Tag: AT&T Park

Where did the fans go?

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By Jerry Feitelberg

Ever since 1968 when the A’s arrived I Oakland, they have always been the “second team.” The Giants landed in San Francisco ten years earlier and have “owned” the Bay Area ever since. Never mind the fact that the A’s won six American League pennants and four World Series. There was no question that the fans preferred the Giants over the A’s even when the Giants played at Candlestick Park. There is no question that attendance has been terrific at the Giants new facility, AT&T Park, at Third and King in the city. The Giants, of course, have had great success on the field since the park opened. The Giants had Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent and they won the NL crown in 2002 but lost the World Series to the Anaheim Angels that year. They sold out the park and while attendance slowed up a bit prior to the 2010 season, they have done very well. The Giants, as everyone knows, won the World Series in 2010 and 2012.

The A’s, on the other hand, had some bad season afters they made the playoffs and their attendance was pretty pathetic. Their owners, Lew Wolff and John Fisher, have wanted to move the team to San Jose but the Giants,who have “territorial rights” to San Jose have indicated that they have no intention of relinquishing those rights.

So, the A’s play in an outdated facility but they have an outstanding team that is trying to win the AL West and make it to the playoffs for the second straight year. One would think that the Coliseum would be packed. Not so. The A’s played the Texas Rangers the last three days here in Oakland. How was attendance ? Pretty bad. The A’s drew 24,000 on Labor day and 16,000 plus Tuesday and Wednesday and the Attendance for Thursday’s night game with the Houston Astros appears to be the smallest crowd of the year with less than 10,000 fans. If you were a player, would you not wonder what the hell is going on. The Giants who are in a battle for last place in the NL West and playing at home against Arizona will pack the joint and the A’s will be playing in front of a sparse crowd. Hard to believe but if the fans want the A’s to stay in Oakland it would be wise for them to show up and support their team rather than moaning and groaning about the possible departure of the club to San Jose.

Zito’s cryptic explanation highlights Giants’ blowout loss

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By Morris Phillips 

August 21, 2013

PhotoIt’s not just that the Giants are losing. It’s how they’re losing. 

Wednesday’s 12-1 super-sized beat down at the hands of the Red Sox wasn’t just embarrassing, it may have been Barry Zito’s final start as a Giant, less than four innings in length and hard to watch as the Boston hitters found the lefty’s offerings to be of little mystery. 

For GM Brian Sabean, trying to figure out which parts of his last place club should return for 2014 and which parts should be dispatched to the nearest recycling center couldn’t be any more difficult. One year removed from a second World Series title in three years, the Giants carried the worst record in baseball for nearly two months and now seem just as unhealthy in completing a third month of awful performances. The 2013 Giants will be known for meager offense supported by raggedy pitching that have their opponents reluctant to leave town after a three or four game series. 

The Red Sox came in struggling and sleepy and left town Wednesday afternoon happy and alert, just what you would expect after a 12-run outburst that took just 12 hits with have of those going for extra bases. After Stephen Drew’s three-run homer in the seventh off reliever Michael Kickham it was hard to tell if the game was being played at AT&T Park or Fenway Park. 

Zito allowed half of the 12 runs and was gone in the fourth inning, and this was after the veteran was temporarily promoted back into the starting lineup due to Chad Gaudin’s injury. But Zito the starter wasn’t any better than Zito the reliever as the desultory appearance kept his ERA over 10 over his five relief appearances and Wednesday’s start. 

So what could the multi-millionaire athlete offer in explanation afterwards? 

“Some strange stuff happened out there today,” Zito said. “Baseball is a strange game sometimes. The nature of the game is so unpredictable. That’s why we all love it and why we all hate it.” 

Given that explanation, we move on to Thursday evening when the first place Pirates begin a four-game set with the Giants that starts with a Jeff Locke-Matt Cain matchup at 7:15pm.