BACKGROUND

The Oakland A’s Fan Coalition (OAFC) was founded in 1998 as a response to persistent rumors that the team’s owners, Steve Schott and Ken Hofmann, were moving the A’s out of Oakland. Our concerns increased in 1999, when a local ownership led by Andy Dolich was poised to make a long-term commitment, only to have their bid tabled by Commissioner Bud Selig and Major League Baseball. Two years later, this grassroots group of fans remains committed to keeping the Athletics franchise in its current home city. The facts reflect that, contrary to popular opinion, the A's have been well supported at the attendance gate during their 34 years in Oakland. We believe it is an empirical fact that Oakland is an excellent sports city with a rich history in athletic excellence and ample fan support. Our dual missions to keep competitive A's baseball in Oakland and to help dispel the inaccurate myths about the city go hand-in-hand.

For these reasons we strongly disagree with the A's owners' past and present threats to move the team. We have NOT urged a boycott of games. In fact, we urge Oakland fans to attend A's games at the Network Associates Coliseum to demonstrate support for this exciting young team and to refute misperceptions that the East Bay is not a viable sports market. Also, we encourage A's owners Steve Schott and Ken Hofmann to work with the Oakland city government, the East Bay business community and A’s fans to build a new ballpark in or near downtown Oakland. A new baseball-only ballpark in Oakland may be just what is needed to allow both parties to complete their resurgences TOGETHER.

A’s fans from all over the Bay Area were startled this March to read owner Steve Schott state, “We have no future in Oakland.” Fans were further dismayed this August when it was widely reported (and later denied by all parties) that the Athletics had been sold and were very possibly moving to Las Vegas. The OAFC decided then to start a petition drive as an organized fan response to these reports. With the petition, our fan group sought to test the veracity of the negative myths about the Oakland market: 1) That Oakland’s citizens don’t passionately support the A’s enough, and 2) that A’s fans, in general, are apathetic about which city their team calls home.

Please find enclosed an analysis of the petition’s results, along with statistical comparisons of Bay Area regions represented by the signatures. Since its inception, the OAFC has believed the above negative perceptions of the East Bay sports market to be completely inaccurate. The resulting data from the petition drive, enclosed below, does much to help refute these oft-stated comments and provides a feel for the pulse of the Oakland Athletics’ fan base.

TERMS OF THE PETITION

The Oakland A’s Fan Coalition’s petition drive ran August 7-October 7, 2001, stopping for 11 days from September 11-21 in wake of the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington D.C.

The petition is directed toward the mayor of Oakland, Jerry Brown. It states: “Mayor Jerry Brown: Oakland A’s fans from all Bay Area communities overwhelmingly support keeping the A’s in Oakland. We respectfully urge you to work actively and swiftly to prevent the Oakland A’s from relocating. We know and trust your commitment to the city of Oakland.” Thus, anyone signing the petition is voicing approval for keeping the Athletics in Oakland.

Please note, the petition was not limited to registered voters of any city, nor was it a scientific poll. Rather, this petition drive accepted signatures at A’s home games and other Bay Area locations from petitioners of all ages, from signers of baseball fans and non-fans alike.

The majority of the signatures were gathered at the Network Associate Coliseum at A’s home games between August 7-October 3. Some other venues where petitioners were solicited include: 1) Art & Soul Festival in downtown Oakland, 2) Farmer’s Market at Jack London Square, 3) Raiders Rally for America at Jack London Square, and 4) various East Bay sports bars, namely, Ricky’s Sports Lounge in San Leandro, the Oakland Airport Hilton Sports Edition Bar, and the Pacific Brewing Company in downtown Oakland.

RESULTS AND ANALYSIS

The final tally of signatures gathered is: 15,659. That total of petitioners came from citizens of 327 different California cities, 44 American states (including California) and 17 foreign countries. Petitioners from California cities ranged from Eureka to San Diego, and states as far away as Alaska, Maine, and Florida were represented with their citizens’ signatures. Australia, Japan, Lithuania and the Dominican Republic were but a few of the foreign countries whose citizens were featured in the petition’s results

The region most represented by the number of petition signatures was, perhaps not surprisingly, the East Bay. Oakland was the city most represented city in the petition’s results, garnering around 20 percent of the total signatures by itself. In addition, the next most represented communities were Oakland’s neighboring cities: San Leandro, Hayward, San Francisco, Alameda, Berkeley,

and Castro Valley, in that order. Besides San Francisco, the most represented non-East Bay city was San Jose, which had the 8^th most signatures in support of the A’s staying in Oakland.

Furthermore, residents from other Northern California communities, including the North Bay (Marin, Sonoma, and Solano Counties), the South Bay (San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties) and the Central Valley (including Sacramento), provided a significant amount of support for keeping the A’s in Oakland. All told, these particular regions composed around 20 percent of the signatures.

In total, East Bay residents composed just over 70 percent of the petition’s signers. This result, coupled with the 2001 season attendance figure of 2.1 million fans in a year where the A’s played poorly for the initial three months, speaks volumes about the kind of impressively passionate support that Oakland and the East Bay is currently providing to its professional baseball team. In years past, not many sports markets have responded favorably to the uncertainty stemming from persistent moving/relocation rumors. With the A’s, Oakland has. Their 2.1 million attendance figure for 2001 placed them 7^th in the American League out of 14 teams, despite having the second lowest payroll in all of baseball and despite playing in an overly-maligned facility at the Network Associates Coliseum.

There are further statistics that support Oakland’s strong support of the A’s. An article in Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal (Vol. 4, Issue 24, Oct. 1-7) showed the A’s attendance in September to have increased by 95 percent from last year, the second best in baseball. The A’s season attendance increased by over 400,000 fans this year alone, also MLB’s second best statistic in that category. Furthermore, a poll result recently published in the East Bay edition of The Times (July 7, 2001) newspaper found that the most popular sporting event attended by East Bay residents was -- surprise -- an A’s game, its attendance was well ahead of games featuring the Giants, college sports, Raiders, 49ers, Sharks and the Warriors. These facts make a strong case, in part, to refute the myth that Oakland and the East Bay “are not supporting the A’s.”

Another oft-repeated myth is that the Bay Area cannot support two teams and the A’s are the less popular than the Giants. Again, the facts simply do not support this. Even with the Giants enjoying their second great year at Pacific Bell Park, the attendance score between Oakland and San Francisco for the 34 seasons they’ve shared this baseball market is now a dead heat, 17-17. That margin used to be 17-10, in favor of the Athletics. Hardly the Giants-led domination that some reports would have you believe.

SUMMARY

In the seven weeks the Oakland A’s Fan Coalition spent on this petition drive, we not only garnered over 15,000 signatures, we also got a brief but significant pulse of the team’s fan base. We found a passionate base of fans that holds overwhelming support for keeping the A's in Oakland. And though the petition does not directly address the issue of a new baseball-only ballpark in downtown Oakland, it bears mentioning that many signers anecdotally expressed strong support of such an idea.

We applaud the recent efforts of the Oakland and Alameda governments to explore building a ballpark in downtown Oakland. In light of that possibility, the OAFC would like to offer our support by forming a volunteer task force to work in conjunction with, and at the behest of, the city’s and team’s continuing efforts to secure the A’s future. Our group is willing to volunteer to lend time and manpower to assist making a new Oakland ballpark a reality. Our Web site database contains more than two thousand pledges from fans willing to increase their attendance, in the form of season tickets, as soon as A’s ownership makes a long term commitment to stay in the great city of Oakland.

		PETITION SIGNATURE DISTRIBUTION
		(In Order of CA Cities Most Represented)
Oakland	3142		Novato	57
San Leandro	741		Petaluma	57
Hayward	724		Fairfield	55
San Francisco	649		Emeryville	53
Alameda	625		Milpitas	53
Berkeley	510		Redwood City	50
Castro Valley	413		Santa Cruz	50
San Jose	399		Pinole	48
Walnut Creek	369		Rohnert Park	46
Pleasanton	330		San Mateo	46
Concord	317		Brentwood	44
Fremont	260		Mountain View	44
Livermore	239		Clayton	42
Sacramento	202		Salinas	42
San Lorenzo	202		Hercules	40
Union City	201		Palo Alto	38
Richmond	199		Yuba City	38
Danville	174		Davis	36
San Ramon	166		Manteca	36
Oakley	162		Daly City	34
Antioch	160		Lodi	34
Orinda	134		Cupertino	32
Lafayette	124		Mill Valley	32
Martinez	124		Sonoma	32
Moraga	124		Fresno	31
Pleasant Hill	118		Kensington	27
Newark	113		San Bruno	27
Piedmont	103		Merced	25
Tracy	103		Woodland	25
Vallejo	101		Foster City	23
El Cerrito	97		Hollister	23
Modesto	97		Los Altos	23
Stockton	96		San Anselmo	23
Vacaville	96		Watsonville	23
Benicia	88		Chico	21
Dublin	88		Elk Grove	21
Pittsburg	82		Orangevale	19
Albany	80		Pacifica	19
Santa Rosa	80		Sausalito	19
Napa	76		Sebastopol	19
San Rafael	73		So. San Francisco	19
San Pablo	67		Turlock	19
Sunnyvale	65		Windsor	19
Santa Clara	63		Burlingame	17
Alamo	61		Campbell	17
El Sobrante	59		Citrus Heights	17
Galt	17		Los Gatos	8
Los Angeles	17		Pebble Beach	8
Ripon	17		Penn Valley	8
American Canyon	15		Rocklin	8
Bay Point	15		Ross	8
Crockett	15		Saratoga	8
El Dorado	15		Travis AFB	8
Grass Valley	15		Antelope	6
Menlo Park	15		Cameron Park	6
Morgan Hill	15		Corte Madera	6
Riverbank	15		Delhi	6
San Carlos	15		Firebaugh	6
San Diego	15		Lathrop	6
Suisun Cty	15		Lynwood	6
Tiburon	15		Prunedale	6
Aptos	13		Quincy	6
Atwater	13		Redding	6
Eureka	13		Salida	6
Fairfax	13		Ukiah	6
Larkspur	13		Angel's Camp	4
Marina	13		Arcata	4
Roseville	13		Arnold	4
San Luis Obispo	13		Atherton	4
Tahoe	13		Banta	4
Auburn	11		Bakersfield	4
Belmont	11		Ben Lomond	4
Bolinas	11		Byron	4
Durham	11		Capay	4
Escalon	11		Carpinteria	4
Fair Oaks	11		Cathedral City	4
Gilroy	11		Coarsegold	4
Greenbrae	11		Corral de Tierra	4
Healdsburg	11		Cypress	4
Pacheco	11		Folsom	4
Patterson	11		Glen Ellen	4
Rancho Cordova	11		Granite	4
Rodeo	11		Half Moon Bay	4
Boulder Creek	10		Hilmar	4
Carmichael	10		Huntington Beach	4
Ceres	10		La Habra	4
King City	10		Livingstone	4
Monterey	10		Long Beach	4
Woodside	10		Madera	4
Discovery Bay	8		Marin City	4
East Palo Alto	8		Marysville	4
Forestville	8		Meadow Vista	4
Gold River	8		Moorpark	4
Kentfield	8		N. Highland	4
Lockeford	8		Paradise	4
Los Banos	8		Penngrove	4
Pine Grove	4		Goleta	2
Porterville	4		Granada Hills	2
Red Bluff	4		Greyson	2
Rio Vista	4		Hillsborough	2
San Gabriel	4		Huntington Park	2
San Quentin	4		Isleton	2
Santa Ana	4		Jamestown	2
Sherman Oaks	4		Kenwood	2
Simi Valley	4		La Selva Beach	2
Sonora	4		La Verne	2
Standard	4		Lagunitas	2
Sunol	4		Lakeport	2
Tres Pinos	4		Manhattan Beach	2
Visalia	4		Marina Del Rey	2
Knightsen	3		McKinleyville	2
Palm Desert	3		Middletown	2
Seaside	3		Millbrae	2
Big Oak Flat	2		Montara	2
Carnelian Bay	2		Moss Beach	2
Dos Palos	2		Muir Beach	2
Gardena	2		Murphys	2
Graton	2		Nevada City	2
Sanger	2		Nicasio	2
Angwin	2		Nicolaus	2
Aliso Viejo	2		North Fork	2
Ballico	2		Oakdale	2
Banning	2		Oakhurst	2
Brisbane	2		Orange	2
Brookdale	2		Oroville	2
Brooks	2		Pacific Grove	2
Calistoga	2		Petrolia	2
Camino	2		Placerville	2
Carmel	2		Pt. Reyes	2
Chowchilla	2		Portola Valley	2
Cloverdale	2		Poway	2
Clovis	2		Port Costa	2
Colfax	2		Redondo Beach	2
Corralitos	2		Riverside	2
Cotati	2		St. Helena	2
Dinuba	2		San Gregorio	2
Dixon	2		San Juan Batista	2
Dorington	2		San Marcos	2
Douglas	2		Single Springs	2
Emerald Hills	2		Soledad	2
Esparto	2		Soulsbyville	2
Felton	2		Stanford	2
Foothill Ranch	2		Sunset Beach	2
Fort Bragg	2		Sutter Creek	2
Fullerton	2		Taft	2
Geyserville	2		Thornton	2
Tranquility	2
Tulare	2
Van Nuys	2
Waterford	2
Weaverville	2
Westminster	2
Winters	2
Woodacre	2
Woodridge	2
Yountville	2
Anaheim	1
Brownsville	1
Canoga Park	1
Chester	1
Corona	1
Denair	1
Diamond Bar	1
Greenfield	1
Gustine	1
Hollywood	1
Irvine	1
Jackson	1
Keyes	1
Laytonville	1
Loleta	1
Lancaster	1
Mather	1
Nipomo	1
San Bernadino	1
San Martin	1
Scotts Valley	1
Soquel	1
Truckee	1
Vernalis	1
Whittier	1
No City Given	515

	REGIONAL DISTRIBUTION OF PETITION SIGNATURES
	(Columns Aligned by Region, Cities in Alphabetical Order)
EAST BAY		SOUTH BAY		PENINSULA/S.F.
Alameda	625	Aptos	13	Atherton	4
Alamo	61	Ben Lomond	4	Belmont	11
Albany	80	Boulder Creek	10	Brisbane	1
Antioch	160	Brookdale	2	Burlingame	17
Benicia	88	Campbell	17	Daly City	34
Berkeley	510	Corralitos	2	Foster City	23
Brentwood	44	Cupertino	32	Half Moon Bay	4
Byron	4	East Palo Alto	8	Hillsborough	2
Castro Valley	413	Felton	2	Millbrae	2
Clayton	42	Gilroy	11	Montara	2
Concord	317	Gold River	8	Moss Beach	2
Danville	174	Greyson	2	Pacifica	19
Discovery Bay	8	La Selva Beach	2	Portola Valley	2
Dublin	88	Los Altos	23	Redwood City	50
El Cerrito	97	Los Banos	8	San Bruno	27
El Sobrante	59	Los Gatos	8	San Carlos	15
Emeryville	53	Marina	13	San Francisco	649
Fremont	260	Menlo Park	15	San Mateo	46
Hayward	724	Milpitas	53	So. San Francisco	19
Hercules	40	Morgan Hill	15	Stanford	2
Kensington	27	Mountain View	44	Sunnyvale	65
Knightsen	3	Palo Alto	38
Lafayette	124	San Gregorio	2
Livermore	239	San Jose	399
Martinez	124	San Martin	1
Moraga	124	Santa Clara	63
Newark	113	Santa Cruz	50
Oakland	3142	Saratoga	8
Oakley	162	Scotts Valley	1
Orinda	134	Soquel	1
Pacheco	11	Sunnyvale	65
Piedmont	103	Watsonville	23
Pinole	48	Woodside	10
Pittsburg	82
Pleasant Hill	118
Pleasanton	330
Port Costa	2
Richmond	199
San Leandro	741
San Lorenzo	202
San Pablo	67
San Ramon	166
Sunol	4
Tracy	103
Union City	201
Walnut Creek	369

NORTH BAY		CENTRAL VALLEY		SO. CENTRAL VALLEY
American Canyon	15	Angel's Camp	4	Atwater	13
Angwin	2	Antelope	6	Big Oak Flat	2
Bolinas	11	Arnold	4	Ceres	10
Brooks	1	Auburn	11	Chowchilla	2
Calistoga	1	Ballico	2	Clovis	2
Cloverdale	2	Cameron Park	3	Coarsegold	4
Corte Madera	6	Camino	1	Corral de Tierra	4
Cotati	1	Capay	4	Delhi	6
Fairfax	13	Carmichael	10	Denair	1
Fairfield	55	Citrus Heights	17	Dorington	2
Forestville	8	Colfax	1	Dos Palos	2
Geyserville	2	Davis	36	Emerald Hills	2
Glen Ellen	2	Dixon	2	Escalon	11
Graton	4	El Dorado	15	Firebaugh	6
Greenbrae	11	Elk Grove	21	Fresno	31
Healdsburg	11	Esparto	1	Hilmar	4
Kentfield	8	Fair Oaks	11	Jamestown	2
Kenwood	2	Folsom	4	Jackson	1
Lagunitas	2	Galt	17	Keyes	1
Lakeport	2	Granite	4	Livingston	4
Larkspur	13	Isleton	2	Madera	4
Marin City	4	Lathrop	6	Manteca	36
Middletown	1	Lockeford	4	Merced	25
Mill Valley	32	Lodi	34	Modesto	97
Muir Beach	2	Marysville	4	Murphys	2
Napa	76	Meadow Vista	4	North Fork	2
Nicasio	2	Nicolaus	1	Oakdale	2
Novato	57	Orangevale	19	Oakhurst	2
Penngrove	2	Penn Valley	8	Patterson	11
Petaluma	57	Pine Grove	2	Ripon	17
Pt. Reyes	2	Placerville	1	Riverbank	15
Rio Vista	2	Rancho Cordova	11	Sanger	2
Rohnert Pk	46	Roseville	13	Soulsbyville	2
Ross	8	Rocklin	8	Sunset Beach	2
San Anselmo	23	Sacramento	202	Sutter Creek	2
San Rafael	73	Salida	6	Tranquility	2
San Quentin	4	Sonora	2	Tulare	2
Santa Rosa	80	Stockton	96	Turlock	19
Sausalito	19	Thornton	2	Vernalis	1
Sebastopol	19	Winters	2	Visalia	4
Sonoma	32	Woodland	25	Waterford	2
St. Helena	1	Yuba City	38
Suisun City	15
Tiburon	15
Travis AFB	8
Ukiah	6
Vacaville	96
Vallejo	101
Windsor	19
Woodacre	2
Yountville	2

CENTRAL COAST		UPPER NO. CALIFORNIA		SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Carmel	2	Arcata	4	Aliso Viejo	2
Greenfield	1	Brownsville	1	Anaheim	1
Hollister	23	Chico	21	Banning	2
King City	10	Chester	1	Bakersfield	4
Pacific Grove	2	Douglas	2	Canoga Park	1
Monterey	10	Durham	11	Carpinteria	4
Nipomo	1	Eureka	13	Cathdrl City	4
Pebble Beach	8	Ft. Bragg	2	Claremont	2
Prunedale	6	Laytonville	1	Corona	1
Salinas	42	Loleta	1	Cypress	4
San Luis Obispo	13	McKinleyville	2	Diamond Bar	1
Seaside	3	Oroville	2	Dinuba	2
Single Springs	2	Paradise	4	Foothill Ranch	2
Soledad	2	Petrolia	2	Fullerton	2
Taft	2	Porterville	4	Gardena	2
Tres Pinos	4	Quincy	6	Goleta	2
		Red Bluff	4	Granada Hills	2
		Redding	6	Gustine	1
		Weaverville	2	Hollywood	1
				Huntington Beach	4
				Huntington Park	2
				Irvine	1
				La Habra	4
				La Verne	2
				Lancaster	1
				Long Beach	4
				Los Angeles	17
				Lynwood	6
				Manhattan Beach	2
				Marina Del Rey	2
				Moorpark	4
				N. Highland	4
				Orange	2
				Palm Desert	3
				Poway	2
				Redondo Beach	2
				Riverside	2
				San Bernadino	1
				San Diego	15
				San Gabriel	4
				San Marcos	2
				Santa Ana	4
				Sherman Oaks	4
				Simi Valley	4
				Van Nuys	2
				Westminster	2
				Whittier	1

SIERRA NEVADA		NO CITY GIVEN
Carnelian Bay	2	No City Given	515
Grass Valley	8
Lake Tahoe	7
Mather	1
Nevada City	2
Truckee	1

State Distribution		Country Distribution
Alaska	4	Australia	4
Alabama	2	Brazil	1
Arizona	10	Canada	14
Arkansas	4	Dominican Republic	2
Colorado	12	England	4
Connecticutt	4	France	1
Florida	8	Germany	1
Georgia	3	Holland	3
Hawaii	15	Hong Kong	2
Idaho	5	Ireland	1
Illinois	14	Italy	1
Indiana	4	Japan	9
Iowa	5	Lithuania	4
Kansas	2	Mexico	8
Kentucky	6	Scotland	5
Louisiana	2	South Wales	1
Maine	1	Spain	1
Maryland	3
Massachussets	14
Michigan	2
Missouri	1
Minnesota	4
Nebraska	1
Nevada	44
New Hampshire	3
New Jersey	8
New Mexico	3
New York	31
North Carolina	6
Ohio	8
Oklahoma	3
Oregon	31
Pennsylvania	10
Rhode Island	1
South Carolina	1
South Dakota	1
Tennessee	3
Texas	17
Utah	8
Vermont	3
Virginia	8
Washington	13
Wisconsin	1
Guam	1
Puerto Rico	5
Washington D.C.	2

OAKLAND A’S FAN COALITION CONTACT INFORMATION

WEB SITE:

http://www.oaklandfans.com

info@oaklandfans.com

MAILING ADRESS:

Oakland A’s Fan Coalition

1714 Franklin Street, Suite 100-224

Oakland, CA 94612

CONTACT US:

Chris De Benedetti

(415) 544-0904

deben@earthlink.net

Lil Bartholo

(415) 898-3523

(415) 420-9252 (cell phone)

lil@oaklandfans.com

A’S FAN TESTIMONIALS

When signing the petition online, some petitioners added comments along with their name and address. Below is a sample of those testimonials.

TESTIIMONIALS FROM ONLINE PETITIONS:

1) “My wife and I spend at least 10 weekends a season in Oakland attending about 18 home games. We usually buy MVP tickets. If the A’s move to anywhere outside of Oakland, (we) will not be spending any more weekends or money in Oakland.”

Ron Hallman

Ukiah, California

2) “I always make sure I get to the Coliseum on every trip to the USA. August was my 4^th trip and 6^th game. I still remember when Oakland had that bleacher configuration minus the football stand, it felt more like a baseball stadium then…The hardest part is leaving, that 3 hours of baseball goes fast. When you walk out of the stadium and cross that walkway to the BART, it’s a strange feeling as you wonder whether you’ll ever be back. You just hope that the fans working hard to keep the team in Oakland convince the ownership. 2.1 million fans can’t be wrong. It wouldn’t be the same watching this team in San Jose, Las Vegas or W. Virginia.”

Scott

Sydney, Australia

3) “I hope you realize the importance of A’s baseball in Oakland. With their current success on the field and having drawn over 2 million fans for the first time since 1993, things seem to be all well and good. But that is far from being the case. I know you want the best for the City of Oakland and I do too. I hope you realize that the A’s can be a very vital part in Oakland’s economy. Especially with a new downtown ballpark or one anywhere in the city. More jobs will be available, new businesses will form around the surrounding areas of the park, more people will visit the city and more money will be poured and spent in the city. Imagine having Oakland in America’s spotlight, or the world for that matter. That can happen if the A’s make it to the World Series; all eyes will be on the City of Oakland. If this is not what is best for the City of Oakland, then I don’t know what is. Thanks for your time.”

Thuc Pham

(City not given)

4) “Keep the A’s in Oakland!!!! I live in Southern California and I still support the OAKLAND Athletics going to at least 5-10 games per year. I feel that it is really important in a civic manner to build a new stadium and keep the organization in Oakland. I would love to see a new “baseball only” stadium in or around Jack London Square…I think from a city standpoint and more importantly, a business standpoint, it’s VERY CRUCIAL for Oakland to keep all of its sports teams intact, RIGHT THERE IN OAKLAND…Thank you.”

D.M. Rossi

(City not given)

5) “Keep the A’s in Oakland where they belong! They deserve a new waterfront stadium! If we lose the team that has brought so many memories to Oakland, that would be the biggest mistake since letting Mark McGwire go! Power to the A’s FANS!”

S. Tse

(City not given)

6) “I attend games in Oakland whenever I’m in the Bay Area, attend at least one away game every year (in New York), and listen to over 100 games a season over the Internet.”

Anthony Lobo

Ambler, Pennsylvania

7) “I have not lived in the Bay Area for many years. However I follow the A's religiously and join you spiritually in your efforts to keep them in our beloved Oakland. Hopefully the powers that be will see the wisdom of your efforts. The city should build the team a new ballpark that the A's won't have to share with the football folks ... Good luck!”

Dick Atencio

Long Branch, New Jersey

8) “I have been watching this team play since I was 3 and I don’t think that I could take them leaving. I have watched this team go from 50 games under .500 to now 23 games over and counting…please keep them in Oakland.”

Frank Williams

(City not given)

9) “I am a DIE-HARD A’s fan when I lived in S.F. from 1969-1982, now, I’m stuck in Ohio. KEEP THE A’S in Oakland!!”

Terry Hammer

Mansfield, Ohio

10) “I have been an A’s fan since I was 5. I grew up in Oakland and went to school there. The A’s belong in the city of Oakland. They are OUR team and they don’t belong anywhere else. We have them so let’s keep them. They are a great team and now that they are playing better everyone wants them. Let’s work together to make the team stay.”

Eduardo Navarro

(City not given)

11) “The best team in baseball deserves the best stadium in the best part of the world.”

Andrew Viloria

(City not given)

TESTIMONIALS FROM THE OAFC DISCUSSION BOARD:

1) “I am a huge Oakland A's fan and have been so my whole life.  I am a 23 year old A's season ticket holder.  I just want to thank you for your great efforts toward keeping the A's in Oakland.  My dad brought me to A's games as a kid and I want to do the same when I have kids.”

Sincerely,

Mike Pellini

(City not given)

2) “San Jose and the Silicon Valley is nearly completely Giants territory.  I am one of the few A's fans in the area, and that's only because I grew up in the East Bay.  It seems hard to believe that the A's can fill a stadium in San Jose with converted Giants fans, especially if the team isn't immediately successful…

I know that the downsides of a move have been discussed thoroughly, but I haven't seen one thing brought up: a move to San Jose will completely alienate the entire Contra Costa (and most of Alameda) county fan base.  Traffic to San Jose on the eastern side of the bay is almost always heavy … Schott and Hoffman pushed me away from my team a few years ago because they were just jerking the fans around, but the youth and the bright future has brought me back stronger than ever.  And now here they go and jerk us around again and threaten to take everything away.  I feel sorry for the players -- it just seems like the owners want them to fail…”

Will Tammen

Palo Alto, CA

3) “So to the original question: Should fans fight to keep the team in
Oakland?  My hope and belief is that this is a good, moral, and right
fight.  My fear is that those are foreign terms at MLB headquarters.  If
MLB abandons Oakland I can only hope that people (i.e. media) would point
out that is a Hoffman/Schott/Selig failure and NOT a reflection on loyal
fans (though my guess is the reverse is more likely).  So if at the
very least fans can hammer home that point home, I would be in favor of a
fight.” 

M. Brewer

(City not given)