Oakland’s new Pioneer League baseball team, the Oakland Ballers, will start playing this summer at Raimondi Park in West Oakland. In preparation, the team is fixing up the historic field and it’s encouraging Oaklanders to get to games on foot or by bicycle.
Lance Wilson, a Ballers’ spokesperson, told us the team wants at least one-quarter of its fans to attend games this year by walking or biking and then double that goal to half of all fans next year. Raimondi Park, which doesn’t have a nearby BART station, is expected to seat about 4,000 fans. By comparison, it’s been estimated that 80-85% of Athletics fans used cars to get to the Coliseum in East Oakland, even though there’s a BART station just across a short footbridge.
The Ballers want their games to be more environmentally friendly. This is especially important for West Oakland residents who have suffered decades of pollution from surrounding freeways, industry, and big operations at the port like recycling yards.
To promote biking, the Ballers want to create a “bike-gating” area around the field so fans can gather to cook food, listen to music, and party before games—much like tailgaters have done for decades from vehicles in the Coliseum parking lot. Second, the team wants to partner with Bike East Bay to create a free bike valet service for all 48 games this year. Bike East Bay staff will safely stash bikes away inside a secure corral. Third, the team wants to work with local groups to publish the safest bike routes to the games.
“Safe and secure bike parking is an impediment to many trying to access community events,” Bike East Bay staffer Jill Holloway told The Oaklandside. “Often there is limited bike parking near large venues and other community hubs, or people are concerned for the security of their bike.”
According to Holloway, 64% of Oaklanders surveyed by her group say a lack of secure bike parking is a reason many don’t ride around town more.
The Ballers also want to organize group rides. This would mean hundreds of people riding on the street simultaneously, possibly with the permission of the city of Oakland. Groups like The Roll Out Crew have already organized these types of ride-alongs in recent years, usually to promote the environmental and health benefits of riding. Some Oakland personalities like Marshawn Lynch have even ridden alongside them, blasting tunes and spreading joy.
Ballers staff and their friends are already researching some of the best biking routes to Raimondi Park. Oakland resident Tripper Ortman, a member of the Oakland A’s fan group the Oakland 68’s, recently joined Ballers co-founder Paul Freedman to test routes around West Oakland and talk to community members. Ortman previously led a group walk from the Rockridge BART station in North Oakland to Laney College downtown to watch the Oakland Roots soccer team when they played at Laney. He developed the concept years ago after walking to an Arsenal F.C. football match with his family in North London, England.
“I talked to Paul about the idea, and he was fired up,” Ortman said. “When we did March to the Match for the Roots, we were walking down Broadway, and people were honking horns and waving flags as they went by us. It brought the community together.”
Freedman told us that the idea to focus on biking and walking partly came from West Oakland community members’ concerns about car parking during outreach conversations.
“If this is a complete home run, to use a baseball analogy, we take pressure off of parking and traffic, then let’s do it,” Freedman said. “I’m a big believer in mobility, have several e-bikes, and am a big proponent of moving away from cars where possible.”
Freedman has a history with e-bikes. Along with Laura Belmar, Freedman helped found the Integral Electrics e-bike company a few years ago, which offers bikes specifically designed for women. Integral Electrics is expected to have a role in the Ballers’ launch this summer.
Community leaders are excited to change West Oakland’s road safety narrative
David Peters, the founder of the Black Liberation Walking Tour in West Oakland, told us he thinks the focus on biking to the game is a great idea and that he plans to ride himself. He said the city’s Transportation Department has improved some of the streets to make them safer, including removing train tracks.
“Walking and riding to sports events is a great tradition. It builds community, creates vibrancy, and activates public spaces. It contributes to public safety,” Peters said.
It can also help educate people about the need to improve the environment of West Oakland. Peters said West Oakland has some of the highest rates of childhood asthma in the state. Life expectancy is lower for people who live close to the area’s three major freeways and there’s a history of toxic soil and groundwater contamination.
“We need safer streets and bike paths. We need safer sidewalks and crossings, narrower streets, and slower cars,” said Peters. “Fewer cars driving to Raimondi leads not only to fewer auto emissions but a critical mass of walkers and bikers can lead to fewer bike and pedestrian accidents—cars always win those.”
Randolph Belle, an Oakland resident who is leading community outreach efforts for Caltrans’ Vision 980 project, said he will consider biking and walking to games, even though he’s not a big baseball fan. Belle thinks advertising biking to games is an excellent opportunity for the team to connect with growing bicycle coalitions. Black-led groups like Red, Bike, and Green and the Scraper Bike Team, in particular, could be great partners for the team, Belle said.
“It will be great to have a pack of bicyclists roaming up to the game. It’s strength in numbers and safety in numbers,” Belle said.
Brian Beveridge, of the West Oakland Indicators Project told us in an interview that he thinks focusing on walking and biking is a smart move for the Ballers because thousands of people live close to Raimondi Park.
“People can bring their bikes to [West Oakland] BART and be at the ball field in about ten minutes,” said Beveridge.
More West Oakland bike infrastructure is in the works
Oakland has paved and updated several major roads in West Oakland that cyclists could use to get to and from Raimondi Park.
Over the past two years, the city repaved West Street, which runs from North Oakland to San Pablo Avenue. There are also buffered bike lanes on Mandela Parkway on the side of the road and a tall, separated median that walkers and cyclists can use.
West Grand Avenue from Market Street to Mandela Avenue will also soon get buffered bike lanes as part of a repaving project.
According to Bike East Bay advocacy director Rob Prinz, the city expects to add Dutch-style protected intersections for cyclists at Market Street and Adeline Street. This will make crossing intersections easier without worrying about dangerous conflicts with cars that are turning right. However, this project may not be completed in time for the Ballers season starting in June.
Other West Oakland road safety projects in the offing are speed humps between 16th Street and 20th Street, the completion of the 8th Street redesign between Market Street and Wood Street, and the addition of a painted bike lane on most of 18th Street. Prinz said the 18th Street project is tied to affordable housing that has not broken ground yet, however. Then there’s the 18th and 17th Street section from Market to MLK that will add protected bike lanes to some parts of the road. That project is currently delayed, however, without an estimated construction time.
The Ballers’ Freedman said he’d “love to figure out a better way” for people to cross San Pablo Avenue on their bikes and that once the season starts, he’ll have more opportunities to advocate for those changes in the city.
Freedman said the team has already heard from people who want to help lead efforts to ride to games. “People have raised their hands saying that they wanna be part of it.”
