I'm finally starting to figure out why I never attended a World Series game with my parents when I was a kid in the late '80s. It was probably just too expensive for them to pull off. It's disappointing to think that if my kids become die-hard A's fans and the team makes it to the World Series someday that there's almost no way I'll be able to afford to take them to a game because ticket prices are out of control.
Of course, if you want to kick me while the A's are down you can argue that I'll probably never have to worry about that for several reasons:
1. You could make a case that recent history suggests that the A's may never get to another World Series. I beg to differ, but if you want to give me a bad time that's a good place to start since the team has been an also-ran for several seasons.
2. You could also say that my kids won't have any reason to grow up as A's fans because Oakland doesn't keep its star players around long enough for anyone to get emotionally invested in the franchise. That argument might actually hold a lot of water, since I grew up cheering for Rickey Henderson and the powerful clubs managed by Tony LaRussa. And if there's one thing you can say about the owners of those A's teams it's that they kept their top players.
Back then the A's drew close to three million fans a year. But now the ballpark is a ghost town most of the time. It's hard not to see a clear connection between ownership spending money to keep a talented roster together and ticket sales.
3. Here's another point you could make in calming my fears that I won't be able to get a hold of affordable A's World Series tickets for my family: No one goes to A's games anymore.
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