A's break fans' hearts again with Vegas relocation news

Heading into the new MLB season, many Oakland fans already were heartbroken about the state of their struggling team — small crowds, bad baseball and dismal winters watching top players being traded away or lost in free agency.

Now, the greatest disappointment yet: Yes, the A's are leaving for Las Vegas.

The news came Wednesday night from team president Dave Kaval, who said Oakland signed a binding agreement to buy land on a 49-acre site near the Las Vegas Strip to build the intimate ballpark the A's always coveted but couldn't pull off in the Bay Area.

«This really is one of the saddest days,» said lifelong fan Jason Bressler, 40, who grew up in suburban Alamo and now lives in Los Angeles. «Some of my best childhood memories were in Section 216 of the Coliseum with my friends and family, and when they were on the road, Bill King was the soundtrack of my youth.

»Attending Game 4 of the 1989 World Series with my dad is an experience I'll cherish forever."

Even after moving out of the Bay Area and starting his own family, Bressler kept his allegiance, making it a «point to take in multiple games a year whether in Oakland or on the road.

»Now that they are leaving I can't help but feel like a big piece of my childhood is going with them," he said. «It pains me that I won't be able to share those same experiences with my kids moving forward.»

Las Vegas would be the fourth home for a franchise that started as the Philadelphia Athletics from 1901 to 1954.

«We're turning our full attention to Las Vegas,» Kaval said. «We were on parallel paths before. But we're focused really on Las Vegas as our path to find a future home for the A's.»

Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao called the A's franchise's decision «extremely disappointing» and