San Jose won the right to fast-track an appeal of its lawsuit against Major League Baseball and Commissioner Bud Selig over the lack of permission for the Oakland A’s to move there.
Viewed by many observers to be a very weak argument, San Jose lawyers said MLB illegally colluded to keep the Athletics from building a new ballpark, despite the wishes of A’s ownership. U.S. District Judge Ronald Whyte agreed, ruling against San Jose and ruled that baseball’s antitrust exemption allowed for the existence of territories — in this case, the San Francisco Giants’ claim on Santa Clara County and much of Silicon Valley.
The appeal from San Jose calls for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to receive arguments by March 24 and issue a ruling this summer. Time is of the essense: the options A’s ownership holds on downtown land parcels expire in November.
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