San Francisco Chronicle will refer to MLB team as ‘Sacramento Athletics’ despite guidelines

Recent monikers such as the Washington Football Team and Utah Hockey Club have paved the way for the Athletics, the one-word name of the team formerly known as the Oakland Athletics.

While that Major League Baseball franchise plays in Sacramento and awaits the approval and completion of a stadium in Las Vegas, they have created “brand transition guidelines” that insist the team is to be referred to simply as the Athletics or A’s, and that their approved initials are “ATH.”

The San Francisco Chronicle has decided not to honor those guidelines.

National baseball writer John Shea explained in a piece published Sunday why the newspaper will instead refer to the MLB team as the “Sacramento Athletics” or “Sacramento A’s” and will use the initials “SAC” accordingly.

“…What’s wrong in the interim with being called the Sacramento A’s? Absolutely nothing,” writes Shea. “It would have been a nice display of pride, maybe even gratitude. But if fans want to call this team the Sacramento A’s, they have every right. Same with the media.

“…The Chronicle has decided not to follow the A’s guidelines and will call them the Sacramento Athletics or Sacramento A’s online and in print stories. The Chronicle’s sports editor, Christina Kahrl, who grew up in the Sacramento area an A’s fan, signed off on the decision, along with using the “SAC” designation and not “ATH” in the standings and other agate. Other Hearst newspapers are aboard as well, a nifty decision that oozes with common sense.”

Shea notes that the push for the A’s to offer a little more respect to the City of Trees is coming from some important people as well. When team manager Mark Kotsay and four players attended a recent Sacramento Kings game at Golden 1 Center, the PA announcer told fans to “give it up, your Sacramento Athletics in the house.” 

Opinions seem to vary on how far locals want to push for the MLB franchise to officially add Sacramento to their team name, but there doesn’t seem to be any doubt how excited fans in the region are. The A’s have received more than 74,000 ticket requests for the team’s Sacramento home opener.

The Athletics and owner John Fisher haven’t done much in recent years to endear themselves to, well, anyone. The team obviously wants to get on their way to Vegas as soon as possible. However, the possibility remains that the stadium financing falls through there. And if that happens, the demand for the A’s to add Sacramento to their name permanently will get pretty loud.