This certainly isn't the first team to blackmail their municipality into approving a new stadium, nor will it be the last, but this is definitely a unique situation compared to most. Most teams that do this (including my hometown Brewers and NBA Bucks) are after some sort of stadium financial or tax incentive, but in the case of the A's, the heart of the issue is whether Oakland wants to take on the massive project of converting an active industrial seaport that is difficult to access into a live/work entertainment hub like so many other contemporary stadiums have. I understand that there are going to be environmental and logistical challenges with this site, but given the relatively low amount of money involved with this compared to most stadium deals, and the fact that the city has already lost an NBA and NFL franchise in the last few years, it really seems like a no-brainer to approve this. However, there are some advocates, the most vocal of which being the East Oakland Stadium Alliance, that want to see the A's just build in the parking lot next door to their current stadium (similar to what the Brewers and Mets did), which does make some sense given the site is already set up for transit and the team owns half of the land. But the A's are getting to the point where the Coliseum is so bad and so beyond its functional life that they simply do not have the time to explore even one more site - simply put, it's Howard Terminal, or they move.
Today's announcement represents a last-ditch effort by A's to rectify this situation before their latest lease ends in 2024 and before MLB starts to take a more active hand in coercing the situation. Rob Manfred has made it well known that he plans to expand the league to 32 teams but will not do so until the Oakland and Tampa stadium situations are resolved, so this has been sort of an irritating rash during his entire tenure as commissioner. I know I speak for Erik when I say that we are rooting for this project to move forward...but also would not be sad if we got to go to maybe Portland or Las Vegas instead of Oakland.
touch with baseball when his childhood heroes Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, and Jim Gantner retired but the Great Home Run Chase of 1998 reignited his passion. As a student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Erik became involved with the campus chapter of Habitat for Humanity. With this group Erik traveled to Portland, OR and Baltimore, MD to work on construction projects and help the group raise $25,000 to partially sponsor a house in Milwaukee. Also at UWM, Erik met Peter Nagel. The two attended their first Brewers game together during Opening Weekend 2003. Despite their failure to ignite the coals at their first tailgate, the two had a blast and were soon making weekly trips to the ballpark. Erik has gone on to several colleges and changed careers several times, and has moved all the way out to New Hampshire, but has always stayed true to his baseball roots by holding part-time stadium usher jobs. To this day he looks back fondly on his incredible cross-country journey.
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