but it seemed extremely family-friendly to me…

I could understand the argument that Oakland as a city isn’t terribly safe, but players don’t often live right within their team’s city limits, anyway. I’m sure there are plenty of mansions within commuting distance…

rejects the A’s and suddenly it’s the city of Oakland’s fault. Because, say, Frank Thomas, or Mike Piazza, or Alan Embree had such a big problem with the place.

and you obviously have to wonder if this is just Rosenthal blathering, or an agent who had a bad experience there one time, etc.

still, it doesn’t feel good to hear the Coliseum being talked about this way, and the whole Furcal visit did seem to give a bit of credence to this thought. Personally it makes me hope just a little bit more that the A’s get a new ballpark.

is complete and utter bullshit! What the fuck does this guy know about working conditions? The A’s are a major league, professional franchise…..period! He makes it sound like the A’s are a bush league, fly by night operation. Say what you want about the Coliseum and us fans needing a shiny new stadium but I for one totally resent any kind of reference to A’s fans as hooligans or trouble makers. And the players are making their money regardless do you can throw that argument out the door as well. Real fans, like many who post here on AN, know exactly what I’m talking about.

The only thing that even remotely bothers me as an A’s fan is when I’m tailgating, being approached by folks asking me for money or something. Other than that, the Coliseum is cool….old, yes……outdated, yes…..rugged, yes…….but I have a great time at every A’s game and I don’t think the players have a problem being paid professionals either. By the way, the field, when the Raiders are not sharing with the A’s, is among the best and well kept in all of baseball, thank you very much.

Ken Rosenthal, kiss my skinny brown ass, you shite!

Go A’s!

The Coliseum is not the best place to play. We get that. They need a new place.

As for a fan-friendly place, it’s pretty good. Our fans support our players unless they’re really not doing well. In spite of a few bad incidents with things being thrown or the occasional fight in the seats, it’s not like players need to fear for their safety here. I can vouch for the fact that some of the bleacher guys have had good, funny exchanges with players on opposing teams who get what’s going on. Many A’s fans also know the game’s nuances well.

The area around the Coliseum? No, it’s not very good. Parts of Oakland have a very bad crime rate. That doesn’t mean the whole city is a cesspool and is only there to get away from. There are worse places to go to. Most players don’t live in Oakland anyway.

and there were varied responses but any true A’s fan that goes to the games knows the ins and outs of the Coli…….

It is what it is and I think we all just make the best of it. We’re not the ones getting paid all of the money…..the players are!

Yeesh!

And I also think Ken Rosenthal has looked really bad throughout this whole Furcal thing.

But this article brings up a disturbing truth. Oakland is not an attractive place to play, and the stadium is substandard. I don’t live in Oakland but I’ve been to games there in recent years and you just can’t compare the stadium to something like Dodger Stadium or Turner Field or many others. The stadium is old: too old to look shiny and new but not so old that it becomes charming. It’s not going to attract any player the way that, say, Camden Yards is going to. It was acceptable in the late 80s but it’s not now. Get high and mighty about it if you want, but it’s the truth.

The area around the stadium also is not appealing. Again, in the 60s, it was fine, but it’s no longer … not when you have beautiful stadiums in city centers like Petco or Busch.

There’s probably a reason why Billy never goes after big name free agents. They have better options! If a guy gets traded to the A’s, they end up loving it (generally). But ask Furcal to devote the next 4 years to Oakland when he can live in LA, why are you surprised he chose LA?

This whole escapade exposed a dirty truth: we’re going to have trouble getting top notch free agents here without a new stadium in a new part of town. And don’t say anything about Big Frank and Piazza: these were old players looking for their last contract who had NO other offers. They loved us because we loved them first and they appreciated that. No guy with multiple suitors is going to come here without a really compelling reason to do so (they’re from here, they were traded here and like it, etc.)

I’ve had to deal with some HORRIBLE fans down in Anaheim. At least most A’s fans are going to watch the game. I can’t tell you how many Angels fans just get drunk and try to cause shit, they are ridiculous. I mean, half those guys leave the stadium by the 5th inning anyway. And Boston? New York? LA? C’mon, I would say the fans there are worse, and have caused plenty more problems. Hell, a couple people died at Dodgers stadium the last few years.
ya know, i understand that the A’s do need to move, but before Mount Davis was added, no one was complaining about the Coliseum. Suddenly it’s a shit hole?
Whatever, like I’ve said before, those guys can kiss my ass if they don’t want to be hear. they’re missing out. No other clubhouse in the bigs year in and year out shows that they are here to have fun like the A’s…

Thes comments in the article are innane. The so-called “crowds” are not unruly. That is just an idiotic and uneducated statement. Pure fiction. The usual 12k people for most home games are far from unruly. What the hell was the motivation for making this statement?

As for the Coli it is a dive. No way around that. And Oakland has shady parts like any other major city. Been to LA? NY? I defy you to show me a major metropolitan city without a ghetto. The stadium is not right in the ghetto. Close, but not. It is by a major airport and freeway. Not a garden spot, but mostly light industrial area.

I would not be overly excited about playing there either. It has to feel somewhat like baseball banishment to play in a drab stadium, in a market that does not have a large fanbase and is often overshadowed in the media.

But to say the crowds are unruly is stupid. Bad journalist.

I’m curious if Rosenthal has ever been to the Coliseum. I know it wasn’t him saying those things, but he still printed it, and if he doesn’t necessarily agree with it he shouldn’t print it…

If this truly is the perception among players who’ve had little contact with the A’s or the coliseum, this is where the current players need to get involved. Chavez, etc. need to call potential free agents and tell them their experience with the organization, fans, etc. Let them know what the reality is and all the things they will LOVE about playing for the A’s.

Oh how I wish the Raiders had not returned from LA. No Mt. Davis, and no crappy field from Mid-August on. Because up until mid-August, come to Oakland and you’ll be playing on the nicest freaking grass in the league thanks to Clay Wood.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it you cretin agent you

It’s not an Oakland thing. I’ve only been there once, but it was totally fine. I would guess that players don’t like knowing that there is always the chance that they could be traded at a moment’s notice, which has happened more than a few times to players in this organization. Small crowds has been mentioned as well by several people, and that probably factors in to it, too. One thing I haven’t really seen mentioned is I wonder if Beane’s inexperience in dealing with long-term deal-seeking free agents played a part. I mean, when was the last time the A’s went out and signed a FA to a 4-year deal? My thoughts are that maybe Beane didn’t realize that Oakland wasn’t a real option because he’s not used to being in this kind of situation.

Last season I sat on the first base side, middle deck (Plaza Level?), closer to the foul pole, a few times and at least one fight broke out at each game.
             I remember once someone throwing something down from the third deck (wait, that portion of the third deck was closed last year? Hhmm maybe I was on the 1st level or it was a few years ago when the 3rd deck was open) . . . anyways . . . this guy in the section next to me got really mad and threw a cup of beer up to the 3rd deck. It was dumb b/c the beer came showering down on him and the rest of the crowd in his section.
  Wasn’t there also an incident where fans were throwing batteries at Carl Everett?

I also took the tour of the A’s clubhouse at Fanfest (R.I.P.) last year and everything except the locker room looked like a high school gym.

Besides being to the Coliseum more than 50 times, I have only been to Candlestick in the 90’s and SBC park (or whatever it’s called) once last year for a work gathering. So i can’t compare it to other stadiums. I will concede that SBC is a way nicer park than Oakland, but it’s new so the shine hasn’t worn off quite yet, and a nice park doesn’t mean much if you don’t like the team.

  I usually feel safe at the Coliseum, even walking from the "free parking lots" across the freeway, but I can see where some people think the crowd is unruly. I like the A’s a lot and I get defensive when people trash talk them but I can also see where players might want to play in a better park with larger crowds.

Like ATL and LA are that much better…

But Rosenthal seems to think that Abreu will land in Oakland. I can’t see how he has a job, Rosenthal that is, because where exactly does Abreu fit? It’s not like Giambi where you could “hide” him at 1B, Abreu is either a DH or an OFer. From all acounts his days of playing in the OF should be numbered and we have Cust at DH who shouldn’t sniff the OF either. I just dont know some times…

Yeah. Think on that for a while.

free agents have “spurned us” when the A’s offered the most money? Other than Furcal, I’m having a hard time thinking about the last time that happened — if ever. (And like one person wrote above, it didn’t really happen this time, either.)
Plain and simple, we never offer the most money. So all of this talk about the city and the Coliseum being the reason players don’t come here is wrong, IMO. Players don’t often come here because they get bigger offers to play elsewhere. Period.
It’s been mentioned already, but trust me — St. Louis, New York, Chicago, Philly, Baltimore, Detroit, and on and on and on — each of these cities have major crime issues and inner-city neighborhoods that make Oakland look like church.
The vast majority of free agents play where they’re paid the most. They don’t give a rip about the stadium or the neighborhood it’s in. They drive for miles to get from the suburbs to the yard, anyway.

but on the other issue my main comment is that if any player feels physically unsafe at the Oakland Coliseum, I don’t think I really want him trying to help my team compete.

Here it is:
Move A’s stadium to Richmond. or the Tenderloin. hell, how bout Golden Gate Park, night games would be a blast!
Then and only then will we be able to truly call our stadium too ghetto for the players…

Well, I guess there is a point. Having grown up on the East Coast and attended baseball games in Cleveland, Washington DC, Cincy, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Oakland (on vacation), there’s a noticeable lack of “electricity” at Oakland Coliseum . . . maybe because of the older ballpark (when compared to Great American or PNC) or maybe just because of a lack of general enthusiasm about the team around town. Of course, I’m basing this judgement off having only been in town a few days, but it was soo disheartening visiting my lifelong favorite club and experiencing the sort of “ho hum” ambivalent attitude I encountered in Cali. I think it’s largely due to the old confines of the Coliseum, honestly, when compared to all the anemities the newer park offers to the casual fan. Hell, I dunno maybe I was just seated in the wrong sections. Anyways, I think the new stadium will be a definate upgrade for the team and will aid in attracting more attention from casual fans/free agents/etc. Until then, I’ll be saving my money for another venture out to Oakland next summer.