Oakland A’s Fans Paint Mural In Attempt To Keep Team In City

Oakland A’s fans want to keep their beloved team in the city, and are picking up spraypaint cans to build up support.

The team has been at the center of a high-profile search for a new stadium, with rumors that the team’s new home may end up outside the city of Oakland.

One group of Oakland A’s fans have decided on a novel way to keep the team in the city. The group, known as TDK Collective, is painting murals on businesses around Oakland showing iconic players and scenes. The word “STAY” is worked in between images of players like Ricky Henderson.

“There’s also a lot of people that want them to stay, so we wanted to make that message visual,” said 29-year-old high school art teacher Francisco Sanchez, who organized the project. “I wanted to bring back memories to loyal fans that have been out here for generations.”

Sanchez said the mural with Henderson got a special visitor.

“A car stops by and somebody says, ‘Does that mean I’m still alive?” Sanchez recalled. “He said it again and he got out of the car. I kind of turned around and it was Rickey. That was really cool.”

Wherever the Oakland A’s end up, it is clear that their days in the Coliseum are numbered. The stadium’s infrastructure is failing to keep up with modern demands, and earlier this year suffered a backup of raw sewage that caused it to leak into the stadium.

Officials said the lower level of the stadium had overworked sewage pipes that backed up, leaving locker rooms filled with pools of putrid smelling water.

The Oakland A’s stadium lease was set to expire at the end of the season, but the team and the Oakland Raiders both agreed to extensions. The A’s will now remain in the stadium through 2015.