35,067 fans at O.co Coliseum witnessed history Oct. 3. The Oakland Athletics won the American League West, passing the Texas Rangers for the lead the last game of the season. Two weeks earlier, The San Francisco Giants clinched the National League West with a 10-game lead.

This year is the first since 2003 that both Bay Area teams have won their divisions.

But what was so remarkable about the A’s last minute heroics is how they swept the Rangers to clinch the playoffs. With all of the odds stacked against them, a team of 17 rookies with the second lowest payroll in baseball won three straight against a team who had been to the World Series the previous two years.

Something about the A’s sparks my interest, as it should for all baseball fans. This is a quirky team that is living out a prolonged Cinderella story.

I encourage all A’s and Giants fans to come together for these next few days, days that will inevitably be spent in front of the TV, fist-pumping in victory or face-palming in defeat. Such stark highs and lows are what make the game of baseball truly great. This should spark interest in all fans because everyone who loves the game of baseball should be attracted to a story like the Athletics’, a story that fueled by a youthful desire to overcome the greatest odds.

The A’s and the Giants went into the first round of the playoffs, the 5-game Division Series, with plenty of confidence, but both Bay teams have lost their first two games. If they plan on continuing to the next round, the A’s and Giants will each have to win three straight.

For the A’s and Giants to win these next three they will need the support of their fans. A few students have backed their teams through and through, such as sophomore Derek Cheung, who, in unparalleled dedication to his hometown team, sports a Giants cap wherever he goes. Enthusiasm like this is crucial.

Next, the Giants and A’s communities will need to get over the idea that new fans are bad fans. Accusations of fair-weathering and bandwagoning need to be left to the wayside, for this is October baseball, and the more the merrier.