With the San Francisco Giants’ underwhelming season over and sights set on a brighter 2014, baseball is turning up the heat across the Bay Bridge. That’s right, the Oakland Athletics have clinched their second straight American League West title and are in the playoffs once again.

        Despite all of their recent success, the A’s have been one of the most overlooked ball clubs in the American League. This could be a result of the team’s lack of big name stars or the lackluster Coliseum that MLB Commissioner Bud Selig recently called “a pit”. To add insult to injury, despite the team’s impressive playoff run in 2012 and strong start the 2013 season, pitcher Bartolo Colon was the only Athletic voted onto the All-Star roster this year. Grant Balfour was only later added to the roster to replace Colon, who needed rest.

       The A’s have battled their way to the second seed spot in the American League and are now battling it out against the Detroit Tigers in the ALDS. After their five game losing streak against the Tiger’s last year, the A’s are definitely looking to write some wrongs. So why should Giants root for Oakland?

       The A’s are one of the most exciting teams to watch in all of baseball. Players like Josh Donaldson and Coco Crisp show what the team is about by providing relentless hustle day in and day out. Yet the A’s know how to have fun, too. In recent years, they have mastered the art of walk-off wins, including a walk-off homerun from Brandon Moss that sealed off a 19-inning game against the Angels in April, and more recently Stephen Vogt’s game-winning single in game 2 of the ALDS. If that is not enough, teammates cap each walk-off victory with a cream-pie-to-the-face slap to player with the winning hit.

      This doesn’t mean that Giants fans should go out and buy an A’s jersey,  attend the playoff games, and hop on the Oakland bandwagon. Stay loyal to your team and be proud of your orange and black, winning or losing season (I’m talking to you, 2010/2012 bandwagon jumpers). But why not root for your neighbors across the bay this fall when you’re watching baseball on the couch? The chance to potentially swipe the World Series trophy out of the undeserving hands of the dreaded Dodgers should be reason enough.