10 Reasons Not to Move to Fremont
Remember these when somebody tells you that Oakland isn't a good place for the A's.
1. The Fremont A's don't make sense because Fremont is a suburban bedroom community and cannot support a major sports team like the A's.
2. The transportation around the suggested Fremont building site cannot support the volume of traffic and people that will come with a ball game.
3. Oakland is not "filled up" and has numerous sites that have the space for a ballpark with nearby transportation facilities.
4. Oakland A's is a much better name than the Fremont A's of Oakland, or the Fremont A's of San Jose, or The Golden State A's.
5. Unlike Fremont, Oakland has a downtown, which has turned itself around in the last ten years and a ballpark could be a catalyst to continue that growth.
6. Oakland has accommodated A's owners with numerous deals and compromises to keep both sides happy, yet recent owners have shown no respect to the rich legacy with Oakland and the organization.
7. A's fans have continued to draw good crowds, even with talks of the teams relocation. The A's have broken 2 million fans a year for the last 5 years. Fremont shows no signs of having a legitimate fanbase.
8. Until the Giants got their new ballpark, the A's outdrew them in attendance in 10 out of 17 years.
9. The "No political will in Oakland" idea is false. Oakland spent money on a HOK ball park study, which A's owners (Schott) did not attend. When wolf bought the team, City leaders and corporate leaders came forward to help, wolf declined.
10. How do you turn your back on a community that has help win 4 world series and has had one of the most competitive teams in baseball history.
posted by drummer510 at 4:59 PM
18 Comments:
there's no reason #4 genius. maybe there are only 9 reasons to keep the a's in oakland.
4/21/2006 6:02 AM
9 or 10 reasons, the A'S still need to be in OAKLAND.
4/21/2006 10:41 AM
Keep up the good work. Oakland A's fans don't need to apologize for fighting to keep their team in Oakland. The Oakland A's should locate the ballpark in a central location with great access to public transportation in a major and cosmopolitan city. All of these requirements fit the city of Oakland perfectly. All of the recently built great ballparks have been built in downtown areas of major cities. Not in the suburds. Oakland A's fans deserve the same!
Oakland A's fans to deserve the best and most accessable location for a ballpark. Placing a ballpark in a suburban community near a congested freeway, and five miles from the nearest BART station doesn't make sense.
4/21/2006 10:55 AM
Sorry I was in such a mad rush to get this on the site before class, that i didnt check over it. Thanks for the heads up.
4/21/2006 11:28 AM
Citizens Bank Ballpark doesn't have a downtown location nor does it have much of public transportation and Ballpark Digest ranks it as one of the best stadia there is in baseball. So technically "all of the recently built great ballparks have been built in downtown areas of major cities" isn't entirely true
4/21/2006 12:40 PM
Yeah, Ballpark Digest ranks it as one of the best ball parks by design, yet it doesn't sell out ever game, and doesn't really have a surrounding community that the ball park supports. They even say: "Is Citizens Bank Park the best ballpark in baseball? While its location keeps it from being considered the best overall ballpark, it certainly is one of the best."
Part of building a ball park in Oakland, especially in Downtown Oakland, would be the idea that it would help the surrounding community grow and flourish. At&T Park, Safeco Field, Petco Park, Camden Yards, Jacobs Field, Coors Field, etc. all are ballparks that helped turn around areas the areas that they were built in. Ideally a new ballpark in Oakland, would do that.
Building a ballpark in suburbia would not accomplish anything in terms of urban growth.
4/21/2006 12:58 PM
I really hope that the Auto Row site works out, I think it may be the last hope. And it's close to BART which I like. Keep up the good fight.
4/21/2006 2:36 PM
I hope the Auto row/Broadway works too. In the tribune today (which published my editorial), the a's in fremont got the thumbs down (close though). People brought up the transportation issue a cpl of times.
The problem with fremont is the settling factor. "I rather them to be in Fremont than move." We have to thank our political infighting for that, instead of the whole county focusing on Oakland. Which they should, Wolff is pitting one city against the other and no one wins there.
Rockridge Athletic
4/21/2006 3:38 PM
Congrats on getting your editorial published. Due to the fact that I am not a bay area resident, I would rather the A's move to Fremont than out of the state. But first and foremost I want the A's to stay in Oakland.
4/21/2006 5:53 PM
Citizens Bank Ballpark? Is that the one in Phoenix? If so, I think that's a horrible ballpark in a terrible location. It looked like a huge rectangular metal warehouse when I drove by it while driving through Phoenix.
Also, while in Baltimore I got a chance to see Camden Yards in Downtown Baltimore. Now, THAT'S a ballpark! It's done wonders for the Baltimore Inner Harbor area. It's a difference of night and day between the ballpak in suburban Phoenix.
I defenintely think the ballpark should be built somewhere in Downtown Oakland.
4/21/2006 11:30 PM
Your thinking of Chase Field, formerly known as Bank One Ballpark. Citizens Bank is in Philadelphia
4/22/2006 1:55 AM
My mistake. Thanks for the claritfication.
4/22/2006 7:45 AM
9 REASONS THAT THESE ARE NOT GOOD REASONS:
1. Why WOULDN'T you put the stadium close to the suburbs (where the fans live, after all)? Show me a study proving that most of the people that attend the games actually live IN Oakland?
2. This is your only good point. 880 through Fremont is already a huge mess, and I agree wholeheartedly that without a dedicated mass transit solution, the Fremont site loses any and all consideration that it has so far received.
3. If this is true, then maybe the city council should point some of them out?
4. This is a subjective argument and should not carry any weight. Remember, a rose by any other name...
5. Why would the A's ownership group care about being a catalyst for Oakland's growth? They're running a business, not running for mayor.
6. From : "Plans by Wolff to build a 35,000-seat baseball-only stadium and adjacent retail development just north of the A's current home at 40-year-old McAfee Coliseum have languished because property owners in the area are unwilling to sell, and many city leaders have been lukewarm about supporting that project as well as uptown and waterfront ballpark proposals." So basically, the exact opposite of what you claim.
7. The A's have broken 2 million fans a year due to their recent postseason appearances, NOT due to the fact that the ballpark is in Oakland. Attendance numbers have plateaued since 2001, and were actually in the bottom half of the league last season. I can't say one way or the other whether or not Fremont has a fanbase, but it's obviously not very strong in Oakland. And remember that a Fremont stadium will draw crowds from San Jose (population just shy of 1,000,000, not including it's suburbs).
8. I don't understand how a statistic on SF/OAK attendance numbers in the 80's has anything to do with whether the A's should move to Fremont or not.
9. When was this ballpark study carried out? Maybe Schott already knew he was selling the team and therefore had no interest in the subject matter. And what specific "help" did Wolff decline?
10. I wouldn't call it "turning their back" on the community if they're staying in the county. And how did the community "help" win those World Series'? By buying tickets and merchandise, right? Maybe the owners feel that they will sell more tickets and merchandise a little further down the freeway...
Okay so I just backread these counterpoints and although they might seem somewhat harsh at times, I believe that they prove the point that there is no real good reason NOT to move to Fremont, except perhaps for sentimental reasons. And when it comes to business, sentiments will ALWAYS take a back seat.
I'm an A's fan, I swear!
Sixto
4/25/2006 1:34 AM
There is no reason for the A's to be rushing to move anywhere right now. They have a kick-ass lease and plenty of time to find the perfect situation in Oakland if they are a little patient and wait for the election. The Jerry Brown era is almost over. Wolff is only trying to hurry because he knows the next mayor might actually care enough to keep the team in Oakland, and he doesn't want that because he never wanted the team in Oakland to begin with. All he cares about is getting free land for his model homes and hotels and having a place for his dot.com buddies to buy luxury boxes. He can get those two things in Fremont. If he cared about baseball, he'd wait to see who was the next mayor and if moving a stadium further into the city of Oakland was a possibilty.
4/25/2006 9:58 AM
where in Oakland is there 100 acres of land that is able to be sold? If the answer is "there isn't" then where are they going to get the money to build a stadium on a smaller site? Does having a new mayor magically grow $400 million on trees?
4/25/2006 4:02 PM
Oakland has already proven that under the right ownership it has a very strong fanbase. Walter Haas drew 2.9 2.7 & 2.6 million fans to the Oakland Coliseum in consecutive years. That's a fact. He did it with a winning ballclub and a community and customer oriented philosophy. Schott, and now Wolff, haven't marketed the team that way. Theirs has always been the, "One foot out the door" management and promotional style.
And, don't underestimate Oakland's central location, great weather, and great public transportation network in the ability to draw fans.
4/27/2006 7:42 PM
The 2.9, 2.7, 2.6 million fans who came out during World Series years. what was attendance the 3-5 years before that?
4/27/2006 9:27 PM
What was the Angels attendance before THEY won the World Series? Of course, winning the World Series helps draw fans the following year. The point is, in Oakland, unlike let's say Florida, and some other cities, the fans came out in droves when there was the combination of a winning team on the field and a community oriented ownership.
The point is that Oakland, unlike Fremont, San Jose, Las Vegas etc. has PROVEN that it can support the A's by drawing 2.9 million fans to the Coliseum. That's a fact.
4/28/2006 3:58 PM
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