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2012 ALDS Athletics vs Tigers


Brian

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Most teams try to sell as many tickets as they can, especially during the playoffs. The Oakland Athletics have a different philosophy.

 

A's management said Friday that it does not plan to sell 20,878 of O.co Coliseum's 55,945 seats next week for the A's division showdown with the Detroit Tigers. Those seats account for about 37 percent of the Coliseum's baseball seating capacity, and A's management has sealed them off with tarps since 2006 due to low attendance.

 

But now the Oakland A's are drawing sellout crowds. So many fans showed up for the last game of the season on Wednesday that A's management warned people to stay away because there were no tickets left.

 

Fans are demanding that the team remove the tarps to let more people in - some have started a petition via a website called Removethetarps.com. Many have pelted A's management with complaints.

 

On Friday, A's management explained to The Chronicle why they would not remove the tarps.

 

More intimate

A smaller crowd, A's managers said, would create a closer, more intimate environment for the American League Division Series.

 

"The fan experience is better without spreading fans out over more seats," A's executives wrote in an e-mail. "The energy in the park and the fan experience over the last week (when the seats were tarped) was incredible."

 

Since 2006, shortly after Lew Wolff bought the team, most of the third deck and the outfield stands known as Mount Davis have been covered with dark green tarps. The Raiders, who share the Coliseum with the A's, remove the tarps for their home games.

 

The A's rationale is that most games are far from sellouts, so they want fans to gather in the lower decks rather than scatter throughout the stadium.

 

"Here's a team that says they need to leave Oakland because there's no support. Yet here you have thousands of people who are begging to put money in the A's pockets, and they tell fans, 'Sorry, you have to watch it on TV,' " said Doug Boxer, a former Oakland planning commissioner and organizer of an A's fan group called Let's Go Oakland. "It doesn't make any sense." So far this year, the A's have sold out only seven of 79 games in the 35,067 seats in the non-tarp area.

 

A's fans already feel betrayed by Wolff, who's been trying for years to move the team. He's awaiting word from Major League Baseball on his request to move the A's to San Jose, saying his team cannot succeed in Oakland while sharing a stadium with the Raiders, and Oakland has no other suitable sites for a ballpark. The team has defied all odds and expectations, however. Despite having the lowest payroll in the American League, the team shocked the sports world and thrilled their fans by overcoming a 13-game deficit and clinching the American League West title after sweeping the Texas Rangers.

 

They open the division series Saturday in Detroit and return to Oakland on Tuesday for the best-of-five series. That game is sold out, as is Wednesday's, if it's played.

 

A's managers said they'll roll up the tarps only if the A's reach the World Series.

 

That's not good enough, said Oakland City Councilman and Coliseum Authority Co-Chairman Ignacio De La Fuente.

 

'Denying fans'

"Anyone in their right mind would open those seats," he said. Keeping the seats closed "is denying fans the chance to show their incredible support for the A's. I don't understand it."

 

Even seasoned sports marketing professionals were bewildered by Wolff's decision.

 

Longtime sports marketer Paul Siri of Redwood City, a former executive with IMG, said he'd never seen an owner say "no" to the chance to sell more tickets, hot dogs, beer, T-shirts and other merchandise at a high-profile game that's sure to sell out.

 

The move makes sense only if Wolff is trying to convince Major League Baseball he can't build a successful team in Oakland, Siri said.

 

"Looking at this from his point of view, this is the worst thing that could happen," Siri said. "His team wins, media exposure increases, the stadium sells out, and suddenly he loses his leverage to move. It kills his argument. ... I don't blame the fans for being upset."

 

Sara Somers, an Oakland resident who's with a group called Save Oakland Sports, was reluctant to criticize Wolff but said the players deserve a strong, boisterous crowd.

 

"Intimate is not what you want for a playoff game. You want noise. You want the crowd's energy to be contagious," she said. "Management needs to give the team the best home-field advantage they can."

 

Carolyn Jones is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: [email protected]

 

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/A-s-...p?cmpid=twitter

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Just like the Orioles, Tigers have the better bullpen.

 

Tigers 77-0 last year with leading after 7, "just" 72-7 this year, but still much better than the White Sox.

 

Amazing turnaround, fans turning on Benoit like the Rangers' fans turned on Hamilton.

 

 

Cespedes stealing 2nd and 3rd without much of a challenge reminiscent of the White Sox defensive struggles in past seasons controlling the running game.

 

What's even crazier is the score easily could be 5-1, if not for the CoCo Crisp error and the Avisail Garcia one bounce throw home. That kid's going to be a monster if he develops power to go with that body. He's looking like a possible five tool outfielder, the last thing the White Sox need in our division.

Edited by caulfield12
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Craziest part of that whole inning was Reddick hitting a homer after K'ing 6 consecutive times in the series before that AB.

 

 

Uh-oh, Tigers rallying against the previous nearly untouchable Cook.

 

Can't believe it, 2 runs scoring this inning on wild pitches.

Edited by caulfield12
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f*** the MLB and Choke-land. I don't know who to blame more.

 

"Home field advantage" doesn't just mean "more home games" starting a series at home is a HUGE advantage for any team.

 

f***, the Tigers might sweep and at that point would have really had home field advantage. 2 games in Detroit, 1 game in Oakland.

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QUOTE (Cali @ Oct 7, 2012 -> 12:10 PM)
f*** the MLB and Choke-land. I don't know who to blame more.

 

"Home field advantage" doesn't just mean "more home games" starting a series at home is a HUGE advantage for any team.

 

f***, the Tigers might sweep and at that point would have really had home field advantage. 2 games in Detroit, 1 game in Oakland.

Agreed, it's such bulls***

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QUOTE (Cali @ Oct 7, 2012 -> 02:10 PM)
f*** the MLB and Choke-land. I don't know who to blame more.

 

"Home field advantage" doesn't just mean "more home games" starting a series at home is a HUGE advantage for any team.

 

f***, the Tigers might sweep and at that point would have really had home field advantage. 2 games in Detroit, 1 game in Oakland.

not to mention the lower seat also would get an extra gate.

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