Did the A’s use two killed Nevada State Troopers as an excuse?
The A’s appear to be racing to find rock bottom.
As of Monday night, the franchise featured a new section of information on MLB.com’s Las Vegas ballpark page, but it was deleted by late Wednesday morning after we talked about it on The Rickey Henderson of Podcasts and I wrote another blog on the topic. Among the four deleted paragraphs from the MLB.com page, the A’s announced they hired architectural firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) on Dec. 4.
If this information is true, it makes the A’s front office look like liars once again. Let me explain.
On Nov. 30, the team announced that they would be holding a public meeting at UNLV on Dec. 4 with some heavy hitters from Sin City. Here was the roster of the notable names set to take part in the press conference, via the Las Vegas Sun’s Casey Harrison:
- A’s owner John Fisher
- Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo
- UNLV President Keith Whitfield
- Clark County Commission Chairman Jim Gibson
- Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority President and CEO Steve Hill
- Nevada AFL-CIO Executive Secretary-Treasurer Susie Martinez
That’s a who’s who list for a press conference – one that makes you think this project could finally become a reality. Especially if renderings and financial information would have been revealed.
Except, on Dec. 1, the A’s reversed course and canceled the Dec. 4 public meeting, reportedly out of respect for two fallen Nevada State Police troopers, Michael Abbate and Alberto Felix, who were killed in the line of duty by a suspected drunk driver on Nov. 30.
This is where the optics look bad for the A’s. Nearly three months have passed and there are still no renderings.
It’s hard to believe the soulless folks at the top of the A’s ownership group are still in a period of mourning for Sgt. Abbate and Trooper Felix. Why did they have to bring the troopers’ names into this mess in the first place?
It’s easier to believe that the A’s had to cancel the Dec. 4 public meeting because that ended up being the day they actually hired the architecture firm. Bold to declare a renderings press conference before even officially signing Bjarke Ingels Group on to the project. Sure, BIG probably wooed the A’s with some sweet Las Vegas renderings in the bidding process (those Howard Terminal ones sure looked nice), but it appears the A’s were premature in calling the press conference and scraped to find any reason to cancel.
If the A’s are willing to use two dead state troopers as an excuse, it appears nothing is sacred in the franchise’s search for a new home – except for John Fisher’s bank account.
