matthewweaver.com | mlb ballparks

Ballpark:
Originally known as the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, the dual-purpose ballpark - a rarity these days - has been named after Silicon Valley software maker McAfee. The qualities that had made the Coliseum a baseball destination have been ruined by the monstrous football complex in center field. Completed in 1997 for the Oakland Raiders, the seating section has been sarcastically named "Mount Davis" after the Raiders quirky owner. The intimacy is gone, as is the once great view of the Oakland hills. Also, the field is basically destroyed from August through October due to the pounding of the football games. Despite their recent success, it is easy to see that the A's are second class citizens in "Raider Nation."

Fortunately, there are a few positives about the baseball experience at The Net. They have the best PA Announcer in the game (you should have heard him say "Geronimo Berroa" back in the 1990's), a Hat "Shell" Game on the video boards that all the other teams copied because it was so good and the best non-gourmet pizza in the majors (10-inch Round Table Pizzas). I once ate THREE personal sized Round Table pizzas during a single game and I have yet to get the same taste from a local Round Table chain. I wonder how they make them taste so good at the park. :)

Sadly, these good things are just enough to bring the park up to a "C" rating.

How to get there:
Follow I-880 from downtown Oakland or just take a quick surface street from the nearby Airport. The signs will point you easily to the Coliseum, but you'll be able to see the park from the highway if you aren't sure. The BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) stops right at the stadium complex, so you can avoid traffic and parking hassles. BART is the suggested means of transportation when the A's play a big drawing team like the Indians, Giants, Red Sox or Yankees.

City:
Oakland sits on the east side of the Bay from San Francisco and it is basically the poor stepchild of the "City by the Bay". There is a nice waterfront area with shops and restaurants and the hills are home to the Bay Area affluent, but most of Oakland is rundown and rather dangerous. I would suggest spending your time in San Francisco or up Route 24 in Walnut Creek. For the open minded, there's also the super-liberal city of Berkeley (a.k.a Berzerkly) a few miles to the North.

Stuff to do while there:
Sightseeing is your best bet. Skyline Drive provides great views of the Bay, Oakland and San Francisco. You can check out the naval shipyards at nearby Alameda or drive east to the easy-to-hike Mount Diablo. Ultimately, you must take the Bay Bridge over to San Francisco and spend some of your time in the greatest city in the world.

Story:
I have appeared - briefly - on the local Cleveland TV broadcast of two different Indians games while in Oakland (see photo at right). In 1997, I was interviewed by Cleveland TV-3 sportscaster Jim Donovan before the season opener.

The construction of the outfield football complex in 1996 actually took place during the day games and I attended two of those games. Anytime the A's would start to rally, the construction workers would pound their heavy machinery into the concrete and make an incredible amount of noise. You could feel the vibrations coming through your seat.

On May 8, 1996, I saw Mark McGwire hit a titanic home run into the construction zone. It was still going up when it careened into what is now the Raiders Club - just below the upper deck of the massive new football complex. It was well over 500 feet and it surely the longest home run I've seen in person!

In a small piece of history, I saw the final game of the 2004 season at the Coliseum. It was Tim Hudson's last start with the A's before they traded him to Atlanta and the out-of-town scoreboard showed the final score of the last ever Montréal Expos game before they moved to Washington, DC. Click here to see the photographic evidence.

Fun facts:
The Coliseum has the most in-play foul territory of any ballpark in the Majors.

The ballpark was originally designed for both the A's and the Raiders, but was baseball only for about a decade while the Raiders played in Los Angeles.

The Athletics club was once the Philadelphia Athletics of famous manager Connie Mack. They later moved to Kansas City and then on to Oakland in the late 1960's.

For a short time, the ballpark was known as "Umax Coliseum" until the sponsorship deal failed. After that, the park was named "Network Associates Coliseum" until McAfee bought the company and changed the Coliseum's name.

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A three photo mosaic of
McAfee Coliseum
October 3, 2004

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Matt from the right field seats
October 3, 2004

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Tim Hudson fires the first pitch
October 3, 2004

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Oakland fans rise to cheer the
A's to a comeback victory
October 3, 2004

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A before and after photo of the new outfield complex built for the Oakland Raiders football team
May 5, 1996 | April 3, 1997

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Matt on the local TV broadcast
on Cleveland Channel 43
May 6, 1996