The news that the Oakland A’s have selected the Laney College site near Lake Merritt is large for the Bay Area sports scene. Everything’s changing in the 21st century, right before our eyes, and the new landscape by 2025 will leave us with a very odd thought: AT&T Park will be the oldest home park among the Giants/A’s/49ers/Raiders/Warriors.
Tear it down! Modernize it!
I joke, of course. That’s what a Jock Blog is for.
But let’s take a look at how the new Bay Area landscape will look by the time current elementary school kids will be in high school:
GIANTS: AT&T Park.
By 2025, it’ll be hitting its silver anniversary and will still be the prettiest gal at the ball. Really, what’s your biggest complaint with AT&T? That right center-field is too spacious? That the beers are too expensive? Jed York would kill for that to be his 1-2 complaint list. And besides, beers are too expensive at every sporting event. So that leaves only one legitimate gripe about AT&T, and that gripe only exists because the Giants farm system hasn’t produced right-handed power since Chili Davis —and he was a switch-hitter. The place is gorgeous. Period.
2025 Forecast: Still a 10 out of 10; destined to be a Fenway/Wrigley-type yard by the year 2100.
49ERS: Levi’s Stadium
By 2025, the most pertinent question for Levi’s will be: How gosh darn hot will planet Earth be? At the rate we’re going as a society, I’m not optimistic. When the 49ers play the Rams in September of 2025, I’m just hoping game time temperature is somewhere south of 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Obviously, Levi’s has its share of detractors. OK, Levi’s has millions of detractors. But to be honest, when you’re in the stadium and not melting, it’s a place with great sightlines and good scoreboards. If you live in the South Bay, all the griping about traffic is probably meaningless. So it comes back to winning. All the 49ers need to do to make Levi’s grow in fans’ hearts and minds is win a few NFC West titles. You’d hear a tremendous drop in moans and groans. You’re up, Kyle Shanahan.
2025 Forecast: Entirely dependent on the fate of the team. Is Sam Darnold entering his 8th NFL season as 49ers QB? If so, fortunes will be looking up.
RAIDERS: They’re in Vegas.
2025 Forecast: Dude. They’re in Vegas.
WARRIORS: Chase Center.
This is the one with the most mystery attached to it. As a North Bay resident who works in The City, I am selfishly excited for the Dubs’ move to the West Bay. If you have ever tried to get across the Richmond Bridge to get a weeknight Warriors game, you know what I’m talking about. You know I’m talking about Dante’s 7th level of Traffic Hell. So, the new arena eliminates that from mine and many North Bay fans’ lives. That said, it is undeniable that leaving Oracle Arena will be a blow to the spirit/legacy/ghosts of the Warriors franchise. There are bones in that building that cannot be replaced by a shiny new mansion on a hill. (Or a shiny new mansion in Mission Bay.) The chances of Warriors fans pining for Oracle’s gritty soul by the time the Chase Center is a few years old are high. Prices, the perception that Joe Lacob has ‘sold out’, the resentment from the East Bay — all of these stand a chance to mar the Chase Center’s early years.
2025 Forecast: Iffy. The place will be cutting-edge and pretty and host all sorts of concerts and March Madness games and al that. But. I hate to even type these words, but by 2025 the Curry-Durant-Klay-Dray Warriors will likely have finished their run of titles. What will Bob Myers do for an encore, and how will that affect Chase Center’s vibe?
A’s: Yet-to-Be-Named Laney College Site.
Finally, the reason for the Jock Blog: the likely future of the A’s new stadium. I’m bullish on the chances this will be a real winner. For anyone who never hangs in Oakland, you should know the city is underrated in terms of heart and soul. For anyone who hangs in Oakland, you already knew that. This park, a 10-minute walk from Lake Merritt BART, will get the A’s into The Town for the first time in 50 years. Yes, the Coliseum is home to the memory of Catfish Hunter and Rickey Henderson and Scott Hatteberg, but it’s physically detached from the heart of Oakland. I see a strong likelihood that the new A’s yard will play AT&T Park to the Coliseum’s Candlestick Park. We Giants fans love our Candlestick memories, and love Will Clark and Willie McCovey and Mike Krukow on the hill, but AT&T Park has changed the fate of the franchise. The new A’s yard — Clorox Field? Craft Beer Yard? Hipster Stadium? — almost can’t fail, from its intimate seating (35K) to its Oaklandish vistas (Lake Merritt, Tribune Tower, Oakland hills) to its yet-to-be-developed neighborhoods around the park. You know Dave Kaval, who lives to tweak the Giants, will make it homer-friendly, and advertise July night games that don’t need parkas. I’m excited for my A’s fans friends. (Fist in the air, Vegas Joe Hughes.)
2025 Forecast: Gonna be great. Let’s play two!
A’s Laney College site the newest in a changing Bay Area sports skyline
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