tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11738137118401928022012-01-23T10:06:03.400-08:00linusalfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18310950789166184529noreply@blogger.comBlogger1661100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-45540423085649767192012-01-22T09:03:00.000-08:002012-01-22T09:17:05.991-08:00

Kudos to The Oakland Tribune for covering the elephant in the room -- the upcoming Coliseum lease deadline. The A's current lease is good until the end of 2013. What happens after that is fair game. This is where things get interesting, and Lew Wolff's statements about the A's having no future in Oakland could come back to haunt him. There is absolutely no way a new stadium anywhere can open

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-90275257866030585442012-01-16T15:23:00.000-08:002012-01-17T08:12:43.101-08:00

Matier & Ross have squashed the runaway speculation that surrounded some vague comments made by Commissioner Bud Selig at last week's owners meeting. Here's what the S. F. Chronicle columnists wrote Monday: Despite all the huffing and puffing, no decision was reached about a possible A's move to San Jose at the just-ended baseball owners meeting in Arizona. "It remains at loggerheads, with

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-14905815943125744582012-01-09T12:36:00.000-08:002012-01-09T14:29:35.798-08:00

The New York Times made news last week when it named the city of Oakland one of its 45 places in the world to visit in 2012. Placing Oakland 5th on the list -- right between London and Tokyo -- the Times credited the Fox Theater renovation as the main reason why Oakland's "revitalized nightlife scene has continued to smolder." The Times added: The city's ever more sophisticated restaurants are

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-53928179410571737862012-01-03T12:26:00.000-08:002012-01-03T13:23:30.196-08:00

Today, KQED radio had an hour-long discussion about Bay Area sports teams that may be moving. (You can listen by clicking: HERE)Given that it's a 17-year-old debate for the A's, it's not surprising that the tiresome topic had, well, only one surprise during the show.Sportswriters Glenn Dickey, Mark Purdy and Susan Slusser were guests. Slusser and Purdy did their usual cheerleading for A's

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-939419547818197562011-12-30T07:17:00.000-08:002011-12-30T11:17:08.328-08:00

Two Bay Area sportswriters published pieces this week that must have made Billy Beane throw a chair or two. The Oakland Tribune's Monte Poole wrote a scathing column that offered the harshest criticism yet of Beane and A's owners. Poole wrote:The con is kaput, the game over. A's ownership, having run out of patience, isn't even pretending to care about competing, much less pleasing its fans.

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-20722381026133128092011-12-29T20:18:00.000-08:002011-12-29T21:47:49.774-08:00

So the day of reckoning has come. On Thursday, the state Supreme Court voted to uphold AB 1X26, which will eliminate Redevelopment Agencies (RDAs), and to strike down AB 1X27, which would have allowed the RDAs to exist but required them to make payments to the state. For further reading, check out this San Jose Mercury News article as well has the Supreme Court ruling. Also, the KQED Capital

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-89625105149413343132011-12-09T22:17:00.000-08:002011-12-12T14:34:36.092-08:00

We went to Mayor Quan's press conference today and here's our recap: No major announcement was expected today, and there was a mixture of new tidbits and some re-hashing of stadium sites, along with few more more details on the proposed expanded Coliseum project. Quan was joined by Assistant City Administrator Fred Blackwell, Councilmembers Larry Reid and Libby Schaaf and Let's Go Oakland's Doug

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-30993236501639353672011-12-07T20:47:00.000-08:002011-12-12T14:32:11.694-08:00

Lew Wolff and his tiny but vocal group of apologists are a funny bunch, but what's even funnier is the company they keep. Take, for example, a recent Susan Slusser blog, in which both Jeffrey Loria and Jerry Reinsdorf spoke in support of Wolff's South Bay plans. Now some of Wolff's cheerleaders are pointing to this as a sign things are changing in Lew's favor. Get serious, folks. Are you so

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-34269524950277179362011-12-05T16:36:00.000-08:002011-12-05T20:09:45.867-08:00

The A's haven't made any major headlines in the past few days, unless you count the team signing AAAA player Brandon Moss as major. However, two recent moves made in other cities were quite relevant to the A's. A group called Stand for San Jose (tied to the San Jose Giants Single-A team, which is co-owned by the San Francisco Giants) filed a lawsuit Friday against the city of San Jose, claiming

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-16494514258193661272011-11-27T08:03:00.000-08:002011-11-27T21:33:17.387-08:00

Billy Beane is lying to you. In a recent S.F. Chronicle article, Susan Slusser wrote: Oakland lost money for the first time this century, with an expected shortfall of several million dollars, according to Beane. This is totally untrue and easily refutable. Oakland lost money? Really? Objective sports economists and journalists disagree.Like Forbes Magazine, which revealed that last year alone

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-73152125494721953402011-11-23T17:28:00.000-08:002011-11-24T07:20:31.185-08:00

It's that time of year again, the time of giving thanks. We're thankful for so many things, especially as they relate to our first love, the Oakland Athletics. We're thankful for Charlie O. Finley for creating this marriage of Oakland and Major League Baseball, and we're thankful for Carl Finley for doing the work of 10 men while running the franchise. We're thankful for Catfish's perfect game,

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-8260869595773622472011-11-22T19:03:00.000-08:002011-11-22T20:11:20.386-08:00

The game of baseball will humble you. It especially humbles those who celebrate before a victory is, you know, actually in the books. Just ask Gene Mauch. Or the 2011 Red Sox. Or Dusty Baker and Russ Ortiz. Given that, it's been strange to see Wolff's longtime cheerleaders do a victory dance this week based on very little information from very few sources other than Wolff's longtime

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-22725499699560619072011-11-06T20:29:00.000-08:002011-11-06T20:39:58.487-08:00

Here at BaseballOakland, we always celebrate and take pride in our history and tradition. That, of course, includes the Mustache Gang winning three straight World Series titles, the four-game sweep of the cross-bay rivals in the 1989 Fall Classic and the record-breaking 20-game win streak in 2002. We can go on and on about this storied ballclub that is the Oakland A's and we celebrate everything

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-3985405390723967842011-10-30T15:04:00.000-07:002011-10-31T07:55:33.881-07:00

With all the recent talk about the land Wolff may or may not buy in the South Bay, it should be noted that the area that truly impacts the A's future might be in Southern California.That is where the Los Angeles Dodgers' epic legal battle with Major League Baseball and Commissioner Bud Selig is taking place. For months, rumors have flown that Lew Wolff will become the new Dodgers owner, once MLB

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-62633007539882957432011-10-19T11:11:00.000-07:002011-10-19T12:47:45.643-07:00

This World Series, pitting the St. Louis Cardinals versus the Texas Rangers, is a bitter pill for informed Oakland baseball fans. It's hard to watch the teams' two skippers, Tony LaRussa and Ron Washington, without thinking, painfully, of what might have been had either man been allowed to stay with the A's organization, as they wanted to. While this week's World Series is LaRussa vs. Washington,

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-65366962735214483542011-10-13T10:32:00.000-07:002011-10-13T12:14:29.964-07:00

Hey, remember when most people -- A's fans, players and local media -- were excited for the A's to hire Ron Washington as manager when the job opened after the 2006 season? Instead, Billy Beane hired his wedding best man, Bob Geren. Five years later, Washington is on the verge of taking the Texas Rangers to its second consecutive World Series appearance and Geren is, well, the guy who had four

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-26314160691434291282011-10-04T09:25:00.001-07:002011-10-04T09:39:31.179-07:00

Last Wednesday, the last day of the regular season, was the most exciting sports day of 2011. With the Red Sox and Braves in a free-fall, it opened the door for the Cardinals and Rays to sneak in the playoffs on the last day. The AL chase was especially exciting because baseball fans enjoyed two dramatic wins, with the Red Sox losing in the ninth and the Rays winning in extra innings, each within

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-22852941419994865172011-09-26T21:34:00.000-07:002011-09-30T10:26:44.525-07:00

Well, that was fun while it lasted.A lot of us were cheering "Moneyball" over the weekend, basking in the rare spotlight that the Brad Pitt movie brought to our Oakland A's. Tired of all the Lew Wolff-fueled cynicism, most of us allowed ourselves a little naive optimism and wondered if the A's would be smart enough to use the movie to reach out to Bay Area fans to whom they've done so much to

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-48759520804334543082011-09-23T08:22:00.000-07:002011-09-23T08:34:42.496-07:00

"Moneyball" created a buzz in downtown Oakland on Monday. Movie stars like Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill and Philip Seymour Hoffman, along with current and former A's ballplayers -- from Jemile Weeks to David Justice. It also brought out the bleacher bums and their tailgating equipment, with some arriving at noon just to see the workers set-up a mock stadium for the red carpet (which was green). They

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-29125778169966686852011-09-21T09:07:00.001-07:002011-09-21T14:36:19.946-07:00

It's been kind of a slow summer, but in the past month the news has really picked up. First of all, we would like to thank Jorge Leon, Oaklandish and the Green Stampede for the wonderful event they co-hosted honoring the late Glenn Burke last Wednesday. Oakland Local had an excellent write up on the evening.Last week, another Lake Merritt Station Area Plan meeting, where conceptual ideas on how

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-43670080641227954372011-09-05T15:47:00.000-07:002011-09-06T10:32:43.598-07:00

It's time to vote for Bill King again for the Ford C. Frick Award, the Baseball Hall of Fame award for MLB TV/radio broadcasters. If you're reading this blog then you already know what a broadcasting legend King was. You already know he was an A's play-by-play announcer from 1981 to 2005 -- from BillyBall to Moneyball. He was hired by the Haas family and for 15 years he and Lon Simmons (a

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-79318655457503429002011-08-21T11:45:00.000-07:002011-08-21T13:06:41.293-07:00

Last week, Blanca Torres of the San Francisco Business Times reported that Sungevity is doubling its office space at Jack London Square and plans to have as many as 400 employees in Oakland by the end of the year. Sungevity, a solar panel leasing company, signed a lease to occupy 68,000 square feet in two buildings -- at 55 Harrison St. and at 66 Franklin St. Andrew Birch, Sungevity's CEO,

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-13094382581832463822011-08-14T21:15:00.001-07:002011-08-15T08:49:17.072-07:00

John Shea, the Chronicle's baseball writer, defended Oakland baseball fans against Rangers pitcher C.J. Wilson's anti-A's-fan rant last week. Wilson made wisecracks about recent A's attendance. But Shea wrote: ... there's no doubt he (Wilson) knows little about A's history and how they outdrew the Giants 17 times in their first 25 times in Oakland. Fast-forward to 2011, and it's not the fans'

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-88018475350792886842011-08-07T12:02:00.000-07:002011-08-11T09:02:50.679-07:00

Last week was a busy one, so we're a little tardy with our analysis of Parts 2-5 of Lew Wolff's interview with Marine Layer. All five parts of the interview can be found at NewBallpark.org. Check out our take on Wolff's comments in Part 1 of the interview by clicking here. Why do we analyze Wolff's interviews? Put simply, we believe Wolff would ruin the franchise by moving the A's out of

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-47973799488818674942011-08-01T21:01:00.000-07:002011-08-02T01:05:56.570-07:00

A's managing partner Lew Wolff sat down recently for an interview with NewBallpark.org's Marine Layer, who is breaking up the sitdown into five parts. Part 1 was published Monday. As we did with Athletics Nation's interview with Wolff last year, we're going to correct any errors and refute any factually incorrect statements that Wolff makes about the A's, their stadium situation and the cities

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-36855784018004827442011-07-31T23:10:00.000-07:002011-08-01T09:11:06.045-07:00

In a Los Angeles Times article by baseball scribe Bill Shaikin, Lew Wolff has called for Dodgers owner Frank McCourt to stop his lawsuit vs. MLB and to sell the team. The A's owner mostly was speaking in defense of his old U. of Wisconsin fraternity member, Commissioner Bud Selig, who McCourt has criticized in public comments and in court documents. Here's what Wolff, who lives in Los Angeles,

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-91956469562518122832011-07-24T09:46:00.000-07:002011-07-25T09:08:23.600-07:00

We're about two-thirds through another A's losing season and, though we will stick with them through thick and thin, it's pretty clear that the A's need to make some major changes to revive this struggling, once-proud franchise. We've often called for new ownership. That would be ideal. Short of that, a new attitude by A's owners Lew Wolff, John Fisher, Billy Beane and Mike Crowley would do

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-5725092327531177242011-07-20T22:36:00.000-07:002011-07-21T08:40:16.303-07:00

Yesterday, we summarized recent events, but here are some other Bay Area sports stories you might have missed.Oakland team heading to Babe Ruth World Series (11-year-old division)We posted on our Facebook wall about a local youth baseball team that qualified for the 11-year-old Babe Ruth World Series but they needed to raise funds to go. Well, it looks like they found the money to make it happen,

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-22562809231592375822011-07-19T22:56:00.000-07:002011-07-20T08:15:51.116-07:00

Hello, A's fans and thanks for following the BaseballOakland.com blog. Be sure and join us on Friday at the GO Bar, at 736 Washington St. in Downtown Oakland, to watch the A's take on the Yankees in the Big Apple. Should be a good way to meet and connect with other fellow Oakland baseball fans. Here are some brief news items that are worthy of discussion here in late July:Dave Newhouse and

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-90318518844428823362011-07-04T09:08:00.000-07:002011-07-04T12:57:22.505-07:00

As our beloved, once-proud A's franchise stumbles to yet another losing season, we've started to wonder how much longer this can all go on.Lew Wolff and John Fisher are holding up the progress of the A's simply because they have a pipe dream that will never happen. While they blindly pursue their unrealistic ideas of moving the team, Wolff and Fisher are holding loyal A's fans hostage. When Wolff

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-45772138645894535002011-06-23T22:08:00.000-07:002011-06-25T12:24:43.277-07:00

Howard Bryant, an ESPN.com reporter, is one of our favorite national sportswriters. He's written three baseball books: "The Last Hero (a Henry Aaron biography), "Juicing the Game" (steroids in baseball) and "Shut Out" (baseball's unsavory history of racism), all of which are excellent. And few journalists "get it" as well as he does when tackling MLB's often circuitous and money-mad halls of

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-43611692321541171622011-06-20T21:52:00.000-07:002011-06-23T11:43:28.021-07:00

Ever since Bob Melvin took over as A's manager, he has consistently shown one thing that has been lacking in the A's organization since 2005: Pride. He especially has shown pride in the A's history and its rich Oakland legacy. And his style of embracing the A's 43-plus years of 'Oakland-ness' has helped turn the team around, yielding six straight wins before Wednesday night's close loss. Despite

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-33242215955483292302011-06-19T17:48:00.000-07:002011-06-20T09:27:14.925-07:00

Even before Sunday's A's-Giants game at the Coliseum, it was a beautiful day in Oakland. Especially at Jack London Square, where thousands of people by noon had already gathered at its bevy of waterfront restaurants and its weekly Farmers Market.All those hungry customers were packing Jack London Square eateries like Scott's, Kincaid's, Miss Pearl's Jam House, Boccanova, Il Pescatore, The Fat

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-17914341606244443352011-06-16T19:28:00.000-07:002011-06-16T22:45:37.712-07:00

San Francisco Business Times reporter Blanca Torres wrote an excellent article about how Pandora.com symbolizes Oakland's underrated and fast-growing economic strength. Torres wrote:Oakland is not known as a hub for innovative or tech firms, but it is slowly becoming one thanks to firms like Pandora, Sungevity, Lucid Design Group, Ask.com, Xantrion, Bright Source Energy, Skytide Inc., Livescribe,

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-72884937559766680102011-06-13T13:09:00.000-07:002011-06-13T14:23:47.676-07:00

Walter A. Haas, Jr. and John Fisher have a lot in common, with one huge exception. Haas was an excellent sports owner when he owned the Oakland A's. Fisher, in contrast, has been a disaster as the A's current owner. Both men were born and raised in San Francisco and graduated from the University of California, Berkeley. Haas and Fisher both come from two of the biggest clothing empires in San

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-337017332194595602011-06-08T23:35:00.000-07:002011-06-12T09:00:36.607-07:00

We had to rub our eyes and check the TV again to believe them. There on the MLB Draft ticker last week, it said: In the 39th round, the Oakland A's select USC infielder Shane Boras, son of the famed superagent, Scott Boras. Why do we care? Well, the selection is part of the problem with the A's, who are well on their way to a fifth consecutive non-winning season. The problem is that the A's front

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-1881043870050877262011-06-05T21:36:00.000-07:002011-06-06T12:15:54.940-07:00

If the A's front office -- led by Wolff, Fisher and Mike Crowley -- builds and markets a new ballpark the same deeply flawed way in which it has created its new radio station, then the new stadium will be a bigger failure than Candlestick Park. After two months of listening, we give the Sports Radio 95.7 station a grade of "D minus," with only one or two radio personalities sparing it from

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-5415960535900590342011-06-02T20:48:00.000-07:002011-06-03T21:48:44.696-07:00

On Thursday, the A's fan blogosphere exploded in response to Monte Poole's column about Wolff & Fisher and the damage they have done to the Oakland A's franchise. Poole actually -- and quite accurately -- called Wolff & Fisher's managing style "the slumlord model." While noting that the A's have the 4th-richest ownership in baseball, Poole added:The heartbreaking thing ... is that none of the

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-60610895453280512282011-05-26T22:58:00.000-07:002011-05-27T09:49:33.566-07:00

While A's owners have been blaming the Coliseum and Oakland for their failures, now we finally know that their manager, and the faulty judgment of the owners that hired him, are more to blame for scaring away free agents.Lew Wolff, John Fisher and Billy Beane have publicly blamed the antiquated Oakland Coliseum for their inability to sign players like Marco Scutaro. Each A's co-owner then has

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-50889455648919489212011-05-22T10:00:00.001-07:002011-05-22T23:09:35.603-07:00

Oakland's corporate base is underrated and its financial strength is under-reported. While the national economy alternates between sputtering relapses and recovery, the number of Oakland companies is growing and thriving, often in new, cutting-edge industries. Look no further than the solar-energy corporation, Sungevity, which is headquartered at Oakland's Jack London Square.Sungevity and Lowe's,

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-41653512272966634842011-05-18T08:06:00.000-07:002011-05-18T11:44:20.260-07:00

San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed sent a letter to MLB Commissioner Bud Selig last week seeking a resolution to the stadium stalemate. Reed mentions several things in the letter, but it's his opening sentence that stands out: "Even though a lot of time has passed, seven years to be exact, (emphasis mine) since the A's first considered moving to San Jose, we remain enthusiastic ..."Wait, did he just say

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-3149725475609402442011-05-15T12:43:00.000-07:002011-05-15T19:00:15.625-07:00

The wealthy baseball official with ties to Wisconsin is dawdling and holding back the progress of the Oakland A's. No, not Bud Selig. We're talking about Lew Wolff.It's been more than two years since Wolff refused to sit down with Oakland officials to discuss new A's ballpark options. That's what prompted then-Mayor Ron Dellums and Councilwoman Jane Brunner to write Selig a letter asking him to

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-44039620132949663132011-04-27T09:38:00.000-07:002011-04-27T09:46:45.554-07:00

One of the reasons we like the Victory Court site so much is that it can bring the urban ballpark experience to downtown Oakland and to the Jack London Square area, much like the ballparks in Denver, Baltimore and San Francisco.Currently, the Coliseum lacks such an atmosphere, as it is surrounded by a huge parking lot on the edge of town. We here at BaseballOakland want to bring some of that

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-68637312307269061252011-04-25T08:38:00.000-07:002011-04-25T10:28:56.344-07:00

We hear a lot of false things about Oakland from the small but vocal pro-Wolff crowd. It got even worse last week when hosts from our own A's radio station -- 95.7-The Wolf -- used the forum to misinform people with no facts while badmouthing Oakland. If you want the facts about the A's ballpark situation, we've provided a basic list that's backed up with sources and web links. Heck, feel free

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-45603335508430804902011-04-21T20:40:00.000-07:002011-04-23T11:53:22.664-07:00

Peter Gammons on Thursday morning went on the A's new radio home, 95.7-The Wolf, and highlighted two ideas:1) Gammons believes the A's eventually will move to San Jose2) Many MLB insiders want Lew Wolff to take over the Dodgers and leave the A's behind.The weird thing is that those two ideas seem to be mutually exclusive. In other words, if the second idea is true and Commissioner Selig and MLB

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-70372515337062306472011-04-21T12:40:00.001-07:002011-04-21T17:17:34.184-07:00

How are the Oakland A's just like the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco? Well, for one, Lew Wolff co-owns both of them. Secondly, they both are great Bay Area traditions and, unfortunately, Wolff is running both the A's and the Fairmont into the ground. Recent San Francisco Chronicle articles revealed that Wolff tried to close the legendary Tonga Room at the Fairmont. Now, he wants to gut the

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-2322686084326634372011-04-13T22:36:00.000-07:002011-04-14T08:48:10.367-07:00

Think a new ballpark at Victory Court won't help redevelop the areas around Jack London Square, Chinatown and the Laney College area? Just look at how the wild success of the Fox Theater in Uptown has drawn new bars, restaurants and condos. Now add business recruitment -- with a big assist from Mayor Jean Quan -- to the mix. Mayor Quan and Oakland officials have successfully recruited Gateway

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-25455106470015579472011-04-02T19:40:00.000-07:002011-04-03T08:18:45.200-07:00

Opening Night came and went, and though the game itself was a downer with a 6-2 loss, we had an amazing time at the pre-game tailgate that was co-sponsored by Let's Go Oakland, Oaklandish and, yes, Baseball Oakland. It was a lot of fun hanging out with A's fans and friends, and eating BBQ food, drinking free Linden Street Brewery beer (thanks again, Adam!) and getting a "Stay" T-shirt or pennant

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-28256209353464749632011-04-01T07:53:00.000-07:002011-04-01T08:02:55.583-07:00

It's Opening Night for our beloved Oakland A's and we can't wait to get to the Coliseum for the mother of all tailgate parties.What's your favorite A's game memory at the Coliseum?There are too many to count. We remember the perfect home stand in August 2001, when the A's swept the Yankees and Red Sox on six consecutive sun-kissed summer days.How about Catfish Hunter's perfect game in 1968? Or

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-3536879128282150402011-03-31T08:58:00.000-07:002011-03-31T10:11:50.128-07:00

Don't miss what's shaping up to be the best and biggest tailgate party in Oakland A's history. Co-presented by Let's Go Oakland, Oaklandish and some fan group called Baseball Oakland, the tailgate will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday, April 1, at the Oakland Coliseum parking lot. The tailgate will be held in Parking Lot A, in the north lot, right by the Coliseum. There will be free hot dogs and beer,

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-17551550018661966442011-03-26T19:41:00.000-07:002011-03-28T08:08:25.766-07:00

Ever since we started this blog, we have been extremely critical of the A's management group. Not only is that due to Lew Wolff's and John Fisher's desire to move the team elsewhere, it's also due to their pure incompetence in running a baseball team. They are not without their defenders, though, and we've started to wonder why.To Wolff's apologists, we ask with all due respect: Why are you

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-62350647515719692572011-03-26T16:23:00.000-07:002011-03-26T18:16:23.467-07:00

Recently, we interviewed legendary broadcaster Amaury Pi-Gonzalez, who gave us the sad scoop that the A's in 2011 would become the only Major League Baseball team in California NOT to have Spanish-language game broadcasts.Today, we were shocked even more to learn the A's in 2011 might not even have English-language broadcasts. (Yes, seriously.)That's right -- with Opening Night less than a week

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-82293729497601002312011-03-20T09:12:00.000-07:002011-03-21T11:51:27.234-07:00

I'd never seen anything like it at a baseball game before.It was a Friday night game vs. the Angels on Oct. 1, 2004 -- the first of the final three-game series of the season. The A's and Angels had identical 90-69 records in the AL West race. The next three games would decide the season.This was before tarps covered the third deck, so the Oakland Coliseum was packed with a sellout crowd numbering

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-42537229755091226292011-03-13T10:03:00.000-07:002011-03-13T11:25:23.755-07:00

At last year's inaugural Oakland Running Festival, we set up camp at 4th and Market streets, north of Jack London Square, to cheer on runners in the festival's marathon portion. We and about 20 other friends turned it into an A's tailgate party of sorts. We had food and drinks and music while decked out in our A's gear. We celebrated the city of Oakland and supported the runners. We also promoted

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-45919848330323294642011-03-09T07:05:00.000-08:002011-03-09T10:08:20.445-08:00

Perhaps it's the ever encroaching deadline to put a stadium referendum on the ballot in San Jose, or the fact he's been at this game for eight years now, but there seems to be an extra amount of rhetoric coming from Lew's mouth these last few days. Lew's latest take comes courtesy of AP Writer Janie McCauley, in which Lew claims that he "already has the financing in place" if only territorial

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-1741695598789246802011-03-07T07:52:00.001-08:002011-03-11T09:11:50.026-08:00

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

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-71079104605081936312011-03-07T07:49:00.000-08:002011-03-07T08:50:22.941-08:00

Last Saturday (Feb. 26), a few of us stopped by Laney College to attend the Lake Merritt Station Area Plan for a variety of reasons. Some of us live very near that area and are always interested in the city's urban planning. Also, the Victory Court ballpark site is located within this area.We thought it would be a presentation where we would sit and learn about the city's plans. Instead, citizens

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-39295478945072733962011-02-21T10:28:00.000-08:002011-03-06T10:44:11.077-08:00

In this never-ending 16-year A's ballpark odyssey, one of the weirder chain of events happened one year apart, in 2005 and 2006. And it helps explain why so very few people trust Lew Wolff and John Fisher.On March 31, 2005, the day before Wolff and Fisher officially took over the A's, the San Francisco Chronicle had an article where longtime South Bay baseball booster Larry Stone went into

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-71893009686140943902011-02-20T11:27:00.000-08:002011-02-21T17:19:26.290-08:00

Lew Wolff has an increasingly big reputation for being a dishonest guy. How large is Wolff's credibility gap with his paying customers?Look no further than the South Bay, where Earthquakes soccer fans are not happy with the newest sketch renderings that Wolff's front office team recently submitted to the city of San Jose, according to Sunday's San Jose Mercury News article. Here's an article

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-26845182024862415292011-02-19T16:29:00.000-08:002011-02-22T10:01:52.233-08:00

We recently sat down for an interview with Oakland Mayor Jean Quan at City Hall. She generously gave her time while discussing several hot topics, including redevelopment, the Victory Court ballpark site, and Lew Wolff's campaign donation to Don Perata, among others. Here is the interview: BASEBALL OAKLAND: You made history by becoming Oakland's first female mayor, its first Asian-American mayor

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-23998831113940694962011-02-15T13:14:00.000-08:002011-02-15T17:52:57.480-08:00

Ricky and Tina Ricardo, owners of Ricky's Sports Theatre and Grill in San Leandro, have always been about at least two things: Bay Area sports teams and helping the East Bay community.They also have always been very, very supportive in keeping Oakland's pro sports teams exactly where they belong -- right here in the great city of Oakland.So while Ricky and Tina have been giving for years, here's

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-43272427101799925752011-02-07T22:52:00.000-08:002011-02-08T09:38:19.533-08:00

Oakland's entertainment and restaurant scene, already red hot in 2009 and 2010, continues to heat up even more in 2011.Diablo Magazine spotlights several new Oakland restaurants and bars that soon are coming to the Uptown district. The East Bay mag also compares Oakland's incredibly burgeoning nightlife to that of the borough of Brooklyn in the Big Apple.They're not the first to compare Oakland

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-41269124068125415952011-02-05T10:59:00.000-08:002011-02-06T08:44:23.003-08:00

Lark11, the blogger at RedLegs Baseball, posted an excellent blog last week that analyzed a lazily written, pro-Lew Wolff article by Ken Rosenthal.Lark11's blog entry basically eviscerated Rosenthal's piece and the pretzel logic the baseball reporter used to justify Wolff's baseless whining that he must move the A's to compete.This is demonstrably false, as Lark11 showed. Facts are stubborn

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-52977319012742597622011-02-03T20:54:00.000-08:002011-02-04T12:41:36.965-08:00

A's owners have chased announcer Amaury Pi-Gonzalez from the team and, sadly, it looks like the team won't have Spanish-language broadcasts in 2011. The Wall Street Journal did a recent story about Pi-Gonzalez's frustrating 2010 season dealing with the A's front office.Unfortunately, it's nothing new. Lew Wolff is just carrying out a pathetic tradition of ownership penny-pinching, incompetence

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-41198507833643625312011-02-03T20:10:00.000-08:002011-02-03T22:33:20.733-08:00

Well, that didn't take long.Add Amaury Pi-Gonzalez, an Spanish-language broadcaster who worked his first A's game in 1977, to the list of great announcers that Lew Wolff, John Fisher and Steve Schott let get away.A reliable source has told us that Pi-Gonzalez has taken a job doing play-by-play in Spanish for the Los Angeles Clippers NBA team, and he will be at the mic starting this spring for the

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-70334744880044212042011-01-28T22:12:00.000-08:002011-01-28T23:35:01.813-08:00

Amaury Pi-Gonzalez is a Bay Area broadcasting legend. In 2010, Pi-Gonzalez was inducted into the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame. Pi-Gonzalez, a Fremont resident, is a 32-year veteran of Major League Baseball broadcasting. He started broadcasting Oakland A's games in 1977, when team owner Charlie Finley and A's executive Carl Finley hired him.Last year, Pi-Gonzalez served as the lead announcer for

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-28343028611647934182011-01-25T08:50:00.000-08:002011-01-28T23:36:48.757-08:00

Amaury Pi-Gonzalez es una leyenda en el mundo de locucion en el area de la bahia. En el 2010, Pi-Gonzalez fue nombrando al Salon de la Fama Radiodifusion del Area de la Bahia. Residente de la ciudad de Fremont, es veterano de la locucion, ya que por mas 32 anos ha side el locutor para los partidos de las ligas mayores de beisbol.El comenzo como locutor para los Atleticos de Oakland en 1977 cuando

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-86944162882662915282011-01-18T20:22:00.000-08:002011-01-19T11:04:51.637-08:00

Oakland Tribune A's beat writer, Joe Stiglich, had a fresh take on what has become the complaint du jour for A's owners (including Billy Beane) when their low bids for free agents lately have been rejected. Here's what Stiglich wrote:Beane has contended the Coliseum -- widely regarded as an outdated venue -- drives players away. However, two agents -- who each have represented major leaguers for

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-4795029930330831022011-01-15T11:18:00.000-08:002011-01-15T15:00:46.066-08:00

Forgive our absence the past 10 days. We did some website housecleaning, and got some rest, but now we're ready for 2011. Is this the year the A's owners finally do the smart thing and permanently make Oakland their home? Then again, we've been asking that question since 1995, the year that Steve Schott and Ken Hofmann took over A's ownership and started this 16-year reign of uncertainty that Lew

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-10467898077143467432011-01-05T11:40:00.000-08:002011-03-23T10:03:28.581-07:00

New Oakland Mayor Jean Quan held an open house Monday night as the closing ceremonial event of her Inauguration Day. It was a great symbolic moment, with the mayor literally opening up City Hall and her own office to the people. Oaklanders waited in line to shake Quan's hand and pose for a photo inside her office. Visitors passed through the Mayor's Conference Room and, well, there it was

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-7990993061810612462010-12-22T07:44:00.000-08:002010-12-22T07:47:36.793-08:00

On Monday night, another hurdle was cleared with the Oakland City Council voting 6-2 to approve the $750,000 Professional Service Agreement (PSA) with LSA Associates on the the environmental impact report (EIR) for the proposed ballpark at Victory Court. Only Nancy Nadel and Ignacio De La Fuente opposed, which was no surprise given their opposition during the CCCEDA meeting last Tuesday. For

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-73448005948850197032010-12-21T09:56:00.000-08:002010-12-21T10:33:00.351-08:00

Hey, fellow A's fans. Here are some things to consider going into tonight's Oakland City Council meeting where they will vote to approve (or reject) a contract to do an EIR for the Victory Court ballpark site:This contract is for a maximum of $750,000 of REDEVELOPMENT FUNDS, not money from the General Fund.The CEDA Committee last week wisely approved a provision allowing the Oakland Redevelopment

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-19920280453818966582010-12-20T12:16:00.000-08:002010-12-20T13:05:25.360-08:00

We couldn't be more excited about the City Council meeting scheduled at around 6 p.m. this Tuesday night at Oakland City Hall to approve the Victory Court ballpark EIR contract. (It starts at 5:30 p.m., but the A's item will start a bit later.)Either way, let's all be there, A's fans!The 200-plus A's fans who packed Oakland City Hall three weeks ago left that night with the kind of big smiles and

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-41766485732477262652010-12-16T21:53:00.000-08:002010-12-16T21:54:35.968-08:00

On Tuesday, the City Council Community and Economic Development Agency (CCCEDA) held a regular meeting to discuss, among other things, the funding of the EIR for the proposed A's ballpark at Victory Court. After submitting the Request for Qualifications back in August, and sifting through the responses, the City of Oakland decided on a $750,000 deal with LSA Associates, who had performed the EIR

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-75210692301898854742010-12-10T23:19:00.000-08:002010-12-10T23:33:33.447-08:00

In Robert Gammon's 92510 blog, he went into detail Friday about the upcoming Community and Economic Development Agency meeting vote on the ballpark EIR slat for next Tuesday. Gammon wrote:The city's proposal to spend $750,000 on an environmental impact report for a new Oakland A's ballpark in Jack London Square is scheduled to go before a council committee on Tuesday. The council's Community

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-15601580257645252452010-12-09T08:58:00.000-08:002010-12-10T07:53:06.020-08:00

Much of the Oakland A's Internet world was abuzz with this Ballpark Digest article that reported that, because Oakland's redevelopment agency is in better shape than San Jose's, Major League Baseball is now looking more favorably at Oakland as MLB gets close to making their decision on the A's fate. Here's a quote from the article:That financing wherewithal is expected to carry a lot of weight

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-79163507132063631522010-12-07T20:08:00.000-08:002010-12-07T20:16:02.834-08:00

A hot-off-the-presses East Bay Express story on the A's ballpark search declares that Oakland's redevelopment agency is in the best shape of all Bay Area cities still vying to be the Oakland Athletics' home city and that, most importantly, "Major League Baseball knows it."The new article, written by investigative reporter Robert Gammon, goes on to report:... while San Jose's plan is hindered by

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-42277341669139678132010-12-07T08:10:00.000-08:002010-12-07T20:11:08.382-08:00

Congrats to Let's Go Oakland for going over 45,000 fans on Facebook. It's fitting that LGO's Facebook page hit that milestone on Dec. 1, the same day that more than 200 A's fans packed Oakland City Hall in support of a new Jack London Square ballpark at Victory Court.Now, some Facebook critics say that these pages are trivial and don't represent true political or financial support. But recent

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-71492551196402755752010-12-03T07:32:00.000-08:002010-12-07T11:59:05.296-08:00

On Wednesday night, more than 200 A's fans packed the meeting rooms at City Hall in anticipation of the start of the environmental review process for a proposed A's ballpark at Victory Court. The hearing room was so packed, the fire marshal showed up and cleared the room and ordered the extra fans into an overflow room where people could watch the meeting on TV. And then the overflow room was

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-68328563705557846052010-11-29T13:45:00.000-08:002010-11-29T18:11:09.148-08:00

Over Thanksgiving weekend, popular Oakland blogger VSmoothe discussed the Victory Court proposal on her blog, A Better Oakland. She also mentioned that the site will be publicly discussed at this Wednesday's Oakland Planning Commission meeting. We've always been fans of VSmoothe's blog, even the past times she was pessimistic about a new Oakland A's ballpark. So we consider it great progress that

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-49891949882213538812010-11-16T23:29:00.000-08:002010-11-16T23:59:23.276-08:00

An East Bay Express story by reporter Robert Gammon announced what the the scheduled Dec. 1 Planning Commission meeting had suggested: that the Victory Court ballpark site is the front-runner among Oakland's options. Even better was the news that the city is moving forward in conducting an environmental impact report for the site, an important step in the development process. (For those who might

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-54775718674797010982010-11-16T08:57:00.000-08:002010-11-16T09:02:19.447-08:00

Another big step in building a new A's ballpark in Oakland is about to be taken. The Oakland Planning Commission will hold a hearing on a proposal for Oakland's Victory Court site, a baseball-only waterfront ballpark. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 1, in Hearing Room 1 at Oakland City Hall. The meeting is open to the public, so all A's fans should plan on being there. Oakland

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-21315751454208111922010-11-14T10:14:00.000-08:002010-12-11T11:43:41.838-08:00

The final part of Lew Wolff's interview with Athletics Nation concluded on Nov. 11.Part I is here. Part II is here. And Part III is here.Our sincere kudos to AN's Tyler Bleszinski for asking some tough questions. Unfortunately, Wolff's answers were filled with so many lies and factual inaccuracies we're still looking for the proper name for his 'performance.' Our favorite is, "Lew's Lie-a-palooza

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-6276662982368625412010-11-13T00:04:00.000-08:002010-11-13T00:09:40.487-08:00

It's a few days late, but we can't let this busy week end without giving a hearty congratulations to Oakland's new Mayor-Elect Jean Quan. The City Councilwoman has made history -- she will be Oakland's first female mayor and its first Asian-American mayor. That's reason enough to cheer her victory. The other reason we're happy to see her win is that Quan is vocally in favor of building a new

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-61174715807589081592010-11-10T21:52:00.000-08:002010-11-11T07:48:32.370-08:00

Yesterday we talked about the factual inaccuracies in Lew Wolff's arguments in Part One of his Athletics Nation interview. Today, we do more of the same for Part Two: TB: There are some conspiracy theorists out there who claim that you never really had any intention of moving to Fremont. They say that the Fremont stadium effort was an effort to get the Giants and baseball to consider San Jose

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-72250242325560262022010-11-10T08:27:00.000-08:002010-11-10T08:52:50.298-08:00

On Nov. 7, Dave Newhouse penned a column in which he candidly called Lew Wolff a liar. Just two days later, Wolff gave an interview and promptly proved Newhouse right. There are several outright lies and factual inaccuracies that Wolff told in his Nov. 9 interview with Athletics Nation. Let's just dive right in and list them. Wolff said:"No public money"Wolff keeps saying that he'll ask a city to

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-77069896475267485492010-11-06T13:32:00.000-07:002010-11-06T13:38:28.327-07:00

The San Francisco Giants are World Series Champions. We at BaseballOakland want to extend our congratulations for this accomplishment to the team, the owners, and their fans. They all earned this.The team is a likable group of homegrown young talent, combined with cast-offs and misfits who play as a team and leave their egos up in the seats with the fans. The team kind of reminds me of Oakland.To

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-4956690963948362582010-10-26T07:44:00.000-07:002010-10-26T09:14:49.149-07:00

Robert Gammon of the East Bay Express reported Monday that Lew Wolff and John Fisher have given a combined $25,000 to a political committee that's supporting Oakland mayoral candidate Don Perata. Why is this important? We'll let Gammon explain:The move is unusual because Oakland sports team owners don't typically attempt to sway city elections and because Wolff is known for being frugal with his

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-33110996489269830482010-10-20T07:35:00.000-07:002010-10-20T07:48:44.873-07:00

We love our Oakland A's, obviously. But we're not so crazy about how A's owners Lew Wolff and John Fisher market the team. Or, in their case, fail to market the team. Which is why we started our ongoing series: How to Market the A's Better to Oakland and the Bay Area. Part One can be found by clicking here. Part Two is here. Part Three is here. To fill the gaping hole in the front office's

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-2235467378840766542010-10-17T17:08:00.000-07:002010-10-17T17:42:02.450-07:00

Friday morning brought news that might be a deal-breaker for Lew Wolff's years-old plan to move the A's out of Oakland. At the very least, the news revealed Wolff's double-standard regarding Oakland in his stadium quest.First, let's look at what Tracy Seipel of The San Jose Mercury News wrote:San Jose's redevelopment agency is in such rough financial shape that its leaders now say they may not be

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-65823754871533977082010-10-09T08:39:00.000-07:002010-10-09T09:18:34.714-07:00

Among the reasons I chose to live in this fine city are Oakland's growing urban core and the fact that it is becoming a hotbed of new transit-oriented development. We believe that keeping the A's here in Oakland, especially closer to the center of town and near transit options, would be a cornerstone for Oakland's ongoing urban renaissance. So, it should come as no surprise that Oakland has had

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-9339241249541154962010-10-07T21:43:00.000-07:002010-10-09T09:27:18.096-07:00

I wanted to take care of this blog yesterday, but my second team, the Phillies, had a rather busy day yesterday and I got caught up in the excitement. Now back to the subject at hand. Dave Newhouse profiled the Oakland mayoral race's front-runners, Don Perata, Rebecca Kaplan, Jean Quan and Joe Tuman, and their opinions on sports issues here in Oakland.The first thing that was discussed was the

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-12170957638079303502010-09-30T21:04:00.000-07:002010-09-30T22:01:12.593-07:00

In 1995, about 10 years before Lew Wolff and John Fisher bought the A's, the team's new owners were Steve Schott and Ken Hoffman. Schott was a one-man wrecking crew; a PR nightmare on legs. In Schott's first interview as A's owner, all Schott did was rip Rickey Henderson, Mark McGwire, and Terry Steinbach. Nice first impression. Within days, he chased away manager Tony La Russa, beloved A's

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-67826101023823889212010-09-29T09:58:00.000-07:002010-09-29T10:10:00.105-07:00

This is part three of our ongoing series: How to Market the A's Better to Oakland and the Bay Area. Part One can be found by clicking here. Part Two can be found by clicking here. We started this series because Lew Wolff and John Fisher do very little in marketing the A's to A's fans. So, to fill the gaping hole in the front office's marketing efforts, here are more ideas:Celebrate the history of

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-48621363958231114612010-09-27T11:57:00.000-07:002010-09-27T12:22:54.945-07:00

The A's just held Fan Appreciation Day, which is ironic, because no owners show less day-to-day appreciation for their fans than Lew Wolff and John Fisher. Example: The A's keep few concession stands open at the Coliseum, which contributes to unnecessarily long lines. And if you sit in the bleachers, then you have to walk literally halfway across the stadium just to wait in one of those long

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-87397895433461347612010-09-24T09:24:00.000-07:002010-09-24T14:12:04.746-07:00

The A's radio flagship station situation was thrown into chaos yet again when KTRB-860 announced two weeks ago that it was laying off staff. Rumors flew that the station would stop broadcasting altogether. Those rumors proved to be untrue. What was true was that the station's cash-flow problems have been brewing for a while. According to Susan Slusser, A's fans were getting spotty reception at

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-51354350941237281942010-09-23T14:59:00.000-07:002010-09-23T15:22:32.709-07:00

The Oakland Underground Film Festival begins tonight, screening independent films all weekend at Linden Street Brewery near Jack London Square, and at Grand Lake Theater near Lake Merritt. The Wall Street Journal last week did a roundup of Oakland hot spots, yet another national nod to Oakland's red hot entertainment scene. The four-day film festival will only add to that surging prestige. The

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-29210465732763480612010-09-16T11:22:00.000-07:002010-09-16T17:25:48.823-07:00

In the time since Ann Killion left The San Jose Mercury News for CSN Bay Area and Sports Illustrated, she has written some very critical columns about Lew Wolff and John Fisher. Last week the South Bay columnist wrote another one about Wolff, this time featuring the headline: "A's could contend, but owners would rather move to San Jose."Killion referred to the recent leak about the finances of

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-41516683773772630852010-09-15T07:47:00.000-07:002010-09-15T11:26:21.917-07:00

Last week, we started our series highlighting the many ideas that the A's owners could be doing -- but, sadly, have not done -- to market the team better to Bay Area baseball fans. Here is Part II:Foreign-language highlight shows: Take a simple version of your monthly "All A's" program that airs on CSN California and translate it to Cantonese or Mandarin and air it on the Bay Area's many

Baseball Oaklandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447084869751078792noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1173813711840192802.post-87030989245384812022010-09-13T10:16:00.000-07:002010-09-13T10:33:55.208-07:00

While the A's were taking two out of three from the Red Sox this weekend, the Giants announced yet another acquisition. Only it wasn't one of their umpteen new outfielders. This time it was an entire organization. The S.F. Giants now own a majority share of the San Jose Giants, their Single A team in the South Bay. Here's an excerpt from the Mercury News article:Baer denied that the investment is

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