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Post by chiyankee on Sept 23, 2024 10:29:38 GMT -5
It's a bit sad to see what is probably the end of the line for the Oakland Coliseum. In their peripatetic history, the Athletics wound up playing a few more years in Oakland (57) than in their original home in Philadelphia (54) to go with a 13-year layover in Kansas City. I enjoyed the memories of rizzuto about going to games there. I would imagine that just by virtue of where he lives that 1955nyyfan has been there and no doubt several others on this forum. I lived in Santa Clara in 72-73 and went to a lot of games when the-then Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum was new and the dynasty of The Swingin' A's was underway. This was long before "Mount Davis" obstructed the pleasant view of the Oakland Hills beyond the outfield wall. It changed the ambiance of the place so much, from open and picturesque to closed and severe. I guess that was also around the time when the toilets started clogging and everyone started calling it a dump. Back in the early 70s they still had the mule Charlie-O who before the game would be brought in to the stadium in a horse trailer and ridden around the warning track before making a bow to the fans and then a dignified exit. For a brief period owner Charlie Finley had his relief pitchers ride in from the bullpen on Charlie-O, but that didn't last long. I don't think the impact of the A's leaving Oakland has quite the cultural impact of when they left Philadelphia -- they were an original American League franchise and easily the number one team in the city, it would have been like the Yankees leaving New York or the Cubs leaving Chicago or the Cardinals leaving St. Louis or the Red Sox leaving Boston back when all of those cities had multiple teams. In this case they're just the latest (and last) major pro team to flee Oakland. Still hate to see it. Fun Fact: This has nothing to do with baseball, but Led Zeppelin played their final two American concerts at the Oakland Coliseum. Judas Priest and Rick Derringer were the opening acts. |
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Post by pippsheadache on Sept 23, 2024 10:32:25 GMT -5
That's a heckuva show, Chi. Bet they sold a lot of earplugs for that one.
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Post by azbob643 on Sept 23, 2024 10:42:50 GMT -5
You've got some nice pix in your stash, Bob. Thanks to iPhone... |
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Post by desousa on Sept 23, 2024 10:44:30 GMT -5
I lived in Berkeley in the late nineties and would go to the Coliseum on a regular basis. The Bart train would drop you off right at the stadium. It took all of 20 minutes for me to get there. The only games that got close to selling out were against the Yankees and Red Sox. It was dump, but it was easy to there and very affordable.
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Post by azbob643 on Sept 23, 2024 10:47:22 GMT -5
I lived in Berkeley in the late nineties and would go to the Coliseum on a regular basis. The Bart train would drop you off right at the stadium. Yep. We stayed at a hotel near the airport which had a shuttle to the games...dropped us off at the same place. |
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Post by chiyankee on Sept 23, 2024 10:52:18 GMT -5
That's a heckuva show, Chi. Bet they sold a lot of earplugs for that one. It was a complete fiasco. The shows were organized by legendary promoter Bill Graham and sometime over that weekend, Graham's security people got into a terrible brawl with John Bonham, Zeppelin's road manger Richard Cole and their chief of security who was just some ex-con thug. One of the members of Graham's camp was severally beaten. Zeppelin left Oakland to travel to New Orleans where they were scheduled to perform at a sold out Superdome. The matter wasn't finished for Graham's people and traveled to New Orleans too to start round II with Zeppelin's crew. Before any of this could happen, word came in that Robert Plant's young son had died of a stomach illness, so Plant returned to England and the rest of the tour was canceled and Zeppelin never made it back to the U.S. to tour. |
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Post by 1955nyyfan on Sept 23, 2024 10:56:09 GMT -5
That's a heckuva show, Chi. Bet they sold a lot of earplugs for that one. It was a complete fiasco. The shows were organized by legendary promoter Bill Graham and sometime over that weekend, Graham's security people got into a terrible brawl with John Bonham, Zeppelin's road manger Richard Cole and their chief of security who was just some ex-con thug. One of the members of Graham's camp was severally beaten. Zeppelin left Oakland to travel to New Orleans where they were scheduled to perform at a sold out Superdome. The matter wasn't finished for Graham's people and traveled to New Orleans too to start round II with Zeppelin's crew. Before any of this could happen, word came in that Robert Plant's young son had died of a stomach illness, so Plant returned to England and the rest of the tour was canceled and Zeppelin never made it back to the U.S. to tour. I remember the concert but didn't attend. It was part of the Day on the Green series. What I recall from the one I did attend was the sound quality was really bad, a lot of distortion. People were packed in and it was hot. |
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Post by chiyankee on Sept 23, 2024 11:20:22 GMT -5
It was a complete fiasco. The shows were organized by legendary promoter Bill Graham and sometime over that weekend, Graham's security people got into a terrible brawl with John Bonham, Zeppelin's road manger Richard Cole and their chief of security who was just some ex-con thug. One of the members of Graham's camp was severally beaten. Zeppelin left Oakland to travel to New Orleans where they were scheduled to perform at a sold out Superdome. The matter wasn't finished for Graham's people and traveled to New Orleans too to start round II with Zeppelin's crew. Before any of this could happen, word came in that Robert Plant's young son had died of a stomach illness, so Plant returned to England and the rest of the tour was canceled and Zeppelin never made it back to the U.S. to tour. I remember the concert but didn't attend. It was part of the Day on the Green series. What I recall from the one I did attend was the sound quality was really bad, a lot of distortion. People were packed in and it was hot. Yeah, I have bootlegs of those shows but rarely listen to them. The shows from the L.A. Forum earlier in the tour are far superior in sound and performance. The Forum was Zep's favorite place to play, and they usually had some extra juice in those shows. |
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Post by pippsheadache on Sept 23, 2024 11:26:05 GMT -5
That's a heckuva show, Chi. Bet they sold a lot of earplugs for that one. It was a complete fiasco. The shows were organized by legendary promoter Bill Graham and sometime over that weekend, Graham's security people got into a terrible brawl with John Bonham, Zeppelin's road manger Richard Cole and their chief of security who was just some ex-con thug. One of the members of Graham's camp was severally beaten. Zeppelin left Oakland to travel to New Orleans where they were scheduled to perform at a sold out Superdome. The matter wasn't finished for Graham's people and traveled to New Orleans too to start round II with Zeppelin's crew. Before any of this could happen, word came in that Robert Plant's young son had died of a stomach illness, so Plant returned to England and the rest of the tour was canceled and Zeppelin never made it back to the U.S. to tour. A lot of craziness followed wherever Bill Graham went. When I lived out there he ran a place called Winterland Arena, close to where Fillmore Auditorium used to be. Some acts I saw in that place were Ten Years After and Mahogany Rush and Quicksilver Messenger Service and Lee Michaels. There was another band Jo Jo Gunne that got into an argument about the sound system and Graham confronted them with his henchmen right on stage. All part of the show. Zeppelin first performed "Whole Lotta Love" there. Part of "Frampton Comes Alive" was recorded there and The Band had its final concert at Winterland. Graham was killed in a helicopter crash in 1991. |
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Post by Max on Sept 23, 2024 12:57:56 GMT -5
IMO...most MLB ballparks should be around 40,000 capacity. I'm guessing the Las Vegas ballpark will be built to allow for easy expansion if warranted. That reminds me...Speaking of such (the thought of Yankee Stadium adding a retractable roof), from what I heard, if I'm not mistaken, it's my understanding that the retractable roof that was built over Arthur Ashe Stadium was built without adding load to the exsitstiing structure. So my guess is that stadium didn't have to be raised. |
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Post by Max on Sept 23, 2024 13:00:11 GMT -5
The stadium is falling apart. Compare it to Angel Stadium, which is slightly older. Angel Stadium looks almost new... Angel Stadium's LF and RF reminds me of the original Yankee Stadium's LF and RF. |
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Post by Max on Sept 23, 2024 13:06:15 GMT -5
Dunno...I kinda like it. How many MLB ballparks are actually sold out...not tix sold? IMO, baseball, unlike football, needs to be watched relatively closely. I guess I'm just used to the Big Ballpark in the Bronx. OF course, the A's are going to be happy to have any fans in the park.
I'm trying to think...Has any franchise in sports moved more than the A's? First to KC, then Oakland, then eventually Sacramento and Vegas.
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Post by Max on Sept 23, 2024 13:09:19 GMT -5
I'd leave Holmes off the playoff roster. In my opinion, the Yankees should give Beeter a chance to pitch instead of Holmes. |
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Post by 1955nyyfan on Sept 23, 2024 13:09:51 GMT -5
It was a complete fiasco. The shows were organized by legendary promoter Bill Graham and sometime over that weekend, Graham's security people got into a terrible brawl with John Bonham, Zeppelin's road manger Richard Cole and their chief of security who was just some ex-con thug. One of the members of Graham's camp was severally beaten. Zeppelin left Oakland to travel to New Orleans where they were scheduled to perform at a sold out Superdome. The matter wasn't finished for Graham's people and traveled to New Orleans too to start round II with Zeppelin's crew. Before any of this could happen, word came in that Robert Plant's young son had died of a stomach illness, so Plant returned to England and the rest of the tour was canceled and Zeppelin never made it back to the U.S. to tour. A lot of craziness followed wherever Bill Graham went. When I lived out there he ran a place called Winterland Arena, close to where Fillmore Auditorium used to be. Some acts I saw in that place were Ten Years After and Mahogany Rush and Quicksilver Messenger Service and Lee Michaels. There was another band Jo Jo Gunne that got into an argument about the sound system and Graham confronted them with his henchmen right on stage. All part of the show. Zeppelin first performed "Whole Lotta Love" there. Part of "Frampton Comes Alive" was recorded there and The Band had its final concert at Winterland. Graham was killed in a helicopter crash in 1991. He did get The Last Waltz right. I almost went to that show but it was held on Thanksgiving and I had plans I couldn't change. |
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Post by 1955nyyfan on Sept 23, 2024 13:12:12 GMT -5
I'd leave Holmes off the playoff roster. In my opinion, the Yankees should give Beeter a chance to pitch instead of Holmes. Holmes is another FA and it will be interesting to see if he has a market and if the Yankees are interested in bringing him back. I think it's probably time to move on. |
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