How Do We Replace the Oakland A’s? With the Oakland B’s.
The Oakland Ballers, nicknamed the B’s, are the newest sports team in a city that has had its heart broken one too many times. It just can’t seem to make things work with professional sports organizations. Raiders, gone. Warriors, gone. Now the beloved Oakland A’s, gone.
However, the brand new Oakland Ballers baseball team is here with buckets of enthusiasm for the game, and a little Krazy Glue to mend those shattered hearts.
They’re a just-formed addition to the Pioneer League, founded by a diverse ownership group of Bay Area sports investors that were hungry to replace the giant void left by the exiting A’s. They’re proudly introducing “the B’s” to the world via social media, touting, “Fans first. Oakland forever.”
Okay. Like that.
So I rallied a gaggle of my Orinda friends and headed off through the tunnel to see what the story was.
Before we arrived I was excited to see their shiny, new, neighborhood-revitalizing stadium and to take a glimpse of the much talked-about Kelsie Whitmore, the league’s first female pitcher, and the first woman to play in the league.
But once there, I met this amazing young couple, Ballers’ pitcher Zach St. Pierre and his lovely new wife Kiana – who live in Orinda! (Thank you, furnishedfinders.com for suggesting Orinda as a great place to live for the newlyweds.)
Just picked up from a Nebraska AA team, “The Saltdogs,” St. Pierre is chasing his big league dreams by way of a twisty road that leads through the Ballers’ bullpen. His love for the game, and the love you can see he and his wife share, is really what made my heart flip a switch and root for this young team.
Not a corporation. Not a brand. But real, everyday people, with XXL dreams. You can’t help but root for this young man. Heck, for his entire team of hopefuls.
I asked Zach what the opposition feared most about him: “I’ve been told my changeup is my best pitch from opposing hitters and coaches. … it’s ‘Bugs Bunny good,’” he said, which made me like him even more.
So, come on, Brian Pryce (SF Giants pitching coach) why not give this underdog kid a shot? Who doesn’t need a 26-year-old, ambidextrous pitcher with a “Bugs Bunny good” changeup as an option?
You might cross paths with Zach and Kiana on the patio at the Fourth Bore on his day off. Keep an eye out. Maybe ask him about August weather in Texas, where he’s originally from.
It’s true The Ballers pledged to stay in Oakland forever. That’s quite a commitment. But they really, truly believe in this community-led effort to steal back Oakland’s baseball legacy.
I say let’s expand that community to include Orinda, and support our local 185-lb. pitcher, who works the off-season in construction management, who threw over 100 strikeouts in a single season, who picked the Ballers and Orinda because everyone was so darn nice and who is two semesters away from his bachelor’s degree: newlywed, heat-thrower Zach St. Pierre.
Let’s be Ballers.
I’ve decided to nickname him “The Maître d'” because he‘s shown so many opposing batters to their seats. Strike three! Right this way, we have a lovely bench seat ready for you with a nice view of the field. Strike three! Party of one, I can seat you right away!... He is Orinda resident and Ballers bullpen star Zach St. Pierre, who tosses some pretty squirrely pitches that just might get him to the big leagues. Seen here with his lovely wife Kiana on the mound at the brand new Ballers stadium, together they’re chasing the dream.
