While I've been a Florida Marlins fan since South Florida was awarded a franchise because I was born right above Miami, I grew up in the Bay Area of Northern California and was an Oakland Athletics fan since I was 4 years old. I reveled in the championship years of the early 70s, and suffered through many of the years after, as the A's fell out of contention after being decimated by free agency and the hated New York Yankees; losing such legendary players as Catfish Hunter and Reggie Jackson.