The Giants spent the day in Cincinnati waiting to find out which team they'll face in the National League Championship Series, the Washington Nationals or the St. Louis Cardinals. In the meantime, for the Oakland A's, it was a day to wrap up and reflect on what was a season of surprising success and a tremendous surge in fan support. The team thanked their fans after Thursday night's loss.
A lot of eager Giants fans gathered at McCovey's in Walnut Creek Friday to watch the game between the Cardinals and Nationals. In the meantime, the A's are done for the season, but you won't find many of their fans or their players hanging their heads.
The Oakland A's Jonny Gomes spent the morning cleaning out his locker barely 12 hours after his team's amazing playoff run came to an abrupt end. "This was a well-greased machine all year and I just think towards the end, we just ran out of some grease. But 29 teams are going to finish this season with a loss, so it's nothing to hang our heads about," he said. "Everyone did well." Gomes was among the A's players who stayed on the field to thank the fans for the groundswell of support that helped carry the team into the postseason.
"Thanks for a great season. Thanks for being great fans," Pitching Coach Curt Young told some fans Friday. He noticed and appreciated them too. "Just exciting, probably the most energy I've ever seen in the Coliseum. You know what? It's momentum going into next year and you think about that now and you look forward to that," he said.
While the Coliseum was getting cleaned up, San Francisco Giants fans were stocking up on orange and black gear, and celebrating their team's exciting and historic resurrection in the Division Series. Somehow they just dug deep and got it together, and I think the reverend Hunter Pence helped them a little bit with a little bit of a pep talk," fan Sandy Melden, said.
It's easy to find Giants apparel but it may not quite as easy to find tickets to the next series. They went on sale on the Giants website via an online lottery and went very quickly. On Friday, the cheapest tickets found on Craigslist and StubHub were $110 each with prices going way up from there.
