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SALT LAKE CITY — Baseball isn't leaving Oakland even if Major League Baseball is, and it gives the Ogden Raptors a new team to play.
The Pioneer Baseball League announced Tuesday it is adding the Oakland Ballers, or Oakland B's, to the league beginning next season. It's a big shift for the league that has only featured Intermountain West clubs since it debuted in 1939.
"Launching our first club in Oakland underscores the PBL's spirit of innovation and commitment to providing the very best fan and player development experiences," said Pioneer Baseball League president Mike Shapiro in a statement. "The richly diverse Oakland community, with its historic baseball heritage, is a perfect first step for the PBL's expansion beyond its foundational roots in the Mountain West states."
Tuesday's announcement comes a little less than two weeks after MLB owners approved the Oakland Athletics, or Oakland A's, relocation plan to Las Vegas. The team is slated to leave the Bay Area after the 2024 season and eventually find its home in a new stadium for the 2028 season.
That move also sets MLB up for a possible expansion, which Salt Lake City is vying to be a part of.
The Pioneer Baseball League is moving forward with its own expansion in the meantime, starting with the city spurned by MLB. The B's, co-founded by Paul Freedman and Bryan Carmel, are backed by a few dozen Bay Area sports fans who provided about $2 million in initial funds to launch the team. The team's colors are green and gold, much like the departing MLB team.
Former Seattle Mariners skipper Don Wakamatsu was tapped to serve as the team's executive vice president of baseball operations, while former MLB outfielder and Bay Area-native Micah Franklin will as the team's first manager. Team officials wrote, on a newly launched website, that they are "stealing baseball back" and "reclaiming baseball for the people of Oakland."
Introducing a new team for The Town 🌳
— Oakland Ballers (@OaklandBallers) November 28, 2023
The Oakland Ballers ⚾️
Our team was ripped away from us. Now we're stealing baseball for the people of Oakland.
Built by Oakland. For Oakland. Forever Oakland.#OaklandBallerspic.twitter.com/E8Wu4dNve9
"Baseball is a sport with deep roots in this country and a rich legacy in the East Bay. That's why with the Oakland B's we intend to build a team committed to honoring that legacy and our community," Freedman said. "With the Oakland B's, we are going to bring joy back to the game and give Oaklanders something to be proud of."
The club is set to be joined by a second Northern California team that will be announced in January, according to league officials. The two teams — the first Pacific Coast teams to join the Pioneer Baseball League — will play in the league's new "West Division." They join a league that already features the Ogden Raptors, as well as teams in Colorado, Idaho and Montana.
Raptors fans — and fans of most of the other teams in the Pioneer League — certainly understand Oakland's plight to an extent. Major League Baseball took control of Minor League Baseball in 2020 and dropped the Pioneer League, as well as a few dozen other small teams, from the system as a part of its massive minor league overhaul.
The Ogden Raptors and Orem Owlz were affiliated with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Angels, respectively, prior to that decision. The Owlz later relocated to Windsor, Colorado, where they play today.
MLB instead made the Pioneer League a "partner league," meaning that it's independent of the major league pipeline, but MLB still provides some resources that make it easier for players to jump into the MiLB system. The league has yet to release its 2024 schedule, but the season will begin sometime in the spring.
