A’s pack Coliseum, but there’s a catch
Price is right, mood is mellow, but this isn’t real
On the 50th anniversary of their first game in Oakland, the A’s gave away all the tickets to their game with the White Sox on Tuesday. By game time, nearly all the seats in the Coliseum were filled (though the Mount Davis section of football seats was cordoned off ). It was a rare occurrence at the Coliseum this spring, where attendance has dropped below 10,000 on several occasions. Tuesday’s announced attendance: 46,028. Things went well on the field for Oakland, too, where pitcher Trevor Cahill, who started his career with the A’s in 2009, was excellent in a homecoming and Oakland won 10-2.
The A’s fans have made it clear that they’re not willing to spend money on a franchise that won’t do the same. On a bleak Monday night against the Chicago White Sox, the team drew a crowd of 7,479 — and it appeared to be about half that.
Now, if you let them in for free ...
The Coliseum became a fantasy land Tuesday night. Nothing was real but the action on the field, where the A’s wore their 1968-vintage uniforms to celebrate the team’s 50th anniversary in Oakland. The free-admission crowd didn’t quite meet the A’s expectations, but it was a
richly satisfying night in perfect East Bay weather.
The way the A’s had it figured, they would draw at least 65,000 people — roughly the stadium’s capacity — after getting RSVP notices from more than 70,000 fans who registered online. The dreaded Mount Davis would be open, it would be filled, and the spectacle would be marvelous to behold.
About a half-hour before game time, it appeared that no more than 35,000 people actually would be on hand. But it was jammed by game time, reasonably close to how a sellout crowd would look with the tarps on Mount Davis.
Score it a success for A’s management. It doesn’t really lead anywhere, but in the wake of this season’s early games — already with three crowds under 8,000 — it looked awfully good.
What struck me, more than anything, was the crowd’s joyous spirit. There wasn’t a hint of trouble outside the stadium, where fans launched their tailgate parties hours before the gates opened. Season-ticket holders were allowed to enter at 3:30, with the general-admission folks held back until 4:30, and although the lines were impossibly long — such a strange sight for Coliseum baseball — the mood was extremely calm and mellow.
All evening, I tried to find fans who were seeing this team for the first time — this season or ever. Surely they existed, but nearly all of the folks I interviewed painted themselves as longtime A’s fans who attend with some regularity — and they had the green-and-gold garb to prove it.
“I wish they still had those $2 admission days,” said John from San Leandro. “And it’s always nice when the parking is free (as opposed to $30 on all days but Tuesdays). But this is a pretty fun night.”
John was downing beers inside the recently opened Treehouse, what amounts to a sports bar above the bleachers in left-center field. The place was teeming, multiple televisions airing the action, and it seemed most of these people were planning to stay there all evening.
With the help of a helicopter-rental company (joking), I found my way up to Mount Davis for the first time, just to catch the view. It’s pretty spectacular, if you’re into ant farms. Way, way below, the double plays and great catches are mostly rumor. Management decreed that it wasn’t going to be open unless the upper deck was filled (close, but not quite), so I was up there alone for a few moments.
Eerie. Who knows whom you’d run into up there? Maybe Danny Cater, or Blue Moon Odom, or the ghost of Ken Stabler.
It was a downright breezy evening for the stadium security people and Oakland police, who were out in force. “Nothing’s happened at all,” said a security man near the entry gates, puffing on a cigarette through the mellowness of it all.
“Pretty much what we expected,” said one policeman stationed beyond the rightfield bleachers. “That’s typical of an A’s crowd. Family atmosphere. Now, if this was a Raiders game, I’d probably have a different story.”
I did hear one dissenting voice, and I knew he wasn’t alone. “This is the only time I’d come out here — when it’s free,” said Bob Satterfield, an “East Bay handyman,” as he described himself. “I love the A’s. Always have. But I won’t spend a cent that would benefit A’s management. That cheapskate owner (John Fisher) needs to go away, like yesterday.”
That was a voice of stonecold realism in difficult times. As it happened, Tuesday marked an ominous announcement from a group intending to build a 32,000seat, major-league-ready stadium in Portland. That has long been a city targeted for possible expansion or team relocation (read the A’s or Tampa Bay Rays) for MLB, “and Portland will love the team,” wrote Oregonian columnist John Canzano. “It will defend it, support it, embrace it. We’re a dedicated bunch.”
Rest assured that by all accounts, the A’s are a long time from moving anywhere. The snapshots are troubling, though. How dearly the A’s would love to showcase Tuesday night’s game as the real thing — instead of pure fantasy.