Yesterday, we saw what the move of the 49ers means to a 49ers fan. Today we check in with the A's. The thing about all these moves is that you can add up the dollars and cents and it all makes sense from that standpoint, but you can't do that with sports. It's all about the heart and the City and how two become one. But, to paraphrase some line in a movie we can't recall right now, everytime you say it's a sport, they say it's a business and everytime you say it's a business, they tell you it's a sport.
The thing most outsiders don’t understand about Oakland is that sentimentality is not one of its remarkable traits-- the Raiders beat that out of us in 1981. We are use to teams willfully threatening our deep loyalty and conviction by ripping our treasures away from us-- been done before. Oakland has thick skin and an ever-vigilant spirit that exemplifies the true soul of the city, regardless of the blatant bashing that it receives on a daily basis by mainstream media outlets. Oakland is a truly resilient and unrelenting site of deep love for any team that understands commitment, toughness, passion and excellence.
As soon as Lew Wolff stepped up to the podium to announce to the world that the once Oakland Athletics would become an amalgamation of modern day baseball-- a revenue generating suburban blob with no identity, I decided to cash in my thirty-plus years of baseball chips and call it a day. There’s little role for me in the big business of modern sports. To me, taking the A’s out of Oakland is like snatching out someone’s esophagus and expecting that person to swallow without a problem-- yes, totally ludicrous. Yet, I subscribe to the notion that the city shares in the creation of a team’s genetic code.
By SFist Kevin, contributing
The Oakland A’s of the 1970s were a hard-scrabble, tough, relentless team of ruffians that played (and won) harder than any other team. They walked through some of the best teams of the era, including the vaunted Big Red Machine and the Baltimore Orioles of Palmer, Cuellar and McNally. They beat all-comers just like Oakland itself, defying all expectation and giving rise to social phenomena like the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. A collection of rebels all!
Even during the drug-hazy 1980’s and 1990’s, the A’s were closely wedded to the city, even as Billy Ball reigned in a glorious, yet brief moment of explosion, to the steroids-drenched teams of poster boys Canseco and McGuire (and we all knew they were on the juice). But, again, it’s Oakland, and Oakland loves its own—deeply! And yet, today’s baseball fan is being threatened with extinction. It’s less about on-base percentages and more about revenues, family-friendly escapades and sushi with imported beer. The Oakland A’s represent baseball’s past.
But to me, the memories at the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum are things Lew Wolff and Bud Selig will never be able to choke out-- seeing the great Hank Aaron play his last year with the Milwaukee Brewers; watching Catfish Hunter throw gems or catch batting practice home runs from Carl Yastrzemski. Hell, watching Ricky Henderson be Ricky! Priceless! Apparently, loyalty is not infinite. We Oaklanders wish the newly-minted Fremont A’s the best in their future endeavors.
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There's not enough jai lai coverage on SFist...how about some equal time?
This is much ado about an additional fifteen minute drive to Fremont. The BART issue is obviously problematic, and the change of team name will be lame, but they'll still be the A's, they'll still represent the East Bay (and maybe also our geeky friends in the South Bay), they'll still rock the green and gold. It just seems like such a non-issue.
What percentage of current A's fans actually live in Oakland city limits to begin with?
Until, of course, the stadium at Fremont becomes financially unattractive and they move to another unidentifiable cookie cutter suburb which is willing to deal (Welcome to your 2015 Milpitas A's Season!)
That would be funny, but if they want to keep paying $600 million or so to build new stadiums in various parts of the Bay Area, hey, be my guest. Hope you can still fill all that commercial space at the old one!