The Port of Oakland’s maritime industry is "raising red flags" over the A’s waterfront ballpark plan, claiming that the 34,000-seat venue and housing project "would pose both a safety risk to ships and a threat to the port’s future as a major, regional economic engine," according to a front-page piece by Phil Matier of the S.F. CHRONICLE. The A’s counter that the project "wouldn’t endanger any port jobs or adversely impact the port’s shipping business." The port commissioners are "negotiating with the A’s," who want to acquire the Howard Terminal site. The commission "finds itself having to balance the needs and future of the third-largest port on the West Coast with the desire" of Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and the A’s to "create a new neighborhood" along the waterfront. Unlike the Giants’ Oracle Park, which "sits on a relatively quiet stretch of waterfront," the A’s ballpark "would be perched right on the edge of the port’s Inner Harbor turning basin." The basin, which lies between Oakland and Alameda, is a "key waterway where each week bar pilots turn around an average of 25 ships" after the vessels "unload and load cargo at two nearby terminals." The pilots’ concerns include how the ballpark’s lights, which could seem like "high beams from oncoming traffic, might interfere with their vision" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 4/17).
THE TIME IS NOW: In S.F., Matt Kolsky wrote the A's have an "opportunity for another dramatic comeback" with Bay Area fans, as the Giants "have a core that is once again underperforming." While the A's "will never convert Giants die-hards," there are a "legion of casual or as-yet-undecided baseball fans who are available to attend games and fund a middling payroll." There is a "generation of kids to grab, the way the Giants grabbed the youth" of '10-14. The A’s have as "talented a young team as any" in MLB, and a "marketing team that has made strategic and creative moves to improve the fan experience." If a new ballpark "gets it done, great, but the fans have shown more than once that glitz and glamor aren’t a prerequisite for their presence." If the team "invests in its own talent," fans will "show up to the Coliseum or Howard Terminal or even Fremont" (SFEXAMINER.com, 4/14).
