To clarify, this is not an article about how The Giants have won three World Series trophies since 2010 nor is it about bandwagon fans, territorial rights, stupid panda hats, or stadium envy. Like every other article we’ve written and will write in this series, we’re here to talk about why we hate The Giants in the future tense. That being said, three rings in five years is a fancy way of not saying three rings in 56 years but I digress.
The Giants should be giving A’s fans a bit of concern in 2015 if not solely for the reason that the two teams don’t meet until July with their final three games in September when the A’s could very well be in a “can’t lose” situation.
Since 2012, The Giants have a .389 win record against the Oakland Athletics with both teams rolling out very similar teams. 2015 stands to be a much different year with both teams losing all-star third basemen and having a bit of a gap in left field. Both teams have outstanding pitchers, although I have to give Oakland’s starting lineup the edge at this point, and both teams have solid hitters capable of ruining a pitchers afternoon.
So why should The Giants worry A’s fans? Joe Panik, who finished sixth in Rookie of the Year voting last year, should worry you a little bit. In 73 games he managed to grab a .305 batting average and a 1.1 WAR. That WAR may not sound too impressive but if it equates to a 2.2 WAR over the course of a season, now we’re talking serious numbers and if he can raise that up with a more regular spot in the lineup Panik could be quite a threat to the A’s.
Buster Posey is always a threat to any team but with an average of .176 against the A’s, I don’t think we need to hate him too much. Hunter Pence, on the other hand, should worry A’s fans every time he steps up to the plate. In 2014 he hit .375 with a .412 OBP against the Oakland Athletics, including a homer, all while taunting fans in the right field bleachers. Also, Hunter Pence likes his toast a little burnt, so there’s that.
You can’t even rule out guys like Tim Lincecum who, no matter how much he struggles in a season, has managed to hold the A’s to a .198 batting average in Oakland, a park that ranks among his best. And nobody should rule out Madison Bumgarner because he is part machine but he does have career struggles in Oakland, allowing the A’s to hit .305 against him in Oakland. He’s also earned an ERA of 6.41 in all of his starts against the green and gold.
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The fact that the A’s would rather see Bumgarner on the mound than Lincecum is exactly why we should hate The Giants. They are the ultimate wild card team. They aren’t particularly great but they’re certainly not bad. They get runs when they need to get runs and are great at generating momentum and working off of that. They finished 2014 with the exact same record as the A’s, having their slump earlier in the year, and ultimately won their third title in 56 years.
Do I think The Giants are going to school the A’s in 2015? Not by a long shot. The homer in me says we’re going to take all of the games, the realist in me says we’ll be happy to have half and I’m hoping for somewhere in the middle. But, with three games coming in the last week of the season, we can’t afford to lose to The Giants. The fact that, this year, our cross bay rivals may be critical games to our regular season success should make you hate them more than ever.
Plus, those bandwagon fans are so annoying, am I right?!