I know what you’re all thinking, why is Espn’s 49ers5bowls writing an article about the Oakland A’s? Well, I think it’s obvious as to why, I miss my Hindu brother, Espn’s NavorroIsKing. By the way, this article is boring AF, so just go straight to the comments fags.
Last week the A’s new stadium approval got flushed down the toilet, 8 months of planning and nothing to show for it. It’s no surprise the student body at Laney College (the once A’s potential building site off of campus) were opposed to it. It’s a two-year community college, what student wants to deal with construction the whole time they’re attending college and then never see the final result? Apparently, their voices were heard. Student and faculty parking spaces were going to be minimalized and the dreaded years of construction noise were the biggest issues in the way of a full approval. So what is next for the Moneyball A’s? Not much unfortunately….
It’s sad times right now to be an A’s fan. I grew up in a household of SF Giants fans, they tried their best to make me one of them, rarely taking me to A’s games and forcing me to watch double-headers at Candlestick Park. But then it happened, when I was 8 years old, Canseco and McGwire just joined the A’s, those two guys were larger than life to me, along side the “bash brothers” were Ricky Henderson, Dave Steward, Dennis Eckersley, Bob Welch, Dave Henderson and many others I idolized. They had the highest payroll in the league at that time, and the Coliseum was actually a fun place to watch a game before Al Davis ruined it. Those A’s went to 3 consecutive World Series in a row, sadly only getting one ring out of it. Nonetheless, It was fun times to be an A’s fan back then.
For those that don’t know the A’s moved to Oakland in 1968 from Kansas City, and promptly won back-to-back-to-back World Series titles in 71’ 72’ & 73’ … not a bad way to get a fan base going huh? From then on, times were fun. Flash forward 45 years later and they still share a stadium with a football team. The Bay Area and the Silicon Valley has more money oozing out of it than anywhere on earth, yet they can’t get the A’s a new stadium deal, it boggles my mind!
By 2020, the A’s are likely to be the last remaining pro sports team in Oakland. The Raiders opted to move to Las Vegas after getting a lucrative public-financing stadium deal from Nevada, and the Warriors are moving to San Francisco’s Mission Bay neighborhood, where an arena is under construction.
The A’s are now revisiting the idea of a stadium near the Howard terminal, which logistically makes zero sense. The Mayor still wants a waterfront stadium built in Jack London Square, the site I mostly approve of, but it looks like won’t happen either. Four years from now there might be serious talks about the A’s moving out of the Bay Area to Indianapolis, Montreal or even some other small markets in the east. If this happens, I will put my full dedication to the SF Giants and no longer be called “split-hat.” But what about Nav? In the mean time he has the niners, who have the former NFL color announcer, and future spokes-person for CTE John Lynch running the show, maybe there is something brewing there? But in the mean time, The A’s and Billy Beane are in the process of scouting baseball players who will either suck, or be great, but even if they find a diamond in the rough, that player won’t get a 2nd contract or an extension from the A’s because the A’s cant afford good players. The A’s are now a farm system for the big spenders in the MLB. This shit drives Nav crazy, yet it’s why we love him.
