Update 9:40 PM – Well, I guess this post is now moot.
10/11/2012 6:02 PM ET
A’s announce plans to remove tarps for ALCS
More than 11,000 tickets placed on sale with opening of third deck at O.co Coliseum
OAKLAND, Calif. – The Oakland Athletics have announced the team will remove the tarps and open up the west side of the third deck of O.co Coliseum for any American League Championship Series home games.
“This has been a sensational year for the Athletics and for our fans,” said Lew Wolff, owner and managing partner of the team. “We are thrilled with the tremendous outpouring of fan support.”
Based on increasing ticket sales after each post-season game and ticket sales projections for the ALCS, the A’s have opened 11,698 new seats for sale, priced at $55 each. American League Championship Series tickets will continue to be priced dynamically so fans are encouraged to buy early and save. Total capacity for the ALCS and World Series will now be 47,505 seats.
The tarps will remain off for the rest of this post season. Tickets can be purchased online at www.oaklandathletics.com/postseason, by calling 877-493-BALL (2255) or visiting the Coliseum box office.
The “West Side” is parlance for the original third deck, which includes the three sections of the Value/View Deck (316-318). Tarps for the extremely tall and sight-obstructed upper deck atop Mt. Davis will not be sold. Capacity for the ALCS and World Series will be 47,505 seats, plus 1-2,000 standing room tickets that can be sold per game. Tickets are showing up in the system now, starting at $55.
Tarps on Sections 300-315 plus Value Deck sections
Tarps on Sections 319-334 plus Value Deck sections
Well, it’s up to us fans to sell out the Coli. But first, there’s the matter of a Game 5.
Update 4:02 PM – The LA Times’ Bill Shaikin has a comment from Bud Selig regarding the tarp removal:
Selig said he was not troubled by the A’s decision to keep the tarps on for the ALDS, even as fans wondered why the team might artificially restrict ticket sales and television showed an entire deck covered up.
“I don’t think it’s embarrassing,” Selig said. “You saw it all year. They made, I think, the right decision all year.
newballpark.org 
So win or lose, tonight’s the final tarp day until next spring.
Here is to hoping that they make sure that it means something tonight!
Gah! Jinx!
This is what happens when you get ahead of yourself…
I guess the tarps are staying put.
Nah they’re being taken off anyway for the Raiders season.
You know what’s not moot? A sellout crowd staying put past the final out to deliver a standing ovation to a team that just got pummeled, for having a great season.
Oakland can’t support baseball, my ass.
Jeepers, I completely agree. That was an amazing moment to watch on TV. If the A’s end up moving to San Jose, so be it, but the argument that Oakland can’t support a major league franchise is, in my mind, absolutely ridiculous.
@Jeepers – Oakland is going to have to prove it next year during the regular season. I don’t believe the team can pull in 30k playing the Astros on a Tuesday, even with free parking.
The team won’t pull off 30k on the reg. Just like the Giants didn’t at Candlestick, the A’s won’t at the Coliseum. But that scene to end the season, everyone chanting “Let’s go Oakland” was a huge indication of the passion and love that is here for the team. Whether that is embraced and cultivated, we’ll see. I don’t care your personal position on the stadium issue, if that ovation didn’t move you as a fan, I just don’t know what to tell you.
That was a really nice moment to have the fans give the ovation, very cool. But to suggest that Oakland is now ready to fill the Coliseum every night is disingenuous at best. What this proved is that the A’s can sellout playoff games, and even that took a lot longer than most other markets in the same situation.
Here’s the part that’s a bit confusing. There is this, “We are boycotting because Lew Wolff is evil.” But you heard nothing from anyone about the boycott through these playoffs. Is the boycott back on now? Or is it a boycott that’s a lot easier when the team sucks? Or is there a boycott at all? I suppose time will tell what this magical run means long-term.
Hoping to see everyone out there next season for the Newballpark.org tailgate!
So I guess Ann Killion is the latest to chime in with the “Give us a ballpark” mantra…http://www.sfgate.com/athletics/article/A-s-head-off-to-another-offseason-of-questions-3941652.php
What utter bullshit from Killion (another SJ turncoat)! Yeah, like all those filling the coliseum were from Oakland proper. Like all those who were chanting “lets go Oakland!” Weren’t from the South Bay, East Bay, Tri-Valley, North Bay and Eureka. Territorial rights issue dormant? That’s news to Selig MLB. The A’s could only find success in San Jose? This is about getting a new ballpark and having the revenues to hold on to talent, not just having one year of success and sellouts only in the playoffs.
You know, I’m so proud of our A’s and wish the magic were continuing. But I won’t miss this utter nonsense, Oakland-only BS that surfaced during our fantastic run. Here’s to an off season that should finally provide some magic to our ballpark dreams…Go A’s and Go San Jose!
30k v. Astros? No way at the Coliseum.
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Anyway, Oakland just showed the world that we love our Athletics. MLB saw it too! The loudest crowds in American pro sports are in Oakland. The Warrior crowds are the loudest, with consistent sellouts. Gruber and Lacob are dummies!
Let’s Go Oakland!!!!!!
Oakland took until game 162 to sell out the stadium for this team. The support this team received was fantastic, no doubt about it, but it’s hardly proof that it can support this team beyond a handful of games in a fair weather scenario. Where was the crowd the final week of the season? That Friday game against the M’s while we were fighting our way to the playoffs? Nope, not there. That weekend? Not really. There was a 20k average for a 93 win team. All with some of the cheapest tickets in the league. That’s not the support they need.
@eb. Thank you. All you “keep the a’s in the bay area” types need to lay off your snarkyness about Oakland fans for once and enjoy what just happened and the amazing community response towards it. I hope I get the chance to cheer Let’s go Oakland for many years to come. This run has convinced me on where the A’s need to stAy.
I gave up on my boycott once they started winning this year. My desire to go see this team outweighed my distaste for giving LW any of my hard-earned money. I’ll worry about next year next year
OT: Ellison might bid on AEG.
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http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/morning_call/2012/10/report-larry-ellison-contemplating.html
God I hope not. The LA based guy made sense, but Ellison would pick AEG apart to his liking.
@LS – ZOMG HE’S GONNA BUY THE RAIDERS AND MOVE THEM TO LANAI
I don’t think 30k is a reasonable expectation, yet. I think the goal should be 25k. It’s a little over double our increase this year from last and it would hit the 2 million mark. Not good enough for the long run, but as a leap and show of faith, its a fair (and achievable goal) if there’s truly support for this team. But there also can’t be excuses either. Whatever the off season and regular season brings, people still have to support this team to prove the point.
Guys, nobody suggested that the A’s can draw 30K on a Tuesday night against Houston at the Coliseum. We all agree that’s absurd. After last year, maybe 15-18K, and even that might be optimistic. But we averaged 20K this year. I bet that jumps to 23K next year. And if we can average 23K in baseball’s worst venue, there’s no reason to think that we can’t average at least 30K in a beautiful stadium in a better location.
AVERAGE doesn’t mean we’ll draw 30K on Tuesday night against the Astros. That will probably never happen. But to be a successful franchise that isn’t what we need.
Oakland is a viable major league market. I’m not saying it’s better than San Jose, and I’m not saying it’ll be easy to get a ballpark done. Neither of those statements is true. But Wolff needs to take a step back and realize that this team can be VERY profitable in Oakland.
Fuck… right back to the same old bullshit and the body isn’t even cold… An awesome season by some awesome players that I am going to enjoy watching for the next few seasons (at least). I was there chanting “Let’s go Oakland” with any of you who were as well. I will be there chanting it next season… And every season that they play in Oakland, whether that’s 4 more years, or 40 more years.
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This postseason run gave us all a lot of joy. But it pointed out some obvious things, like the Coliseum needs to be replaced. Most of us believed that already… as electric as the action on the field was, getting around the place is horrible when you have big crowds, getting in and out of the parking lot is horrible when you have big crowds, same for the BART ramp after games, etc. Here’s to hoping I have to put up with that a whole lot more often next season than I did this one 🙂
Agree with Jeffrey! If I were sitting next to him at the coliseum I’d be yelling “let’s go Oakland” as well. And guess what, he’s from Tri-Valley and I’m from SJ…AND THOSE AREN’T NEIGHBORHOODS IN OAKLAND! Damn straight: the coliseum needs to be replaced by a ballpark anywhere in the Bay Area, be it SJ or OAK. May the be$t city win…
One thing we should all be really happy about… There were a lot of people in the stands who hadn’t been to more than a few A’s games. In fact, I have a friend from Boston who texted me from section 103 to come find him and then he, a Red Sox season ticket holder even though he has lived in Pleasanton for the past 5 years, talked my ear off about how great the A’s are for the better part of 2 innings.
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The best marketing in the world is the atmosphere the past few nights… It’s just a shame Verlander was so good last night, because an ALCS would have been rocking in Oaktown.
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Can we all agree on one thing? “Anywhere in the Bay Area” includes Oakland? I am reading the comments above and it just sucks to see that people think that people like me are saying “Oakland can’t support a team” because that isn’t what I have ever meant. In fact… If you look over in the right hand bar (and take the giant chip off your shoulder) and read my “Greener Grass” posts from AN, the whole point of the first one is that Oakland and San Jose are both better than anywhere else.
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My reservation about Oakland is that i do not believe the City Government can pull off a realistic new stadium deal (Lew Wolff or not). Related to that, I have major doubts about funding the stadium (and as I have said a bozillion times, that is the only reason that attendance matters: it is a key piece to privately financing a stadium. Presales of expensive ticket packages are a large part of funding the 49ers new stadium and were a large part of funding AT&T Park). These challenges are not being addressed in any meaningful way. I am not even saying they are unaddressable… In fact, I wrote a long piece about how I would go about addressing them and I get people sending me messages about how I hate Oakland and flippant bullshit about taking my daughters to the zoo.
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All of this says nothing about my fellow A’s fans who want the A’s to stay in Oakland or the citizens of Oakland. I know “Oakland” can support a baseball team. “Oakland” is in a market that can support 2 MLB teams. That isn’t a question for me. The market exists and it’s the same market that exists in San Jose or San Francisco for the most part… it’s 7M people with disposable income. Some portion of those people will come to a new stadium in Oakland or San Jose (or Fremont for that matter). A greater portion of those people than come to the Coliseum on a regular basis.
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Let’s see how the off season unfolds. Hopefully this whole “where are they going to play” mess is resolved one way or the other. And if it is a new stadium in Oakland I will be just as excited as all fo you Oakland Only guys.
This is pass over most people’s heads, like a fly ball and Josh Hamilton.
Spotted at a schoolkids walkathon in San Jose this morning: A’s mascot Stomper, fwiw
FWIW, part 2 – A week ago I was at the SJ Convention Center with my wife and family while she picked up her number for the R&R half-marathon. I was wearing an A’s hat, and I cannot tell you how many mini-conversations I had with a bunch of folks walking around with A’s gear on. It was really awesome to feel that my team is not a second class citizen for a change. And Tony D. hits it perfectly, echoed last night by Townie – this team is not just Oakland’s team. It belongs to whoever chooses to don the colors and cheer them on.
FWIW, part 3 – When Stomper made it out to a Quakes game earlier this year, he also got major love.
Just wish the Giants had lost too. The A’s will quickly be forgotten after the NLCS starts. And God help us all if the Giants win the WS again.
@Jeffrey – since you “went there”, i will too! You can’t separate Lew Wolff from The City of Oakland’s desire to keep the team in Oakland. It would be one thing if Wolff were indifferent, but he’s downright hostile toward the City. You cannot force a private business to “play ball”. He won’t even talk to the Mayor. Then he keeps going on TV talking about San Jose. He should really stop doing that – because if he doesn’t stop, the attendance will stAy where it is.
Downright jostle to a city that has done what over the past 17 years? Based upon ML’s recent post on HT we are back to asking the A’s ownership to build a private ballpark at the Coli! No way from this A’s fan- downtown in either SJ or Oakland and sine Oakland doesn’t have a site I support SJ!
“Just wish the Giants had lost too. The A’s will quickly be forgotten after the NLCS starts. And God help us all if the Giants win the WS again.’
Yeah, if they win the WS this A’s season will be all but overshadowed and forgotten in the Bay, by most. Let’s hope the baseball Gods aren’t that cruel.
Well said, David.
@GoA’s – there wasn’t anything final in ML’s HT post. Lots of if’s and when’s. Questions that need answers… that’s what’s going on right now as far as CC and HT goes. Both sites are still in play.
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There were many things the Giants and Whiners had to work together on, through the years. I’m sure both sides weren’t happy all the time. What did the city of SF do for the Giants all those years? Not much, but now they sit in a nice stadium in SF, anyway.
The Giants winning the World Series would be awful, made even worse if they beat the Tigers. My hope lies in that Verlander is a dominant force, who will remain virtually unstoppable the further we get into the playoffs. Great season. Go A’s.
David, granted. But that doesn’t get the City off the hook regardless of what you want to believe.
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My point is that the City of Oakland has screwed the pooch on this starting in the mid 90’s (not all that relevant to right now) and haven’t come up with anything that is remotely doable in the past 5 years (completely relevant to right now). Lew Wolf aside… That is a huge challenge to getting something done. What happens if tomorrow Lew sells the team? Not Howard Terminal. Not Victory Court. Not Coliseum City… So what does?
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Consider this… Coliseum City looks a lot like what Lew Wolff proposed in 2005. The city government (and the folks behind baseball Oakland) called it an unrealistic proposal meant to sink any possibility of Oakland keeping the team. Now it’s central to keeping the team? And you don’t think that is a problem?
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I am not saying Lew Wolff isn’t a barrier to keeping the team in Oakland. I am saying that the City Government is just as big of one.
It was a very strange moment after the game last night. To the right of me were the Tigers celebrating their win, and to the left were the A’s standing in front of their dugout in disappointment. Even though the outcome of the game was pretty much settled by the 7th or 8th inning, there still appeared to be the look of shock and disbelief on the faces of the players. They were so accustom to late inning comebacks, they could not believe or accept the fact that the season was over. The ovation by the many fans that stayed was awesome, and very moving.
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If nothing else, this years success has made the A’s relevant again in the bay area, and beyond. They proved that a good manager, and gritty players can matchup to high-priced players any day.
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The team has some holes to fill in the off season, but perhaps more importantly, the front office has some holes they need to fill if they want to keep the team/organization relevant. My suggestion would be to find someone who can step in front of a mic or camera and positively and effectively communicate the direction the organization is headed. No more tarp blunders, no more alienating of fans. This off season could prove to be very pivotal. Maintaining the momentum from this season, territorial rights, and the lease extension. Having an effective decision maker and spokesperson would go a long way in healing some of the wounds, and helping the A’s remain relevant.
@fc – hell yeah!
@David, “He won’t even talk to the Mayor.” That’s under the assumption that the Mayor even has anything to speak about. She’s already clear on the plan at CC, and the A’s, understandably aren’t interested in that “solution”. Why re-hash?
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We’ve never really heard Quan acknowledge the hurdles at VC or HT (correct me if i’m wrong), and therefore, we’ve never heard how those issues would be addressed. What’s the point of Wolff talking about VC/HT if the Mayor cannot guarantee the city can procure & prepare those sites with the intent of Wolff subsequently being responsible to privately finance construction at either of those locations? Should he also be responsible for acquiring, vouching and preparing the land because there’s no way you and I can know if Quan has made any progress on that. What do you want Wolff, specifically Wolff, to talk about with Quan if she doesn’t bring anything to the table?
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That’s great you love the city of Oakland. Me too. But this isn’t just a one-sided problem.
looks like my comments are subject to review prior to being posted
re: You can’t separate Lew Wolff from The City of Oakland’s desire to keep the team in Oakland
…if Oakland were willing to do what 20 or so other MLB cities have done in the past 20 years and offer a public contribution toward construction (40% or 50 % maybe), then Oakland could keep the team. But Oakland wants the ballpark for free. And therein lies the problem.
@pjk – how much money is the city of SJ putting up in their bid?
@fc : Bingo. The A’s gotta strike while the iron’s hot to rebuild some bridges with the fans. I’m not trying to overstate it, but the 2012 A’s season might be their greatest yet. I feel that way. The A’s became more than a team. They were a phenomenon. I’m not anti-Lew Wolff, but for the sake of the recent fan unity, he needs to stay out of the public eye. Offer Ray Fosse some sort of ambassador role to navigate the A’s PR. 2012 reminded many people how inspiring and fun the A’s can be. They gotta keep the party going into 2013.
fc, great point about the front office (business guys). If they want a new venue like they say they do, Lew Wolff won’t be in front of a microphone ever again. This is the first season where I felt like they were making progress in the marketing realm in a long time, but I’d get rid of “thought leadership” at the top of their marketing and sales effort. They have some excellent sales talent (like Josh Feinberg) but the whole effort needs a new vision and strategy.
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The sad part about the awesome atmosphere the last few nights is that i don’t trust the A’s business guys to capitalize on it. Motivations aside, meaning that whether you believe they want to draw more fans or not, they have shown they are inept at it. They could have been a lot more gracious about the Coliseum (as many Oakland Only folks rightly point out) and it could have helped them get a new stadium no matter where in the Bay Area they wanted to put it.
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There were thousands of new potential season ticket holders there last Wednesday, Tuesday, Wednesday and last night. Honestly, if the A’s don’t get the stadium situation mostly done this off season I will join everyone that wants new owners. Be it committed to Oakland or San Jose or whatever.
David and pjk, can we just stop with that stuff? We all know the answers.
Yes, we all know San Jose’s mega-strong corporate backing negates the need for any city money to pay for the ballpark.
@Jeffrey, the reality right now is that you have to have a counter-party in order to develop a ballpark. Who should Oakland negotiate with re: building a new ballpark? I think you would agree that you can’t negotiate against yourself.
Stanley: So why hasn’t Oakland brought forward someone willing to both buy the team and pay for the ballpark? Someone willing to pay for the whole thing and go public with these intentions? Don’t you think Selig would love to hear “I’m so and so and I’m willing to spend more than $1 billion to keep the A’s on Oakland. I have the financing all set. And I’ll put it in writing.”
@Stanley Stanson – Oakland has a counter-party. It’s called MLB.
@pjk, from what I understand, according to people who know how the Commissioner works, publicly announcing your intent to purchase a team when it isn’t for sale is the exact opposite way to be successful in becoming an MLB owner.
Additionally, is the city of Oakland supposed to negotiate this complex transaction with a group who doesn’t own the team, doesn’t know how much it will pay to get the team, hasn’t looked at the books of the team it intends to buy? I can’t imagine any good business person doing this without understanding the economics fully.
ML, first of all, Oakland is talking to a three person committee, none of whom is an MLB employee. Second, it’s clear the committee doesn’t have any mandate to negotiate anything.
@Stanley Stanson – No, but that hasn’t stopped the City from progressing as if negotiating with MLB is the primary option. That is what it negotiated for with its PR push, and that’s what it’s getting. It’s presenting sites to MLB. It’s exchanging information. It’s communicating with the commissioner. They’ve done an endaround ownership, and this is what an endaround gets you.
Can’t wait for this shit to be over…
Really sad that the bickering had to start that quickly after such a great season.