All 30 Stadiums: Game 15: May 26, 2014 Tigers at Athletics

The last stop on my weekend excursion was O.co Coliseum. It's the old monstrosity with a new name. I was there about ten years ago and it's as bad as it was then. The good news is that a simple BART trip took me to the front door.

They have a long bridge to get people from BART to the stadium. There were a lot of people in a small space. It didn't seem to be fire safe. At the other side of the bridge I was reminded why this is the only dual purpose stadium in baseball and how the Raiders, a team that hasn't had a winning record since 2002, believes their own hyperbole. "Commitment to Excellence?" Really?

As if to emphasize their greatness, they also told me that the stadium was the home of champions. The last time either team won a championship was 1989. Do we define champions differently?

When I got over the bridge, I was instructed to go down a ramp and enter through a different gate. When I did, I joined a sea of people who were walking in. Little did I know there was a line that I was walking into the middle of. One large tattooed man threatened me if I dared to get in front of him. Welcome to Oakland! Then I went through security. Because I was catching a flight after the game, I had my bags with me. The guard gave them a cursory look. I could've had weapons in there and he wouldn't have known. Oh, Oakland, I love you. They did give me this spiffy hat.

And they did have beers from Northern California breweries.

And they even had an Irish Pub inside the stadium.

Then it was off to my seat. It was hot and the lower level seat that I prize in most stadiums got a lot of sun. It may have been better to be in a cooler seat for a day game. Then I saw Mt. Davis. What's Mt. Davis? It's the seats built in the outfield back in the 90's to entice Al Davis and the Oakland Raiders to move back to Oakland. It made the view awful and added a lot of seats the A'S don't need.

They did have a big crowd, not as big as the Giants, but this is no Indians crowd.

Because the A's want to move, no is upgrading the stadium. The scoreboard and video screen were small and far away. It's the worst video screen in the league. The Cubs don't have a video screen. This was only slightly better.