The Seattle Mariners weren't able to shower in their locker rooms after playing the Oakland A's on Sunday because sewage flooded the first floor of the Oakland Coliseum. In fact, both teams and the umpires were forced to move upstairs to avoid the leak. They used the Raiders' lockerroom to shower instead.
The sewage, which also affected the Coliseum's kitchen with a separate leak earlier in the week (which is even more disgusting), is supposed to be cleaned up before the A's return after a six-day road trip. If not, they'll have to come into the locker with pegs on their noses.
A's owner Lew Wolff wasn't overly concerned (though why would he be from the owner's box?). Asked if he would alert MLB commissioner Bud Selig, he told The Oakland Tribune "No, he knows about it. Unless he's a plumber, there's not much he can do, either."
No, but he can help get a new stadium. Or he possibly could have during an economic and political climate more suitable to building stadiums, because these sewage leaks first occurred in 1975, just nine years after it was built.
These days, the public doesn't want to pay for rich owners to get new toys or move their teams, and the team is feeling the pushback.
"Today this is national news, but it happens here all the time," GM Billy Beane said. "If we say anything, we're told we're being opportunist."
Though the A's are playing some great baseball these days, it looks like the Raiders are going to stink for a long time.
