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Originally Posted by Steely Dan
follow-up questions: does the allegiance of the general south bay area around san jose fall more towards the giants or the A's? or is it pretty evenly split? or are most people fans of both teams? or do most people down there just bandwagon onto whichever bay area ball club is doing better at the time?
is there a building excitement for the A's down in san jose at their potential move? would old time giants fans in the south bay area jump teams if the A's move down there? how strong are the psychological bonds between south bay residents and the teams they root for?
i'm just curious about the general attitudes, as they exist today, towards the two teams down around san jose.
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Allegiance across Northern/Central California and Nevada leans way more toward San Francisco teams than Oakland, but the South Bay seems to be split somewhat down the middle, as if the bay continued south-southeast in a straight line. There are far more A's and Raiders logos visible in east San Jose than the west valley.
As for the bandwagon effect, it was stronger when I was young. The Bash Brothers era brought in a lot more people than the spunky, young moneyballers from earlier this decade. Also, the Giants have a relatively miserable history in the region but still generate more interest. The two-team dynamic has shifted since Pac Bell Park opened ten years ago. It used to be the successful A's and the loser Giants, but now it's the rich Giants and the poor A's. Those identities seem to matter more than on-field results nowadays. The A's have walk-up tickets available in the playoffs and the Giants pack their stadium for a team that can't even hit.
I think there would be a switch by some people, especially younger ones, to the A's if they moved. Some Giants fans have a "soft" spot" for the A's, so I think attendance would not be predicated on 100% Athletics fans. That's the mature, experienced baseball fan who really likes going to the park and taking in a game.
I've met a few who said they'd remain staunchly loyal to the Giants but they tend to be arrogant dicks who will go off about how they're better because more people like the Giants (pretty self-fulfilling). This is more the young, chest-thumping crowd who use sports allegiances as a suburb-safe analogue to gang affiliation. I personally haven't followed baseball in five or six years because I was raised a Giants fan (first 21 years of life) and those people really turned me off. I still follow this story only because of the urban development aspect.