And who thinks that if the A’s won the 2011 World Series it would provoke anything close to the near religious fervor that Northern Calif. went into over the Giants this past fall? The A’s have four world titles, and not one of them generated a fraction of this level of public excitement.

I’m not trying to bash A’s fans. But the reality is the franchise is a very distant second, even if they do well on the field. And that’s as true in Santa Clara County as it is everywhere else.

Interesting thought that the “vast majority of South Bay residents have always been Giants fans.” That’s certainly true here in San Mateo County. I’d always thought San Jose and Santa Clara County were more evenly split between the Giants and the A’s. The sense I have is that the stadium in San Jose would be contested over the usual objections (cost, traffic congestion, etc) but that the attendance even beyond 2 years would exceed what the A’s have in Oakland. I don’t follow the stadium plan as closely as some do:

http://newballpark.org/

That’s the site I use to follow the stadium to and fro.

But the vast majority of South Bay residents have always been Giants fans — as is the case pretty much everywhere in Northern California, outside Alameda and Contra Costa counties (where’s the A’s have an edge, but even there only a narrow one). That’s not likely to change any time soon, even if the A’s can figure out how to build a stadium in San Jose. Which means the San Jose A’s could find themselves in the unique position of being second fiddle in a home town they have all to themselves.