Want to see some great September/October baseball? Go to an Oakland A’s game!
First, let me make it clear: I am a San Francisco Giants fan. Not a casual fan, but a deep fan. Deep, as in I flew to Arizona to see them play two games in spring training. I’ve attended at least 12 Giants games this season. I even follow the Giants’ farm system, and took in at least six San Jose Giants games this season.
I know the stories of every player on the San Francisco Giants’ 40-man roster – where they’re from, their families, their strengths and weaknesses.
So why am I so excited about their poor neighbors across the bay?
I’ll admit that I’m a fair weather fan of the A’s and I didn’t really pay attention until they started winning games. I’ve been to two A’s games now, having the pleasure to watch the team whoop the Boston Red Sox and the Baltimore Orioles.
There’s a different feeling at A’s games. Here is a team that is not weighed down by lofty expectations borne of a 2010 World Series championship or a big, fat payroll.
The A’s are going for broke, and they have nothing to lose. Their stars are a Cuban exile (Yoenis Cespedes) who seems to do everything well, a trade from the hapless Red Sox (Josh Reddick) who appears to be having the time of his life, a veteran base-stealing speedster (Coco Crisp) and countless rookie pitchers.
So what’s so different about an A’s game? First of all, because the games at the wreck of an O.co  Coliseum have been so poorly-attended, you can get tickets at the last minute for cheap. I think that will continue into the post-season if the A’s make it – sadly for the team but happily for fans.
At an A’s game, the fans seem genuinely happy to be there – even the loser Red Sox fans who sat near us. There’s more pure joy – drums and cowbells in the right field bleachers, the Bernie dance, the air-punch ritual that welcomes closer Grant Balfour. You can see the empty seats and tarp-covered third deck, but what you hear is loud, enthusiastic cheering.
I was so pleasantly surprised by my A’s experiences that I will try to attend some A’s playoff games if they make it. As for the Giants, I won’t pay $1,400 for a ticket to an NLDS game as a guy I know did, and later regretted. I’ll cheer them on from my car or house on TV or radio.
What if these two very different but promising teams end up playing each other in the World Series? Nah, that would never happen … would it?