Three years ago, I would have never envisioned my team, the
San Francisco Giants winning the World Series, let alone making it to
Baseball’s Fall Classic again. I’ve been a Giants fan since I was a child. I
remember my father taking me to my first Baseball game at Candlestick Park back
in the 70’s against the Cincinnati Reds.
I didn’t know what was going on, but marveled at the enormous crowd and
enjoyed the peanuts, popcorn and cotton candy. Baseball used to be America's pastime, along with Hot Dogs, Apple pie and Chevrolet. My, how the times have changed.
As a Giants fan, I witnessed some of the most heartbreaking,
gut-wrenching losses and endured some of the team’s most horrific moments:
1987- the Candy Maldonado muffed slide against the Cardinals.
1989- the Bay Bridge Loma Prietta Earthquake, where the Giants were swept thereafter by the Athletics.
1993- The Giants won 103 games and missed the playoffs because the Atlanta Braves won 104 games. There was no Wildcard back then.
2001- The Giants were playing the Dodgers at AT&T in their snazzy, black Friday uniforms only to see Shawn Estes get lit up like a Christmas Tree, which was the game eliminating them from the playoffs in an 11-10 affair. It was a bitter-sweet moment as Bonds hit his 71st and 72nd homeruns.
2002 World Series- Dusty Baker hands Russ Ortiz the game ball prematurely in Game 6 in Anaheim.
Out came the rally Monkey and Felix Rodriguez coughed up a 5 run lead en route to a World Series loss. That 2002 World Series loss hurt the most. It was like the Baseball Gods were finally going to let us have our moment in the sun, only to have them pull a Lucy and yank back the football at the last second to see us fall flat on our backs.
I almost wanted to cry after that loss. I can’t speak for anyone else, but it hurt almost as much as a Girlfriend breaking up with me. After that, I vowed to not become emotionally invested in sporting events. To this day, I have a difficult time watching the end of games because of the potential meltdown.
1987- the Candy Maldonado muffed slide against the Cardinals.
1989- the Bay Bridge Loma Prietta Earthquake, where the Giants were swept thereafter by the Athletics.
1993- The Giants won 103 games and missed the playoffs because the Atlanta Braves won 104 games. There was no Wildcard back then.
2001- The Giants were playing the Dodgers at AT&T in their snazzy, black Friday uniforms only to see Shawn Estes get lit up like a Christmas Tree, which was the game eliminating them from the playoffs in an 11-10 affair. It was a bitter-sweet moment as Bonds hit his 71st and 72nd homeruns.
2002 World Series- Dusty Baker hands Russ Ortiz the game ball prematurely in Game 6 in Anaheim.
Out came the rally Monkey and Felix Rodriguez coughed up a 5 run lead en route to a World Series loss. That 2002 World Series loss hurt the most. It was like the Baseball Gods were finally going to let us have our moment in the sun, only to have them pull a Lucy and yank back the football at the last second to see us fall flat on our backs.
I almost wanted to cry after that loss. I can’t speak for anyone else, but it hurt almost as much as a Girlfriend breaking up with me. After that, I vowed to not become emotionally invested in sporting events. To this day, I have a difficult time watching the end of games because of the potential meltdown.
In 2003, The Giants had the league’s best record, only to
see Jose Cruz Jr. muff a routine fly ball in game 2 en route to a loss, and JT Snow thrown out at the plate
in an elimination game in the first round of the playoffs against the Marlins
of all teams, who went on to win the World Series.
From 2004 to 2007, the Giants had decent teams with Barry Bonds in his twilight, homerun-hitting Prime, launching balls into the San Francisco Bay, but they weren’t good enough to make the playoffs and were on the verge of rebuilding the team. Like the Cubs, I began to wonder if the team was cursed… until magic happened in 2010.
From 2004 to 2007, the Giants had decent teams with Barry Bonds in his twilight, homerun-hitting Prime, launching balls into the San Francisco Bay, but they weren’t good enough to make the playoffs and were on the verge of rebuilding the team. Like the Cubs, I began to wonder if the team was cursed… until magic happened in 2010.
The 2012 Giants almost promised to have a good team with Buster Posey coming back from a horrific ankle injury, but
tragedy struck when dynamic closer, Brian Wilson went down to have his second
Tommy John’s surgery. Without a go-to closer, it proved challenging, but Bruce
Bochy made it work by committee with Santiago Casilla, Jeremy Affeldt and Sergio Romo. Towards the
stretch run, the Giants and Dodgers were neck-in-neck in the standings and then
Melky Cabrera, the team’s leading bat was popped for PED’s. In addition, the
Dodgers broke the bank and acquired several big-named players. Instead of
wilting to the pressure, the Giants rose through it all, went on an incredible
run, including sweeping the Dodgers and won the West by eight games.
The playoffs proved to be torturous for the Giants. In the
first round, they fell behind Dusty Baker’s Cincinnati Reds 0-2, after dropping
the first two games at home. They made an improbable run in winning three
straight on the road and became the first team to win a series after an 0-2
deficit. Game 5’s defining moment featured Sergio Romo facing off against Scott Rolen with 2
runners on and a 6-4 lead and getting out of the jam with "slider delights" for the win.
In the following series, it seemed the Giants couldn’t stand
prosperity and promptly fell behind the defending World Series champion St.
Louis Cardinals 1-3. Again, it seemed bleak until unlikely hero, Barry Zito
pitched the game of his career which gave the team momentum to propel the
Giants to a 4-3 series win in San Francisco behind strong performances from
Matt Cain and Ryan Vogelsong.
An improbable World Series run saw the Giants crush the
Detroit Tigers in a 4-game sweep with a dominant pitching performances from
Barry Zito against MLB’s next big thing in Justin Verlander. Madison Bumgarner, Ryan Vogelsong, Matt Cain
and a lights-out bullpin featuring Tim Lincecum pitching middle relief for the
first time in his career kept Detroit in check. Jeremy Affeldt and Sergio Romo
were untouchable as they constantly shut down the heralded big boppers on the
Tigers, including triple crown winner, Miguel Cabrera. Yes, after a short
four-game sweep, it was parade time once again in the city by the bay.
I’ve become increasingly bitter with the proliferation of
fake Giants fans stemming from the team’s success in 2010. As a long-time
Giants fan, I feel as if I’ve lived through the heartbreak and struggle and
rightfully deserve to bask in the championship glow. Fake fans that can’t name
two players on the team not named Pablo or Timmy annoy me to no end, but with
success comes bandwagoners. Just ask the New York Yankees.
Since I attended the 2010 parade, I knew what to expect this
time around and purchased my BART (“Bay Area Rapid Transport,” aka San
Francisco’s Subway system) ticket ahead of time. In 2010, I had to wait for
more than an hour, but this time, I breezed right through. Getting on BART was
a completely different story. It was CROWDED, and the trains were literally
packed like Sardines in a can.
Hey, Girl! What's for dinner? Go up your nose and pick a winner!
People would have climbed on top of each other like Lobsters
in a tank if they could. Once I got off at the Civic Center station, I could
see the ocean of Orange and Black dominate the station, which was apropos colors
since it was Halloween.
When I hit the street, I immediately found a spot where I
could get some good, quality shots of the parade.
Organizers were setting up the confetti machines to blast
the floats with orange and black.
The crowd was dense and full of people drinking and toking
in broad daylight.
Yep, folks! That's the chronic. One lady brought one of those yapping rats to the parade. Some
people are unbelievable… and it’s not a dog, it’s a rat that belongs in a cage.
A German shepherd is a dog. A Labrador is a dog. A Rottweiler is a dog. This is a rat.
At any rate, people were climbing on signs, hanging out of
windows and dangling off rooftops just to get a glimpse of the parade. If you
could climb onto it, there was someone hanging from it.
I have no idea how they even got up there!
Once the parade started, everything from marching bands to
floats started making appearances, and the confetti machine was in full effect.
Broadcasters, Mike Kruko, Dwayne Kuiper, Jon Miller and David
Flemming had their own Firetruck.
…and there was a DJ on a truck mixing and
making the masses dance to Gangnam Style.
This parade had floats galore.
Some Go-carts popped onto the scene and one guy thought he
could showboat for the crowd, and, well… It didn’t turn out the way he envisioned.
Nobody was hurt so it’s kind of funny now. It was like the
cart tipped over in slow motion. The driver’s facial expression looked like
Glass Joe from Mike Tyson’s Punch Out while the cart tipped over. “POW!!” The entire crowd in unison yelled, “Ohhhh!!!”
There were guys and gals in the parade throwing candy,
trinkets and things into the crowd.
I was lucky enough to snag a T-shirt with my long, 6’8”
reach. I pulled a Defensive Back move, tipped it to myself and caught it… and
this was with a camera in one hand.
One thing that’s cool about the Giants organization is former
players and Hall of Famers are always nearby.
Gavin Newsom had to get his hand into the publicity pot.
The coaches had to share cars.
This was the theme of the playoffs:
Even Lou Seal had his own float.
The Chinese Dragons were pretty cool.
Cal’s Marching band was in attendance.
Most of the players had their own cars in the
parade.
Just about all of the players have beautiful, voluptuous,
glamorous-looking, rock star wives. A nice, fat multi-million dollar contract
will make that possible, like a Ms. Potato head project. Just add boobs, a big
butt, a weave and a make-over and you’ll have a smokin’ hot wife too. J
I didn’t even realize that Jim Harbaugh, coach of the 49ers
was driving Brandon Belt’s car! I was wondering why his car received extra
attention.
Bruce Bochy’s Rolls hoisting the World Series Trophy. We later
learned that his car ran out of gas and had to be pushed to the end of the
parade.
I didn’t know that 49ers QB, Alex Smith was driving Matt Cain’s car
either.
Even Guillermo Mota, who was busted for PED’s was in the
parade. I almost expected Melky Cabrera and his Milkmaids to show up.
Sergio Romo didn’t even have a car! He was outside running
around, high fiving people and making a statement with his t-shirt.
Brian Wilson being Brian Wilson.
The MVP’s! Buster Posey (above) and Pablo Sandoval (below).
Quite a few people felt this way after the World Series ended, and even before it started:
There were signs galore at the parade.
I strolled over to City Hall where the players were supposed to speak to the crowd.
Vendors were selling everything from T-shirts to Pennants and Lanyards.
The crowd was too thick to get close enough to hear the
players and coaches speak to the crowd, but I still got some nice shots.
I was a bit disappointed that there were very few costumes
during the parade. I expected this to be like an extension of the Exotic Erotic
Ball, but I digress.
Overall, this was a good time out, the people were friendly
and the atmosphere was terrific. The weather was a tad gloomy, but it didn’t rain so everything
worked out. If you’re a sports fan, and your team wins a championship, I highly
recommend attending their celebratory parade. This was one thing I was fortunate
enough to cross off my bucket list… Twice, since the Giants are the “two-time,
two-time, two-time” (DDP) World Series Champions.
Hopefully, there will be a parade for the 49ers next year.
