Oakland Athletics |

Photos: Thousands jam Jack London Square for Oakland Fans Fest

Thousands of Oakland sports fans gathered in Jack London Square Saturday for their own Fans Fest event hosted by the Oakland 68’s and Last Dive Bar.

Chad Backsen, who used to live in Oakland, flew this morning from Denver to attend Fans Fest, a former Oakland Athletics annual event. The A’s stopped hosting the event in 2019.

Now, Fans Fest is a celebration of Oakland sports clubs, such as the men’s and women’s soccer teams, Oakland Roots and Oakland Soul, the newly created baseball club, Oakland Ballers, the ultimate frisbee club, Oakland Spiders, and many more local clubs.

Oakland Athletics fan Hal Gordon, also known as “Hal the Hot Dog Guy,” who sells hot dogs at A’s games, wore a possum costume in honor of the famous possum who has appeared at the coliseum during night games since 2014. 

Former A’s players Coco Crisp, Grant Balfour, Trevor May and others turned out at to greet fans, sign autographs and pose for photos.

Read the full story here and see more photos from the event.