By oaklandsi (24.139.231.221) on Sunday, July 11, 2010 - 07:26 am:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/11/INEK1EAR1C.DTL&feed=rss.athletics

Plenty of reasons for A's to stay in Oakland
Andy Dolich
San Francisco Chronicle July 11, 2010 04:00 AM Copyright San Francisco Chronicle. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Sunday, July 11, 2010
Brant Ward / The Chronicle

Fans young and old will keep coming to Oakland from around the Bay Area to support the Athletics for a long time.

The virtual pinball game to decide where the Oakland A's will relocate seems to be heating up.

San Jose elected officials, ballpark boosters and the A's ownership seem to feel that it is a fait accompli that the A's know the way to San Jose.

Some say this game is in the final innings. No, it isn't.

It took the Giants 16 years and four failed elections to get their gem of a privately financed jewel at China Basin. It's a bear to build a new sports venue in today's California, no matter how much rose coloring you add to your glasses or how much of the owners' privately funded millions are put into the project. Just ask the long line of teams prospecting for new stadiums, ballparks and arenas in the Golden State. The A's are joined by the Raiders, the San Francisco 49ers, the San Diego Chargers, the Sacramento Kings and the effort to build a football stadium in Los Angeles. This Rubik's Cube of stadium/arena financing and construction has created an even tougher puzzle in the economic mess that is California.

Perception versus reality: If we stacked up all the articles that have been written about the A's leaving Oakland, we could build a new stadium out of newsprint. As the A's haven't been rained out since May 5, 1998, at least we won't have to worry about ink-stained soggy seats.

Since relocating from Kansas City in 1968, the A's have had their ups and downs both on the field and at the ticket window. Their peaks clearly stand taller than the valleys. This proud franchise owns four World Series Championship trophies and six American League Championships. It has sent five players to the Hall of Fame. From 1981 to 1994, the A's outdrew the Giants by 4.3 million fans. As the great philosopher Lawrence Y. Berra has said, "You could look it up."

Before anyone waves bye-bye to the Green and Gold, let's consider the following:

-- The Coliseum complex built for a paltry $25 million has drawn over 100 million fans since 1966.

-- Oakland is the transportation hub of the Bay Area.

-- The Coliseum complex is the only major entertainment facility with a dedicated BART stop.

-- The Coliseum isn't a baseball Taj Mahal, but that's not the reason fans are staying away. You can't tell your fans, "We're leaving, so come on out."

The key to any team's success is drawing from the nine Bay Area counties and beyond. The A's have done this well in the past and can do it again.

If there is no clear decision from Major League Baseball on the San Jose question, the A's aren't leaving the market. Rumored next stops are Portland, San Antonio, Charlotte, Sacramento and Las Vegas. None of these cities have a major-league place to play, and none of those cities would make a better home for the A's than where they have been for 42 years.

The answer to the age-old question of whether the Bay Area can support two major-league baseball teams is: Yes, heck, we can and do support eight professional sports franchises.

The A's will most likely get their new stadium in Oakland because the A's will follow the Giants example. In the Giants' darkest moment, a group came together to keep the team in its rightful place in San Francisco. Oakland elected officials and private, civic-minded business leaders will find a way to build a new ballpark. When fans of the Green and Gold are celebrating their fifth world championship, it will be in Oakland.

Ultimately, the most important group in this hypothetical baseball board game isn't the owners, the commissioner's Bay Area solution committee, lawyers, judges, economists, boosters, elected officials or team executives. It is the fans of the Oakland Athletics, who have shown over five decades that they can and will support a winning baseball team composed of iconic players and owners who are committed to winning the World Series.

The Giants and A's and their loyal fans know something about seismic shifts. Unless we are going to experience a massive tectonic-plate rearrangement, home plate will remain in Oakland for decades to come.

Andy Dolich is a sports business consultant who was an executive of the Oakland A's from 1980 to 1994 under the Haas family and more recently was chief operating officer of the San Francisco 49ers and president of the Golden State Warriors. Send your feedback to us through our online form at SFGate.com/chronicle/submissions/#1.

This article appeared on page E - 5 of the San Francisco Chronicle

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/11/INEK1EAR1C.DTL&feed=rss.athletics#ixzz0tNrFQ7tn

By carter (76.126.26.126) on Sunday, July 11, 2010 - 07:47 am:

Great article.

By mroakland (98.210.2.1) on Sunday, July 11, 2010 - 08:37 am:

He's absolutely right.

The A's belong in Oakland and haven't reached their full potential in Oakland since the Haas family sold the team to an ownership who had plans from the very beginning to move the franchise to the South Bay. We in Oakland have been kept at arms length since Steve Schott, and then later Lew Wolff, have owned the team.

We are told to come support a franchise who has been threatening to leave Oakland every year since the Haas ownership sold the team. Our community is constantly devalued by these carpetbaggers as a viable major league market despite overwhelming evidence of success on the field and at the gate during the Haas ownership years. In short, we've tried to love and support this franchise time after time, only to be told that we aren't good enough and that they like our neighbor down the street better. Wolff and Fisher don't care about us. As Mr. Leon stated, "Lew Wolff hates Oakland."

Schott and Wolff have never maximized the potential of their great central Bay Area location, in a city with great weather and wonderful public transportation. The Golden State Warriors along with the previous Haas ownership have proven that Oakland is an excellent central location to successfully attract fans from all over the Bay Area. Oakland hasn't been able to show its full potential as a baseball market because of the one-foot-out-the-door mentality of the last two ownerships. It's not fair to Oakland A's fans.

By sactodavey (69.232.189.216) on Sunday, July 11, 2010 - 11:59 am:

the deal is this the Raiders will prob join in on the new stadeum with the 49ers and that will leave the Coliseum empty so why cant they just let the Raiders share in santa clara with the Niners and rebuld the Coliseum for the A's its really still the perfect location easy in n out and Bart ready.

copy what the Angels did just tear down the mount davis rebuild the bleachers with a view , put up the retro old score boards , upgrade some of the areas and bingo!!! Kansas city upgraded thier stadieum the Angels did and we can tooo, it would be tons cheaper then to build new and the Raiders are gone its only a matter of time before they join with 49ers , to get the NFL stadeum $$$ both teams will have to join on new project.

i wonder if MLB is waiting for the Raiders to make announcemtn so they can say remodel old place cause its still an awsome place to watch baseballl , buy up the old hotels around there and revitalize the area like they did acrosshighway with the costco etc.....

the prob is the solution is tooo easy and Wolffs agenda is not really the A's but he wants to develope and make some big $$$$$ the A's are a tool for him.

By carter (76.126.26.126) on Sunday, July 11, 2010 - 01:20 pm:

That would be interesting if they renovated the coliseum for baseball only. It could be great. Victory Court seems to be the best bet right now. Although I haven't heard anything since the news of the land sale there.

By oaklandathletic (76.204.194.89) on Sunday, July 11, 2010 - 02:17 pm:

Selig appointing his "blue-ribbon panel" during spring training 2009. The panel was ordered to assess the A's situation and investigate any viable ballpark options in Oakland or any other East Bay city as well as in San Jose. Most observers expected that the panel would complete its work before the start of this baseball season. But at last word, the panel still was developing information for Selig. A source said no conclusion or recommendation seems imminent.

"I really have not had a lot of interaction with the panel," Wolff said. "They've done their best to stay independent. I'm just hoping that they haven't unintentionally created any issues that will have impact on whatever we are able to do, wherever we go."

What might those "issues" be? Murmurs persist that, instead of merely analyzing the landscape, the panel has been working with Oakland officials to develop a ballpark proposal. This would seem to exceed the panel's guidelines. Does Wolff believe this is happening?

"I don't know," Wolff said. "That's not a 'no.' I just don't know."

Team affected

Whatever the reason for the delay, the blue-ribbon panel's never-ending process plainly has had ramifications for the franchise.

Billy Beane, the A's general manager and part-owner, confirms this. Players are not eager to play in the aging Coliseum when nearly every other ballpark is more modern with a more vibrant atmosphere.

"These last two winters have been a great example of that," Beane said. "We've had more than four instances where we offered more years and more money to players than other teams have offered, but we couldn't get the players to come here."

So the A's meander onward, compiling a mediocre record and playing to small crowds in a severely outdated facility. Wolff said that if the blue-ribbon panel is indeed trying to lead Oakland officials by the hand into a new ballpark proposal, he would be open to discussions.

"It would be best to meet with them along with the committee," Wolff said. "But we can't slow down on San Jose. San Jose has done everything a city could do to get a ballpark property ready. If Oakland has anything I don't know about, I'd like to see it, sit down with the committee and see what they've got. Oakland feels I'm prejudiced toward San Jose. But I'm not. I couldn't figure out how to do it in Oakland."

http://www.mercurynews.com/top-stories/ci_15487632?nclick_check=1

By mroakland (98.210.2.1) on Sunday, July 11, 2010 - 03:40 pm:

Sure, you're not "prejudiced toward San Jose." It's all in our imagination.

By eyleenn (71.131.25.207) on Sunday, July 11, 2010 - 10:04 pm:

Does he really think we're going to buy that line???

By eyleenn (71.131.25.207) on Sunday, July 11, 2010 - 10:11 pm:

There's actually a bit more to the Merc article posted above. Keep in mind, it's by Mark Purdy, SJ booster extraordinaire.

"Any new Oakland plan would be years behind the San Jose proposal. So why not let the South Bay have a vote? Enough is enough. Selig should simply announce that San Jose can hold the vote, and if the ballpark proposal is approved, Major League Baseball will negotiate and implement a territorial rights settlement with the Giants. Period.

Wolff and Selig, who were fraternity brothers at the University of Wisconsin, did speak on the phone last week, but only to confirm that they will meet up at the All-Star game in Anaheim on Tuesday. Wolff said the two never talk business while watching baseball.

This time, that policy might change."

By jmmarx (174.25.92.187) on Monday, July 12, 2010 - 10:43 am:

good article

By jmmarx (174.25.73.93) on Monday, July 12, 2010 - 10:58 am:

good article

By rockoaka (76.230.238.208) on Monday, July 12, 2010 - 06:14 pm:

I don't know if Oakland is years behind. We have a site, Oakland redevelopment agency owns the largest parcel of land, OFD training center. We are just an EIR time period (18 months) away from getting exactly where SJ is. In fact SJ still does not have the biggest parcel of land, ironically AT&T, which sits right in the middle of their ballpark site. So Purdy needs a fact check. This continues to be another desperately urgent article from the SJ proponents. tick tick tick

By eyleenn (71.131.25.207) on Tuesday, July 13, 2010 - 07:34 pm:

I missed this article by Larry Stone from July 4, but someone posted it on scout.com. Stone is the biggest A's-to-S.J. booster apart from Lew Wolff.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/04/IN281E5BOU.DTL

By roggilm (94.190.47.108) on Sunday, July 25, 2010 - 09:09 am:

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