Tuesday was a day thousands of Oakland baseball fans had been waiting for.
“I think it's super exciting, I think the community has really rallied behind the team,” Tanner Feustel, an Oakland Ballers fan, said.
Crews Tuesday morning put the final touches on the Oakland Ballers new field at Raimondi Park in West Oakland, just hours before the B's took the field for their home opener.
The Pioneer League team says Tuesday is about reclaiming baseball in "The Town."
“We want to lead the biggest comeback in the history of sports,” Paul Freedman, co-founder of Oakland Ballers, said. “Sports use to be about community, sports use to be about bringing people together, sports use to build ballparks like this from the ground up in partnership with the community at some point in time they have lost their way and we are going to lead a movement to bring it back.”
In two months, the historic park was transformed from a neglected pile of dirt, to a new 4,000-seat ballpack.
The area around it is also changing, including new affordable housing units and the recent clearing of the city’s largest homeless encampment on nearby Wood Street.
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“I know here in the city of Oakland a lot of people want to talk about how the city can't actually get things done in regards to fields or what have you. This is proof that when you invest funds into it, when you invest your hard work and sweat into it, anything can happen,” Mayor Sheng Thao said.
Despite sporting colors that are similar to the A’s, the Oakland Ballers say their independent league team is not meant to be a replacement for the Green and Gold.
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“We are not anybody's replacement, we are our own thing,” Bryan Carmel, co-founder of the Oakland Balles, said. “We are a community baseball team. We spoke about it at the press conference. For us, this is about showing what a community can do when it works together to build something.”
“Four thousand people into a residential neighborhood for home games is investment we haven’t seen before,” Carroll Fife, Oakland city councilmember, said. “So this is a very positive step.”
The city and the B’s are working together to make fans feel welcome and safe. They are encouraging public transportation including providing free shuttles from West Oakland BART to the park, providing private security, and parking.
They also say OPD officers will be on hand.
“Looking out for everybody’s safety and there will be a number of ambassadors as well,” Fife said. “But what we also believe activating space where we have multiple crowds is one of the ways we do that.”
A new team with a goal to help transform West Oakland and fans say they're here for it.
“I think it is going to bring a lot of energy and excitement to this area, kind of help clean up some of it, bring in some new businesses and just revitalize the whole community,” Feustel said.
“The fact that we can continue to have baseball in Oakland. How can you not embrace it?” Brian Berry of Lafayette said.
Fans were greeted by members of the team – in uniform – and handing out rally towels.
Also greeting fans, something the major leagues have not had yet – a woman. Kelsie Whitmore pitches for the Ballers.
“I don’t look at it any differently. I just do my thing,” she said. “The guys treat me the same. We all look at this the same way, that we want to compete at the next level.
Mistah F.A.B. batted the first pitch thrown by Whitmore.
“I’m appreciative. I’m happy. I’m thankful that the boulders took the initiative to put something in Oakland that could be like heaven in a playground,” he said.
And while the new kids in town were digging in, the team that’s leaving town, the Oakland A’s, were playing just a few miles away. The Seattle Mariners announcers gave the Ballers a shout out and then compared crowds.
The Ballers and city both expect there to be a period of growing pains and ways to improve. They say this is just the first step toward what they hope to be a full revitalization of this area.
