The poll indicates overwhelming support for a plan for the city of San Jose to give downtown land to the Oakland A's for a new ballpark.
A poll of San Jose residents indicates overwhelming support for a plan for the city of San Jose to give downtown land to the Oakland A's for a new ballpark, with 62 percent of those asked approving of the plan.
You don't see such overwhelming support for sports facilities very often, as only 23.5 percent of the respondents opposed the plan. The poll was done by San Jose State University's Survey and Policy Research Institute for the San Jose Mercury News.
The poll is expected to give some cover to a three-person panel appointed by Commissioner Bud Selig to evaluate the future of the A's in Oakland. A report from the panel has been expected for weeks, but delayed for various reasons; we were told by someone close to the project that a release was imminent a month ago.
The main issue with San Jose: It sits squarely within the territory of the San Francisco Giants, who strongly oppose a move by the A's into their region. A report from the panel concluding the only sane place for the A's to move is San Jose won't mollify the Giants, but it will give Selig some ammunition to work out a financial settlement for the Giants, and perhaps a restructuring of the teams' territorial rights in the Bay Area.
RELATED STORIES: Fremont comes back to A's, MLB with another ballpark site; Wolff: A's could share ballpark with MLS's Quakes; Does a San Jose A&'s ballpark make economic sense?; Giants digging in their heels in opposition to A's San Jose ballpark; San Jose to put off ballpark referendum until 2010; San Jose ballpark committee meets for first time; San Jose to discuss blueprints for A's ballpark negotiations; Various San Jose groups begin task of landing A's; Selig forms committee to study Oakland ballpark situation; Wolff to Oakland: Drop dead!; Oakland forming new committee to pursue new A's ballpark; San Jose mayor: We have better than 50-50 shot at landing the A's; San Jose city committee wants to see poll of residents before moving forward on A's; Could Oakland Coliseum work as baseball-only venue?; Wolff: Goal is team in "Northern California"; A's officially drop Fremont ballpark plans; Wolff says there's no backup plan; A's suspend Fremont plans; will reevaluate future home for club; A's: No new ballpark until 2014; Wolff: A's still committed to Fremont ballpark; A's cancel community meetings as opposition to new ballpark plan accelerates; New A's ballpark opposed by hundreds of protesters; Oakland admits original plans for Cisco Field are all but dead
Share your news with the baseball community. Send it to us at editors@augustpublications.com.
Subscribers to the weekly Ballpark Digest newsletter see features before they're posted to the site. You can sign up for a free subscription at the Newsletter Signup Page.
Join Ballpark Digest on Facebook and on Twitter!