There were two hopeless romantics sitting at the front of the room, under the hot lights and on the receiving end of pointed questions from some of the West Coast's top sports journalists.
Lew Wolff, fifth-year owner and managing partner of the A's, and Bill Neukom, newly appointed managing general partner and chief executive officer of the Giants, came across as wistful, old-school traditionalists Monday. They addressed the Associated Press Sports Editors West Regional meeting for more than an hour at the Eleanor McClatchy Center across the street from The Bee.
While Wolff had no comment on the reported trade the A's made with Colorado earlier in the day to land slugging outfielder Matt Holliday, he did say winning and advancing in the playoffs two years ago was "like Dracula tasting blood for me."
Wolff also answered for the newbie Neukom when he was asked if the Giants had interest in signing free-agent outfielder Manny Ramírez.
"Yes," Wolff said quickly, "there is."
Laughter filled the room before Neukom replied.
"I can't say there's no possibility," he said before adding that Giants general manager Brian Sabean has marching orders to cobble together a roster that will be competitive for years to come.
"He's quite a hitter. Who wouldn't want that?" Neukom said.
Other tropics broached during the session included the game's apparent maple-bat crisis; the late start time of World Series games; the lagging status of the A's new stadium in Fremont and how Wolff all but eliminated Sacramento as a potential new home; the challenges facing traditional newspapers in covering baseball; how both supported retiring Roberto Clemente's No. 21 throughout baseball as a Jackie Robinson-esque nod to Latinos in baseball; the declining number of baseball-playing African Americans; and the effect the nation's economic crisis could have on this winter's free-agent market.
A shot was even fired at Scott Boras, the Elk Grove uber-agent who predicted the financial mess would not hurt signing prices.
"Scott Boras said everything's fine," Neukom said, tongue planted firmly in cheek. "He came down from Mars last week and, I guess, he'll go back up and work on his stats."
Both men said they hoped the Mitchell Report on performance-enhancing drugs would have its desired effect on cutting back on their use, though Wolff admitted some would skirt rules. And both said they were fine sharing the Bay Area market – after some joking, of course.
"Bill has to move back to New York," Wolff said.
"And the A's back to Kansas City," Neukom said, "and then Philadelphia."
For a day, they shared a Sacramento dais, repeating their desires to win while being realistic as Neukom said he does not want to "over-promise and under-deliver.
"I'm old-school enough to remember day World Series games that were piped into classrooms," Neukom said. "It was a time when the nation paused."
Call The Bee's Paul Gutierrez, (916) 326-5556.
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