0:00
clear out for a second because I got to
0:02
talk Oakland A's h Sacramento
0:06
A's the opening home stand is in and as
0:11
you might imagine it was exactly the
0:13
opposite of what John Fiser and Rob
0:17
Manfred and the king's owner was telling
0:20
us that it was going to be this wondrous
0:24
experience where because the capacity
0:27
was so small and because the atmosphere
0:29
was so intimate it was going to make it
0:33
special boy wake me up when it's more
0:37
special it begins at opening night when
0:39
there's sell the team chance breaking
0:42
out when also we see if a player gets
0:45
injured run from the dugout across the
0:48
diamond across the outfield and out
0:54
fence how's that for Major League
0:57
Baseball we also saw the tool shed that
1:00
the media availability is in and look
1:03
I'm not here to play violence for the
1:05
media all of us went through the rigors
1:08
no matter what level we are in sports
1:10
media covering minor league baseball as
1:13
I did covering small college basketball
1:17
Olympic sports what have you everyone's
1:19
done media availabilities and something
1:21
like that the problem is those are
1:24
multi-million dollar professional
1:25
athletes at the major league baseball
1:27
level they shouldn't be subjected to
1:30
doing interviews in a tool shed you can
1:34
Lowe's but there in lies the rub here
1:37
everything that Manfred everything that
1:40
John Fischer's insisting is not
1:42
happening and take a number how many of
1:44
those have we had over the last couple
1:46
of years you know here's the bit i just
1:49
don't understand this why John Fischer
1:53
is getting this type of preferential
1:56
treatment because you may have heard me
1:58
mention this on my radio show rob
2:01
Manfred did an interview on my channel
2:03
Mad Dog Sports Radio on SiriusXM with
2:07
Christopher Russo for opening day and
2:10
Rob Manfred said something that will
2:12
always stay with me and he was talking
2:14
about expansion teams in his tenure you
2:18
don't want an expansion club to go into
2:20
a temporary facility you want them to go
2:22
into the market with the stadium built
2:25
make the big splash get that great
2:27
season ticket base going and take off
2:29
you got to have the ballpark ready you
2:32
got to have the red carpet rolled out
2:34
you got to be ready for the expansion
2:37
city to embrace its new team
2:39
everything's got to be
2:41
ready and yet here we are in the no
2:45
man's land of Sacramento for the next
2:47
three plus years with nothing cemented
2:51
and solidified in Las Vegas and you tell
2:54
me why that is let's just go through
2:58
some of the hoops that we've jumped
3:00
through to make sure the A's franchise
3:03
is playing in Sacramento a ton of
3:06
excitement they have Major League
3:07
Baseball in Sacramento they're going to
3:10
play all night games i mean we've
3:11
essentially even on getaway days yeah we
3:13
we've gotten some flexibility from the
3:15
union i think there's one or two dates
3:17
where they play during the day over the
3:18
course of the entire season um we put a
3:21
unique um grass uh uh system in there
3:25
that we think is going to be the coolest
3:26
possible as opposed to going to turf i
3:29
don't think we play the World Series in
3:31
Sacramento i know for sure we're not
3:33
going to but maybe a round we'll see but
3:35
you would not rule out a wildcard round
3:36
there if I won't rule that out right now
3:38
i really won't um I'm not saying I will
3:40
but we're going to have to decide number
3:43
one Rob and Fred bragging we changed the
3:47
turf it's not artificial turf it's going
3:49
to be grass we can play on grass it
3:52
makes it cooler in the summer why do we
3:55
have to worry about the grass being
3:57
changed well that's because it's so darn
4:00
hot in Sacramento they can't play day
4:02
games and so they had to make sure they
4:05
got a green light from the MLB Players
4:09
Association just to make sure that they
4:11
can play all night games this year
4:13
because day games getaway games travel
4:17
days will be too impossibly scorching
4:20
hot so that's number two number three
4:23
Rob Manfred can't commit to any playoff
4:25
games i don't think that's going to be a
4:26
problem but should the A's make the
4:28
postseason he couldn't even promise a
4:31
wildcard round in the ballpark because
4:34
it's so amateur and they're definitely
4:36
not playing following rounds
4:38
specifically the World Series he said
4:40
there's no way that would happen and so
4:42
the A's got the benefit of we'll make
4:45
sure we make it grass we'll make sure
4:47
there's no day games and we're not even
4:49
playingoff games there but we're going
4:52
to make sure you have to leave Oakland
4:55
there is a ballpark in Oakland right now
4:58
sitting and being used by a team a
5:01
soccer team next up why the favor to
5:05
John Fiser to do all this because do you
5:08
realize every other franchise in North
5:10
American sports when they leave their
5:12
city have to pay a relocation fee to the
5:16
league you want to move a football team
5:19
a baseball team a basketball team a
5:21
hockey team the Thrashers become the
5:23
Jets that's a relocation fee and yet
5:26
there's no fee associated to John Fiser
5:30
again I'm asking why are we doing so
5:32
many favors for the worst owner in the
5:35
league and the worst owner in sports in
5:39
Sacramento if you are a Sacramento
5:41
resident and you want to buy Sacramento
5:43
A's gear you can't because the A's
5:46
aren't putting Sacramento in anything
5:48
that they own it doesn't say it on their
5:51
jersey doesn't say it on their hat they
5:53
won't even sell t-shirts with it they're
5:55
just the A's if you go on to MLB.com
5:58
there's no Sacramento there's no Vegas
6:01
there's no Oakland it's just A's so
6:04
you've already given the middle finger
6:05
to the fans that are supposed to show up
6:07
very nice and just note that there's Las
6:10
Vegas tourism signs in the outfield of
6:14
the ballpark so if you're going there as
6:16
a Sacramento resident you are being
6:18
reminded this isn't really your team
6:20
anyway again why are we doing these
6:23
favors let me add this you might
6:26
remember that Rob Manfred as well as
6:29
John Fiser and the Kings owner insisted
6:33
this was going to be the hottest ticket
6:35
in baseball and A's fans saw this train
6:39
coming because when finally tickets were
6:43
released on the open market in the off
6:47
season Ace fans looked it up and
6:50
realized "What the heck is going on
6:52
these tickets are quadruple the price
6:55
that they used to be what are they doing
6:58
here?" And the insistence was "The
7:00
demand is going to be so high you're not
7:03
even going to be able to get in the
7:04
ballpark." Well guess what it seats
7:10
Tuesday i think that was the fourth game
7:15
Sacramento 9,000 people announced
7:19
they're giving away tickets already for
7:22
free they haven't been there two
7:25
weeks 9,000 people well correct me if
7:29
I'm wrong but wasn't that the attendance
7:31
that they were so angry about in Oakland
7:34
again there's a major league ballpark
7:36
granted there's been no love given to it
7:39
for years paint is peeling foundations
7:42
cracking possum in the press box but at
7:45
least it can host playoff games and they
7:49
sold that bad boy out to end last year's
7:52
regular season what if you're going to
7:54
get 9,000 people anyway why are we doing
7:57
it in a place with a tool shed for the
8:00
media this is what I'm asking why the
8:03
favors being done if you're going to be
8:06
insistent that they move to Las Vegas
8:08
that's one thing you believe that's a
8:10
market you got to get to you believe the
8:12
Vegas money is just going to be pumped
8:14
out of there you want to be in the
8:16
business of gambling you got to get to
8:18
Vegas so be it what was the rush in
8:22
Sacramento why did Rob Manfred agree to
8:25
all of this why did the baseball owners
8:29
agree to this nomadic ridiculous
8:32
absurdest cheap juvenile unprofessional
8:36
JV existence for the A's for three years
8:40
minimum why there's a
8:43
ballpark there's a ballpark in
8:49
insanity it seats 13 grand they can't
8:52
sell that out it's day four
8:58
why are they doing this favor for John
9:02
Fiser well I don't know and we may never
9:05
know but I'm going to add
9:08
this once upon a time Bud Celig
9:11
facilitated the sale of the Oakland A's
9:15
he facilitated the sale of the Oakland
9:18
A's to a former frat brother of
9:23
his john Fiser was part of that
9:33
Manfred like this Manfred worked under
9:38
years smells like there's been a favor
9:41
all along smells like there's been
9:43
cronyism all along smells like there's
9:45
been an inside deal all along once upon
9:48
a time was make sure that Bud Celig's
9:52
bro gets that baseball
9:55
team and how many years later let's make
9:58
sure John Fiser doesn't have any
10:01
penalty in trying to extricate himself
10:06
in the most haphazard hamfisted absurd
10:10
way ever were playing in a AAA stadium
10:14
for 3 years completely
10:18
unnecessarily professional athletes are
10:20
doing interviews in a makeshift tool
10:23
shed why why the rush why no relocation