The Giants and A’s resume their Bay Bridge Series Tuesday at Oracle Park, but this time A’s fans are asking Giants fans to join them with “Sell the Team” signs, chants, and t-shirts. And the t-shirts will be free!
On paper, this year’s iteration of the Giants-A’s Bay Bridge Series (Tuesday and Wednesday at Oracle Park, 6:45 p.m. both nights) is one of the least interesting batches of these rivalry games in years. It’s just two mid-week weeknight games, the third-place Giants just lost their sixth game in a row, and the A’s are the worst team in baseball.
"It’s a show of respect for Giants fans. We’re obviously not at our home."
— John Shea (@JohnSheaHey) July 24, 2023
The A's begin a series in SF tomorrow, and A's fans are inviting Giants fans to join their protest of Fisher’s relocation plans; some cool things are planned: https://t.co/BQTKmCl8aK via @sfchronicle
But this game is getting a lot more interesting, in light of continuing A’s fan protests of the team’s proposed relocation to Las Vegas. The Chronicle reports A’s fans are welcoming Giants fans to join their “Sell the Team” protests against A’s owner John Fisher, hoping for the same “Sell the Team” chants and signs that A’s fans have been pushing all season. Those A’s fans will also be offering free posters and those free “Sell” t-shirts they’ve been sporting, but in alternate black Giants colors.
It is obviously highly unusual for visiting fans to be offering free t-shirts to fans of the home team. Will Giants fans take them? Tuesday night will tell!
Tomorrow, we #UniteTheBay. We can’t let this series die. We can’t let this historic rivalry disappear.
— (Un)Rooted In Oakland - Sell The A’s ☔️ (@OaklandRooted) July 24, 2023
It’s time to come together and show that baseball BELONGS IN OAKLAND. 💚🧡#SaveOaklandBaseball pic.twitter.com/K9lWPG5msf
“Giants fans who want to wear a shirt but don’t want to wear A’s colors, we’ll be giving away the black SELL shirts,” Jorge Leon, president of the A’s fan group Oakland 68’s told the Chronicle. “It’s a show of respect for Giants fans. We’re obviously not at our home. Whoever has the green shirts, feel free to wear those. We need to be united in this cause.”
Mariners Ban SELL shirts
— Smarty J Pants (@smarty_j_pants) July 24, 2023
I sent my M’s fan cousin a SELL shirt which he wore to game today at T-Mobile park—told by usher to REMOVE the SELL shirt or he’d be ejected. It’s official—we hit a nerve either on the #Mariners or #MLB, or both. WTF. #SELL #SellTheTeam @Oakland68s pic.twitter.com/VhJC7iXdye
Can they get away with this? The above tweet claiming that a fan was ejected in Seattle for wearing one of those “Sell” shirts is totally unconfirmed. And A's fans have been wearing them at games for months. Signage is the more likely problem.
What they said
— Stephanie Allen (@juststeph____) July 19, 2023
This west coast Sox fan would very much like to see the As stay in Oakland. #rooted #selltheteam pic.twitter.com/nlYijN4EOa
The Chronicle checked with Oracle Park management on policies. They report that they were told “Signs and banners cannot be more than 3 feet in height or hung or carried with the game in progress. Also, they must be ‘baseball related, in good taste and not of a commercial nature.’ And, ‘The Giants reserve the right to remove any banner, sign or flag.’”
Art is my passion #SellTheTeam #FisherOut pic.twitter.com/RXPOYt6gen
— Zen Bobrist (@Coastalworker79) July 20, 2023
And as a separate Chronicle article points out, Tuesday’s and Wednesday's games could be the last ever Bay Bridge Series games at Oracle Park. (The two teams play in Oakland again this coming August 5-6.) While the A’s lease at the Oakland Coliseum runs through the end of next season, in the words of the Chronicle, “the A’s might opt to buy out that lease and play next season in Vegas, or Sacramento, or East Bumtruck.”
Image: OAKLAND, CA - JUNE 13: Fans of the Oakland Athletics take part in a reverse boycott during the game against the Tampa Bay Rays at RingCentral Coliseum on June 13, 2023 in Oakland, California. The Athletics defeated the Rays 2-1. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/Oakland Athletics/Getty Images)