San Jose seeks freedom from the San Francisco Giants

Here is some fun history. San Jose used to be part of the Oakland A's territory. When the San Francisco Giants were interested in building a ballpark in San Jose in the 90s, the A's kindly gifted them the territory so that the team could build a new ballpark in San Jose. That's called good sportsmanship.

The project fell through and after many years, the A's were interested in building their own stadium in Downtown San Jose. In an ironic twist, the Giants refused to give them back the territorial rights that were originally given to them for free.

Now, the Bay Area will very likely end up losing the A's and having only a single team for over 8 million people. In the process, San Jose will continue to be held hostage by archaic territorial rights. These will remove any future possibility of us hosting a professional baseball team of our own--whether it is a team looking to relocate or an expansion team.

Mayor Matt Mahan is now the fifth mayor writing to the MLB Commission to abandon these ridiculous territorial claims. San Jose is the only major city in North America that is not allowed to have their own pro baseball team. For more details, click the source link below.

Source: ABC7News

Baseball San Jose: Impact of Professional Sports for a Local Business

Baseball San Jose Interview with Sam Licccardo

Baseball San Jose: Episode 2

Baseball San Jose: Episode 1

Must Watch Video: Baseball San Jose Area Tour!

Baseball San Jose: We're going to be wondering why we didn't do this decades ago

Baseball San Jose: What would a downtown ballpark do for San Jose?

The San Pedro Square Market's Steve Borkenhagen tells us how a downtown ballpark would positively impact San Jose:

Baseball San Jose: Why Not the A's in San Jose?

Baseball San Jose: City Council Approves Resolution

For Good Measure: San Jose City Council Again Approves Resolution to Bring the A's to Town

by noreply@blogger.com (DLo)

Buoyed by the recent show of Silicon Valley corporate support, the City Council tonight passed another resolution in support of an A's move to San Jose. The vote was unanimous, though clearly, everyone is getting antsy. Councilman Liccardo, noting that Milwaukee recently erected a statute in honor of MLB Commissioner Bud Selig, even jokingly offered to build him a replica in San Jose.

Still, the fact remains that San Jose is admirably positioned to land the A's. Certainly, no other location in the Bay Area can boast such an attractive offer.

You're up to bat, San Jose!

Baseball San Jose: A's Relocation Inevitable

The Biz of Baseball: "Oakland's Relocation into the South Bay is an Inevitability"

from Baseball San Jose by noreply@blogger.com (DLo)

This week, The Biz of Baseball re-ranked their Top Ten Markets for Relocation or Expansion. In it, they looked at those national and international markets most primed for a Major League Baseball team. In their 2008 analysis, San Jose didn't even rank. However, the story is different in 2010.

Here are their latest rankings:
10. Las Vegas, NV
9. Sacramento, CA
8. Nashville, TN
7. Montreal, QC
6. San Antonio, TX
5. Indianapolis, IN
4. Portland, OR
3. Metro New York City, NY
2. Charlotte, NC
1. San Jose, CA

Of an A's move to San Jose, they say:
The most obvious eventual home for the Oakland Athletics, San Jose is the ideal mix of fans and corporate interests. There is enough benefit for both the league and the club to make this deal a question of when, not if. Whether it is Cisco Field or some other iteration, Oakland's relocation into the South Bay is an inevitability.

You're up to bat, San Jose!

Walking Tour of the Future A's Stadium + Diridon Area

I was fortunate enough to make it to the walking tour of the proposed A's stadium and Diridon area improvements. Imagine a state of the art ballpark along a new riverfront park, a short walk away from a bustling HSR/BART/Light Rail/ACE/Caltrain station, and adjacent to a massive retail and entertainment hub (this is the new plan for the area in front of Diridon and the HP Pavilion). It's a very realistic vision with a lot of intelligent and passionate people leading the charge.

I also noticed several friends at the walking tour:

BASEBALL SAN JOSE

At the Proposed Ballpark Site Walking Tour

from Baseball San Jose by noreply@blogger.com (DLo)

About 50-60 people, including several Baseball San Jose supporters, joined the San Jose Redevelopment Agencey for their Proposed Ballpark Site Walking Tour on Monday.

The agency's Dennis Korabiak led the tour, which consisted of updates on not only the ballpark, but the Diridon Station general plan, inlcuding BART and HSR. In short, the city plans to transform the area into a major retail-entertainment center, anchored to the north by HP Pavilion and to the south by Cisco Field.

Tour guests also got to hear from High-Speed Rail Authority board member, Rod Diridon. He made an impromptu pitch for the ambitious vision the city has for the area surrounding the station.



















Korabiak led the group to the corner of San Fernando and Autum, which will be the main gate to Cisco Field. It's not much to look at now, but soon it may be the site of a grand plaza welcoming A's fans to the game.

















Throughout the tour, Korabiak outlined the general ballpark concept. The agency's focus is on creating a comprehensive ballpark experience for fans, including a realigned Autumn Street, riverside parks, and plenty of new retail.

















The tour concluded with a few words from Baseball San Jose co-chair, Michael Mulcahy. In anticipation of a spring ballpark campaign, he urged baseball supporters to get the word out to as many people as possible.

It was interesting to get a peak at the city's grand vision for Diridon. If they come, the A's will have an dynamic new home in a bustling area of downtown. Of course, many things have to happen before that can become reality, but as Michael Mulcahy points out, MLB in San Jose begins with you.

You're up to bat, San Jose!

SAN JOSE METBLOGS

Tour of Proposed Ballpark Site Sparks High Hopes

from San Jose Metblogs by JoAnn Freda

Okay, I can only speak for myself but as I stood on the corner of San Fernando and Autumn and looked at the proposed site of the San Jose Athletics ballpark I couldn’t help picturing myself walking through the main entrance of the ballpark on game day and I got pretty excited.

Corner of San Fernando and Autumn

Last night Dennis Korabiak of the San Jose Redevelopment committee took a small group of fans(?) on a tour of the area between Diridon Train Station (Rod Diridon just happened to show up)
and the corner (and hallowed ground if hallowed ground can be secular?) that I hope will one day be the home of a major league ball club. The planners envision extended mass transit such as high speed rail, public art, trails, retail shops, restaurants and clubs. The beautiful artist’s renderings of the proposed ballpark made it easy to imagine this vision coming true. You can go to Pro Baseball San Jose for more details and links to the ballpark plans.

 

Baseball San Jose has NEW A's STADIUM RENDERS!

Our friends over at Baseball San Jose have a killer treat for you today... more stadium renders! My favorites are the first and fourth ones--if you click on them to enlarge, you can get a good feel for the view inside the proposed ballpark. To help make this dream a reality, head on over to Baseball San Jose to find out how you can contribute!

One More San Jose A's Stadium Render!

Baseball San Jose is at the Jazz Festival!

AND, Check out the new render of the proposed stadium below!

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from Baseball San Jose by noreply@blogger.com (DLo)

Friday evening, Baseball San Jose took in day one theAT&T San Jose Jazz Festival. It was great to get out and meet the community. We encountered a tremendous amount of enthusiasm to bring the A's to a new home here in Silicon Valley.
















If you are attending the festival, be sure to stop by the booth. You can see just released renders of the stunning proposed stadium (images coming to this site soon). In addition, we will be raffling A's tickets all weekend. Hope to see you there.   

  



You're up to bat, San Jose!

Help Bring Baseball to San Jose Today!

From SJ Metblogs:

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Help bring Major League Baseball to San Jose by attending today’s City Council meeting.
August 3rd · 1:30 PM – 5:30 PM

San Jose City Hall Council Chambers
200 East Santa Clara Street
San Jose, CA

COUNCIL AGENDA
Baseball San Jose facebook

Baseball San Jose: You're up to bat, San Jose!

Tomorrow we have a chance to help bring pro baseball to San Jose! The Baseball Stadium EIR is on the city council agenda, and the more people that can attend and show their support the better. Shills from the San Francisco Giants will no doubt be on hand to do whatever they can to block the move, so we need all the positive reinforcements we can get! More info below from Baseball San Jose:



Here is an invitation from Michael Mulcahy, Pro Baseball for San Jose Co-Chair, for everyone to attend tomorrow's very important San Jose City Council meeting concerning the ballpark's Environmental Impact Report:

Dear Baseball Supporters: 

Tuesday night, June 15 at 7pm, the San Jose City Council will consider the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Downtown San Jose Ballpark site. This will be another important opportunity for the public to weigh in with its support as we work to bring the A's to San Jose and make the Ballpark a reality while generating the jobs, economic development and tax revenue that our city needs so badly. And let us not overlook the value of community pride, international recognition and identity driven by major league sports. 

We realize this is a busy time of year but please plan to join me—and Susan Hammer—and many of our supporters in attending the meeting and expressing your support for the EIR and the Ballpark plan. As you may have read in the Mercury News, last month the SF Giants' attorneys, under cover as Stand for San Jose, attempted to derail the Planning Commission's approval of this very same EIR and we expect them to do the same next week. This SF Giant’s backed organization is working hard and relentlessly to deprive our City of charting its own course. It's time now for our group and our broader community to step up and make our voices heard in support of our own future. 

It’s time for the real San Jose to stand for San Jose! 

I look forward to seeing you Tuesday night. Please spread the word to your personal network of San Jose and ballpark supporters that this will be an important evening. We would appreciate knowing if you can attend, so please reply toprobaseballforsanjose@gmail.com. 

Sincerely,
Michael Mulcahy 
Co-Chair, Pro Baseball for San Jose

Again, the City Council meets:

Tuesday, June 15th @ 7 PM
San Jose City Council Chambers
200 East Santa Clara Street, San Jose

One Less Hurdle for the San Jose A's!

The owners of the Sharks have made it pretty well known that they are not satisfied with the environmental impact report (EIR) for the proposed San Jose A's stadium downtown. Their major concern is lack of parking for days in which there would be BOTH hockey and baseball games. Well I found some good news in the San Jose Business Journal today. The owners of the Sharks have come to an agreement with the city where they will be able to build a new parking structure for Sharks fans, even if it comes down to requiring eminent domain to collect the necessary parcels. There are still many challenges in getting the A's to San Jose, but this will be one less roadblock in the way!