The San Jose Athletics should be in their second decade of life, and in a sparkling new ballpark. Instead, the A’s remain stuck in the creaky and leaky Oakland Coliseum, and in the unseemly position of threatening Oakland, flirting with Las Vegas, and hoping to get a stadium deal somewhere.
San Jose wanted the A’s, and the A’s wanted San Jose. Under Major League Baseball’s territorial rules, the A’s needed the approval of the San Francisco Giants, or a vote of 75% of MLB owners. The Giants refused, and the league declined to put the matter to a vote.