A's drop home finale to Detroit but fans cheer anyway

OAKLAND, Calif. — Only a few stragglers remained of the fans who made their way to the field to circle the bases one last time.

Included was a group in the familiar green “Sell” T-shirts beating their drums and getting high-fives from security guards while chanting “Sell The Team!” following a 2-0 loss to the Detroit Tigers Sunday at the Coliseum.

The defeat dropped the A’s record to 48-108. One more loss on their six-game road trip to close out the season and it will be the most in their 55 years in Oakland. The 55 home losses are the most since the A’s came to Oakland in 1968 and equals the franchise record set in 1956 and 1964 in Kansas City.

The A’s departed afterward for a six-game road trip to Minnesota and Anaheim, playing out the string of season in which ownership gave them no legitimate chance to field a contending team or even one that could approach .500.

But rather than get booed off the field, A’s fans chose to cheer, displaying the same kind of positive vibe in the face of adversity that the players showed all season long. They flooded the dugout area to say their goodbyes while many players made their way to the rail to do the same.

Players want no part of discussions of owner John Fisher, mouthpiece Dave Kaval or their potential future in Las Vegas. They’re focused on making it back to Oakland for the 2024 season.

Left-handed starter J.P. Sears, who saw his record fall to 5-13 giving up just a two-run bloop single to Spencer Torkelson in five innings, is thinking that way.

“We want to provide the fan base with a winning team, a competitive team, something they’ll come out and cheer for,” Sears said. “We appreciate those that come out and want to increase that next year.”

The A’s attendance of 13,102 was bigger than their average crowd of 10,240 coming in, although not to up to the Giants-infused home dates of 37,553 and 27,381 on Aug. 5-6 or the “reverse boycott” night of 27,759 against Tampa Bay on June 13.

The season attendance of 832,342 is last in the major leagues but more than the 787,902 during last year’s 102-loss season

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