We’re still three weeks from the winter meetings, at which the A’s situation is not guaranteed to be resolved. Until then we wait and stay informed.
- As noted in the previous comments thread and this thread at Big Soccer, Quakes president David Kaval gave an opening date for the new stadium: March 2013. Construction on the 18,000+ horseshoe would begin up to one year earlier.
- There’s a well-worn history of Commissioner Bud Selig playing fast and loose with the rules regarding team owners and their finances. (Bloomberg/John Helyar and Scott Soshnick)
- In order to staunch the bleeding from the last year of McCourt ownership, the Dodgers are cutting prices on season tickets as much as 60% in some locations. (LA Times/Steve Dilbeck)
- Citi Field will be made smaller and more hitter-friendly by the implementation of eight-foot-high fences in front of the some of the existing outfield walls. This includes the notch called “Mo’s Zone” in right field. (NBC New York/Josh Alper)
- The Buffalo Bills and the City of Buffalo are looking at a $100 million price tag for modernizing Ralph Wilson Stadium. The improvements would allow the team to stay 10-15 more years. (Buffalo News/Tim Graham and Mark Gaughan)
- Mother Jones asks if it’s possible for behemoth stadiums to actually be green buildings. (MJ/Ian Gordon)
- The Oakland Tribune may not drop the “Oakland” after all. (SFGate/David R. Baker)
- Then again, Oakland may drop Mayor Quan due to a recall effort. (Tribune/Sean Maher)
- Susan Slusser is the new Vice President of the Baseball Writers Association of America. Congrats, SuSlu! You’ve more than earned it. (SFGate/Vlae Kershner, Henry Schulman)
Features to come after I finish a few things.
newballpark.org 
It is about time on the CitiField Fencage Bringing Inage. I think the giants and padres should both consider something similar. Fill in Triple’s Alley with some sweet premium seats simar to the Virgin Loft thing inside Right Field at the phone booth.
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I watched the Diamondbacks and Padres take BP back in May and I saw 3 (3?!?!?!) balls leave the yard between them. That is the equal (and opposite) kind of redonkulousness when compared to band boxes all over the place. Why not strive for a neutral yard?
With all the bandboxes out there it’s nice to have a park or two like PETCO to off set the bandboxes. Plus at PETCO at least they’ve already brought the fences in once.
Wow…go SuSlu! Well deserved! Also, I’m surprised that park dimension modifications don’t have to be okayed by the MLB/COmmish…seems like you can continually tweak it to your liking. =/
The Mets realized they actually have a pretty good hitting club, so it makes sense that the stadium should support that aspect.
http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/ci_19202441
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Now the referendum talk makes sense; perhaps the savings are going to be put towards an outright purchase of the ATT parcel as opposed to ED.
The idiots over at San Jose Inside are going to have a field day with this one. Better Sense San Jose; Open up the land to see what else the city could get? Stupid would be an understatement. Yeah, let’s get more empty offices or condos at Diridon instead of an economic altering Crown Jewel of a ballpark.
Tony I don’t know why you worry about the 5 people that read Inside San Jose. They’re a fringe site at best. As for the ballpark plan itself, now it makes sense that they’re going to need a referendum. But given that the land is only being discounted $7 mil off market value as the city’s total contribution to the stadium project… that’s a deal. Even SF had to throw more into the land for the so called “private” Pac Bell Park.
Good news for a change in Oakland. Due to strong public feedback, the Oakland Tribune will retain it’s masthead along with the Hayward, Fremont, San Mateo and CoCo papers. Strong public feedback also worked for the A’s bleacher debacle last month. Selig’s office has received 1000’s of petition letters from LetsGoOakland to keep the A’s in Oakland. Not sure it’s enough to make a difference, but it sure hasn’t hurt, along with the impassioned letters from the local/federal politicians.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/news/ci_19207151