In MLB, mascots are usually the life of the party—big, goofy, and always ready to make fans smile, no matter how tough the game gets. But every now and then, a mascot does something that turns the spotlight away from the field and onto themselves. That’s exactly what happened when the Oakland Athletics’ mascot, Stomper, found himself in the middle of a controversy that had nothing to do with home runs or strikeouts. As if A’s losing 19 of their last 20 games wasn’t enough, Stomper has done something completely unexpected. Oddly enough, this made some people cut the Athletics a bit of slack. So, what actually happened?
Well, Stomper, the A’s mascot, posed with a fan wearing a T-shirt with “SELL” written on it. At first glance, that might seem harmless. But you look closer, there’s more to the story. The fan, who posed with Stomper, was quickly escorted away by security guards. The reason? The message on his shirt. It was clear: he was calling for the MLB team to be sold. Surprisingly, after he was kicked out, Stomber defied everyone else’s wishes and posed with him anyway. In a video posted by Awful Announcing, the fan can be seen standing behind Carlos Ramirez and Chris Townsend, while a security guard tries to talk to him, without much success.
Appears last night’s censorship of the #SELL tee on A’s Cast isn’t organizationally recognized.
Stomper DGAF! pic.twitter.com/bRuuiU33Jg
— Last Dive Bar (@LastDiveBar) June 5, 2025
With the Athletics already facing a large, unhappy fan base, this incident only deepened the team’s troubles. Although the fan didn’t leave immediately, security eventually removed him from the Sutter Health Park. The entire episode was caught on camera as the two hosts discussed the teams ahead of the game on Thursday. And you know, the fan’s first reaction to this? “You know this too is on TV right?”
The fan was later identified as Joe Horton, who revealed that after a conversation with security, he was allowed to return to his seat. It might be just a game, of course, but a fan getting kicked out of an MLB game for wearing a controversial t-shirt sparked plenty of debate.
Adding to the woes, the team currently has no permanent home and until their Las Vegas home gets ready in 2028, they are kinda stuck in Sacramento, which doesn’t seem a good idea to many. Their 24-40 record has led to many calling for owner John Fisher to be fired. Talk about the context of Horton’s t-shirt. Perhaps, there’s a silver lining. Amid all the criticism and turmoil, there’s finally some good news: the A’s have won the game against the Twins.
A’s finally have something to feel proud about
Contrary to what happened before the game, the Athletics still managed to secure a 14-3 win against the Minnesota Twins. And you know, what’s more surprising? This marked the highest score they made this MLB season. At once, it seemed like all the team’s spark had been missing all this season, but young talents rose to the occasion. Be it Tyler Soderstrom, Jacob Wilson, or Max Muncy, all hit home runs, with Soderstrom delivering his first career grand slam in the fourth inning.
Now, what came as even more surprise was that the A’s gave away 96 home runs this season, and were well on pace to allow that 277 mark this season, too. However, they managed to turn things around in this game. Whether it was desperation or a response to recent humiliation, their bats finally came alive.
As the Twins’ rookie, David Festa, took the mound, the A’s hitters took control. While the first three batters managed to reach base with RBI singles, Max Muncy scored his second career home run. He looked comfortable, and the A’s will be hoping for more strong performances from him in the games ahead.
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