Batter Up!

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Every spring, a storm begins a-brewin’ here at Auctiva. I like to refer to it as the battle of good and evil.

I’d compare it to King Leonidas vs. Xerxes, or Darth Vader vs. Luke Skywalker. I’m talking, of course, about the Oakland Athletics versus the San Francisco Giants. This past weekend was one of the interleague rivalry series, which meant the Giants made their way across the Bay to play the A’s.

The A’s swept the Giants, btw—something that made me very happy as a long-time A’s fanatic.

But Giants fans, no doubt, hated the loss. You see, when it comes to Major League Baseball, Northern California, where our Chico campus is located, has long been divided into two warring camps: Giants fans and A’s fans. Sure, some prefer other teams. For instance, our Communications Manager Robert Green is a Yankees fan and has a not-so-secret man crush on Derek Jeter. But most baseball lovers in our area consider themselves either A’s or Giants fans. You can see this division here in our Chico offices, too.

If you walk around, you’ll see plenty of Giants paraphernalia lying around. Just two desks behind me, one of our development managers has his Giants gear on hand. A few feet from me, our Auctiva EDU assistant editor flaunts bobble heads of Giants broadcasters, Kruk and Kuip, as well as other fan kitsch. Meanwhile, I proudly display my A’s bobblehead, Best of the Bay Coca-Cola bottle, Rickey Henderson flag and A’s beanie baby in my cubicle.

Out of curiosity, I recently polled the entire Chico staff on their MLB team loyalty. I was a little disappointed to find out just how few fellow A’s fans there are here at Auctiva. I knew I was in the minority, but it hurt to know just how small our numbers are. There’s me, and our No. 2, Kevin Kinell. That’s it!

Maybe there are a few others who just don’t want to admit their secret A’s fanhood, for whatever reason. I’m not sure.

But it makes me wonder, there must be team rivalries in every home and/or workplace. Is there one in yours? Are you a fan of the underdogs or the favorites? Tell us your stories. We’d love to hear them.