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