Disclaimer: I am a Los Altos library commissioner. Though I’m writing about an event I attended at the library, I am writing on behalf of myself and my own personal beliefs.
Goodbye, Oakland by Andy Dolich and Dave Newhouse
The hero of Goodbye, Oakland is the City of Oakland. Its heart – its core and people, the port – all will overcome the greed of the Raiders, the Warriors, and the A’s. The book gives me hope in the city of Oakland.
I attended an author’s event at the Los Altos Library featuring Andy Dolich, co-author of Goodbye, Oakland. You may know Andy from his columns in the Los Altos Town Crier. I admit to knowing Andy socially, inasmuch as I know anyone socially.
The authors are two walking Rolodexes of Oaklandia sports – its history and the people who made it all happen. Andy brings the business side; Dave brings the writing. They are uniquely qualified to write about Oakland and sports.
Andy is a sports management scientist. He helped bring us BillyBall (along with many other innovations)! Fourteen years with the Oakland A’s, one year as President/CEO of the Warriors, seven years with the Memphis/Vancouver Grizzlies, and a couple of years as COO of the ’49ers, not to mention professional lacrosse, soccer, and the Philadelphia ’76ers.
Dave Newhouse is a legendary Bay Area sportswriter – a treasure. I think he’s the one who made the book a fun read (thought I might be wrong). He’s been writing about Oakland sports for sixty (60) (yeah, sixty) years.
Though the book looks through a prism of perpetual Oakland team relocations, it stays hopeful. Goodbye, Oakland is well-researched and sourced. Anybody who is anybody is in here – Jim Otto, Dave Stewart, the Haas family, Charlie Finley, Al Davis, Tom Flores, Dr. Death, Jack “The Assassin” Tatum, are but a few of my favorites. The nostalgia flows – I spent my first night in San Jose in 1981 in a Travelodge on The Alameda watching the Jim Plunkett lead the Raiders over the Eagles in Super Bowl XV.
Even with the Raiders long gone, the Warriors across the Bay, and the A’s run into the ground and sent off to Las Vegas, Oakland will live on. It’s a town with hope. Did I get that right, John Fisher?
Goodbye, Oakland reads like eating ice cream with the freezer door open at 2:30 AM. It’s a tragic history full of lessons, mainly about trust. This book is citation-worthy. It’s a reference book, a how-to of sorts for our elected officials. Through the details of all the lost teams, and all the lost opportunities, the City remains resilient and proud.
Oakland is a great city on the sunny side of the Bay. Andy and Dave give me hope for the future of Oakland. The City is certainly greater than the likes of the sports oligarchs who take control of franchises by birthright (see Raiders), or too much VC money (see Warriors), or just too much Gap money (see A’s).
Get it from the library, buy it at Kepler’s, you can even resort to Amazon if you must.
Goodbye, Oakland is a must-read.