Hmmm…
I was digging around on the internets earlier tonight when I stumbled upon this:
Image titled “Pre Mount Davis Coliseum” from flickr user Photoscream
Take a long, hard look at the photo (click to enlarge). Then tell me what you think.
Update 9:50 AM – Okay, ready? The title “Pre Mount Davis Oakland Coliseum” is extremely misleading. There’s no date listed on the picture, but based on other pictures I have seen and archives, the pic goes back to the 1969-71 era. Here’s why.
1. The greater number of aisles on the lower half of the field level. Those were filled in around 1972.
2. The all-green-seats look was the original look to the Coliseum. The orange seats, as we remember them, were phased in over an almost decade-long period in the 80′s as the green seats deteriorated.
3. The exterior “hill” surrounding the Coli has no stairs! None next to the gate tunnels or anywhere else for that matter. There’s only a ramp and “trails” leading down from the plaza concourse, the latter of which may have been tough to negotiate if one were drunk following a game.
4. No DiamondVision!
5. Trees are very young.
6. The outfield fence is pulled in somewhat. The initial dimensions, according to Andrew Clem, were 330-378-410-378-330, not the 330-375-400-375-330 that we all knew so well. The former dimensions lasted only the ’68 season.
7. The few cars in the players’ lot in the upper left hand corner are pretty old.
8. The loge area had not yet been converted to suites.
9. The paths from the on-deck circle to the plate didn’t last long.
10. The dugout roofs are painted green and are otherwise unadorned.
In a few years, the Coliseum will be 50 years old. It’s lived a very full life – several lives, even. This version was the one that lured Charlie Finley, and you can see why he came. It was a pretty good spot back then – fresh, green, almost pastoral. The “Mausoleum” reputation it got wasn’t solely because of the stadium. It was because hardly anyone showed up.
If you want to see good closeup pictures of the Coli in its late 80′s glory, check out this flickr set by Jerry Reuss. That Jerry Reuss? Yes, that Jerry Reuss. Who knew the guy was such a stadium buff?
From what I can tell, no one has mentioned that there is no advertising in the scoreboard behind the bleachers. During the early 70′s, ARCO was the sponsor, and before that, Richfield Oil (which is the same company, BTW) However, that sponsorship ended in the mid 70′s, and I remember the sign being empty during the ’74 World Series. (The ARCO logo was still there during the ’73 series and I can find a photo to prove it) Therefore, that would place the pic somewhere from 1974 through the rest of the decade.
Unless, of course the pisture was taken just after the signs were erected around 1968 and the Richfield signs hadn’t been put up yet. But I don’t think the pedestian bridge to BART would have been there in ’68 yet, and it’s clearly there in the photo.
here’s some pics I posted from 1973 and 74, hope they help someone figure it out. The right field scoreboard was not put up until mid season of 1968, the left field scoreboard not put up until 1969.
http://www.athleticsnation.com/2009/11/25/1174406/random-images-from-1973-1974
@docmeat great pics! Sadly it seems like they could have used the tarps even back then.
RIP iceplant
Reminds me a lot of KC’s Kaufmann pre-remodel. Honestly if they’d remodeled it along the lines of how Kauffman in KC was remodeled (or if the Raiders had never come back) I’d have been happy.
If the Riaders ever leave again, theyr should implode Mt Davis and copy what the Halos did to Angels stadium after the Rams left (sans fake rocks)
Nice – you can see the old see-through OF fences and the seats that ran all the way down to field level. Also, the sections immediately next to the staircases did not extend all the way down. This was very important to me in 1984, when Dwayne Murphy’s 31st HR of the season landed in the dead area between the fence and the bleachers, and bounced up to a few rows in front of me, making it easy for me to retrieve the ball.
Here’s a pic from 1975 (Catfish in a Yankee jersey) that shows the box seats with the extra aisles.
http://www.corbisimages.com/stock-photo/rights-managed/U1836640/reggie-jackson-and-jim-hunter?popup=1