2011 Oakland A's Thread

It seems to me that most of the A's attendance "problems" stem from the fact that ownership has continually disrespected the East Bay and Oakland residents by telling them that their city is a s**thole and that they want to pack up and move to San Jose.

The A's don't even market their product very well. How long did it take them to even have a legit radio station.

The Warriors also play in that same area, and yet manage to fill their stadium because the Warriors probably have one of the best sports marketing departments in the country. And the team isn't looking to jump ship to another city.

I think the poor marketing and dissing of Oakland is all part of the strategy to lower attendance, and therefore justify moving to San Jose.

It's all very shady.

The penny-pinching A's owners are in this entirely for the money, and I'm not even convinced that given a new stadium in San Jose, that the A's will suddenly have a higher payroll.


And exactly who will pay for the stadium in San Jose?

[ Edited by crzy on Apr 25, 2011 at 23:12:16 ]

Originally posted by crzy:
Quesiton.

IF the A's move to San Jose, are you guys going to continue to be A's fans?


Cause I know a couple Oakland A's fans who wouldn't.

I definitely would still be a fan

Originally posted by crzy:
It seems to me that most of the A's attendance "problems" stem from the fact that ownership has continually disrespected the East Bay and Oakland residents by telling them that their city is a s**thole and that they want to pack up and move to San Jose.

The A's don't even market their product very well. How long did it take them to even have a legit radio station.

The Warriors also play in that same area, and yet manage to fill their stadium because the Warriors probably have one of the best sports marketing departments in the country. And the team isn't looking to jump ship to another city.

I think the poor marketing and dissing of Oakland is all part of the strategy to lower attendance, and therefore justify moving to San Jose.

It's all very shady.

The penny-pinching A's owners are in this entirely for the money, and I'm not even convinced that given a new stadium in San Jose, that the A's will suddenly have a higher payroll.

And exactly who will pay for the stadium in San Jose?

All very valid points regarding our attendance issues. You can't argue the fact that Wolff is intentionally devaluing this franchise, in order to make a statement. That statement being "Let me outta here". But with each passing day, you have to ask yourself "where is he gonna go?"With the downturn of the economy, combined with society's declining interest in baseball over the past decade (it has recently picked up a bit), the A's were heavily affected and have never completely recovered. Let's face it, without revenue-sharing this franchise would been either in another city or contracted.

The A's play in one of the oldest and most unattractive "hitters' parks" in the league. Stars know it. No one wants to see their baseball career flame out in the Raiders' football stadium. We've been relegated to "renting power sticks", mostly over-the-hill guys and former stars for the past decade, praying that our young (but soon to sign elsewhere) arms would keep games close. The cycle perpetuates itself. I mean, seriously, who's gonna pay season ticket prices and actually come out to see John Jaha (1999), Erubiel Durazo (2003 - not a star at any point btw), Frank Thomas (the 2006- 2008 version; nice playoff run in 2006 though), Mike Piazza (2007 - for only 83 games), back to a washed up version of Giambi in 2009, while hoping that some guy named Jack Cust would "emerge" (see Erubiel Durazo comments) as our feared power hitter. Laughable.

Our new mayor has offered "FREE LAND" to Wolff to begin building a new stadium in Downtown Oakland. He has barely looked her way. However, with SJ mayor stating that the city is "broke", the taxpayers of the SJ area aren't likely to chip in for a new baseball stadium. So, all in all, it'll have to be a privately funded venture.

SIDENOTE/RUMOR: Keep an eye on the Dodgers' ownership situation. As Wolff has a Great rapport with Selig and MLB brass, I wouldn't be surprised if Wolff finds a way to grab majority rights in the Dodgers, sell his stake in the A's because he can't get a stadium built in the Bay("good riddance"), and the A's being up for auction within the next 2-3 years. That would be interesting.

Originally posted by Jigga:

Originally posted by crzy:
It seems to me that most of the A's attendance "problems" stem from the fact that ownership has continually disrespected the East Bay and Oakland residents by telling them that their city is a s**thole and that they want to pack up and move to San Jose.

The A's don't even market their product very well. How long did it take them to even have a legit radio station.

The Warriors also play in that same area, and yet manage to fill their stadium because the Warriors probably have one of the best sports marketing departments in the country. And the team isn't looking to jump ship to another city.

I think the poor marketing and dissing of Oakland is all part of the strategy to lower attendance, and therefore justify moving to San Jose.

It's all very shady.

The penny-pinching A's owners are in this entirely for the money, and I'm not even convinced that given a new stadium in San Jose, that the A's will suddenly have a higher payroll.

And exactly who will pay for the stadium in San Jose?

All very valid points regarding our attendance issues. You can't argue the fact that Wolff is intentionally devaluing this franchise, in order to make a statement. That statement being "Let me outta here". But with each passing day, you have to ask yourself "where is he gonna go?"With the downturn of the economy, combined with society's declining interest in baseball over the past decade (it has recently picked up a bit), the A's were heavily affected and have never completely recovered. Let's face it, without revenue-sharing this franchise would been either in another city or contracted.

The A's play in one of the oldest and most unattractive "hitters' parks" in the league. Stars know it. No one wants to see their baseball career flame out in the Raiders' football stadium. We've been relegated to "renting power sticks", mostly over-the-hill guys and former stars for the past decade, praying that our young (but soon to sign elsewhere) arms would keep games close. The cycle perpetuates itself. I mean, seriously, who's gonna pay season ticket prices and actually come out to see John Jaha (1999), Erubiel Durazo (2003 - not a star at any point btw), Frank Thomas (the 2006- 2008 version; nice playoff run in 2006 though), Mike Piazza (2007 - for only 83 games), back to a washed up version of Giambi in 2009, while hoping that some guy named Jack Cust would "emerge" (see Erubiel Durazo comments) as our feared power hitter. Laughable.

Our new mayor has offered "FREE LAND" to Wolff to begin building a new stadium in Downtown Oakland. He has barely looked her way. However, with SJ mayor stating that the city is "broke", the taxpayers of the SJ area aren't likely to chip in for a new baseball stadium. So, all in all, it'll have to be a privately funded venture.

SIDENOTE/RUMOR: Keep an eye on the Dodgers' ownership situation. As Wolff has a Great rapport with Selig and MLB brass, I wouldn't be surprised if Wolff finds a way to grab majority rights in the Dodgers, sell his stake in the A's because he can't get a stadium built in the Bay("good riddance"), and the A's being up for auction within the next 2-3 years. That would be interesting.

That would be great for the A's. Because Wolff/Fisher aren't really interested in what's best for A's fans.

They want a publicly funded stadium when all these cities are compeltely broke.

They're no different from the Maloofs with the Kings.


Fortunately for A's fans, there isn't really anywhere that Wolff/Fisher could move the team, unlike the Kings situation with Anaheim.

All the big baseball markets in the United States are tapped out.


The best thing for the A's would be for Wolff/Fisher to get frustrated and sell the team to someone who actually knows how to respect their fanbase and to market their product.

Originally posted by crzy:

Originally posted by Jigga:

Originally posted by crzy:
It seems to me that most of the A's attendance "problems" stem from the fact that ownership has continually disrespected the East Bay and Oakland residents by telling them that their city is a s**thole and that they want to pack up and move to San Jose.

The A's don't even market their product very well. How long did it take them to even have a legit radio station.

The Warriors also play in that same area, and yet manage to fill their stadium because the Warriors probably have one of the best sports marketing departments in the country. And the team isn't looking to jump ship to another city.

I think the poor marketing and dissing of Oakland is all part of the strategy to lower attendance, and therefore justify moving to San Jose.

It's all very shady.

The penny-pinching A's owners are in this entirely for the money, and I'm not even convinced that given a new stadium in San Jose, that the A's will suddenly have a higher payroll.

And exactly who will pay for the stadium in San Jose?

All very valid points regarding our attendance issues. You can't argue the fact that Wolff is intentionally devaluing this franchise, in order to make a statement. That statement being "Let me outta here". But with each passing day, you have to ask yourself "where is he gonna go?"With the downturn of the economy, combined with society's declining interest in baseball over the past decade (it has recently picked up a bit), the A's were heavily affected and have never completely recovered. Let's face it, without revenue-sharing this franchise would been either in another city or contracted.

The A's play in one of the oldest and most unattractive "hitters' parks" in the league. Stars know it. No one wants to see their baseball career flame out in the Raiders' football stadium. We've been relegated to "renting power sticks", mostly over-the-hill guys and former stars for the past decade, praying that our young (but soon to sign elsewhere) arms would keep games close. The cycle perpetuates itself. I mean, seriously, who's gonna pay season ticket prices and actually come out to see John Jaha (1999), Erubiel Durazo (2003 - not a star at any point btw), Frank Thomas (the 2006- 2008 version; nice playoff run in 2006 though), Mike Piazza (2007 - for only 83 games), back to a washed up version of Giambi in 2009, while hoping that some guy named Jack Cust would "emerge" (see Erubiel Durazo comments) as our feared power hitter. Laughable.

Our new mayor has offered "FREE LAND" to Wolff to begin building a new stadium in Downtown Oakland. He has barely looked her way. However, with SJ mayor stating that the city is "broke", the taxpayers of the SJ area aren't likely to chip in for a new baseball stadium. So, all in all, it'll have to be a privately funded venture.

SIDENOTE/RUMOR: Keep an eye on the Dodgers' ownership situation. As Wolff has a Great rapport with Selig and MLB brass, I wouldn't be surprised if Wolff finds a way to grab majority rights in the Dodgers, sell his stake in the A's because he can't get a stadium built in the Bay("good riddance"), and the A's being up for auction within the next 2-3 years. That would be interesting.

That would be great for the A's. Because Wolff/Fisher aren't really interested in what's best for A's fans.

They want a publicly funded stadium when all these cities are compeltely broke.

They're no different from the Maloofs with the Kings.


Fortunately for A's fans, there isn't really anywhere that Wolff/Fisher could move the team, unlike the Kings situation with Anaheim.

All the big baseball markets in the United States are tapped out.


The best thing for the A's would be for Wolff/Fisher to get frustrated and sell the team to someone who actually knows how to respect their fanbase and to market their product.[/quote]

Zacktly! It turns out that Wolff and Selig were frat bro's at Univ of Wisconsin. LOL It's wishful thinking, but what incentive is there for Wolff to keep this team if he can't get a stadium built?

[ Edited by Jigga on Apr 26, 2011 at 16:11:01 ]

Originally posted by crzy:
Quesiton.

IF the A's move to San Jose, are you guys going to continue to be A's fans?


Cause I know a couple Oakland A's fans who wouldn't.

I couldn't root for the Giants so yes.

i wish we didn't suck

Lets be real about something... Our hitting sucks. Can't blame any of ths on our pitching.

The A's coliseum is soon to be called the Overstock.com Coliseum

Nationally televised game tonight! Too bad we will get wrecked by Danny Haren :(

Man, I suuuure used to like me some A's baseball. I only have room for one second-rate organization in my life though. They currently play next door...

Ethier, Cargo, now Brett Wallace

Billy Beane has totally lost it when it comes to evaluating hitters.

Ethier, Cargo, now Brett Wallace

Billy Beane has totally lost it when it comes to evaluating hitters.

Originally posted by crzy:
Ethier, Cargo, now Brett Wallace

Billy Beane has totally lost it when it comes to evaluating hitters.

God bless our budget and having to make these choices on who stays and goes...

Originally posted by crzy:
Ethier, Cargo, now Brett Wallace

Billy Beane has totally lost it when it comes to evaluating hitters.

lol they were deciding between offering Cargo or Gio. they picked Cargo...