A's baseball in San Jose (Sacramento, Oakland: lofts, condos, home)

[cardinal2007]

What do people think of mayor Reed's plan to build a baseball stadium next to Diridon station for the A's to move in. The San Jose redevelopment corporation is selling some property to buy more properties around Diridon in order to build the stadium.

The A's have said they want to move to San Jose, but they gave away the territorial rights to the Giants in the early 90s because at the time the Giants entertained the idea of moving to the South Bay.

I was wondering what people here think of all of this, do you think Mayor Reed is doing is a waste of money, or do you think he is doing the best thing he could do with the money to improve San Jose?

Personally I am somewhat indifferent, it is a lot of money, but another professional team in San Jose would help downtown, but I will likely hate all the traffic it could bring (I live less than 1 mile from the proposed stadium location), and I don't like baseball, but that doesn't mean I want to stop others from enjoying it.

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_17187786
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_17254911

[silverkris]

I think the prospects of the A's moving to SJ is very remote.

The Giants have their claim on San Jose as a territory and they will defend this to the death. Reed has already postponed one vote on this issue last year. It takes, I think, 3/4 of the baseball owners to approve a move, and I'm pretty sure that Newkom, the Giants' president, will weigh in with the other owners very well.

[krudmonk]

I think it would work well, but I'm neither a baseball fan nor someone who likes to see teams relocate. Nonetheless, I've followed it pretty closely for several years and I don't think anybody has a clue what's going to happen at this point.

[nr5667]

Wheeeeell, Being based in Oakland makes them a bit more centrally located. People from Sacramento and San Jose are willing to drive to Oakland... Would people from Sacramento be willing to drive to San Jose?

I know other cities make multiple teams in close proximity work, but Chicago and New York are very different from the more spread out population of the bay area.

[ilushka]

As somebody who does not care much for sports and definitely not about baseball I would love to see the money spent on some kind of a park or maybe on one of those automatic rent-a-bike systems with dedicated bike lanes like the ones around Europe. Basically something that everyone can enjoy for free or for a nominal fee. However, I don't live in downtown anymore so I won't cry about it.

[krudmonk]

Originally Posted by nr5667

People from Sacramento and San Jose are willing to drive to Oakland...

Obviously they aren't, or this wouldn't be an issue. Baseball is played almost daily, so you can't rely on people coming from an hour+ away all the time.

[Stephen1110]

In Oakland, the Jack London Square Ballpark Proposal is much better than what San Jose can offer.

The A's are better off on the Oakland waterfront!

[krudmonk]

The JLS site is not "waterfront." It's wedged in between at-grade train tracks, an elevated freeway and that little slough which connects Lake Merritt to the estuary. See black outline:

[llowllevellowll]

That's pretty damn close to water, Krudmonk, lol Plus, what's in between water and the proposed ballpark is supposed to be green space / parks. It's hard not like that or the 3,000 - 5,000 new residential housing planned for the area or the current residential lofts/condos that already exist on JLS or that it's entirely walkable from Merritt's neighborhoods (not now, but according to proposals).

It's hard not to see that JLS proposal as brilliant, though. Baseball can flourish in Oakland, but the reality of the Coliseum is that a junk stadium built in DEO with no amenities, no walkability, and no neighborhoods isn't what sells. It's very similar to the situation SF faced at Candlestick (except that it did have residential neighborhoods... that no one wanted to be in).

As I've shown a few times on this site, in the past decade, the A's have outdrew the Giants in their last decade at Candlestick Park by nearly 4,000 fans per home game.

If I was a resident of San Jose, would I want the team there? Well, yeah, probably I would, but as someone who looks at the Bay Area as a whole, I don't view it as a good idea. The A's have a strong contingency of fans all over the East Bay and I can tell you that although I don't think I'd ever convert to a Giants fan and I'd still maintain my A's fanhood, I'd likely be trimming my trips to the ballpark from 10-15 to 1-2 (Opening Day, for sure).

I've got a stack of tickets on my mantle that's inches thick (something like 58 tickets or so) to A's games for this year. I'd really hate to not be able to go anymore and I realize that something has to change - clearly, the A's need a new stadium that's built for baseball in an area that people want to live, work, and hang out. When that happens, just as SF changed their ways, so will Oakland. And as of now, I can't blame them for not selling out. I'm about the only guy I know that actually likes going to the Coliseum lol

[krudmonk]

Again, if the A's had a "strong contingency of fans all over the East Bay" then this would not be an issue because a new stadium would've been built in Oakland by now. I think people in Oakland, Alameda, San Leandro and such support the A's but certainly not the whole East Bay. Go over the hill and it's yuppie Giants territory.