Chronicle beat writer Susan Slusser has a big scoop tonight: the A’s could play yet another opening series on the other side of the Pacific in Taiwan (Chinese Taipei). The team opened the 2008 and 2012 seasons in Japan, hosting a pair of “home” dates against the Red Sox and Mariners, respectively. Like MLB’s Dodgers-Dbacks (thanks Dan) opening series in Sydney, regular season games in Taiwan would be a new experience. The only MLB games played in Taiwan were a 5-game exhibition set in 2011, scheduled after the regular season, and a 2-game exhibition set between the Dodgers and CPBL clubs in 2010.
Unlike the venues in Japan in Australia, the parks in Taiwan (4 total) all have grass and tend towards the cozy end of the scale. The largest ballparks on the island seat only 20,000, or the tall end of AAA parks. That made the 2011 “All Star” series feel especially exhibition-like. If the two games teams play in Taiwan are in the same venue(s), it’ll be an intimate affair with in all likelihood a top-tier price. Then again, if you’re going to take China Airlines on a nonstop from SFO just to see the A’s, you probably can afford it.
Because of the small capacities in the Taiwan ballparks, MLB won’t have to rig scheduling to bring in teams with established Taiwanese stars, the same way Boston had Daisuke Matsuzaka and Seattle had Ichiro Suzuki. It wouldn’t matter anyway, since there’s no established Taiwanese star in MLB. Chien-Ming Wang has been struggling to hold onto his MLB career, and most Taiwanese players associated with MLB are actually in MiLB. If MLB chooses to go that route anyway, we could see the A’s playing the Orioles, who have a young upstart in starting hurler Wei-Yin Chen.
My favorite park of the 4 pro Taiwan parks is Intercontinental Baseball Stadium in Taichung. The 20,000-seater has distinctive arches down each base line to hold up the expansive fabric roof. The park hosted Pool B of the World Baseball Classic last year, and I found it a good, energetic venue (at least on TV).
Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium
A’s management remains open to these barnstorming trips, since it seems to promote team chemistry – at least when Bob Melvin is at the helm. The loss of two home dates would cause some folks to grumble, but consider them replacements for those early-May Monday-Tuesday night games that few would go to anyway.
newballpark.org 
Small correction, the Sydney series is Dodgers v Diamondbacks, not Padres.
Good idea – they’d probably draw 40k for the 2 games in Taiwan – about 20k more than they’d get at home.
This is about holding as few games at the Coliseum as possible (substandard facility, poor attendance, host city won’t provide new stadium).
The A’s should play more away games in 2015 to send a message to Oakland/San Jose that they need some type of public funding to get baseball in bay area. .
Save Oakland Sports vision is for the Raiders and Warriors to stay at their respective venues while the A’s build their new venue..then find a developer to fill in the rest of the un used land..that is “Coliseum City”
pjk
Harry: Coliseum City – isn’t Alameda County so enamored with that plan that it asked to duck out of it? CC is all about building $2 billion worth of new sports facilities in an economically depressed area without public funds. Good luck with that…
Not a good thing that the A’s keep getting picked for the “honor” of hosting these away home games. It means losing dates at the Coliseum means nothing to MLB or Wolff. And on top of that these Taiwan games don’t even give us a big attendance boost like the Japan games do, due to the smaller size 20,000 seat size of the Taiwanese ballpark. Compare that to the 100,000 seat Melbourne Cricket Ground that the Diamondbacks are calling “home” in 4 weeks.
Correction, 50,000 seat Sydney cricket ground. point still stands.
@ pjk
Fantasy Island dude.
Alameda County never said that. Clarify whether this is your opinion or a fact.
If fact, let’s see evidence instead of ” Look, it’s the plane, it’s the plane! “
From a December 2013 article about Coliseum City on oaklandlocal.com:
A few county supervisors are “not really comfortable,” said Carson, with a feeling among their ranks that Oakland is leading the project’s early details and the county is merely “being pulled into decisions” rather than a situation of equal collaboration. Later, Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley raised the possibility of the city buying out the county’s share of the Coliseum Joint Powers Agreement
pjk
Exactly my point, I know of the article. Now read what you wrote:
” Coliseum City – isn’t Alameda County so enamored with that plan that it asked to duck out of it? ”
Does the quote you lifted from the article state anybody that works for the county asked to get out off it?
Stop over exaggerating.
What does “buying out” mean? Usually when someone asks someone else to buy out their share, it means they don’t want to participate anymore, no?
suggested, didn’t ask.
Why would alameda co. make that suggestion?
Ivan, you are full of shit. That’s all…
.
Just keep your eyes open guys. There is plenty going on behind the scenes and it is very clearly point towards a single team at the coliseum site, not a “Coliseum City.” We can all read the tea leaves the way we want to, I’ll just say that the JPA isn’t full of a bunch of dummies and they can do math.
Jeffrey
No, you are full of shit. Go play with your blow up dolls.
Jeffrey,
Read below, maybe this will help you out in life. Websters Dictionary-
Definition of AD HOMINEM
1
: appealing to feelings or prejudices rather than intellect
2
: marked by or being an attack on an opponent’s character rather than by an answer to the contentions made
Ivan,
What really is the difference between Alamedia County “suggesting Oakland buy them out” and “asking Oakland to buy them out”? Either way, the result of said action is the same thing.
Ezra: A whole different “reality” has been created around this ballpark situation, resulting in a multitude of spins. For example, we’re not supposed to believe Wolff won’t build in Oakland with his own money because the finances don’t work out and there’s no ideal site. We’re supposed to believe he won’t build there because he “hates Oakland.” We’re also supposed to think it’s perfectly fair that San Jose is banned from pursuing a Major League Baseball team and that the corporate-lacking East Bay is just as viable for funding a new ballpark as the corporate-rich, high per-capita income South Bay. We’re not supposed to let the actual facts get in the way of what people want to believe.
I “suggest ” Ivan take his bullshit elsewhere. Hey, I’m just “suggesting”, not asking.
Ivan, yes, we’re all aware that *YOU* are prone to Ad Hominen attacks, we’re just too polite to point it out to you.
Now, wrt to the County. You don’t make a suggest like “would you be able to buy us out” without it actually being a genuine option. Not a guarantee mind you, just a strong option. The problem with casually throwing it out there is the overall image it brings (i.e. a Negative image) towards the project. So if they weren’t seriously contemplating the possibility, they wouldn’t have brought it up.
Hey fellas lay off ivan. This whole situation is really frustrating. Listen I live in thr east bay and pay my taxes. I have stayed in the south bay as well. Lets get off our field of schema thinking mentality and help pay for any ballpark in Oakland or yes. …sigh…San Jose..I dont mind my taxes to a new ball park that will help local businesses and give the youth jobs during baseball season. Lets take thr fight to the anti sports ppl in the bay area…
The obvious solution is to level the playing field in the bay area–share the market—and then let the A’s make a decision on where to build based upon financial benefits. Hopefully one step closer to that with 9th District granting SJ’s request for expedited timeframe for briefing.
You all are aware that nothing is going to happen, right? The A’s are not going to get a new stadium in Oakland or San Jose. The Raiders will leave town once LA decides it wants a football team. The A’s will continue to lease out O.co until it crumbles to the ground. Even then, they will probably lease it out for another 2 years. Moneyball baby! The city of Oakland can’t afford a new stadium. Just look at the it. They have a ton of other problems they need to address before spilling Billions into a stadium. The A’s have proven they can wins games & make money without spending money on players or having fans show up. So why fix it??? The Giants will not give them the San Jose territory. They have the San Jose Giants there anyways. My point is, you all should get a life. Nothing is going to change. Even Fremont didn’t want the A’s.
Get a life yourself, since you also have taken the time to comment in here.
Ken is obviously a giants fan
Ken…thats it? Cant wait for the Bay bridge series for the A’s to whoop ur sf tiny giants outta the park
@PJK… This is my 3rd comment EVER on this site. You have more post before your morning shit each day. I think everyone on this site should start referring to you as the Newballpark.org Troll
@ Larry & Harry… Since I complemented the A’s on their ability to get the job done without fans showing up, without paying for big name players and playing in a stadium that literally shits on the visiting team must make me a Giants fan. Come on… I am just being a realist. I am saying what we all know and probably some of you fear. The fact that NOTHING is going to change. No San Jose and NO new Stadium. That my friends is reality.
Ken: So you’re not only posting here you’re monitoring the frequency of other people’s post. Let’s all say it loudly – Get a Life, Ken….There are thousands if not millions of Internet chat rooms on thousands if not millions of subjects. Should all of these people “get a life,” too? How about people who spend three hours a day in the spring and summer watching millionaires whack at a ball with a piece of wood? Should they “get a life,” too?
Often, I can be found in downtown San Jose watching millionaires skate around a rink chasing a piece of rubber with a wooden stick. I really need to get a life, don’t you all agree?
pjk
So MLB is going to pay the city of San Jose for lost potential revenue, and then convince the lodge to pay the Giants hundreds of millions of dollars to allow the Oakland A’s to move 30 miles south? With no public Tax money in San Jose either.
I’m not attacking you, I am just trying to understand your argument.
I get the part about South bay = alot / Easy Bay = 0. You should make t-shirts with that printed for as much as you write it.
Ivan: Where do you come up with this stuff? Where have I talked about MLB paying San Jose, paying the Giants, etc? Do you think it’s wrong for the city of San Jose to pursue an MLB team that clearly has been neglected by its current host city, which clearly has taken the A’s for granted?
pjk
I’m not saying that you said any of those things. I simply laid out some barriers to the A’s moving to San Jose to see what your opinion was on them. Barriers that have been mentioned on this blog a million gazillion times.
Here’s the reality. There is a stark difference between talks to build a ballpark and a lawsuit to build a ballpark. Oakland is in talks to build a ball park for a team that plays in its city, SJ is not. SJ is in a lawsuit over AT issues of a major league sport. SJ is SF territory and they have a minor league team there.
That is all.
Who is Oakland “in talks” with? Wolff? He hasn’t said anything lately. Oakland has been in talks with MLB for 5 years now on this Blue Ribbon Committee thing. These talks have produced no acceptable site in Oakland nor a viable financing plan. Talk, talk, talk. There probably have been discussions with Oakland going back nearly 20 years about a new ballpark. How many more decades of talking will be necessary?
@PJK
Back to my point. NOTHING is going to happen. SJ is a waste of time. The A’s gave the territory to the Giants and there is nothing they can do to get it back unless the Giants agree to give it back.
You are correct about Oakland. The city cannot afford a stadium especially for a team like the A’s.
The only real solution was building a stadium in Fremont. That plan is dead and so should this conversation about the A’s future. Nothing is going to change like you said. Only TALK, TALK, TALK.
So who should MLB go with Ken?
The city that is talking or suing?
The MLB is not going to strip the Giants of their territory. Maybe they would if they didn’t have a minor league team in SJ but they do.
That means the A’s stay in Oakland BUT they will never get a new stadium.
Everything stays the same. Hey Ivan, did the A’s resign a lease for O.co?
@Ken
Your logic makes no sense. Why would MLB allow the A’s stay in a dilapidated sewer with no corporate sponsorship and fans that only show up for free blankets made in sweat shops for three cents on the dollar.
If San Jose can get this to the Supreme Court, I see Cisco field in SJ becoming a reality. Howard terminal has no shot and Oakland pols are vesting all their interests into coliseum city, smack dab next to gun violence, drug dealing and prostitution.
Keep dreaming.
Ivan
HAHA… Supreme court!!! You are dreaming. Why would the Supreme court rule in favor of the A’s??? Put your lawyer hat on and tell me, on what grounds???
Is there a law that says if someone wants something bad enough they should get it no matter what? Giants own the territory in black and white. What the A’s are trying to do is very grey. #suckit
@Ken – I’m actually kind of with you except for the minor league part. MLB can do whatever it wants with minor leagues and their franchises. A minor league team is as fungible as a dollar bill in a strip club. T-rights and their cost is the issue. The SJ Giants? Not even close.
SJ deserves an MLB team, plain and simple. The owners know where the money is, and it’s right there in silicon valley.
With that being said Ken doll . . you win
” The Troll of the Day Award ”
I was going to give it to pjk but he ran out of ammo. Enjoy your award and beautiful box of nothing, sponsored by the SF minor league team.
The fans on this site that take every piece of news and twist it. Trying to make SJ make sense are very similar to Raider fans. Specifically, Raider fans during the pre-season. They always think it’s going to be their year but end up going 4-12. The A’s will not get the SJ territory. People just need to accept the fact that the A’s are going to be the Bay Area’s ugly step child of an MLB team. The Giants will always be the Golden child. Just accept it.
@Ken – Now you’re making it clear you don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.
GSW- wants to move to SF waterfront [BLOCKED by enviro whackos]
Mark Davis- wants stadium in Oakland [he’s broke]
A’s- want to build in S.J. Have the money, can overcome the envoro whacks [BLOCKED by MLB/SFG lawyers.