Baseball Commissioner's Comments Dim Hope For SJ Baseball Stadium

OAKLAND (CBS SF) - Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig said Thursday it's up to Oakland Athletics owner Lew Wolff to decide whether to consider additional sites for a new A's ballpark, raising the possibility of a move outside the Bay Area.

Speaking after an owners' meeting in New York, Selig said there's no timetable for resolving Oakland's dispute with the San Francisco Giants. The Giants are preventing the A's from building a ballpark in San Jose, which is part of the Giants' territory.

KCBS' Mark Seelig Reports:

Asked whether he would approve a move by Oakland, Selig said "it just depends on where they're moving to."

Those remarks put South Bay baseball boosters in a pessimistic mood.

"It's clear that any other sites would be outside the Bay Area, and it would be a shame," said Santa Clara County Assessor Larry Stone, an outspoken proponent of bringing the A's to the South Bay.

Wolff has never publicly declared any intention to move the team outside the Bay Area, and Oakland Mayor Jean Quan remained confident the team would stay in the East Bay.

"It's a question of who can build a baseball stadium in time for the end of the A's lease, and I think at this point Oakland's in the best spot. We have the funding, we have the place, we can do it on time," said Quan.

A group of local business owners stands ready to buy the team or help finance a refurbished stadium at the Oakland Coliseum complex or another East Bay site.

Quan added the Coliseum was situated on prime real estate for a new stadium because of its proximity to Oakland International Airport, Interstate 880 and Bay Area Rapid Transit.

"We have the best location, maybe in the nation right now, for a baseball stadium," she said.

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