Remember this?

Well, I just received word that the site’s slated for some new construction along with new construction already present (perhaps the Acura dealership?). So a ballpark is not going to happen along Auto Row. That’s one less option.

As far as Wolff’s Coliseum North plan goes, apparently the analysis is still in progress. I’m trying to find more detailed info on that analysis. Stay tuned.

There are some mighty eyebrow-raising quotes from Lew Wolff in John Shea’s Chronicle report on Barry Zito’s status:

The payroll is increasing about 10 percent, Beane said, and Wolff, whose focus is building a new ballpark, confirmed it’ll go deep into the $60 million range after the A’s signed Esteban Loaiza to a three-year, $21 million contract.

“I’m just hoping we get positive fan reaction with our attendance,” Wolff said. “Billy continues to field a fabulous team, and I hope fans who didn’t support us in the past will start to. It’s a very big goal for me. I’ve got to find out how strong we are in the local market.

“We’re trying to put the most quality team on the field. We just don’t want to go to the playoffs.”

That sounds like a challenge to the A’s fanbase. Not that signing Esteban Loaiza is going to equate to 2,000 extra season tickets, but it looks like Wolff is trying in earnest to get more momentum behind the team before the season begins. Signing Loaiza, keeping Zito (which many don’t think will happen), and bringing in a name free agent slugger such as Frank Thomas should create some buzz around the team.

Wolff hasn’t shown any Jeffrey Loria-like tendencies, so there’s no valid reason to believe that he’ll conduct a fire sale if fans don’t come or if he doesn’t get a ballpark deal. There’s always the possibility, and A’s fans know too well how good Charlie Finley was at ripping his team apart.

Buried in a MLB.com article about Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria’s economic justifications for conducting a fire sale of his roster is a tasty little nugget about Las Vegas. The quote comes straight from MLB COO Bob DuPuy.

Las Vegas is ripe for relocation, but there are concerns from the league regarding betting on baseball. When Las Vegas officials made their pitch to the Montreal Expos, who eventually became the Washington Nationals, the issue of betting wasn’t resolved.

“Las Vegas made a very attractive proposal,” said DuPuy about the city’s efforts to attract the Expos. “There are issues with regards to Vegas indicated during that proposal. [There was] no willingness to take baseball off the books. I know that’s a very, very serious issue with the Commissioner.”

Taking gambling off the books isn’t a complete dealkiller, but it has to be pretty close. As much as the major sports would love to be the first to get a share of the big money that comes to Vegas (and stays there, as the ad says), none of the leagues wants to be remotely associated with gambling. That goes double for baseball, which still has the stench of the steroids scandal all over it. Though I wouldn’t be surprised with the notion that if one league were brave enough to enter Las Vegas despite the sport still being on the books, the others would be falling all over themselves to be next.

Merc reporter Barry Witt corrected an assumption I made on an earlier post’s comments page, and he was also nice enough to alert me to some preliminary environmental review efforts that San Jose is undertaking regarding the ballpark. So far the city has published a “Notice of Preparation” and a “Scoping Meeting Notice“. The latter document has maps and a graphic depicting a ballpark on the Diridon South site with the PG&E substation moved to the fire training facility. Since the city just proposed the fire training site for a soccer stadium, the inconsistency here is baffling.

The scoping meeting, at which the public can comment on how the environmental review should proceed, is scheduled for Thursday, December 15 at 6 p.m. The location will be the new City Hall, Room W118-119.

I’ll start off with the graphic. To help you with your bearings, south and I-280 are to the top. Downtown and CA-87 are to the left.

The ballpark is on the now familiar Diridon South site. Across Park Avenue is the fire training center, which is should be converted into a public park, perhaps with parking for some 600 cars underneath. The park could have a small playground and playing fields for soccer/football and baseball/softball. To top my wish list for the park, it should be named after the late Pat Tillman. I have to admit a bias regarding Tillman because though I didn’t know him personally he was a contemporary of mine, but regardless it’s hard to find a more fitting, interesting former San Jose resident for whom a park could be named than Tillman.

The soccer stadium is located on what is currently an equipment rental facility. The company owns several parcels spread among two blocks of Dupont and McEvoy Streets south of Park Ave. I’ve gone by there several times while checking out the Del Monte site, and I noticed that it’s really underutilized. One parcel at the entry to the site is for sale. An office building in the middle of the facility is empty and has a for lease sign on it. There’s a good amount of open space there. Neighbors include a couple of auto repair shops and a welding company. The area is rectangular in shape, and could accommodate a 22-25,000 seat soccer stadium with little trouble. If the street grid were realigned, a compact but spacious soccer stadium could work very well there. A partial roof would be required to help mitigate noise. Of course, there would be issues with acquiring the land and moving the equipment rental company, but that comes with the territory.

One small note: the PG&E substation has been realigned next to the ballpark (in grey). If this can be done (the amount of land is the same if not the shape), it would cut down on the potential costs associated with moving the substation.

I spoke at tonight City Council Open Forum about this site. We’ll see if, like my suggestion to Oakland about the Broadway Auto Row site, anything comes of it.

Numerous San Jose Earthquakes fans are expected to attend tonight’s San Jose City Council session. Towards the end of the proceedings will be an open hearing, when Quakes proponents will make their desire to keep the team in town loud and clear. Today, reports emerged that the fire training was too small to hold a stadium, and I’m sad to say there’s a lot of truth to this.

I visited the fire training site over the weekend, and yes, it is small. I was able to get a couple of mockups going that got stadium capacity to the 16-17,500 range, but that’s too small for a SSS (soccer-specific stadium) these days. The preferred capacity for a SSS is 20-25,000, with some 20-30 suites, a stage at one end for concerts, and amenities one would typically find at a new ballpark or football stadium such as club seats and wide concourses.

It wouldn’t be so bad if the site were square, but since it’s more or less an isosceles triangle, shoehorning a field and stands into the space is quite an effort. Instead of 5 acres of available space, it’s really less than 4. There’s a possibility that a portion of a grandstand could be built over Los Gatos Greek, but that would trigger a potentially lengthy environmental review process because of the removal of some portion of the riparian corridor.

Unfortunately, we may be getting into a situation where soccer fans and baseball proponents end up fighting over the Diridon South site. Worse, the city may put together a proposal where the two teams share a stadium, an idea that goes against both MLS and MLB guidelines.

Interestingly enough, there is a piece (or pieces) of land nearby which, if the city invested in them the same way the are with the ballpark site, would make an excellent site for a 20-25,000 seat SSS. It would leave the fire training site open for the public park originally planned for the area. Where is this site, you ask? I will probably reveal it at the city council session tonight.