Comments on: Field of dreams?

By: oakland4ever

oakland4ever — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 21:05:38 +0000

There’s no hpe of the A’s staying as long as Wolff runs the team. Bud Selig believes the A’s moving to Oakland was a “mistake”, because it hurt the Giants. Being Bud Selig’s frat buddy, where is there reason for hope? My hope is he sells to someone committed to Oakland & a ballpark is built (as greenmachine noted) on free land from the city in West Oakland.
I’ve been a diehard A’s fan since my childhood in the early 70′s, so I feel the pain too, Oakland A’s fans

By: greenmachine

greenmachine — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 18:56:30 +0000

Rick,

Thanks for the ballpark update.

I can understand Wolff’s frustration, but a lot of that stems from the fact that he is just passing through Oakland. He has not been a lifelong Oakland A’s fan. He is not willing to make the investment of time and resources that might be required to get the right stadium, not necessarily the quickest stadium, for the A’s.

I’m glad you mentioned the possibility of re-doing the Coliseum. I think a lot of people have forgotten how nice it was before the 1995 remodel. Excellent transportation, too (BART, freeway, and Amtrak). Like you say, it isn’t out of the question that the Raiders will move when their lease expires shortly. If Al Davis is still alive and kicking, he will try to screw Oakland again.

I still think a downtown Oakland ballpark can be pulled off with the patience and commitment of A’s ownership. The stadium plans Wolff has offered to date (in Oakland and Fremont) each involved a burdensome mixed-use village. This insisted-upon village has become a parasite to the ballpark. Why not just build a ballpark where there is already a village and excellent transportation, downtown Oakland? The stadium could still be called Cisco Field, and Oakland could give Wolff a portion of the Army Base site to develop as a hedge against the financial risk he thinks he is taking by building a ballpark for the A’s. With the earth moving under City Hall (Oaklanders are fed up with celebrity mayors, and downtown ballpark enthusiast Robert Bobb is back in town), now might be the time to pull it off.

By: I tried to name my son vida

I tried to name my son vida — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 18:50:35 +0000

Rick, down get so down — it doesn’t become an A’s fan with your experience. As you know, we’ve always lived with this cloud hanging over our heads, since Finley brought the team here as a nutty cheapskate.

Just because a bigshot like Wolff is being humbled by the realities of a crap economy and a post-Raiders ripoff sense of proportion about putting public monies into professional sports doesn’t mean the A’s are gone. The same realities exist:

1. It is hard to move a team. How many MLB teams have moved in the past 45 years?

2. Where are the markets that will better support the A’s? And don’t say Vegas, I’m not buying it.