Oakland Shakedown

[Edgy MD]

Momentum toward Connie Mack's White Elephants finding a fourth home city has accelerated, as Commissioner Manfred https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/31813025/mlb-commissioner-rob-manfred-says-process-whether-athletics-stay-oakland-endperformed his best mafioso during the All Star festivities.

"This is the decision point for Oakland as to whether they wanna have Major League Baseball moving forward."

I like that the transcriptionist quoted him as saying "wanna."

"Las Vegas is a viable alternative for a major league club, and there are other viable alternatives that I haven't turned the A's loose to even explore at this point."

He turns people loose.

[Benjamin Grimm]

If they move, I'm rooting for them to return to Philadelphia. Not "gonna" happen, of course, but I think it would be great.

[bmfc1]

I thought that "Oakland Shakedown" was a Boz Scaggs deep cut.

[Frayed Knot]

Not that I'm in favor of the passive/aggressive sort of threats that are placed on cities to build and rebuild palaces for already rich guys, but some of this is on Oakland as well.

Every suggested location for a new crib seems to either get NIMBY'd out of existence or dies a slow death due to red-tape suffocation before even getting to the part about who

pays what percentage. Nassau County did this with the Coliseum for years if not decades with the added wrinkle of power brokers bickering over how all the graft was going to

get divided. That last part may or may not be part of Oakland's problem but, big city politics being what it is, it wouldn't surprise me if it were.

[Willets Point]

If it's not possible for the A's to remain in Oakland, Sacramento or San Jose could be good options (although I know that latter is within the Giant's territorial rights for some reason).

[Frayed Knot]

Yeah, San Jose is one of the potential locales that has been scuttled by in-fighting.

It would be a shame if they left as, after years if not decades of turmoil, Oakland seems to be a city on the rebound these days.

[cal sharpie]

Agreed about Oakland. Of course the Raiders have moved and the Warriors moved across the Bay. The A's are the only game in town.