A’s fans get to see their former MVP, Jason Giambi when he returns to the Coliseum tonight. Do you cheer the player who led the team to the playoffs the last two years or boo the man who spurned the Bay Area for the bright lights of Broadway?Baseball provides fans, players, and managers the very unique opportunity to show ones emotions when things don’t go the way one hopes.

If the manager perceives an injustice on the part of the umpires, he runs onto the field, hat falling off, arms waving, veins bulging in his neck to voice his displeasure at the judgment. What a release of emotion this exercise provides for the stressed out field general.

If only life was like that outside the stadium.

If a hitter is brushed back by the pitcher, (in baseball 2002) the batter glares at the mound, possibly points at the pitcher with threatening gestures, or as a last resort heads for the hill to do physical harm to the moundsman who dared threaten his security.

Wouldn’t we like to be able to reclaim our space each day from some invader who has somehow violated what we consider our private turf?

Hell, yes.

Now, the fan.

He or she pays $20.00 for a seat in the ball park. As soon as the fan enters the park, the fan has been given the right to voice his or hers unfettered opinion on anything that goes on within the yard. I don’t care if it’s messages on the scoreboard, the way a concessionaire throws the peanuts, or the loud obnoxious person sitting behind you who won’t stop screaming, the fan can let it fly on how he or she feels, without any regret.

The fans’ opinion counts and you better believe you are going to hear it.

That’s baseball. It has been this way ever since the owners put a fence around the field and charged admission to get in.

Now, the question becomes what happens when Jason Giambi steps on the field tonight in Oakland for the first time?

His former teammates, athletes themselves who have felt the fans derision before, say Jason was a local hero, a great player in Oakland, show your respect for him when he comes back to face the A’s.

Good luck fellas.

Jason Giambi rejected the Bay Area and left because he wanted a chance to be in the playoffs every year. Maybe I missed something, but wasn’t he in the playoffs the last two years and with him back and the trio of starting pitchers the team has, wasn’t this team a favorite to return to the October Show for many years to come?

Didn’t the team offer to give Jason 35% of its payroll for the foreseeable future?

Yes, to those questions.

With Jason jumping ship, the A’s were forced to scramble to rebuild the offense. Dave Justice, Scott Hatteberg, Carlos Pena, and his own brother were thrust into the rolls of picking up the offense. Only Jeremy Giambi makes me feel secure about filling the void over the 162 game season and even that is a stretch for a player who is now in uncharted waters as a lead off hitter.

So, Jason leaves. The real rub is what he said when he signed with the Yanks. We know the BS about the playoffs every year. Then he trashed the Bay Area. Got right in the face of all tonight’s paying customers. There is no there in Oakland he concluded.

Tonight is the fans night to say back to him how they feel about his departure and all its effects on the A’s.

Some will take the high road and cheer and forget that the Yankees want to stomp the A’s right out of the playoffs again. Shatter the hopes of A’s manager Art Howe for a world series triumph.

The New Yorkers grabbed the A’s best player for one reason. We want to beat you. You make us nervous each October, so we’ll grab the heart of your team.

Others, will honor the long baseball tradition of booing the opponent no matter who he is.

In this case, Jason Giambi deserves the loudest boos the fans can muster up.

The beauty of tonight’s game is you can do whatever you want and believe you me everyone will have a say when number 25 is announced for the first time.

The license of being a fan in the ball park. You are allowed to let your feelings be known and you are expected to do it. What a gift.

You couldn’t keep me away from the park tonight.

What drama.