When the Oakland A’s plans for a new ballpark near Lake Merritt collapsed in December 2017, the team said it was “shocked.”
When the Oakland City Council recently initiated a lawsuit aimed at blocking the team’s purchase of Alameda County’s half-interest in the Coliseum, A’s President Dave Kaval said the team was “blindsided.”
This “blindsided,” “shocked,” 13-year search for a new A’s ballpark was getting old. Then Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred threw a high hard one at the head of the city, a warning shot that it might lose the A’s to Las Vegas or someplace else if they can’t get on board.