Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Battle of the Bay.............really?

I grew up in the East Bay, and by default I probably should have grown up an A’s fan. I did go to games since it was only a couple of BART stops away from home and thought that the Bash Brothers and Ricky Henderson were pretty cool cats. I did enjoy the story of MC Hammer being a bat boy for the A’s and loved, well still love that you can really sit anywhere @ the Coliseum because of their ticket prices and attendance (think Candlestick days.)

So when the Giants and A’s engage in a Battle of the Bay (like this past weekend) it’s always a little bittersweet for me. After the Giants got their new beautiful shiny ballpark the fans changed a bit. They felt entitled and special. “Look what we’ve got over here! Bigger, better and beautiful views of the Bay Area! WE even have sushi and Cha-Cha bowls if you’re sick of the good ol’ Hot Dog.” It was as if Giants baseball were in a “classier” league of its own. Meanwhile across the Bay, you had the Oakland A’s playing at the coliseum which Al Davis had made a concrete monstrosity out of, but ironically the A’s play more games out of there than the Raiders ever do.

I bring this up because I don't really understand the hateful rivalry attitude between some of the A's and Giants fans.  We're not in the same league and the only time we'd ever be at odds would be in a post season show down. In my heart of hearts both teams represent the beautiful Bay Area. The only difference is that the Giants were given a beautiful, shiny black Porshe-type stadium to play in 10 years ago and the A's have been handed an old gray beater to try and attract fans. When I attended two of the three games over at AT&T I witnessed some gross behavior. Most of it was because of an over consumption of liquor, but nevertheless it was gross. I heard some anti-East Bay talk and got a bit offended. Who cares if the A's are outta Oakland. Have any of you been to Oakland lately? They've got a great food culture cultivating over there as well as warmer weather, the Fox and Paramount theater (also the fabulous New Parish, if you're into New York style music clubs) as well as a Trader Joe's, Piedmont Avenue, Brown Sugar Kitchen and Lake Merritt! 

San Francisco is great. I reside in the City. I also know we're not the only city that hugs the Bay. The Oakland A's are the ugly red-headed step-child of Bay Area baseball. If you think I'm wrong, please correct me, but I know how they're looked at. I've felt bad for the A's organization for years because they've consistently had a good team, but have always seemed to be a major league farm system for the rest of baseball. I was hoping that they would be successful at getting the votes they needed to start building a beautiful ballpark down by Jack London Square. I think it's just the boost that Oakland needs to draw in more of the public and to let everyone know how great of a city it is. How wonderful would it be to have two diamonds sparkling on opposite sides of the San Francisco Bay?

Honestly, I think it would be good for the Giants to have a little competition across the Bay. They need it. Giant's fans have become complacent about heading to games and getting into the game versus the ambiance of it. In the interim of the A's getting their new stadium (either in Fremont or even moving up to Sacto) you can at least enjoy what the Coliseum has to offer: 1) It's still affordable to head to an A's game, which is a relief to anyone living in the Bay Area 2) BART actually drops you off right in front of the Coliseum 3) You can jump seats and upgrade yourself without any hassle (not advocating, just sayin....) 4) There's an amazing nacho stand on the ground floor right behind third base that you can't find at AT&T 5) Going to an A's game is about the team and not about a glass of Chardonnay or a pre-made plastic flat of sushi.