tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11738137118401928022024-02-22T00:44:53.471-08:00Baseball Oakland Bloglinusalfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18310950789166184529noreply@blogger.comBlogger206125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-76828097830483298142013-08-03T19:56:00.004-07:002013-08-03T19:56:36.997-07:00Downtown Oakland's Business Scene Getting Better and BetterDowntown Oakland keeps growing and thriving, and the tech industry is starting to take notice, adding hundreds of jobs soon to The Town.
The Oakland Tribune's George Avalos reports that two small tech companies, Minted.com and Vigilent, are moving into one of Oakland's most beautiful buildings, the iconic I. Magnin building next to the Paramount Theater. The companies are bringing a combined 100Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-71525944695471077142013-06-27T01:42:00.000-07:002013-06-27T01:42:07.598-07:00Summary of Knauss/Townsend Interview 95.7FM
Clorox CEO Don Knauss was a guest on Chris Townsend’s radio show on Tuesday. He spoke optimistically of the possibility of building a ballpark for the A’s at Howard Terminal. It’s been about 8 years since anyone connected with the A’s has taken a serious look at the Jack London Square area and conditions have changed drastically since then.
Knauss made several importantBaseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-23178023674692010242013-06-02T22:36:00.001-07:002013-06-02T22:45:19.357-07:00Make the Oakland Fan Pledge Just as it takes a village to raise a child, maybe it also takes a village to save a team we all love. Which is a big reason why we're proud to give our support to Oakland Fan Pledge, a brand new A's fan group and website. [You can find it online at: http://www.oaklandfanpledge.com. Their Facebook page is: www.facebook.com/oakfanpledge]
Oakland Fan Pledge, as its name suggests, is asking A's Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-49075917228635316582013-05-01T18:06:00.000-07:002013-05-01T18:20:09.059-07:00Interview with Oakland Mayor Jean Quan, Part IA few weeks ago, Mayor Jean Quan sat down with members of Baseball Oakland and
A's Fan Radio to answer some questions about the city we love and
the future of its sports teams.
We thank
the Mayor for giving us her time. Below is Part One of a two-part
interview with Mayor Quan. We hope you like it.
Question: A truly diverse city has many fabrics: the
business community, music, Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-47425602313064669642013-03-10T11:45:00.001-07:002013-03-10T11:45:12.045-07:00Three Baseball Oakland events during Opening Week in April -- and you're all invitedEver since the 2012 season ended on that cold October night at the Coliseum, we know you marked Opening Night -- April 1, 2013 -- on your calendar. You can't wait for Oakland A's baseball to start up again, and neither can we.
Which is why we've planned a week-long slate of A's baseball festivities, to celebrate the world's best game in the great city of Oakland. Here's the lineup:
MONDAY, Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-85493153742124562272013-03-05T23:00:00.000-08:002013-03-10T11:45:46.922-07:00Lawsuit threats, leaked stories no way to sell A's ticketsOpening Day, that grand old baseball tradition, is coming to the Oakland Coliseum in less than a month, and we couldn't be happier. Unfortunately, another A's tradition is arriving soon; one that started under the Lew Wolff/John Fisher regime: Wolff whining about not getting his move to San Jose. He usually follows it with complaints about attendance and the stadium, followed by yet another Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-72885416185170711362013-02-09T14:48:00.001-08:002013-02-09T15:15:02.880-08:00On Tarps and Other Bad IdeasThe Oakland Raiders' announcement Wednesday that they are planning to tarp off Mt. Davis and a few other sections -- reducing capacity by more than 10,000 seats -- was a shocker. When A's owner Lew Wolff did the same thing after the 2005 season, A's fans instantly ripped the idea and, if anything, that criticism has only intensified in the intervening years. It's as if the Raiders' front office Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-52608137037034224772013-02-02T17:30:00.001-08:002013-02-02T17:39:36.613-08:00Oakland has outperformed S.F. when owners, parks were equalA's attendance at the Coliseum is much stronger and more positive than the common perception. Yes,
we want the A's to get a new ballpark and there have been ups and downs
over the decades for the A's, just like the vast majority of MLB
franchises. But if your argument is the A's must leave Oakland because
attendance is not ideal right now, then you would be moving about 2/3 of
MLB teamsBaseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-12479568031602930252013-01-29T18:54:00.000-08:002013-01-30T08:07:21.065-08:00Reality Checks Pile Up for Wolff's Stadium Pipe DreamHey, remember that recent report that featured an angry Lew Wolff complaining about how slow the three-person committee is moving? Wait, sorry, that was a TWO-YEAR-OLD Bloomberg News article. In that piece from March 1, 2011, Wolff ranted:
"It's so ridiculous to me ... They've had time enough to explore anything. We're getting close to the point Bud is going to make a decision."
Just about two Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-24440461330380532712013-01-23T07:36:00.003-08:002013-01-23T08:18:25.045-08:00Wolff still 'the most hated' Bay Area sports ownerLast May, the San Francisco Chronicle's Al Saracevic famously wrote that "Lew Wolff is the most hated man in Oakland."
Harsh words. But as it turned out, Saracevic may have been optimistic. About six months later, ESPN the Magazine published their sports franchise rankings and it wasn't pretty, as it pertains to Wolff and other A's owners. ESPN listed the Oakland A's as the 98th best franchise,Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-43873433470946763682013-01-20T20:30:00.003-08:002013-01-20T20:31:24.180-08:00Restaurant Week: Oakland's economy keeps growingRight now it's Restaurant Week in Oakland (Jan. 18-27), but that isn't entirely accurate because the city's foodie scene has been so hot the past few years it feels like EVERY week is Restaurant Week.
Just check out the bars, nightclubs, coffee houses and eateries that opened recently in Oakland. There's Duende, a Spanish tapas place across from the Oakland Fox, the wildly popular performing Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-56620348514739008512013-01-04T08:02:00.002-08:002013-01-04T08:02:47.960-08:00Hope the Mariners treat Bonderman better than Schott didFormer A's first-round pick Jeremy Bonderman is attempting a comeback at the age of 30 and he signed a minor-league contract with the Seattle Mariners just before Christmas.
Even though Bonderman never played in the big league level for the A's (Billy Beane traded him to Detroit in 2002, a year after drafting him), he has always been one of our favorites. It was easy to root for Bonderman Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-52948129705290906422012-12-27T11:33:00.001-08:002012-12-27T15:46:21.050-08:00Making sense of Wolff's latest Coliseum letter
Last Friday, we got the first taste of what could be a long and uncertain process surrounding the A's negotiations with the JPA on the Coliseum lease. The lease expires in less than a year, after the 2013 season.
First, the Los Angeles Times published a story. It said Wolff was looking to extend the lease to 2018. Wolff followed up with a letter describing some of his lease terms. OaklandBaseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-32902983174893185612012-12-19T10:43:00.001-08:002012-12-19T11:25:47.470-08:00Wolff and Fisher holding the A's hostageWell, another owners meeting will be held in February and there's no reason to believe anything worthwhile will come out of it regarding the A's stadium situation. It'll be the same as all the others, just as nothing happened at the November meeting. (Unless you count Lew Wolff's daughter's ex-boyfriend writing in support of his hometown and Wolff as "progress.")
Actually, one thing did Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-4396526073684636742012-12-05T13:18:00.000-08:002012-12-05T13:18:12.971-08:00Jack London Square revving up, primed for ballpark to anchor itThe Oakland Tribune's George Avalos this week wrote a story of the renaissance going on at Jack London Square. The Square, which for decades has been Oakland's entertainment district, is right next to Howard Terminal, the waterfront site that many believe will one day be the future home of the Oakland A's.
But the news story focuses on the here-and-now of Jack London Square, especially its Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-13158072239211255282012-12-04T08:21:00.001-08:002012-12-04T08:21:35.958-08:00The Facts Have a Pro-Oakland Bias In the seven years since they bought the team, John Fisher and Lew Wolff have given countless reasons for trying to move the A's out of Oakland. Unfortunately for them, none of their arguments are backed up with facts. Let us count the ways that Fisher and Wolff have been completely wrong:
First, Wolff said frequently that Oakland was "too built up" and that there was not enough available land Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-13894698424930394962012-12-03T08:49:00.002-08:002012-12-03T08:53:16.820-08:00S.J. Quakes turn to Oakland for corporate supportJohn Fisher and Lew Wolff like to say Oakland doesn't have the corporate support the A's need, and so, they must move to the more corporate-rich South Bay. Well, let's just chalk that up as yet one more Fisher/Wolff statement that is not backed up by fact. Want proof? Look no further than their MLS team, the San Jose Earthquakes. If there are so many South Bay companies clamoring to give away Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-71291254197563119582012-11-21T17:58:00.002-08:002012-11-21T18:01:15.783-08:00Oakland Needs a Willing Partner
As we head in to December, we don't seem to be any closer to a resolution to this standoff than we were four years ago. Lew Wolff is not getting San Jose any time soon, and yet is steadfast in his refusal to acknowledge the A's current city as a solid place to play. We're also coming up on Baseball Oakland's three-year anniversary and we thank each and every one of you for keeping the fight Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-78284860570524875272012-11-19T11:45:00.001-08:002012-11-19T11:49:42.253-08:00Oakland's Economy Continues to Heat UpOakland continues to be a hotbed of economic activity. The city thrived even in the years after the severe downturn of 2008, when Oakland seemed immune to the terrible national economy. In those years, dozens of new restaurants and bars opened downtown and elsewhere around the city. Now, as the economy continues to show signs of life, new housing and office buildings are planned -- showing how Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-80799287803562898342012-11-15T08:36:00.000-08:002012-11-15T08:36:37.195-08:00Sell, Baby, SellNov. 1 was an ugly milestone for A's fans. That was the 17th anniversary of when Steve Schott and Ken Hofmann officially became A's owners after acquiring the team from the Haas family. Ever since that autumn day in 1995, A's owners like Schott (and now Lew Wolff and John Fisher) have been threatening to move the team to the South Bay. Yep, loyal Oakland baseball fans have been mistreated byBaseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-72859245863176953602012-09-28T18:36:00.003-07:002012-09-28T21:29:19.975-07:00September Attendance is a Non-IssueIn September of 1997, when the San Francisco Giants were on their way to winning the National League West division, they had four home games where they drew just 13,100 fans or less. In fact, they had one game -- on Sept. 4 -- where they drew just 8,565 fans.
In the last month of 1998 -- a year after winning the West -- the Giants tied for the Wild Card. And they had seven home games where they Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-52502765660711721892012-09-06T10:58:00.003-07:002013-02-01T23:13:23.460-08:00A's Attendance History Bodes Well for Oakland's Future BallparkLew Wolff often says attendance in Oakland is partly why he wants to move the A's to the South Bay. Like every other excuse Wolff gives, it doesn't hold up under factual scrutiny. The reason is simple. If San Francisco can take its image as a windblown, flake-filled terrible baseball town and transform it almost overnight into a great baseball city, then certainly Oakland can do the same. Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-77188559485732143812012-09-04T13:51:00.002-07:002012-09-28T21:30:02.412-07:00Oakland Leaders Have Worked for Years to Keep the A'sWhen people say Oakland leaders haven't done enough to keep the A's in Oakland, well, that is simply not true. As a reminder of that fact, we thought we'd dust off one of our blogs from earlier this year. Here it is:
Since 1995, the city of Oakland has tried time and again to
reach out to A's owners to build a new Oakland ballpark. And time and
again, A's owners Steve Schott and Lew Wolff Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-45658325005455374532012-08-15T22:16:00.001-07:002012-08-16T19:40:11.316-07:00Howard Terminal: Some Things Just Make Too Much SenseFirst of all, we would like to apologize for the tardiness of this blog. BaseballOakland is a labor of love by dedicated A's fans, and we've been a little busy. However, we have been VERY active on our Facebook page and we suggest you go there for some good chatter with a growing community of die-hard A's fans willing to talk Oakland, the A's and a whole list of other things.
Now on to Howard Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-57063088571171910662012-07-30T08:12:00.002-07:002012-07-30T08:39:40.784-07:00Welcome the Boys Back to TownWell, the boys are back in town, and with an incredible winning month of July they have become THE story of the MLB 2012 season. The A's are actually closer to first place now than they were at this time in the division-winning Moneyball season of 2002. Their turnaround has been remarkable and thrilling and, as we always do, we urge every fan to make it out to the Coliseum for this 10-game home Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0