The Oakland A's are in the MLB playoffs, a reality that's forced the Oakland Raiders to push their Week 5 matchup against the San Diego Chargers into the deep recesses of Sunday night.
The game -- which will now kick off at 11:35 p.m. ET and be aired live on NFL Network -- was bumped back more than seven hours in total. As it turns out, converting a stadium from baseball to football is more than just pulling down some outfield walls and laying down new line markers.
"My understanding is that it's all-hands-on-deck to make this happen," A's vice president of stadium operations David Rinetti told ESPN.com's Paul Gutierrez. "Because it's overnight, it hasn't been done like this before, where it's gone from baseball to football in such a quick amount of time.
"Typically, it's a couple-of-days process."
Get this: It costs $250,000 every time O.co Coliseum makes the transfer from baseball to football (and vice versa). The process takes 18 to 20 hours, not counting safety inspections.
So what needs to be done? Have a look:
» The outfield fence pads and fence posts are removed and stored ... somewhere.
» 6,000 visitor sideline seats -- in seven sections -- are loaded onto carts on wheels.
» "Tons" of plywood are laid down in the center field section of the stadium. "Huge" railroad ties allow two large cranes to do their thing.
» Workers walk through the stadium, cleaning up trash that accumulated during an A's game that's expected to draw close to 50,000 fans. "Non-essential signage" also will be removed and stored ... somewhere.
» The pitching mound must be removed from what will be midfield on the Raiders' sideline. Two bullpen mounds -- one in each end zone -- also are removed. Sod is laid down.
» The yard lines and hash marks must be repainted, after the same markings were dyed green for baseball. (What a process!) This typically requires 35-to-40 gallons of white paint. The infield dirt is patted down.
» A "massive" robotic laser beam device is mounted in the upper deck to "eliminate" intruders and serve as a tool of motivation and intimidation for the cleaning crew.
That last one isn't true, but you get the point. It's a lot of work.
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