Sunday, March 28, 2004
S.J. A's an Issue Worthy of Study.
Mark Purdy of the San Jose Mercury News makes a strong point in support of allowing the Oakland Athletics to move south to San Jose: such a move would leave both teams better off.
"There are roughly five million people living in the sprawling Bay Area. To maximize access for all those potential customers, doesn't it seem more logical to have two baseball teams in ballparks almost 50 miles apart instead of just 15 miles apart?".
Under MLB's territorial allocations, the Athletics have the east side of the Bay (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties), while the Giants have San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Monterey and Marin Counties, plus the ability to exclude another major league team from Santa Clara County, where San Jose is located. Let's compare the populations of these territories from the 1970 census, shortly after the A's moved from Kansas City, and the 2000 census:
Oakland territory:
Alameda County: 1,071,466 people in 1970, 1,443,741 in 2000.
Contra Costa County: 556,116 in 1970, 948,816 in 2000.
Total: 1,627,582 in 1970, 2,392,557 in 2000.
San Francisco territory:
San Francisco County: 715,674 in 1970, 776,733 in 2000
San Mateo County: 557,361 in 1970, 707,161 in 2000
Santa Cruz County: 123,790 in 1970, 255,602 in 2000
Monterey County: 247,450 in 1970, 401,762 in 2000
Marin County: 206,758 in 1970, 247,289 in 2000
Santa Clara County: 1,065,313 in 1970, 1,682,585 in 2000.
Total: 2,916,346 in 1970, 4,071,132 in 2000.
Viewed another way, Giants territory included 64% of the Bay Area population in 1970, 63% in 2000. That's a wash. But as the region has filled in, it's become virtually impossible for many of these fans to attend games of either team -- especially after the Giants moved from Candlestick/3Com Park, which was accessible from the south without hitting downtown traffic, to Pac Bell/SBC, downtown on the Bay. As a practical matter, people living in Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties can't possibly attend night games after work, and a drive from Santa Clara County is no picnic, either.
If the Athletics were allowed to move south, the clubs could swap territories: Alameda and Contra Costa Counties (2,392,557 people) from the A's to the Giants in return for Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties (2,339,949 people) from the Giants to the A's.
Under this scenario the Athletics should also pay a one-time indemnity to the Giants. The Giants' new territory would include a lot of A's fans who grew up despising them, as well as a lot of land closer to San Jose than San Francisco. Depending on the stadium deal the A's were able to obtain in Santa Clara County, a $50 million indemnity (almost 1/3 of the money paid by the Giants to build Pac Bell/SBC Park) would be in the best interest of both clubs, as well as a majority of Bay Area residents.
|
Mark Purdy of the San Jose Mercury News makes a strong point in support of allowing the Oakland Athletics to move south to San Jose: such a move would leave both teams better off.
"There are roughly five million people living in the sprawling Bay Area. To maximize access for all those potential customers, doesn't it seem more logical to have two baseball teams in ballparks almost 50 miles apart instead of just 15 miles apart?".
Under MLB's territorial allocations, the Athletics have the east side of the Bay (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties), while the Giants have San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Monterey and Marin Counties, plus the ability to exclude another major league team from Santa Clara County, where San Jose is located. Let's compare the populations of these territories from the 1970 census, shortly after the A's moved from Kansas City, and the 2000 census:
Oakland territory:
Alameda County: 1,071,466 people in 1970, 1,443,741 in 2000.
Contra Costa County: 556,116 in 1970, 948,816 in 2000.
Total: 1,627,582 in 1970, 2,392,557 in 2000.
San Francisco territory:
San Francisco County: 715,674 in 1970, 776,733 in 2000
San Mateo County: 557,361 in 1970, 707,161 in 2000
Santa Cruz County: 123,790 in 1970, 255,602 in 2000
Monterey County: 247,450 in 1970, 401,762 in 2000
Marin County: 206,758 in 1970, 247,289 in 2000
Santa Clara County: 1,065,313 in 1970, 1,682,585 in 2000.
Total: 2,916,346 in 1970, 4,071,132 in 2000.
Viewed another way, Giants territory included 64% of the Bay Area population in 1970, 63% in 2000. That's a wash. But as the region has filled in, it's become virtually impossible for many of these fans to attend games of either team -- especially after the Giants moved from Candlestick/3Com Park, which was accessible from the south without hitting downtown traffic, to Pac Bell/SBC, downtown on the Bay. As a practical matter, people living in Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties can't possibly attend night games after work, and a drive from Santa Clara County is no picnic, either.
If the Athletics were allowed to move south, the clubs could swap territories: Alameda and Contra Costa Counties (2,392,557 people) from the A's to the Giants in return for Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties (2,339,949 people) from the Giants to the A's.
Under this scenario the Athletics should also pay a one-time indemnity to the Giants. The Giants' new territory would include a lot of A's fans who grew up despising them, as well as a lot of land closer to San Jose than San Francisco. Depending on the stadium deal the A's were able to obtain in Santa Clara County, a $50 million indemnity (almost 1/3 of the money paid by the Giants to build Pac Bell/SBC Park) would be in the best interest of both clubs, as well as a majority of Bay Area residents.
|
