When Major League Baseball established a blue-ribbon task force in March 2009 to explore the A's moving to San Jose, Oakland Athletics owner Lew Wolff may have wondered if his old friend and fraternity brother Bud Selig might rig the process in his favor.
But nearly a year and a half later, Wolff is still wondering. Sixteen months is a long time to make a decision, even by blue-ribbon task force standards.
Now the whole project could be flying off the Diridon Rails. The Mercury News reports that San Jose City Council faces an Aug. 3 deadline to get an A's stadium on the ballot, or else the initiative goes on hold indefinitely.
Wolff has kept quiet for 16 months while the task force has dithered away, but he uncorked in Sunday's San Jose Mercury News.
"We have a sense of urgency, but it doesn't seem as if anyone else has it," Wolff complained in an exclusive interview with the Merc.
San Jose mayor Chuck Reed was even more blunt. "I feel like we're being jerked around, and it's time to make a decision," he told the paper.
Wolff badly wants to move the A's to San Jose, but is waiting for permission from Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig. The Giants currently claim territorial rights to the San Jose area.
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"This is a $400 million private stimulus package for San Jose," Wolff told the Mercury News. "And (Giants owner) Bill Neukom is standing in the way."
But Wolff shouldn't blame the Giants or Bill Neukom. The foot-dragging MLB task force is the elephant in the room.
Joe Kukura is a freelance writer who is afraid they're going to move the Ashby Flea Market to San Jose.
