A's Attendance: The Decline of the OAKLAND A's
by Grumpy50 on Jul 22, 2008 10:07 PM PDT
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PrintRecently, I read an article by Glenn Dickey, a sports writer in the San Francisco Bay Area. I don't always agree with Mr. Dickey, but I do agree in large part with his statements in the July 2, 2008 piece of which I have included a portion below:
"EVERYBODY HAS been wondering why the A’s attendance is down, though the team has been entertaining and in the race for the postseason. This is the same franchise that drew as many as 2.9 million fans, then the Bay Area record, so it isn’t a lack of interest. But the A’s promotional efforts have been a joke. Sometimes, it seems as if they’re determined to alienate their fans.
If they really want to get their fans back, here are some steps they should take:
--Open up the third deck at the Coliseum.
There is no single move the current ownership has done that has more alienated the fans than taking away these cheap seats, which also have great views of the game. I used to sit there during games myself, talking to fans and enjoying the old-time feel. The views are actually better than from the luxury suites behind the outfield, from which outfielders can’t be seen when they’re chasing falls near the right-field fence.
The A’s did this to try to encourage more season ticket sales and avoid those games where they had huge walkups. They guard the information on season ticket sales closely, probably because they don’t want to admit how low they are, but it seems the chief change is that they haven’t even been able to sell out the Yankees series, which used to draw crowds up to 50,000. That doesn’t sound like a smart business decision to me.
The A’s have to open up the upper deck when the Raiders play exhibition games. Why not do it during the All-Star break this year and send a message to their fans that they really care?
--Quit hyping tickets for the real estate project in Fremont.
Frankly, I have serious doubts that will ever happen but just talking about it is kicking their current fans in the teeth. If that park is ever built, with no BART access and gridlock on 880 during commute hours, it will be virtually inaccessible to fans from San Leandro/Hayward north, as well as the fans in Contra Costa County who now use BART to get at games in the Coliseum.
Lew Wolff obviously feels that it is more important to get fans from San Jose with the proposed new park, but that also is sending a clear message to Oakland area fans that he doesn’t give a damn about them. I’ve talked to many fans in Oakland who no longer go to games, and the constant refrain is, “They don’t care about Oakland, so why should I care about them?” Why, indeed?
--Spend some money on the broadcasting team.
When the Haas family bought the A’s, the first thing club president Roy Eisenhardt did was to hire Bay Area broadcasting icons Bill King and Lon Simmons, correctly reasoning that they were the club’s chief contact with fans.
The current ownership has a different philosophy: Go cheap. They got lucky with Ken Korach, who’s the best play-by-play announcer in the Bay Area, and Marty Lurie, who’s a free lancer and not directly employed by the A’s, does a great job with his “Right Off the Bat” and “Baseball Memories” shows, but the rest of the broadcasting crew, radio and television, should be scrapped.
Next year, the A’s may be able to switch to a 50,000-watt radio station, KTRB, but even that won’t be enough without a different cast. They need to get quality announcers in. Of course, that would cost money, so they’ll never do it.
The A’s have made one good move in recent weeks, hiring Bob Rose to head up their media department. Rose is an old pro who has worked both sides of the Bay, for Stanford and Cal, for the Giants and the A’s, as well as nationally, for the USFL as a whole and individual teams.
But they need to do much more. Their promotional efforts have been gimmicky, like the “all you can eat” seats, which come accompanied by pretty much every type of fast food that is making Americans obese, or the one where they subtract $1 from some tickets for every hit the A’s get in the previous game. When the Giants announced their plans for a 50th anniversary, the A’s suddenly realized they’d been here 40 years and had a “throwback” game, featuring the awful uniforms of 1968. Would they have even remembered that they had an anniversay in Oakland if the Giants hadn’t announced their plans? Probably not. They’re too busy planning for what they hope will be their future in Fremont.
Frankly, the A’s promotions remind me of the Charlie Finley era. Finley was into the gimmicky promotions, half-price night, the “Moustache Gang” promotions. They worked so well the A’s couldn’t even draw a million one year during their run of three straight World Championships. The first season the Haas family owned the A’s, a strike cut the season by a third, but with promotional genius Andy Dolich running things, they still drew half again as many fans as a Finley team did in the championship seasons.
Dolich listened to the fans, to see what they wanted. Nobody in the current A’s organization seems to. Until they realize they have to give the fans what they want, attendance will continue to be shameful at the Coliseum."
My own feelings on some of the topics Dickey discussed include:
1. New stadium: no mass transit...how energy efficient is this going to be?
2. New Stadium: Relatively small seating capactiy with more corporate boxes. How is that going to help the team? More money from corporate customers. Maybe, but the A's will need more money to pay off the hugh debt/return on equity that will finance the cost of development. The end result, not much more to spend on players. The most probable outcome is that the ownership will profit from the real estate development that is also a part of the stadium-build proposal.
3. Current Stadium: The A's and its fans would be better served if the A's spent fewer dollars on a state-of-the-art scoreboard like ATT ballpark than a new stadium. A new scoreboard would be like having a huge HD TV at the game!
4. Marketing: For the last couple of years I have had difficulty in getting the A's radio station...either the signal is weak or it keeps moving on the radio dial. How do you sell a product when customers can't get or find it? Further, when I watch the television broadcast, there is little in analysis...enough about the HD TV already.
Perhaps you can tell I am a little disgruntled watching the demise of one of the greatest baseball franchises (3rd in World Championships only behind the Yankees and Cardinals). Hopefully, the management will return their focus back to the people. Baseball is America's passtime not Corporate passtime.
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Grumpy50:
This is an excellent fanpost. I disagree with a good bit of it, but still it is way better than most of the stuff posted here… May I suggest that that you edit the title somehow? I expected it to be some sort of whine about trading players that we see all the time, and other people will probably think the same thing. Your title is perfectly apt for the content, but it just connotes hundreds of bad previous fanposts….
You have a lot of things here: for now I’d say that the broadcasting teams could definitely use an upgrade from Kuiper and Vince, and if they could get someone better for more money, I’d be all for that. However, I have doubts as to whether “the best broadcasters money can buy” would actually be good as opposed to profoundly irritating, as my tastes are likely different than the FO’s perception of the public’s tastes.
The A's colors are green and gold.
While I doubt the announcers have significantly affected attendance
I totally agree that something has to be done about the broadcasters not named Ken Korach. Actually, I don’t dislike Controneo as much as most seem to, but Kuiper is an idiot and I recently realized that my feelings toward Fosse have morphed from irritation to hatred. But Dickey is right…Fosse works cheap and never says anything negative about the team or organization, so he’s not going anywhere. Sucks that they weren’t willing to pay Papa enough to stick around. Tim Roye should immediately replace Kuiper.
You prefer a magic trick, instead? Watch me make this pencil disappear.
by Swooney's Left Foot on Jul 22, 2008 10:23 PM PDT reply actions
In fact, on televised games I mute the TV and listen to it on the radio
If they simulcast the radio broadcast for the TV as well, it would be a huge improvement.
You prefer a magic trick, instead? Watch me make this pencil disappear.
by Swooney's Left Foot on Jul 22, 2008 10:29 PM PDT up reply actions
Tim Roye isn't that good at baseball
Fosse is sort of ridiculous, but I actually enjoy his homerism.
I thought Papa was great, and was quite sad when they let him go…
The A's colors are green and gold.
Taste is subjective, of course
But the handful of times I’ve heard Roye broadcast baseball, I thought he was pretty good. Not as good as Papa but way better than Kuiper.
You prefer a magic trick, instead? Watch me make this pencil disappear.
by Swooney's Left Foot on Jul 22, 2008 10:43 PM PDT up reply actions
Not really saying he's worse than Kuiper, just that he's pretty blah
and if they make a change they could do a whole lot better.
The A's colors are green and gold.
Vince can stay, Kuiper must go
Roye does the Warriors games and isn’t available until basketball season ends. He doesn’t have a classic broadcasters pipes but he’s knowledgable, passionate, and competent—all things which Kuiper is not. If we could transplant Kuiper’s voice into Roye, we’d have a really good play-by-play man. Vince has grown on me a bit. Whatever flaws he may have, they’re drowned out by his enthusiasm and the impression he gives that he really enjoys calling the game. Sure, he’ll never be Bill King but he doesn’t need to be. I think he’s a safisfactory #2 man on radio. Don’t replace him.
Root for the Giants? Not even if they're playing al-Qaeda!
There should be a link here to the original article
You reprinted too much of it, IMO. Of course I would never actually go to a Glenn Dickey article and read any of his bilge.
I am shocked that I agree with most of what he says here. Though he shows his true colors when he doesn’t even know the name of Marty Lurie’s show and he is totally wrong about the radio broadcast crew which may be the class of MLB. I think Cotroneo has improved a great deal and KenKo is the shit.
And Mr. Dickey, for your information, if you want to know the radio station where the A’s broadcast is I suggest you open any bay area newspaper (including the shitrag you write for) to page two of the sports section where you will find that elusive fucking information.
"Not in your wildest alcoholic nightmare would you ever imagine such events unfolding!" Bill King
by Buck Turgidson on Jul 22, 2008 10:36 PM PDT reply actions
I like Fosse ...
I don’t care what you or Glenn Dickey say!
"It's for your own good. Big strong Devo knows whats best for Poppy" -- Mossback
Glenn Dickey timeline:
1991: The 49ers dynasty is finished!
92: The 49ers dynasty is finished!
93:The 49ers dynasty is finished!
94: The 49ers dynasty is finished!
95:The 49ers dynasty is finished!
96: The 49ers dynasty is finished!
97: The 49ers dynasty is finished!
98: The 49ers dynasty is finished!
99: The 49ers dynasty is finished!
2000: 49ers actually start to suck.
The A's colors are green and gold.
Give the guy a break...
...he’s obviously so much of a genius that he’s 9 years ahead of the game!!!
Grumpy50
you can blame the organization all you want, but I remember as a new A’s fan when we were winning 100 games a year and had the Big 3, Giambi, Tejada, etc…how disappointing it was to only see btwn 10 and 15,000 fans on a Mon or Tues night when we were fielding a championship caliber team. It seems to me that Oakland ‘fans’ don’t care about the A’s. They didn’t show up then, nor did they sell out the 2002 playoff series in a year we won 20 CONSECUTIVE GAMES. Attendance is suppose to go up when teams win, but not in Oakland. Personally, I can’t wait for the new stadium in Fremont to open. Yeah, the drive will be a little longer but at least we’ll have more fan support to cheer on the team each and every night, not having to wait for a fireworks game or when the Yankees come to town.
i still am not sure how i feel about fremont
but this is a great post
"It's not my fault your team's so shitty." -Steve Friend, head coach, Chabot College, to Laney College's head coach, who asked why we scored so many runs after we beat Laney 30-3 in 2006
quit bellyachen about freemont. its close enough. be glad its not Sacramento, Portland or Las Vegas.
the basic deal where they will make money off real estate to offset costs and the fact the stadium will be smaller and have more expesive seats is just how it going to have to be if a new stadium is going to be build.
It’s not the perfect plan but its the best of other bad alternatives and lack of any real help from anyone else. If it does not get build they move out of the Bay Area.
Mabey not in five years but probably in ten.
the stadium is just part one of whats needed to get more fans
As far as idea’s for more fans the A’s have to think outside the box with long term, expensive plan’s. I propose three.
1. buy into a radio station with sufficiant watts to become the A’s flagship.
They can work on the who latter. even if the A’s have the best crew its too hard to find the A’s on radio and have it come in good. Most teams get to be paid large amounts for radio rights. the A’s will have to spend it now and try and make money on it in the future.
Time to pan out: This plan may take 5 years to really pan out but it could also work out in two or three. Of course it could end up being a loser finacially for the A’s always if they don’t support the team with the fan base to want to listen.
Cost: depending on the amout of ownership and power of the station 1-10 million. (yes i pulled that number strait out of my ass) I’ll let someone else figure out the real finacial costs of my wild sceems.
2. Give away massive amounts of tickets to young people. Every school of every age (including as young as 10 and as old as a 20 year old College student within four hours of Oakland should be givin tickets. Boy’s and Girl’s clubs, little leaguers, youth groups of any kind. Whats more the A’s should have people that help these people accually make it to the games with help lining up transportation and “selling” these schools on seeing a free A’s game.
5000 tickets a game could be easyly givin away and mabey the A’s break even with food sales. Thats 400,000 new future A’s fans a year to help support the team when they have disposable income and jobs. 400,000 possible Giants fans who first expereince and new love for baseball will always be remebered in Green and Gold. I am a 25 year A’s fan today and not a giants fan because my fifth grade teacher took our class to a A’s game. In ten years thats a whole lot of future fans supporting the team and it really just cost them an empty seat to do it.
time to work out:
it could take ten years of giveaways to make a dent in the lead Giants fans have in numbers over A’s fans. But it would be exponential as those kids have kids and take them to A’s games over the next 20 years which is probalby how long it would take to get a majority of A’s fans in Nor Cal.
cost: the A’s would have to have extra people to work the larger crowds plus staffing the new office of “free tickets” lets say each extra free fan cost the A’s $1.oo so 400,000 a year and another $600,000 per year in office/promotion staff for about a Million a year mabey two mill at most.
3. perhaps the most radical would to really go after the Asian market by :
holding 1/4 of spring training in Japan with a total of one extra week to tour and play the National teams of China, Taiwian and South Korea. AZ wont miss them.
Support this with web-sites and web-casts in Asian lanquages.
Support this with an Asian baseball acadamy with the goal of getting young prospects to the minor leagues.
Frequently sign Asian players.
Play the Japanese series winner every year at the end of spring training.
start the season out every year, in Japan, just like this year.
Time: this would probably be complicated initally as it would have to be worked out with MLB, the players union, and the Asian country’s and leagues. It could probalby be worked out in some form or another in 2-3 years and be really going strong in five.
Cost: this one wouldn’t be cheap. a whole new spring training regiment and model would have to be worked out from scratch. Travel would be a nightmare. an Asian acadamy and new media forms for there could cost 10’s of million’s to set up right over a several years. We would probably have to overpay mid-level Japanese talent to start with. more Asian fans means more revenue from everthing like TV,Radio, and merchandise even if its not Northern California that producing it. We would be going after the hearts and minds of hundreads of millions of fans and we would be the first. It could also get a huge increase in the Asian demographic living in or around the Bay.
All this investment in the team would be long term or very long term solutions to the A’s attendance problems. Hard to do? you bet. Expensive to do? especially for a small market team.
The A’s would have to spend perhaps ten-15 million to get all three plans off the ground strong and be ready to lose 5 million plus more every season (not counting Asian ML players salarys) for five years or so to see a return on investment.
10-years plus to become a consistant mid-level salary team with the un-ordinary asian revenue streams supporting TV, Radio, stadium attendance and merchandise sales etc.
What’s this all mean to the fans right here in the Bay Area and Oakland?
the team does not move beyond our range of easyly going to a game.
Radio and TV would constantly be getting more fans leading to more revenue/ratings leading to easy to find games on Radio and TV and better announcers leading to more fans.
.
A’s fans could become a majority over time giving us finaciall advantages weve never had in Oakland, Kansas City or Phily. Able to keep favorite homegrown talent. Able to sign mid-level FA’s. Able to make mid-season trades that add salary if the team needs it to make a run.
Thats my plan and Im stickin to it.
My view
I find it rather perplexing how the A’s can have the better team in the Bay Area and still not draw as much as the Giants do. They really have to do a better job of self promotion. I would suggest more interaction with little leaguer and not just in Oakland but in the entire bay area. It is the youth they must win over! Offer 5 dollar ticket games for children under 10 accompanied by an adult. They have to figure this out. Just this “if you build it they will come” mentality most owners have is not going to work here. Our area offers so much to do they might NOT come. I would suggest they hire some good PR folks and get the ball running. Anyone else have any good ideas? Of course I know we are just fans and the team can disregard us, but they shouldn’t over look our advice we are the folks that love this franchise.
Lets go A's
A couple things
1) The A’s actually do two little league days while the Giants only do one. Up until this year the Giants didn’t even discount the little league day tickets or offer a parade around the field, which the A’s have always done.
2) Do you mean a promotional offer like this?
The truth is that while attendance is bad, its actaully leaps and bounds better than it was in the 70’s and early 80’s. And we’ve seen that Bay area fans are a little spoiled. They come out to see home runs and high batting averages. The old adage says “offense sells tickets, pitching wins championships.” Well the A’s have chosen the latter and feel that once we can say we’re the best team in world, the fans will come. There are no changes in marketing, radio, or PR that will really improve anything significantly.
by GusanoQuemador on Jul 23, 2008 9:29 AM PDT up reply actions
Problems I see
1. Radio I can’t pick it up at night and barely hear it in the day time
2. Need radio talk shows all year long talking about the A’s drawing interest in the team and not forgetting them for 5 months.
3. Give away days. You need to get there 2 hours before the game to have any hope of getting the give away! Then you still might not get the give away. Get extra gifts and those give aways not given out sell them at future games. Treat your guests well.
4. Kids! Like others before me have said, get the kids to the game!!!! Little leagues and schools. They will spend money at the games on food and other junk to cover the expense of giving the ticket away (or little charge). And they could become future fans!!!
Attendance Issues and Oakland
This is not new. Whatever the reasons… One thing I don’t think is drawing down attendance is Fremont.
The A’s have had one season where they drew 2.9 million (almost 20 years ago). You can’t use that as evidence that attendance has usually been great and now it sucks.
A’s attendance numbers in the past decade have placed them anywhere from 17th to 26th in the league. Right now they are 26th. Last year they were… 26th! The year before they were… 26th!
It seems that this is just the third year in a row where they are performing exactly the same at the turn styles relative to the rest of the league.
“The A’s have had one season where they drew 2.9 million (almost 20 years ago). You can’t use that as evidence that attendance has usually been great and now it sucks.
It’s not evidence of typical attendance but it’s an example of the kind of attendance that’s possible when ownership sends the message that watching baseball at the Coliseum is an exciting, affordable thing to do. Haas said, “We love Oakland. Come to the ballpark and have a good time.” Every other owner’s message has been, “We hate this place and we want out.” When you don’t even want to be there yourself, you can’t expect others pay their way in.
Root for the Giants? Not even if they're playing al-Qaeda!
But...
It was an anomaly then as well. From 87 through 93 attendance went from 1.7 mil, to 2.2, to 2.6, to 2.9, to 2.7 to 2.4 to 2.
During the Haas years attendance was not that much better than it is now on average.
Personally, for me the return of the Raiders has made the coliseum a crappy place to watch baseball. And if I owned the team I wouldn’t be shy about telling the truth when it came to how the stadium is not suited to the game. And I would be pushing like heck for a new one.
And I think it is naive to say that all the ownership has to do is say “this is a great place to watch baseball” and it suddenly becomes true. When Haas and Co. used to say that, it was true. It just isn’t anymore.
Exactly.
It’s getting really annoying to hear people continue to complain about the A’s ownership. All they’ve done is consistently field a winning team for the better part of the last decade.
What did the city of Oakland do in return? Welcome the Raiders back with open arms, shit all over the A’s, and turn one of the coolest parks to go to for baseball into an ugly monstrosity to appease Al friggin Davis.
yeah, it’s the A’s fault.
Yes and no ...
on the baseball side they’ve done great and the Raiders/Oakland issue is true, too—but they have definitely hurt themselves by telling us how much we won’t enjoy their product because of the stadium.
"It's for your own good. Big strong Devo knows whats best for Poppy" -- Mossback
Agreed... however, it's not like it's totally false.
The stadium kinda sucks, and it’s because of Mt Davis.
just as the Coli is but part of the entire attendance issue ...
... Mt Davis is but part of the Coliseum-sucking issue.
Who needs competence as long as everyone smiles? @('.')@
It's all relative ...
the average attendance is similar
Average attendance:
Finley (68-80): 777,274
Haas (81-95): 1,835,359
Schott/Hoffman (96-04): 1,725,540
Wolff/Fischer (05-pres): 2,002,589
(the early Schott/Hoffman years dragged down their score, relative to Wolff/Fischer)
BUT:
Average attendance relative to American League:
Finley (68-80): 65%
Haas (81-95): 97%
Schott/Hoffman (96-04): 77%
Wolff/Fischer (05-pres): 82%
The Hass years had some fabulous years, peaking at 134% relative to league average and some lean years, bottoming out in the family’s last year of ownership at 65% (it continued to drop, under 54% in the third year of S/H’s tenure). Schott/Hoffman started out in a very bad place, but by their last three years, the team was consistently right around average. Attendance has fallen off significantly since then under Wolff/Fischer. Part of that is due to the third deck closure—but not that much.
Charlie Finley would think attendance was fantastic - but he also got out of the game because the change of its financial makeup had made it impossible for him to field a competetive team any longer. Everything is relative. If the team were drawing what the peaking Schott/Fischer team’s (2001-2004) did, it’s relative attendance would be down to 89% from 96% at the time. That peak 2.9m year would drop from 134% relative to league in 1990 down to 118% this year. It would still be a number ownership would love - but it would be good in this age, not great like it was at the time.
"It's for your own good. Big strong Devo knows whats best for Poppy" -- Mossback
Good info
I started compiling similar numbers (plus tallying how many years each exceeded the average) but decided I had to work on my job instead :)
The truth is that there have been many changes throughout the league that would affect the average attendance over those time periods. In addition to the return of the raiders and the ugly outfield as a result, virtually every other team in baseball got a new stadium. Those two factors combined made the Coliseum go from one of the best, to one fo the worst baseball stadiums in the league.
More importantly, and on display down in the chart below, the closest competition got one fo those brand new yards. Making the Giants go through the exact opposite transformation, from one of the worst stadiums to one of the best. And look at how the attendance gap (which was not constant over the previous three decades) got larger and more sustained.
People can argue all they want about it was all hunky dory during the Haas years. But the numbers argue otherwise. The average number is helped by some major outliers (134% of average). Attendance has always been a challenge in Oakland.
I wonder when Hayward's own Jon Miller's contract is up with the Giaunties?
The meaning of life is not so much 'found,' as it is 'made.' --Opus
Not likely
Do you really think he would rejoin the A’s to broadcast games on a weak signal?
Root for the Giants? Not even if they're playing al-Qaeda!
No -- neither did I pose it as the only necessary change.
I think a lot of things can change with Fremont that aren’t likely to change, otherwise.
The meaning of life is not so much 'found,' as it is 'made.' --Opus
by The Dogfather on Jul 23, 2008 1:10 PM PDT up reply actions
cut WAY back on the amount you cut and paste
I agree with Buck Turgidson above—you’ve included WAY too much of Dickey’s column, and you should provide a link to it. You also don’t prominently indicate where Dickey’s column ends and your comments begin.
This pretty clearly violates “fair use” doctrine and AN’s stated guidelines. If you don’t cut back on the length of the quote and make it more clear which elements are quotes, then this fanpost is going to get deleted.
Who needs competence as long as everyone smiles? @('.')@
Your warning is too terse, if you're not nicer in this post I'll delete it!
"If you lived in the now, you'd be home by now."
Actually, I wish you would delete this
I suspect this was a very high quality troll attempt, considering Grumpy50 has not responded to any comments in this thread, no has he/she/it made any other comments anywhere else after joining YESTERDAY.
"There's m'fn sprinklers on the m'fn infield!'" - Ice Cream (AN), 6/13/08
that he didn't provide a link would probably be proof that he *is*
Who needs competence as long as everyone smiles? @('.')@
nope
Glenn Dickey’s handle is actually Grumpy73
"Not in your wildest alcoholic nightmare would you ever imagine such events unfolding!" Bill King
by Buck Turgidson on Jul 23, 2008 10:47 PM PDT up reply actions
I'm giving the benefit of the doubt on those points
(Not that I disagree with ‘em.)
Who needs competence as long as everyone smiles? @('.')@
For issues like this ...
needing to link to the article, cut down the quotes, I would suggest that the editors should feel free to do it themselves if the author does not respond to requests …
"It's for your own good. Big strong Devo knows whats best for Poppy" -- Mossback
Solutions?
I really don’t think the A’s organization is going to be flexible enough to make them possible.
1) Radio, increase the range and add a new guy across for Korach.
Hey, I’m just happy we don’t have that White Sox crew talking about “US” and “HE GONE” or “WE WIN”
2) Reopen the top deck, and the 1st day, offer every ticket for $1. That will put butts in the seats on a nice Saturday afternoon. Actually, that was my favorite place to put mine. nice and warm with a Bay Breeze coming in from the Estuary.
3) Sign some extensions and get some players locked in. We need to know that it’s worth the $20 to by a t-shirt jersey of the guy. Most of us have learned the hard lesson of getting a real jersey w/ an A’s player on it from the past 8 years.
4) Buy a Big League Bat – or trade for it – we need to get some life in the game that will draw the casual fan out. Show their kid a home run and go OOOOHHHH.
5) for the ladies pop some of those young guns (Sweeney, Gonzalez, Suzuki, & Street) on a billboard with a 4 letter caption ——P.I.L.F. (the “p” stands for player).
6) Give the Bleacher drummers an amplifier and a camera to lead the cheers & put the flag waivers into some strength training classes….I wanna see forearms like Frank Thomas waving those flags!
It's just more exciting with Billy Beane running the team.
Three words:
CHEERLEADERS! CHEERLEADERS! CHEERLEADERS!
That is what will put butts in seats. Have Go-Go dancers in cages at each foul pole, and if a batted ball hits the cage the player gets a date with the dancer. Afterwards, they get interviewed by Chuck Woolery live at the next game and shown on the big screen.
Have fans vote for the starting lineup for a game once a week. If the fans lineup has a better record than the manager, increase the frequency.
"If you lived in the now, you'd be home by now."
I think the Reds have that market cornered.
It's just more exciting with Billy Beane running the team.
I like it -- the new left field foul pole:
The meaning of life is not so much 'found,' as it is 'made.' --Opus
by The Dogfather on Jul 23, 2008 1:15 PM PDT up reply actions
And the right field fowl pole:
The meaning of life is not so much 'found,' as it is 'made.' --Opus
by The Dogfather on Jul 23, 2008 1:18 PM PDT up reply actions
and America the Beautiful
...with purple martin majesties, ...
The meaning of life is not so much 'found,' as it is 'made.' --Opus
by The Dogfather on Jul 23, 2008 3:27 PM PDT up reply actions
The A’s could do a lot better just by not running an anti-marketing campaign. If you tell your fan base year after year that you hate your ballpark and you want to move, they won’t be excited about coming to your games. About the only thing Wolfe has done better than Schott is show up for the games.
1) Get a legitimate radio network
2) Replace Kuiper pronto
3) Quit doing everything possible to discourage people from attending games.
Root for the Giants? Not even if they're playing al-Qaeda!
+1
I think it’s an easy sell on the ballpark.
I was reading an ESPN article about going to the A’s game. He talked to a fan sitting in the second deck (i think) and made the comment that there isn’t a lot to do in the ballpark.
The fan responded that he was there to watch the game and didn’t really care about the other stuff.
That’s your marketing campaign RIGHT THERE!!!!!
fade from black to the field
It’s the old country time baseball feeling.
Just you and your family out enjoying a warm day watching a baseball game in the afternoon. The grass is green and you can smell it. Hell, the A’s have the most grass of any MLB team and it’s beautiful. We don’t throw gimmicks around the stadium, there’s nothing dramatic about walking into the park. It’s just you and them. that’s why you’ve come and that’s what they’re focused on.
There’s no water slides or video game centers (see new Nationals Park) and they don’t have crazy sequences of racing sausages. They just put 9 men on a field and watch ‘em compete. The stadium isn’t the focus, it’s the game your focusing on.
It's just more exciting with Billy Beane running the team.
+1
"Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona. Not all games and holes are created equal." --George F. Will
Nice charts
What numbers are used on the market share chart? What is the market size in each year? It seems counter intuitive that it declined (trend wise) over the course of the 80’s and 90’s. It actually peeked in 1980?
1990
You know, the year after winning the World Series.
"There's m'fn sprinklers on the m'fn infield!'" - Ice Cream (AN), 6/13/08
Of course, I'm talking about the average attendance, not market share
1980 was the first Billy Ball year, and the A’s were exciting to watch (even as Billy was destroying a fine pitching staff). Also, the Gnats were 75-86 in 1980.
"There's m'fn sprinklers on the m'fn infield!'" - Ice Cream (AN), 6/13/08
Right
But I was asking about market share. It seems it should have peeked in 1990, but it didn’t. And the trend during the Haas years was downward. Why?
By my numbers 1990 was better, relative to the league ...
1990 2.9m attendance, 2.167m league average
1.34:1 ratio
1981 1.3m attendance, 1m league average
1.30:1 ratio
"It's for your own good. Big strong Devo knows whats best for Poppy" -- Mossback
Do those charts take into account expansion?
If we’re talking overall, unadjusted market share, it should naturally go down over time, because of expansion. There are more teams to split the market among.
"It's for your own good. Big strong Devo knows whats best for Poppy" -- Mossback
Actually, yeah ... looks like it might be that ...
"It's for your own good. Big strong Devo knows whats best for Poppy" -- Mossback
I'm really sorry about the vagueness
rushed it because work kicked up a notch. It is local…IE A’s/(A’s+Giants)
The Truth about Glenn Dickey
He’s an old, and unfortunately, well respected writer here in the Bay area and he’s going to get readership no matter what he writes. The sad thing about this is that it allows him to be lazy and not do proper research before writing his pieces. Just throw a monkey in front of a typewriter and put a Glenn Dickey stamp on the final product and it’ll probably make some money for whatever publication it appears in.
Fosse
What is up with Fosse going on about HD the last few weeks? Was Comcast forcing the issue? It sure isn’t 36, they HAVE an HD channel and broadcast nothing in HD. Imagine if Fosse had seen Jason Kendell eating Dibbs in HD. The Giants have Tweedledee and Tweedledum doing their TV (Kuiper is ok, Kruko is a bit too comic, but then look at the their product.) While we have two snoozers. Watching a bad game with those two at the mike is nodsville for sure. The TV announcers need an upgrade.
Enjoy the game
If anyone mentioned....
....Oakland’s amazingly high crime rate, I missed it. People with any brains avoid taking their children anywhere near such places. Also, Al Davis with the help of the city ruined what was already a very ordinary stadium. Moving to Fremont will create a new fan base. The A’s will draw from the Central Valley, from the greater San Jose Area and from the area south of San Francisco. The team is losing nothing by avoiding the entire area from Richmond to Oakland.
People who avoid Oakland because of its "amazingly high crime rate"
a) know nothing about Oakland;
b) probably should have thought harder before reproducing.
"PECOTA can pretty much kiss my ass."-Nico
That's really not fair.
Whether or not Oakland has an, “amazingly high crime rate” isn’t really the point. It certainly has the reputation of having a horrendous crime rate. Exacerbating the problem is the physical location of the Coli. Even the most ardent supporters of the Coli have to acknowledge that it sits smack in the middle of an industrial rust belt. Decay is the overall perception every time I visit. It’s hardly conducive to refuting the image Oakland has aquired over the years. If you’re not already familiar with the place, it can evoke feelings of foreboding. Not to say that those feelings are warranted or unwarranted…..they just are.
I personally find the Coli itself a rather safe venue. But that’s only because I’ve become accustomed to its austere settings. Oakland PD does a remarkable job maintaining the relative peace. But in this day and age, image matters a great deal. Oakland and the Coli don’t exactly present the image MLB or the average guy with a family is looking for when he takes his family out. Those factors are significant detractors from the image the team/MLB is trying to form.
Sad to say, but the A’s have no long term future in the Coli. I think that it’s safe to say that that is indisputable from both the team’s and MLB’s point of view. So that leaves us with where to go from here. If the team is going to make a break, I prefer it to be a clean break with a fresh slate while remaining fairly local. Fremont is probably the best in compromise, bested only by downtown SJ.
"You may glory in a team triumphant, but you fall in love with a team in defeat."--The Boys of Summer
It is totally fair
It sounds like you are advocating the Disnification of the A’s. So vanilla and really unnecessary. Just because these false perceptions exist does not make them right or true or just or valid.
Your comments are not conducive to refuting the alleged negative image of Oakland.
"Not in your wildest alcoholic nightmare would you ever imagine such events unfolding!" Bill King
by Buck Turgidson on Jul 23, 2008 10:59 PM PDT up reply actions
Well, that might be because I'm not appointing
myself defender of all things Oakland. Oakland got it’s rep the old fashioned way….it earned it. And just to be mildly annoying, the perceptions aren’t entirely false. Some would argue not even remotely false. But it really means nothing to me one way or another as I don’t reside in Oakland. The good residents of the city will have to address the perceptions/problems of the city on their own. My connection with the city extends as far as my connection with the A’s. If the city were interested in keeping the team, I would be happy to support their endeavor with my hard earned dollars. Apparently, they have weighed the costs and opted for another path. I can hardly blame them for acting in what they perceive as the best interests of the city. Nonetheless, I’m happy that the team itself is interested in staying fairly local to me.
By the way, I like vanilla. Another thing, I know what “gentrification”, “pacification” etc mean…but what in hell does,”Disnification” mean?
"You may glory in a team triumphant, but you fall in love with a team in defeat."--The Boys of Summer
Disnification:
See Angels, of Anaheim, The Los Angeles.
Well I am a defender of Oakland and the rich history of the Athletics here. In Oakland. And I am tired of hearing the cliches about my City and my favorite ball club. It is defaming and some folks seem all too comfortable throwing that crap out there on this site.
Where do you live? I mean, I am sure it is a wonderful place, but is it perfect? Is there no crime? Good public transportation? Clean water, air, food? Economy of scale? Living wage ordnances? How can we make Oakland more like your home town? Oh tosser of rocks?
"Not in your wildest alcoholic nightmare would you ever imagine such events unfolding!" Bill King
by Buck Turgidson on Jul 23, 2008 11:50 PM PDT up reply actions
You're taking this far to personally.
I live in the Central Valley, in a small town 20 miles distant from the largest city. I intentionally chose the place with the crime factor in mind, among other criteria. Crime is nearly non-existent as defined by today’s terms. I can recall only one homicide in the last several years. Public transportation is non existent, which really isn’t a problem as there’s nowhere exciting to go. The waters fine. Economy of scale is excellent! I own a home, a few cars, and live a fairly comfortable middle class life. The schools are rated anywhere from good to excellent, with the occasional scare thrown in to remind us country hicks that it’s good not to live in the big city. As for wage ordinances, a person would generally be wise to take that power out of other peoples hands. There are numerous avenues that present just that opportunity. It’s hard, but hey, what isn’t?
Oaklander’s can make their fair city into any image they damn well please. I have no say in the matter, nor do I care to. I harbor them no ill will and wish them the best of luck. However, I will make my decisions using my own criteria. I know a little bit about crime rates and exactly what cities fare worse than others. Contrary to your beliefs, Oakland has some serious issues to resolve, crime being somewhere close to the top. Faulting others for their perceptions of the city is astoundingly counter productive. I sincerely hope the residents tire of the political bickering and band together to make effective change for the good of the entire community.
As for the A’s, we are in agreement. If the city of Oakland were to keep the team, I would support them by attending the new venue and spending a few bucks in the adjacent village. That’s all that the city has a right to expect of me, other than to obey the law and show concern for the welfare of my fellow man.
Oakland has chosen not to pursue the A’s. Given what’s on their plate, I can hardly fault them. They still have two professional sports franchises which give them credibility on the national stage….at least in the sporting world. Downsizing and consolidating their efforts may be exactly the best path for them to pursue. I really don’t know. I have to believe that the people in power have a clearer vision for the city than I do, so I’ll give them no grief if they’re content to let the A’s slide down the road a little ways.
"You may glory in a team triumphant, but you fall in love with a team in defeat."--The Boys of Summer
Well, I don't appreciate flaming comments about my City
And Oakland is me as I are it.
Alox, you and I will not agree on politics. Ever. I’m ok with that and I could still be your friend. But your comments belie a certain lack of self awareness of privilege that is unfortunate.
I really don’t have the energy to address everything that is wrong with this post, but I will say this. The City of Oakland, that is me and my fellow community members, have committed collectiveley 40 years to the A’s. We have a relationship with the A’s. It might not be great, but the assumption I hear that Oakland doesn’t deserve the A’s for some raison d’jour – crime, poor attendance, decay, dumb politicians, the Raiders etc, etc. – is bullshit. Straight up.
All this objection to staying in Oakland is based on canard in my view. Oakland is a City. Cities have good things and bad things, good people and bad people. A few of them have baseball teams.
"Not in your wildest alcoholic nightmare would you ever imagine such events unfolding!" Bill King
by Buck Turgidson on Jul 24, 2008 11:24 AM PDT up reply actions
Buck, I'm not flaming the city of Oakland.
Those folks have enough trouble without me pronouncing moral judgment on the city. As for politics, neither of us have touched on that issue, which I hope reflects credit on us both. I may surprise you. I ‘m certainly no classic leftist, but I’ve been known to swerve very hard in that direction on occasion.
There in no known moral decree that I know of granting or prohibiting the city of Oakland a baseball franchise. Like every other city fortunate enough to have one, they will have to compete for the privilege. It’s not “bullshit” so much as it is business. As far as I can tell, the city has declined to compete. Nothing more than that. If the residents are angry with the decisions of their elected bodies, they are the ones who hold the power to replace them. I don’t think enough of the residents care enough about the, “rich history” of A’s baseball to force the issue. Which I regard as rather unfortunate, but I also understand that that is their right. I am, however, glad that some folks there, (such as yourself) feel a close affinity and attachment to the A’s. For their sakes, I wish things were different. But to use a tired phrase, it is what it is.
"You may glory in a team triumphant, but you fall in love with a team in defeat."--The Boys of Summer
What makes you think I'm a lefty?
I’ve heard too many of these comments and I just decided I’m going to respond to them because there are plenty of folks in Oakland who care about the team.
As far as “competing” for the team, if it’s just business then it’s the business of bullshit. It’s the Oakland A’s. They should remain the Oakland A’s.
"Not in your wildest alcoholic nightmare would you ever imagine such events unfolding!" Bill King
by Buck Turgidson on Jul 24, 2008 11:54 AM PDT up reply actions
I don't think you're necessarily left of center.
I assumed you made the assumption I was right of center based on my lifestyle of wealth and privilege! ;)
I’m glad that there are least some people in Oakland who are not content to just let the team slip through the cities fingers. I hope there are enough of you to make it very uncomfortable for the politico’s who inhabit the halls of power.
"You may glory in a team triumphant, but you fall in love with a team in defeat."--The Boys of Summer
You missed my feeble attempt at humor
That’s ok. Sarcasm and blogging, hmmm…
Look, I just think the idea the you are setting up, that the City residents should have to fight to keep the franchise doesn’t make sense. Because ulitimately the owners have the right to move the team and no matter what the City does Wollllfff and company can go ahead and do that any old time.
The fact that you have the option to live out of the City is good for you. I myself am a country boy and would love the opportunity to move back to my roots someday. My reality is that economic conditions keep me in the City. And the City I love happens to have a great baseball team which is one of the great benefits of living here.
Off to work now.
"Not in your wildest alcoholic nightmare would you ever imagine such events unfolding!" Bill King
by Buck Turgidson on Jul 24, 2008 12:13 PM PDT up reply actions
One other thing
This whole conversation is dripping with politics.
And you have handled the discussion from your side very well.
"Not in your wildest alcoholic nightmare would you ever imagine such events unfolding!" Bill King
by Buck Turgidson on Jul 24, 2008 12:14 PM PDT up reply actions
Thank you!
You’ve also been very civil, with polite thrown in to boot. It’s a refreshingly rare thing these days.
"You may glory in a team triumphant, but you fall in love with a team in defeat."--The Boys of Summer
I'm not really sure what you're trying to prove here
The Coliseum area isn’t exactly in the best part of Oakland. It’s not around Lake Merritt, it’s not around Jack London Square, it’s not up in the hills. It’s in a run-down area and not very far at all from a residential area where it’s not a very good idea to be out after the sun goes down. I’ve been there.
Oakland has a lot of good things about it but it also has a lot of bad, unsafe things. I don’t see what the problem is in stating that fact. Just look it up – Oakland is up there when it comes to the crime rate, murder rate, etc.
Last of the Ninth - Photography Site / jamesvenes.com - Blog
I can't believe someone posted this:
“If anyone mentioned….Oakland’s amazingly high crime rate, I missed it. People with any brains avoid taking their children anywhere near such places”.
This is the dumbest statement I’ve ever read on AN.
The crime rate in Oakland has nothing to do with the safety of the Oakland Coliseum. You’re implying that it’s unsafe to physically be at the Coliseum which is the furthest thing from the truth. My neighbor has taken his 3 year old kid to 5 games already this year – that kid will be a lifer as far as A’s fans go. I’ve never even heard of anyone feeling unsafe at The Coliseum. San Francisco and New York also have high crime rates. Would any parent be crazy to take their kids to a game at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx or to Giants stadium? These are safe places.
The parking lot at the okland Coliseum is well protected by a good amount of police and security guards. I’ve attended hundreds and hundreds of games over the years and the parking lot is one of the safest and funnest places in all of Oakland. To this day before games you find dozens and dozens of kids of all ages and adults alike playing catch baseball or football in the parking lot. People of all races and economic status mingle about effortlessly with beer or soda socializing and barbeque stations are fired up all over the place. All you find is good food and good people in a ridiculously safe place – the parking lot of the Oakland Coliseum.
It’s not like you have to walk thru rough neighborhoods to get to the Coliseum. You drive on the Freeway or take bart. Both safe things to do. There is really nothing much else around the Coliseum that would warrant you walking around other than walking back to your car – which is really not dangerous.
I suggest you actually go to a game before posting ignorant statements. If you go, or have gone to a game at the Coliseum and felt terrified, well then, you need to work on your social and coping skills dude. In the meantime I suggest crawling back into bed with mommy and suckling.
Are you talking to me here, or did you respond to the wrong person?
I’ve been to tons of games at the Coliseum and I almost always use BART. I don’t have to go through bad neighborhoods to get there and I don’t feel unsafe on the Coliseum complex.
That doesn’t mean that the entire city of Oakland is some great, safe place, and that seemed to me to be what Buck was trying to claim by getting so upset at anyone who dared talk about any part of Oakland being bad.
If you ARE talking to me, your attitude is highly misplaced and I expect an apology.
Last of the Ninth - Photography Site / jamesvenes.com - Blog
I was responding to ...
doubleplayer. Specifically on there comment “If anyone mentioned…Oakland’s amazingly high crime rate, I missed it. People with any brains avoid taking their children anywhere near such places.”
I guess I responded in the wrong place there so I do apologize to you for that. I wasn’t attacking you. I was attacking his assumption that the Coliseum is a dangerous place specifically because it’s in the city of Oakland. The “people with any brains avoid taking their children anywhere near such places” is a highly offensive and ignorant statement and, in my opion, anyone who would say that is a total douchebag. I understand it wasn’t you who said that.
I never said that the “entire city of Oakland was safe”. Obviously Oakland has a high crime rate (as do New York, San Francisco, etc.) but that has no bearing on attending a game at the Coliseum when travel to and from the venue is safe and it is completely safe at the venue.
I hope you understand.
We've had this discussion before
I think many of the comments about crime in Oakland are based on emotion and not on reality.
Oakland is a City like many others. see my post above.
"Not in your wildest alcoholic nightmare would you ever imagine such events unfolding!" Bill King
by Buck Turgidson on Jul 24, 2008 11:27 AM PDT up reply actions
I don't know. The reality is Oakland has a high crime rate and a high murder rate.
Last of the Ninth - Photography Site / jamesvenes.com - Blog
I know we have
And I thought it was pretty clearly proved by others that crime statistics prove that it is high. I thought it was odd that you would take up the same argument with someone else.
Either way, taking pride in your city is a beautiful thing. If more people had the sense of civic pride that you have, the world would be a better place.
Ah...I should have guessed.
"You may glory in a team triumphant, but you fall in love with a team in defeat."--The Boys of Summer
I thought he left out an "e"
Dis-Neification
Who needs competence as long as everyone smiles? @('.')@
lol
thanks
"Not in your wildest alcoholic nightmare would you ever imagine such events unfolding!" Bill King
by Buck Turgidson on Jul 24, 2008 11:25 AM PDT up reply actions
its the god damn coliseum
We need a new one but not in Fremont…..Sacramento is the way to go people…..Not Fremont Not San Jose but Sacramento…...The valley is the way to go thats where half of the bay areas work force lives…..so god damn get it together lew wolff…...
look what happend to the giants attendance when they got out of candlestick.
Brandon Marshall is a BEAST!!!!
There's going to be a lot more corporate support in the South Bay than Sacramento
That is a pretty big factor.
Last of the Ninth - Photography Site / jamesvenes.com - Blog
My hope is that Wolf et al. understand that the new stadium alone will
not fix the problem. see Washington DC.
These guys need to think out of the box Arte Moreno style and start looking at some of the ideas posted here.
Another thing, Kuiper needs to go.
by 33SwisherSweet on Jul 23, 2008 9:42 PM PDT reply actions
Thoughts...
I started attending A’s games at the age of four in 1973. Despite being the best team ever they couldn’t draw much back then. I see a lot of similarities in the way Finley operated the A’s then to the way the A’s are operated currently. Some similarities:
1. It was widely perceived that the Charles Finley was an uncaring owner who ran the team from afar and had no ties, concerns, or connections to Oakland who already had an inferiority complex to San Francisco.
As pointed out earlier the Haas family embraced the the city of Oakland and it’s surrounding communities and were rewarded for it by large years of attendance in the late 80’s.
The current owner and upper management team seem to have taken the Finley route of not reaching out to the local community, not speaking very highly of being in Oakland, and constantly talking of moving the team. Lew Wolff’s recent appearance on Southern California television hugely praising the Angels fans and operation during an Angels/A’s broadcast was an absolute embarrassment. Oakland feels like a lame-duck city with an owner who can’t wait to get out of town. Not gonna be rewarded for that Lew.
2. Finley alienated the core fans (of which he should’ve built a larger base from) by trading away all the beloved players the fans had grown close to in order to cut costs – and right during a dynasty!
Beane and Wolff never even give the current fans much of a chance to get to connected to players because they trade them all away or let them go before they ever get a chance to peak (or at least reach the age of 28). This leaves many players and fans feeling that the owners are more worried about money than putting a competitive, entertaining team on the field that actually could win a championship. Yeah, it’s a business, duh, but good business would be thst the current owner’s show the players and fans that, for once, they’re willing to take a chance, spend some money, and go for it all.
3. Finley literally had no promotions department at all and alienated the local sports writers so bad that the A’s only had 1 writer that travelled with them at one point. It got so bad in the late 70’s that KALX (Berkeley’s college station) was the only radio station covering the A’s.
The current owners haven’t been nearly that bad but could do a lot more to improve wider coverage on television and radio, especially to farther reaching areas like Sacramento. They could also come up with more affordable ticket programs for regular blue-collar fans who would like to attend more games. At the same time it wouldn’t hurt to go after the “corporate support” more aggressively.
**Yes, the A’s absolutely need a new stadium. It would be fantastic to see the current owners make a huge attempt to build a new stadium in Oakland!! That effort would go a long way to winning back support from the local community and keeping the legendary A’s where they belong – in OAKLAND.
Sacramento
You should email the local affiliate in Sacramento and see what their takes is. (I’ll cut to the chase, they carry as many games as they are going too).
Fremont is all about the corporate support. What corporations are ther ein Oakland that should be targeted rather than SIlicon Valley?
What happened to Robert Bobb when he pushed for the CIty of Oakland to work with the A’s on a enw stadium in uptown?
The crime rate...
...has nothing to do with the safety of the Oakland coliseum? I didn’t say it did. The crime rate does affect peoples’ perception of how safe it get there and it affects the number of people in Oakland and the surrounding area that will to go to a game.Take yesterday, for example. Three homes in West Oakland were intentionally burned by drug dealers. In another part of the city a young lady was shot to death. Oakland is in terrible shape economically because of….guess what?...crime. Businesses don’t thrive, never mind enter, in this kind of atmosphere and that’s my point – not whether it’s safe to sit and watch a game. This business of baseball will move. It has to. BTW, the Raiders play in the same place and rarely fill the stadium and the tarps are up for those games.
Another problem is there is no incentive for fans to stick around the Coliseum before or after a game
Tailgating? Only a small group of fans actually do that. When you think about going to an A’s game at the Coliseum, you’re looking at driving or taking BART and going somewhere else as soon as the game is over. Sure, you can go to Jack London Square. You can go to Lake Merritt. You’re not walking from the ballpark, though. You’re not patronizing other businesses in the area by grabbing a bite to eat away from the game or stopping by to see who’s playing at a local club.
The area does not promote anything but going straight to the game and leaving that area when it’s over because of where that area is. There’s nothing around it for fans to do.
Last of the Ninth - Photography Site / jamesvenes.com - Blog
Although "tailgating" might be a done by a minority of people...
it is a long and deep-rooted tradition that hundreds of people do before every game. It enhances the experience at the ballpark when you bond with other fans and have a good time. Because it is a “minority” of people who do it doesn’t make it invalid. You don’t know what you’re missing. Who wants to go along with the masses anyways? What a dull world it would be.
We have our pre-game festivities in the parking lot, do our shopping at the stadium, and eat at the stadium. After a long day or evening at any ballpark – it’s usually time to go home. I’ve never actually heard anyone say “hey man, after the game, let’s go across the street and do some shopping at the Gap! After that we’ll go get a bite to eat TGI Fridays”. Having a lame shopping mall across the street from the ballpark is no reason to move the A’s to Fremont or anywhere else.
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