A's opening cheaper upper-deck seats for 10-game homestand

OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Oakland Athletics are pulling the tarps and opening a portion of the upper deck at the Coliseum for their upcoming 10-game homestand.

The seats will sell for $15 and be available for games beginning Friday against Houston, the team said, while announcing that 50 percent from purchases will go to "Oakland Promise,'' an initiative striving to triple the number of college graduates from the city of Oakland over the next 10 years. The A's say this is "a thank you to Oakland A's fans.''

The View Level will include 12,103 additional seats, and are to be available beyond this homestand. Tarps will still cover the area known as "Mount Davis'' after it was built for late Raiders owner Al Davis to increase stadium capacity as he returned the team to the Bay Area from Los Angeles in 1995. The seating blocked splendid views of the Oakland Hills.