Giants, Athletics start new version of ‘Bay Bridge Series’ minus Oakland touch

SAN FRANCISCO – Familiar aspects of the Bay Bridge Series filtered around Oracle Park as the Athletics came Friday night to renew their rivalry with the Giants.

But any good baseball tale can be tainted by an asterisk, which in this case is the fact “Oakland” is no longer associated with the A’s, who are summering in West Sacramento until their Las Vegas ballpark is supposed to open in three years.

“In terms of it not being the Bay Bridge Series, there’s still obviously — if you want to use the word ‘rivarly’ — a lot of excitement that surrounds this series, for sure,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said in the visitors’ dugout before first pitch of the three-game series.

A smattering of A’s fans showed in green-and-gold jerseys and old championship jackets. For those loyalists from the East Bay, this still is a closer commute than hauling up I-80 to Sutter Health Park, where the average attendance has been 10,166 in the 14,014-seat park that’s doubling as home of the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate, the River Cats.

One visible addition to the “rivalry” was a banner that hung from the right-center stands, with the area codes of 415 (in orange, for San Francisco) and 510 (in yellow, for Oakland) connected by a heart. Unmentioned: Sacramento’s 916 area code.

Before Friday’s gates opened, a few cross-bay reunions occurred between A’s and Giants, such as in batting practice when Seth Brown greeted Matt Chapman while, in the announcers’ gaggle, Dennis Eckersley chatted up Mike Krukow.

Earlier, Kotsay paid a visit to Giants counterpart and long-time friend Bob Melvin. “He was in my office today. Look, it is what it is. They built good facilities for them. It’s been well attended. It’s a little different where they’re playing. He’s more concerned about how his team’s played and their personnel. But he has embraced it. He’s got no choice.”

Added Kotsay: “The rivalry, I mean, it’s been fun to be a part of. Having Bob on the other side is not necessarily a rivalry. I look at him as a mentor, as a friend. Do I want to win? Yes. Does he want to win? Absolutely.”

The A’s are bunking at a San Francisco hotel, though they flew into Oakland after getting smashed 19-2 in Thursday night’s series-ending loss against the host Los Angeles Dodgers.

Entering Friday’s opener, the A’s (22-22) and Giants (25-19) were looking like potential playoff teams, and although they’re not conjuring comparisons to their 1989 World Series matchup that the A’s won, general manager David Forst acknowledged it’s “absolutely a goal” for the A’s to compete in the wild-card race.

“Not to say that wasn’t there desire the last few years, but let’s be realistic, we weren’t in a position to do that every night,” Forst said. “This is a better team, a more talented team.”

The A’s have lost 2-of-3 in their past three series, against the Seattle Mariners, the New York Yankees and at the Dodgers. By the way, the A’s lead the Giants 72-76 in the all-time series.

Forst said it’s too early to talk playoffs, to “check back in June.” From July 4-6, by the way, they’ll host the Giants.

Could Oracle Park have to pinch-hit as the A’s home if their former Bay Area neighbors make the playoffs and need a neutral site? Is Sutter Health Park out of the question for postseason play?

“That has not been declared,” Forst said. “I know there have been conversation about that. You’d have to talk to Mr. Manfred (commissioner Rob Manfred) about that. We’re like layers of hypotheticals here. That’s not something I can answer.”

Instead, in the A’s pregame notes, they did note this was far from the first time they did not have “Oakland” on their jerseys facing San Francisco teams. The Philadelphia A’s played exhibitions against the Seals and Oaks in 1942, including a game at San Quentin before officially debuting in Oakland.

Shortstop Jacob Wilson may have played only 13 games in Oakland when he broke into the majors last season, but returning to the Bay Area still resonated with him before his Oracle Park debut Friday night.

“That’s where I debuted. That’s where I got to play the last month of the season. So it is definitely a different feeling for me, for sure,” Wilson said. “There are veteran guys here that had a lot more time (in Oakland) than me, but it definitely feels special for them to be back here.

“Hopefully we get a lot of the old fans that come back and drive over the bridge to come see us play,” Wilson added. “I’ll just come out and enjoy it.”