Independent Oakland baseball team created to replace A's

It looks like baseball in Oakland isn't going anywhere.

A Bay Area baseball team called the Oakland Ballers, also known as the B's, is being planned as the newest addition to the independent Pioneer League and will start this summer.

"We just felt like our hearts had been ripped from our chests like all East Bay sports fans," team co-founder Bryan Carmel told ESPN's Jeff Passan.

"Oakland is a city that has seen the Raiders leave town, the Warriors move across town. There was a lot of chatter that maybe Oakland isn't a pro sports town. We reject that completely."

The club, which will feature the same green-and-gold color scheme as the Athletics, was co-founded by Carmel and Paul Freedman. It will be operated by former major-league manager Don Wakamatsu and managed by former big-league player Micah Franklin.

The Ballers are expected to play their games at Laney College, which is in the Oakland area and will have its seating expanded thanks to $2 million raised by the ownership group.

"We're not here to replace what we lost," Freedman said. "We mourn what was lost. What we're here to do is say there's a tradition in Oakland. We get to continue that. We believe when Oaklanders come together, nothing can stop us."

MLB owners unanimously approved relocating the A's to Las Vegas on Nov. 16. The A's moved to Oakland from Kansas City in 1968 and won World Series titles in 1972, 1973, 1974, and 1989.