The Oakland A's and the San Jose Giants

I am a die-hard Oakland A's fan. I was born and raised in San Jose, California, and I learned all about baseball from my dad. He took me to see the Oakland A's many times as a young child. We used to sit in the "cheap seats," also known as the bleachers, for hours and hours, game after game. The only problem was the 37-mile drive from San Jose to Oakland.

Recently, the owner of the Oakland A's has been trying to relocate the team, but that has not been an easy battle. The first try was to Fremont, but that fell through. Now the Oakland A's owner, Lew Wolffe, wants to move the team to San Jose. Sadly, the San Francisco Giants own the territorial rights to San Jose and do not want to give up the land for their Bay Bridge rivals, the Oakland A's. The Giants do not want the A's in their territory and are fighting it. Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig still needs to okay the plan before the A's can move.

Even though the A's might not make their way to San Jose, we still have our beloved minor league team, the San Jose Giants. Located at 588 East Alma Avenue in San Jose, Municipal Stadium, the home of the San Jose Giants, offers a great local night out with the family. When I was a kid, in between the games in Oakland, my dad would take my sister and I a few miles down the road to San Jose Municipal Stadium to see our San Jose Bees take the field and beat whichever team they faced that night. The small stands were full, and the crowds were cheering their hometown heroes as they played in the setting sun. The San Jose Bees changed names to become the San Jose Giants back in 1988, and being a die-hard A's fan, that really upset me. At 15 years old, I did not want to root for my rivals, but my dad explained it was the same old Bees, just in new colors and uniforms. I gave in because I loved my hometown baseball team.

The San Jose Giants are still playing and are in the playoffs this year. Check out the official home of the San Jose Giants, and click "schedule" to see when they play next. See you at the ballpark!

Sources:

KCBS local news radio.

"The Official Site of Minor League Baseball / San Jose Giants Homepage," MinorLeagueBaseball.com.

"The Official site of the Oakland Athletics," OaklandAthletics.com.

"Major League Baseball Statistics and History," Baseball-Reference.com.