Keeping A's Baseball in Oakland

The A's plans for Fremont recently fell through, and I couldn't be happier. I had all but resigned to the fact that the A's would be leaving, and now we have been blessed with an opportunity to keep the A's where they belong- in Oakland.

I would like to thank the economy and the residents of Fremont for this blessing. I didn't think that a housing and credit crisis was really going to be a boon for anyone or anything, and thankfully, A's owner Lew Wolff was no exception. Due to the fledgling economy he would not have been able to fund stadium construction from the monies generated by surrounding housing and retail development as originally planned. This effectively killed Wolff's main selling point- that the city would not have to drop a dime for stadium construction.

That aside, having a major sports franchise makes your city a destination. Even if Fremont residents had to take a bit of a hit, the A's presence would have prompted some amazing development opportunities. So thank you Fremont residents for being more worried about traffic than a major league baseball franchise. I will forever be grateful.
The caving of the Fremont plans do not put us in the clear though. Knowing Lew Wolff, he would rather try to find another south bay city (San José) to move to than actually embrace Oakland. Since he bought the A's it has been clear that he wants nothing to do with The Town, so the fight continues. I know it's easy to be hopeless and boycott the A's over this whole situation, but we must remember that the A's ownership is the enemy, not the A's.

I also hate Al Davis, but being an A's and Raider fan is deeper than whatever big cheese is sitting in the owner's box. WE, the fans, need to establish our ownership. We own the stories, the memories, the ticket stubs, the pictures, the autographs and hopefully the future of the franchise. We are the A's and Raiders. I know its easy to think that supporting the A's means supporting Wolff, but it actually would work against him. By boycotting the A's we are supporting his assertion that Oakland can't support a major league baseball team, thus giving credence to his desire to move elsewhere. The A's are Oakland's team. And I will never cede my stake of ownership in the A's to a carpetbagging LA opportunist.
Oakland has been a great place for the A's, and the Coliseum has been a great home. Many of you may not remember, but before the monstrosity known as Mount Davis was constructed upon the Raiders return, the Coliseum was a beautiful place to watch baseball. It wasn't one of these pseudo-charming, luxury suite micro-parks that are so popular now, it was way better. This whole nostalgic downtown ballpark movement is cute, but attempts to recreate something that never actually existed. The Oakland Coliseum was a real stadium, complete with metal bench bleachers in the outfield, garish orange seats elsewhere, ice plant and Eucalyptus trees under the center field scoreboard, an amazing view of the Oakland Hills, and Oakland's signature expanse of foul territory. It was funky but beautiful. As my Grandpa says, "It was like going to a high school game." My mom adds that there was a sense of community at the games, particularly amongst the infamous "Bleacher Bums."

I remember many afternoons sitting in the sunny left-field bleachers chatting to Oakland Tech grad and Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson during pitching changes. I was even there on May 1, 1991 with my dad and grandpa the day he tied and broke the all-time stolen base record. The A's have always brought the generations of my family together.
My grandparents used to own a cafeteria on Havenscourt between Bancroft and Foothill, and on big game days, such as the three straight World Series Championships we won in '72, '73, '74, my mom and her brothers and sisters would be out in the street selling sandwiches to folks heading to the game. My grandparents were actually at the Coliseum the first night the A's ever played in Oakland in 1968. My grandpa recalls "They handed out candles to everyone in attendance and turned out the stadium lights to signal the birth of something new in Oakland."
And though the A's were new to Oakland at that time, organized baseball was not. Alexander Cartwright, the man who invented baseball as we know it in 1845, headed west during the Gold Rush like so many others. He brought his game with him. Then in 1866 Oakland's first organized team, the Live Oaks (later to become the Wide Awakes and Grand Centrals) were founded.
This was just the beginning, but many teams have since called Oakland home. The infamous Pacific Coast League, the west coast forerunner to the MLB, had one of it's most successful franchises in the Oakland Oaks. My dad fondly recalls his father taking him to Oak's games back in the 1950s. Oakland even had a Negro League team for a short while. The Oakland Larks, as they were called, was home to a man that would later become the first Black Mayor of Oakland. The southpaw pitcher was known as Lionel "Lefty" Wilson.

I know a lot of this because I love local history, but also because my father is writing a book on sports in Oakland. Thus far his research has yielded about 50 major league baseball players who have emerged from our small city, including legends like Frank Robinson, Vada Pinson, Rickey Henderson, Curt Flood, Cookie Lavogetto, Joe Morgan and now Jimmie Rollins. So as you can see, Oakland has always been a baseball city.

The A's however, have been here longer than any other club, and made Oakland a major league city. With the Raiders they helped define Oakland's gritty underdog mentality. The Raiders have always been viewed as an angry bunch of hard hitters. In the 70s their defensive backfield, known collectively as the Soul Patrol, was comprised of "The Hitman" George Atkinson, "The Assasin" Jack Tatum, "Dr. Death" Skip Thomas and "Old Man" Willie Brown. Al Davis' willingness to embrace controversial players other teams wrote off, made Oakland home to many a character. Raiders fans appreciated it, and today are really the only remnant of that savage motor-cycle gang mentality known as the "Raider Mystique."
The A's were no angels themselves. The "Fighting A's," as they were known, were so-called as much for fighting each other as they were for beating the crap out of opponents. They also became known as the "Moustache Gang" after an incentive by Owner Charlie Finley led to the whole team donning facial hair. Charlie O, being the minor league-ish showman he was, also had the A's don solid yellow and solid green jerseys and white cleats, at a time when other teams only wore grey and white uniforms and black cleats. The A's remain the only team to wear only white cleats.

Exerpt from HBO doc Rebels of Oakland: The A's, The Raiders, The 70s

This looseness was something mirrored by the Raiders and still evident in today's A's, most visibly in Jason Giambi's revival of a frat-like clubhouse atmosphere. The A's also thrived in the 80s during Billy Martin's tenure as manager. While Oakland was mired in drug hustling and murderous crack wars, the A's also lived by the hustle. The name of their game was "Billy Ball" in which running, stealing, sacrificing and manufacturing runs was the name of the game. This led to the ascent of local product and resident "man of steal" Rickey Henderson.The point is that these are characteristics that have defined Oakland and the greater East Bay for generations. Oakland has always been known as a city of hustle and swagger; An outlandish, dangerous and weird locale that is somehow just cooler than everywhere else. The A's and Raiders are a big reason why.

This also brings up another interesting aspect of hated Lew Wolff's itching to move elsewhere. Shitty owners are not new to Oakland. Al Davis, though once a great football mind, has held the Raiders hostage in recent years, and disrespected Oakland by leaving and then crash landing back. The aforementioned A's owner Charlie Finley, arrived in Oakland only after leaving Kansas City (after promising them not to move). He then preceded to refuse to pay his players market value despite the fact that they won three straight World Series titles. And of course the Indiana based owner tried to move the A's to Denver, New Orleans and Chicago before being forced to sell to local buyers.
A's derilect and absentee owner Charlie Finley (center in green blazer)

During the Finley years, despite the great teams Oakland had, the A's weren't able to draw big crowds. This would lead many to believe that Oakland's recent attendance woes are not new, and therefore prove that Oakland cannot support a baseball team. These critics would be wrong however. Oakland cannot draw crowds only when the fans know that the owners are trying to move elsewhere and not willing to compensate and keep their best players. Charlie O did this and now the current ownership is doing the same.
The '74 A's make a cameo on The Simpsons en route to leaving town following their 3rd consecutive World Series. Homer called them the greatest team ever in Episode 20 of Season 17

Proof of this statement is further provided by the beloved Haas family's tenure as A's owners from 1981 to 1995. The Haas family was local and dedicated to restoring relevance and respect to A's baseball. They rebuilt the farm system, brought up some great players and more importantly, embraced and invested in Oakland. Whereas attendance during the Finley era (1968-1980) averaged 770,000 per season, the Haas family attracted over 1.9 million fans per season. Oakland is not the problem, we just don't respond well to being spurned and disrespected. All the moving talk doesn't exactly boost morale, and trading every good young player that Oakland nurtures doesn't help either.
Some of the 1970s Mustache Gang that found themselves shipped off by Charlie O

At the end of the day, Oakland has had a roller coaster of a ride with the A's. We have basked in glory, brooded at the bottom, and most often, passionately fought for our dignity. We are not the Yankees (thanks God!), we are a small market club. But as recent years had proven, under the second reign of "Billy (Beane) Ball," watching young players make names for themselves and welcoming under appreciated veterans can be fun and rewarding. It fuels Oakland's underdog mentality to demand and take respect from big market clubs and cities who doubt our prowess. It sucks that our teams are dismantled every few years, but its fun to give birth to baseball's future stars.
Multi-generational homegrown stars Mark McGwire & Reggie Jackson

My grandpa, in his 80s now, still loves to come watch the new guys come up. And though the World Series teams of the early 1970s and late 1980s definitely rank as some of his favorite A's moments, he has loved taking his 8 kids and 17 grandchildren to games over the years regardless of how many wins they chalk up. That's because the Coliseum is more than just a place to watch a baseball game, it is a place where people come together and built relationships and memories.
My uncle Daniel for instance, became a die-hard fan when the A's were at their worst in the late 1970s. Towards the end of his college years at Cal Berkeley, he would organize groups of 10 to 20 folks to go to A's games and hang out in the left-field bleachers. "Of course in those days you could bring beer and coolers to the game," he laments, "but it became as much about building community as watching the game." Upon graduation he found himself able to attend more games and started hanging out with a group of right-center field bleacher bums. "Our common bond was the game, but the common thread was all the people you came to know," he remembers. For a couple of years he estimates that he attended upwards of 40 games per season.

I remember that during my Junior and Senior years in high school, the Coliseum provided a similar forum. Dollar Wednesdays in particular, provided a way for me and my friends to go out and be safe in Oakland while watching a game and a team that we loved. Some, like my friend Anna and I, were more invested in the game than others, but again, it was also about the community we were able to create.

I especially remember going to the last 3 games of the A's amazing 20 game win-streak in 2003. All three were bottom of the ninth nail-biters that were witnessed by over-capacity Coliseum crowds. The first, which Miguel Tejada won with a walk off single up the middle, I attended with my friends. The second, a walk-off home run by Miggy, I went with my Grandpa, aunts, uncles and cousins.
The A's mob Scott Hatteberg after his walk off wins their 20th consecutive game

On the evening of the A's 20th consecutive win I was with my family and friends as the A's again won in unbelievably dramatic fashion. Despite jumping out to an early 11-1 lead, they entered the bottom of the 9th tied 11-all. Then under-appreciated Jason Giambi replacement Scott Hatteberg stepped in to pinch-hit. Expectations were low as he stepped into a 1-0 pitch and sent a game winning walk-off moon shot to deep center field. His heroic home run sent such joyous reverberations through the 53,000 plus in attendance that my mom actually wet herself as we all leapt is disbelief. These moments of wonder and disbelief surrounded by friends, family and fellow fans are what the Oakland A's mean to me.

The excerpt below is an homage of sorts from my friend Bobby Gordon. It was Bobby who once told me that his life goal was to be one of the old guys at every A's game with all the pins in their hats. I want to be there with him listening to the ghost of Bill King in our walk men and the Voice of God (Roy Steele) on the PA. . . In Oakland.

When the A’s announced their plans to leave Oakland, it hurt. How could it not? I grew up at the Coliseum. From watching Eck and the Bash brothers as a little kid to cheering on the Big Three as a teenager, the Coliseum has been my home.

The banjo man, the red rope guy, running around the bases after the game, going to A’s games on some of my first dates with poor girls bored out of their minds, being on my back on the dirty cement steps of the aisles celebrating Ramon Hernandez’s playoff game winning bunt, shouting at Giambi to slide- these memories are burned into my brain. They are a part of my autobiography.

We all have these stories. And they are a part of our culture. They are valuable.
They are worth saving.

I couldn't have said it any better. In fact, as college roommates, the picture of Ramon Hernandez's walk off suicide squeeze was the picture me and Bobby used to signal that we had a girl in the room. And while that was always great, it never really equaled the electrifying ecstasy of the moment emblazoned on our door.
I mention all this to remind Oaklanders that the A's have brought us together in good times and bad. Whether we are hugging strangers after late-inning heroics, jamming to Kool & the Gang's "Celebrate" after an amazing victory, heckling Yankee fans who open their traps or tailgating with our friends and families on sunny afternoons, the Coliseum has always brought people together. Oakland and the A's are inextricably linked for me, and both have been a pillars in my life.

I know that none of this erases Oakland's budget shortfall, Lew Wolff's disinterest in staying, or the less than desirable confines of the post Mount Davis Coliseum, but it hopefully reminds you why we need to keep the A's in Oakland. I know that our options are limited but we can fight this. Remember that Charlie O tried to move the A's to three different cities and Wolff just tried to sell us south, but none of these prospects have yet seperated the A's and Oakland. San José, Portland, Las Vegas and Sacramento can't be allowed to be anything more than those same hollow hypotheticals.
Left Field bleacher bums invade Seattle while pondering the A's future

We can't give up on the A's because of Lew Wolff. Who the hell is Lew Wolff in the broad scheme of things? The people of Oakand and the East Bay own the A's way more than his big bucks ever will. In my opinion, it is time that we reclaim the A's. We may not have stock in them, but there are some things we can do to remind Wolff and other nay-sayers that Oakland is where the A's belong.

There is a great conversation over at A Better Oakland about what we should do, but here is my wish list.

• Pressure the A's to lower ticket prices or reopen the 3rd deck. Low ticket prices allow families and high school friends to go to the ball park. Lower ticket prices mean greater attendance, and more profit in the long run. This probably won't happen though seeing how Wolff isn't exactly trying to help anyone in Oakland. But we need to go to the games anyway.
  
• GO TO A's GAMES! And when you go, via BART, take your friends with you. Enjoy the A's young talent, remember all the great times you've had there, and make new memories with old friends and new acquaintances. Don't leave our A's to the corporate vultures.
• Encourage local folks like Steve Lowe and Frank Dobson to keep coming up with plans to keep the A's in Oakland. We need visionaries to come up with the architectural and economic solutions that our slow-witted City Council and do-nothing Mayor cannot.
  
• Pressure Wolff, the City Council and the Mayor to pursue these plans. Make it clear that there are solutions, and we will make them look into and adopt a plan that keeps the A's in Oakland.
• Reach out to the players to get them to live in and invest in Oakland.
  

If we turn our backs on the A's we are only proving what Wolff is already trying to convince folks, that Oakland can't support the A's. But we must. I want new ownership, but I'll make that prick money if it means I get to retain a piece of my childhood, my parent's childhood and my prospective children's lives.
Baseball is America's favorite past time. Baseball is America's sport. But the A's are Oakland's. I'm hoping the return of Jason Giambi and the new blood in the clubhouse will return us to the early years of the this century and a revival of sorts for the A's. But that can only happpen if we as a city, as families and friends cherish them the way we are capable of. We must again water the seeds of a baseball community in the parking lots and bleachers of the Oakland Coliseum. Please help keep A's baseball in Oakland!

Please leave your favorite A's memories, potential solutions or thoughts in the comment section.

Thanks