A will not have to share the Coliseum with the Raiders

Territorial wars finally ended in Oakland.
The Kansas City Chiefs Raiders Sunday game will mark the last time one of the Oakland Coliseum's top tenants will play a game on non-sporting terrain.
For A's, it means there is no more conflict

Territorial wars finally ended in Oakland.

The Kansas City Chiefs Raiders Sunday game will mark the last time one of the Oakland Coliseum's top tenants will play a game on non-sporting terrain.

For the A's, this means that there is no need to fight less than ideal terrain conditions created by removable seating sections that can accommodate Raiders crowds – that is, once the field rebounded after Sunday's game. The aesthetic annoyance of football hashing marks and yard lines will only be partially erased.

For the Raiders, it means playing on a field covered only with turf. After Sunday, they and their opponents no longer have to make their way to the clay in early season games. The Raiders will not play a home game until November 3rd. In addition, the franchise will relocate to Las Vegas after this season, which will end all the hassle of the Coliseum.

Although converting the Coliseum playing surface from one sport to another was always feasible, there were many movements behind the movements that were unaware for the fans.

Steve Vucinich, who has been Club A Clubhouse and Equipment Manager since joining the organization during his inaugural season in Oakland in 1968, includes the complex procedures. For example, he cited last weekend, when the A had played a series of home weekend against Detroit, which ended Sunday, a day before the Raiders n & # 39; s 39, open their season at home against Denver.

Vucinich explained that even if the A players play Saturday night, the Raiders move a lot of their equipment. Others were transported on Sunday morning. The Broncos traveled to Oakland on Sunday, but their trucks had to wait for the Tigers and A trucks to leave. After the A's left the Coliseum to catch their flight to Houston, the workers cleared the flag. home and transferred the visitors' lodge chairs to the A pavilion. This allowed the visitors club to be used by the Broncos.

This is not everything. Vucinich remarked that when the Raiders play at the Coliseum, they "put up all the drapery that goes down the steps to the A field and clubhouse to see nothing in baseball. That's all football. … They have to bring in those big cranes and move all the stands. "

The Coliseum has remained in its football configuration since the Raiders-Broncos match, which ensures the A's unfavorable playing conditions when the American Wild Card contenders start a three-game series against Kansas City on Monday.

"We will not have outdoor turf. Guarantee it, "said Vucinich. "Everything will be dead. Coming for a match, it's not bad, but it's been seven or eight days that it lasts. … It will be difficult and difficult. The balls will jump very fast there. The championships must play a different game. "

Playing on dead grass, Vucinich concluded, "affects baseball more than the internal dirt affects football".

Vucinich added that the grass of the outfield would be marked by a visible line. "They will probably try to paint it, just to make it green. It's really nice for my guys who clean the uniforms when a player is diving. They must come out of the painting [of the pants]. "

A director, Bob Melvin, has a unique perspective. He did not care about these inconveniences growing up in northern California. He has just hard roots for many teams in the Bay Area, including the Raiders.

Melvin understands that the impending end of the Coliseum as a dual-purpose stadium also results in the disappearance of the Oakland Adventurers come closer to reality.

"I think for longtime fans who have been going to the Coliseum for 50 years, I think they'll be the most nostalgic about it," Melvin said. "I am one of those people. It will be different I like the Raiders. I do not mind seeing them play elsewhere because we will not have to deal with this dynamic at the end of the season. But it's been like this for a long time and there have been excellent teams from both sides, the Raiders and the A. There will be a pause for thought. "