Editor’s Note: I am not a sports aficionado, I just love the San Francisco Giants and (sadly) believe that baseball should be about the love for the game more than the business.
As if the “hate” against my beloved San Francisco Giants wasn’t apparent enough, I went ahead and read an ESPN article titled, “Welcome to the Worst World Series Ever” by David Schoenfield. Then, because I’m an emotional cutter I read a Forbes article by Tom Van Riper titled “Boring San Francisco Giants Threaten World Series Ratings – Again”. It’s been four years since the first wave of hate surfaced and the cringeworthy voice of Joe Buck reared its ugly head, so you would think I’d be immune to the naysayers. But I can only take so much.
Even this article was hard for me to write. I had to really take a moment to rid myself of all my overprotective mom emotions in an attempt to write objectively. Let’s just say I did the best I could. I can’t help but wonder if those who agree with Schoenfield have been watching the same games as I have. I can only assume these are the same people who only enjoy sex in missionary position. For me it’s been the most exciting post-season that I can remember. I say this impartially because I even watched other teams play – I never do that. Hell, I even paid attention to some of the Dodgers and A’s games. You know what they say, keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
I didn’t watch the A’s vs Royals game where Kansas City won the Wildcard spot, but it only took one solid scroll through my Facebook feed and two text messages to wish I did. Apparently, it was one of the best baseball games one could ever watch. One ABC news writer even titled their artcle “Royals Beat A’s 9-8 in AL Wild-Card Thriller”. Just in case you’re not familiar, Merriam-Webster defines thriller as:
noun \ˈthri-lər\: a novel, movie, etc., that is very exciting : a story full of exciting action, mystery, adventure, or suspense
What about
Mike Moustakas dugout catch in Game 3 of the ALCS? The only thing better than that was Panda’s graceful dugout catch against the Pirates in our Wildcard game! Speaking of out Wildcard game, can we all take a moment to congratulate Brandon Boo-Thang Crawford for being the first short stop in postseason history to hit a grand slam? This moment was only rivaled by the other Brandon’s homerun (and bat drop rawr) in Game 2 of the NLDS that ended 18 innings of excruciating – you guessed it, torture.
One of my absolute favorite postseason memories so far has got to be Pence’s ridiculous NLDS Game 4 catch, where he not only prevented a triple from Jason Werth, but was also compared to Michael Jordan himself. Let’s not forget that odd wild pitch from Barrett of the Nats that sealed the Giants NLDS win. Not to be blatantly biased, another amazing play was made by Kolton Wong of the Cardinals when his walk-off homerun costed us Game 2 of the NLCS. Naturally I was pissed. I didn’t even know who Kolton Wong was until the night before, but I still had to give it up to the kid. That’s the way you end a motherfucking ballgame. Giants fans should know. Speaking of walk-offs, one of my friend Zach’s favorite postseason plays is Salvador Perez’s ALDS winner. And of course my homie and Dodger fan, Patiwut’s favorite walk-offs was executed by Matt Kemp in Game 2 of the NLDS.
Perhaps the most memorable walk-off yet, is the one made by unlikely hero Travis Ishikawa (although I didn’t forget about Morse’s game changer in the 8th). What’s more amazing than the actual play, is Ishikawa’s story. Here we are, one of the lowest scoring teams this season winning the pennant mostly due to homeruns. Well whodathunkit? I don’t know about you, but the games I’ve witnessed this year have been excruciating, exhilarating, surprising, and yes – a little weird. It’s been just about everything BUT boring.
Alas, we are all entitled to our own opinions (even if they are wrong lol). And I suppose your take on this years World Series match up depends on how you measure excitement. If a home run derby is what you’re looking for, then you’re better off watching an All-Star game. Personally, I believe the game the rest of the world wants to see would be as predictable as Puig crying over a papercut. There are just so many other factors that contribute to a good baseball game.
Where has the magic of baseball gone? Sadly, we live in a world where a man is criticized for giving back Travis Ishikawa’s pennant winning homerun baseball. The same world that believes two wildcard teams don’t deserve to be in the World Series, and still thinks the Giants suck and only made it this far (again) by sheer luck.
Yes, yes, luck. Our team fell apart when Pagan got on the DL and started what seemed to be a slump so bad I honestly didn’t think we would make it past September baseball. I remember seeing the Dodgers catch up, move ahead, and surpass us to lead the NL West and actually asked my friend “When did we start to suck so bad?” Our magic number may have very well been infinity at that point. Yet, we managed to pull ourselves together and beat teams that beat the best teams. By luck of course. Chemistry, an outstanding outfield, and strategic moves by Bochy had absolutely nothing to do with us being back in the World Series for the third time in four years. Petit, Casilla, Strickland (sometimes), Vogey, Romo, Peavy, Hudson, MOTHERFUCKING MADISON BUMGARNER. They had nothing to do with our wins. Matter fact, they’re only in the big leagues because they got lucky.
So what’s it going to take for the San Francisco Giants to prove to the world that they are a skilled team who deserve to be in the World Series? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I wish I could follow up with something profound, but all I got is “Haters gonna hate”. Well I hate to tell you this, but the Giants and the Royals are in the World Series regardless of how boring you think they are. And one of them is going to win the ‘ship whether you like it or not.
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