Nostalgia is the lifeblood of baseball. Don’t tell the sabermatricians — many of whom reside in the A’s front office — but without romance and sentiment, this game would have long ago withered and blown away in the winds of change.
So what happened Saturday at the sold-out Oakland Coliseum was not only cool, not only fun, but it was also important. When the fans of both Bay Area teams, rivals most of the time, came together to cheer for two memorable men who played key roles on both teams, it was a satisfying moment at the end of two relatively unmemorable seasons.