By Bob Walsh
Sports fans will no doubt know that the Oakland As will
be playing the next 1-3 years at Raley Field (Now Sutter Health Park) in
West Sacramento. Maybe.
It
seems that the players union may have some serious issues with the
playing surface at the "new" park. The new surface is artificial turf,
which gets REALLY HOT during the summer. It is much warmer in
Sacramento than it is in the bay area. They have a lot of juice in that
area. There is also a further possible complication. A new group of
investors (private investors, not the city or county) now owns the
Oakland Coliseum outright. That group has expressed interest in keeping
the As in Oakland. It would be in the best interest of the club in
staying in Oakland in many ways, largely because of the TV revenue.
Also the Coliseum is three times bigger than Raley Field. Not that
there is anything wrong with the "new" ball park. It is generally
considered to be the nicest, most modern minor league park in the
country I understand. It just doesn't seat the number of people that a
big league park seats. In the current configuration I think it is about
14,000. There are plans to expand it by a few thousand for the
Athletics.
The As are
already selling seats. It may turn out to be premature. It should
shake out in a few weeks. I will try to keep you posted.
1 comment:
A spokesman for major league baseball said today that the move WILL occur.
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