It seems as if there is a war going on between A’s and Giants fans. A’s fans seem to hate Giants fans profusely. A’s fans booed Buster Posey at the Oakland Coliseum Saturday, while Giants fans cheered. The fans of the defending World Series champions still have no reaction. Because Giants fans could care less about A’s fans on such a basis.
Because there is no bad blood on that side.
The notion that Giants fans dislike the fans from across the Bay is downright confusing. “In what way did this become construed,” a thought wondered by many fans at AT&T Park. Especially considering there is a somewhat literal war between the Giants and Dodgers, with bodies clothed in Dodger blue being fished out of Bay Area waters and vise-versa in southern California.
The fact of the matter is that there is a rivalry, no doubt, with any two teams parked so closely. In this matter, it’s a friendly rivalry. And to be even more matter-of-fact, many Giants fans have been to a plethora of A’s games because of the inaccessibility of Candlestick Park.
I know that I am one of those.
Growing up with two teachers as parents, dollar days were the best bargain since Wonderbread. You could see a professional sporting event for less than 10 dollars per person, food and beverage excluded. While maybe less exciting when you have a star in Oakland named Ruben Sierra, a relative nobody in the bigs, it was still a great time out.
Compare that to the 20 dollar parking fee, four dollar bridge toll and ticket prices that were four times as high at Candlestick Park and you have a nightmarish budget process for any Giants fan that is willing to go through all of that.
Alas, pier 47 was converted into one of the most majestic and surely fan-friendly sports venues in America. And after that ballpark was home to its first ring ceremony in 2011, some sort of funk rolled in with the spring fog.
Maybe it was discontentment with a strict budget that A’s General Manager Billy Beane is forced to work with. Maybe it was the lack of playoff appearances at the Coliseum. Maybe it was the “fans” of which none of their closest relatives understood the sudden interest in baseball.
Whatever it was, it surely isn’t a grudge held or continued by any long-time season ticketholder of the San Francisco Giants.
Real fans of the team which holds the most pennants in the National League. Not the fans that will spend $150 for a pair of team-colored Jordan tennis shoes. And definitely not the team willing to exercise a budget that was constructed by having every seat sold for nearly three consecutive seasons. Giants fans boast and brag, like any other human being. And yes, we have things to boast about.
Surely there is a misunderstanding.
