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| Photo by Nicole Abalde - https://flic.kr/p/e84Mtf |
The Truth and Nothing but the Truth
By Amaury Pi-Gonzalez
Q:The Oakland Athletics have not been able to leave the old decrepit Oakland Coliseum, because?
A: The San Francisco Giants.
A: The San Francisco Giants.
Above is absolutely correct, it is not Commissioner's Bud Selig's fault, it is the ownership of the San Francisco Giants, who by the way, got the San José/South Bay territory for free in the early 1990's from? A: The Oakland Athletics.
Yes, we all remember the Giants were leaving San Francisco, they were dying at The Stick. I was at The Stick one night when Bud Herseth visited as he was a potential owner and was going to move the Giants to Denver.
The Oakland A'S were winning pennants and drawing over 2 million people a year, something that the Giants had never done at Candlestick Park.
Now, the Giants play in a beautiful park, and their management is laughing at the Oakland A'S as they are "trapped"and held "hostage"from leaving Oakland, a city that is basically bankrupt and with lots of problems inside and outside City Hall.
Nobody will tell you, and nobody would dare write this, but the Truth and Nothing But The Truth is that the Giants WOULD LOVE NOTHING MORE THAN TO BE THE ONLY MAJOR LEAGUE TEAM IN THE BAY AREA.
The Giants want to be the only team here in the fifth largest media market in the United States of America. Latest Census in 2010 showed over 6 million people between the three most populated cities: 1-San José, over 1 million people, 2-San Francisco, 750,000 and 3-Oakland over 450,000. Those three with the other communities in the nine-county Bay Area comes to over 6 million people.
Is this because of greed? You could say that. The Bay Area is an affluent market, real estate property, is as high as just about anyplace in this country. San José is one of the richest areas per capita in the country; it is the Silicon Valley, headquarters to some of the world's leading technology companies. The Bay Area economy and to a great extent the US economy is energized by the high tech industry in the South Bay, we all know that.
What happens if Giants head honcho, Larry Baer becomes the next baseball Commissioner? There is a more than 50-50 chance, I would say. Then, I would say the chances of the A'S dying in Oakland are very high and they(A'S) would probably have to sell to other owners in order to try to survive in Oakland. Wolff and Fisher would not build a new park in Oakland. I remind everybody these owners make money with the current Athletics, there is no need to feel "sorry"for them.
Even with two Divisional Titles in a row and a great start to this 2014 season, the Oakland A'S are still at the bottom of the attendance chart in the American League, with only Tampa Bay(another terrible park)and Cleveland(a city that has suffered great unemployment and fallen into hard times)below the A'S at the box office.
Q: When is this going to end?
A: When the Giants, who control this situation, want it to end. It is as simple as that.
A: When the Giants, who control this situation, want it to end. It is as simple as that.
Nobody should tell you this is Bud Selig's problem, Selig has no problems, Major League Baseball revenues, mainly because of Television, not radio or print or internet media, are going through the roof; and like it or not, this bonanza has come under Bud Selig's reign as Commissioner. Bud Selig has made lots of money for the owners, and basically that is the #1 accomplishment of this Commissioner, not Interleague play or the new "review"of plays. So when somebody asks you. What is going to happen with the A'S and their plans of moving to San José? The right answer for you to give is very simple and it is only 4 words.When the Giants want.
The Giants hold all the cards here, not Bud Selig, not the Mayors of San Francisco or Oakland, or the fans.
Amaury Pi-Gonzalez has been the spanish play by play voice of the Oakland Athletics since 1978. He and color commentator Manolo Hernandez Douen can be heard broadcasting games during the 2014 season on KIQI 1010 am.
