewalk. [KRON4]
• BART temporarily suspended service on its red and green lines Saturday morning, and the yellow line experienced major delays due to power issues that led to single-tracking in the Transbay Tube, which was restored around 7:45 a.m. [KPIX]

• A man and a woman are in stable condition after being shot in North Oakland Friday night around 11:30 p.m. by a group of people who fired over a dozen rounds of bullets at them on the 800 block of 46th Street. [Bay Area News Group]

Image: Leanne Maxwell/SFist

Major League Baseball is investigating allegations of abuse and infidelity made against SF Giants reliever Sean Hjelle by his estranged wife, Caroline Hjelle. The claims were made public Friday in a viral TikTok post that garnered over 3 million views before it was deleted.

As SFGate reports, Caroline appears in the video with the couple’s two sons, accompanied by overlaid text stating that Hjelle abandoned the family on Mother’s Day, shortly after she learned of his alleged affairs and “stopped putting up with his abuse.” The post is captioned: “Yeah I’ve had to be silent for too long about this,” and includes hashtags referencing divorce, infidelity, and solo motherhood.

TikTok user @hopeyoufindyourdad featured the video in a recent post:

@hopeyoufindyourdad @Caroline Hjelle man of the year trend has been ruined by angry men #womenempowerment #manoftheyear #drama #greenscreenvideo #greenscreen ♬ original sound - Andra

While the couple’s current marital status is unclear, Caroline’s account has previously featured content referencing single parenting and personal distress dating back to late 2024, according to SFGate. One post from April included the hashtag #divorce and a reference to “lies” that left her “devastated.”

In response to the viral post, the San Francisco Giants issued a statement on Saturday acknowledging the seriousness of the allegations, as reported by KRON4. “We are aware of these serious allegations. We have been in contact with MLB. These types of allegations fall under their jurisdiction, and we won’t be commenting further,” the team said.

Manager Bob Melvin told reporters that Hjelle had informed him about the situation Friday night. “We talked to MLB,” Melvin said. “At this point, it’s in their jurisdiction… I really can’t comment on it further.” Melvin added that Hjelle would be available to pitch in Saturday’s game, though he ultimately did not appear in the 3-2 win against the Boston Red Sox.

Hjelle has not publicly denied the claims. Speaking to ESPN after Saturday’s game, he confirmed that he and Caroline are in the process of finalizing a divorce. “I feel confident in saying that I will have one [a statement] eventually,” he said. “I’d like to meet with the people handling the situation with me before I make an official statement.”

Image: SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 18: Sean Hjelle #64 of the San  Francisco Giants pitches at Oracle Park on June 18, 2025 in San  Francisco, California. (Photo by Suzanna Mitchell/San Francisco  Giants/Getty Images)

East Bay legends Too Short and Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong have joined the ranks of Oakland Ballers fans who own a portion of the local minor baseball league team, which launches its second season with the Independent Pioneer League on May 20.

The Oakland Ballers (a.k.a. the Oakland B’s), which was the first team in league history to have a female pitcher, proved to be a hit in its inaugural season, with over 92,000 fans attending games at the team's home base at the newly renovated Raimondi Park in West Oakland. According to KQED, Ballers founders Bryan Carmel and Paul Freedman raised over $1.2 million in support of the inaugural season with the help of 2,200 investors, and they hope to raise $2 million this year.

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In a press release, co-founder Paul Freedman said that Too Short and Billie Joe Armstrong were big supporters during the Ballers's first season before coming on board in a more formal capacity.

Too Short said he was excited about the impact the Ballers will have on the community and in the sports world:

Oakland has produced some of the best athletes and sports fans in the world and The Ballers commitment to feeding that competitive fire is exciting for me as an Oakland native.

Armstrong spoke to the Hollywood Reporter about the Ballers:

[A]fter the A’s left, the town was heartbroken. The Ballers are going to bring good vibes back to Oakland and the broader East Bay.

Image: Genie Gratto/Wikimedia

Previously: Oakland Ballers Introduce New Mascot, Which Is a Possum, as Another Way to Troll the Oakland A’s

• Earlier this week, seven Tesla charging stations in Boston and a Tesla dealership in France were set on fire; eight vehicles were destroyed and four others were badly damaged in the France incident. Meanwhile, 44 wheels were stolen off a bunch of Teslas at a Texas Amazon warehouse parking lot. [Independent, Jalopnik]
• A few Giants players weighed in on the new automated ball-strike system, which the team has experienced at some of its away games. Catcher Patrick Bailey said umpires are really good at their jobs and that ABS would chip away at his value as a catcher, and fellow catcher Max Stassi said he enjoys the human element: "Those guys back there put in hard work to be good at their craft.” [East Bay Times]
• Walgreens has been acquired by private equity firm Sycamore Partners for nearly $10 billion as the chain continues to pare down its debt and attempts to turn the business around. [SFGate]
• The San Francisco Fire Department responded to an early-morning fire in the Richmond, which was reportedly in hoarding condition. [CBS News]
• A silver alert has been issued for Francisco Torres, 67, who was last seen in Napa at around 6 p.m. on Friday. [KRON4]
• Parents for Public Schools is having a town hall meeting on March 25 about SFUSD's impending school closures and job cuts. [Instagram]

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Image: Leanne Maxwell/SFist

Hall of Fame Left Fielder Rickey Henderson recently passed away at the age of 65, according to a statement from the Oakland A's made on behalf of Henderson's family, who are asking for privacy at this time.

"A legend on and off the field, Rickey was a devoted son, dad, friend, grandfather, brother, uncle, and a truly humble soul," wrote Henderson's wife and daughters. "Rickey lived his life with integrity, and his love for baseball was paramount."

Henderson's nine-team MLB career spanned over two decades, a tenure that included three separate stints totaling 14 years spent playing for the A's. Henderson retired in 2003 and was elected near-unanimously to the Hall of Fame in 2009.

A two-time World Series Champion, 10-time All-Star, and 1990 American League MVP, Henderson is the all-time leader in career runs scored, leadoff home runs, stolen bases, and unintentional walks. Henderson is also the only player with at least 5,000 plate appearances to bat right-handed but throw left-handed.

"If you could split [Henderson] in two, you’d have two Hall of Famers," wrote Bill James, the sportswriter and statistician whose ideas served as the foundation for modern baseball's seismic shift towards the use of advanced analytics.

Nicknamed the "Man of Steal," Henderson is widely considered both the greatest base stealer and leadoff hitter of all time. In 1982, he set the single-season steals record of 130, which was just one out of three seasons in which Henderson eclipsed 100 steals, a feat no other American League player has achieved even once.

Over the course of his stellar career, Henderson managed to steal an astronomical 1,406 bases, greatly eclipsing the next closest player's total of 938.

“Rickey was a teammate, a competitor, and someone I was lucky enough to work alongside and ultimately call a friend," said longtime A’s executive and former teammate Billy Beane in a statement. "He was the greatest Oakland A of all time and will deservedly be remembered that way by fans of baseball across the world."

Outside of the field, Henderson was also known for having several eccentric quirks, such as how he almost exclusively referred to himself in the third person.

Henderson once infamously received a million-dollar bonus check but did not cash it, opting instead to keep it framed and on the wall, which would eventually cause a minor panic for A's accountants during routine audits performed later that year.

"I took the million-dollar check and put it on the wall. So each and every day, I passed by that wall and it reminded myself,  ‘I am a millionaire," said Henderson in 2009.

Photo by Ken Levine/Allsport/Getty Images

The Oakland B’s new mascot “Scrappy the Possum” is an obvious troll of the carpetbagging Oakland A’s, whose dilapidated stadium has a well-known possum problem.  

When the new minor league baseball team the Oakland Ballers (nicknamed the Oakland B’s) was announced, they were meant as a feel-good alternative for the Oakland A’s fans jilted by that team’s impending move to Las Vegas. And at that, the B’s have succeeded — since their home opener in early June at West Oakland’s Raimondi Field, they’ve rattled off a number of inspiring wins and put together a 14-10 record that’s the fourth-best record in their minor league Pioneer League.

But the B's ballpark at Raimondi Field is still putting on some finishing touches, as not all of the equipment has arrived or been installed yet.

Another of those new touches was added this weekend. KGO reports the Ballers introduced their new mascot, who will be known going forward as “Scrappy the Possum.”

Yes, possum memes are popular these days, but that’s probably not the explanation for the curious choice of a possum mascot. This is more of an obvious troll against the Oakland A’s, who’s crappy run-down Coliseum notoriously had a possum infestation in the spring of 2023, forcing the visiting teams’ announcers to use a different broadcast booth.  

And the team has taken to calling their mascot the “rally possum,” named for an actual rally possum from a famed 2019 college baseball game where an on-field visit from a possum and the lengthy chase it necessitated was followed by a winning four-run rally for the home team.

Scrappy the Possum will only appear at Oakland Ballers home games. Their next home game is a week from Tuesday, on June 25, at 6:35 pm at Raimondi Field against the Northern Colorado Owlz.

Related: Oakland Ballers Have First Woman Pitcher to Start Game in League History, Which Results In Win [SFist]

Image: @OaklandBallers via Twitter

After a journalist posted a picture of San Francisco Giants' infielder Casey Schmitt at spring training this week, the photo went viral for being rather … revealing.

Baseball players have been wearing a new MLB uniform to training this year, designed by Nike and sports gear retailer Fanatics, but they've haven't been too happy about it. Players have gone on record saying they don’t like the designs, and now, fans have noticed one major change — it seems like the new white pants are essentially see-through.

Alex Pavlovic, a reporter with NBC Sports Bay Area (which is co-owned by the Giants), shared an Instagram story of Schmitt wearing the new uniform during a photoshoot on Thursday, per Sports Illustrated. Unfortunately, the pants left little to the imagination in terms of what’s underneath.

Even though Pavlovic deleted the story, screenshots have surfaced on Xitter and other platforms, as SFGATE reported (and as a head’s up, it should go without saying, but some of these links are not quite safe for work).

These new uniforms were supposed to be lighter and thinner, but fans are raising some concerns about the design of the jerseys. Many are reportedly blaming Fanatics for the noticeable drop in quality, although it’s been making the MLB jerseys for the past four years. In fact, the MLB is insisting that the pants haven’t been changed. In an official statement, the leagues said, “The uniform pants have the same material and thickness as the uniform pants used last season … There were changes to the fabric of the jersey, not the pants,” per WSJ reporter Lindsey Adler.

It all seems like a bit of a mess, with all this hubbub before preseason has even started. But hey, hopefully it’s the start of a good, interesting season for the Giants.

Feature image of Oracle Park via Unsplash/Ruari Bell.

Oakland is getting a new minor league baseball team called the Oakland Ballers (or “The B’s”). They just announced they’ll be playing at Raimondi Field in West Oakland, and spiffing the place up with a $1.6 million renovation.

As the city of Oakland and all of East Bay sports fandom processed the betrayal of the Oakland A’s planning to relocate to Las Vegas, a few deep-pocketed fans conceived and launched a minor league team called the Oakland Ballers this past November. (They’re otherwise known as “the Oakland B’s,” as a dig at you-know-who.) They’re a minor league team in something called the Pioneer League, which is not directly affiliated with Major League Baseball, but is considered a “partner league.” The Pioneer League is not new — it’s been around since 1939.

But the Oakland Ballers are new, they start their inaugural season in late spring this year, and KRON4 reports they’ve announced they’ll be playing their home games at West Oakland's historic Raimondi Field. The team also announced they’re pouring $1.6 million into upgrades to the park.

For reference, here’s what Raimondi Field currently looks like. It’s part of West Oakland's larger Raimondi Park, and the field is also used for youth soccer and football.

And here’s a rendering of what the new Raimondi Field will look like on game nights.

“It’s important to pull back and look at what this park has meant to Oakland,” Ballers co-founder Bryan Carmel told the Chronicle. “Some of the first integrated baseball games in America were played there in the ’40s, and some of the greatest players in the country came out of Raimondi Field.”

An all-Black World War II-era baseball team called the Oakland’s A-26 Boilermakers played there, and players Frank Robinson, Vada Pinson, and Curt Flood played there in their minor league days.

The $1.6 million in renovations will include removable bleachers, and a video scoreboard that will also be used for community movie nights. The Ballers will play 48 home games a year, but the field will be available to the community for the other 317 nights a year.

Oakland Ballers tickets are on sale now, though they’re currently only available in 12-packs. Single-game tickets will become available as we approach their June 4 Opening Day game against the Yolo High Rangers. (Their season actually starts May 21, but they play a bunch of away games first.) The B’s already have their roster formed, and former Giant J.T. Snow is their first base coach

Related: A’s Negotiating to Stay In Oakland Three More Years, Because They Have Nowhere Else to Play [SFist]

Image: OaklandBallers.com

In a stunning podcast interview published today, Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman seemed to square up against the A’s moving to Las Vegas, saying their proposed stadium site “doesn’t make sense,” and “they’ve got to figure out a way to stay in Oakland.”

It’s a big week for Las Vegas with the Super Bowl coming up there Sunday. So with a media blitz hitting the city, Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman went on a not-very-well-known sports and business podcast called Front Office Sports Today to talk about sports matters in Las Vegas (the Super Bowl, an NBA team possibly coming to Las Vegas, a somewhat unsuccessful Formula One race held there in November.)

But the not-very-well-known podcast Front Office Sports Today suddenly became a very well-known podcast in the hours since the interview was posted. The Chronicle reports that Mayor Goodman seemed opposed to the A’s move to Las Vegas, saying “I love the people from Oakland, I think they deserve to have their team.”

You can listen to the full interview here. “I’ve lived in this town, this year, 60 years. And so I know the town like the back of my hand,” Goodman said. “I personally think they’ve got to figure out a way to stay in Oakland and make their dream come true.”

Goodman also sounded like she was not thrilled with the A’s new proposed location on the Las Vegas Strip at the Tropicana, which they announced just one week after saying they had a different Vegas  location.

(The Chronicle adds that the Strip is under the jurisdiction of Clark County, not Goodman’s City Hall. So it seems apparent that Goodman would much prefer the A's stick with their original site, just west of the Strip on Dean Martin Boulevard.)

“It’s in the historic, old part of town, which is where all major interstate highways come together,” Goodman of her preferred site. “We have seven access points to it. It is in an opportunity zone. There are all these benefits. And so when they said no, I thought this doesn’t make sense. Here’s a great site. They can get a great price on it because it’s owned by the city. We went out to reach for them, and yet no, they’re going to go out and want to get closer to the Strip, with all the congestion and everything.”

Regardless, the shit has kind of hit the fan in Las Vegas since the podcast was posted Tuesday morning. And Goodman has somewhat walked her remarks back.

“It is my belief that in their perfect world the ownership of the A’s would like to have a new ballpark on the water and that the ownership and government there should listen to their great fans and try to make the dream come true,” Goodman posted on social media. “Should that fail, Las Vegas has shown that it is a spectacular market for a major league sports franchise.”

Yet there is other trouble looming, totally unrelated to the Las Vegas mayor’s remarks, that can still upend the A’s proposed move to Las Vegas. The Las Vegas Sun reported Monday that the political action committee of the Nevada State Education Association teachers union sued the state of Nevada over the $380 million in public funding for the proposed A’s ballpark. It’s unclear whether that lawsuit seeks anything except to halt the stadium funding, though the A's sure need that funding to pull off their relocation.

Related: A’s Agree to Cough Up $45 Million for Unpaid Oakland Coliseum Bill [SFist]

Image: OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 28: With the decision to move from Oakland to Las Vegas fans of the Oakland Athletics protest with signs outside the stadium prior to the start of the game against the Cincinnati Reds at RingCentral Coliseum on April 28, 2023 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)