Oakland-Alameda County Stadium Review

While on job assignment in San Jose, California back in September 2009, I attended the baseball game between the Oakland Athletics hosting the Seattle Mariners on September 5. One of my co-worker friends named Jeff Giguere also came to this game. Oakland won the night game 9-5 in the third of a four game series between the two teams.

We had tickets on the third base side six rows from the field. The tickets were only $30 where we were at, and the attendance for the game was a little more than 16,000.

One of the first pictures I got at the game was when Mariners DH Mike Sweeney stepped up to the plate in the 2nd inning. On the very next pitch after I took the picture, Sweeney hit a home run off Oakland starter Brett Anderson. Sweeney had four hits in the game, but it wasn't enough as Oakland got three hits from shortstop Cliff Pennington including a home run to help the Athletics win.

Both Jeff and I did check out the stadium and took many pictures while paying attention to the game. The stadium itself has been a large debate over the years as attempts to relocate the team and build a new stadium have surfaced. The Athletics share the stadium with the Oakland Raiders football team which has created a stir about moving the team to another facility, too.

The Athletics first used the stadium back in the late 1960s, and you can tell there is some wear when you visit. However, attendance has never been great at Athletics games even though they have fielded strong teams during their tenure at the stadium.

My Review of Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum

The bad: It is an older stadium and there are some bad parts of Oakland near the stadium that would be best avoided. Also, because of dwindling attendance at games, there isn't nearly as much staff on hand nor concession stands open either. Parking is pricey considering they don't come close to filling up the lots at most games. The traffic is still brutal in that area especially if you're late arriving.

The good: The tickets are cheap, and you won't have much trouble finding any at the gates. You won't have to worry with rushing to a local box office like at same venues to pick tickets up early since there's a wide selection of them to choose from at the gate. The seats themselves are easy to locate and the lack attendance means you won't feel as crunched because of the small space between the seats. The food at the ballpark wasn't bad at all either.

Overall: Though it maybe far from being the nicest-looking ballpark in the world, there are some other reasons to enjoy baseball at the stadium. If you can get past the parking issues as well as bad parts of Oakland(depending on where you're coming from), then you'll have no trouble getting tickets most anywhere in the stadium for a reasonable price. You can see the Oracle Arena where the Golden State Warriors of the NBA play their games as well, so going to Oakland as a sports fan in April might be good because both teams play then, too. Also, September is a good month if you like the NFL and/or the Oakland Raiders. If you like the older style ballparks with good seating at very affordable prices, then it doesn't get much better than Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.