I feel your pain, Bumpy. I lived in the San Francisco East Bay for 53 years. I lived and died with the Oakland A’s. I watched Charlie Finley break up a team that won three World Series championships in a row, 1972–74: traded or let go in free agency Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter, Vida Blue, Sal Bando, Joe Rudi, Bert Campaneris, Gene Tenace, and Rollie Fingers because he was too cheap to pay their salaries.

Then in the ’90s, after winning another three pennants in a row (1988–90), they got rid of Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire, Dave Parker, Dave Stewart, and Dave Henderson. In the 2000s they broke up the Moneyball team, shedding Jason Giambi, Miguel Tejada, Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, Barry Zito. In 2014 they were riding high, best record in baseball at the break; then they inexplicably traded Yoenis Cespedes at the deadline and promptly collapsed the rest of the year. Every time anybody gets good enough to command a salary, they move him.

Even after I left the Bay and moved here to the D.C. area two years ago, I took out an MLB.TV subscription and kept watching the A’s religiously in spite of the time difference. Then they did it again: let Marcus Semien walk free, and this past winter traded away Matt Chapman and Matt Olson, and now they’re in a race with the Nats for the worst team in baseball, and I’m done. They’re on the verge of moving to Las Vegas, anyway. It was a nice 53 years, but I’m done with the Oakland A’s.

Let me know where you live and I’ll be over with that bottle of gin.