Oakland's first bit of hardball with A's; Willie Brown's out-of-touch Chron piece; Tiger; Monday media pulse

Lew Wolff has made it abundantly clear that he wants nothing to do with Oakland as the future long-term home for the A's, who have been in the eastbay city for 42 years.

Wolff and majority owner John Fisher are working feverishly with Major League baseball to secure a downtown site in San Jose, adjacent to HP Pavilion.

Now comes word that Oakland officials, notably Doug Boxer, (son of Sen. Barbara Boxer) a prominent city developer, Mayor Ron Dellums and council pres. Ignacio De La Fuente, have presented a formal letter to MLB, highlighting four possible sites in the city of Oakland.

A little background: A high-level city figure told me first-hand a few weeks ago that Oakland had tried to set up a formal meeting with Wolff; Wolff and his reps essentially told Oakland, "not interested" and in essence, to "go away." The official pleaded with me not to go public with that item because city officials had still held out hope that Wolff and the A's may still play ball.

Good luck.

This latest development, highlighted in Monday's Matier and Ross column in the SF Chronicle is only the beginning.

As I've stated repeatedly, the A's overt San Jose courting is cumbersome for a variety of reasons.

*Although San Jose has the corporate clout of Silicon Valley, along with infrastructure in place, their obstacles to getting the A's are abundant.

*The SF Giants territorial rights. This is perhaps the biggest. The Giants still have a huge mortgage left on AT%T Park, and a good portion of that debt is dependent on their corporate sponsors in the south bay. Nothing short of a massive stimulus check from the A's, (try $100 million or so) will prevent them for PROTECTING those rights.

*Building public stadiums in California is tantamount to selling ice in Alaska. Although the A's have stated their new stadium will be "privately financed", that doesn't include some subsidies from San Jose and other "ancillary costs". Point being, between infrastructure, land issues, street variations, etc, there is no such thing as 100% private financing.

*Anti-trust card--Oakland's got a potential significant 'card. Call it the 'urban renewal card. Besides Boxer, the city's congressional rep, Barbara Lee, (who is also head of the Congressional Black caucus) has stated that the idea of the A's leaving Oakland would disrupt the notion of Oakland as an "enterprise zone", and thus, lose significant jobs, as a result.

Read that as Lee's and Boxer's veiled threat of possibly exploring the idea of taking away baseball's coveted anti-trust exemption should the A's leave Oakland, in spite of the cities attempt to work a deal with Wolff.

**Bottom line: Again, I don't think the A's are going anywhere. At least for five years, anyway. Time is an issue, as are several significant issues all sides have to deal with, not the least of which anyone has any control over.

It's a case of too many obstacles, too many roadblocks, (no pun intended) too much early residential opposition, etc. Would San Jose be the better choice than Oakland in the long run? Perhaps, but that's years down the road.

WILLIE BROWN--PARTY ANIMAL: The ex-Mayor wrote a comical piece in Sunday's Chronicle that the big parties are back. Brown said that the Getty family will have a big-time Christmas party, as will others. "It's good for the economy, too", said Willie.

Brown's out-of-touch scribbling was met with hundreds of cat calls, via the Chron's "comments" section and other sites on the web. It only reinforced his image as an ex-pol who might have clout within the 415/916 political corridor, but who's met with overt scorn in the suburbs.

Indeed, Brown's 49Er's post-game gig with Gary Radnich on Comcast Sports Bay Area, has seen a significant ratings downfall; Brown is simply too much a polarized figure and his "slicker-than-thou" image is anathema for most viewers. He's not well-liked outside the SF city limits, in spite of Radnich' glowing comments about "how well Brown is known". Yes he IS well-known, especially when they turn the channel.

**TIGER: The media onslaught has begun. KGO's Ronn Owens spent his first hour on Tiger...'Larry King Live' tonight. How perfect for the cablers. Merry Christmas, Rupert.

**Follow me daily on Twitter.