Sacramento came calling, but Lew Wolff shot them down. Bud Selig won't pull the trigger. Where do the A's go from here?
Are you sick of the A’s stadium issue? I am.
Do you want a resolution NOW? I do.
It sounds like commissioner Bud Selig and the rest of MLB officials are tired of answering questions but don’t want to make a decision. To them, no decision sounds better than enraging one side or the other.
It’s been more than three years since league officials began listening to the A’s pleas for relocation. And they aren’t any closer to settling this dispute. Selig met with the media on Tuesday during an All-Star Game press conference and provided very little info.
I asked Selig what the main hangup is with A's stadium issue and he said "The main hangup is we don't have the answers yet."
— John Shea (@JohnSheaHey) July 10, 2012
It sounds very strange that MLB doesn't have all the answers yet about #Athletics stadium situation 39 months into the process.
— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) July 10, 2012
It's clear that MLB could face legit lawsuits from either side by making a decision. Thus: no decision. How long can this last? #Athletics
— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) July 10, 2012
To recap, A’s owner Lew Wolff wants to move the team to San Jose. The Giants own the rights to San Jose and won’t give them up.
Wolff has said he doesn’t want to move the team anywhere other than San Jose, but he does not want to stay in Oakland. And despite the fact that he’s probably not going to get his way, he has no interest in selling the team.
It’s come to a point now that crazy ideas are being thrown on the table. The newest suggestion is to move the A’s to Sacramento. It’s not a terrible idea.
The Sacramento Rivercats regularly sell out Raley Field, which has a capacity of about 14,000. In 2011, they averaged 8,455 fans per home game, the 5th highest average attendance in the minor leagues last year. So the potential fan base is there.
But as you might expect, Wolff growled and shot that idea down:
“We, both myself and (co-owner) John Fisher, have no interest in Sacramento, and our only interest is to remain in the Bay Area.”
Well, Lew, if you want to stay in the Bay Area, but the South Bay isn’t an option, that doesn’t leave many locations on the table. As I’ve said before, Wolff is going to have to accept that his only option is to build a new stadium somewhere in Oakland.
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