Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao with 30 bound books to be delivered at the 2023 All Star Game in Seattle to the 30 different MLB owners showing that the City of Oakland and Oakland A’s did have a deal to develop at Howard Terminal and try to convince the owners that the A’s and the City can work a deal out to stay in Oakland. Later in the year December 2023 all 30 owners voted to move the A’s from Oakland to Las Vegas. (photo from ABC 7 News)

On Sacramento Kings Relocation podcast with Daniel Dullum:

#1 Former two term elected Mayor of Oakland Libby Schaaf said this past week that since Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao hasn’t demonstrated that she couldn’t grow into the job these past two years, Schaaf has endorsed Thao’s recall which is on the Nov 5th ballot that Oaklanders will vote on next week Tuesday. One of the big issues in the Oakland sports community is how Mayor Thao lost the Oakland A’s.

#2The Mayor says it’s the fault of A’s owner John Fisher and MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred saying that Oakland had a deal with the A’s to build at Howard Terminal and they were some $36 million apart.

#3 That’s not the only reason Schaaf is endorsing the recall but Schaaf when Mayor was working with Fisher and Manfred on getting a Howard Terminal deal and the feeling at that time before leaving office they were closing in on getting it done. Time ran out on Schaaf’s second and final term and she had to leave office. Thao took over and worked with Fisher on financing for the Howard Terminal ballpark but Thao said Fisher quit while the city and the A’s were $36 million apart and A’s president David Kaval said that the club had a binding deal at the Rio in Las Vegas.

#4 Thao went to the July 2023 All Star game in Seattle and had some 30 bound books that outlined that the City of Oakland did have a binding deal with the A’s as trying to prove that as opposed to Manfred saying there was no deal in Oakland he was incorrect and that the bounded books would show MLB owners there was a deal on the table and she tried to encourage them to vote against moving the A’s out of Oakland and to go back and negotiate a deal to stay in Oakland.

#5 As we all know now the team has left the barn and will start a new with the interim park in Sacramento starting 2025 until the Las Vegas park is open in 2028. There had been previous polling showing that Oakland voters are in favor of recalling Mayor Thao and that Schaaf has endorsed former member of the Oakland City Council Loren Taylor to be the Mayor in the event that Thao is recalled.

Daniel Dullum does the Sacramento A’s podcasts each Sunday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com