The overview planning document that was shared with the Fremont Unified school board is now available, courtesy of the Merc and Barry Witt.Witt’s article has quotes from former Fremont mayor Gus Morrison, including a “scathing critique of Wolff’s proposal.” The excerpt: Morrison, the former mayor, said he doesn’t see how a shuttle bus system would [...]

The last several months I’ve written a few articles about casual fans and their impact on the A’s. Not season ticket holders, not hardcore fans. Why? Because casual fans are the bulk of attendance, and have been for a long time. They are also the great variable, since numerous factors can affect their desire to [...]

Chris De Benedetti reports that Keith Wolff and A’s consultant Jim Cunneen will present their plan at a FUSD board meeting tonight. FUSD has been keenly aware that there’s no elementary school at Pacific Commons and at the very least one would be required there for the projected 700 grade school students. Some accommodations would [...]

Not much happening right now regarding the Fremont project, but I’ve heard noises about another report in the offing. We’ll see soon enough. On a related note, Fremont officials and staffers held a closed session last Tuesday to discuss the 40-acre parcel west of the planned ballpark village. The A’s are looking at this parcel [...]

So this is what passes in the Bay Area as a bidding war. Two cities, separated by 40 miles on a major freeway. One is a world-renowned city with image and attitude to spare. The other is a much smaller suburb hoping to bring in entertainment and tourist dollars. What do San Francisco and Santa [...]

Back from some other responsibilities, and I figure we’re overdue for a new installment of Attendance Watch. As you can see from the sidebar, this year’s A’s are nearly 100,000 better than last year’s. They’re also nearly 50,000 above 2005′s YTD mark.  So why are the A’s doing better? It’s not on-field performance since the [...]

South Florida Sun-Sentinel baseball columnist Mike Berardino praised the A’s ballpark plans and thinks the Marlins should consider downsizing its planned 38,000-seat ballpark in an effort to to reduce their current $30 million funding gap. Not a bad idea, IMHO. It doesn’t resolve the need for a retractable roof in the Miami area, but that’s [...]