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With the Oakland Athletics just about set to relocate to Las Vegas, Oakland mayor Sheng Thao made a massive effort to reverse the course at the MLB All-Star Game.
Thao met with MLB commissioner Rob Manfred and provided documents showing that the city has a plan to renovate the Athletics' ballpark, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Thao's efforts were done to bust the myth that the city had no plans to renovate its stadium, Oakland Coliseum. She provided documentation for the commissioner and every MLB team owner.
“We had a good meeting, a very open exchange of views,” Manfred said before the All-Star Game, via The Athletic. “I understand she came to the process late and is doing her best to figure out if there is something that can be done in a process that was in a lot of ways kind of over when she showed up on the scene.”
The Athletics' current ballpark is terrible in many aspects, namely the infestation of possums. The ownership group, led by John Fisher, hatched a plan to flee the city that other professional teams have already left to set up shop in Las Vegas. They starved the team on the field, leading to one of the worst MLB teams of the last few seasons with little hope for the future.
Athletics fans are rightfully disappointed that their franchise is going through this and that MLB is so willing to let it happen. Thao, like everyone in Oakland, was also displeased when the A’s made their initial announcement their intent to move to Las Vegas. Although a lot of important steps have already occurred, including the money being confirmed for the new construction of the new ballpark, Thao is not giving up.
“I’ll be very honest. I was obviously upset. This felt really unfair,” Thao said, via The Athletic. “But there are no shovels in the ground (in Las Vegas). And until there is a shovel in the ground and it’s starting to be built, it’s still reality that the Oakland A’s can still be in Oakland. That’s the stance I’m going to continue to take.”
