A's: So its true, if you build it, they WILL come. (San Jose: 2013, transfer)

[jade408]

I would be there if the park was nicer, and I am no baseball fan. But seriously, I don't like basic beer. I really hate steamed hotdogs. Casual baseball spectators like me don't bother with the Coliseum.

[Stephen1110]

It seems pretty rational.

A Jack London Square Ballpark.

It's a complete catalyst for development in the district.

[NorCal Dude]

Originally Posted by Parti Rhinocéros

23,000 on Sunday.

The only reason the stadium was filled on sunday was because it was a Matsui give a way. Same story as usual.

Originally Posted by 18Montclair

He's doing it on purpose. Starving the beast as it were.

And I love how naysayers dont want to talk about the fact that the Giants were in the exact same position until they built a new stadium.

a's were losing money as a franchise and had horrible farm system before lew wolf took over.

And the naysayers don't talk about the "fact" that the giants were in the exact same position because that "fact" is fiction.

[llowllevellowll]

Originally Posted by NorCal Dude

The only reason the stadium was filled on sunday was because it was a Matsui give a way. Same story as usual

I'm sure that had a bit to do with it, but the give a way was only a really tacky t-shirt to the first 10,000 fans - not really anything incredible if you ask me. Series-capping Sundays are always a bigger day than Saturdays. Toronto, for instance, had 27,000 on Saturday vs Minnesota and 36,000 on Sunday.

Originally Posted by NorCal Dude

And the naysayers don't talk about the "fact" that the giants were in the exact same position because that "fact" is fiction.

As I've demonstrated before, the A's are currently out-drawing the Giants this decade compared to the last decade of Giant play at Candlestick by nearly 4,000 fans per game.

That's a fact.

It's not a slant on Giants fans. The question always remains: Who wants to go sit in an antiquated football stadium with a ridiculous lack of amenities both inside the park and in the neighborhood surrounding it? Just as I don't blame Giants fans for not going to Candlestick, I don't blame A's fans for not going to the Coliseum. Plus, we have an owner who can't stand us. lol

[NorCal Dude]

Just because candle stick was a bad stadium does not correlate to victory court being similar to att park and how it was built.

Lets think here: Giants built there stadium in the midst o f the greatest economic boom since post world war two

Oak fans are trying to get the stadium built in the greatest economic crisis since the great depression

SF actually owned the land that the stadium was built on
Oak at best own 50% of victory court, likely less

Giants have a plethora of private investors, A's do not

Sf built the stadium when they were operating with a surplus and when the ownership threatened to move, the city acted

OakA's fanatics are trying to buld the stadium when the city is broke, and jerry brown is getting ready to annihilate redevelopment funds. When the A's threatened to move the first time, Jerry and company built a bunch of condo's at the proposed site.

[18Montclair]

This is an excellent article:

Monday, March 7, 2011

Why We Love Victory Court


The Victory Court ballpark site, located just south of Jack London Square -- between 4th and 1st streets and Fallon Street and the Oakland Fire Department training facilty -- has the potential to be great for the A's, and also for the city of Oakland, too.

Here's why:

1. Excellent Public Transit Options: A ballpark at Victory Court would be served by all kinds of public transit. They include:

* Lake Merritt BART Station is just a handful of blocks away, and a five-minute walk, from the ballpark site.
* The Amtrak train station, where commuter trains also stop, would be just four blocks away.
* The Jack London Square ferry stop is nearby on the northern side of Jack London Square. And a new ferry stop could be added near the Jack London Acquatic Center, about one block from a Victory Court ballpark.
* The Broadway Shuttle, called the "B," is a free bus that runs every 10 minutes from 24th and Webster all the way down Broadway to Jack London Square. With a new ballpark, you can bet that the "B" will add a few more blocks down to serve all those fans headed to Fallon Street.
* There also is preliminary talk of a downtown Oakland street car that would stop at Victory Court.

2. Three Revenue-Generating Projects in One: Building a new A's ballpark at Victory Court will be part of a larger plan that includes office space, housing, and new retail space, such as restaurants, bars and a 4-star hotel. Even more, as Oakland Councilwoman Jane Brunner said last December, the Victory Court development will help kickstart two other projects -- the Oak-to-Ninth development just south of the stadium site, and Jack London Market, located just north of Victory Court.

So, the tax revenue generated from Victory Court wouldn't come from just one project, but rather, three projects in one if it's responsible for getting all three developments off the ground.

3. The Views: Fans in certain parts of the ballpark would have views alternately of the water of the Lake Merritt Channel, the white cranes of the Port of Oakland, the Oakland Hills (like the old Coliseum days), and of the downtown Oakland skyline (picture that iconic neon "Tribune" building at night). Right up there with Pittsburgh's PNC Park, it's going to have some of the best views in baseball, right here in Oakland.

4. Connecting Lake Merritt & Downtown to Jack London Square: Restaurants, bars, cafes and other new businesses are popping up all over the place around Lake Merritt, Jack London Square, and downtown and Uptown Oakland. But the area between those neighborhoods -- which includes Laney College and Victory Court -- is a donut hole where that burgeoning Oaktown vibrancy kind of hits a wall. Building a new ballpark and all the new subsequent businesses will generate foot traffic and energy that's currently missing in that specific area.

5. It Will Keep the A's in Oakland and the Bay Area: All the plans that A's owners have proposed for other cities have either died on the vine or have major roadblocks. So, the best chance for A's fans to keep their beloved A's in Oakland and the Bay Area is right there at Victory Court.

These are just some of the reasons why we love Victory Court. We can't wait until this Oakland baseball dream becomes a reality.


posted by Baseball Oakland at 7:52 AM






Baseball Oakland Blog: Why We Love Victory Court

http://www.eastbayexpress.com/imager...disclosure.jpg

[18Montclair]

Its as if I wrote this article.

Seven years before Lew Wolff would become a majority owner of the Oakland Athletics, he outlined how he would move the Athletics to San Jose if he were the owner instead of Steve Schott and Ken Hoffman.
In 1998, Lew Wolff provided San Francisco Chronicle writer Steve Kettman with his thoughts on the A's ballpark pursuit.

"If I was going to pursue a ballpark, I would certainly do it in San Jose, not depend on a vote outside of San Jose, and I would work through the mayor and the Redevelopment Agency,'' said Wolff. "It's the difference between a big-league city and a non-big-league city. I wouldn't spend five minutes on any other city besides San Jose."

Thirteen years have passed since Wolff made that statement. His statement to the Chronicle wound up being the exact path that he pursued.

Thirteen years have passed since Wolff made that statement. His statement to the Chronicle wound up being the exact path that he pursued.

Fast-forward back to 2005 when Wolff took ownership of the A's, former Sunnyvale mayor Larry Stone, a key figure in trying to lure the A's to San Jose, shared his thoughts on Wolff's public pledge to keep the A's in Oakland.

Stone says that Wolff could "say, 'I tried, I have to look elsewhere. We hope and believe that one of the places, if not the only place, is San Jose.' ''

Oakland A's New Stadium: Did Lew Wolff Ever Give Oakland Serious Consideration? | Bleacher Report

[jade408]

I just do not understand why San Jose is so delusional to think they are a premier city. Yes I know it has grown a lot over the past 20 years, but it won't be a huge media market anytime soon. We are still pretty interconnected in the Bay Area. And have a pretty long way to go to solidly claim the 4th spot in the metro media size contest.

[krudmonk]

Originally Posted by jade408

I just do not understand why San Jose is so delusional to think they are a premier city. Yes I know it has grown a lot over the past 20 years, but it won't be a huge media market anytime soon. We are still pretty interconnected in the Bay Area. And have a pretty long way to go to solidly claim the 4th spot in the metro media size contest.

The only thing more "premier" about Oakland right now are the sports franchises trying to leave. It's not about delusions; those are for the idiots in Santa Clara and Anaheim who are willing to hand out cash just to host pro sports. If San Jose were so desperate, the Giants would have moved here 20 years ago instead of being rejected by tax-payers. SJ simply has the door open to those who want to do business.

[18Montclair]

My issue has never really been with San Jose or any other city that wants to major league sports.

My only contention is with Lew Wolff and MLB. They wrote Oakland off from the beginning, never gave us a fair shot, even turned down a group of buyers specifically because that group intended to keep the team in Oakland--in favor of Wolff and Fisher.

These teams are so hypocritical as on the one hand, they want to claim the 'we're a business' card and can do as they please because their bottom line is the most important thing, yet on the other hand, when its convenient, they hold entire cities' and their fans hostage, with threats to leave if we dont come out of pocket to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars to build them stadiums.

What I find most interesting and pleasing btw, is that it seems that with respect to the A's situation, the team and MLB find themselves being forced to tred carefully because it turns out, Oakland is not going away quietly.

In fact, we're making a big stink about it, with a Mayor that is now totally on board. All of that couples quite nicely with the Giants' claiming Santa Clara county as the bread and butter of their fan base.

Like Ive said time and time again, I hope its not too late.