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James Sutton, St. Louis, MO -- Oct 09, 2006 14:39 PM
1 visit(s). My rating: 5
My how the Raiders have scarred this once beautiful ballpark. I saw a game with my family on a trip to San Francisco back in 1992. Back then it was very nice. The stadium was 3 decked, but the two upper levels WEREN'T big, so it WAS nice, almost like a minor league park. The view out to the outfield WAS very nice out to the mountains.
All of this has changed with the additions added in the outfield to accomodate the Raiders. It's such a shame. Back in 1992 I would have rated the Coliseum around a 7. It's too bad that Oakland gave into the pressure of the demands of the Raiders and I look forward to the A's moving out of this ballpark and into one that is more deserving of their franchise.
Michael Gustafson, Reno, NV -- Sep 20, 2008 23:01 PM
1 visit(s). My rating: 8
When i came here in 2003, it was my first pro baseball game, it was great, the A's played the Blue Jays, we came in late, around the 3rd inning, (Oakland traffic as well as not knowing where it is) but it was still a blast, i was with 3 of my closest friends, and it was just an all around great time, my only complaint was how long it takes to walk up to the field level.
Brett P, Los Angeles, CA -- Sep 09, 2010 10:12 AM
1 visit(s). My rating: 9
Andrew, do you have the football layout diagram when the Oakland Invaders played at the Coliseum? From the youtube videos of the Invader games, it looks like the field was layed out from home plate to the warning track as opposed to across the infield. By the way, thanks for this website.
Brett P, Los Angeles, CA -- Sep 09, 2010 10:17 AM
1 visit(s). My rating: 9
Andrew, do you have the football layout diagram when the Oakland Invaders played at the Coliseum? From the youtube videos of the Invader games, it looks like the field was layed out from home plate to the warning track as opposed to across the infield. By the way, thanks for this website.
Brian S, Exeter, CA -- Mar 18, 2011 15:14 PM
1 visit(s). My rating: 9
Brett, you did see it correctly. Prior to the 1996 renovation, the Coliseum actually had two different setups for football. From 1968 through 1981 and in 1995, due to the expense and time to convert the place from baseball to football and back again, the football field would be laid out with one end zone at home plate and the other in dead center field until the A's' season ended (it was usually set up this way through all Raider preseason games and the first regular season home game or two, although the Raiders would often start their season with a road-heavy schedule to counteract this). The only change in seating between the baseball setup and this football setup was that a few extra rows were added in the bleachers to bring the seats all the way down to field level and the tarps were removed from the seats in dead center that formed the "batter's eye" for baseball games. The end result was that the first row of seats on the 50 yard line (down the foul lines for baseball) were actually about 120 feet from the field, an incredibly large amount.
Brian S, Exeter, CA -- Mar 18, 2011 15:14 PM
1 visit(s). My rating: 9
During those years, once the A's' season was over, the field would be rotated 90 degrees to the traditional football setup, with end zones where the baseball bullpens are and temporary bleachers in the outfield. Season ticket holders would actually have two sets of seats: one for the baseball-configuration games and one for the football-configuration ones (so if you had seats on the 50 yard line, you'd be on the 50 for the whole season although your seats would be in different parts of the stadium).
For the Invaders games, which took place from March to June, they used the baseball setup exclusively, since it wasn't worth setting the stadium up in the football setup in March only to have to switch to the baseball one once the A's started in April.
Brian S, Exeter, CA -- Feb 25, 2012 22:43 PM
10 visit(s). My rating: 9
Just a clarification: the "alternate" orientation of the football field (running from home plate to center field) only occurred between 1968 and 1981 and in 1995. Nowadays the first-deck seats on the outfield side are brought in using a crane for all Raider games, preseason and regular season, and then removed again when there are baseball games to be played, at a significant cost. With the pitch of the seats on the "Mt. Davis" side, it would be impossible to see the near side of the field past the 20-yard line from those seats were the field to be laid out in the "alternate" configuration (just like center field is not visible from those seats during baseball games).