Battle of the Bay? Not so much.

Last Saturday, Krissy, me, and eight other friends went to Game 2 of the weekend-long Giants/Athletics baseball game in San Francisco’s "AT&T Park." (By the way, did you guys know this is the third name this ballpark has had in its six-year tenure? Previous names include: "PacBell" and "SBC Park". That’s your trivia lesson for the day).

Anyway, I had suggested months earlier that we try to get tickets for the game because—at least in my mind—it was what I call, one of the "rivalries West". (You should all know there’s only one rivalry East and if I have to tell you what it is just stop reading right now because you don’t belong here. Go ahead. Run along. Git!).

So, Krissy totally delivers and gets 10 tickets in the bleachers. Great! Not only will I be there to experience another baseball rivalry, but I’ll get to do so from the cheap seats (which, at least in Fenway, is where all the true fans sit and thus, where all the fun is). We arrived a little after the game started, got some eats and settled into our seats. …
…actually, there’s a little side story here. I get to the front of the line at the concession stand with a $20 in hand, greet the lady with a smile and a hello, only to be told I can’t order anything because she doesn’t have any change to give me. I need exact change, she tells me. I was so stunned I didn’t quite know how to react. Some of Krissy’s friends were in line next to me and were equally stunned. It’s not that hard to get change from the register next to her, is it? So, what? I’m supposed to wait in one of the other two lines now? If it’s the quarters, lady, you can keep them. Shortly after freaking out at me, she got some change from the register next to her and took my order…and was able to give me change. Bizarre experience. Just bizarre…

We get to our seats (located behind right/center field) and I was psyched to see a healthy mix of Giants and Athletics sitting next to each other. Yes!! Let the taunting begin!! But there was no taunting. If there was, it was quickly erased with a pat on the back and a "I’m just messing with you, bud." Huh? What the hell is this? No trash talk? No hot-heads? One fight? One? You call this a rivalry? God, I found myself siding with the Oakland fans (even though, I’m a Raider-hater), cuz at least they were willing to dish it out. Giants fans just weren’t scooping it up. Geez, if San Francisco had been playing the Red Sox, I probably would have made someone cry.
There were some Giants fans trying to start trouble, namely this one kid in the row in front of us. He took aim at riling up the seemingly plastered old Oakland fan next to him, but it was wasted on what I am assuming was his bad hearing. Not a peep. All this guy did was stand up and start a very slow, "L-e-t’-s g-o O-a-k-l-a-n-d" chant and a contribute a random "yeah" every once in a while. He was in his own little world.

Up until the eighth inning, I really thought I might have to start checking pulses. But this was when the Giants started coming back from a once 7-2 deficit and closed the gap 7-5. So people started showing signs of life. Things got exciting in the ninth when the Giants put two on with one out. One batter later, the Giants won on a walk-off three-run homer to make it an 8-7 final. Even then, all the crowd could muster was a lukewarm, "yay" said Special Ed-style.

I guess being a diehard fan of a team involved in quite possibly the greatest rivalry in all of sports, this game was a little disappointing. I mean, we’re talking about a girl who didn’t want to get out of her car yesterday afternoon listening to the 12th inning of the Sox/Phillies game with Big Papi at the plate for fear she might miss something big within the 15 seconds it took to get from her car to her TV. Saw a few other people doing the same thing. And our waiting was not in vain because Mr. Clutch hit the game-winning, walk-off single and the Sox won their ninth straight. That, I couldn’t have missed. Next time San Francisco plays Oakland? That I can miss.

Ah, it’s good to be home.