Ready for Replacement?

The A's appear to be moving closer to a deal that will enable them to build a new Oakland ballpark. San Francisco Chronicle sportswriter Susan Slusser quotes A's president Dave Kaval saying "get the shovels ready."

It's about time. In baseball, there are classic parks, such as Fenway, Wrigley and Dodger Stadium, modern/retro marvels Yankee Stadium, PNC and Camden Yards, and a strong middle class symbolized by Kauffman Stadium and Rogers Centre. Then, there's the one whose shot clock should have run out years ago -- the Oakland Coliseum.

Never a perfect venue, it was one of the lesser multi purpose parks when it became home to the Raiders and A's in 1968. It hadn't changed much when I was there in 1993 to snap this.

But the last 25 years, after replacing its pleasant center field area with the awful hulking "Mount Davis," combined with the ravages of time, the park no longer suited any bigtime pro sport. The Raiders, unable to squeeze a new stadium out of Oakland and Alameida County, have left for Las Vegas. Local officials put their emphasis on keeping the A's and 81 dates on the calendar. And it finally appears that long sought plan will come together.

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