OT: It's basically official now, Oakland A's are moving to Vegas
Give credit to the Oakland A's team President for knowing how to do a news dump ----- at 10:30 PT (1:30 ET) last night, after the team just lost 12-2, he made the announcement Oakland has signed a binding agreement to purchase land for a ballpark on the southern Strip.
April 20th, 2023 at 11:49 AM ^
Aw man, this sucks. Not a baseball person myself, but I have two friends who are A's fans.
Also an A’s fan and live here. Vegas just sucks as a destination in general. But Vegas has all the money. The A’s plan for the port would have been an iconic ball park.
Who the hell, and what families, would rather go to a game on the strip surrounded by people handing out pamphlets for strippers, rather than a beautiful afternoon game in the bay.
I blame the Oakland voters, the greedy owners, and the greedy commissioner who approved it.
No disrespect but Oakland is dangerous city. I was robbed at 245pm pumping gas for my rental car. Apparently, the theirs have an elaborate ring targeting rental plates.
The assailants blew out my window and stole my suitcase. Spoke to the manager, didn’t do a thing, hertz just said sorry and the police never answered.
April 20th, 2023 at 10:47 PM ^
Went to Oakland for the first time last year. Total shithole, shocking.
April 21st, 2023 at 12:15 AM ^
Nothing like making sweeping generalizations about a fairly large and diverse place based on your one small experience. It’s like when rubes describe Portland as a shithole because they saw rioting on Fox. Oakland has rough areas and nice areas, like most cities. The city as a whole is not a shithole.
Nothing like making sweeping generalizations [I agree, they are the best, nothing like it] about a fairly large [so what] and diverse [a magic word invoked to gain rhetoric advantage] place based on your one small experience [I saw enough]. It’s like when rubes [okay] describe Portland as a shithole because [they saw that the Emperor wear no clothes] they saw rioting on Fox [it was on other networks, and YouTube]. Oakland has rough [and rougher][and roughest] areas and nice areas [up in the hills], like most cities [Oakland is not like most cities in North America]. The city as a whole is not a shithole [not per your neighbors in the Bay Area or visitors, just ask around].
April 21st, 2023 at 11:51 AM ^
I'm a neighbor, live in SF and have for the last 30 odd years, among many other cities, mostly abroad. Include in that list London, New York, Paris, Chicago, Buenos Aires, and Zurich. Personally, I LOVE Oakland and often consider moving there, though I admit it is not without its problems, but in pretty specific areas. If you are city-savvy and know how to read your surroundings, the violent crime is very avoidable and largely contained in a few areas and related to drug activity and organizations vying for territory. Property crime is an issue, like in every big city
Things I love about Oakland:
- weather......so much sunnier and warmer than SF
- Restaurants, yes SF has oodles, but a lot of the edgier, more experimental type places that take culinary risks start up in Oaktown b/c SF is a wildly expensive and competitive place to take that kind of risk on food. Restaurants in Oakland tend to be a lot more chill/casual as well. You don't have to compete for a reservation. I should also mention they typically cost half as much to eat at and considering going out with two people at a nice place in SF can easily run you north of $300.....it is a nice perk
- better, more accessible art, a lot of artists have been priced out of SF and now ply their trade in Oakland with a dynamic pretty similar to the restaurant dynamic
- clubs, underground parties, music in general.....SF put the clamps on underground parties a long time ago and Oaktown has gotten tougher lately after the Ghost Ship incident, but if you are someone that likes DJs and dancing all night, Oakland has more going on....also attracts more earlier stage, pre-success, "off Broadway" type of bands/performers than SF. Also a much cheaper prospect.
- diversity - Oakland is culturally and economically MUCH more diverse than SF, there is more going on, more easily attended festivals, community happenings, etc., etc.
- parks, hikes, redwood forests 15 minutes away in the hills with running creeks.....many, many other reason I could list I cross the bridge ALL THE TIME as evidenced by my FasTrak toll beeper history.
So, there you have it, right from the horse's/neighbor's mouth......Oakland rocks.
This is all so true. The Zoo is also amazing, with the California upstairs section you take the gondolas to get to. Always fun events there.
Getting jacked mid day and learning from the gas station attendant and police department that this is chronic issue is not a good thing. Saying Oakland is dangerous is accurate.
Regarding Portland, that is a sad city. The amount of homeless and drug use is rampant. Was there over the summer, and elected to arrive at the airport early as opposed to exploring a city is very telling.
Huh - was there last week and while there is certainly a homeless issue it didn't look worse than Vegas (for example) and certainly interfere with us having a super good time.
Where did you go in Portland?
All one has to do is ride the train in from the suburbs to see how bad it is there.
April 22nd, 2023 at 11:06 AM ^
If you are saying the concentration of homeless folks is higher in urban areas than suburbs? Well... yeah. Vegas just does a fine job of keeping them just out of site. A person with mental health issues or chemical dependency (or both) isn't going to last long in John Day, and there's a fair chance someone is going to "help them" get to Portland.
The conditions that create homelessness in this country (no right to housing, absence of meaningful mental health care, shit tons of methamphetamines and opioids) exist everywhere - city, suburb, exurbs, whatever. It's infuriating that when the victims of those conditions end up in cities some people insist that this is a uniquely urban problem; it isn't going to be solved by treating symptoms.
I had an office there for several years, been to dozens of As games. Never felt unsafe. Oakland is a tremendous food city. I’ve seen way more crime and violence first hand in Detroit, Chicago, and (especially) LA. I remember walking by burning cars at old Tiger Stadium. Oakland is nothing like that.
NEVER blame voters for this shit. ever. no city / county / state should ever fund a professional sports team’s stadium. period.
April 21st, 2023 at 11:58 AM ^
100%.......I will never for the life of me understand why any municipality thinks it is incumbent upon taxpayers to subsidize the construction of anything where a group of billionaires make astronomical profit margins and pay players hundreds of millions of dollars to play a game.
This sucks. As a San Diegan I can attest to how hard it is to get something built in Cal. Unless you're Stan Kroenke who has the cash to say fuck all of you. I'm buying and building.
Petco Park sparked a crazy re-vitalization of an entire area. A football stadium would have just ramped that up more than it already is.
So many friends over all those years that would not want to give a penny to a new stadium. Just couldn't understand their attitudes and short sightedness. I'll throw in your penny fuckhole and then some. City councils over the years - just too fucking dumb to understand what an NFL team means.
If you've ever been to Vegas in July or August you've regretted it.
April 20th, 2023 at 10:38 PM ^
I love me a sporting event, but consensus after dozens of studies is that publicly funded sports venues aren't a good use of taxpayer funds, and are particularly bad when compared against other potential public investments (housing, infrastructure, education, etc) which have bigger net impact on communities and local economies...
April 20th, 2023 at 11:56 PM ^
Yes, let's fund stadiums for billionaires that hold 8-10 games per year over fixing roads, parks, schools, police and fire. It's all a scam. City Councils have bigger priorities, especially in larger cities. Spoken from experience.
As a San Diegan myself, the economic impact of an NFL stadium would be billion plus generator. The return on city dollars would be great considering the city would likely earn a Superbowl every 5-7 years, plus other sporting events.
bummer
April 20th, 2023 at 10:01 PM ^
I live in Oakland. What city is that around the ball park? It's supposed to be Oakland? That is a delusional image of Oakland. That looks absolutely NOTHING like Oakland.
The park on the embarcadero was such a bad idea. The traffic would have been horrible on those narrow streets in that area.
This is Oakland:
"this is oakland" is some serious horseshit. you could take a photo like that in every single major city in america, and especially in california.
i've been to oakland many times. yes, the city has challenges that need to be addressed, and yes, one of those challenges is a large population of unhoused people (about 8,000 people, 7th-most in america, per a HUD study in 2019). that's a lot, and it's a failure of our society as a whole. it also has absolutely nothing to do with oakland being a good or bad city for a sports team.
i'd also point out - las vegas also has a large unhoused population - 273 per 100,000 residents, 7th-most in america. oakland was not in the top 20 in that regard.
that study: http://www.citymayors.com/society/usa-cities-homelessness.html
April 21st, 2023 at 12:05 PM ^
That's Las Vegas. Go two blocks off the strip in almost any direction and you will run into an ocean of human misery.
Find me any city....especially one in a warm climate....where I can't easily dig up the exact same image.
April 20th, 2023 at 10:28 PM ^
I'm not a Vegas fan but I just got back from there. One thing Las Vegas does well is entertainment. I caught a Golden Knights v Kraken hockey game while there. The stadium was awesome, the crowd was electric and the place was packed, many of whom were Kraken fans that traveled to Las Vegas to watch their team. I am not a follower of either team but it has been several years since I have seen a hockey game that enjoyable. I think the Oakland A's will thrive there (but better have a dome for the summer games).
April 20th, 2023 at 11:50 AM ^
Going to get really hot during the dog days of summer. Hope they put a dome on the stadium.
The Nashville talk likely lead no where since they are in the AL West.
April 20th, 2023 at 12:05 PM ^
Half dome is what is being said
April 20th, 2023 at 12:15 PM ^
Nashville is on deck for an expansion team.
The Reds are moving to Nashville
April 21st, 2023 at 12:05 AM ^
they should move to Marlboro
April 20th, 2023 at 11:52 AM ^
I guess it's finally safe to say that Oakland is no longer in play.
April 20th, 2023 at 12:21 PM ^
Oakland is always in play.
April 20th, 2023 at 11:54 AM ^
Brings a new meaning to Moneyball.
April 20th, 2023 at 11:55 AM ^
They were my first favorite team besides the Tigers. I dug them as an 8-10 yr old boy when they were winning the World Series 3 straight years '72-'74. I liked their uniforms and moustaches. It's too bad for the A's fans.
April 20th, 2023 at 12:00 PM ^
I'm of a similar age.....but I hated the A's after Campy Campaneris threw his bat at Lerrin LeGrow. I remember listening to the afternoon playoff games on a transistor radio in 2nd grade. I liked Catfish Hunter though. He had a cool name.
I remember the photo of the bat flying over LaGrow's head (he was a tall player too). Campy got suspended for several games but was allowed to serve them in the opening of the 1973 season and not in the playoffs. Even if we got past the A's, not sure we would have beat the Reds in the 72 WS. BTW: even 10+ years later when Campy was on the Yankees of all teams, Tigers fans lustily booed him every time he came to bat.
Catfish is a great name. But Vida Blue says hold my beer.
April 20th, 2023 at 12:52 PM ^
Before my time but loved reading about the craziness of the '70s A's. Salary bonuses for moustaches, orange baseballs, and hiring 13 year old MC Hammer as batboy/clubhouse spy.
April 20th, 2023 at 12:55 PM ^
Similar age as well, I had a Vida Blue baseball glove back then. (Yes, it was blue.) This is not a picture of it, it was lost long ago...just found one to prove they existed. 
You might enjoy the Reggie Jackson doc on Prime? Quite a few is those As appear.
Yes, I just saw that documentary. Very good.
Was a big A's fan growing up. RBI baseball on nintendo. Canseco, henderson, Mcgwire and Eckersley, cmon!
April 21st, 2023 at 11:34 AM ^
RBI 2. The A’s weren’t in the original.
I had an Oakland A's plastic batting helmet during that time.
Rooted for them too, except in 1972 playoffs vs. Tigers. Loved Joe Rudi, who I thought was very underrated. Catfish Hunter too.
Vida Blue was a king.
April 20th, 2023 at 11:58 AM ^
From Philly, to KC, to Oakland, to Las Vegas. Has any other pro sports team played in four different states?
April 20th, 2023 at 12:01 PM ^
Has any other pro sports team played in four different states?
All of them. Every year! 😜
April 20th, 2023 at 12:06 PM ^
I think they broke a tie with the Rams (Cleveland -> LA -> St. Louis -> LA). Technically, the Rams are playing in their fourth city since their first LA stint was in Anaheim and their current stadium is in Inglewood.
April 20th, 2023 at 12:20 PM ^
They played at the Colosseum before they went to Anaheim and between St. Louis and Inglewood.
April 20th, 2023 at 12:09 PM ^
I think the record is 5. So Oakland won't even be tying the record!
The current NBA Sacramento Kings have been based in all of NY, OH, MO, NE and CA:
(1) Started as the Rochester Royals.
(2) Moved to Cincinnati, still nicknamed the Royals. UC Bearcat great and NBA HOFer Oscar Robertson spent his first 10 NBA seasons as a Cincinnati Royal.
(3/4) Became the Kansas City-Omaha Kings for a few years. That was their official name, they literally split home games between 2 cities! Changed their nickname because of the KC Royals.
After a few years of that, ditched Omaha and were exclusively the Kansas City Kings for about a decade.
(5) Then off to Sacramento.
-----
Back in the early 2010s, the Maloofs sold the Kings and the franchise was VERY close to being sold to a group that would have moved them to Seattle. They could have been based in a 6th different state!