Off The Wire is proudly sponsored by Pete’s Auto Body
Once on a CFOS trip in 2015 I found myself in San Francisco on a Tuesday night in June with nothing on the agenda.
Unfortunately, the Mets were hosting the Giants in New York so I couldn’t see baseball in San Francisco.
However, the good people at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites at Fisherman’s Wharf said they could arrange a Town Car and whisk me to Oakland to see the A’s play the Texas Rangers that night; Oakland being 45 minutes from San Fran…..unless you get snagged in rush hour traffic…like we did.
Nevertheless I was excited about seeing a game in Oakland since the A’s of the late 60s and most of the 70s were my favorite baseball team.
That excitement was quelled, quickly.
In fairness, it was a dreary night weatherwise which seemed almost fitting for the dungy stadium in Oakland. I will say the people who worked for the A’s were extremely friendly, but the A’s weren’t great and the atmosphere, compared to Seattle where I’d seen a couple of games the week before, was lacking.
I remember this because the A’s, who have been in Oakland since 1968, are exploring the possibility of relocating and have the the blessing of Major League Baseball to conduct a search.
The ball club’s priority is to establish a waterfront stadium in downtown Oakland at what is known as the Howard Terminal site.
But city council has dragged their feet on many stadium proposals through the years in Oakland, and did so again when requested to vote on the $12-billion project this time around, making relocation a distinct possibility.
It’s funny; I’m nowhere near seeing baseball in every Major League park, but I do have visits to Jarry Park, Exhibition Stadium, Tiger Stadium and maybe the Oakland Coliseum on my resume of Major League stadiums that are no longer Major League stadiums.