This article details the latest in negotiations between the Athletics and the City of Oakland on a lease extension for the Coliseum. The city is proposing the five-year lease with the opt-out after three to safeguard itself in case there are construction delays in Las Vegas or the deal falls through. According to the offer […]
There seems to be a lot of vitriol directed at the Oakland Athletics owner since the announcement that the team might move to Las Vegas. This FanGraphs article in particular takes aim at John J. Fisher. It denigrates him for using family money that he supposedly didn’t earn, and accuses him of malfeasance. Here’s a […]
Athletics Nation looks at how the result of the Oakland Mayoral election might impact the deal for the new stadium. Here is new mayor Sheng Thao on the deal: “I could get to a yes on this project — but yes only if,” Thao said. The “ifs,” Thao said, include ensuring the A’s meet the […]
David Waldstein discusses the lack of attendance at Oakland Athletics home games in 2022. The combination of a bad stadium and a team stripped of stars pushed the crowd size down to about 8,000 per game. It’s a good article that shows how the A’s are trying to stay in Oakland, but are realistic they […]
The Oakland City Council approved the environmental impact report for the development of Howard Terminal, the desired location for a new stadium for the Athletics: The EIR is a critical step in the path toward sealing this deal, and a long time in the making. The 3,500-page document studies how the project will affect the […]
Via Cyril Morong, three economists survey thirty years of literature on the benefits, or lack thereof, of public financing of stadiums. They conclude that the findings of these studies show that funding stadiums fails to deliver the desired economic impact. Most interesting to me is section eight, on why communities continue to fund sports venues […]
Oakland release a final environmental impact report on a proposed waterfront stadium at Howard Terminal. This appears to be a major milestone: The lure of Las Vegas appears to be helping move the city of Oakland along.
The Padres introduced Bob Melvin as their new manager: He said the big attractions are Petco Park, where the A’s played a two-game series in late July, and the Padres’ roster. “We came here on a Tuesday night and there were 40,000 people here and it was electric,” Melvin said. “Your would have thought it […]
There was a small bit of good news for the Athletics proposed park at Howard Terminal. The board’s 4-1 non-binding vote signals the county’s intention to join the city in forming a financing district to contribute a significant portion of property taxes generated by the project to pay for the infrastructure of a new ballpark […]
The Oakland Athletics once again found a site for a new stadium: The Oakland Athletics have found a waterfront location for their ballpark, with picturesque views toward San Francisco, the Bay Bridge and Port of Oakland. Plans were announced Wednesday, with the goal to open in 2023. There is no announced price at this stage, […]
Lew Wolff blames the Oakland Coliseum sewer problems on the age of the stadium: Q: Is it true there was a similar situation at the Coliseum’s West Side Club on Wednesday, which stopped serving food? Wolff: These are not the end of the world (problems). … We’ll get it back on track. It’s just an […]
The Oakland Athletics finished 2011 74-88, third in the American League West. The A’s went 20-20 in games decided by five runs or more. That means that the pitching and hitting were in sync. They would both have good days, or both would have bad days. The team received much better production from their pitchers […]
People are starting to fret over the constant rebuilding in Oakland: “I’d rather run a club that has a 3- or 4-year plan and implements it and see it getting better over time, than going on the patchwork basis of year-to-year,” Beane said. “We haven’t been as successful when we go year-to-year.” Beane understands the […]
Oakland Athletics fans are going to start an initiative today to try to force Bud Selig into action over a new stadium for the Athletics. Bud is famous for getting unanimous consent from the owners before he makes changes. Of course, that gives the Giants veto power over an Athletics move to San Jose. The […]
Billy Beane pitches for a new stadium by noting the Coliseum discourages free agents from signing in Oakland: The Coliseum has been a deterrent for several free agents in recent years, according to Beane, and he tried to convince one that at least the playing surface is among the best in baseball thanks to groundskeeper […]
The city of Oakland proposed three sites for a new stadium for the Athletics: All three sites are near Jack London Square, within walking distance of BART and the ferry terminal and close to Interstate 880. The team would pay for the stadium, while the city, through redevelopment funds and federal grants, would pay for […]
The All-Star break affords the opportunity to look back at the first half to see what went right and wrong for the thirty MLB teams. The Oakland Athletics are up first, and here is the pre-season post on the AL West. Oakland Athletics through the All-Star break, 2009 Statistic Oakland AL Rank Runs per Game […]
The Oakland Athletics are covering the third deck of the Coliseum, reducing the capacity of the stadium of around 34,000. Taking the third deck out of play will make planning much easier. In addition, making tickets more scarce will encourage fans to purchase seats earlier and could increase the season-ticket-holder base, which is currently less […]
There were a couple of comments left over night that the White Sox/Athletics game was pretty bad. The White Sox lost it on an error by Jermaine Dye when he dropped a routine fly ball. Ray Ratto describes it as a Lucy skit. Facing Chicago’s Mark Buehrle, who had already won games that lasted 1:51 […]
Athletics owner John Fisher appears to be willing to pay a good deal of the construction costs for the new stadium in Las Vegas. Athletics owner John Fisher and his family will invest $1 billion into the construction of a stadium in Las Vegas while U.S. Bank and Goldman Sachs will offer a $300 million loan, […]
Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers moves back into the top five of the Baseball Musings Batter Rankings, jumping into the fourth slot. He went three for four with a home run and a stolen base as he returned home to Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers beat the Rockies 6-4. He now trails Ronald Acuna Jr.52.5 to […]
The Athletics inducted former players into their Hall of Fame, with the upper deck open and a huge crowd filling the park. Steroids didn’t matter as both Jose Canseco and Miguel Tejada both were honored: And even for a teary and touched Jose Canseco, one of the newest members of the A’s Hall of Fame who never […]
In another unanimous vote, the owners approved the move of the Athletics from Oakland to Las Vegas: After announcing in 2021 plans to pursue a “parallel path” in which it would weigh stadium deals in Oakland and Las Vegas, the team chose Vegas in April 2023, with Manfred saying MLB would waive its relocation fee, […]
The mayor of Oakland met with Rob Manfred to try to keep the Athletics in Oakland. Here is the story from The Athletic, which contains links to the documents supplied to Manfred, and a summary from ESPN. One thing I was not aware of: Baseball’s collective-bargaining agreement states the A’s needed to reach a binding agreement […]
In light of Rob Manfred’s harsh comments about the Oakland protest, I wanted to remind myself how long Oakland and the Athletics have talked about a new stadium. Here is the result of searching Baseball Musings for “Oakland” and “Stadium”. They’ve been trying to build near Jack London Square since 2009, and at Howard Terminal […]
The approval for a new stadium for the Athletics in Las Vegas passed the Nevada legislature and is headed to the governor: The deal still needs the governor’s signature, and MLB must approve the A’s move to Las Vegas, but both are anticipated. The Assembly approved the final version of the bill with $380 million […]
The Athletics announced the agreement of a stadium deal in Las Vegas: Bally’s Corp. made the announcement Monday for a 30,000-seat stadium on the 35-acre site. The project is expected to cost about $1.5 billion, and the A’s are asking for nearly $400 million in public support from the Nevada Legislature, which could vote on […]
It appears the Oakland Athletics bought land in Las Vegas: Major League Baseball’s (MLB) Oakland Athletics have signed a binding purchase agreement for land near the Las Vegas Strip, where the team plans to construct a Major League ballpark, according to reports from the Las Vegas Review-Journal and The Athletic, citing Athletics team president Dave […]
A group from Salt Lake City would like to win an MLB expansion franchise: Big League Utah, a group headed by longtime Jazz owner Gail Miller, will join Nashville’s Music City Baseball and the Portland Diamond Project in lobbying to join the current 30 MLB organizations. Las Vegas, considered a prime destination for a franchise, […]
Former pitcher, agent, and general manager Dave Stewart works diligently to build a group that can put an expansion team in Nashville, Tennessee. MLB will not move on expansion until Oakland and Tampa Bay resolve their stadium situations, but Stewart wants everything in place: The uncertain timetable creates a quandary for groups like Music City […]