IN LEW WOLFF'S Perfect World, the A's would be playing in San Jose; in a gleaming, spacious, brand-new baseball stadium adjacent to the HP Pavilion in the heart of the cash-cow colony known as Silicon Valley.
But these challenging times we live in are a stark reminder that the present environment is not compatible for any "perfect world", let alone Lew Wolff's.
The bottom line when it comes to the immediate future of the A's is that they most likely will be Oakland for at least the next five years, baring something unforeseen, like "contraction" by Major League Baseball. In that unlikely scenario, the franchise would simply be dissolved; scraped from the area. Baseball supposedly has a plan to rid problem franchises like Oakland, Tampa Bay and Florida, (Miami) franchises, not coincidentally, that have stadium issues.
In Miami, the Marlins have had a plethora of stadium deals on the board and recently got the go-ahead for a 35,000-seat stadium on the site of the old Orange Bowl. The deal had a sudden death, when local civic leaders pulled the plug on the new park due largely to the present economic conditions. The Marlins will continue to play at Dolphins Stadium for the immediate future.
In Tampa, the Ray's play in a dreary, indoor-domed, edifice called Tropicana Field and have been trying for years to build an outdoor stadium, but have failed to hammer a deal with local pols; for the time being, they will still play in their drabby palace. They have no choice.
In Oakland, Wolff's options are fairly similar to that of both of the Florida teams. He has very few.
His deal with Fremont seemed to be cemented, only to go up in flames amid neighborhood opposition, questionable site location, and a bevy of traffic and infrastructure issues.
As the Fremont deal collapsed, word quickly spread that San Jose would now be the most likely city on the A's radar, and indeed Wolff has had several discussions with Mayor Chuck Reed and city council members. San Jose has even designated a site adjacent to the HP Pavilion, and would like to "play ball", but several obstacles exist, most beyond even Wolff's clout and the city itself.
More on that later.
Late last week, reports circulated out of both the NY Daily News and the Las Vegas Review-Journal that A's officials had begun exploratory talks with officials in the desert city about a possible Vegas deal. Wolff denied the report, but even if they were real, Las Vegas remains, to borrow a phrase, a "long shot" for any professional franchise.
For one, the city is experiencing it's own economic crisis, as throngs of companies have cancelled their conventions, and several hotel/casinos have laid off thousands of workers. The last thing Vegas is thinking about is a new baseball stadium, and until the gambling issue is resolved, no pro franchise can or will look at the city. It's simply not viable.
Another trendy candidate mentioned is Sacramento, but that city is facing the real possibility of the NBA's Kings leaving for either Anaheim or yes, San Jose. The Kings are owned by the Maloof family and play in outdated and out-of-the-way ARCO Arena; They have long tried in vein to work with city leaders for a new downtown arena, but that has gone by the wayside due to the fact that, like a lot of municipalities in California, Sacramento is facing economic dire straits. If they can't subsidize a building to keep the Kings, how would they be able to upgrade Rayley Field for a MLB franchise? And in spite of it's growing population, the Sacramento metro area is barely above the million-resident meter, leaving many to question whether an area still relatively small, would be able to support on a consistent basis, major-league baseball.
Which brings us back to the future of the A's. Wolff has stated publicly that his main goal is to keep the team in "Northern California", but just where? Again, his options seem to be few and none. Conceivably, he and his majority owner, Gap co-founder and billionaire Jon Fisher, could sell the A's, either to a group willing and able to keep the team in the Bay Area, or in a worst-case scenario, outside the area in another state. Portland has been mentioned, but like Sacramento, lacks a ready facility, and is considered too small an area to support a team.
San Antonio has lobbied MLB for years about getting an expansion and/or existing franchise, but like other cities, faces severe economic constraints and appears to be off the table.
Back to Oakland. If Wolff, who is in his mid 70's, truly wants a new stadium, and is willing to swallow his pride and yes, "play ball", then he should sit down with Oakland officials and work out a deal on the BEST and most REALISTIC site, and that site is the North Parking lot in the existing Coliseum/Oracle arena, right next to the old stadium.
While not the most aesthetic location, the site presents Wolff and A's brass a multitude of obstacle-free reasons to build a 40,000-seat stadium, with a perfect view of the Oakland Hills.
For one, the site is a proven winner and has been in the past, as one need only look at the A's of the late 80's and early 90's, under the Haas ownership, when they averaged 2.6 million fans, to a peak of 2.9 million in 1990.
For one thing, the land is owned by the city and Alameda county, and conceivably could be offered in exchange for Wolff's commitment to build his new stadium. Another significant advantage is that, although the site would have to have environmental-impact reports, because it already has existing stadia, that lengthy process that would normally take up to two years to conclude, could be executed in about six months.
The north-lot site also benefits all parties because construction could commence and a new venue could be built in time for the 2012 season. There would be no potential residential opposition as the Coliseum sits on its own area, surrounded by two massive parking lots, next to BART and Hwy. 880 and mass transit. Many A's fans take BART to the game, so the issue of traffic would be mitigated by the existing transit hubs.
The A's have maintained that they would be willing to finance any new stadium, and by building the facility on the north lot would dramatically reduce the cost. What was estimated at anywhere from $600 to $700 million dollars in Fremont, would be somewhere in the $300 million neighborhood in Oakland. Granted, the Fremont plan consisted of a combination stadium/condo/retail village, but Fremont is off the board now so if Wolff is sincere in his desire to keep the team in the Bay Area, then he need look no farther than the north lot. Let he or other skeptics question this site's location/viability, take a look at Kansas City's newly-renovated Arrowhead stadium for the NFL's Chiefs, and adjacent Kaufman stadium, home to the baseball Royals.
Oakland and Wolff have a chance to replicate the football/baseball stadium success in KC, and it doesn't require any amount of real obstacles; merely the parties to sit down, bury their considerable egos and work out a concrete proposal that could be up and running in 22 months.
Is the site the "ideal" location? No, but reality and our present economic conditions make this site the most realistic, reasonable, and VIABLE place to build the ballpark. Yes, the best place to have built a new stadium would have been Oakland's suddenly emerging and hip, "Uptown district" along the Broadway/Telegraph corridor next to the newly-renovated Fox Theatre. It's the hottest place to be around right now; an area that once everybody couldn't wait to leave to get out of sight is now the home of a bevy of thriving, upscale restaurants, condos, and retail would have been terrific for a new yard, but that's ancient history.
Other sites mentioned are Jack London Square and the Laney College area, right off 880. Again, nice locations, but undoubtedly subject to lengthy EIR reports, potential neighborhood opposition and litigation, which only reinforces the viability of the north lot of the Coliseum.
It's available. It's cost is cheap. And best of all, it's construction-ready and is not subject to all the what-if's, what-might-Be's, and 'gee, that San Jose makes the best sense for a new A's home", etc.
If Wolff, a real-estate developer by trade, with property in San Jose and LA, wants to change the image that he's merely the latest carpetbagger in Oakland and the Eastbay's long tradition with Charlie Finley and the like; if he's passionate about keeping baseball in Northern California, then again, Oakland is his most immediate and logical choice.
If nothing else, Wolff is a pragmatic man, and he didn't make millions of dollars by being stupid. Yes, as previously stated, his heart and soul begs for San Jose, but the Giants and MLB have a strong territorial bond that owner and former Microsoft lawyer, Bill Neukom said just the other day they'd fight tooth and nail to defend. So while the San Jose dream is infinitely pronounced, the real notion of the A's actually playing there is a pipe dream at best, not to mention, loads of litigation and time, and time is not the best friend of Lew Wolff.
A former front-office official noted that the A's have been playing at the Coliseum for 41 years. In spite of pronouncements over the course of thirty years of their imminent departure to Denver, Sacramento, San Jose, Las Vegas, and Portland, they've been at their current residence over four decades. They're not going anywhere in the immediate future, and if Wolff wants to be alive and let his son and grand kids see his team's glorious nine take the field in a beautiful new stadium, he should bite the bullet and sit down now and make it happen in Oakland.
No, it ain't San Jose, but last I checked, it's definitely in Northern California.
Rich Lieberman
03-21-'09 7: 41: 23 AM PST
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