Hope springs eternal for Baseball fans. It's in their DNA. In San Jose, this takes the form of stadium dreams, with the A's playing ball in a new downtown ballpark. Glitches in Fremont's bid to land the nomadic team, as it tries to slip south from Oakland, have stoked those dreams better than a fully loaded ballpark hot dog.
The idea of San Jose spending public money on a ballpark today is a non-starter. And even when the Silicon Valley economy rebounds, any public investment would require a referendum. The San Francisco Giants built their enormously popular bayside AT&T Park with private funds, so A's owner Lew Wolff can't claim that's a total fantasy. San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed is playing it cool, but the city's economic development czar, Paul Krutko, has probably dialed up Wolff by now. Other local advocates, including Councilman and County Supervisor-elect Dave Cortese, are pumped.
Major League Baseball has considered San Jose to be in Giants territory, but there are hints that could change. And the city has a lot going for it otherwise not the least of which is a great ballpark site near Diridon Station, placing Caltrain, light rail and the future BART line within range of a Mark McGwire home run blast.
It's a pitch worth making.
