Commissioner says no to A’s move but owners would approve in a vote

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary

OAKLAND–Major Leauge Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig during last regular season denied the A’s move to San Jose if you read between the lines. They were asking about the San Jose financial status and if San Jose can support a big league club. It makes no sense to me because in a recent survey San Jose was declared the wealthiest city with over one million people.

Silicon Valley is in the South Bay the only reason that this is happening is because of Giants team president Larry Baer is declaring the team’s territorial rights in San Jose and this might be put to a vote and it’s almost positive that the owners would apporve the move by over a quarter of the majority but it’s the Giants who hold the cards here therefore the A’s are stuck in Oakland and they just recently extended their contract at the Coliseum for two more years.

Eventually something will happen, something will give, it might be that A’s owners Lew Wolf and Don Fisher might get tired of this situation and put the A’s up for sale. For right now the A’s have been denied moving from Oakland to San Jose although that’s not written in blood as we speak it’s not a real definite.

Kings and Warriors arena builds: If the Sacramento Kings can’t build their own arena in downtown Sacramento it would be a shame because Sacramento Mayor Ken Johnson jumped through hoops to keep the team in Sacramento and stopping the team from leaving for Seattle.

When you put a vote like this to the voters who knows you could flip a coin most people in this country are not in the mood to spend tax money on new arenas. Most people 99 percent beleive that most owners have the money to build a new arena. These are the guys who sign players for over $200 million and the average fan or citizen would say they would have the money to build it themselves.

So if the public votes on the new Kings arena and I’m not a betting guy but most people in Sacramento would vote no on spending public money on a new arena. The owners have to be ready to pay and build their own arena. Regarding the Warriors we don’t know the history of San Francisco. All you have to do is look at the Giants and see how many times they tried to build a new stadium with some public money.

The voters turned them down several times until they got approved for Pacific Bell Park, the Warriors want to move to the City at piers 30-32 but right now former San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos is working very hard to prevent the Warriors from moving to the piers. In an election to decide to move the Warriors at the piers won’t be easy it won’t be a matter of “were going to put the Warriors at the piers and that’s all”.

Warriors owners Joe Lacob and Peter Gruber they have great attorneys but they don’t understand the political environmental layout of San Francisco. Even if both Lacob and Gruber could pay for the entire project the voters would vote no because they like the views at the piers just fine.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish radio voice for Oakland A’s baseball and does News and Commentary each week for Sportstalk Radio

A’s proposed move to San Jose

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

 

OAKLAND–Commissioner Bud Selig’s letter denies the A’s move from Oakland to San José, but…But Selig’s June 17 letter addressed only the details of the stadium relocation proposal – not the principle of relocation, the sources say. MLB questioned the feasibility of that project and felt that insufficient financial information and attendance projections had been provided about a downtown San Jose site. Again: “not the principle of relocation”.

 

To question San Jose’s financial and attendance projections is interesting, because at least on the financial side of the equation the South Bay city is listed as the wealthiest metro area in the United States of America in recent surveys. As far as the attendance is concerned? I do not buy it. San José’s weather is much baseball-like (warmer) than most other Bay Area cities; located inland, not close to the ocean or very close to the bay, it provides perfect baseball weather from April to October. During these days of a very bad economy, there is one industry thriving; the high technology industry, Silicon Valley. Are the Giants afraid of Silicon Valley?

 

Income for most of the 366 metropolitan areas measured by the U.S. Census Bureau are flat in the last year, and many are still down significantly compared to 2008. According to the Census Bureau, Brownsville, Texas replaced McAllen, Texas as the country’s poorest metro area. San Jose, Calif. took the top spot as the wealthiest metro area, replacing Washington, D.C. 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the metropolitan areas with the highest and lowest median incomes in the U.S.

Again: “San José, California, took the top spot as the wealthiest metro area, replacing Washington, D.C”.

 

Obviously (and I have said this for years now) the San Francisco Giants opposition is the biggest hurdle. I do not believe that most Major League teams owners would oppose the move of the Athletics from Oakland to San José. Oakland doesn’t have the resources while San José has an abundance of resources. The Athletics need three-quarters approval of the owners for the proposed move to the south bay.

 

Although they do not say it publicly, what counts are actions not words, and the Giants ownership like to see themselves as “The Bay Area’s Baseball Team”. They have not won the big trophy until 2010, when they won the World Series for the first time in San Francisco in 52 years.

 

Are the Giants afraid that the Athletics with a new park in San José would lose at the gate? Are the Giants afraid that some of their great fans in the south bay, just might not travel to San Francisco to see the Giants, if the A’s have a beautiful brand new facility in San José? Are the Giants living these days with that much insecurity?

 

We are within days of 2014. This is not the Bay Area of 1969, this is a completely different Bay Area, in population, demographics and lifestyle. In 1969 San José was a huge tomato field and a truck stop with a sign:  340 miles to Los Angeles. The only thing that remain from those years is the sign.

 

Maybe the Giants are right to worry…

 

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish radio voice for the Oakland A’s and does News and Commentary each week for Sports talk radio 

                                                               
 

 

Former Retiree earns Defensive Back of the Year

By Emily Zahner

August 13, 2013

SAN JOSE, CA—The San Jose SaberCats gave their fans another year worth watching, posting a record of 13-6 and making the post season once again. A crushing defeat the Arizona Rattlers saw the Cats eliminated and sent packing, but that wouldn’t be the last of San Jose in the news. The Arena Football League announced on Tuesday that SaberCats DB Clevan Thomas had been named the AFL Defensive Back of the Year, as well as being a First Team All-Arena Selection.

Clevan’s selection came as a shocker to some, as he had retired from the AFL in 2008. The Cats faithful weren’t surprised at all… and upon his return in 2013, Thomas posted an incredible year with the Cats. Playing in all 18 games for San Jose, Thomas blew the lid of all sorts of records, including a career and franchise-high 15 interceptions. Most notable, Thomas set a new AFL record with six pick-6; the previous record was four. Thomas picked up the final two in a win against the Chicago Rush.

San Jose’s star DB recorded 74 tackles and recovered two fumbles throughout the season. The Cats hope to see Thomas owning the field again next year.

No Rush… Cats cruise into post-season

July 27th, 2013
SAP Arena
By Emily Zahner and Kahlil Najar

SAN JOSE, CA—In the last game of the regular season, the San Jose SaberCats (13-5) hosted the visiting Chicago Rush (10-8) in what promised to be a high caliber playoff-type game. Both teams were looking to end the season on a high note and carry the winning momentum into the post season. San Jose came out victorious, taking the win 65-40. Carried by a spectacular performance by QB Russ Michna and wide receivers Jason Willis and James Roe, the SaberCats erased all memory of last weeks’ 65-43 loss to the Philadelphia Soul.

After a kickoff return for a touchdown by the Rush, the first quarter was all SaberCats. Clevan Thomas picked off Carson Coffman one yard into the Cats end zone with less than a minute to go in the first, and returned it for a pick-6. This gave Thomas the franchise record of 14 interceptions this season for San Jose, and he wasn’t even close to being finished. By the end of the first, the score was 23-14 SaberCats. Late in the second, Thomas almost had his 15th, but the ball just tipped his fingers, giving the interception to teammate JC Neal. Going in to half, San Jose lead Chicago 37-19, carrying all the momentum. The third was a low scoring quarter, as both teams only completed one score, bringing the score to 44-26. In the fourth, Clevan Thomas brought the fireworks, hauling in another pick-6 that brought the franchise record to 15. This was his sixth of the season, making him the record holder for the most pick-6 in a season. The Cats finished strong in the fourth, sealing their 16th victory of the season by a score of 65-40.

For the first time playing against his former team, Russ Michna had a night for the ages. Michna completed 19 of 24 passes, averaging 13.5 yards per throw. With five touchdown completions, the SaberCats QB extended his streak to seven games in which he has thrown five or more TDs. Michna would be replaced by backup QB Mitch Mustain late in the fourth, presumably giving him some rest prior to the playoffs. On the other side, Chicago’s QB Carson Coffman struggled. While he threw 20 for 36, for 223 yards with two touchdowns, he was picked off three times and was sacked four times.

The SaberCats begin their 2013 Post Season next Sunday against the Arizona Rattlers in Phoenix, AZ. The Rattlers are 15-3 this season, number one in the West Division of the AFL.