Play ball, Ballers! Oakland’s new minor-league baseball team is causing some major excitement in West Oakland, as the Oakland Ballers prepare for their Tuesday night home opener at Raimondi Field.

It has been barely six months since a deep-pocketed group of investors announced they were starting a minor-league professional team called that Oakland Ballers, obviously a move to court jilted Oakland baseball fans still furious over the A’s moving to Las Vegas. The team would be nicknamed the “B’s”, and their color scheme is quite similar to the A’s. By February, they announced they’d be playing home games at West Oakland’s Raimondi Field, now they have a full roster, and their sold-out home opener is there tonight, as KTVU reminds us.


At a pregame ceremony Tuesday, Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao declared, “Baseball was being stricken and taken away from Oakland. But we reclaimed it, with community, with the fan base. And I think that all the folks here with me today can say that Oakland has some of the best fans on earth.”

So are the Oakland Ballers going to be ready for their sold-out Home Opener Tuesday night? The tweet below indicates yes, they are definitely going to be ready.

We kid. But the renovation they did on Raimondi Field in a span of less than two months is pretty darned impressive.


But who are these guys? Actually, the Oakland Ballers are not all guys. KQED introduces us to their female relief pitcher Kelsie Whitmore, the first woman to play in this minor league called the Pioneer League.

You see she throws a mean strikeout. Though you may be alarmed by the fact that the score of the game has the Ballers losing 21-2 in the seventh inning. But scores like that are not uncommon in the minor leagues.

The Oakland Ballers have been playing road games since their season started May 21, and they’re off to a respectable 7-5 start. That includes two very unheard-of baseball scores like a 21-15 loss to the Rocky Mountain Vibes on May 28, and a 27-11 win over that same opponent the very next day.  

Tonight’s home game is against the Yolo High Wheelers at 6:35 pm.


Raimondi Field is still getting many of its final touches applied. “This isn’t the Chase Center,” Ballers co-founder Paul Freedman told the Chronicle. “We don’t have luxury boxes. The restrooms are very, very clean, very new porta potties. Our equipment is used. This is all about a community team and authentic baseball experience. It’s sort of going back to where baseball used to be. We think people are going to enjoy it, but if they’re expecting lobster sandwiches and Champagne, they should temper their expectations.”

Tuesday night’s game is sold out, but we are still seeing tickets available for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday’s games at Raimondi Field, also against the Yolo High Wheelers. (Tickers start at $21). Additionally, the Ballers’ Friday night home games will be broadcast live on KPIX+ 44 Cable 12 (which is not the normal KPIX channel 5, but a cable TV sister station), and that includes this Friday’s 6:35 pm game.

Related: The Newly Formed Oakland Ballers Will Renovate and Play Ball at West Oakland’s Raimondi Field [SFist]

Image: @OaklandBallers via Twitter