Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong and rapper Too $hort are attempting to keep baseball alive in the Bay Area. The music icons are joining the ownership group of the Oakland Ballers, a new independent team attempting to keep baseball alive in the city.

The privately owned club — it was founded by former head of comedy at Fusion Bryan Carmel and his Oakland boyhood friend and edtech entrepreneur Paul Freedman, with the help of outside investors — offered fans a chance to join a $1.2 million financing round last year. Some 2,200 of them signed up. A $2 million round is planned for this year.

Last summer, the Oakland Ballers — a Pioneer League baseball team that played its inaugural season in 2024 — welcomed more than 2,200 fans into its ownership group through a community investment round that raised $1.

Armstrong, 53, founded Green Day in 1987 with Mike Dirnt. The band has sold more than 85 million records worldwide and has won four Grammy Awards. Armstrong also won a Grammy for Best Musical Show Album for “American Idiot,” which also featured Green Day.

Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong told the crowd at his recent concert at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne that he wanted US President Donald Trump and Elon Musk to "shut the f*** up." Armstrong is a strong critic of Trump and Musk and has targeted them during his gigs.

East Bay rap icon Too Short and Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong are getting behind the Oakland Ballers. The team announced on Wednesday that the two internationally renowned musicians — both of whom have East Bay roots — will be joining the team’s ownership group.