MLB may help A's play in S.F. if no deal - sources

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Major League Baseball would help the Oakland A's move across the bay and play at rival Giants' AT&T Park in San Francisco if Coliseum officials don't come to terms on a new short-term lease for the team, sources tell us.

The A's two-year home stint at AT&T Park, which would start next season, would probably be the first step toward moving the team out of the Bay Area.

The league's hardball warning was passed on to Coliseum officials at a closed-door meeting by Jon Streeter, the San Francisco attorney who is representing the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority in the stadium lease negotiations.

We're told MLB is also demanding that the Coliseum give the A's just a two-year lease extension - not the five- to eight-year deal the authority has been pushing.

The short-term lease would give the A's more flexibility should the team's owners swing a deal to move to San Jose - or beyond.

The sticking point in the Coliseum negotiations hasn't been the length of the lease so much as the money from food and beverage concessions. Under their old lease, the A's managed the concessions for all sporting events at the stadium, including for the Raiders, and they got a major share of the revenue - terms the Coliseum Authority wants to change in its favor.

The talks have dragged on for more than two years. Now, however, the Coliseum's governing board - which includes two Oakland City Council members and two Alameda County supervisors - is definitely feeling the heat.

"Now we have to do this lease quickly because Major League Baseball has injected itself into the conversations," said one board member, who like our other sources asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the talks.

The A's front office did not return calls seeking comment.

The usually talkative Giants President Larry Baer - whose team would have to give its consent to sharing AT&T Park - declined to comment. So did an MLB spokesman.

Why would the Giants give their OK? Start with the rent money - probably enough to pay for a shortstop or two.

But even better from the Giants' perspective, it could lead to the team getting the whole Bay Area market to itself.

With MLB standing in the way of an A's move to San Jose, which the Giants claim as their market, team owners John Fisher and Lew Wolff would be expected to look elsewhere if they leave the Coliseum for temporary digs - or perhaps sell the team to out-of-towners.

For all the brinkmanship, a temporary move across the bay would not be easy. For starters, the Giants and A's have home games on the same dates nine times next season.

MLB's threat to the Coliseum, however, could be a game changer in the lease talks - with the A's the likely winners.

As one Coliseum official told us, "We don't have any choice. Major League Baseball is driving it."

By the way, it looks like the restless Raiders will also get a new lease at the Coliseum - only they've asked to go year to year.

Off the tracks: As BART's unions were voting on their new contract proposal Friday, Orinda City Councilman Steve Glazer was at state Sen. Mark DeSaulnier's office dropping off 20,000 signatures calling for a ban on transit strikes.

Glazer, who is running for the state Assembly, collected the signatures from BART patrons around the Bay Area.

"If you line up all the pages, they would be longer than a 10-car train," Glazer said.

As chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, DeSaulnier, D-Concord, has been looking into how to prevent strikes. Given the labor-friendly politics of the Legislature, however, it's doubtful a ban would get much traction.

"It's not going to happen unless the public keeps the pressure up," Glazer said.

Two things his no-strike campaign has accomplished: His Assembly bid is getting a lot of attention, and he's squarely in the unions' sights.

On wheels: We've heard of holy rollers. But there's a group taking it to new heights, starting Thursday night with roller-skating disco at the long-vacant Sacred Heart Church at Fillmore and Fell streets.

It's called the Church of 8 Wheels: a group of roller-worshiping locals seeking fun and fellowship who got their start at Golden Gate Park.

According to the group's promo, "David 'D' Miles, the 'Godfather of Skate' in San Francisco, will be your MC / DJ minister spreading the word of the old school funk and roller disco music that is the main source of our rolligious energy."

Just in case you're wondering, Miles tells us the church pews are gone, leaving ample room for 200 rollicking skaters.

Try rolling with that.