The Giants Are Killing The A's

This has been a long time in coming, and probably really too obvious to write... but can't we just all admit that the San Francisco Giants are doing everything they can to make the Bay Area a one-team town?

First there is the domination of the local media. Second is the cockblocking of the move to San Jose, under the rather nebulous claim that because they have had a single A minor league team for the past few years, it's their territory. (I can tell you from living out there that San Jose, Oakland and San Francisco have about as much in common with each other as Manhattan, Newark and Hartford, CT. And the final and most obvious point is how they've won a Series, and taken out the last barrier to superiority.

There is, of course, nothing "wrong" about the Giants wanting to do this. If the A's were to cease to exist on the local market, that would have to add up to a long-term gain in audience, both at the stadium and over broadcast media. They'd be more or less in the same situation as the Phillies, only without a team for hundreds of miles.

The problem is that what's good for the Giants isn't good for baseball in this case, and it's really not good for the poor players and people that took on rooting for this laundry in better times. And it's not as if this market isn't large enough to support two reasonable franchises, if there were only a credible stadium and media deal.

Instead, they'll either toil on as MLB's resident zombie franchise, with GM Billy Beane consoling himself with the "Moneyball" release or Premier League footie, because those are both far more entertaining than the leaky bucket that is this franchise. If he didn't have equity and, in all likelihood, a parent's desire to not spend all of his waking hours in the office, I'm sure he'd have gone to a place with more possibilities by now. Or maybe he just wants to avoid major market criticism for things like moving out Carlos Gonzalez and Andre Ethier for pennies on the dollar.

Tomorrow morning, I'm hoping to go see "Moneyball", and remember that magical night ten years ago when Scott Hatteberg ended the Royals' attempt to not lose the 20th straight game. It was a filled house, one of the best games I've ever seen, and made me so unbelievably grateful to be an A's fan. And that day will never, ever come again.

The Giants won. And man alive, do I hope they never win again.