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Bay Bridge Series

Oakland Athletics San Francisco Giants
Location	San Francisco Bay Area
First meeting	1989 World Series: October 14, 1989 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum,Oakland, California Athletics 5, Giants 0 Regular season: July 2, 1997[1] 3Com Park,San Francisco,California Athletics 8, Giants 1
Latest meeting	August 18, 2024[1] Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland,California Giants 4, Athletics 2
Stadiums	Athletics:Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Giants:Oracle Park
Trophy	Giants 4 Athletics 3
Statistics
Meetings total	152[2]
All-time series	Athletics, 80–72 (.526)[2]
Regular season series	Athletics, 76–72 (.514)[1]
Postseason results	Athletics, 4–0 (1.000)[2]
Largest victory	Athletics, 16–0(June 26,2005)[3] Giants, 18–2(June 4,2000)[4]
Longest win streak	Athletics, 7(June 8,2007–June 27,2008)[1] Giants, 6(June 11,2010–May 22,2011)[1]
Current win streak	Giants, 1[1]
Post-season history
1989 World Series: Athletics won, 4–0

14km
8.7miles

Giants

Athletics

   

Locations of theOakland Athletics andSan Francisco Giants

TheAthletics–Giants rivalry, formerly termed theBay Bridge Series, or theBattle of the Bay, was a series ofbaseball games played between—and the rivalry of—Major League Baseball'sOakland Athletics of theAmerican League andSan Francisco Giants of theNational League. The formerly termed Bay Bridge Series took its name from theSan Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge which links the cities ofOakland andSan Francisco. Beginning in 2018, the winner of the annual series retained a trophy fashioned from a piece of the original bridge.^[5]

Although competitive, the regional rivalry between the A's and Giants is considered a friendly one with mostly mutual companionship between the fans, as opposed toCubs–White Sox, orMets–Yankees games where animosity runs high, though sections of each fanbase does harbor towards the entirety of the other. This, however, is limited as many people see the opposing team as no threat to their own; hats displaying both teams on the cap are sold from vendors at the games, and once in a while the teams both dress in uniforms from a historic era of their franchises. Many fans actively cheer for both teams when they are not playing against the other. A's fans cite the Giants blocking a potential move to San Jose as a point of contention.

The series was also occasionally referred to as the "BART Series" for theBay Area Rapid Transit system that links Oakland to San Francisco. However, the name "BART Series" has never been popular beyond a small selection of history books and national broadcasters and has fallen out of favor, likely because BART does not provide direct or easy access toOracle Park in San Francisco. Bay Area locals almost exclusively referred to the rivalry as the "Bay Bridge Series" or the "Battle of the Bay."

Originally, the term described a series of exhibition games played between the two clubs after the conclusion ofspring training, immediately prior to the start of the regular season. It was first used to refer to the1989 World Series which the Athletics won and the first time both teams had met since they moved to theSan Francisco Bay Area. Later it also referred to games played between the teams during the regular season since the commencement ofInterleague play in 1997. Through the 2024 season and conclusion of the rivalry, the A's won 76 games, and the Giants won 72.^[1] The series ended for good in 2024 after the A's relocated to Las Vegas (while relocating to Sacramento temporarily).

The Giants and Athletics met in the1905,1911, and1913 World Series as the New York Giants and Philadelphia Athletics. The Giants won, 4–1, in 1905, and the Athletics won in 1911 (4–1) and 1913 (4–2), respectively. Overall, the Athletics won more games, 9–7. SHall of Famers such asJohn McGraw,Roger Bresnahan,Christy Mathewson,Joe McGinnity andRube Marquard took part on the Giants side while the Athletics hadConnie Mack,Chief Bender,Eddie Plank,Rube Waddell,Frank Baker andEddie Collins.

The San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics met for the first time in the1989 World Series. This series was interrupted minutes before Game 3 on October 17, 1989, when anearthquake, measuring 6.9 on theRichter Scale, struck theSan Francisco Bay Area. The resulting damage to bothCandlestick Park and to a lesser extent theOakland Coliseum, along with the emotional and economic damage to the area, delayed the resumption of the series for 10 days, the longest interval between games inWorld Series history. The earthquake caused the collapse of a portion of the Bay Bridge, the centerpiece of many promotions for the "Bay Bridge Series"; however, experts have suggested that the Series actually helped to save countless lives, as many would-be commuters from both sides of the Bay had left work early or stayed in the cities to watch the game. As a result, traffic on the roads below collapsed portions of the Bay Bridge andCypress Street Viaduct portion ofInterstate 880 in Oakland (while this disaster killed one person on the Bay Bridge and 42 people on the viaduct, local officials initially assumed that the death toll would be well into the hundreds) was significantly lighter than it would normally be at rush hour.^[6]

The Athletics swept the Giants to win the 1989 World Series. As of 2024, this is the most recent time the Athletics have won a World Series championship.

Both teams met for the first time in the regular season in June 1997.^[7]

The Giants'Barry Zito started 0–4 against his former team, finally beating the Athletics on June 12, 2010 at AT&T Park.^[8]

The A's had considered relocating toSan Jose, California, for several years but had reportedly met with resistance from the Giants. San Jose is located inSanta Clara County, which is considered to be the Giants "territory".^[9] The Athletics claimed that former ownerWalter A. Haas, Jr. agreed for the Giants to take over the Santa Clara area when the Giants were considering moving to Florida and needed revenue. The Giants contended that the agreement was not based upon actually relocating the team to Santa Clara as the A's contended. Former MLB commissionerBud Selig, who was fraternity brothers with A's managing partner Lew Wolff at theUniversity of Wisconsin, stated that the A's would not be able to survive as a franchise if they remained at theOakland Coliseum. The Giants claimed that the territorial rights were "explicitly reaffirmed by Major League Baseball on four separate occasions," when former managing partnerPeter Magowan bought the team in the early 1990s. The Giants stated "upon purchasing the team 20 years ago, our plan to revive the franchise relied heavily on targeting and solidifying our fan base in the largest and fastest growing county within our territory. Based on these Constitutionally-recognized territorial rights, the Giants invested hundreds of millions of dollars to save and stabilize the team for the Bay Area, builtOracle Park privately and has operated the franchise so that it can compete at the highest levels."^{[citation needed]}

With the A'sleaving Oakland after the 2024 season forLas Vegas in 2028 (andWest Sacramento in the interim), due to over a decade of failing to replace the outdated and crumbling Oakland Coliseum with a more modern facility, the rivalry in the form of the Bay Bridge series and Bay Area series effectively ended in 2024 (the final Bay Bridge Series game took place on August 18, 2024 with the Giants winning 4–2). Instead of being focused on the Bay Area, the rivalry will continue as one overNorthern California. When the team does move to Las Vegas as planned, however, the teams may still meet in 6 games annually due to the other West division teams being paired up in Interleague rivalries (barring a swap of the forced pairings). Even still, the teams would at least still meet in an annual 3-game series with alternating venues each season.

After plans forCisco Field were shuttered due to the Giants blocking the plan with the decision upheld by theUnited States Supreme Court, the A's attempted to build theirnew waterfront stadium. WithJohn Fisher not willing to come into an agreement with the City of Oakland, the A's instead purchased land nearAllegiant Stadium, home of theLas Vegas Raiders (who also formerly played in Oakland) andT-Mobile Arena, home of theVegas Golden Knights in April 2023. The plans later shifted to a new stadium built on theTropicana Las Vegas and were approved by theNevada State Legislature andNevada GovernorJoe Lombardo by June.

Despite the rivalry, following the Athletics plans for relocation, Athletics and Giants fans during a July 25, 2023 game at Oracle Park chanted "Sell the Team" as part of an event known as "Unite the Bay" in the hopes that the rivalry would be saved. During the final Bay Bridge Series game, Giants and Athletics players both made emotional speeches and took souvenirs from the Oakland Coliseum.

On April 2, 2025, aminor league version of the rivalry was started, referred to as theBattle of the Bay 2.0: theSan Jose Giants, theSingle-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, played an exhibition game against the unaffiliatedOakland Ballers (also known as the Oakland B's) of thePioneer League. The game was the first time in history an MLB affiliated minor league team played against anindependentpartner league team. The game was broadcast onKPIX+, and the San Jose Giants won the game 5–2, and both teams vowed to renew the exhibition for the next year.^[10]

Note: Giants records only from 1958 when they moved to San Francisco, as are Athletics records from 1968 when they moved to Oakland through their last season in Oakland in 2024.
As of September 30, 2024.

Updated to most recent meeting, August 18, 2024.

• Pearson Cup, the former inter-league rivalry of theMontreal Expos andToronto Blue Jays that started in 1978 and lasted until 2004. The series ended in 2005 when the Expos relocated fromMontreal toWashington, D.C. and were rebranded as theWashington Nationals.
• Freeway Series, Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Los Angeles Angels
• I–5 Series, San Diego Padres vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (both cities connected by Interstate 5)
• Subway Series, currently New York Yankees vs. New York Mets
• Red Line Series, Chicago Cubs vs. Chicago White Sox (Named for the Red Line "L" route)
• Beltway Series, Washington Nationals vs. Baltimore Orioles
• Citrus Series, Miami Marlins vs. Tampa Bay Rays
• Ohio Cup, Cincinnati Reds vs. Cleveland Indians
• Show–Me Series, St. Louis Cardinals vs. Kansas City Royals
• 49ers–Raiders rivalry, the former series between the 49ers and Raiders. The series ended in 2020 after theRaiders relocated to Las Vegas.
• Kings–Warriors rivalry, a local rivalry between the two NBA teams in Northern California.

• Oakland Athletics
• San Francisco Giants
• Major League Baseball rivalries
• Nicknamed sporting events
• Sports in the San Francisco Bay Area

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