A report in the San Francisco Chronicle on Monday sent Giants fans into a protective frenzy of their home field.

It was reported that the Oakland Athletics would play at AT&T Park,which has been the home of the San Francisco Giants since 2000, beginning next season if team officials could not agree on a short-team lease at Oakland Coliseum. Any sort of deal to bring the A’s to San Francisco would have needed the approval of Giants president Larry Baer.

Giants fans did not seem to keen to the idea. Comments ranging from saying the seat tarps would not fit at AT&T to asking them to find another solution like Sacramento or even the soon-to-be demolished Candlestick Park were offered. Anything but this.

I think Giants fans can breathe a sigh of relief now as A’s owner Lew Wolff has said that the team will continue playing in Oakland for the short term.

In a statement, Alameda County supervisor Nate Miley said, “We have been collaborating with the Oakland A’s for nearly a year on negotiations concerning an extension of their lease. We are working on a deal that we believe will be beneficial for both our tenant and the people of this community. We are confident that everyone involved sees the value in continuing for as long as possible the 45-year relationship between the A’s and the City of Oakland. While we cannot comment on the specific issues now under discussion or on whether there is any basis to recent rumors that Major League Baseball has played a role in the discussions, we are optimistic that a final deal is close at hand.”

I texted a friend of mine who is as big of a Giants fan as I am asking his thoughts. He said he only thought of it as a negotiating tactic, presumably as a bargaining chip for the Giants to ultimately give up territorial rights to the South Bay where the A’s have been hoping to build a new stadium. While I agree with just about all of that, I feel that the main reason Giants fans were against the idea is because well, that is their team’s home. Outside the stadium it reads “AT&T Park,Home of the San Francisco Giants”. The fans have a love affair with this place much like Red Sox fans have with Fenway Park and Cubs fans have with Wrigley Field. This is their team’s home and any other team calling it home is just plain wrong.

I myself was not a fan of the idea when it was reported today, but I am in favor of the idea of the A’s getting a new stadium and whatever it takes for them to get that, even if it includes the revocation of territorial rights owned by the Giants. It is not beneficial for them to be playing in the dump they are currently in for the long run. Just as long as it means that nobody else calls AT&T Park home for even one inning I am cool with it. I wasn’t before,but with threats like that one today, I am now.