New SF Giants-A’s rivalry will have familiar feel, but it’ll never be the same as the Bay Bridge Series

SAN FRANCISCO At chosen point during his start Friday night right-hander Logan Webb expects to hear a familiar battle cry as the San Francisco Giants begin a three-game series at Oracle Park against the now-relocated Athletics You re consistently going to hear Let s Go Oakland chants announced the Giants ace a Rocklin native who grew up an A s fan I think that s kind of the way it s going to be for a while The series this weekend marks the first time the A s have returned to the Bay Area since the John Fisher-owned franchise left Oakland after years after last season and moved at least temporarily to Sutter Healthcare Park in West Sacramento The A s plan to remain at the -seat park the home of the Giants Triple-A River Cats at least until the end of the season before they relocate to Las Vegas where drilling on the band s planned billion ballpark next to the famed Strip is reportedly already underway After leaving Oakland the A s made the decision to just call themselves the Athletics with no official city affiliation while they remain in California s capital The A s jerseys have patches on the sleeves that recognize both Sacramento and Las Vegas But their time in Oakland is a just a memory Patches for Rickey Henderson and the city of Sacramento are seen on the Athletics uniform before a baseball contest against the Seattle Mariners Friday March in Seattle AP Photo Lindsey Wasson It ll possibly be a little odd to see that it doesn t say Oakland on the jersey mentioned Giants manager Bob Melvin a Bay Area native who won games as the A s manager from to I think that ll be the one thing that ll allegedly stand out pretty swiftly But I expect it to be the same atmosphere here that it s perpetually been against them A Giants spokesman announced sellouts or near-sellouts are expected for all three games There is a postgame fireworks show Friday night A s fans have usually make their presence felt in China Basin during regular season games and Melvin expects more of the same this weekend Still while the Giants-Athletics series will have a familiar feel at Oracle Park the atmosphere that was created whenever the two teams played at the Coliseum will not be replicated While the A s struggled to get sizeable crowds during their final scant years in Oakland largely due to that fanbase s disdain for Fisher the Coliseum was usually packed whenever the Giants were the visiting squad I do remember the atmosphere at the Coliseum That was nice announced Giants reliever Tyler Rogers who pitched in the Giants final event in Oakland Being part of the Giants when we d go to the Coliseum we d play in a full Coliseum We re maybe the only squad that played in a full Coliseum Last year two of the A s six biggest crowds at the Coliseum came in August when the Giants were the visitors Throughout the numerous Bay Bridge Series games in Oakland there were just as a great number of fans wearing black and orange in the stands as there were donning green and gold if not more It ll likely be the same split when the Giants play the A s in Sacramento in the heat of July But instead of crowds around - it ll be less than As a Giants player every time I played there it was invariably a packed house Webb revealed So I got to see Oakland Coliseum packed and that place can get real rowdy when there s a ton of people in there Oakland Athletics pitcher Grant Holman pitches against the San Francisco Giants on his MLB debut in the seventh inning at the Coliseum in Oakland Calif on Saturday Aug Ray Chavez Bay Area News Group While the Coliseum was an outdated facility for Major League Baseball scant could argue that it could be absolutely electric when it was full The thing that sticks out to me personal performance aside was the playoffs were just an insane atmosphere explained Giants pitcher Justin Verlander who went - in four career playoff starts in Oakland including decisive Challenge s in and when he was with the Detroit Tigers Best atmosphere I ve ever pitched in For now the Giants who have lost five of their last six games are just looking to string selected wins together as they enter Friday in third place in the National League West It won t be easy against an Athletics club that had a - record and was - on the road before its battle in Los Angeles on Thursday night They have a really good unit and especially various of the young hitters that they brought to the big leagues Melvin explained of the A s I ve talked to various of the managers who have played against them They re a handful Related Articles SF Giants Verlander frustrated over tweaks to tighten strike zone MLB s lack of communication Could this right-hander s spot in the SF Giants rotation be in jeopardy SF Giants make particular late noise but are doomed by early pitching struggles What s the SF Giants plan at second base when Tyler Fitzgerald returns Koss grand slam leads SF Giants three-homer day to break cold spell The Bay Bridge Series is no more So here comes the I- series at least for now It ll feel like the Bay Bridge series because we re playing the A s coming down the road Melvin commented They are going to be A s fans here and there s going to be Giants fans I expect the same excitement Those games perpetually hold a little bit more to them based on the spotlight on the Bay Area teams So I don t expect it to be any different here Obviously it s going to be different because they re not coming over the Bay