One might expect these esteemed institutions of higher learning to be more enlightened.
But when two such great rivals are in close quarters, as is the case with Stanford University and California-Berkeley, proximity and familiarity breed contempt.
"When you play against somebody who goes to Stanford and you don't know them, you just assume that you don't like them," said former Cal second baseman Josh Satin, now of the Savannah Sand Gnats. "That's just the way that it is."
As a Stanford outfielder, Sean Ratliff faced Satin's teams about 18 times over three seasons from 2005-08. The Northern California schools are in the Pac-10 Conference.
"I didn't really like (Satin) because he beat us up pretty badly. He killed all our pitching," said Ratliff, now also a Sand Gnat. "It's kind of funny that we had such a bitter rivalry when we played in college. Now we're good buddies and we're living together."
Yes, the baseball gods do have a sense of humor. Or maybe it's the New York Mets, who selected Ratliff in the fourth round and Satin in the sixth round of the June 2008 draft. They signed their professional contracts the same month and played together with the Brooklyn Cyclones of the short-season Class A New York-Penn League.
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