The Lazyboy groaned as I shifted to collect the cellphone from my hip pocket. The caller ID showed Joey — my sport enthusiast brother.
“Dude, what’s the name of your blog?” he asks.
“Which one?” I respond.
“Your Giants one, you know, are you Jakey at therevolutionorange.com?”
I admit that I am, and go on to ask him why. As it turns out his co-worker handed him an article and said something like, “hey check this out it’s pretty good.” After reading the article I have to admit that it is indeed pretty good. But then again, I have reason to be biased.
The article Lords of No Rings by Dan Fost was printed in the April 2008 edition of San Francisco Magazine. Our blog was included in one of the sidebars. An interesting list of Giants misery. Thanks for the nod Dan.
The Heartbreaks
Nine hair-pulling events that drove Giants fans to the brink of collapse.
It was like watching a funeral procession. Fans shaking there condolences on orange signs, players going through the motions. Just trying to get thru 54 outs without absolutely falling apart. I don’t mean breaking down into tears, but I’m sure that happened somewhere, off camera, somewhere else.
Barry is not coming back. Take a deep breath. Let it sink in. Barry is not coming back. Not as a Giant.
It just strikes me as odd. The away it all went down. The contrast of it all. The jubilescent scene that was number 756 to the dead man fielding in left. Why the front office felt it was necessary to announce its intention to NOT discuss contracts with Barry Bonds is beyond me. Don’t get me wrong. I’m looking forward to the fresh start. But the season still isn’t over. Well technically over anyway. It all just wreaks of “wham, bam, thank you Barry” to me.
The only highlight of this pathetic season was the home run record chase. The All Star break was nice, but that wasn’t a Giants thing. That was a Baseball thing. It was a money thing too. And that’s what I don’t get.
Barry’s conquest put butts in the seats. Maybe he did it too fast. Maybe he should have stretched it out for another month to make it interesting. Maybe he shouldn’t have been so adamant about staying on next year. For all of that, why couldn’t these guys in suits wait until next week to cut him loose? The optimist in me tells me it isn’t because they needed to squeeze every last ticket sale from this aging commodity. That kind of exploitation I can’t stomach. That kind of business is personal. That kind of Karma we can’t afford.
Here we are Giants fans. The worst season in recent history. The magic number is down to 19. It won’t be long until mathematic obsolescence is made sure. However, The Giants have been doing well as of late. winning 6 out of their last 10 games. It’s not a bad way to be. We lead our division this week. The team is actually doing well. Not dominating, not making any kind of run on the wild card, but playing competent ball.
On the other hand, the San Francisco fan base has finally hit rock bottom. Who ever you are out there, demanding that we sit down, it is time you learned proper etiquette. This is not a ballroom, not a social club, not the diner table. This is a sporting venue, where people root cheer and applaud feats of athletic prowess. Jeering and heckling the opponent is expected. Standing and whooting for at base hit is demanded. If you haven’t noticed yet, every single seat with the exception of the bleachers is fitted with a cup holder. This is so you can put your damned cup of white whine down long enough to jump up and down in offensive approval of a Giants run scored. In the bleachers, you are expected to spill.
Damon Bruce, our outspoken leader in after game lamentation called every “fan” out tonight.
The Giants need a line up that can hit & a fanbase that can cheer.
While Damon may not be a born Giants fan, he knows a little bit about baseball. He’s covered venues nationwide. And tonight at 7pm, he is dedicating his show to the miserable Giant fan.
We should all be very ashamed.
Everything is finally running smoothly. The veterans are on. The Youngsters are on. Feliz’s D is on. Duhram is on. Everything is hitting just the way we need it to. And only a month too late. But at least the last month will be fun to watch, and if anything be a great preview for next year.
I’ve been wondering. As much as I love Visquel, and have deeply considered having his likeness tattooed on my left peck over my heart. As much as I love him, what happens if by some miracle Alex Rodriguez finds his way onto the Giants roster next year. There is an outside possibility.
Alex and Barry get along, even train together. They call each other. Hell, Alex might just get adopted into the family. Let’s just think about it. Barry stays one more year and he gets his 10-15 mil to bat 3rd on the contingency that Alex shows up to bat in he 4th slot.
While this is a complete fantasy at this point, stranger things have happened. Like signing a pitcher to a 7 year $126 million contract. I’m glad Zito is on now too.
I guess it only makes sense. The park was full, it was decorated, it was orange and black. It only makes sense that season ticket holders were present. Maybe for the first time all year, maybe for the last. But the park really did look beautiful. Banner strung from the upper decks, cheering fans, and an outfield that looked like a MLB outfield.
But now that it’s over, what will happen? Will the Giants Dodger series reign in some of that passion before it fades? I hope so. For one day San Francisco was a baseball city again. It’s been a long time. I hope it stays just a little bit longer.
