By Amaury Pi Gonzalez
OAKLAND–If all goes well, the Oakland Athletics will play at their projected new ballpark (preferable Lake Merritt location) by the year 2023. I know, it is not really “around the corner” but this is the Bay Area and we are famous here for not building sporting venues very quickly. Obstacles for such things are aplenty by the bay. Somebody always finds a way to thwart plans, there is always a group that will tell you that you will be endangering a three billion year-old bird species or that the traffic to the park is going to contaminate our ozone layer much more that currently, or whatever. We are not Atlanta, Texas or Cincinnati, so it should be no surprise that 2023 is the targeted year. Optimistic projections could be maybe as early as 2021, but for that to happen all would have to go very very well. The Lake Merritt, Oakland location is on 13 acres(for the record AT&T Park, San Francisco who will be 18 years old next season is on 14 acres of land), and this new ballpark close to downtown Oakland would have a capacity of 35,000.
Athletics will still be playing at the Oakland Coliseum years after the Raiders inaugurate their new $2 billion stadium on the Las Vegas strip. That is good news for the A’s. I remember when the Giants ownership of Peter McGowan received permission for the construction of their new park, Pac Bell, SBC, ATT Park (the Phone booth). The Giants tried to make Candlestick more fan friendly, which is actually like putting lipstick on a pig. The A’s will be the only team playing at the Coliseum so their leverage to do much more there, while they build their new facility should increase. The City of Oakland always gave the Raiders preference over the Athletics, I remember then President of the A’s Sandy Alderson telling me that many years ago, that is changing now for obvious reasons. The sporting scene in Oakland is changing big time. For once since I can remember, the A’s have the political leverage to become “the team”in Oakland.
One of the best news for the A’s is the Commissioner of Baseball who has said very strongly that the Athletics will be staying in Oakland. Nobody could have made that statement back in 2007, so things are looking up for the Athletics. It would be really nice, if they could vacate the cellar in 2018, and let some other AL West team take ownership of that dreaded fifth place which the Atheltics have leased for the past three consecutive seasons. As optimistic as I am, even in the Bay Area.
Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the TV Spanish talent for the Angels, the Radio Spanish talent for the A’s and does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com.
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