As I begin writing this post... the San Francisco Giants are over at the Oakland Coliseum likely playing the final Battle of the Bay game between these two teams. Sure... they'll play each other again. Next February, they'll play each other in Arizona during Spring Training. They'll also face each other six times during the regular season.
However... with the A's scheduled to play their home games in Sacramento the next three seasons... it'll no longer be considered the Battle of the Bay. It's something Bay Area fans have been talking about for months, but now that the final game is here... it's pretty sad.
I'm guessing most of you know that I've been a big fan of the Athletics since the early 80's... possibly earlier.
My relationship with the Giants has been much more complex and convoluted. Being a lifelong Bay Area resident, there have been times when I have rooted for them. Sometimes I do it to support my family and friends. I'll also cheer them on when I go to see them play at Oracle... like I did during the 80's and 90's at Candlestick.
Game Update #1: Heliot Ramos just hit a home run to tie the game.
However... I'm loyal to the A's and Padres. The Giants are rivals to both of them... so most of the time... you won't find me showing them a lot of love. I told you... it's complex.
That being said... today being sort of a special occasion... I wanted to show off some cards from my collection that feature both Bay Area teams.
1984 O-Pee-Chee Album Stickers #175-202
Although I might not root for the Giants... they always seem to have at least one guy I liked on their roster. Atlee Hammaker was one of them. I mainly remember him for his fantastic 1983 campaign, but he was also a part of that Giants pitching staff for most of the 80's.
He shares this sticker with my all-time favorite Oakland Athletic. Five years later, the two would face off against each other twice during the 1989 World Series:
1989 World Series Program
1990 Fleer '89 World Series #7
The A's swept the Giants in four games... that spanned fifteen days... thanks to the Loma Prieta earthquake.
Heading into the 90's... Mark McGwire and Will Clark were the two biggest names in Bay Area baseball. Topps capitalized off of them...
1993 Stadium Club Superstar Duos #NNO
Upper Deck did too...
1993 UD Fun Pack All-Star Scratch-Off #AS3
Game Update #2: They're headed into extra innings.
Final Game Update: The Giants beat the A's 4 to 2 and split the season series. Although they lost today... the A's were 76-72 over the course of twenty-eight seasons of inter-league play.
Finally got around to opening up his care package and sorting out the goodies today:
His care packages are usually filled with tons of A's and Giants, so it's not surprising to see this card:
A few years later... Barry Bonds was the face of the franchise in San Francisco and McGwire's days in Oakland were numbered. But in 1996 they combined to hit 94 home runs and Topps produced this card in anticipation for inter-league play:
In fifty-two games against the A's, Bonds crushed eighteen home runs. Eight of them were hit at the Coliseum.
1997 Topps Inter-League Matches #ILM1
Game Update #3: The Giants just hit back to back home runs to give themselves a 4 to 1 lead.
2005 Topps Home Run History #BB677
Game Update #4: The A's have cut the deficit down to two and have the bases loaded.
Barry Zito spent his first seven seasons with the A's as part of the Big 3. But after the 2006 season, he left to play for the Giants:
2007 Topps Trading Places #TP10
2014 Topps Super Veteran #SV-9
Zito spent the next seven seasons in San Francisco. He took the year off in 2014, but returned to the A's organization in 2015. The A's kept him in AAA for most of the season. But he joined the club in mid-September and pitched in three games.
In his second to last start of his career, he faced off against San Francisco's Tim Hudson at the Coliseum. Mark Mulder was in attendance for the Big 3 reunion.
Props to Topps for partnering the A's and Giants up on several occasions for their album stickers:
2013 Topps Stickers #293-314
2015 Topps Stickers #147-164
2016 Topps Stickers #151-159
The two teams shared their 2014, 2017, and 2018 stickers as well. And for the past fifty-seven years... they shared the Bay Area baseball fanfare. It'll be interesting to see how many A's fans switch their allegiance to San Francisco, how many stick with the A's, or how many find another favorite team.
I still haven't decided what direction I'm gonna go. There's still over one month of baseball in Oakland... and until they leave... I'm 100% loyal to them.
Happy Sunday and sayonara!
Extra Innings
Back in May, Reader X sent me a shoebox full of cards:
2023 Stadium Club Red Foil #293
I'll show off highlights of the other stuff in a few separate posts over the next couple of weeks. Until then... thanks in advance Xavier.
11 comments:
Yeah, it's gotta be strange when your team leaves town. I know people who were upset just by the Jets moving from the city to New Jersey and the Nets moving the other way. Rough stuff.
What the Oakland ownership is doing is disgraceful but I guess that's par for the course these days. On the flip side, I love how you did this post and you showed off some great cards of both teams. Also, that Reader X package looks amazing!
Really sucks that the A's are not only leaving but that they've been salting the earth the past few years as well.
I'll add the Upper Deck VJ Lovero card of McGwire to this list as it has one of my favorite photos of Clark and McGwire.
The A's are just heading back east - by 2100 they should be i Philadelphia again
That’s rough and hopefully you can enjoy the final month of baseball with them still in town.
Nice post, as always!
Fun to see that 1997 Interleague Matchup card. I remember pulling a Johnny Damon (Royals) /Brian Jordan (Cardinals) version of the same card.
brett alan - it's devastating. i've been a fan of the a's longer than any other sports franchise i support. i've got some decisions to make
dennis - words can't express my frustration with john fisher. it's first world problems for sure... but he makes me want to punch a wall.
nick vossbrink - i thought i owned the lovero card, but don't. it's kind of surprising, because they aren't rare.
john bateman - if that's true... that's even sadder.
sumomenkoman - looking forward to attending the final game at the coliseum for sure.
the lost collector - thanks aj. i originally thought it was a finest card, but discovered these inserts were pulled from the topps flagship packs. i just added this card to my collection over the weekend :D
I've read that when the Dodgers and Giants moved west, the Yankees expected that, as the only game in town, every baseball fan in New York would become Yankees fans... but that didn't happen.
I'm sorry you're losing your favorite team to distance. For me to see my Braves it is a 7 hour drive each way (at home), or if I am lucky to see them play the Rays (2 hrs). (Not traveling into Miami, not doing it, nope).
I watched the game, initially because Snell was pitching for the Giants, but ending up stick through the whole thing when I realized it was the last Giants/A's matchup as Bay Area teams. As a St. Louis sports fan, I know the pain of losing a team (twice) and it sucks. I still have a hard time watching the NFL to this day. Sorry you are losing your team.
shlabotnikreport - i definitely don't think every a's fan is going to turn into a giants fan, but i'm sure a few will. i think it can only help the giants, but honestly they haven't been hurting for fans since at&t was built. since then they've had a really nice ballpark to attract fans and several world series titles. i feel like 80% of my students are giants fans compared to a's.
johnnys trading spot - the good news is that i can still see the a's play since they'll be at oracle at least a couple of times each year. i think the thing that bums me out the most is they won't be at the coliseum. plus there's the fact the jf owns the team.
the snorting bull - yeah losing a football team twice in 3 decades is rough. don't blame fans of either team taking a break from football.
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