Show your pride, Bay Area fans

By Nick Pinkerton

With professional basketball and hockey seasons coming to an end next month and football in its offseason, fans of popular sports don't have many other teams to cheer for this spring.

Let's turn our attention to the sport classically deemed "America's pastime" -- baseball.

The amount of students at this university wearing Los Angeles Dodgers hats and Boston Red Sox shirts versus San Francisco Giants and Oakland A's gear is ridiculous to me. Still, I don't blame these long-distance fans.

I blame you, Bay Area fans.

With such a high number of students representing non-Bay Area teams, I often question just where the heck Santa Clara is located.

I'm disappointed that a Bay Area university, which is home to a large percentage of Bay Area natives, is subject to this lack of local fan support.

As Giants and A's fans, we know that our teams have rich histories and a devoted fan following. The problem is that we're not doing a sufficient job of showing it.

On campus on any given day, I will probably see just one student wearing a Giants hat -- and my own doesn't count.

Yes, I understand that there may be a Dodgers fan, a Red Sox fan, or even a Cincinnati Reds or Minnesota Twins fan who hails from Northern California.

But the bottom line is this: Giants and A's fans need to make a strong showing in celebration of not only Bay Area sports, but baseball itself.

I know that the A's, and especially the Giants, haven't been the most successful teams in recent years, but when was the last time the Dodgers won the World Series? I think I was still in diapers.

The only other major league team to win more than one World Series in the past 11 seasons is the Florida Marlins (and no, I don't think that we need to include the Yankees).

Giants and A's fans have no excuse not to show their pride. Both teams have played a significant role in Major League Baseball and need to be acknowledged by the fans at this university.

Baseball cannot survive without its fans.

I encourage baseball fans to celebrate their teams, wear the colors and watch the games.

So go ahead and wear your Dodger blue. Show that you're part of the "Red Sox Nation."

If you're a Giants or A's fan, dust off your cap and embrace your team, your home and the game of baseball.

Until then you can catch me on a northbound Caltrain, bleeding black and orange.