Signs of fan discontent in A's banner year

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The A's have the best team in baseball. But some Oakland fans are none too happy.

Why? Freedom of speech, of all things.

A number of A's fans are honked, claiming that security is taking down signs that implore the team to stay in Oakland. The team denies the charge, saying it bans signs that break stadium rules against commercialization, such as signs that promote websites. The team also has rules banning signs that are too big.

Whichever side you believe, one thing is clear: The fans are at odds with ownership, and the object of everyone's ire is the team's managing partner, Lew Wolff.

According to Brian Hofer, a 36-year-old Oakland resident who runs a Facebook group called "Trade Lew," there have been multiple instances in recent weeks in which security forced fans to take down signs deemed offensive to management.

(In case you've been napping, A's ownership has been trying to move to San Jose for years, slowed only by the plodding indifference of Commissioner Bud Selig.)

Maurice Greer, a 32-year-old fan from El Cerrito, has been a front-row regular in the left-field bleachers for 15 years. Last season, he hung his "Respect Oakland Baseball" sign at every game he attended. This season, he was asked to take it down.

"That sign was meant for anyone who disrespects this organization," Greer said. "That goes for other teams, other fans ... and even the ownership. People really liked that sign."

Many Oakland fans are unhappy with co-owner Lew Wolff (center) even as they enjoy this year's accomplishments by his team. Many Oakland fans are unhappy with co-owner Lew Wolff (center) even as they enjoy this year's accomplishments by his team. Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Signs of fan discontent in A's banner year 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

One sign the A's outlawed read, "Keep Our A's in Oakland," brought by Oakland Fan Pledge, a grassroots group that encourages locals to buy season tickets in order to show ownership that there is a viable fan base in the East Bay. The A's told the group the sign was commercial in nature and had to come down. The group appealed to the team's lawyers, who are trying to work out a compromise.

"If the A's are working in good faith on this lease to keep the team in Oakland, we're 100 percent behind the team," said John Hansen, co-founder of Oakland Fan Pledge. "Our stance is not anti-A's or anti-Lew Wolff. We're here for the fans. We're about making a stadium happen in Oakland."

So, with the recent backdrop of contentious lease negotiations at the Coliseum, the fan base is busy worrying about the future instead of enjoying a tremendous A's team.

"Wolff is definitely antagonizing his fan base," Hofer said. "People should be in a super-excited mode. Instead, we're just angry at the owner."

This isn't the A's first go-round with the First Amendment. Four years ago, a fan named Jorge Leon was kicked out of the Coliseum for hanging signs that read "Lew Wolff hates Oakland" and "Lew Wolff lied, he never tried."

At the time, former Oakland city attorney John Russo wrote a letter to former Police Chief Anthony Batts, warning him that Oakland police officers should not help the A's evict fans. In his letter, Russo pointed out that other teams have lost legal challenges following efforts to restrict free speech in stadium signage. Russo feared that Oakland was exposed legally if its police officers assisted in throwing out fans.

Wolff backed off in 2010, inviting Leon and his family to a game in his luxury suite. But it seems that his penchant for restricting criticism is back.

Hopefully, Wolff and majority owner John Fisher will stop this nonsense.

The Founding Fathers made it the very first amendment for a reason.

-- On the field, it was a great week for Bay Area baseball, with the A's and Giants meeting four times, two each on either side of the drink.

The A's proved to be the superior squad, winning three of four in decisive fashion. And Oakland's fans showed more spunk in the stands, sparring with Giants right fielder Hunter Pence and cheering lustily at both ballparks.

Is it Oakland's year? My magic 8-ball says yes.

And so do the numbers. Because this is about the A's, let's use one of the new sabermetric stats to make the point clear. "Wins Above Average," or WAA, is a complicated stat that estimates how many wins a player helps generate in comparison with an average replacement. (It's more complicated than that, but that's the best I can do to explain it.)

When you aggregate Oakland's WAA statistics, position by position, the team generates a whopping 12.5 wins above average in aggregate. That leads the major leagues by a huge margin. The next-best results, turned in by the Angels in the AL (8.0) and the Dodgers in the NL (8.5), are not even close. The Giants have a WAA of 2.8.

Going into the All-Star break, Billy Beane's boys are clearly way above average.

-- I asked Pence about his run-in with A's fans, who jeered him in Game 2 of the Bay Bridge Series, prompting an animated response from the quirky right fielder. He didn't take the bait.

"I was just having fun," said Pence. "They're fun. It's a fun atmosphere."

Yeah, it was fun, fun, fun 'til the A's took the series away.

-- Pence's next stop will be Minneapolis, where he'll be playing for the National League All-Stars.

"It means a lot," he said. "It's definitely a complete honor."

Asked to recall his favorite childhood memory of the Midsummer Classic, Pence pulled this out of the memory banks.

"It was (Hank) Blaylock hitting a homer off (Eric) Gagne," Pence said, without blinking.

In case you don't remember, the year was 2003 and it was the first year the All-Star Game winner would determine which league would enjoy home-field advantage in the World Series.

Trailing by four runs going into the sixth inning, the AL began a memorable comeback that was capped by a two-run, pinch-hit, eighth-inning HR by the Rangers' Blaylock off the Dodgers' Gagne, who was in the midst of a regular-season-record streak for converting saves.

The blast gave the AL a 7-6 win. And it gave Pence something to shoot for.

-- Pence will be joined in Minnesota by teammate Madison Bumgarner ... and seven A's.

That could be trouble for the streaking A's. Historically, players can get a bit tired, or even injured, during the All-Star break. I asked Oakland manager Bob Melvin if he's telling his All-Stars to take it easy in Minneapolis.

"We have a lot of first-timers, so we want them to enjoy it," Melvin said. "It's a four-day break, and that's important."

Melvin explained that it used to be a three-day break, causing players to travel-play-travel, affording little rest. Now, they get a day off.

Yoenis Céspedes will defend his Home Run Derby title. Is Melvin worried it will impact his left fielder's second-half production?

"Everybody who sits in my seat has concerns," Melvin said, "but who am I to tell him not to do it? He wants to do it."

And he's pretty good at it.

-- In case you're heading to Reno, Giancarlo Stanton is the 2-to-1 favorite to win the HR Derby, according to the oddsmakers at Bovada. Céspedes is the second-best bet, at 5-to-1, and A's third baseman Josh Donaldson is a 10-to-1 shot. My pick? Yasiel Puig, at 6-to-1. Otherwise, it's a bat flip.

-- Giants third-base coach Tim Flannery has been an unwavering supporter of Bryan Stow, the Giants' fan who suffered permanent injuries in a beating in a Dodger Stadium parking lot. Last week, Stow won an $18 million judgment, pending appeal.

Flannery was happy for the family, but still had some questions.

"There's some relief for the family, but the $18 million doesn't cover the medical bills owed," Flannery said. "How can they still owe money? For going to watch a ballgame? Of their favorite team?"

The answer, of course, lies in this nation's badly broken health-care system.

Flannery, who plays in a band and has held numerous charity concerts on Stow's behalf, received a text from Stow's sisters shortly after the jury ruling, expressing relief. They were concerned Stow would somehow be blamed for the incident.

"Twelve strangers came out of that room and said Brian had nothing to do with the whole ordeal," Flannery said.

That doesn't mean it didn't happen. And it doesn't mean the Stow family, which now awaits appeal, is in the clear.