Oakland A’s troll Giants fans with increased parking prices

It’s not easy being an Oakland A’s fan. The majority of the Bay Area roots for the Giants, with not a single county leaning toward green and gold. Locals who are casual fans will naturally side with the club that recently stumbled blindly into a bunch of World Series titles. And on a national level, the only time our team gets mentioned is as the butt of a joke for anything from trading away star players, to low attendance numbers, to sewage in the dugout. You’d hardly know we have the third-most championship titles in the history of the sport.

The good news is that the A’s brand is beginning to show some life. Ever since re-committing to The Town last year with their Rooted In Oakland campaign, they’ve made an effort to instill some pride back into the fan base — specifically by reigniting a crosstown rivalry that had grown stale over the years. It began last year, with an offer to trade in your old Giants hat for a new A’s cap (that offer still stood at this year’s FanFest). However, Saturday’s news dials up the trolling another notch. From the team’s press release:

OAKLAND, Calif. – Ahead of the Oakland A’s exhibition game against their cross-bay rivals at the Oakland Coliseum, the club announced that parking will cost $50 for Giants fans during the 2018 season. A’s season ticket members prepaid parking will cost $10 and general A’s fans will pay $30.

“Any Giants fan who yells ‘Go A’s’ at the parking gates will be charged only $30 to enter the Oakland Coliseum,” said A’s President Dave Kaval.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAhahahaha. This is the perfect combination of petty, cheeky, and harmless. No one actually has to pay extra due to team allegiance. All you have to do is yell “Go A’s!” in front of everybody. C’mon, just try it once; maybe you’ll like it!

This is minor news in the long run, just a silly little jab at the neighbors to give us all something to talk about. But for A’s fans, it’s a reminder that our team has begun to care again, and that they’re not going to settle for being the “other” team in the Bay.

Go A’s! (/still pays $30 for parking, holy hell, why didn’t I just take BART?)

Note: The Giants visit the Coliseum on Sunday (March 25) for the Bay Bridge Series opener, and then again from July 20-22 for interleague play.