[Kevdog1020]

O.Co Must Go
July 16th, 2016 | OPINION



In a day and age where every team is going bigger and better with their stadiums, the Oakland Athletics are stuck playing in what many deem one of the worst, if not the worst stadiums in Major League Baseball. It is the only remaining multi-purpose field in the MLB and, if you come to the stadium in late August and September, you will see infielders and outfielders dodging divots left behind from professional football games. Add in the lack of bullpens and the expansive foul territory and you get a sorry excuse for a baseball stadium, especially in this day and age. And don’t even get me started on the sewage backups in the dugouts and locker rooms. The stadium is sh**, both literally and figuratively and it is way past overdue for the Oakland Athletics to move into a new, baseball only facility.

Granted the stadium situation isn’t easy. The A’s just signed a 10-year lease with the Coliseum that will leave them in the stadium until 2024, unless they opt out after the 2017 season (they would still have to pay rent until the expiration of the lease). And Lew Wolff isn’t the type to part with his “hard earned cash”. Factor in that the team shares a facility with the Oakland Raiders, who have their own uncertain future after a failed move back to Los Angeles, and it becomes a very confusing situation here in Oakland.

There have been rumblings of an unknown billionaire who would be willing to purchase the A’s, move them out of the Coliseum, and build a brand new, state-of-the-art stadium. Except it’s unknown if Wolff would even be receptive to a move of those proportions. Only time will tell if anything get’s done. But I wouldn’t hold my breath.