As of 8:00EST, May 14th the Oakland A’s are 19-24. As of 8:00EST, May 14th the San Francisco Giants are 19-24. Geographically speaking and on a relatively perfect traffic day, the Oakland A’s play their home games about 12 miles from where the San Francisco Giants play their home games. The two MLB teams share a bridge named the (San Francisco Oakland) Bay Bridge. Both teams play their Spring Training games in Arizona. The A’s play in Mesa. The Giants play in Scottsdale. I visited both this Spring and both stadiums were equally impressive. I have not attended an A’s game in Oakland nor have I attended a Giants home game in San Francisco.

The San Francisco Giants moved to Northern California in 1958, have been there ever since, and are not likely moving out of NoCal. The Oakland A’s moved to Northern California via Kansas City (A’s) in 1968, and are likely to move out of Oakland as soon as their season completes this year. Off to, well, Sacramento and then possibly Las Vegas, but this is all the news I have recently read. One has fans kayaking in the waters behind Oracle Park for home runs hit out of the ballpark, the Giants. One has fans watching home runs hit empty bleachers and make a decision to go and fetch them after a few hot dogs, a few adult beverages perhaps, and by then, oh well, forget about it, that would be the A’s.

Both the Giants and the A’s have won World Series trophies. A lot of them to be honest. The Giants, behind Buster Posey, Madison Bumgarner, Tim Lincecum, won titles in 2010, 2012, and 2014 and were one of the most dominant teams of the 2010 decade. Talk about the team of a decade…the Oakland A’s beat everyone in the early 1970s. If it were not for a stingy owner, who refused to play great and Hall of Fame players their due, the A’s would have won every single year for close to the entire decade. No other team, other than the Cincinnati Reds and my Boston Red Sox could come close to the 1970s A’s. The Giants and the A’s are two historic franchises, that is undisputable.

So, let me state this again. As of this evening, the Oakland A’s are 19-24 with a 2024 payroll of $45 million dollars. That’s $45 million dollars allocated for the entire major league team, plus or minus a few players on the 40 man roster. 19-24 is also the record of the crosstown, across the bridge, Arizona co-training complex neighbors, the San Francisco Giants. The Giants 2024 payroll is $173 million dollars, that’s the total when you add up all the salaries of all the players on the Giants roster, plus or minus players on the 40 man roster. By my math, that is a payroll difference of $128 million dollars. One team spends money to bring in players to compete for a championship every year. One team spends money.

By the way, have you seen Oracle Park? They show it all the time on those major baseball networks. It’s gorgeous. It’s filled with Giants fans and those kayakers paddling around for home run balls, laughing it up and having a blast. In 2023, the Giants drew 2,500,000 fans. Incredible fan base. Have you see the Oakland Coliseum lately? I can’t tell if there are more people in the park for home games or when the A’s are on the road and the stadium is giving guided tours. Fans are boycotting, I get that, they are upset with A’s ownership and recent decisions. Let’s be honest here, the attendance numbers are just awful. Last year, they drew around 830,000 fans. By comparison, in 2024 the San Francisco Giants have already drawn about 650,000 fans. And its May 14th!!!!

Not being from the area, I have a question? What the heck is going on here? Two incredible baseball teams historically speaking. Hall of Fame players on both sides galore. Northern California is just a beautiful spot of the country to visit and enjoy nature and sports, like baseball. The Oakland A’s and the San Francisco Giants are separated by about 12 miles of land and water, yet seem a million miles away baseball franchise wise. So, anyone out there with information to help me out. Again, both teams are 19-24, one has a payroll near $200 million and one has a payroll near $40 million. One has fans that can’t wait to attend games and one has fans that can’t wait to not attend games. So, someone out there – I want to know what the heck is going on here?