NEIL HAYES: TIMES COLUMNIST
Wolff wants to keep A's in East Bay

LEW WOLFF WAS surprised to learn some were casting him as a villain for considering stadium sites for the A's outside Oakland proper.

Such is life as the owner of a professional sports franchise. You can't please everybody. He's learned that during his first year on the job.

But outrage over his desire to explore a Fremont site lacks perspective.

He might be remembered as the owner who moved the A's out of Oakland, to be sure, but such sentiment fails to acknowledge his other possible legacy.

He could be forever known as the man who kept the A's in the East Bay.

Wolff spent two frustrating years as the A's vice president of venue development before assuming ownership, remember. He continued to make locating a viable stadium site in Oakland his top priority after buying the team before last season.

That makes Wolff, who has amassed a fortune executing complicated real estate deals, uniquely qualified for the task at hand. He has spent three fruitless years searching for a piece of Oakland dirt on which to build a ballpark but is no closer to a solution than when the process began.

People are now screaming that his desire to explore sites in neighboring communities is proof that he is not committed to the city his team calls home. But doesn't the time he has already invested prove the opposite is true?

"I didn't know we needed to stay within the city limits of Oakland to serve our market," Wolff said in a phone interview. "We haven't discussed anything outside of Oakland at this point, but we haven't come up with anything, either. It's not for lack of trying."

It takes two to tango, and Wolff has been dancing by himself. This is no surprise given everything we know about Oakland politics, the state of the city and the ill-fated Warriors and Raiders deals.

Wolff understands this. He's not blaming anyone. Oakland politicos understand Wolff's predicament as well, which is why there was not an outcry from city hall when Wolff announced his intention to explore a site in Fremont.

"It's a priority (for Oakland), but if you list the priorities it's not a No. 1, 2 or 3 priority, and I agree with that," Wolff said. "They have school system issues, crime issues and limited resources. Nobody is at fault here."

So, let's recap: Wolff is uniquely qualified to develop a new ballpark. He has spent three years trying to identify a potential site in Oakland, even promoting a plan for a new stadium near the current Coliseum location that would have cleaned up a blighted area, spurred much-needed economic activity and helped relieve the city and county's financial burden.

The one-year exclusive window he gave Oakland to help identify a potential site has been met with the clearing of throats and shuffling of feet.

Given all that, how can he not look elsewhere? Wouldn't Oakland be better off with the A's in Fremont or Hayward, given that the alternative could be a move to Portland or Las Vegas? When he bought the team a year ago, Wolff told himself he would consider looking for a stadium solution outside California if Opening Day 2006 came and went without any progress being made on a stadium in the East Bay.

That's the worst nightmare for A's fans. Here's the good news. He said he no longer feels that way, even though the self-imposed deadline looms. He spent a lot of time at the Coliseum with his family. He got a feel for the place, got to know the fans and felt the sense of community.

He doesn't want to be known as the guy who uprooted the A's. On the other hand, the Coliseum is not a long-term option.

"I've been so pleased with my first year, with the fan base and the employees, that my decision is that if it's humanly possible, I want to stay in Alameda County," he said. "If someone doesn't believe that or sees it as treachery, well, what can I do about it?"

Wolff has bumped the payroll, and by giving general manager Billy Beane a piece of the team, he has eliminated the chance that the general manager will be lured away by a big-market team. So the franchise should be competitive for years to come.

It has been pointed out that the A's don't need a new stadium to be competitive because they have been highly competitive without one, but the team needs to start planning for the future. That's just reality.

Unlike previous owner Steve Schott, Wolff has the know-how, creativity and political tact to make a new stadium a reality. There's only one problem.

"I can't do it by myself," he said.

Somehow, I just can't see Wolff settling for a suburb in the East Bay when there is someplace like Portland that would place him downtown. Could be wrong, and I know he'd prefer to stay in California, but the A's will always be teh "stepchild" to the Giants and deserve better.

Obviously the A's want a downtown ballpark. MLB is an urban based league. My guess is it ends up in Jack London afterall...or it comes north a few hundred miles

Sure, East Bay has the population...but isn't it really a commuter community?

I see Fremont... Relocation within the East Bay makes sense given Wolff's limited options.

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Obviously the A's want a downtown ballpark. MLB is an urban based league. My guess is it ends up in Jack London afterall...or it comes north a few hundred miles

That doesn't make any sense. The A's would move out of the Bay Area simply because they can't find a suitable downtown location? Wolff's August proposal for Oakland was an attempt to do something quite radical - instead of building downtown, create a "downtown" around a ballpark.

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Sure, East Bay has the population...but isn't it really a commuter community?

Yes, and that's one of the benefits of the location. There are 100,000 commuters that come from the Central Valley to Silicon Valley every day. Pick off only 1% of those commuters and it's a measurable increase in attendance. That figure doesn't include others that commute from the East Bay to the South Bay.

In addition there are huge numbers of South Bay fans who would love a shorter trip to a new ballpark, a real alternative to both SF and Oakland. Having a stadium in Fremont will force a loss of some East Bay fans, but they can be replaced by access to another market that simply isn't well-tapped right now.

Maury- I you changing your tone with "Look South"? Freemont, per your post is very viable, so why the change from us to the anywhere in the East Bay?

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Originally posted by marine layer:

quote:

Obviously the A's want a downtown ballpark. MLB is an urban based league. My guess is it ends up in Jack London afterall...or it comes north a few hundred miles

That doesn't make any sense. The A's would move out of the Bay Area simply because they can't find a suitable downtown location? Wolff's August proposal for Oakland was an attempt to do something quite radical - instead of building downtown, create a "downtown" around a ballpark.

quote:

Sure, East Bay has the population...but isn't it really a commuter community?

Yes, and that's one of the benefits of the location. There are 100,000 commuters that come from the Central Valley to Silicon Valley every day. Pick off only 1% of those commuters and it's a measurable increase in attendance. That figure doesn't include others that commute from the East Bay to the South Bay.

In addition there are huge numbers of South Bay fans who would love a shorter trip to a new ballpark, a real alternative to both SF and Oakland. Having a stadium in Fremont will force a loss of some East Bay fans, but they can be replaced by access to another market that simply isn't well-tapped right now.

ML, ya gotta admit, it's less than ideal. Otherwise why else would they have been shooting for downtown Oakland in the first place, or for that matter San Jose.

That being said, if the political will exists in Fremont, and Lew Wolff can round up sufficient ancillary development to bankroll any potential shortfall in stadium funding, I think it's a done deal. I just hope Fremont doesn't pull an Anaheim.

Welcome to your "Golden State Athletics"! Well, I suppose that's better than the "Oakland Athletics of Fremont just north of San Jose and nowhere near San Francisco."

He might as well build right on the Alameda/Santa Clara county line and stick his tongue out at Peter Magowan and Bud Selig.

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ML, ya gotta admit, it's less than ideal. Otherwise why else would they have been shooting for downtown Oakland in the first place, or for that matter San Jose.

It's not ideal. If they pick the Pacific Commons site, it's a mile from the planned BART extension. If it's the NUMMI site, BART still doesn't come for 5 years after the ballpark opens. I don't like that much. It is a matter of compromises.

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He might as well build right on the Alameda/Santa Clara county line and stick his tongue out at Peter Magowan and Bud Selig.

The rumor around San Jose is that he's doing that right now.

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Originally posted by Rockstar:
Maury- I you changing your tone with "Look South"? Freemont, per your post is very viable, so why the change from us to the anywhere in the East Bay?

It's simple...

It allows for the ability to be in San Jose without being in San Jose.

Also...

With Wolff looking to do a larger development (Ballpark Village) Portland is off the list.

Such is the changing landscape of funding. A year ago this wasn't the paradigm, or at least I saw this type of method as being more "one off" in the case of the Padres. Then the Cards went there... now, the A's, and in a tweaking of this, the Red Sox are doing development outside Fenway to gain access to other revenue streams.

Thanks Maury- With all of the development in PDX,(South waterfront, Pearl, East side) should we be looking more into some type of private/public doings to perhaps solidify our goals for MLB? I believe we are doing that with the OCC hotel and the Burnside Head project.

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Originally posted by Maury:
With Wolff looking to do a larger development (Ballpark Village) Portland is off the list.

Such is the changing landscape of funding. A year ago this wasn't the paradigm, or at least I saw this type of method as being more "one off" in the case of the Padres. Then the Cards went there... now, the A's, and in a tweaking of this, the Red Sox are doing development outside Fenway to gain access to other revenue streams.

Rose Quarter....

Speaking of which... Maury - I snapped this photo the last time you & I talked on the phone. Rarely have I ever seen so many construction cranes crammed together in a smaller space (San Diego's ballpark district):

Shanghai_San_Diego.jpg (59 KB, 21 downloads)

Comment from our Asia Quality Manager is that 95 percent of "world-wide" construction cranes are in Shanghai. Truly amazing what is happening there in terms of urban change.

BB