It's no secret that the Oakland As want to move to San Jose, and that the San Francisco Giants are determined to stop them.
Now a certain phone company is jamming the lines in hopes the As get lousy reception.
Matier and Ross report in Monday's San Francisco Chronicle that AT&T is refusing to sell land that it owns to the city of San Jose. This happens to be same land that San Jose needs for a 14-acre ballpark to house the relocated Oakland As.
Without ownership of the land in question, San Jose would be unable to build the proposed ballpark at Diridon Station.
AT&T's refusal to sell is terrible news for the As, and great news for the Giants. It's almost as if the Giants and AT&T have some sort of business relationship that would make AT&T want to protect the Giants' financial interests.
"The land obviously is not for sale," AT&T California spokesman Ryan Rauzon told the Chronicle. The land is currently used as a storage area for company vehicles.
Storage area for vehicles? With all due respect, AT&T, what could be less difficult to relocate than a storage area?
Sports
Matier and Ross speculate the refusal to sell may be straight-up payback. San Jose City Council recently refused to allow housing development on different land owned by AT&T.
The Chronicle estimates the value of the AT&T facility at $12 million.
Joe Kukura is a freelance writer who wonders if AT&T employees also get their calls dropped all the time.
