Stadium Comings and Goings

 

Joe DiMaggio and Catfish Hunter. 

Where had Joe DiMaggio gone?

Joltin' Joe had left and gone away, retiring from baseball as a player following the 1951 season. A kid named Mantle would replace him in center field in New York and debates about who was better have raged ever since.

Regardless of that, DiMaggio spent the 50s briefly married to Marlyn Monroe, doing some broadcasting, and simply being Joe DiMaggio. He coached in spring training, did commercials, and lived his life.

By 1968, baseball was shifting around. The team known as the Braves had moved from Boston to Milwaukee to eventually settle in Atlanta. The Dodgers and Giants both left New York for the west coast, replaced by some other squad in 1962. The Washington Senators moved to Minnesota before a second Senators team sprung up.

These were just some of the moves of the era, and in 1968, the Kansas City Athletics, once of Philadelphia, relocated to the California Bay Area.

They became the Oakland Athletics, "The Swingin' A's!"

And Joe DiMaggio -- San Francisco's own, who still owned a restaurant across the bay -- was hired by A's owner Charlie Finley to be a coach.

Initially, Joe was a front office person but accepted the opportunity to put a uniform on.

Joe DiMaggio -- forever number five in pinstripes (save for his rook year when he wore nine) -- donned the green, white, and gold of Oakland.

It was...an interesting site.

DiMag was out of the dugout by 1969 and eventually off to live out the rest of his life promoting Mr. Coffee, the Bowery Savings Bank, and simply being Joe DiMaggio.

The A's -- on the verge of a dynasty -- spoke glowingly of the tutelage of baseball's then "Greatest Living Player."

*****

The Oakland Athletics will cease to exist in a few hours. In one of baseball's truly dark hours, the A's will depart the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum following today's game against the Texas Rangers. They have a series in Seattle to finish the season.

The reason they're leaving Oakland, of course, is money. The A's owner, John Fisher, wants a new stadium. He and the city of Oakland could not come to an agreement about a new building. Instead, Fisher will first move the team to Sacramento for three years before a new stadium is supposed to be ready in Las Vegas.

All of that makes me need a shower. It's just dirty. Dirty business. Dirty politics. With a clueless owner and commissioner of baseball leading the way.

As usual, it's the fans who are suffering. Today's game is sold out in Oakland, which will help their season average of just 11,081 fans.

The distance from Oakland to Sacramento is under 100 miles so it's curious how many fans will follow them to the California capital.

The trip from Oakland to Las Vegas is closer to 600 miles.

It's the fans who are always forgotten. There are still people in Brooklyn who are angry over the departure of the Dodgers. The A's fans will feel a large chunk of that same venom. They had an overall proud history, winning four titles (1972, 73, 74, 89), along with myriad playoff appearances, as well as being the basis of "Moneyball."

Both the concept and the movie, which I have some issues with.

I can't help but watch and read about the end of this era and how shameful it all is. Keep in mind that not a single shovel has gone into the ground for a stadium in Las Vegas, which is slated to hold only 33,000 fans and open in 2028.

The Sacramento stadium will have a capacity of just 14,014. It will be the smallest attention by far in MLB.

Will any of it be reality? Who cares? It all stinks.

Fans deserve better.

It's sad and, once again, shame on Major League Baseball.

*****

I'm heading to The Bronx shortly for tonight's Yankees/Orioles game.

Watching the Oakland situation reminded me in the slightest way when the old Yankee Stadium closed. The Yankees, of course, weren't leaving New York, but they were moving across the street, and away from the iconic address that they'd called home since 1923.

I'm still sad and, no, I'll never get over it.

But, look, I like the current Yankee Stadium. It's still epic and has good site lines, a museum, and a huge team store. 

Yes, it's been called a shopping mall. Whatever. That's stadium building in the 21st century.

I like it.

But, of course, it's not the old place. Even the "remodeled" Stadium of 1976-2008 was maligned because it wasn't the original 1923 building.

That remodeled stadium was my home though. And it was on the site of the original stadium with some of the infrastructure of 1923.

The old Yankee Stadium didn't have the amenities. If you went to the bathroom or concession stand you were completely separated from the game.

Oh, but I loved those concourses. Those ramps. Those escalators. 

Those smells.

That explosion of color. The blues of the stands and the green of the field.

The only stadium I ever went to with my dad was the original Yankee Stadium. I made so many friends in the remodeled one. I carry all of those memories.

And, most of all, that sound. That roar. Whether it was 27,000 or 57,000, it was a sound you never forgot.

But I enjoy the new building. I love not taking my car to it and we'll be on the train.

We'll have a blast.

Even if it rains, we'll be dry and watching the game.

We'll have fun.

And baseball is supposed to be fun.

And my heart hurts for Oakland, CA today.

You deserve better.