Oakland Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio, right, stands with Raiders owner Mark Davis, left, before an NFL football game against the Denver Broncos, Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017, in Denver. (AP Photo/Joe Mahoney)

By Amaury Pi Gonzalez

OAKLAND–The San Diego Chargers are moving to Los Angeles after playing in San Diego for 56 seasons. Now the City of San Diego will only have one professional team (of the main pro-leagues in the US, MLB,NFL,NBA, NHL) left in that city, the San Diego Padres of the National League. From 1967 to 1971 San Diego hosted the San Diego Rockets (now the Houston Rockets), and then from 1978 to 1984 the San Diego Clippers(now the Los Angeles Clippers). San Diego never had an National Hockey League franchise.

The history of picturesque San Diego, considered among cities over 1 million in population with the best weather in the country has become a place where teams go to play and then move up north to Los Angeles. Even the Chargers who are leaving San Diego for Los Angeles also played their first season in Los Angeles in 1961. As of the year 2015, San Diego has a population around 1.4 million people. Meanwhile Los Angeles metropolitan area is closing in 20 million people, truly the largest in the State of California with a total population of 39 million people. Now in La La Land, they have two of each. MLB: Dodgers and Angels, NBA: Lakers and Clippers, NFL Rams and Chargers and NHL Kings and Ducks.

After the Los Angeles area, the San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose Bay Area is the largest in population with close to 8 million inhabitants. There are a total of five teams(A’s, Giants, Raiders, Sharks and Warriors) among the four top professional leagues here in the Bay Area, and three of those still play in Oakland. Athletics, Raiders and Warriors. The Oakland teams together have won nine titles in the city of Oakland. But how long will Oakland be able to enjoy these three heralded franchises?

Warriors: Back in November 2016, a California court of appeals ruled in the franchise’s favor, upholding their environmental impact report, which allows the team to move ahead with construction of their new arena in San Francisco. So the Warriors have one leg in San Francisco, and the other leg is not far behind. They are Adios.

Raiders: Owner Mark Davis is close to making a decision about a possible move of the franchise, from Oakland to Las Vegas, Nevada. Davis has avoided much discussion with the City of Oakland, but he has yet heard from Oakland mayor Libby Schaff and Ronnie Lott’s group the Fortress Group with their land and plans for a new Raiders stadium in Oakland. I feel like Davis really wants to take his team to Sin City, they will be all alone there with no marketing competition from anybody else, plus what happens in Vegas stays there. A decision should come soon, but I will not be surprised if they also leave Oakland. They’re almost Adios.

That means the party is getting smaller at Oakland, and mayor Libby Schaff will have one to dance with, the Oakland Athletics.

Ironically for so many years we have heard about the Athletics leaving Oakland, but when all is said-and-done, at this time the Oakland Athletics might be the only professional franchise among the four big ones to stay put. The Athletics recently announced their new President, Mr. David Kaval, who is the point man for a new stadium. He has expertise in this topic since he lead the way for the construction of Avaya Stadium in San Jose, for the Earthquakes of Major League Soccer. So, if I was a betting man, -which I am not- the Oakland Athletics are the favorite franchise to stay in Oakland. Looks like their staying.

So, yes. In conclusion Oakland and San Diego may have something in common soon, only one franchise and both are in baseball.

Note: No disrespect to soccer/futbol the most popular sport in the world, but you might notice I did not included the San Jose Earthquakes among the top professional franchises in the Bay Area, because(in my opinion)the MLS doesn’t rival the other four in attendance or popularity or player talent. in the United States.Why? Simple, the best players in the world in their respective sports play in MLB, NFL, NBA and NHL. While the MLS is still an excellent league, the best soccer players in the world usually play in the European professional leagues.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish TV voice for the Angels and is the Spanish radio voice for the A’s and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com