It’s a rumor that baseball guys are people who are obsessed with statistics like batting averages, ERAs, stolen bases, hits, strikeouts and other numbers that fans go nuts talking about.
Not me. Why do you think I became a journalist and not a computer programmer?
Even so, I am passionate about my San Francisco Giants. I’ve been in love with the team ever since the days of Will Clark, Candy Maldonado and, of course, the Batman, Kevin Mitchell. It was a stellar season in 1989 that ended with a loss to the Oakland A’s in the World Series.
You might remember that World Series as the one where those ugly, dual A’s and Giants fans hats were the rage, and when a little earthquake shook the Bay Area right before game three.
(Sidenote: Ok, who still owns one of those hats? Post a photo of yourself in the hat!)
But alas, the 1989 World Series wasn’t the only time that Giants fans would feel the pain of playing in the World Series and losing. In 2002, the G-Men faced off against a tough Anaheim Angels team, another all-California World Series.
Our boys in the orange and black once again failed to bring the Championship home. It was torture, and us Giants fans knew it well. We came to embrace the torture and out of it, we grew closer in our love of the team.
It didn’t matter that our boys didn’t win the big game. What mattered was that we supported them in both the good times and the bad. We believed in them, and in 2010, we finally got some relief from the torture with a World Series victory against the Texas Rangers.
It was that sweet taste of victory that lingered among the Giants fans throughout 2012 and became a reality when the Giants won the National League Championship Series, taking the Pennant two nights ago against the defending World Series Champion St. Louis Cardinals.
I think about the remarkable comeback that the G-Men made against the Cards, and an even more incredible deficit against the Cincinnati Reds, who they defeated on the road to enter into the NLCS.
This is a tough Giants team, going against a very determined Detroit Tigers squad, and I believe that they will win the World Series. Of course, my belief isn’t based on the numbers. It’s based on the heart I’ve seen through the years with this team.
Go Giants!
