Tuesday, March 16, 2010

The Waiting Game and Wolff's Letter a Year Later

The big news last week was no news. According to multiple reports, Bud Selig has met separately with the Giants and the A's front offices. But Selig has yet to make a decision on the A's stadium situation.

Which is just fine with me. Many fans are frustrated with how long this process has taken. Not me. I'd rather the decision take longer than having the decision be rushed. The A's have played in Oakland for 42 years. That entire time has been spent at the Coliseum, which is still a functional baseball park with decent sightlines, very good weather and great transportation access. So let the big boys work on this and we'll relax, enjoy spring baseball and work on what we can do to show MLB and ownership that Oakland is a strong, viable market.

Last week also marked the anniversary of Lew Wolff’s reactionary letter about being done with Oakland. But one year later the A’s are still in Oakland. What else has happened? Fans are increasingly upset about how Wolff and co-owner John Fisher run the team and the owners are still hunting fruitlessly for a new stadium.

Meanwhile, Oakland released a list of very attractive ballpark sites, along with promises to work with MLB and the A’s -- provided they get the chance to do so. I don’t see what Wolff was trying to accomplish by writing that letter, because it got nothing done and only made things worse for him.

3 comments:

Steve Bowles said...

Yep, 6+ years since Wolff began his association with the A's as the VP for Venue Development, and still no venue being developed.

Wolff's letter stating he was done with Oakland was a posturing tactic, to try and get as many people on board (mainly his fellow owners and Bud Selig) with the idea of moving and to expedite the process. It backfired on him severely when Selig put together that three-man committee, which has been at work over over a year now. If Wolff had been content to rekindle an effort to build the stadium in Oakland, there would be no committee, no subsequent delays, and we might have shovels in the ground already.

sidecross said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
sidecross said...

The window of financing a new stadium died with the crash of Wall Street and Banks in ’08.

Just take a look at cities, States, and National debt and how can you justify spending funds for a new baseball facility.

Today with unemployment being so high, the cost of education is skyrocketing, and State and city services being cut, how does anyone justify building a new Baseball facility?

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