The Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum: Smells Like Pee, But It's Home To Me

As I was doing a Google image search for "Oakland Coliseum" I couldn't help but look at each picture that came up and say EH, THAT ONE LOOKS KINDA UGLY. About a half hour later I came to the realization that literally every picture of the Coli was, well, ugly. It is an old, run down building with narrow concourses, limited concessions, bathrooms that a homeless man would be hesitant to piss in and pretty much nothing in the way of modern amenities. Oh, and it's in a really sketchy part of a town known for it's epic sketchiness. And that is precisely why I love it so much. I have been going to games there since I was 4, and I have had so many major life moments happen there that it is forever a part of me as a person. The first baseball game I attended was in '81, and all I remember was being surrounded by people smoking all game long and wanting to go home. That's pretty much what all 4 year olds think of baseball. Since that day I have attended somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 games stretched out over close to 30 years. I have seen them all. Rickey. Armas. Murphy. Kingman. Steinbach. Canseco. McGwire. Stewart. Lansford. Giambi. Chavez. Tejada. From Billyball all the way through Moneyball, I have been lucky enough to watch my favorite team while having to travel a little over an hour each way.

The Coliseum is very much a sacred place to me, and that doesn't even cover the Raider games I have attended over the years. The parking lots are filled with Porta-Potties, which often times are the only functioning bathroom facilities in the entire place. The mens rooms feature the ever-so-classy porcelain urinal troughs and haven't had the paper towels or hand soap restocked since the Reagan administration. Actually, come to think of it, that's the last time I actually used the mens room there. I have a cast iron bladder and I do all my beverage consumption before the game, so I usually hit up the aforementioned Porta-Potties post-game. The mens rooms may very well have undergone a renovation of sorts since then, but I really doubt it. Where was I? Ah, the Coliseum has a sort of urban grittiness to it that, while not pleasing to the eye, gives the customer a true sense of the amount of history that has gone down there. For example, murals like this can be found at the 4 entrances.

For all of her faults, the Coli has some character. Unfortunately, character and historical significance mean precisely dick in terms of ticket sales and free agent allure. It lacks the timelessness of Fenway. It doesn't have the hitter friendly dimensions of the new cookie cutter parks and it has a ton of foul territory, so when you're a team already working with a shoe string budget it makes it nearly impossible to get big bats to willingly come here. The harsh reality is that for the A's to be able to be to achieve long term success where they can develop and actually keep their young talent while also bringing in free agents and playing in front of more than 2,000 fans, well, the Coli is going to have be left behind. It's a shame, but it's the truth.

The sad thing is that this new park in all likelihood won't be in Oakland. We've already seen poseurs like Fremont make failed attempts at building the A's a new yard, and Sacramento is somehow always getting thrown in the conversation despite the fact that getting sports facilities built here is impossible. Just ask the Kings. Don't get me wrong, I'd love nothing more than to get off work at 5 and be able to go home, shower, eat dinner and be able to leave by 6:30 and still make a 7:05 opening pitch, but they've been teasing us with baseball coming here to my hometown since I was 6 and the best we can get is the A's AAA team (whose ballpark is AMAZING). And that's in West Sacramento, which is another city entirely. There have been many suitors for the A's, but no one has ever stuck a shovel in the ground. The new name being tossed about is San Jose. This would more than double my drive time both ways, but would be interesting in that it's a city with a lot of corporate infrastructure to sell the luxury suites to and there would be no shortage of potential advertisers. Unfortunately, the Giants have territorial rights to the city and have shown no interest in being flexible on the matter. So that leaves the A's right where they are. Eventually Bud Selig is going to be forced to do something, and as long as the A's stay in Nor Cal I'll be happy. I haven't given any thought to them going down south because it probably isn't a feasible option, but I have often wondered how or even IF I'd be able to root for them if they moved out of state. It's hard to say, and I hope it's a bridge I never have to cross. It's just a shame that some day in the not-too-distant-future, baseball will no longer be played in a facility that has become almost like a family member to me.