There’s at least ONE family in the Bay Area not excited about tonight

The Giants are on the verge of clinching the National League pennant in what would have to be considered one of the greatest upsets in the Wild Card era.

The Bay Area is going nuts and is partially in shock as Tim Lincecum will take the mound with a chance to not only win the Pennant, but set up the rotation while the Rangers and Yankees will battle deep into the weekend.

You would think that the whole Bay Area, which hasn’t seen a pro champion since the 49ers beat the Chargers in the 1995 Super Bowl, would be thrilled.

Ahhh… you forget the power of venom.
Lest we forget the Oakland A’s fans. And when you think A’s fans, you SHOULD be thinking of Don Marquez, friend to Sully Baseball, author of the wonderful book Generation A’s Fans and part of a gigantic family of rabid Oakland fans.

They are A’s fans and Giants HATERS.

(It is safe to say that NONE of them own one of those Half A’s Half Giants hats that made the rounds in 1989.

And one thing Don and his family seem to love is the fact that the World Series title count in the Bay Area is A’s 4 and Giants 0.

(4 to 0 was also the result when the A’s and Giants squared off in the 1989 World Series.)

In the book he describes how he and some members of his family went to AT&T Park and asked security where they kept the World Series trophies for the San Francisco Giants.

Good solid venom.

And now he is feeling like that ultimate bragging right could be slipping away.

And he isn’t happy about it.

Hang in there Don.

I guess it is the same as if you were a Yankee fan in 2004, realizing the days of chanting 19-18 were coming to a close.

He laments upon this potentially dark day in Athletics Nation today.

It is worth a read.

So is his book.

Honoring Jon Ratliff’s Cup Of Coffee In The Bigs

Chances are you’ve never heard of Jon Ratliff.

I know I never heard of him. He pitched a grand total of one game in the big leagues for the 2000 Oakland A’s.

That’s one day more than I ever spent in the show.

And Don Marquez, Oakland A’s superfan, friend of Sully Baseball and the author of the wonderful book Generation A’s Fans, wrote a wonderful post on Athletics Nation today about Ratliffs one inning (and 12 pitches) in the bigs and where he is now.

For all of us who wanted the experience of being a big leaguer even for just one day, it’s a fabulous read.

Click HERE to check it out.

Hey A’s fans… show up to the game tomorrow

I’m serious. The Rangers are coming into town and do you know what happens if the A’s win on Monday?

They’ll be in first place… BY THEMSELVES… and it isn’t April.

Yeah I know that nobody will confuse this team with the Charlie O’Finley mustache gang of the mid 1970s… or the Bash Brother/Dave Stewart/Tony LaRussa A’s… or even the Moneyball A’s with the 20 game win streak in 2002…

But this team was supposed to be no good. And truth be told, they aren’t.
They are a .500 team.

But .500 means they are only ½ a game out of first!
They can go into first place in May and try to win a suddenly very winnable division.

This is the time of the year when teams are still wondering “is this better than I thought start a fluke or are we good?”

Maybe a better than expected start could mean a team is like the 2006 Tigers or the 2008 Rays… an out of nowhere pennant winner.

Or maybe they are like the Blue Jays last year, who flopped after a red hot start.

All I know is this could be one of the few highlights for the A’s this year, or it could be the beginning of a magical year.

Either way, a win would be cool

And I expect more than 10,000 at the game tomorrow.
Come on! Show up! Support your pennant contenders!

I know Don Marquez’s family will be there, but let’s see a few more wearing green and gold.

Heck, your team could be in first place by the time tomorrow ends. Savor it!