CSNBAYAREA.com’s Joe Stiglich noted if the A’s manage to get a 10-year lease extension at O.co Coliseum, co-Owner Lew Wolff says that the team "is ready to sink money to make improvements at the aging venue.” Wolff said, “One thing that would make the ballpark look better and save a lot of aggravation is a top-notch scoreboard. We need to put in two, put in exactly where they are. (The current ones) are falling apart. We can’t get parts.” He said that the franchise is “willing to make improvements” in excess of $10M if a 10-year lease gets completed (CSNBAYAREA.com, 4/16).
SCHEDULE MAKING: In Atlanta, Tim Tucker noted the Braves and Cobb County have “spelled out a detailed schedule for building the team’s planned new stadium.” The schedule, included in a RFP for general contractors interested in taking on the construction project, “calls for site clearing to begin in mid-summer and stadium building to begin early next year.” Stadium construction is to “begin Feb. 18, 2015, with substantial completion by Jan. 24, 2017, and final completion by Feb. 21, 2017, which is referred to in the document as the ‘soft opening’” (AJC.com, 4/16).
MADIBA IN THE BRONX: ESPN N.Y.’s Danny Knobler wrote the Yankees honored late South Africa President Nelson Mandela yesterday with a plaque in Monument Park, “adding it next to those honoring former Yankee stars, owners and announcers, and also the three Popes who have appeared" at Yankee Stadium. Mandela appeared at the old ballpark on June 21, 1990, “on his first trip outside of Africa after being released from prison” (ESPNNY.com, 4/16).
