It’s already on the poor side for any number of reasons, some of which include him personally, some of which are tied in more to the team on the field and the stadium itself.

Everyone knows he wants out of the Coliseum. I would too if I was in his shoes.

…is the Giants did stay in San Francisco and got a jewel of a ballpark in the process.

when everybody knows you’re gonna move. Insightful? Hardly. Lew to blame? Hardly. Oakland is done, over, kaput! They’re moving on to greener pastures.

I do not like Walter Haas. Giving up territorial rights without compensation is just dumb. But, on the bright side, it makes the move to San Jose that much easier. If the A’s had taken their pound of flesh from the Giants for the territorial rights, they’d have to pay for them to get them back.

But, they didn’t, so getting them back will be free.

It’s funny, Wolff hasn’t said anything besides fact. At least according to Billy Beane in the third part of the front page interview. Beane even mentioned that the lackluster facilities within the Coliseum may have been a contributing factor to losing out on FA signings over the offseason. If players are turning you down because they don’t like your stadium, you know thats a problem. Heck, that may have even been the proverbial straw that broke the camels back for the ownership and management of the team.

Over the last few years it wasn’t like your average family or tourist was going to up and decide to go to a game at the Coliseum anyway so who are Wolff’s comments going to turn away? There isn’t anything welcoming about the place like an AT&T park nor is there a whole lot of history or nostalgia like another older facility like Yankee Stadium or Fenway. Now I know that will illicit the same old responses about how no one wants the business people and casual fans there anyhow, but thats not the point. The vast majority of fans at the A’s games are the die hards who go to see their favorite team. Unfortunately not even most of them could probably stomach frequently making the trip to watch the product that was being put on the field the last couple of years. The ones that have aren’t going to be affected by Lew’s comments because they undoubtedly have already formed their opinion of the place themselves and don’t mind because they love watching their team, win or lose.

Bottom line, I don’t see anything wrong with Wolff’s comments. They are nothing new to anyone whose been to the Coliseum lately, and the people who would supposedly be turned off by the comments have already stopped attending games.

And you have one of the worst seasons in attendance ever.

And I don’t even want to think what will happen if we don’t contend this year

My advice, from a long time San Jose Merc reader is to just skip everything Killion writes. If you do happen to read an article by her, just believe the opposite and it is usually correct.

to work with the A’s on a new ballpark. It was made clear that Oakland has more important issues to deal with. In my opinion, I feel the city of Oakland (and the county of Alameda) showed the A’s exactly how they feel when they allowed the Raiders, a team that had abandoned the East Bay for LA , to ruin the Coliseum. Since Lew announced they would no longer pursue a new ballpark in Fremont, I’ve had several casual Giants fans tell me they would buy season tickets if the A’s end up in San Jose.

There’s no doubt that the A’s actions, which say they want to run like hell from Oakland, have an impact on attendance (and probably make lots of little Oaklanders Giants fans).

My major problem with Wolff slamming the door on Oakland is that it might not be a very bright business decision. Leaving doors open is generally a good idea. He’d have been better off giving Oakland very clear instructions about what they need to do if they want back in the game. The Coliseum site remains the path of least resistance to a new ballpark, and that’s a pretty valuable option in a devastated economy.