Another day, another story in the Mercury

I really got a kick out of the story today in the San Jose Mercury:

Councilwoman Nora Campos and two of her colleagues are wasting no time when it comes to San Jose's pursuit of the Oakland A's, saying the economic stakes are too high to wait.

In a memo to be taken up next week by the City Council's agenda-setting Rules and Open Government Committee — the first formal proposal thus far — Campos, Rose Herrera and Nancy Pyle want the full council to schedule a discussion March 24 on how best to proceed in stadium talks with the A's and Major League Baseball.

Now, why did I get such a kick out of this story? Because the San Jose City councilmembers who are taking the lead on moving the A's to San Jose.....are........women : ) Yes, that is, in my book, something worthy of pointing out.

Now, onto other developments. Our facebook group is growing fast, we are almost at 300 supporters! We need to get that number up into the thousands, so, once again I appeal to you to get your friends and family members to join our facebook group, click here for a direct link.

And, Matt Lera posted this picture on our group (from the San Jose Redevelopment Agency)

Isn't that picture too good for words? Image how it would be to sit there on a warm summer night, surrounded by family and friends, enjoying our San Jose A's, and knowing that we will be able to get home in a matter of minutes versus hours.

The Redevelopment site linked above has a wealth of information, reports on economic impact, EIR and more, make sure to take a look at what they have done so far, some very good information to have on hand.

And thanks to those of you who are signing up for email updates, if you haven't yet signed up please take a moment to do so, you will find the email subscription box in the top left corner of the blog.

Time for the weekend folks, I will try to post Saturday or Sunday, but if I can't, look back here for a post on Monday.

Play ball San Jose.

The winds of change

Our San Jose leaders have once again started to gather and work on bringing MLB to San Jose:

A day after the Oakland A's cut off relocation talks with Fremont, San Jose's elected officials and community leaders jumped to work Wednesday on reviving a stadium romance that withered nearly three years ago.

Some gathered in a hastily called meeting. Other boosters signed up for a new "Baseball San Jose" page on Facebook. They talked of conducting polls and rounding up sponsors and perhaps even offering a discount on city-owned land already earmarked for a downtown stadium.

So, what is "our job?" To generate interest and support for MLB in San Jose:

But among the steps San Jose could take to persuade Wolff's fellow owners to change those rights: producing poll numbers that show widespread local support for the team and drumming up lists of potential sponsors and season ticket buyers.

In addition to poll numbers we can do two things right now to show support: sign up to follow this blog (and receive email updates), and ask your friends and family to join our facebook group.

There will be many other ways to get involved in the near future, but for right now our primary job is to show widespread local support for bringing MLB to San Jose. Invite your San Jose friends and family to join the facebook group, and then ask them to stop over here and sign up for email updates.

If we want MLB to seriously consider moving the A's to our area we need to prove that our interest is strong enough to support a MLB team. I know that San Jose is the best place for the A's, you know it too. Our job is to make sure that MLB sees just how strong our support is and will be once the A's call San Jose home.

Play ball San Jose.

Mark Purdy: "San Jose. Of course."

Mark Purdy (San Jose Mercury) today writes:

The next move is Major League Baseball's move. Otherwise, the A's may never move to the place where they needed to move years ago:

San Jose. Of course.

Tuesday's news was no shock. A's owner Lew Wolff officially announced that he has "ceased" his plans for a ballpark project in Fremont. (New motto: City Of Angry Neighbors Who Hate Baseball.) It merely confirmed last week's reports that the team and Fremont had fallen out of love.

And yes, we do have some work, including the territorial rights that are a road block, but according to Purdy those rights may not be that hard of an obstacle to overcome:

As I have noted, those "territorial rights" do not "belong" to the Giants. Those "rights" are the property of Major League Baseball, which permits the Giants to claim them. But the "rights" can be overturned with one swift vote by MLB owners.

There are other cities, including Portland and Sacramento that are possible locations for the A's, but neither of these locations measure up to the possibilities that San Jose can offer.

San Jose has the land available to build a stadium downtown, complete with amble public transportation. Additionally, the downtown location would create a huge amount of pre and post game activity for all of the surrounding businesses, not to mention the jobs that would be created with the building and staffing of said stadium.

Are we ready, finally, to move forward? Time will tell, but you can certainly help get the word out by becoming a follower of this blog, and also joining the facebook group, "Baseball San Jose."

Time to play ball San Jose.

Do you know the way to San Jose?

Finally we hear that Fremont is "officially" dead:

The Oakland A's slammed the door on any move to Fremont today, citing strong opposition to both of their stadium proposals.

"I have concluded that further consideration of the A's relocating to Fremont must cease," team co-owner Lew Wolff wrote in a letter sent to city officials today.

Wolff's announcement has been expected since last week when he halted the environmental process needed for approve a future stadium either adjacent to the Pacific Commons shopping center west of Interstate 880, or between interstates 680 and 880 near the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. plant.

There is only one logical place for the A's to land, and that is San Jose. Now, there are many obstacles to overcome, but if anyone can do this we can.

Personally I never thought that Fremont would work out, my biggest reason being that a ballpark in downtown San Jose just made better economic sense, and secondly having Major League Baseball here in San Jose is a dream of mine.

So, keep checking this blog for updates on how you can once again be a part of bringing Major League Baseball to San Jose.

Play ball San Jose.