March 12, 2006
A's hatching Fremont plot?
Mark Purdy of the San Jose Mercury News has the baseball team relocation conspiracy theory to end all conspiracy theories today. It goes like this: Oakland A's owner Lew Wolff declares his intention to move to Fremont, California, which is as far south as you can go in the East Bay without rounding the corner of San Francisco Bay and ending up in Santa Clara County, which is San Francisco Giants country. Then he announces that the team will henceforth be known - shades of Los Angeles de Los Angeles - as the "San Jose A's," thus winning the affections of that otherwise off-limits city. Then, before actually signing the deal with Fremont, Wolff goes to Giants management and says (in Purdy's words), "Look, if I go to Fremont and call the team the San Jose A's, the Giants get nothing. But if you agree to let me actually move the team to San Jose, you'll get some compensation. How about it?"
Could it work? Wolff told Purdy he wouldn't rule any of it out (admittedly, Purdy didn't ask about the last, extortionate step), but that's in keeping with the Reinsdorf Doctrine. The bigger question is whether Fremont can come up with a financial package to make it worth Wolff's while to relocate to the end of the orange line. Given that Fremont city officials are still in the "Gee, we'd love to have a great big baseball team in our little town" stage, and any public stadium financing would likely require a voter referendum (which didn't go over too well for the Giants when they tried it in the South Bay), this should probably be classified as a longshot at this point - even if it is just crazy enough to be believable.
Don't forget that Wolf is involved in bringing the MLS Earthquakes back to San Jose.....
Posted by Bertell Ollman on March 13, 2006 01:11 AM
Hey Mark,
The Mission San Jose is actually in Fremont.
So the prospect of the San Jose A's playing at eBay Field in Fremont does not sound that far out!
I like it, Go A's!
Best regards,
Gordon Paulus
Fremont resident
