UPDATED Why Bay Area fans like all their teams ... unless they hate them

--by Josh Suchon

People will never understand it outside the Bay Area.

Fans in other two-team markets shake their heads in disbelief, call it blasphemous, wonder what they’re smoking up north, mock the Bay Area, and use it as proof there’s something wrong with the people who live there.

The truth is, especially for people who spent their whole lives in the Bay Area, it’s more common to like both baseball and football teams than hate one team.

Alright, it might be a stretch to say the football fans “like” each other. It can feel like a war zone in the stadiums when the 49ers and Raiders play each other. There are plenty of fights and bullets to prove it. But don’t let the couple hundred knuckleheads obscure the larger truth.

Bay Area fans of one team don’t hate the other team. In some cases, they like both baseball teams equally. If nothing else, they go to both ballparks, and enjoy being able to see American League and National League baseball. If their favored team wasn’t very good that year, regional pride dictated you cheered for the other team.

The LA-SF rivalry -- Chapters 1-4

-- by Josh Suchon

A new chapter in the Dodgers-Giants rivalry starts Monday night at Dodger Stadium when the teams play for the first time in 2012. The transfer of power from thrifty Frank McCourt to the deep-pocketed Guggenheim Baseball ownership group ensures a new chapter in this historic rivalry.

Which chapter is it?

In my opinion, it’s the 11th chapter since the teams moved from New York to California. I’ll provide my unique perspective as somebody who covered the Giants for The Oakland Tribune from 2000-2003, then was the reporter for the Dodgers Radio Network and co-host of Post Game Dodger Talk from 2008-2011.

Since I’m only 38 years old, I won’t try to fake the early chapters with long poetic essays. After all, I wasn’t alive. But the more recent chapters, when I enjoyed a front-row seat, will get longer treatments. We’ll start today with Chapters 1-4, then continue the next few days.

Chapter One – Getting settled in California (1958-1962)

The move from New York to California brought the rivalry across the country. The hatred amongst the players remained, and the new fans bought into it immediately.

These were transition years. The Dodgers played the first four seasons at the LA Coliseum, before moving into Dodger Stadium. The Giants played their first two years at Seals Stadium, before the debut of Candlestick Park.

Each team enjoyed some success. The Dodgers won a World Series in 1959. The Giants beat the Dodgers in an epic three-game playoff to win the 1962 pennant, only to lose to the Yankees in game seven of the World Series.