If even a few of their 2017 plans and promises come to pass, the A’s will be ready to open a brand new stadium near Laney College in Oakland. But none of them did.
This may sound familiar: after the AS conceded defeat at the hands of Laney, they could be in the final stages of building a new stadium on the Howard Terminal site if everything goes their way. The trumpet is blown and spoken in truth. Then they delayed that and delayed it again, negotiated with the city of Oakland and were still promising.
But… no.
All Fisher did during that time (and for three or four other failed stadium efforts before that, dating back decades), was really a waste of time. Very precious time. His own time, his staff’s time, the politicians’ time and, most importantly, the time and emotions of A’s fans. wasted. Just an absolute waste. He could literally have a stadium by now if he was willing to spend his vast wealth beyond what he needs.
You can blame whoever you want, but the common denominator in this is John Fisher. And failure.
And now to the new situation in Las Vegas, all the other delayed, disappointing and ultimately ruined stadium efforts are starting to feel and sound like all the old Fisher situations.
That’s what I took away from Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman’s very interesting comments on the Front Office Sports podcast. Casting a certain amount of doubt A’s planned trip is to the site of the soon-to-be-constructed Tropicana Las Vegas hotel, which, it should be noted, is located in Clark County, not Goodman County. In addition, Goodman politely took back her comments a short time later.
Again, Goodman was not speaking with a real authority on this matter. But just take her skepticism — literally, she says the A’s need to figure out how to build in Oakland — according to the Las Vegas demographic. Absolutely It seemed. as well I’m glad A moved to Nevada.
As with any demographic, business or fan base: the more you know about Fisher’s practices, the less faith you have in anything good.
For me, the most important point wasn’t Goodman’s comment. In Las Vegas, her apparent skepticism about the A’s was met with near-silence among the power brokers in that region. Ambiguity on top of ambivalence. Where was the roar of support from all those businesses and fans who were supposed to be lining up to welcome A? Where was the energy? Why does anyone think the mayor is wrong and A.A. Will this city be taken by storm in 2028, the new theoretical end date?
If there was a big Vegas vote of confidence for Fisher this week, I certainly didn’t see it coming.
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And I’m wondering if Fisher himself is feeling it. Because, if he’s being honest with himself, he might come to the same conclusion I did now, sitting here more than six years after Lenny’s college plan blew up and a year after he left Howard’s terminal talks to rally alone in Las Vegas.
From the big conclusion:
Fisher is no longer involved with this Las Vegas stadium as he was with the Howard Terminal project early last year.
Stop and go over that sentence again. I’m not exaggerating for its functionality. In the opinion of the local residents, it may be a step or two behind That speed must be terrifying for Fisher and everyone else involved in the Las Vegas situation. That is, if anyone wants to be true to himself.
Of course, Fisher could build this stadium if he stood his ground, came up with a realistic construction plan, financed it, and threw in several hundred million dollars of his own money to pay for it. He can still do that.
But folks, that was also true at Howard Terminal, Laney College, and the Coliseum. That was always true, especially at Howard Terminal, when the city offered a much broader deal than many insiders expected. He has always been reluctant to make such a commitment. He just runs from one project to another and then the plans are lifted. He always found a way to fail. He’s doing it again in Las Vegas.
Yes, Fisher has MLB permission to go to Las Vegas. In unison, even! But he had MLB’s permission to build any place he wanted in the East Bay. And those sites were more realistic than a small nine-acre plot in Las Vegas..
That’s why the MLB transfer vote isn’t the final step in November. The last step wasn’t even the first step. So much remains to be discovered. There is so much in the air.
Yes, Fisher will receive $380 million from the state of Nevada. But that’s only if A is built on the Tropicana site. A retractable roof that’s too small to fit—there’s a spectacular backdrop of a Vegas night—and generally looks too small for indoor Major League Baseball.
There would be no greatness in that theoretical stadium. There is no sunlight. It feels small and cramped. And another big, air-conditioned attraction that competes for attention with lounge acts, public museums, animal shelters and, oh yes, all kinds of casinos.
At Howard Terminal, the stadium was next to the bay, and it was outdoors. Eventually there would be a mixed neighborhood around the stadium. It would have been far better than anything that could have been squeezed into the Tropicana station. Not to mention, and so did the mayor of Las Vegas.
Although the A’s stadium will be held in Las Vegas, a projected opening date of 2028 is highly optimistic, with 2029 or 2030 looking more realistic given the delays so far..
So where are the A’s playing after this season, when their Coliseum lease is up? Oh, Fisher has no announced plans. He doesn’t know, it looks like the A’s will be a traveling team, maybe playing some in Sacramento, some in Salt Lake City and some in minor league parks in Nevada.
Yes, looking and acting like a barnstorming 4A team may not be the right way to market this franchise to a new city.
Of course, to help the transaction, the A’s have lost a total of 214 games over the past two seasons. And because they play most of their games outside of NBC Sports Bay Area coverage, they’re going to cut their TV bill considerably. So you know Fisher keeps the salary as low as possible.
I can’t imagine how the A’s could be better than the last two seasons, and they could be worse. Until 2029 or 2030.
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When I expressed my deep cynicism about Fisher to baseball’s top brass in The Fisher Stadium Odyssey , they mostly shrugged in agreement but tried to emphasize the positive. This time he should get it right, he said. This time, he has to do it.
They talked about the Las Vegas situation again, and I get it. Fisher has no other options. MLB shamefully dropped Oakland and opened up the Las Vegas market. There is no way out. If Fisher wants to end it, it has to be now. It would be a shame not to. Any reasonable owner would do this.
And I’ll say it: I’ve seen Fisher do all sorts of irrational things. I have seen it wasted in order to More often than not – the A’s are probably farther away from the stadium now than they were a year ago, farther than they were a year ago and 10 years before that. We know the other MLB owners don’t want to force Fisher to sell the team. But if there’s anything to make them think about it, or at least to strongly suggest to Fisher that it’s too late to pass this team on to someone else, he might blow this Las Vegas situation.
This may not be inevitable, but it is sure to be the betting choice now.
(Possible future site for Las Vegas ballpark, currently mostly dirt: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)