Roving Raimondi—First Week
By Roving Reporter Roberto Santiago
“Now is the winter of our great content made glorious summer by this Opening Day; And all the clouds that lour'd upon our house, in the deep bosom of the season buried. Now are our digits bound with victorious rings; our pale arms hung up for monuments; Our stern alarums changed to merry meetings, our dreadful commutes to delightful measures.” -William Shakespeare, Probably (If he’d been to a Ballers game.)
We’re back with Ballers baseball and our roving reporter Roberto Santiago’s impressions during the first week of the season.
What’s New with the Team?
May 19th was the first chance most fans had to come back to Raimondi since the thrilling championship-clinching Game Five last September. It was a long December and there is reason to believe that maybe this year will be better than the last. Spring means renewal and big crowds have already been out to the park. The Ballers set attendance records by having their largest ever crowd on Opening Day followed by their largest ever attendance for a second-day game. In 2025, the Ballers moved from 8th to 4th in attendance in the Pioneer League. For the week, the club is averaging 300 more fans per game than last year.
The B’s sported a new look this week. As has become tradition in baseball, the defending champions donned jerseys with shiny gold numbers, lettering and trim. The gold gleaming against the cream colored uniforms lent an air of pomp and flash to Oakland’s favorite sons. To Dispatches GM Laura Geist confirmed that a fan version of these jerseys will be available later in the season.
If you’re trying to follow the team when you can’t get to the park, you should know that there’s no radio this year. If you want to follow the game live, you can watch all games streaming on the Home Team Network for a fee. You can watch Friday games on YouTube for free. If you want the radio experience, the audio of each broadcast is streamed live on the team’s YouTube channel.
Stadium Innovations
As fans queued up at the new-and-improved merch booth, another one of our classic dark green shipping containers, I was able to check out the recently installed field level seating. Not only are you alarmingly close to the action, you’re also in position to see what’s going on in and behind the dugout. That’s where you can see the behind the scenes action like a team staffer rubbing mud on new baseballs to make them tackier. The mud process is specific, deeply traditional, and about as pure baseball as it gets.
Intrigued by the new “Free Agents” section, I headed to left field to take a look. New Ballers President Yeshayah Goldfarb brought the idea of a singles section to Oakland this year after seeing its success in other MiLB parks and in Japan. Once there, I met Isabella, a member of the Ballers new Associates Program, which acts as an internship for people aspiring to work in baseball operations. Isabella gave me the rundown. The person supporting the section has a basket with name tags and pink Ballers rubber bracelets. Singles interested in meeting can identify each other by the bracelets. There’s a lot more to come for Free Agent Ballers fans as the season progresses. Look for an upcoming post later in the summer.
Speaking of bracelets.
All week, fans were offered their choice of a yellow or green bracelet when they entered the stadium. That choice, much like your seating at Medieval Times, designates whether you are rooting for the yellow or green participant in the fan contests between innings (toilet bowl toss, knockerballer knockout, etc). Goldfarb and founders Bryan Carmel and Paul Freedman were handing out prizes as fans exited the stadium.
The Wednesday night game was the roll out of the club’s Dinner on the Ballers promotion where fans receive $15 towards their food purchase. It was slow going early on as the point of sale system wasn’t fully set up to accommodate the promotion, but as the game went on, the lines moved faster. Fans were very happy to share their savings with each other exclaiming, “These chicken fingers were only $1.68!” An innovation that didn’t come to light until the sun went down, the porta potties now have mood lighting. A huge improvement over the inky blackness of last season’s night games.
Pregame Festivities
The Opening Day pregame festivities included a performance of the Ballers Anthem by Jwalt, a Star Spangled Banner flyover from the Memorial Squadron and Mayor Barbara Lee calling out, “Play ball!” to signal the start of the game.
The centerpiece of the second day’s pregame festivities was the Ballers championship ring ceremony. Replica rings were available at the merch booth and the first 750 fans received a Ballers bling pendant. Players held over from last year’s team received their rings. Team staff also received rings and recognition for their contributions.
Game three was Too $hort bobblehead day with the Oakland legend signing autographs before the game. Aaron Miles received his 2025 Manager of the Year award prior to game four.
Game five featured a block party and album release celebration for Big Ave, the 10-year-old rapper who penned the Scrappy Dance and the Ballers Home Run song. Formerly known as Ave, the pint-sized performer showed the charisma of three adults packed into a five foot frame. If I heard the lyrics right, the name change was made because Big Ave has 6th grade on the horizon and is now grown.
Fan Experience/Seen Around the Park
In game one, the nearly 4,200 fans fell mostly silent as the Ballers had a tough couple of innings to start the contest. “This has the feeling of a Monday game in July, not Opening Day,” one fan opined. The lack of buzz was short-lived as the crowd became louder and more engaged as the game went on. Despite being down 11-2 in the bottom of the ninth, both the Ballers and the fans remained steadfast until the end. The team got their second runner of the frame on base thanks to a ball that took a titanic bounce at the edge of the infield grass that went over the second baseman’s head. A fan standing in the on field seating area remarked, “He didn’t know that hop was there. He didn’t scout the field. I’ve played so many games here and that hop is always there.” If you know, you know; and Ballers fans know their park.
The first week also had all the familiar sights and sounds you’ve come to love at Raimondi. The drummers were out in force in right field, hard at work workshopping beats and chants for new players. The firefighters stood on their truck in left-center waving Ballers flags. Ballers VP of Communications and Fan Engagement (and all-around game MC) Casey Pratt rode his bike along the warning track and threw hotdogs into the crowd. Kids roamed the park dressed like possums, including an impressive homemade Scrappy costume that looked almost exactly like the one worn by the Ballers mascot. In left field, a fan was loudly scat-singing along with the organ music. People behind him chanted “Henny-thing's Possss-ible” when Nick Poss came to bat. One fan in the front row behind home plate spent a long at bat heckling Missoula’s 2B Will Bermudez for an attempted bunt, thinking Bermudez was the DH.
Friday night’s game four provided high drama. The Ballers fell behind by seven runs before storming back. Equally entertaining to the action on the field was the sight of Bryan Carmel in the stands living and dying with every pitch then exploding with childlike glee when TJ McKenzie’s sac fly won the game. Never doubt that these team founders love baseball as much as anyone.
The first homestand week ended 3-3. Won some, lost some.
But the buzz in the stadium this week, friends and fan-ily greeting each other after a long day–or a long winter–was heart warming. Someone with a microphone asked me where the heart of the Oakland sports fan had gone. Just then, the Ballers turned a double play and the stadium erupted in cheers. We had to wait so she could hear my answer. “You’re seeing it,” I replied. “Sports is about community. The level doesn’t matter as much as the people. We’re gathered here together again enjoying each other’s company and energy.”
New amenities. New players. Same Oakland spirit.
Roberto Santiago is a third generation Berkeley boy currently raising the fourth generation. Roberto’s writing has appeared in Latina, Parents, and various online outlets. A lifelong baseball fan, Roberto worked briefly with the Boston Red Sox and once hit an RBI single off Spaceman Lee on a 2-2 changeup. It was his only at bat ever in a real baseball game. Find him on Instagram.
