Warriors’ home clincher would be Bay Area rarity

Warriors’ home clincher would be Bay Area rarity Grab a comfortable chair, take all of the Bay Area’s professional teams in the major sports — Warriors, Sharks, A’s, Giants, Raiders, 49ers — and list all of the occasions on which they celebrated a world championship in their stadium or arena. The Warriors will try to join the 1973 and ’74 A’s — Vida Blue, Rollie Fingers and the boys — in this oddly exclusive club. For the sake of Bay Area pride, remember that the 1984 49ers won the Super Bowl at the old Stanford Stadium, and that the Athletics put the 1989 Earthquake Series out of its misery at Candlestick Park (you could visit those sites on a nostalgic journey, except they no longer exist). Strictly speaking, though, the number is two — over the 295 combined seasons these franchises have completed in Northern California. All of which brings hearty laughter in Miami, where the Marlins had a hometown party in just their fifth year of existence. Just as they spoiled a festive Cleveland party in Friday night’s Game 4, they won last year’s championship in that same arena. Upon returning in this year’s regular season, a fanciful Stephen Curry said it still smelled like Champagne. Due to a scheduling conflict, those Warriors didn’t even get to play at their Coliseum Arena home, winning Games 2 and 3 at the Cow Palace and finishing off a four-game sweep against the Bullets in Landover, Md. Not that they gave a hoot about locale. Cincinnati’s Riverfront Stadium was the scene of their ’72 title, but Game 7 of the ’73 Series was in Oakland (Ken Holtzman over the Mets’ Jon Matlack, homers by Campy Campaneris and Reggie Jackson). Once again at home for Game 5 of the ’74 Series against the Dodgers, they clinched the title behind Blue and Blue Moon Odom (who got the win in relief) with homers by Ray Fosse (off Don Sutton) and Joe Rudi (off Mike Marshall). The classic eighth-inning relay throws from Jackson to second baseman Dick Green to third baseman Sal Bando, cutting down Bill Buckner. When it comes to the Bay Bridge series in ’89, do you recall much from the clinching Game 4? Perhaps Rickey Henderson’s game-opening homer off Don Robinson, or the very last play, picturesque flip from second baseman Tony Phillips to the covering Dennis Eckersley at first. Go with “The Long and Winding Road” as a fitting theme song. For the record, they won Super Bowl XI at the Rose Bowl (Fred Biletnikoff the MVP and Willie Brown racing 75 yards on an interception return for a touchdown) and Super Bowl XV in New Orleans (Jim Plunkett the MVP, three interceptions by Rod Martin). Seriously, rickety old Stanford Stadium? NBA Finals