A’s fans eye bid to buy famed ‘Rooted in Oakland’ truck at East Bay auction

Local Oakland A’s fans hoping the famed “Rooted in Oakland” box truck can stay in the East Bay may just be in luck: A San Leandro auction has put it up for sale.

Bryan Johansen, an A’s superfan and part owner of the Last Dive Bar, an online store that sells merchandise celebrating the history of the Oakland Coliseum, told The Standard images of the box truck were discovered in an online listing for Brownfield Auto Auction.

“We are definitely going to try and bid on it to keep in the community,” Johansen said.

The starting bid for the truck—which is now up and running—is $500, and it will be auctioned on Saturday, according to the Brownfield Auto Auction website. Photos from the site showed the same Kelly green truck members of the Last Dive Bar were trying to find so they could purchase it for the Oakland Ballers to use as a merchandise and food truck at Raimondi Park in West Oakland.

Initially, A’s fans and national sports media pundits were up in arms about the truck being located for auction in San Leandro, accusing the franchise of lying and using the Make-a-Wish foundation as a scapegoat because the A’s told Gabe Hernandez and Robb Roberts of the Last Dive Bar the truck would be donated to the charity.

However, spokespeople for both the A’s and Make-a-Wish confirmed to The Standard that the sports franchise donated the vehicle and that proceeds from the auction would go to the charity.

“The Oakland A’s recently donated a vehicle through Wheels for Wishes, our charity car donation program benefiting Make-a-Wish Greater Bay Area,” a spokesperson for Make-a-Wish explained. “This is one of the many ways the A’s have supported our mission of creating life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses, and we’re grateful for their long-standing partnership. When individuals or organizations donate through Wheels for Wishes, the vehicles go to auction, and then the proceeds go to the local Make-a-Wish chapter. The vehicles can be operable or inoperable.”

Once organizers from the Last Dive Bar were made aware of the truck’s availability, Johansen said, they launched a GoFundMe campaign, which initially set a goal for $5,000. So far, in less than a day, they have collected $5,645 and raised the goal to $10,000.

“They verified that it runs—and that was something that we cared about because we were hoping we aren’t stuck with something that doesn’t run,” Johansen said.

If the crowdfunding campaign raises enough cash to buy the truck, he said, the group plans to use it for the next reverse boycott game at the Coliseum on June 7.

“Once we have fun with it and take it to some events,” Jonansen said, “we plan to turn it over to the Ballers.”

Paul Freedman, co-founder of the Oakland Ballers, said he appreciated the effort by local Oakland fans in trying to preserve something important to fans in the local community.

Johansen said the group hopes to restore the truck to its former “Rooted” glory by using cleaning products designed for graffitied vehicles.

“We already researched how to do it without removing the paint,” he said. “It’s going to be dope.”