McAfee Coliseum - Buy Oakland Athletics tickets for McAfee Coliseum at TickCo.com! Enjoy Oakland A's Tickets for home games at McAfee Coliseum
|
McAfee Coliseum /
Oakland Athletics
You can tell once upon a time McAfee Coliseum was a pretty nice ballpark. Today, however, the home of the Oakland Athletics is an acceptable major-league facility, but baseball clearly plays second fiddle to the NFL's Oakland Raiders. Too bad: Oakland is a better baseball community than people assume, but the powers-that-be have done their best to snuff out interest in baseball in the East Bay. It's clear there's not much of a future for professional baseball in McAfee Coliseum, making the team's search for a new ballpark such an imperative.
McAfee Coliseum is a suburban multiuse facility, typical of its era (think Metropolitan Stadium, Veterans Stadium, et al) that's manage to exist in an era where single-use downtown facilities are the rage. On the one hand, the location does make access easy, and the presence of a BART station to the east of the ballpark makes access even easier for those who want to avoid the $14 parking fee. It's not an especially pleasing exterior, made less so by a sea of concrete and asphalt. You're probably not going to get chills down your spine when entering the ballpark unless you're a hardcore fan summoning the ghosts of Charlie O. Finley and Athletics teams of the past. Once inside, the ballpark layout is fairly standard: a concourse sit in back of the seating areas and rings the ballpark. The circular shape of the bowl means there are some awkwardly configured seats (like the left-field bleacher seats shown below) and a huge foul area, which places fans even farther away from the field. Too bad for bleacher fans: both right-field and left-field bleachers featured some rabid and passionate A's fans, complete with banners and clappers. If they're indicative of the potential passion of baseball fans in Oakland, we imagine management is right to continue seeking a new ballpark in Alameda County.
While there were always bleachers in center field, the monstrosity featuring suites and additional seating was added in 1996 when the Raiders were lured back to Oakland from Los Angeles. The lower bleachers and club area are sold for Athletics games, but the upper bleachers are not. Because there's some variation in seating depending on what sections are open, the A's put ballpark capacity at 50,000-plus and leave it at that. That looming center-field section may make sense for football (the football field is laid out parallel) but adds little for baseball. It also eliminated some views of the California foothills and created an insular little environment.
If that's not enough, there's one more fatal flaw with the ballpark: the vast majority of the seating is set far, far away from the action. The Athletics added some big-buck seats closer to the action, but that doesn't really help most fans. Take a look at the photos below: The second-level club section is set way back from the playing field, and the upper deck is seemingly miles away from the action. While there's something to be said for upper-deck seating providing a great view of the entire park (truth is, we prefer cheaper upper-deck seating in some ballparks), in Oakland those seats are inconvenient and overpriced at $9, especially when there are limited concession offerings up there. The spread-out design also ensures there are virtually no seats in the shade for an afternoon game except the last 12 row in the lower level.
In the end, you've got to feel a little sorry for Oakland A's fans. They're remained pretty passionate in the face of high prices and a fairly lousy ballpark desecrated to attract a football team. The future of baseball in the Bay Area won't be with McAfee Coliseum, and that's a good thing.
Concessions The Coliseum Dog ($4.75), made by Miller's, is tasty; there are also tofu dogs for the meatless. Other stands feature BBQ, Saag's Sausages, fish and chips, and vegetarian offerings (outside section 109). Speaking of Biersch: You can find their legendary garlic fries at a few stands (try outside section 116), but it will take some work. If you want to eat at a picnic table overseeing the field, there are BBQ terraces down each line. Other premium areas include The Field, an Irish pub featuring Guinness, Bass and Harp on taps and Irish whiskies by the glass. Also, suite-level club is open to anyone; it features table service, a Mexican booth (with Cuervo margs for $10) and a bar.
For the Kids
Parking If you want to avoid parking, the BART commuter train line has a stop at the Coliseum. You can take the BART all the way from San Francisco International Airport; it takes about one hour and requires one transfer.
;
Ballpark History The Charlie O. Finley era of the Athletics was colorful in many ways. Finley was an annoyance to his fellow owners, pushing "innovations" like gold-colored bases (used in the team's 1970 home opener but subsequently banned) and white shoes on players. Other innovations were subsequently made part of baseball: Finley caught grief for using more than one color for uniforms (white, green, gold), but virtually every team today has more than one alternate jersey. Finley also plucked a young dancer from the parking lot and named him VP of the team. The young man, Stanley Burrell, eventually achieved greater fame as MC Hammer.
|
|