Click to read the editorial from the San Jose Mercury News

Top-notch A's need a better stadium

OAKLAND'S FIELD AN EMBARRASSMENT; WHY NOT FREMONT?

Mercury News Editorial

The American League Championship Series has returned to the Bay Area for the first time since 1992.

Too bad the Oakland A's don't have a stadium that matches the caliber of their play throughout this championship season.

For years, the A's have been the darlings of the underdogs, refusing to accept the premise that to play with the big boys you have to have a payroll structure that approaches that of the Goliath of baseball, the New York Yankees, whose $200 million payroll dwarfs the combined payrolls of the A's ($62 million) and their ALCS opponents, the Detroit Tigers ($82 million).

But a baseball team with the population base and resources of the Bay Area shouldn't be forced to act as if it were a small-market franchise. A large contributor to that failing is the team's 40-year-old, second-rate field, McAfee Coliseum. It's particularly embarrassing when compared to the Giants' relatively new AT&T Park.

The new owner of the A's, developer Lew Wolff, is committed to building a new stadium for the team. It should be obvious by now that Oakland is not going to be able to put together a suitable stadium deal. An ideal alternative would be to locate a new stadium in the heart of Silicon Valley, preferably in downtown San Jose. But that's not going to happen for several reasons, including the Giants' determination to prevent it.

That shouldn't kill the concept of the green and gold eventually becoming the San Jose A's. Many professional sports franchises play in venues that are just outside of the cities whose names they wear on their uniforms. Wolff should continue his pursuit of a new stadium in Fremont, which is tantalizingly close to San Jose and centrally located in the A's fan base, and which has a site available that is large enough to accommodate a new stadium and the necessary parking.

Back when Reggie Jackson was a youthful slugger, during the A's glory years of the 1970s, the Coliseum was the equal of nearly any stadium in Major League Baseball. But Jackson is now 60. And the stadium that once showcased his talents is no more suited in 2006 to host the ALCS than the aging Jackson is capable of facing one of the Tigers' young, hard-throwing pitchers.

The Bay Area should be embarrassed that games as important as the ALCS have to be played on a field that is chewed up on Sundays by the Oakland Raiders. And the region should also be red-faced that the rest of the nation will see that the team has to resort to covering part of the hideous monstrosity in the outfield with tarps to try to give the stadium a more intimate feel.

The Oakland A's have put together a championship team with a collection of players, management and investors that is the pride of the entire Bay Area. Now is the time to give them a home worthy of their championship level of play.

quote:

Now is the time to give them a home worthy of their championship level of play.

And the best place for that is .... PORTLAND!

Here! Here! BC!