ExCEO knows about disruptions to seasons
As May spins along without baseball, former A’s CEO Walter J. “Wally” Haas feels for all involved. Work stoppages bookended the Haas family’s ownership of the team, so Haas knows the disruptions and financial hits well.
Not long after Haas’ father, Walter A. Haas Jr., purchased the team, a player strike shortened the 1981 season. Oakland was named division winner for the first half and went to the playoffs, but the team played 109 games rather than 162, a big blow considering how the attendance soared with “BillyBall” that year.
The A’s had averaged less than 800,000 a year in attendance during Charlie Finley’s ownership, but the excitement generated by Billy Martin’s dynamic team, which featured a young Rickey Henderson, put the team on pace to draw more than 2.2 million in 1981; the strike trimmed the season total
to 1,304,052.
“If we’d played the full season, we’d have had the biggest growth in attendance in any sport,” Wally Haas said on The Chronicle’s “A’s Plus” podcast.
The next stoppage came in 199495, just as Walter A. Haas’ health was declining and Oakland’s payroll was climbing. The combination — particularly the revenue lost when the 1994 World Series was canceled — proved too much, and the Haas family sold the team to Ken Hofmann and Steve Schott in 1995.
“For me, it was a double loss, having to go through a very difficult sale of the team — unlike most businesses, you get pretty emotionally attached, and even more so knowing my father wouldn’t be around much longer,” Haas said. “But it wasn’t a hard decision. I knew we had to do it.”
One of the conditions was that the A’s had to remain in Oakland, which did little for any sellers’ leverage, but as Haas noted, 25 years later, they’re still in place. “When the A’s were good enough to induct my dad into their Hall of Fame, I said, ‘I believe Walter Haas Jr. was truly the gold standard for what a community could hope for in the owner of a sports franchise.’ ”
Fans remember the Haas’ family ownership with fondness because of the willingness to spend on players, but another pricey financial decision during that second work stoppage also endeared the owners to the public. Unlike many teams, including the Giants, the Haas family did not let go of any employees nor reduce wages.
“It was the right thing for us to do at the time, and we tried to focus our staff toward helping the community and giving back because (the strike) was such a black eye for baseball,” said Haas, comparing the decision to the workercentric way Walter Haas Jr. ran Levi Strauss & Co. “The perception of rich players and richer owners not being able to figure out how to play doesn’t go over well.”
With the Coliseum empty for the foreseeable future during the coronavirus shutdown, Haas understands the dilemma for ownership, with expenses ongoing but no revenue coming in.
“This is a different deal, obviously. We’re in uncharted waters, for sure,” Haas said. “You know eventually in a work stoppage, people will come back. … The unknowns make this COVID19 even more complicated and difficult for sports teams and companies trying to figure things out, so I do feel for them.
“Baseball is maybe the toughest for the sheer timing, with it all hitting two weeks before the season. That’s that moment of hope for all teams. It’s all a very difficult situation. Tough stuff.”
Since the team’s sale, Wally Haas has been closely involved in the Evelyn and Walter A. Haas Jr. Fund, a charitable organization committed to equality, justice and human rights. In 2002, with a grant from that fund, Haas helped start Coaching Corps, which trains volunteer coaches in underserved communities. The nonprofit has grown each year, and the annual Game Changers dinner in San Francisco, aired on NBC Sports Bay Area, is a highlight of the local sports scene, with athletes from each of the pro teams and college players honoring coaches who made a difference in their lives.
“The idea really did come out of our experience with the A’s and seeing the power of sports and how it can bring a community together and particularly get kids’ attention and captivate them,” Haas said. “We saw a growing difference in opportunity for kids to even play sports, much less have a coach, based on what zip code they live in. It’s been phenomenal, the impact.”
The program, based in Oakland, reaches more than 40,000 children in California and has expanded to Baltimore, Boston and Atlanta. With its experience mobilizing volunteers, Coaching Corps has shifted its focus during the coronavirus pandemic.
“What’s happening now is that a lot of these kids, with schools closing, don’t have access to free or partially free lunch or breakfast,” Haas said. “We’re recruiting people to help food banks and get meals and other needed supplies to these kids and families. It seemed like a natural pivot for us to be able to do that and be relevant in the crisis that’s upon us right now. The families served are on the margins, and I think they’re the ones being impacted more than anyone.”
Former A’s starter Dave Stewart enlisted Henderson and former A’s infielder Shooty Babitt to help. Current Oakland players Marcus Semien and Stephen Piscotty also provided donations, along with former Yankees starter CC Sabathia, who is from Vallejo. Former Cal and NBA guard Jason Kidd pitched in, too, and former NBA player Antonio Davis is running a distribution site for the organization in Emeryville.
“We have families with none of the necessities, young kids are going without food and clothing,” Stewart said. “With no activities to coach, the coaches’ focus has shifted to helping families.”
Stewart said in the past week, the Bay Area athletes raised more than $55,000, which will be matched by an anonymous donor.
Stewart, as it happens, is Haas’ alltime favorite player. While a team executive, he couldn’t cop toward any bias, but now? “I’ll admit it,” Haas said. “I loved to see him pitch. To me, Stew was one of the unsung biggame pitchers of all time.”
Haas still follows the A’s avidly and finds it hard sometimes not to consider what his family might have done in certain situations.
“I would sometimes bite my lip over player decisions,” Haas said with a chuckle. “I am a fan at heart. How can you not be, when you get into this business? It’s in my blood now. I have green and gold glasses. I live and die with every decision.”