Dear Giants: The A's are Laughing at You.

While the Oakland Athletics were busy in 2006 roping-off (tarping off, actually) their upper-level access to fans, the Giants were busy preparing to sign away the Athletics' prized free-agent pitcher Barry Zito for well over a 100 million clams.

It was the first tangible, real evidence that whatever the A's could have the big-bad-always-selling-out-their-games-at-home Giants could take away. Of course, this has been the case all decade but only until the Zito deal was it shown in a big name free-agent type of way.

Meanwhile, the A's and MLB realized that playing before an average crowd of 24,320 (their 2006 numbers- a playoff year no less) and all those empty seats was a constant reminder that the A's weren't drawing many fans.

Their home games on TV had indicated a last place team and a last place crowd.

Yes, the A's were limiting their seating because they realized no matter how well they played, they wouldn't be able to draw enough fans to their ballpark. So to make it look better, they pushed fans down to the lower level to make it seem like there are more people at their games on TV.

Think about that.

Sounds like a sad tale, right? The type of tale you tell about a franchise about to implode or embark on a fire sale.

Actually, the A's franchise is and has always been undaunted by their lack of attendance. Why? Because Billy Beane's squads are always good on the field, and they have routinely been a better team than the Giants in his era as GM. And, the A's know this. That's why they were able to do the following:

Sometime after the Giants had completed their new ballpark, the A's marketing group threw up billboards all over the Bay Area which read: “while they (the Giants) were building a ballpark, we were building a team”.

Ouch. Who were the Oakland A's—the green and yellow team playing routinely in a quarter-filled football stadium, to mock the Giants and their new digs?

For Giants fans that cared, this hurt. It inspired anti-A's sentiments, like: “their ballpark sucks and they are just jealous because they can't draw any fans”.

This might have been true then, and it might be true now. But guess what? The Oakland A's are the better franchise when it comes to winning, and they are obviously better on the field against San Francisco no matter where they play and especially when they play the Giants at AT&T Park.

Beating the Giants matters to the A's.

Each time the Giants lay down like dogs for them at home (like last weekend), I wince and wonder. Is anyone in Giant-land ticked off? Does it not make anyone angry that the A's and their nine fans can continually waltz into the Giants house and rip them?

Truth is, if the Mets showed the dominance at Yankee Stadium that the A's have shown continually at AT&T Park, there would be a riot in the Bronx that would match no other. Yankee fans and Yankee management wouldn't take that crap, let me tell you. People would be fired. People might actually die.

Hey, Giants fans..Barry is gone and the price for tickets have gone up- a lot. The A's (and Dodgers, for that matter) routinely sweep you at home.

The A's and their (very few) fans are laughing at you.

Enjoy.

The Giants on TV:
Giants @ Kansas City: Friday (6/20) @ 5pm on NBC 11
Giants @ Kansas City: Saturday (6/21) @ 4pm on CSN (HD)
Giants @ Kansas City: Sunday (6/22) @ 11am on CSN