Bay Bridge Series

The Bay Bridge Series, or the Battle of the Bay, is a series of baseball games played between—and the rivalry of—Major League Baseball's Oakland Athletics of the American League and San Francisco Giants of the National League. The series takes its name from the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge which links the cities of Oakland and San Francisco. As of 2018, the winner of the annual series retains a trophy fashioned from a piece of the original bridge.[2]

Bay Bridge Series
Oakland Athletics
San Francisco Giants
First meetingOctober 9, 1905
Columbia Park (World Series)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Giants 3, Athletics 0
Latest meetingSeptember 20, 2020
Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
Oakland, California
Giants 14, Athletics 2
Next meetingJune 25, 2021
TrophyAthletics 2
Giants 1
Statistics
Meetings total130[1]
Most winsAthletics
Regular season seriesAthletics, 69–61[1]
Largest victory
  • Giants, 18–2 (2000)[1]
  • Athletics, 16–0 (2005)[1]
Longest win streak
  • Athletics, 7 (2007–2008)[1]
  • Giants, 6 (2010–2011)[1]
Current win streakGiants, 1 [1]
Post-season history

Although competitive, the regional rivalry between the A's and Giants is considered a friendly one with mostly mutual companionship between the fans, as opposed to Cubs–White Sox, or Mets–Yankees games where animosity runs high, though sections of each fanbase does harbor towards the entirety of the other. This, however, is limited as many people see the opposing team as no threat to their own; hats displaying both teams on the cap are sold from vendors at the games, and once in a while the teams both dress in uniforms from a historic era of their franchises. Many fans actively cheer for both teams when they are not playing against the other. A's fans cite the Giants blocking a potential move to San Jose as a point of contention.

The series is also occasionally referred to as the "BART Series" for the Bay Area Rapid Transit system that links Oakland to San Francisco. However, the name "BART Series" has never been popular beyond a small selection of history books and national broadcasters and has fallen out of favor, likely because BART does not provide direct or easy access to Oracle Park in San Francisco. Bay Area locals almost exclusively refer to the rivalry as the "Bay Bridge Series" or the "Battle of the Bay."

Originally, the term described a series of exhibition games played between the two clubs after the conclusion of spring training, immediately prior to the start of the regular season. It was first used to refer to the 1989 World Series which the Athletics won and the first time both teams had met since they moved to the San Francisco Bay Area. Today, it also refers to games played between the teams during the regular season since the commencement of Interleague play in 1997. Through the 2020 season, the A's have won 69 games, and the Giants have won 61.[3]

History prior to Bay Area move

The Giants and Athletics met in the 1905, 1911 and 1913 World Series as the New York Giants and Philadelphia Athletics. The Giants won, 4–1, in 1905, and the Athletics won in 1911 (4-1) and 1913 (4-2), respectively. Hall of Famers such as John McGraw, Roger Bresnahan, Christy Mathewson, Joe McGinnity and Rube Marquard took part on the Giants side while the Athletics had Connie Mack, Chief Bender, Eddie Plank, Rube Waddell, Frank Baker and Eddie Collins. Such World Series match-ups might have helped contribute to the modern New York-Philadelphia sports rivalry that still continues to this day.

The Move to the Bay

1989 World Series
Main article: 1989 World Series

The San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics met for the first time in the 1989 World Series. This series was interrupted minutes before Game 3 on October 17, 1989, when an earthquake, measuring 7.1 on the Richter Scale, struck the San Francisco Bay Area. The resulting damage to both Candlestick Park and to a lesser extent the Oakland Coliseum, along with the emotional and economic damage to the area, delayed the resumption of the series for 10 days, the longest interval between games in World Series history. The earthquake caused the collapse of a portion of the Bay Bridge, the centerpiece of many promotions for the "Bay Bridge Series"; however, experts have suggested that the Series actually helped to save countless lives, as many would-be commuters from both sides of the Bay had left work early or stayed in the cities to watch the game - as a result, traffic on the roads below collapsed portions of the Bay Bridge and Cypress Street Viaduct in Oakland (while this disaster killed 42 people, local officials initially assumed that the death toll would be well into the hundreds) was significantly lighter than it would normally be at rush hour.[4]

The Athletics swept the Giants to win their most recent World Series championship.

Interleague play

Both teams met for the first time in the regular season in June 1997.

The Giants' Barry Zito started 0–4 against his former team, finally beating the Athletics on June 12, 2010 at AT&T Park.

Athletics relocation controversy

The A's have been considering relocating to San Jose, California, for 13 years but have reportedly met resistance from the Giants. San Jose is located in Santa Clara County, which is considered to be the Giants "territory".[5] The Athletics claim that former owner Walter A. Haas, Jr. agreed for the Giants to take over the Santa Clara area when the Giants were considering moving to Florida and needed revenue. The Giants contend that the agreement was not based upon actually relocating the team to Santa Clara as the A's contended. MLB Commissioner Bud Selig, who was fraternity brothers with A's managing partner Lew Wolff at the University of Wisconsin, stated that the A's would not be able to survive as a franchise if they remained at the Oakland Coliseum. The Giants claimed that the territorial rights were "explicitly reaffirmed by Major League Baseball on four separate occasions," when former managing partner Peter Magowan bought the team in the early 1990s. The Giants stated "upon purchasing the team 20 years ago, our plan to revive the franchise relied heavily on targeting and solidifying our fan base in the largest and fastest growing county within our territory. Based on these Constitutionally-recognized territorial rights, the Giants invested hundreds of millions of dollars to save and stabilize the team for the Bay Area, built Oracle Park privately and has operated the franchise so that it can compete at the highest levels."[6]

Results
Season Season series at Philadelphia/Oakland Athletics
Giants-A's		 at NY/San Francisco Giants
A's-Giants		 Notes
1905 World Series Giants 4–1 3-0; 9-0 3-0; 0-1; 0-2 Philadelphia A's vs New York Giants
1911 World Series Athletics 4–2 1-3; 2-4; 2-13 1-2; 3-2(11); 3-4 Philadelphia A's vs New York Giants
1913 World Series Athletics 4–1 3-0(10); 5-6; 6-4; 8-2; 3-1 Philadelphia A's vs New York Giants
1989 World Series Athletics 4–0 0-5; 1-5 13-7; 9-6 First Oakland-San Francisco match-up.
Interrupted by earthquake in Game 3
1997 Tie 2–2 8-2; 3-12 8-1; 4-6 First regular season meetings
1998 Tie 2–2 12-8; 4-2 7-6; 5-2
1999 Tie 3–3 9-11; 2-4; 7-2 3-4(15); 0-8; 7-6 First year of 6-game home-and-away format
2000 Tie 3–3 4-5; 7-9; 18-2 2-4; 2-4; 6-2 Both teams qualify for post-season for first time since 1989
2001 Giants 4–2 2-4; 4-3(11); 2-6 1-3; 1-2; 0-3 First time in which regular season series is not a tie
2002 Athletics 4–2 6-10; 5-3; 0-7 3-2; 2-6; 2-1 Both teams qualify for playoffs
Giants lose 2002 World Series
2003 Tie 3–3 3-5; 6-4; 5-6 0-6; 7-8(10); 5-2
2004 Tie 3–3 6-4; 7-8(10); 5-2 3-7; 6-2; 9-6
2005 Athletics 4–2 3-4; 3-6; 0-16 8-4; 2-3; 1-3
2006 Tie 3–3 0-1; 4-2(10); 6-0 4-3; 7-8; 10-4 Barry Bonds ties Babe Ruth for second on the all-time home run list with 714th home run; A's reach ALCS
2007 Athletics 5–1 3-15; 2-4; 4-1 5-3(10); 6-0; 2-0
2008 Athletics 4–2 1-4; 1-0; 11-1 5-1; 4-0; 5-3 Athletics extend win streak at San Francisco to 7 games
2009 Giants 5–1 1-5; 4-1; 6-3 0-3; 2-5; 1-7
2010 Tie 3–3 1-6; 0-1; 0-3 2-6; 4-5; 2-6 Home team wins all six meetings
Giants win 2010 World Series
2011 Tie 3–3 2-5; 2-4; 1-2 1-2(10); 0-3; 4-5(11) Home team wins all six meetings for second straight year
2012 Giants 4–2 5-4; 9-8; 2-4 6-8; 0-4; 6-2 Giants extend home win streak in series to 11 games before it is snapped
Both teams qualify for playoffs
Giants win 2012 World Series
2013 Athletics 3–1 1-4; 3-6 9-6; 2-5 Series changed to four-game format with two in each city
except in years the AL West plays the NL West (2015, 2018, etc.)
2014 Athletics 3–1 0-5; 1-6 2-5; 6-1 Both teams qualify for playoffs
Giants win 2014 World Series
2015 Giants 5–1 4-5; 14-10; 5-4 3-9; 1-2; 3-4
2016 Athletics 3–1 1-7; 12-6 8-3; 13-11
2017 Tie 2–2 5-8; 10-4 6-1; 2-11
2018 Athletics 4–2 5-1; 3-4(11); 5-6(10) 1-7; 4-3; 6-2 Athletics win inaugural Bay Bridge Trophy
2019 Giants 3–1 10-5; 5-4 2-3; 9-5 Giants win Bay Bridge Trophy; both teams have earned the trophy once
2020 Athletics 5–1 0-6; 0-6; 14-2 8-7(10); 7-6; 15-3 Due to COVID-19 pandemic, season is shortened to 60 games and each division will play its interleague counterpart for 20 games, which is why both teams play three times in both cities instead of two. Athletics reclaim the Bay Bridge Trophy.
Regular season Athletics 69-61 at Athletics
Athletics, 38–27		 at Giants
Giants, 34–31
Postseason Games Athletics 13–7 at Athletics
Athletics, 6–3		 at Giants
Athletics, 7–4		 A's were 9-7 as Philadelphia A's vs New York Giants
and 4-0 as Oakland A's vs San Francisco Giants
Postseason Series Athletics 3–1 A's were 2–1 as Philadelphia A's vs New York Giants
and 1–0 as Oakland A's vs San Francisco Giants
Overall Athletics 82–68 at Athletics
Athletics, 44–30		 at Giants
Tied, 38–38

See also

References
  1. "Head-to-Head results for Oakland Athletics vs. San Francisco Giants from 1997 to 2018". baseball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. July 23, 2018. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
  2. "A's take last game to win Bay Bridge Series with Giants". SF Gate.
  3. "Head-to-Head record for Oakland Athletics against the listed opponents from 1997 to 2018". baseball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC.
  4. "Promises of Preparedness Followed Devastating Earthquakes. And Yet". nytimes.com.
  5. "Nowhere men". espn.
  6. "Athletics, Giants at odds over territorial rights". go.com.
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