Oakland A's would keep playing at Coliseum if they build new stadium at same site

SB Nation ^ | 30 July 2015 | Jeremy F. Koo

[MinorityRepublican]

If the Oakland Athletics construct a new baseball-only stadium at the current Coliseum site, they would continue playing in the Coliseum until the new facility is completed, A's managing partner Lew Wolff informed CSN California. Talk of a new stadium erupted after A's general manager Billy Beane explicitly stated that his acquisition of highly regarded low-minors players was partially based on him being "hopeful and optimistic about the venue situation here changing sometime in the near future," according to the San Francisco Chronicle's Susan Slusser.

Billy Beane brought up the new stadium idea on his own, according to 95.7 the Game A's Talk host Chris Townsend, citing a conversation he had with Susan Slusser. Townsend was surprised to hear Beane sound optimistic, as he was dismissive of the topic when the two were filming some commercials last year. However, Townsend also said that he thought the way the three trades over the last week came about looked quite a lot like how the Cleveland Indians got themselves set up to move into Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field).

With these reports also came news, from the Bay Area News Group's John Hickey, that Major League Baseball would kick in money for a new stadium in lieu of a direct public subsidy:

[GeronL]

Let me guess, they just want taxpayers to fund it.

[ifinnegan]

It’s right by a BART station.

[kvanbrunt2]

moneyball

[darkangel82]

I am watching them now on MLB.TV. They will need a new park soon.

[MediaMole]

15 years ago, the Coliseum was the worst park in baseball. Honestly, it is both a terrible baseball park and a terrible football stadium.

[Larry Lucido]

Can they spell “Colosseum” correctly this time?

[ThomasThomas]

That how they spell it there. I see um game at the Coliseum

[Larry Lucido]

Quit lion'!

[Tigerized]

It used to be a nice ballpark, before Al Davis screwed it up with Mount Davis.

[AnotherUnixGeek]

Talk of a stadium in Oakland is necessary because the SF Giants claim that San Jose - where the A's would like to relocate - is exclusively Giants territory. Under MLB rules, San Jose was actually evenly divided between the Giants and the A's until Bob Lurie threatened to move the Giants to Tampa/St. Pete in the early '90s. A's owner Walter Haas, in a fit of generosity which should fill the current Giant ownership with shame, gave up the A's interest in the South Bay at no cost so the Giants could move there instead of to Tampa.

As it happened, the Giants built their new park in SF, not San Jose, and in a truly monumental display of ingratitude and greed, the Giants now insist that the A's can't move to the market they once gave the Giants for free. I use the Giants ownership to illustrate the saying "no good deed goes unpunished" to my kids.

[Dilbert San Diego]

Yep, some payback for helping out their neighboring team??

I’m not familiar with the Bay Area. But, are they really trying to say that San Jose only has Giant fans there, and that there are no A’s fans down that way? Based on other cities with two teams, you will find fans of both teams living all over the metropolitan areas of New York and Chicago, for example. So I guess I would be surprised if there are no Athletic fans down in San Jose and Palo Alto areas.