Oakland mayor asks owners to reject A’s move
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Tim Keown, ESPN Senior Writer
Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao sent a letter to 15 owners in Major League Baseball on Wednesday, outlining why they should reject Athletics owner John Fisher’s attempt to move the team to Las Vegas after 55 years in Oakland.
The owners’ annual meeting takes place next week in Arlington, Texas, and the A’s relocation vote is expected to be held at some point during the three-day session. Approval from three-quarters of the 30 owners is required to allow MLB’s first franchise move since the Montreal Expos became the Washington Nationals after the 2004 season.
Thao’s letter, obtained by ESPN, reiterates many points the mayor has been making since April, when the A’s stunned the city by announcing plans to move to Las Vegas and build a stadium on a nine-acre site currently occupied by the Tropicana Las Vegas Casino Resort. The letter is part of the city’s ongoing effort to counter the A’s contention that Oakland did not act with sufficient urgency in obtaining clearances and securing funding for a $12 billion, 55-acre residential/retail waterfront development that would include a 35,000-seat stadium.
Thao wrote that Oakland has procured $428 million in public funding for off-site infrastructure, a figure that is in addition to approximately $500 million in on-site infrastructure the city and county will contribute through “tax increment funding.”
“The proposed funding assistance for a new stadium development,” Thao wrote, “is thus nearly triple the $380M the A’s have reportedly secured in Las Vegas, for a much smaller stadium project. … There is a clear path to build a state-of-the-art new ballpark here in Oakland, and to do so just as expeditiously (if not more so) than in Las Vegas.”
The letter was sent to a mix of large-market teams, including the Yankees, Red Sox and Dodgers, and smaller-market teams, such as the Tigers, Rockies and Mariners. Sent along with the letter was a “Stay in Oakland” box of city- and A’s-related clothing and material, including a personalized baseball card of each of the 15 owners.
This effort comes at the end of a season-long push by the city and A’s fans to make the case for Oakland as the rightful home for the team — and Fisher’s management as the reason for poor attendance and a protracted stadium battle.
Thao’s letter, which includes many of the arguments she made to Manfred during a meeting in Seattle during the All-Star break, does not mention Fisher directly, nor does it explicitly address the potential of the Athletics, with baseball’s lowest payroll and a higher percentage of revenue sharing, moving from the country’s 10th-largest media market to its 40th.
It does, however, question the economic wisdom of commissioner Rob Manfred’s decision to absolve the A’s of a relocation fee that would be worth at least $300 million.
“The A’s are reportedly counting on hundreds of millions of dollars of relocation fees to be waived as part of this move,” Thao wrote. “Not only would this require MLB owners to make a major financial sacrifice, it might also create a precedent that could cause other teams to seek similar considerations. … And moving the A’s to Las Vegas would remove the market from eligibility as a potential expansion site, closing the door on the hefty expansion fee (expected to amount to $2B+) a new Vegas-based team could contribute.
“In sum, we believe that keeping the A’s in Oakland while evaluating an expansion opportunity in Las Vegas is by far the most lucrative path for MLB over both the short and long term.”
There remain unanswered questions regarding the team’s immediate future. In September, an MLB source told ESPN that owners would not be able to hold an informed vote without concrete answers as to the stadium design in Las Vegas — such as whether it would be domed or have a retractable roof — and where the Athletics plan to play for three seasons (2025-27) while the ballpark in Las Vegas is constructed.
One week before the expected vote, there have been no official renderings of the Las Vegas stadium and Oakland officials say there has been no discussion about extending the lease on the Coliseum, which expires after next season.
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Greg Wyshynski
After making NHL history during the regular season, Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin made some personal history in his team’s Game 1 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Monday.
Ovechkin scored the first playoff overtime goal of his career to propel the Capitals to a series-opening 3-2 victory at home in his 152nd career postseason game.
“A goal is a goal,” Ovechkin said after the victory. “Good things happen when you go to the net.”
Ovechkin is the all-time leader in regular-season overtime goals with 27 in 1,491 games. They’re part of his career total of 897 goals, having broken Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record of 894 goals this season.
“The guy’s the best player in the world. What else can you say?” said Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson, who made 33 saves in the win. “He comes in clutch. All game. It’s a privilege to be his teammate.”
After an icing call, Capitals forward Dylan Strome won a faceoff, with Montreal forwards Patrik Laine and Ivan Demidov failing to clear the puck. Winger Anthony Beauvillier collected the puck for a shot on goal and then tracked down his own rebound to Montreal goalie Sam Montembeault‘s right. Montreal’s Alex Newhook and Kaiden Guhle went to defend Beauvillier, who slid a pass to an open Ovechkin on the doorstep for the goal at 2:26 of overtime.
The overtime tally completed a monster night for Ovechkin.
He opened the scoring on the power play at 18:34 of the first period and then assisted on Beauvillier’s second-period goal to make it 2-0 before finishing off the pesky Canadiens in overtime. It was the 37th multipoint performance and 10th multigoal game of Ovechkin’s playoff career.
Ovechkin also had seven hits in the game to lead all skaters.
Ovechkin is the oldest skater in Stanley Cup playoff history to factor in all of his team’s goals in a game. He also became the fourth-oldest player in Cup playoff history to score an overtime goal at 39 years and 216 days. Detroit’s Igor Larionov was 41 years old when he scored a triple-overtime goal in Game 3 of the 2002 Stanley Cup Final against the Carolina Hurricanes.
With his first goal, Ovechkin passed Patrick Marleau and Esa Tikkanen (72) and tied Dino Ciccarelli (73) for the 14th-most playoff goals in NHL history. Ovechkin’s 74th career playoff goal put him in a tie with Joe Pavelski for the 13th-most career playoff goals.
The captain’s overtime heroism rescued Game 1 for the Capitals. The top seed in the Eastern Conference watched the Canadiens rally in the third period on goals by Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki 5:13 apart to send the game to overtime.
“You can see why they made the playoffs. That team doesn’t quit,” Thompson said. “In the third, they didn’t go away. We’ve got to respect them. They took it to us in the third.”
But rather than give Montreal some much-needed confidence and a series lead in its upset bid, Ovechkin shut the door in overtime.
“He played a hell of game tonight,” Beauvillier said.
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