A’s reverse boycott game removed from MLB archives

Two years after it happened, it looks as though Major League Baseball is trying to erase the “reverse boycott” staged by fans of the then-Oakland Athletics.

On June 13, 2023, shortly after the team’s long-rumored move to Las Vegas was announced, fans of the A’s packed the Oakland Coliseum for a game against the Tampa Bay Rays. The “reverse boycott” was done to show MLB that the fans in Oakland were not the issue. That even in the midst of a miserable season (the A’s were 18-50 at the time of the game and finished the year 50-112) and playing a midweek game against a team not known for big road crowds, the fans in Oakland would support the team.

Two years after the reverse boycott, it appears as though MLB doesn’t want its fans to be able to see the game.

A fan, who attended the game and caught a foul ball, asked if there was a broadcast of the game available online. The Last Dive Bar X account replied, noting that “MLB actually removed this game from their website.” The account followed up by taking a screengrab of MLB.TV’s June 13, 2023 page, pointing out that the Oakland and Tampa broadcasts of that game are the only unavailable broadcasts from MLB’s slate of games that day.

It doesn’t stop there. Alex Simon of SF Gate reported that “an SFGATE analysis found the Rays-A’s game on June 13, 2023 is the only MLB game in the entire month of June 2023 where the broadcasts are unavailable for viewing on the MLB.TV archive.”

So, what gives?

As Simon reported, MLB only said “stay tuned” when asked about the broadcasts.

That said, during the game, both Oakland and Tampa’s broadcast repeatedly picked up fans directing “Sell the Team” chants at A’s owner John Fisher. It’s also notable that MLB commissioner Rob Manfred was not particularly impressed with the showing.

Until — or unless — we hear an official answer, we can only speculate. But there were hundreds of games played in June 2023 and only one of not available on MLB.TV. It’s hard to believe that one game being suddenly removed from the archives after two years is simply a mistake.