It became official when Commissions Bud Selig wrote a letter to Lew Wolff, owner of the Oakland Athletics, advising that if the deal with Fremont, California to build a new ballpark there falls through, he can talk with other areas about building.
This opens up some opportunities for the club to have talks with other communities, including Santa Clara County, which is considered within San Francisco Giants’ land. In the past, the Giants have blocked the possibility of a move into that area by the Oakland A’s.
Wolff believes a door that was previously closed is now open to them but hasn’t lost sight of Fremont. “The other communities are all over us now because of the letter but I’m not listening to them yet. I don’t want to start this process all over again,” Wolff said.
Unfortunately, there’s no speeding train running from Freemont. Wolff believe he’ll know by June if CISCO Field will be built in Fremont or elsewhere. Apparently not everyone in Fremont wants the new ballpark in their back yard. Even though the ballpark is being nearly entirely funded by private means, the Fremont City Council has yet to approve the deal.
Over two years ago, CISCO and the Oakland A’s made an agreement to purchase the Fremont property and build a new ballpark. The promise to purchase hasn’t been enough to get the necessary approval however and Wolff’s feeling the frustration. “We’re literally going to homes talking to people,” Wolff said, “They think we’re going to bring gangs to the community.”
The Oakland A’s have shared a facility with the football team almost all of the franchise’s history except for 1982 to 1994. They’ve been sharing the Coliseum since their relocation from Kansas in 1968. Although talks did commence with Oakland officials about building on the Coliseum parking lot, the talks didn’t amount to anything and were ended.
Because talks have not come to fruition with Fremont, Selig believes it was important to give Wolff a plan B. “It is important that we get some resolution in the near future,” Selig wrote in the December 8 letter to Wolff. “As a result, I’ve decided…you may begin to discuss a ballpark with other communities…”
Fremont, California is right in line behind San Jose, Oakland and San Francisco as the fourth most densely populated communities in the San Francisco Bay Area. Wolff believe that building the new ballpark in Fremont would easily create hundreds of union jobs in a city with a population of approximately 211,660 people.
Wolff, who was part of a group that purchased the Oakland A’s in 2005, is also a fraternity brother of Selig. Both went to University of Wisconsin. In 2006, Wolff made the announcement that he wanted to build the franchise their own ballpark.
The hope has continued to be that he will be able to build in Fremont but, according to Selig, Wolff can keep his options open, which means he can consider Santa Clara County as well.
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