Over the weekend, the San Francisco Giants swept the [insert name] Athletics, blowing them out in Friday’s game thanks to a career night from Wilmer Flores, then on a tough walk-off walk in extra innings of a scoreless game on Saturday. Sunday’s game was a full bullpen meltdown by the A’s.
To say it was a rough weekend for the Sacramento club, who have now lost six straight after Monday’s loss to the Angels, would be an understatement. This was the first series between the clubs that has occurred since the A’s left Oakland, and on Friday, it appeared that they were attempting–in their own way–to welcome A’s fans.
Honestly, that’s good business. WIth the A’s out of town (thanks in some part to the Giants pushing them), there are theoretically more people that already enjoy baseball that no longer have a team to root for. It would be wise to try and convert them to orange and black.
That’s easier said than done, however, as many (former) fans of the green and gold would rather root for no baseball team than the Giants. Still, they hung a banner to signify some level of empathy, which, if you take away their hand in the team leaving Oakland, is a nice gesture.
Again, this was kind, but what makes A’s fans stick around is that they were a counterculture team filled with bright personalities. The Giants will never be that, so it’s tough to see may conversions happening in the near future. There’s a number of fans that are holding out hope that the Las Vegas plan falls apart, which means there’s a chance that the A’s stick in California.
While Sacramento certainly isn’t their first option as a landing spot for the franchise, there are a number of fans that would reluctantly accept that fate if it kept the team within driving distance. There is also another group that is Oakland or bust for the Athletics, and they’re definitely not switching allegiances.
Perhaps because not every A’s fan had signed up to be a lifelong season ticket holder, the Giants completely reversed their plan of welcoming A’s fans to their ballpark by the end of the weekend. Once the sweep was completed, they ended up playing “Celebration” by Kool & The Gang, which used to blare over the Oakland Coliseum speakers after an A’s win.
The A’s victory song has since changed to “California Love” by Dr. Dre and 2Pac with the team in West Sacramento–an uninspired choice.
Perhaps the Giants were attempting to extend an olive branch, since “Celebration” is no longer the victory song for the club. Perhaps their hearts were really in the right place. But the way that it comes off in that moment is like they’re trolling A’s fans. If that wasn’t the intent, then they should really ask an A’s fan about these types of things.
This is something that would have been a good “gotcha” during the Bay Bridge series, but now with the “Highway 80 Bowl” or whatever lame rebranding they’re going with, the dynamics have changed. That allegiance to the A’s is not as strong as it was before, and this song brings back some strong memories, and also the realization that those are over.
Bumming out the fans in attendance is a pretty bad business plan. Playing that song was more harmful than helpful, plain and simple.
All that A’s fans are asking here is that the Giants pick a lane and stick with it. Times aren’t like they were before, so the good-natured ribbing isn’t going to be a thing at this point in time. Either they can “heart” the 5-1-0, or they can troll ’em. They can’t do both.
Any goodwill that the team had build up with the former A’s fans was definitely lost by that song choice, and it’s tough to see the Giants getting another chance to curry favor with them in the near future.
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