Bay Bridge Series

Bay Bridge Series

Oakland Athletics San Francisco Giants
Location	San Francisco Bay Area
First meeting	October 9, 1905 (World Series) Columbia Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Giants 5, Athletics 0
Latest meeting	August 6, 2023 Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, California Athletics 8, Giants 6
Next meeting	July 30, 2024 Oracle Park San Francisco, California
Trophy	Athletics 3 Giants 3
Statistics
Meetings total	164
All-time series	Athletics, 87–77 (.530)
Regular season series	Athletics, 74–70 (.514)
Postseason results	Athletics, 13–7 (.650)
Largest victory	Athletics, 16–0 (June 26, 2005) Giants, 18–2 (June 4, 2000)
Longest win streak	Athletics, 7 (June 8, 2007–June 27, 2008) Giants, 6 (June 11, 2010–May 22, 2011)
Current win streak	Athletics, 2
Post-season history
1905 World Series: Giants won, 4–1 1911 World Series: Athletics won, 4–1 1913 World Series: Athletics won, 4–2 1989 World Series: Athletics won, 4–0

The Bay Bridge Series, or the Battle of the Bay, is a series of baseball games played between—and the rivalry of—Major League Baseball's Oakland Athletics of the American League and San Francisco Giants of the National League. The series takes its name from the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge which links the cities of Oakland and San Francisco. As of 2018, the winner of the annual series retains a trophy fashioned from a piece of the original bridge.

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 to Cubs–White Sox, or Mets–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 is also occasionally referred to as the "BART Series" for the Bay 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 to Oracle Park in San Francisco. Bay Area locals almost exclusively refer 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 of spring training, immediately prior to the start of the regular season. It was first used to refer to the 1989 World Series which the Athletics won and the first time both teams had met since they moved to the San Francisco Bay Area. Today, it also refers to games played between the teams during the regular season since the commencement of Interleague play in 1997. Through the 2023 season, the A's have won 74 games, and the Giants have won 70.

History prior to Bay Area move

The Giants and Athletics met in the 1905, 1911 and 1913 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. Hall of Famers such as John McGraw, Roger Bresnahan, Christy Mathewson, Joe McGinnity and Rube Marquard took part on the Giants side while the Athletics had Connie Mack, Chief Bender, Eddie Plank, Rube Waddell, Frank Baker and Eddie Collins. Such World Series match-ups might have helped contribute to the modern New York-Philadelphia sports rivalry that still continues to this day.

The Move to the Bay

1989 World Series

Main article: 1989 World Series

The San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics met for the first time in the 1989 World Series. This series was interrupted minutes before Game 3 on October 17, 1989, when an earthquake, measuring 6.9 on the Richter Scale, struck the San Francisco Bay Area. The resulting damage to both Candlestick Park and to a lesser extent the Oakland 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 in World 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 and Cypress Street Viaduct portion of Interstate 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.

The Athletics swept the Giants to win their most recent World Series championship.

Interleague play

Both teams met for the first time in the regular season in June 1997.

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

Athletics San Jose relocation controversy (aka The Bay Blackjack Series)

The A's have been considering relocating to San Jose, California, for 13 years but have reportedly met resistance from the Giants. San Jose is located in Santa Clara County, which is considered to be the Giants "territory". The Athletics claim that former owner Walter 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 contend that the agreement was not based upon actually relocating the team to Santa Clara as the A's contended. MLB Commissioner Bud Selig, who was fraternity brothers with A's managing partner Lew Wolff at the University of Wisconsin, stated that the A's would not be able to survive as a franchise if they remained at the Oakland Coliseum. The Giants claimed that the territorial rights were "explicitly reaffirmed by Major League Baseball on four separate occasions," when former managing partner Peter 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, built Oracle Park privately and has operated the franchise so that it can compete at the highest levels.

Future

With the A's finalizing their plans to leave Oakland for Las Vegas due to issues with their stadium, the current Bay Bridge series and Bay Area series will end in 2024. However, the teams may still meet in 4 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 for Cisco Field were shuttered due to the Giants blocking the plan with the decision upheld by the United States Supreme Court, the A's attempted to build their new waterfront stadium. With the city of Oakland not willing to help fund the stadium, the A's instead purchased land near Allegiant Stadium, home of the Las Vegas Raiders (who also formerly played in Oakland) and T-Mobile Arena, home of the Vegas Golden Knights in April 2023. The plans later shifted to a new stadium built on the Tropicana Las Vegas and were approved by the Nevada State Legislature and Nevada Governor Joe 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.

Club success

Team	World Series Titles	League pennants	Division titles	Wild Card Berths	Playoff Appearances	World Series Appearances	All-time Regular Season record	Win Percentage	Seasons played
Oakland Athletics	4	6	17	4	21	6	4,545–4,294–1	.514	56
San Francisco Giants	3	6	9	3	13	6	5,394–5,039–6	.517	66
Combined	7	12	26	7	34	12	9,939–9,333–7	.523	66 in SF Bay 122 total

Note: Giants records only from 1958 when they moved to San Francisco, as are Athletics records from 1968 when they moved to Oakland.
As of October 2, 2023.

Summary of results

OAK vs. SF	Athletics wins	Giants wins	Athletics runs	Giants runs
Regular season	74	70	640	624
World Series	4	0	32	14
Total	78	70	672	638

Updated to most recent meeting, August 6, 2023.

Season-by-season results

Athletics vs. Giants Season-by-Season Results
1900s (Giants, 4–1) Season Season series at Philadelphia Athletics NYG–PHA at New York Giants PHA–NYG Overall series Notes 1905 World Series Giants 4–1 3–0; 9–5 3–0; 0–1; 0–2 Giants 4–1 First World Series match-up.
1910s (Athletics, 8–3) Season Season series at Philadelphia Athletics NYG–PHA at New York Giants PHA–NYG Overall series Notes 1911 World Series Athletics 4–2 1–3; 2–4; 2–13 1–2; 3–2(11); 3–4(10) Tie 5–5 1913 World Series Athletics 4–1 3–0(10); 5–6 6–4; 8–2; 3–1 Athletics 9–7
1980s (Athletics, 4–0) Season Season series at Oakland Athletics SF–OAK at San Francisco Giants OAK–SF Overall series Notes 1989 World Series Athletics 4–0 0–5; 1–5 13–7; 9–6 Athletics 13–7 First Oakland-San Francisco match-up. Interrupted by earthquake in Game 3
1990s (Tie, 7–7) Season Season series at Oakland Athletics SF–OAK at San Francisco Giants OAK–SF Overall series Notes 1997 Tie 2–2 8–2; 3–12 8–1; 4–6 Athletics 15–9 First regular season meetings 1998 Tie 2–2 12–8; 4–2 7–6; 5–2 Athletics 17–11 1999 Tie 3–3 9–11; 2–4; 7–2 3–4(15); 0–8; 7–6 Athletics 20–14 First year of 6-game home-and-away format
2000s (Athletics, 32–28) Season Season series at Oakland Athletics SF–OAK at San Francisco Giants OAK–SF Overall series Notes 2000 Tie 3–3 4–5; 7–9; 18–2 2–4; 2–4; 6–2 Athletics 23–17 Both teams qualify for post-season for first time since 1989 2001 Giants 4–2 2–4; 4–3(11); 2–6 1–3; 1–2; 0–3 Athletics 25–21 First time in which regular season series is not a tie 2002 Athletics 4–2 6–10; 5–3; 0–7 3–2; 2–6; 2–1 Athletics 29–23 Both teams qualify for playoffs Giants lose 2002 World Series 2003 Tie 3–3 3–5; 6–4; 5–6 0–6; 7–8(10); 5–2 Athletics 32–26 2004 Tie 3–3 6–4; 7–8(10); 5–2 3–7; 6–2; 9–6 Athletics 35–29 2005 Athletics 4–2 3–4; 3–6; 0–16 8–4; 2–3; 1–3 Athletics 39–31 2006 Tie 3–3 0–1; 4–2(10); 6–0 4–3; 7–8; 10–4 Athletics 42–34 Barry Bonds ties Babe Ruth for second on the all-time home run list with 714th home run; A's reach ALCS 2007 Athletics 5–1 3–15; 2–4; 4–1 5–3(10); 6–0; 2–0 Athletics 47–35 2008 Athletics 4–2 1–4; 1–0; 11–1 5–1; 4–0; 5–3 Athletics 51–37 Athletics extend win streak at San Francisco to 7 games 2009 Giants 5–1 1–5; 4–1; 6–3 0–3; 2–5; 1–7 Athletics 52–42
2010s (Tie, 25–25) Season Season series at Oakland Athletics SF–OAK at San Francisco Giants OAK–SF Overall series Notes 2010 Tie 3–3 1–6; 0–1; 0–3 2–6; 4–5; 2–6 Athletics 55–45 Home team wins all six meetings Giants win 2010 World Series 2011 Tie 3–3 2–5; 2–4; 1–2 1–2(10); 0–3; 4–5(11) Athletics 58–48 Home team wins all six meetings for second straight year 2012 Giants 4–2 5–4; 9–8; 2–4 6–8; 0–4; 6–2 Athletics 60–52 Giants extend home win streak in series to 11 games before it is snapped Both teams qualify for playoffs Giants win 2012 World Series 2013 Athletics 3–1 1–4; 3–6 9–6; 2–5 Athletics 63–53 Series changed to four-game format with two in each city except in years the AL West plays the NL West (2015, 2018, 2020, & 2021) 2014 Athletics 3–1 0–5; 1–6 2–5; 6–1 Athletics 66–54 Both teams qualify for playoffs Giants win 2014 World Series 2015 Giants 5–1 4–5; 14–10; 5–4 3–9; 1–2; 3–4 Athletics 67–59 2016 Athletics 3–1 1–7; 12–6 8–3; 13–11 Athletics 70–60 2017 Tie 2–2 5–8; 10–4 6–1; 2–11 Athletics 72–62 2018 Athletics 4–2 5–1; 3–4(11); 5–6(10) 1–7; 4–3; 6–2 Athletics 76–64 Athletics win inaugural Bay Bridge Trophy 2019 Giants 3–1 10–5; 5–4 2–3; 9–5 Athletics 77–67 Giants win Bay Bridge Trophy; both teams have earned the trophy once
2020s (Tie, 10–10) Season Season series at Oakland Athletics SF–OAK at San Francisco Giants OAK–SF Overall series Notes 2020 Athletics 5–1 0–6; 0–6; 14–2 8–7(10); 7–6; 15–3 Athletics 82–68 Due to COVID-19 pandemic, season is shortened to 60 games and each division will play its interleague counterpart for 20 games, which is why both teams play three times in both cities instead of two. Athletics reclaim the Bay Bridge Trophy. 2021 Giants 4–2 1–4; 6–5; 2–1 0–2; 5–6 (10); 6–2 Athletics 84–72 On August 21 and 22, the Giants make history by becoming the first AL/NL team to hit lead-changing pinch-hit homers in the eighth inning or later in back-to-back games. Giants win Bay Bridge Trophy; both teams have earned the trophy twice. 2022 Giants 3–1 7–3; 6–4 2–8; 1–0 Athletics 85–75 2023 Tie 2–2 1–2; 6–8 1–2; 3–8 Athletics 87–77 Athletics finish 50–112, one of the worst records in MLB history. Home team wins all four meetings
Summary of Results Season Season series at Oakland Athletics at San Francisco Giants Notes Philadelphia Athletics vs New York Giants Athletics 9–7 Giants, 4–3 Athletics, 6–3 Oakland Athletics vs San Francisco Giants Athletics 65–63 Athletics, 38–27 Giants, 36–27 Regular season Athletics 74–70 Athletics, 41–31 Giants, 39–33 Postseason Games Athletics 13–7 Athletics, 6–3 Athletics, 6–4 Postseason Series Athletics 3–1 Athletics, 2–1–1 Tie, 2–2 World Series: 1905, 1911, 1913, 1989 Overall Regular and postseason Athletics 87–77 Athletics, 47–34 Giants, 43–39

See also

• Freeway Series, Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
• 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 the Raiders relocated to Las Vegas.
• Kings–Warriors rivalry A local rivalry between the two NBA teams in Northern California.