By Jeremy Kahn

photo by: theageofconsent.BlogSpot.com: Battle of the Bay poster of the 1989 World Series between the San Francisco Giants and Oakland A’s

OAKLAND-Ever since Bud Selig created interleague play back in 1997 there is one thing that has stayed consistent, the rivalry between the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland A’s for bragging rights in the Bay Area.

Of course, the fans all over the Bay Area have fun with this rivalry; because of the proximity of the two cities to each other.

Entering play tonight, the A’s have a close 56-52 lead over the Giants in the 108 games between the two teams.

When the first series took place 19 years ago, the Giants and the A’s split the four-game series with each team winning one at home and one on the road.

In 1998, the two teams once again split the four-game series with each team sweeping one another on the road.

Over the next two seasons, the two teams each went 3-3 against each other, as in 2000, both teams reached the postseason. It was the first time that the two teams made the postseason in the same season for the first time since the Battle of the Bay World Series that the A’s swept 4-0 in 1989.

With the 2001 season, the Giants became the first team took take a series between the two teams, as the reigning National League Western Division Champions defeated the reigning American League Western Division Champions four games to two.

During the 2002 season, the A’s took four out of the six from the Giants, who go on to win the National League Championship, but fell short in the World Series, as they lost to the Anaheim Angels in a thrilling seven-game series.

Over the next two seasons, the team’s once again split the season series, with each team winning three games in both 2003 and 2004. Eric Byrnes hit for the cycle on Fathers’ Day at what was then called Pacific Bell Park.

The Giants two out of three over the A’s at SBC Park in 2005, but got by swept by the A’s for the first time at the Coliseum.

In the 2006 season meetings between the two teams, the two teams split their season series. It was the seventh time in the 10 years of interleague that the would split their season series.

During the two-year span of 2007-2008, the A’s took nine out of 12 from their Bay Area rivals, as the A’s won all three games at AT&T Park in both 2007-2008.

Between 2009-2011, the Giants began to dominate the series, especially at AT&T Park, as during all three years, the Giants 9-0 versus the A’s at AT&T Park; however during that same time, the A’s swept the Giants at the Coliseum in 2010 and 2011. In the 2010 and 2011 Bay Bridge Series, each team swept one other on their home field.

Over the next four years, the Giants took 11 of the 20 games between the two teams, including going 5-1 versus the A’s in 2015.

The Giants longest winning streak against the A’s is six games, while their longest losing streak is seven games.