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Post by mikecubs on Apr 1, 2017 2:05:49 GMT -6
Videos of the field
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Post by mikecubs on Apr 15, 2017 2:11:50 GMT -6
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Post by mikecubs on Apr 23, 2017 17:23:04 GMT -6
A’s President Works Angles Towards Getting New StadiumThe recent move by the Oakland A’s to make more upper level seats available at low prices was aimed at pleasing fans, but it also had a political component. The team released a video showing A’s President David Kaval taking the tarp off of the long-covered upper deck seats at the Oakland Coliseum. In addition to giving fans a bargain, half of the money from the $15 seats will go to local charities.The first in line to receive funds is Oakland Promises, the pet charity of Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf. Her goal is to triple the number of college graduates from the city’s schools in the next 10 years. The team will need the mayor’s support to build its new ballpark.When asked about picking the Mayor’s favorite charity as the first benefactor, Kaval replied, “Well, that’s one that means a lot to the city, and you can’t beat education.” Kaval was quick to praise Schaaf and her work on the teams behalf. “Well, Libby has done a great job for the A’s,” said Kaval. “She has supported us from the beginning and we have a great relationship.”Kaval is also setting up meetings with community groups all across the city, in part to get their input for a new ball park. “The A’s are reaching out to the community and want to get more involved,” said Bishop Bob Jackson of the Acts Full Gospel Church. It’s a sharp reversal from just a few years ago they were trying so hard to leave. “Seems like night and day from the previous administration,” said Chris Dobbins with the Coliseum Authority. When asked about the political aspect of making such a high-profile donation to the mayor’s charity, Dobbins said, “Well, you know it’s helping kids. If that’s what it takes. They are staying in Oakland and that’s what we are excited about.” The team is focused on a stadium project that will help both the A’s and Oakland. “We make sure that we build a ball park that can be a community asset,” said Kaval. Another aspect of his outreach to the community: every Tuesday, Kaval opens up his office to anyone who wants make an appointment to come in and talk about anything. “I’ve had people try and sell me insurance, people looking for jobs; I’ve had people tell me who to play at third base,” said Kaval. When asked what his goal was, Kaval replied, “Creating a ground swell of support and building a stadium.” sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2017/04/12/as-president-works-angles-towards-getting-new-stadium/
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Post by mikecubs on Apr 23, 2017 17:26:32 GMT -6
Oakland A’s Considering Multiple New Stadium SitesWith the Raiders bound for Las Vegas and the Warriors set to move across the Bay to San Francisco, the Oakland A’s are finally in the driver’s seat to land a new stadium. Monday is opening day for the Athletics, what looks to be the last professional sports team in the East Bay city. On March 27, officials raised the team flag over Oakland City Hall at a rally to celebrate opening day being just a week away. It happened to be the very same day the NFL owners approved the Raiders’ move to Las Vegas by an overwhelming majority. By the year 2020, the Oakland A’s are scheduled to be the only game in town. “Looks like Mayor Schaaf is really focused on keeping the A’s here,” said Chris Dobbins of the organization Save Oakland Sports.“It’s due,” said Oakland resident Sam Molina. “We need something.” So while team officials for years had pushed to move the franchise to San Jose, the A’s have settled back on Oakland with the goal of building a park with the neighborhood feel of San Francisco’s AT&T Park or Chicago’s Wrigley Field. “We want a ballpark village. A place where people can congregate,” said A’s President David Kaval.Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf has been pushing a waterfront park at the Port of Oakland’s Howard Terminal. While the site has its appeal, getting there with no nearby freeway access or BART station makes it a challenge.
Much closer to the freeway and BART is a site near Laney College. But while close to the downtown and with a neighborhood feel, it could be tough to assemble the land needed for such a development. The third site is just across I-880 at Brooklyn Basin. Last but not least is the existing Oakland Coliseum site. While it is right on the freeway and right on the BART line, it is seriously lacking in a neighborhood feel.“All the sites have positives and negatives. We’re just weighing them,” explained Kaval. He also said the team was not going to be looking for public money.“We’re focused on building a stadium like we did Avaya Stadium; 100 percent privately financed,” said Kaval. The A’s say that fans can expect an announcement on which site the team plans to focus on before the end of the year. sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2017/04/03/as-considering-multiple-new-stadium-sites/
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Post by mikecubs on Apr 23, 2017 17:35:57 GMT -6
The A's have been talking the next ballpark must last 100 years like Wrigley/Fenway. The Giants have said AT&T Park will be around at least 100 years. To do that you need a truly iconic park/location. Howard Terminal gives them the best chance to do that. But that site is much more complicated/takes more time. What I think will happen is the A's will pick Howard Terminal since they want a 100 year park and the mayor is for it. She's hinted the plan is Howard Terminal with a housing development to go on the Coliseum site. Word is a new park at Howard Terminal will take until 2023 to 2025 to complete. If Howard Terminal don't work then they will pick the Coliseum as a LAST resort AFTER Howard Terminal fails and build a ballpark village at that site in the parking lot. The part about the park being privately financed shows you how strong of a market Oakland/the bay area is inspite of the A's current woes/last 20 year woes. With a new park the A's will be a top 10-15 market without a doubt. Currently due to the Coliseum the A's are 2nd to last in MLB in franchise value/revenue according to forbes(the Rays are obviously last). Here is a pic of what howard terminal ballpark would look like except the park couldn't face the water like AT&T because the sun would set in the batter eyes. Also with Port operations you wouldn't be able to bring your own boat like at Giants games/MCCovey cove.
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Post by mikecubs on Apr 24, 2017 7:37:30 GMT -6
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Post by TheDeuce on Apr 25, 2017 8:34:44 GMT -6
The A's have been talking the next ballpark must last 100 years like Wrigley/Fenway. The Giants have said AT&T Park will be around at least 100 years. To do that you need a truly iconic park/location. Howard Terminal gives them the best chance to do that. But that site is much more complicated/takes more time. What I think will happen is the A's will pick Howard Terminal since they want a 100 year park and the mayor is for it. She's hinted the plan is Howard Terminal with a housing development to go on the Coliseum site. Word is a new park at Howard Terminal will take until 2023 to 2025 to complete. If Howard Terminal don't work then they will pick the Coliseum as a LAST resort AFTER Howard Terminal fails and build a ballpark village at that site in the parking lot. The part about the park being privately financed shows you how strong of a market Oakland/the bay area is inspite of the A's current woes/last 20 year woes. With a new park the A's will be a top 10-15 market without a doubt. Currently due to the Coliseum the A's are 2nd to last in MLB in franchise value/revenue according to forbes(the Rays are obviously last). Here is a pic of what howard terminal ballpark would look like except the park couldn't face the water like AT&T because the sun would set in the batter eyes. Also with Port operations you wouldn't be able to bring your own boat like at Giants games/MCCovey cove. Wouldn't that arrangement mean that all the fans would have to stare into the setting sun? m.
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Post by mikecubs on Apr 25, 2017 12:56:16 GMT -6
I think so because in baseball retro parks most of the seating is behind home plate with few outfield seats so lots of fans are facing the same way as the batter.
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Post by mikecubs on May 12, 2017 21:28:53 GMT -6
Earlier this week Oakland's mayor said she thinks the A's choices for a ballpark site are down to Laney College and Howard Terminal.
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Post by mikecubs on May 12, 2017 21:31:07 GMT -6
Then mid week it was reveled that Laney College may be in the lead over Howard Terminal Updated: The Oakland A’s Have Narrowed Their Ballpark Choices to Two The team is zeroing in on Laney College and Howard Terminal, with Laney edging into the lead as the favored spot, sources say.The Oakland A’s are now focusing on two sites in the city for a new ballpark: Laney College near Lake Merritt and Howard Terminal on the waterfront next to Jack London Square, according to four knowledgeable sources. Two of those sources say the Laney College property has edged into the lead as the team’s preferred spot. The A’s now view the Oakland Coliseum site as a distant-third choice. The A’s have been surveying local residents on stadium sites, and in one recent poll, the team’s representative made it clear that Laney College is the No. 1 location. The pollster focused heavily on Laney, asking numerous questions about the site, which sits between the lake and Interstate 880 and is just a few blocks from the Lake Merritt BART station. By contrast, the pollster only asked one question about Howard Terminal, which is about a mile from the closest BART station: 12th Street. According to two sources, the A’s biggest concern about Howard Terminal is the railroad tracks running in front of it. “The idea of getting 35,000 people across those tracks on game days is troubling to them,” a source said.A’s President Dave Kaval, who has said that he intends to announce the team’s new ballpark site by the end of this year, did not return requests for comment for this report. In recent interviews, Kaval has indicated that the Coliseum site is still on the table for the A’s. But sources said the Coliseum is now considered a longshot, primarily because Major League Baseball prefers new ballparks to be close to downtown areas. (See update below.) If the A’s move to Laney or Howard Terminal, the Coliseum site—home to the A’s, Raiders, and Warriors for more than four decades—will become vacant. Some pro-housing advocates have been pushing for a large housing development at the site because of its proximity to BART. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said she still favors the Jack London site for the A’s. “Howard Terminal is a beautiful piece of property,” she said. City officials have long preferred Howard Terminal, because they believe a new ballpark will help Jack London businesses and continue the revitalization of downtown. City officials have also said that they plan to offer the same $200 million infrastructure deal to the A’s as they did the Raiders. The city could use some of that money—which would come from a special property tax district—to build pedestrian bridges over the railroad tracks at Howard Terminal. Schaaf also said she has concerns about the effects of a new ballpark at Laney on the nearby Eastlake neighborhood. Eastlake is home to numerous Asian-American businesses that could be priced out of the area if a new ballpark goes in. The A’s are looking to build a stadium on property that’s currently being used as the headquarters for the Peralta College Community District. The team also is interested in adding housing and retail on the Laney parking lot next to I-880.The fourth site that the A’s were looking at—on the estuary southeast of Jack London Square—is no longer in the running, sources said. Published May 10, 2017 at 2:55 p.m. Update May 10, 6:05 p.m.: After this story was published, A's President Dave Kaval called and apologized for not returning two phone calls for this story. He also disputed that the Laney College site is now the team's leading choice. He reiterated that the Coliseum is still on the table. He said the A's have done polling on all three sites, and in each one of those surveys, pollsters have identified either Howard Terminal, Laney College (which the team refers to as Lake Merritt), or the Coliseum as the top choice in order to deeply probe residents on their feelings about each one. www.oaklandmagazine.com/May-2017/The-Oakland-As-Have-Narrowed-Their-Ballpark-Choices-to-Two/
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Post by mikecubs on May 12, 2017 21:33:39 GMT -6
Here is a site map. Where is says Perelta Community College district is where the park would go. An A's fan has taken Pittsburgh's PNC park and Photo shopped it on the A's ballpark site. The park would have a nice view of downtown and the Oakland foothills Here is another site pic. Another Laney College site pic. In this one the park would be to the left across the road There was talk for a while of demolishing the baseball/football field and putting the park there but Laney just sunk a bunch of money into upgrading them.
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Post by mikecubs on Jun 23, 2017 20:18:35 GMT -6
A’s appear to favor Peralta site for new stadiumThe A’s search for a new home in Oakland has narrowed to three locations, but the team appears to have strong interest in a 13-acre site near downtown that is now the headquarters of the Peralta Community College District. The site is just west of Laney College and abuts Interstate 880. Despite its proximity to the Nasty Nimitz, it has the neighborhood feel the A’s are looking for — something the team’s current home, the Coliseum, doesn’t even come close to.Crucially, in addition to its freeway access, the Peralta site is within easy walking distance of the Lake Merritt BART Station. And any stadium built there would have spectacular views of Lake Merritt and the East Bay hills from the upper deck. But there are challenges. For one, Peralta Chancellor Jowel Laguerre says Laney’s faculty and students would probably put up a fight. “I’m afraid of the aggravation we may create for ourselves and then nothing happens,” Laguerre said. “I am personally praying for one of the other sites to work out.” Another challenge: Mayor Libby Schaaf, whose support is vital, likes a different site. She’s pushing for the team to relocate to Howard Terminal, north of Jack London Square. The Coliseum site is also in the running for a new ballpark — but right now, it’s everyone’s second choice at best. Schaaf sees building a 40,000-seat ballpark on the waterfront near Jack London Square as an opportunity to create a new neighborhood in the largely industrial area. And like Laguerre, she thinks the political battle over building a stadium next to Laney — where year-round enrollment totals about 9,000 students — could be fierce. But the A’s see several downsides to Howard Terminal. There’s no BART station nearby, and auto access is impaired by the railroad tracks that run near the property. It also sits next to a power plant that would have to be moved. Plus, building on the waterfront would require approval from various state agencies. The prospect of running that gantlet was enough to persuade the Golden State Warriors to abandon their plan for an arena on San Francisco’s Piers 30-32 and build in Mission Bay instead. T hen there’s the weather.
The team’s analysis shows that Howard Terminal is about as cold and windy as where Candlestick Park used to be. Ask the Giants and their fans how that worked out.
The Peralta site is considerably warmer, the analysis shows — comparable to the Coliseum.And there’s another plus to the Peralta site: A ballpark next to the freeway could mean millions of dollars in extra revenue from signage, including from whatever company buys the stadium naming rights. A recent team-commissioned poll of 800 Oakland voters found that 72 percent supported the idea of a privately financed ballpark “within walking distance of downtown.” The Peralta site qualifies, though Howard Terminal supporters would say it does as well. The A’s hope to buy some support from the Laney College community by suggesting that ballpark revenue would help pay for badly needed building improvements at the school. Laguerre is skeptical, but he said he and other Peralta officials will “listen to their thoughts and ideas.” Julina Bonilla, president of the Peralta Board of Trustees, sounded a slightly more conciliatory note, saying the district wants the A’s to stay in Oakland and will do what it can to “support that and make that happen.” As for Schaaf, she said, “I want to be respectful of the A’s because they are planning to privately finance their ballpark, and I think everyone knows my feelings about that.” But she added, “No matter what site they choose, I am always going to be concerned that their project benefits the surrounding community and doesn’t cause harm and displacement.” Officially, the A’s say they are weighing the Howard Terminal and Peralta sites equally, as well as building at the Coliseum site — which, while the least sexy of the locations, has great transportation access. A’s President David Kaval said all three sites “are neck-and-neck” and that wherever the team tries to build, it will need everyone “pulling in the same direction.” Translation: As promising as the Peralta site looks on paper, the A’s front office is keenly aware that it will have to overcome some real political headwinds to succeed there. One big sign the A’s have their eyes on downtown: They’re about to move their front office out of the Coliseum and into Jack London Square.www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/matier-ross/article/A-s-appear-to-favor-Peralta-site-for-new-stadium-11228697.php]#photo-12996386
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Post by mikecubs on Jun 23, 2017 20:24:14 GMT -6
More pics of the site
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Post by mikecubs on Jun 23, 2017 20:32:15 GMT -6
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Post by mikecubs on Jul 16, 2017 17:48:26 GMT -6
Billy Beane: A's in 'full rebuild,' hope to keep stars with new stadiumOakland Athletics executive vice president Billy Beane said Sunday that he is committed to a full rebuild of the team, with an eye on being competitive when the franchise has a new ballpark.He also said Sunday that ownership has committed to keeping the team's best players long-term when the A's are in a new home stadium. Beane said the franchise's pledge to find a new stadium isn't "lip service." Beane made his comments after the A's traded relievers Sean Doolittle and Ryan Madson to the Washington Nationals for right-hander Blake Treinen and two prospects, left-hander Jesus Luzardo and third baseman Sheldon Neuse. He said the trade "fits into everything in the direction we're going." "We need to be disciplined with , particularly with how aligned with what we're trying to do in the community as far as a stadium. There's only one way to open a stadium successfully, and that's with a good, young team," he told reporters, adding that the franchise under his leadership has "never really committed to a full rebuild."
Beane has had to tear down the roster of the small-market A's several times in his 20 years with the franchise, but he said Sunday that there will be a different philosophy once the team has a new ballpark.
"Really what's been missing the last 20 years is keeping these players," Beane told reporters. "We need to change that narrative by creating a good team and ultimately committing to keep them around so that when people buy a ticket, they know that the team is going to be around for a few years."
He again emphasized that the A's need to keep their players once they have the added revenue that comes with a new stadium.
"The important end of the sentence is rebuilding and keeping them. This is my 20th year on the job. There are only so many cycles that I can go through before I get as exasperated as everybody else," he told reporters. "Finding players has never been an issue for us. Keeping them and ultimately keeping the faith and commitment from people who follow the team, that's got to be done by keeping them around. Again, I've been assured by ownership that that's what we're going to do as it parallels with the stadium."
The A's have been at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum since they moved there from Kansas City for the 1968 season. The park opened in 1966.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported last month that the A's are focusing on three locations. The newspaper said the team is strongly interested in a 13-acre site near downtown that currently is headquarters of the Peralta Community College District. The Chronicle also said Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf favors Howard Terminal, north of Jack London Square, and the team is considering constructing a new ballpark at its current location, the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.
John Fisher was approved in November as the controlling owner of the Athletics.
"They've said they're going to by the end of the year identify a site in Oakland that's their preferred site,'' commissioner Rob Manfred said last week to members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. "I think that given the change in the control situation in Oakland that it was prudent for Mr. Fisher to take a year and make a decision as to what site he thinks is the best. That decision is a uniquely local decision. I really don't believe it is my job to have a preference for those sites. They know their market better.''
The A's have several other players on the roster who are likely to be traded before the deadline, including infielder Jed Lowrie and right-handed starter Sonny Gray. Beane said that when the A's make more trades they will be looking for the best available prospects, as they did in Sunday's trade. That too marks a change in philosophy.
"In the past, a lot of times we would take players that fit immediately into what we were trying to do and maybe passing on upside. I don't necessarily think that will be the case now," he told reporters.
www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/20082470/billy-beane-oakland-athletics-rebuilding-new-stadium-mind
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