The Athletics begin their final homestand on Tuesday as fans prepare to say goodbye to their team, one that has been based in the Bay Area since 1968.
With this week marking the last chance for the Oakland faithful to attend the Coliseum in their green and gold before the A’s move to Sacramento and then Las Vegas, many are making last-minute purchases of merch to remember the franchise by.
Unfortunately, when adding some new items to their stock, the official team shop missed a very obvious issue with one of their ball caps. Rather than a display of Oakland pride, the hat mistakenly spells out a common cuss word, yet another embarrassing development for a team that has struggled immensely both on and off the field for years leading up to their move.
Here’s everything to know about the Athletics New Era hat, including why the accidentally vulgar piece of merch was removed from the team website after fans dunked on it.
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Athletics New Era hat, explained
Social media users were the first to recognize odd lettering on this Oakland A’s cap for sale on the team’s official MLBShop.com page. The item, titled “Men’s Oakland Athletics New Era Green Team Shadow 9FIFTY Snapback Hat,” featured bubble letters spelling out “A’s” with three S’s intended to drag out the word.
Somehow, despite likely passing through several hands before it was released, the hat also appears to read like a very commonly used curse word. When posts of the listing went viral on Tuesday, it was nearly sold out.
The Oakland A’ss Hat Is Real And It’s Spectacular https://t.co/DrUfUZpciJ pic.twitter.com/jLp0vVFUPV
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) September 24, 2024
Why did the A’s take down their New Era hat?
The hat was removed from the website shortly after its mistakenly vulgar lettering surfaced online. Nevertheless, several people already bought the merch, though it’s still to be determined whether they will receive the cap in the mail.
MORE: Oakland owner John Fisher ripped after writing letter to fans
Athletics New Era hat reactions
Of course, as the hat went viral, several fans of the team and baseball followers were quick to poke fun at the mistake. Here are some of the best reactions to Oakland’s gear blunder heading into the A’s final three home games.
UMMM can we talk about how Fanatics is selling an Oakland A’s hat that literally says “ASS” on it? This is crazy? pic.twitter.com/perBWsCOiC
— KT Cards (@card_kt) September 24, 2024
The official hat of John Fisher. #RootedInOakland
(via: too many people to list)https://t.co/NiPqcowOCf pic.twitter.com/Fs9AlvqdgX
— Marcus Gilmer (@marcusgilmer) September 24, 2024
The most fitting hat for a fitting end of the Oakland A’s. Buy it now. pic.twitter.com/zFNyYINIlL
— Hunter Bolding (@HunterBVideo) September 24, 2024
I, for one, will never take it for granted that I got to cover baseball at a time when this was approved for sale, at this specific time, and under these circumstances. https://t.co/G5q4Q12DQc pic.twitter.com/c5EmVYakug
— Levi Weaver (@ThreeTwoEephus) September 24, 2024
“What do you think of the Oakland Athletics ownership?
They- pic.twitter.com/nqHgL2u1r5
— DaddyDimmuTV (@DaddyDimmuTv) September 24, 2024