Growing up as a Bonds fan

I was 15 when I started having identity issues, but like some, I kind of thought the world would work them out for me.

Now, this isn’t what you think; this is about baseball fandom. Growing up in the Bay Area, there were two choices, and my parents were both transplants, so I inherited nothing. I went to both Giants and A’s games, and I rooted for both, and was predictably confused by 1989 until more important things to focus on came around.

But I was 15, and it was starting to become clear that who you rooted for was part of your identity. I’d found it out accidentally thanks to football. I was raised as a Raiders fan (my parents had season tickets), and when they moved when I was 6,…