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Oaklanding Part 2

Last Thursday the Athletics finally got some good news when a vote came down during a meeting of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development commission voting in favor of a new ballpark for the Oakland Athletics. This vote which ended up a landslide at 23-2 is the first in many legal hurdles that the team will need to overcome in order to break ground and move forward with the new stadium. The current plan is as followed in a quote taken from an abcnews.com article: "In Oakland, the A’s proposal includes a $1 billion privately financed 35,000-seat waterfront ballpark at Howard Terminal, which is currently being used as overflow parking for containers and trucks. The project also would include 3,000 residential units, office and retail space, hotel rooms and an indoor performance center." This would be the plan if the Athletics can reach an agreement to keep them in Oakland.



Following the departures of both the Golden State Warriors and Oakland Raiders to San Francisco and Las Vegas respectively the Oakland Athletics are the last professional sports team in Oakland. This has given locals more of a reason to fight to keep the Athletics not only to keep the sports team but also the jobs for Oakland. According to the same ABC News article the lease agreement with the Ring Central Coliseum so there is plenty of time for the minor details to be ironed out, but a decision will likely need to be made by that time. 

The main issue seems to have been that the location the Athletics were looking to build on had a port priority designation which meant that cargo and other shipping material was the main focus of the area. This will allow the team to at least begin making headway toward the possibility of making a new stadium. The question might be abound why can't they just build on the current site of the stadium they play in and according to ownership that is not a viable possible outcome. 

Taking a different route below is a quote from current Athletics Catcher Stephen Vogt: "It doesn’t bother us as players a whole lot, but I think the fans are being affected by it in a big way,” Vogt said. “As somebody who has spent a lot of my career in Oakland, it makes me sad for our fans and we have great fans, very loyal fans." If this quote is any indication a lot of the players feel more for the fans then anything else and will likely feel even worse if the team chooses to relocate. The real question is how would Oakland losing another team affect the fan base, the players and the city of Oakland itself? 

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