{"id":26081,"date":"2023-04-22T11:54:10","date_gmt":"2023-04-22T18:54:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=26081"},"modified":"2023-04-22T11:54:11","modified_gmt":"2023-04-22T18:54:11","slug":"why-oakland-losing-the-as-is-san-franciscos-loss-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/04\/22\/why-oakland-losing-the-as-is-san-franciscos-loss-too\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Oakland losing the A&#8217;s is San Francisco&#8217;s loss, too"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/users\/profile\/Marcus%20White\">By Marcus White | Examiner staff writer |<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Apr 21, 2023\u00a0Updated\u00a015 hrs ago (SFExaminer.com)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com\/sfexaminer.com\/content\/tncms\/assets\/v3\/editorial\/4\/b1\/4b18987e-e065-11ed-83e7-e3852e22b4fe\/6442c23bd6563.image.jpg?resize=400%2C280\" alt=\"Fan with Athletics-Giants split hat\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">San Francisco\u2019s surrounding cities are simply too big, too dispersed and too unique for the Bay Area to be a one-team region in every major pro sport.Jeff Chiu\/Associated press<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The A\u2019s impending departure isn\u2019t just Oakland\u2019s loss, nor is it only the East Bay\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>San Francisco, and the rest of the Bay Area, is losing something, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s not said to trivialize what Oaklanders are feeling this week, after the A\u2019s announced they had agreed to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/sports\/oakland_athletics\/oakland-as-purchase-land-for-brand-new-stadium-in-las-vegas\/article_1b761f1e-df8a-11ed-9e26-4b7fa095ce33.html\">purchase nearly 50 acres of Las Vegas land<\/a>&nbsp;in order to build a new stadium, the construction of which hinges on Nevada lawmakers contributing&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/thenevadaindependent.com\/article\/potential-deal-for-as-relocation-to-las-vegas-could-rely-on-500-million-in-public-financing\">$500 million in public financing<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After all, San Francisco still has its major men\u2019s professional sports teams, cushioning the blow of the 49ers\u2019 departure for Santa Clara in 2014 with the Golden State Warriors&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/05\/10\/sports\/basketball\/warriors-oakland-san-francisco.html\">decamping from The Town to The City<\/a>&nbsp;four years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Plus, the Niners, Dubs and even the Giants haven\u2019t subjected San Francisco fans to the same&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseballprospectus.com\/news\/article\/81465\/as-fans-are-still-dreaming-of-the-end-of-moneyball\">boom-or-bust cycles that A\u2019s fans have experienced<\/a>, with rebuild after rebuild ending in the same place: Foundational pieces traded are away, the cycle begins anew and there are fewer fans in the stands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/teams\/OAK\/attend.shtml\">Oakland averaged lower attendance<\/a>&nbsp;with Matt Chapman emerging as the game\u2019s best defensive third baseman than when predecessor Josh Donaldson became an All-Star, which was also lower than when Eric Chavez won six straight Gold Gloves at the same position, and far lower than when fellow third baseman Carney Lansford won the 1989 World Series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nor has a piece of San Francisco infrastructure had to serve as the butt of more jokes than\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/oaklandside.org\/2021\/03\/19\/oakland-coliseum-design-raiders-al-davis-howard-terminala\">the aging Oakland Coliseum<\/a>, let alone one that is located in a neighborhood as\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/belonging.berkeley.edu\/press-release-oakland-home-bay-areas-most-segregated-neighborhoods\">historically redlined<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.frbsf.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/how-we-see-oakland-final-report.pdf\">marginalized<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kqed.org\/news\/11656388\/east-oakland-residents-want-their-neighborhoods-cleaned-up\">neglected<\/a>\u00a0as East Oakland. Despite its ease of access through public and private transportation,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcsports.com\/bayarea\/athletics\/athletics-explore-oakland-relocation-options-mlb-blessing\">MLB laid its priorities bare<\/a>\u00a0when it said the stadium site located in and near predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods \u201cis not a viable option for the future vision of baseball.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Still, San Francisco and the whole Bay Area are losing something vital, and it\u2019s far more important than the A\u2019s serving as a San Francisco team\u2019s last, local foil on the field or court, with all due respect to the Sacramento Kings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>San Francisco\u2019s surrounding cities are simply too big, too dispersed and too unique, for the Bay Area to be a one-team region in every major men\u2019s professional sport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose are economically linked together, of course, forming what the U.S. Census Bureau has tabbed the nation\u2019s fifth-largest combined statistical area. More importantly in the eyes of professional sports and TV executives, the three cities form a top 10 TV market in the U.S., incentivizing views of the region as a monolith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But the differences between the cities are pronounced, with far more than bridges and highways separating them. A sports fan growing up in San Francisco is likely doing so under far different circumstances than one in San Jose, or one in Oakland. The cities are close geographically, sure, but their identities and sports cultures are wholly their own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Look no further than Matt Mahan, the mayor of San Jose, not only promising that&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/sfstandard.com\/criminal-justice\/shots-fired-san-jose-mayor-says-city-will-not-become-san-francisco\">\u201dSan Jose will not become San Francisco,\u201d<\/a>&nbsp;but doubling down upon it. If that\u2019s how politicians feel, what do you think residents are saying?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Bay Area\u2019s heterogeneity is its strength, but the loss of Oakland\u2019s sports teams serves only to further homogenize the region. The A\u2019s, Raiders and Warriors all contributed to The Town\u2019s rich civic history, and it\u2019s a shame Oakland\u2019s future will be written without them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/users\/profile\/Marcus%20White\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com\/sfexaminer.com\/content\/tncms\/avatars\/a\/2e\/096\/a2e096d0-383e-11ed-8dff-03ca0c28c2ed.6e26757400633d7b219baab76e54234b.png?_dc=1665446500\" alt=\"Marcus White\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/users\/profile\/Marcus%20White\">Marcus White<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Marcus White is a senior digital writer and producer for the San Francisco Examiner.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The A\u2019s impending departure isn\u2019t just Oakland\u2019s loss, nor is it only the East Bay\u2019s. San Francisco, and the rest of the Bay Area, is losing something, too. That\u2019s not said to trivialize what Oaklanders are feeling this week, after the A\u2019s announced they had agreed to&nbsp;purchase nearly 50 acres&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/04\/22\/why-oakland-losing-the-as-is-san-franciscos-loss-too\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[456],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26081"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26081"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26081\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26085,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26081\/revisions\/26085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}