http://www.insidebayarea.com/athletics/ci_11786167

Candid Cam: Vultures circle, stalk A's

By Cam Inman
Staff columnist
Posted: 02/25/2009 06:52:25 PM PST
Updated: 02/25/2009 07:16:49 PM PST

A day after officially declaring dead their Fremont move, the Oakland A's found themselves as the object of other cities' affections Wednesday, specifically Sacramento and San Jose.

For the first at-bat, let's listen to what came out of our State Capital with Mayor Kevin Johnson, who mentioned the A's would be a nice replacement franchise if the Kings take their NBA show elsewhere.

"If (the Kings) leave for some strange reason, then we need to get somebody else in Sacramento," Johnson said in his first State of the City address, according to the Sacramento Bee. "I don't care if it's the Oakland A's, I don't care if it's the Golden State Warriors. We have to have a franchise, a top-notch, world-class franchise in our city because it helps elevate the profile of our city."

Tell it to the folks in Fremont, K.J.!

The A's, for those scoring at home, base their Triple-A franchise, the renown River Cats, in Sacramento at Raley Field, which apparently would be able to expand to accommodate a major-league franchise. Johnson, a former Cal and NBA star, said he has not had formal discussions with the A's about such a move. The River Cats draw fans well. The A's could, too, especially if the Kings move out of town and the A's take over as the one-team show.

In A's owner Lew Wolff's statement Wednesday, he did say the team is determined to keep the team in "Northern California." That's right, not just Oakland or Alameda County, but NorCal, which, according to Mapquest, includes Sacramento.

Wolff also apologized for failing to accomplish what was a two-plus-year quest of building a 32,000-seat facility in Fremont. He repeatedly referred to the opposition the A's received from surrounding businesses, landowners and residents.

While that opposition may be true, it's disingenuous to ignore the notion that the slumping economy makes it so difficult to build a stadium, especially when the financing wouldn't be feasible through an adjacent 3,100-unit housing complex in this down real-estate market.

As for San Jose's at-bat in regards to the A's, Mercury News columnist Mark Purdy penned a terrific column for Thursday's editions. He made a compelling case for major-league baseball to step in and help the A's move south of the make-believe border of Fremont that the Giants will insist divides their territorial rights. (See link below.)

San Jose does have a downtown site ready to go for a new stadium, and that alleviates one headache, though it surely couldn't be that easy to become neighbors with the Sharks, could it?

As a South Bay native, let me just say that the A's only existed in my eyes when they made the playoffs in the late 1980s. That region firmly supports the 49ers, Giants and Stanford, or at least it did when I spent my childhood growing up in Cupertino.

As an East Bay resident, let me just say that the A's should stay put in Oakland and that they better start mending fences with that fan base they've distanced with their Fremont romance. If they want a friendlier, safer environment to build a stadium, I'd recommend Dublin near BART and the 580/680 junction.

And since the A's, 49ers and Raiders all are crying for a new stadium, why not really enhance their pipe dreams and propose a joint stadium for all three franchises. Pool their money, build a one-of-a-kind crib and play ball!

Look for Cam Inman's Web-only "Candid Cam" takes whenever there's a breaking sports story, or whenever Cam's got something to say _ in short, just about every day. You can reach Cam at cinman@bayareanewsgroup.com.

LINKS

Mark Purdy's Mercury News column: www.mercurynews.com/markpurdy/ci_11778531

Sacramento Bee's report on the A's:

http://sacbee.com/latest/story/1653483.html