Mark Canha is Bay Area born and bred. The San Jose native played college baseball at the University of California, Berkeley and has many fond memories going to games at AT&T Park.
No memory is greater for Canha than what he did to the Giants on Saturday night.
With the A's down 3-2 to the Giants in the top of the seventh inning in Game 2 of the Bay Bridge Series, Canha came off the bench and unloaded on a 93 mph fastball from Tony Watson to hit a two-run shot halfway up the left-field bleachers. The blast gave the A's a 4-3 lead and eventual win.
What really grabbed headlines though was Canha's celebration. In more of a bat toss than flip, Canha flipped the script on the Giants and showed exactly how much this Bay Bridge Series means to him.
And he has a message for those who think he somehow disrespected a game by having fun.
"People getting offended by bat flips is so silly. I'm not sorry. I'm not really sorry. It's part of our game. Everybody does it," Canha said after the A's win.
Sports
Canha doesn't feel that bad about his bat flip pic.twitter.com/6k4Zb3TNp7— A's on NBCS (@NBCSAthletics) July 15, 2018
Will the Giants look for retribution and throw at Canha when he steps to the plate on Sunday? Canha couldn't care less.
"If somebody's gonna throw at me -- I've been thrown at in the past, this season. I clearly didn't learn my lesson. So if you're offended by that, I don't care," Canha.
The versatile outfielder is now batting .259 with 12 home runs and a .797 OPS this season.
