I was born and raised in San Francisco. I've been a Giants fan my whole life. Most of my youth was spent bouncing a ball of the back of my parents' house and catching it while listening to Hank Greenwald call Giants games on KNBR.
When the Giants won the pennant in 1989, I was just happy that they had made it to the World Series. Then the earthquake before game 3 made baseball seem a lot less important. When the Giants lost game 6 of the 2002 series after being up 5-0 and then lost game 7, I was absolutely heartbroken. I was a 29-year-old man and I was heartbroken by the results of a baseball game.
In 2004 and 2005, I watched as the Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox ended long droughts while the Giants finished under .500. Then the steroid scandal tainted Bonds' chase for the all-time home run record.
Which brings us to 2010.
"Giants baseball: Torture," the phrase originally coined by Duane Kuiper to describe the feeling of watching this year's team, has become a running joke but has lost its meaning over the last month. At this point, it's hard to remember the pain that the fans felt through much of the season when the Giants seemed to make every win difficult.
But none of that matters tonight. The Giants somehow got past the Padres, beat the Braves, beat the seemingly superior Phillies to win the pennant and then pretty much dominated the Rangers in the World Series.
The moment that stood out to me was just after Renteria's decisive home run. When he got back to the dugout, Pat Burrell, who'd just struck out with a runner at third and one out, gave Renteria the most tender hug you will ever see two male athletes exchange on the field. It just summed up how every Giants fan feels about this team right now. We all want to give them a big hug.
The Giants just won the World Series. I still can hardly believe it...
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