I’ll get to mine later.

And we got a dog. We spoil her. She’s fat. And she licks my face a lot. Stupid dog.

Dear McCoven,
2009 has been an eventful year for j14. Including the end of a long relationship, setting out on my own and marking my first full year working in “the real world.”

After an ugly end to a four year relationship in February I found myself suddenly rushed into moving out on my own. Her parents had been kind enough to take me in when I first started working in San Francisco but, obviously once the relationship ended that was no longer an option.

On Valentines Day I moved to Walnut Creek with nothing more than my clothes, laptop, a towel that I took from her parents house, a sleeping bag, my dog and his bed. The apartment is now fully furnished and is starting to feel like home, but I will always remember the days of sitting on the counter in my kitchen to steal my neighbor’s wireless just so I could talk baseball with the good people and computer of this community. You have no idea how comforting that was to a single 23 year old setting out for the first time without a friend within 30 miles.

Since the difficulties of the first few months of the year, 2009 has been very rewarding. In the office, 2009 saw a lot of budget cuts and lost coworkers but thankfully I am still employed and have positioned myself for a nice promotion once the company lifts the wage increase freeze. I have reconnected with a number of friends and have rediscovered my love for hiking and photography, all of which I had distanced myself from over the last few years.

For the first time in quite a while, I feel like myself again.

This holiday season, I will drink in your names. Here’s to hoping that the momentum of the end of 2009 continues into 2010.

Go Giants and really, thank you all.

j14

2009 has been a crazy year. It started out with my company looking like it was threatened, but we gradually got back on firm footing and are growing again. Actually, I’m quite excited on that front, since our staff is starting to feel like its own community/tribe/family/whatever you want to call it. We’ve had a couple of really fun parties, and the big one is coming in a couple weeks.

At home, my wife and I are getting tired of living in the rural ‘burbs, and talk a lot about moving the 12 miles north to “the city” of Ukiah, where our work is (and its bustling 15K+ population). We put about 20,000 miles on our car per year, and we both like cycling and walking places, so I don’t think we’re long for Hopland (although selling the house could be a whole can o’worms).

Right now, I’ve got my roll of tissue next to the pooter as I try to fight off a cold (mostly sore throat) that has nailed me a few weeks after I had H1N1. My wife, who is always amazingly healthy, has been having a hard time of it lately as well. We drive the ~500 miles to San Diego for the holiday on Wednesday, so I’ve got a little pressure on me to feel better soon.

McCovey Chronicles has been a good friend to me. Too good a friend, a lot of the time. I’m on at work, I’m on at home, and I blame all of you for being so interesting. So, thank you, I guess is what I’m trying to say, and have a really nice holiday season!

-Kumar “hairball” Plocher

Dear McCoven,

It’s been one of the most dynamic years of Baron Von CurrentEvent’s life. It started out devastating, with the tragic and sudden death of my grandmother. Our relationship was very complex: I loved her like a good granddaughter, but I still carry a lot of guilt about being a poor caretaker of her especially when her health started to decline last summer. I still can’t help but think there was more I could have done for her.

I was evicted from our house and had to deal with my aunt being an extreme bitch over my grandmother’s assets, as there was no will and my aunt is just a huge cunt to begin with. I got the F out of there and focused on myself for a change. For the first time in almost ten years, my life was truly my own.

I spent nearly six months living with family friends, which was both good and bad. I got along well with the parents, but the son and I found our once strong friendship in the toilet by the time I moved out. His passive aggressive behavior towards me turned me off, and I was glad to get out of there because of it.

The year began to pick up. I received an offer to write freelance for Major League Baseball Advanced Media as the California League notebook writer for minorleaguebaseball.com in February, and I took it. It became my first paid journalism job. I spent four days in Scottsdale with the Giants. When I got home in March, I got an IUD which puts my mind greatly at ease that I won’t be getting pregnant for the next five years.

The baseball season took over my life from April to September, as it does every year. I accepted more assignments from MiLB, like covering for the regular Pacific Coast League writer and picking up the New York-Penn League assignment at the end of the year. I kept going with SF Dugout, interviewing Hensley Meulens before he got big.

I was accepted to San Jose State University in April and was rejected from Stanford in June. I kind of knew the rejection was coming, and I knew I was in at SJSU for sure, so nothing surprising came from that. I moved to San Jose the last weekend of August and began school two days after. I live on campus in an apartment with four other women, and despite having one bathroom, we have made it through the semester still as friends. I joined two music ensembles the first day of school, out of necessity on both sides. Marching band needed an alto sax, symphonic band needed a bassoon, and I needed elective credits.

My first semester at SJSU has been a hell of a ride. I’m first chair bassoon and thriving in marching band despite a near ten year layoff. I made a ton of friends in marching band and I found my niche in my political science classes. I have a chance to pull straight A’s this semester. My only concern is my hammer of a communications teacher who never gives anyone an A on anything. I even joined archery club, and found spiritual and physical balance in the art form/sport.

It hasn’t been easy. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in late September and I’ve had to deal with that. My first semester of school, music pressures, academic pressures, and being away from home has been a lot to handle. I’m getting by with a combination of meds, therapy, and relying on my friends. I hate relying on people, but I’ve come to realize it’s sometimes necessary. Leaning on someone you love isn’t a bad thing.

Even so, I love San Jose. I love living on campus and being so close to downtown. The weather here is lovely. I feel like this is the right place for me, and has been all along.

Not everything has worked out well for me. I was seeing two fellows this year and both relationships ended poorly. I broke up with one after an on-off thing for nearly four years. We just couldn’t get it together. We broke up on the night Jonathan Sanchez threw the no-hitter. What does that tell you? The other guy didn’t last very long before a dumb fight blew up into another failed relationship. I don’t know where I went wrong; I invited him over to my apartment for Mexican food, beer, and Michael Jordan games on ESPN Classic. I took him to a pizza place near campus for pizza and college football. All I can conclude is, if a guy throws away a girl who likes sports and beer and food, he’s the asshole in the equation, not me.

Here’s to 2010 being a better year for me, with more academic success, more sportswriting opportunities, continued music improvement, and men who aren’t assholes. BVCE wishes the same to all of you.

Happy Holidays, everyone.

-Lars

Dear McC,

I drank more coffee than ever this year and I think I’m going bald. You guys are cool.

Happy Festivus,

-xanthan

Dear McC,

This year seems to have swept by for Scout6 and his wife. Scout is coming to the end of his 2nd full year of employment with the Boy Scouts of America (get it, scout6?). Times at the office are hard because fundraising across the board is down because of the wretched economy, not to mention Scout6’s area is populated by mainly construction and contracting workers. If they are having a bad year, they do not give to charities, and if you have not been paying attention, times are pretty rough for contracting and construction work.

But Scout6 has been doing his best not to let that keep him down. His wife is working hard, almost 40 hours a week, plus full time student, and trying out for the softball team. So Scout6 tries to keep things free and easy so the stress does not build up too much.

A few weeks ago Scout6’s car was stolen from his driveway, which caused a bit of a shakeup in the house. Scout6 and his wife have been discussing moving, they like the town they live in, but maybe to another community as all of their neighbors are new and there is a bit of suspicion that one of the new neighbors may have been involved. Scout6 and his wife have not made a decision yet but are still thinking about it.

Work has been keeping them both busy, but when they can they find time to relax and just enjoy eachother’s company. Something that they both enjoy doing greatly. They also try to find as much time to spend with their family and friends that also live nearby.

Hoping a Merry Christmas, or whatever you celebrate, to you all. The community here at McC has proven a great place to come and vent, as well as have great discussion with folks of like mind of Scout6. It’s a great place to connect with other Giants fans no matter where they are. Scout6 hopes in the coming year he can make it out to a McC night or some activity to actually meet some of the other great folk on this site.

Long life to you, and to us all.

-Scout6

Same house, same job, Giants didn’t win jackshit again.

The End.

Warmest regards,
SJT

Dear McC:

VRRROOOOMMMMTWSS1090197510975RIBEYESDINGERZZSAMMICHPIETWSSBORKBORKBORK+1

Eugenio Velez is not a major league starter,

quincy0191

Dear McCoven,

January saw the tk family — herself, the jdd, and Charleyface the Longdog — spending the first winter in their new house. JD’s job continued apace until suddenly an evil red eye tried to swallow his company whole, but that’s still being fought out on the battlegrounds of Europe. News to follow when we have it.

TK dealt with minor and irritating health problems, finally having surgery to try to correct it in October. For those keeping track this is her fourth abdominal surgery in two years. The hospital food isn’t getting any better, but at least baseball playoffs were on. She had emergency hospital admittances twice in a week for intestinal blockages, and in one case, puked on a doctor’s expensive, shiny shoes.

Despite the health ish, tk and jd traveled to Tahoe and skied for a week in February, where tk had to get rescued off a double-diamond slope by the Ski Patrol. First time for that in 25 years of skiing. In May, tk traveled to Toronto to have hot lesbian sex with two Internet girlfriends — wait, she means tiramisu …. really she does. In August tk and jd went to New Orleans, and in September the whole family went to meet up with tk’s mom in Eugene, Oregon.

TK and JD celebrated their second wedding anniversary in June and the one-year adoption anniversary of Charley in April. During two weeks in July they renovated their kitchen with the help of a friend. This year tk got to grow her first real garden, yielding, among other things, a 17-inch-long zucchini.

In late November tk got a job at the San Francisco Examiner as the web editor (in fact, today, Nov. 23, was her first day), for which she is truly grateful and gleeful. And jd moved laterally within his company to a programmer position, where he has to do just as many conference calls, but less driving around. He is expecting to go to southern Europe in January for a conference. Charley continues adorable and sweet, only having accidents in the house sometimes. The family is looking to adopt another dachshund next year for company for Charley as tk will be out of the house more often.

Well, this has turned into quite the novel, and I’m sure there’s something I’m leaving out. Oh yes. Our stoner pitcher won a big award. And All Were Very Happy.

Hoping you and yours are all content and free from suffering,

tk and family

2009 turned out to be a rather boring year in the Merope household. Sometimes… that’s a good thing. No major medical, dental, or psychological problems for anyone in the immediate or extended family… YAY!!

On the employment front Mr. Merope “accepted” full time employment with the company he had been doing contract work for; while Merope ended several years of teaching in a state funded program and “accepted” a position filling out paperwork (and sometimes teaching) for a federally funded program. (In other words, take this new offer or be out of a job… in this economy…who’s arguing?)

Merope went back to school part time, taking classes to get certified to be a Speech Language Pathology Assistant. Mr. Merope continues to contemplate getting his masters degree in some computer geeky field of endeavor.

In their spare time Mr. Merope played on a softball team and Merope played a little indoor soccer. Attending sporting events took up a good bit of time as did hiking and bike riding.
To finish off 2009 there’s the Thanksgiving Run to Feed the Hungry and in December the annual winter trip to Yosemite.

Wishing everyone at the McCoven a wonderful Holiday Season and a calm, healthy and productive New Year.

The Meropes

Same stuff. Same job. Wife got a new job, so we no longer work together. Spent most my salary on car repairs. Ready for spring training. Ready to watch some Giants games. Ready for GDTs.

Mr. & Mrs. GAA

No christmas until Dec 1st at least. Bah.

Nice thread though; I enjoyed reading the early returns and hope it will grow.

Dear McCoven

Overall a good year. Gained a step-dad, two new step-brothers (hey brother), a new house with a pool, two new beagles, some new friends, and even some salary (despite being on MCC way too often). Had a good vacation in Cali (disguised as a family trip) and a Vegas trip (disguised as a wedding).

Family is a year older & still doing good healthwise. The only loss the ResDog family suffered was one of our new beagles which we replaced a few weeks ago.

ResDog, Mrs ResDog, and ResDog Junior would like to wish you all the best during the holiday season. This group really is unique, and I’m glad to have your thoughts & insights on the Giants (and every other subject we cover here).

ResDog family

Most of the year was pretty uneventful for the Gore family. I continue my CPA work, which is pretty steady except for the coming prospect of taking on a lot of bankruptcy work, which will require a large amount of training. My wife continues her job as a first grade teacher, and I continue to try to figure out how she doesn’t rip those kids’ heads off. It takes an amazing person to do that job. Our two dogs, a basset and a beagle/aussie shepherd mix, continue to enjoy life with a zeal I wish I had. Of course, if I could run around and destroy their backyard, I might enjoy life as much as they do.

Big news came around April when my wife became pregnant with our first child. The coming months brought lots of reading, doctor visits, painting of nursery and nursery-related products, and general anxiety about how to figure out this whole parenting thing. With all the anxiety, though, comes the pure, unexplainable joy of seeing/feeling the baby kicking each night. It is due January 6, so we are coming to the final stretch here.

We were able to go on a Mexican cruise for our vacation this year, which was fun. I was pretty disappointed we weren’t able to make it to Mays Field for a game this year, but we were able to watch one of Timmy’s worst starts of the year in LA, so there was that at least. And say what you will about the moronic fans, the ridiculous limited access to parts of the stadium, and just the general crappiness of being in LA, when the wife was dizzy and almost passed out, the stadium medical staff there was immediately there to take care of us and gave us all we needed, including an air conditioned room. Anyway, I digress…

And just a friendly word of encouragement for those of you with a tough year: remember, this year we experienced a Giants Cy Young ceremony, a 2nd Cy Young award, an unlikely no-hitter, the breakout of the best home-grown positional player since Matt Williams, and of course, Zito finally showing some promise.

God bless you all and I hope you have a great Christmas season.

- UTG family -

Happy birthday!

Also, sorry about killing you and stuff.

Cookyman

I hope this thread stays up long enough for me to have time to produce something of substance.

This year has been a challenging on in the jcb9 compound. Our daughter (and second child) was born on December 23 of last year. My wife returned from maternity leave in March, and nothing was good at work after that. After several months of frustrations and doubts and dealing-with-dipshit-boss, she left her job in….err, was it August? I think it was.

This was a great thing in terms of stress and self-respect and all that, but not as good a thing in terms of money, as it left us with two kids and one part-time job between the two of us. In the current economy, this was especially a problem, as neither of us were able to find full-time work. I continued on with my current part-time gig, and my wife continued on with a project she’s been working on all year – building her own business as a children’s photographer (www.caseyyuphotography.com).

As a result of all this, we’re about to leave Oakland, the East Bay, the Bay Area, and California, all of which are places I love dearly. After looking into a lot of different things that didn’t pan out, my mother suggested a grad program at Florida State University that she thought my wife might be interested in. She applied, and has now been admitted for the spring semester. We were already planning to fly to Tallahassee to visit my parents for Christmas – now, we’re just not using our return tickets. I have my last day of work on December 15th. On the 18th, the movers come. On the 21st, we head out to SFO and I have no idea when we’ll be back, even for a visit.

As for me, I’m also applying to grad school. I had already planned to go back to school for an ever-sexy PhD in English even before this all happened. Now, I’m applying to FSU. I’m also applying to Berkeley and Stanford, which are much better programs and ones I’d much rather attend, but there’s almost no chance I’ll actually be able to go there even if I’m accepted. So why am I applying? I don’t know. I didn’t want to, because it’ll be really depressing if I get in and then of course can’t go, but I was talked into it by people who thought I should. They never really explained why it was a good idea, but there you have it. Aside from that, I’m about to leave the company I’ve been working for in one form or another for over four years. I’m pretty much over my job, so that’s fine, but it’s still a little weird to contemplate. I’ve been with this job longer than any other I’ve had. I’m planning on applying for a job teaching at Tallahassee’s community college as an adjunct. It’s a direction I’ve been thinking about heading in for a while, so we’ll see if it pans out.

I can’t in all honestly say it’s been a good year. My daughter’s first year has, of course, been incredible, and my son’s incredible too, although he’s three and it’s a difficult age to say the least. So there’s that, at least: being with my kids and my wife, who I love more than I can possibly say without delving into the most grotesque of clichés. That stuff is great. A lot of the other stuff that’s happened this year, not so much.

vr,
Xeifrank jcb9

Die in a fire

Merry Christmas,
The GrahamCrakalaka household.

It’s been an interesting year. I want to really get into why but I’m realizing that it might be more emotionally draining than I have the time and energy to get into right now. Let’s just say this – most of this year, and the entire second half of this year, I’ve been stuck in a dead-end relationship that I can’t get out of. Obviously that oversimplifies things quite a bit. I thought I wanted to tell the whole story but I’m realizing now that I don’t think I have it in me. At least not until it’s over. I’ll give you the very condensed version:
-August 2007: I meet my girlfriend and we start dating
-December 2007: Way before I’m ready we decide to move in together because she is graduating from Cal and can’t afford to live on her own. At the time I was not happy with the living situation I was in. The decision to do this was very hard because she used to live in LA, and always thought she would go back there after graduating. I urge her to stay in Berkeley to see what we can make of our relationship.
-Sometime in the spring of 2009: I realize that there is no future for me and my girlfriend. I start thinking about how and when the breakup is going to occur. At this point she is unemployed.
-May/June: I decide I need to talk to my girlfriend about possibly setting a timeline for how much longer we’re going to be together.
-June: Before I talk to her she comes to me and says that she wants to look for jobs in other places (LA and NY mostly) and move sometime in late summer/early fall. I agree.
-Over the summer: I become more and more fed up with my girlfriend. There are a lot of reasons for this. She’s a very high-maintenance person. She is depressed. She is hypersensitive. She is emotionally unstable. She leaves dirty dishes all over the apartment. Oh and she stopped paying me rent. That was a big one too. My friends are telling me that I have to break up with her. I hesitate because we live together and for fear that she’ll kill me in my sleep if I say anything.
-September: Three very close friends of mine all end up needing to move at the same time. They all move in with their parents to give themselves time to figure it out. Knowing that my girlfriend might be leaving at any time, we talk about the 4 of us living together. I bring this possibility up to my girlfriend. She is unwilling to discuss it in an adult manner and fails to recognize why this might be a good idea for me.
-End of September: I tell her that I want to move ahead with living with my friends, starting November 1. She flips out. Again, refuses to discuss things like an adult. I go ahead with the plan and around the 15th of October sign a lease starting November 1.
-Sometime in late October: After being berated and guilt tripped 100 times I agree to pay double rent for November to give my girlfriend more time to figure her situation out. She does nothing to figure her situation out.
-A few weeks ago: I offer to pay another 400 dollars so we can keep our apartment until Dec 15. She doesn’t agree to anything.
-Now: She is refusing to accept the reality of the situation and is trying to get me to break my lease and stay with her until [unknown time in the future] when she is ready to leave. Not sure if she would pay me any rent in the meantime. I have no idea what to do. I haven’t been able to see my friends or enjoy my life in any way for the last month and I’m going crazy. I just want this to be over but I’m too nice to just say “Too bad I’m moving, you can figure it out on your own.” I fear her reaction if I were to ever stand up to her. I can’t keep paying more rent. And I’m not willing to give up on my lease because I’m excited to live with my friends. My girlfriend won’t agree to any specific date to move because she’s “not ready.” She doesn’t have a job lined up and she can’t pay me rent. Our relationship is awful and I think she should go stay with her parents for a while. They live in Washington and she is not willing to leave behind the life she has made for herself in Berkeley. I feel bad for her because I wouldn’t want to do that either. But I can’t help feeling like it’s not my responsibility to house her for an indeterminate amount of time once we’ve decided to break up. She thinks I owe it to her because she stayed here for me. And no, she didn’t have any job offers in LA that she turned down or anything. I feel like I’m being manipulated and I can’t bring myself to stand up to her. I can’t concentrate on my work and I’m depressed all the time. My friends and family all think I’ve been way too nice and need to just put my foot down.

And you know, still working the same job, etc etc. Plus I just found out my brother and sister-in-law are expecting their second child, so that’s exciting!

Sincerely,

WJackalope

PS I guess I did tell the whole story. Fuck.

  Ok, I was determined not to piss and moan about the situation with the Frankensteins…then I wrote a pretty depressing tale of unemployment and lack of prospects…and then I deleted it.

Fuck that…we’re alive, warm and sheltered.

  I worked some. Not enough. Drew on my pension, collected unemployment…some tax attorney is going to wish he’d seen me coming and locked the door.

Jr. grew six inches, added fifty pounds, lost five pounds of hair, tested my patience, rewarded my faith.

   Hey, we made it to a home game! Then we did it again!
Really, the shining pinnacle of the year. I do nothing but smile reflecting on that weekend.

  When I first went online I never envisioned anything like belonging to a collective online…and my feeble imagination could never have conjured up such a wonderfully diverse collection of cranial crazies and people capable of such depth and range of knowledge…with the universal connection being an affinity for a baseball team.

Great to be here…Happy Holidays, all. Blind faith in Tim. Blank th’ blankin’ Blanks.

After four years of being too close to hell…a.k.a. Dodger Stadium…the Chávez Revine or whatever you want to call that place…well I was still 47 miles away…but that still was too close to LA and too far from SF. Regardless graduating from Pomona College was a really important event in my life and will always be home to four years of awesome memories, sleepless nights, and lots of beer the school paid for so I didn’t have to.

I moved onto my brother’s couch in Sunnyvale so that I wouldn’t have to go back to Lake County…the 18+ years it sucked from my life was enough. This meant lots of train trips to/from the park including the one where Renteria hit that breathtaking homerun to sweep the Rockies…for one brief moment I forgot about that insane contract and how bad he was the rest of the season and just watched the ball fly by for a homerun. I didn’t catch any homeruns or batting practice balls this year, a new year’s resolution for sure.

Then I moved to Maracaibo, Venezuela on a Fulbright Grant to submit myself to 90-100 degrees of heat and humidity for the next 10 months. Getting to go to the stadium that Luis Aparicio built sure has been fun and the local team also wears orange and black I guess it was destiny. Today I realized that I have 7.5 more months to hope I can continue to narrowly escape the armed robberies that happen outside my work all the time and maybe catch a glimpse of Kung Fu Panda, Bowker, Pill, and Jesus Guzman. This does mean no trips to AT&T Park until July but hopefully my patience will be rewarded by some awesome trade or free agent signing or maybe a breakout season from someone unexpected.

My New Years Resolutions: Don’t get shot, catch some balls, watch Pablo Sandoval play in hopefully the only other jersey he will wear in his career, enjoy Venezuela, spend more time posting on MCC and be back safe and sound in time for a Giants playoff run or at least some garlic fries in July.

Feliz Navidad y próspero año,

jbpeterson

It’s been an odd year in the oldjacket household.

My grandfather passed away in the spring, after a long bout of stomach cancer and an even longer bout of making my mother extremely miserable.When someone moves on and your relationship wasn’t great, it somehow makes it all the more sad.

The wife then went and did something that would have made my grandfather proud, at least, by getting accepted to Berekeley (which is where he met my grandmother). Because that had been something of a lifelong dream of hers we moved to Albany over the summer, despite the fact that I’m still enrolled in Master’s program in Sacramento.

I found the job market in the east bay to be less than spectacular, so I stayed on at my job in Folsom, commuting on days when I have school, telecommuting on days when I do not and generally being pretty fucking tired all the time.

I’m looking forward to my final semester of grad school in the spring, and writing my thesis after that. The wife is getting used to the snobbery, protests and pressure that make up Berkeley. The cat continues to be somewhat dour and unpleasant to be around.

Seasons greetings,
oldjacket

Dear McCoven,

A very eventful year in the life, certainly. Started out in The City but I since have moved to Ann Arbor to start my freshman year at the University of Michigan. It’s been everything I could have dreamed of and more. Only 11 months ago, my acceptance letter came in the mail and from then on it’s been good times. Classes are going well and I’m planning on studying Sport Management, with the eventual goal of taking over for Sabes and doing the exact opposite of everything he’s done to this team, hopefully un-running it into the ground. I’ve joined a fraternity with several like-minded individuals (ie other guys who think the fraternity, at least the mainstream one, is a really dumb idea) and I’m enjoying the brotherhood I’ve found there.

I had my first meaningful relationship this past summer. I went from a kid who was Peter Pan-ing the hell out of life, with no intentions of ever settling down, having kids, and starting a family, to one who really isn’t so sure anymore. A very eye-opening experience, however we had to split as she’s now in NYC. I’m happy to say we’re still good friends.

Some really interesting travel, as well. I went to New Zealand, which may be the most beautiful country in the world (and I’ve been to a bunch), spending my time on the South Island, doing some awesome hiking through the mountainous regions as well as along the famed Milford Track. As a present for graduating from high school, my mother took me heli-snowboarding in Revelstoke, about 200 miles west of Calgary. It was an incredible time, probably the best experience I’ve ever had strapped to a board. Open slopes and powder for miles… a dream come true.

Also, a development from last year… the Giants continue to be unwatchably depressing and I continue to love them and to subject myself to them anyway.

And last but not least, I’m almost at my one-year anniversary. McC came into my life on a warm, boring, baseball-less day last December, and I will never forget it. Thank you all, for bringing me laughter, bringing me to tears, bringing me to the edge of my seat, bringing me all the rosterbation and CANE 4 FILDER I can handle, bringing me viewpoints and analyses much better-informed than my own, and most of all, bringing me into a community with which I can share the good times and the bad, both in baseball and in life.

A happy non-denominational holiday season to you all, and Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Joyous Kwanzaa, and have a killer Festivus for the rest of us!
beat_la_25

Dear McCoven,

LOL FRED

Bork bork bork,
Bruce Bochy walkoff baltimore chop

Dear McCoven,

Life is full of ups and downs for all of us but I have to count myself as extremely lucky, for this year has generally been very good to me. In this crappy economy I somehow made myself useful enough to maintain full-time employment in the world of the dot-coms. In May I finally received my Masters Degree from SF State (cue Bluto in Animal House: “Seven years of college down the drain.”) In my spare time I took road trips to Vegas, Seattle (where I got to watch the Gigantes play at Safeco, right at the height of their late-May swoon of skull-pounding offensive ineptitude…but still, great experience to catch them on the road) and Chicago.

And then in early October the Future Mrs. Kitspool became the current Mrs. Kitspool, and we went to Kauai for our honeymoon, which was great. Married life seems to agree with me, especially since my wife always encourages me to keep up with threads here. “You should see what the McCovey have to say about [insert dumb trade idea here]”, she’ll say. She’s a keeper.

We remain in the Bay Area, feeling fortunate to have our jobs and our health, feeling blessed to have listened to Jon Miller call the first Giants no-hitter in 33 years, and cheering on this flawed, lovable team Timmy, Matt Cain, Panda, a beautiful ballpark, great announcers, and this very wonderful website dedicated to all things Giants (and food).

I wish y’all a healthy and safe holiday, and for those whose years have been challenging, here’s hoping for brighter days ahead.

—Kitspool

This year had me turn 30 years old, celebrate my 2nd wedding anniversary, deal with drama with my in-laws and change directions at work into a more technical role amongst other more trivial life changes. All in all many positive things, with few set backs. Looking around to various friends of mine who have had troubles with the job market and economy, it’s easy to say I can’t complain.

From my trip to Scottsdale for spring training to the world series, this truly was a year where I realized just how obsessed I was with baseball, and the Giants. From my first posts here at McC, on the night of Jonathan’s no-no, up to today, McC obviously has been a huge part of that awakening.

Also: Beer, RUSH, Pie, and Wayne Coyne.

Peace to all

Ringleader3 (aka Geoff)

The life of cornball progresses here on the windswept plains of middle America. The living in Nebraska experiment is actually turning out to be not so bad. Only took three years to feel that way. Unfortunately, with the state of my student loans, it does mean that I won’t be in the Bay Area with family this Thanksgiving. I am sad about that.

Medical school took a huge turn for the better this summer when I completed Step 1 of the USMLE Board Exam. I passed and am pleased with the result. After Step 1, I embarked on a driving tour of the Rust Belt, Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Bible Belt. It was enjoyable in the utmost and a lovely way to spend my last weeks of freedom. Now that my lecture-heavy first two years of medical education are behind me, I’m actually interacting with and treating patients. I’ve scrubbed-in on surgeries, administered sutures, taken blood samples, and done all kinds of neat medical things. I’ve even had my life threatened by a violent criminal! Looking forward, I’m planning on becoming an anaesthesiologist and completing a plethora a cross-word puzzles in my later years.

On, the personal front, I’ve had to deal with much family drama, most of which revolves around my father and my brother and their respective mental illnesses. My mother is a saint to put up with all of us. I also finally got over my first great heartbreak, though Omaha is certainly not a city for single people. Everyone over the age of 25 is married. Coming from the coasts, it’s bizarre. I moved into a new apartment over the summer, but didn’t realize until too late that my room-mate is allergic to dogs. My plan to get a blood-hound was summarily hurled out the window. I also spent a month in San Francisco over the summer and got to attend two home games (I was there the night before the no-hitter; gah!).

Thank you, all of you, for being so excellent to me and to each other! Party on! Happy Holidays!
-(Joe) cornball

are you staying around afterwards? I bet there’s some loan repayment-type bribe to entice you to do that or go to the Dakotas or something.

Belated congrats on getting in; I look forward to your wild-ass guesses about injuries in future gameday threads.

Dear McCoven,

2010 has been a nice year. It could have been worse, it could have been better, but I’ll take “nice”. I have my own business, so I haven’t fired myself. And despite everyone else being laid off at the company branch office, Mr. The Enchanter still works (yay!).

We have no kids, so the Giants, Cal football and Cal basketball are our kids. Make no mistake, the mood in our household is modulated entirely and unadulteratedly by sports over which we have no control. (May God have mercy on us.) When paid and unpaid athletes dictate the happiness your life, you learn to savor those small joyous moments so that the long, enduring suffering doesn’t engulf you and rape soul. So for 2010, despite occassional grousing, we are happy with the Giants development – Timmy had a better full second year, Jonathan turned a corner, All-Star Cain, Zito improves. It was nice.

As we look back on 2010, days of pure joy are lead by July 10, 2009. This was LE-GEN—wait-for-it—DARY. We were at AT&T for Panda’s May 12, 2009 walk off home run against the Nationals. We were also at Timmy’s June 12, 2009 Oakland start where Timmy got the first hit off of the A’s rookie ace Vin Mazzaro and pitched a complete game shut out in 2 hours 2 minutes. Matty’s June 14, 2009 complete game against the A’s to complete the weekend sweep was awesome. Some friend invited us to the A’s “luxury box” at the Coliseum for Tim’s start on June 23, 2009 at Oakland where he pitched another gorgeous complete game. I find joy that Tim did not give up a single home run at home all year.

Mr. The Enchanter’s birthday was a Zito start, and we had seats in club level below Kruk and Kuip for this game when Zito received a standing O. (As an aside, Club level is just another lifestyle. Nice, nice stuff.) In fact, that whole weekend when the Giants swept Colorado was beautiful.

Of course, the season icing (in a good way) was Tim’s second Cy Young.

Intermingled among these events are some Cal men’s and women’s basketball events and Cal football wins. Cal has usually lost when we travel for their games (see: Tennessee, Maryland, anywhere in So Cal), but this year we saw wins in Minnesota and Tedford’s first win in So Cal. I’ll spare the non-Bears on this site the details. But know this: WE GOT THE AXE!!!! OMGWTFBBQ!

Such is the sports fandom life unabaded by personal life. One other 2010 notable: jctgamer’s fan post on HDTVs made us get a new Samsung HDTV so we can see every blade of AT&T grass. Proof that the McCoven make a positive difference in people’s lives!!! (Thanks jctgamer!)

Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Holidays and Thank You to the McCoven,
GO GIANTS! and GO BEARS!
The Enchanter and Mr. The Enchanter

Dear McCovey Chronicles
Since the beginning of the year, I have gotten significantly older. Also, watch out for fires.

Merry Christmas
The Crakalaka Household

It’s been a weird little year. I marked my first year at a job I’m not sure I want to continue for another week, much less as my chosen career. I wish I knew how to make the job I have better, instead of lusting after another. But that’s an issue that remains to be resolved.

I feel like a total heel complaining about my job in a time and place that sees so many without one. But still, the stress and anxiety of my job is causing both mental and physical effects that I’d just as soon do without. I got tired of being depressed, and sought professional help just a few weeks ago.

I turned 24, and gained absolutely no additional rights or responsibilities as a result. Yet, somehow I feel so much older, perhaps because kids born in 1991 are now college freshmen, and that should be a violation of some federal law.

Perhaps the biggest development of the year came in September: my first major road trip. A friend and I traveled to the Midwest, making a six-day circuit through St. Louis, Kansas City, Wichita, Oklahoma City, Dallas, Texarkana and Greenville, Mississippi, before we came back to Alabama. I felt happy for the first time in a long while, and think I may have fallen in love with KC. It felt so much like home, it shocked me. No other city has ever made that kind of impact on me, and I’m leaning toward a more permanent return.

I regained contact with some old friends from college, and realized just how much I missed them. My friends and (some) co-workers helped me immeasurably. Without them, I’d have gone over the deep end a long time ago.

My family is still pretty much the same, which is to say crazy in that way that makes me wonder how I could be related to them. That said, I wouldn’t trade them for the world. They’ve been there for me, too.

And, of course, I discovered baseball. Which is a little silly, because it was there to begin with, like North America when Columbus stumbled in. But for me, it really was a year of discovery, finding something appealing in a sport I’d always avoided. I’m grateful, because it’s such an enriching part of my life. Baseball led me to all of you, another great development.

Happy holidays, all. Next time you’re in Alabama, look me up. It’d be right neighborly.

TheLetter2

Words cannot express* how much this place means to me. Though I guess it’s an “imagined” community in some way, I enjoy talking with the members here and our mostly-intelligent talk about baseball, food, video games, books, movies, and all sorts of other awesome things. Though my participation here has been lacking (and will probably continue to dwindle), I greatly appreciate this venue for Giants discourse and thank you all for making this the place it is.

Here’s to hoping for a better next year than this one.

Regards,

baetown415

*My laziness is taking ahold of me…

I keep starting and stopping this letter. Suffice to say, it’s been a big year, what with the whole graduation from college thing. Life post-grad hasn’t been quite as fruitful as I’d originally hoped (yet) but things will hopefully start to turn around for me next year, when I hopefully get into a grad program and all my dreams come true (or something). My brother also got deployed to Iraq this year, which was difficult for me, but also seems to have turned out pretty well for him. And he’s coming home on leave for Christmas in about 25 days, which I’m extremely excited about.

A lot of fun things happened this year, too, though and a lot of them were centered around baseball and this site. Like everyone else who’s posted in here, MCC means a lot to me and I don’t think I’d have sustained my baseball fandom through these lean years without it. I’m not totally sure if that’s a good thing… okay, it’s a good thing. I need a place to argue about Fred Lewis or my life just doesn’t mean anything.

Also, I saw the Flaming Lips live and they changed my life.

Love,

jponry

This year has seen some changes in my household. October was rough; I lost two pets in a short period of time. Both had been with me for twelve years, Miss Tallulah, my cat and my Dustiny, black cocker spaniel. It’s been about a 1 1/2 months and the grief is still too near to talk about or I start blubbering. Now it’s just one little poodle in the house , enough of that topic.

As for work I have been very fortunate to have a job that hasn’t been hit hard by the economy. I have now been at this for 19 years and more importantly it certainly doesn’t feel like it. I traveled quite a bit for business this year, hopefully that will slow down a bit next year.

My nephew came home from Iraq after two years working as contractor, before that he was in Iraq in the Air Force. His wife was discharged from the Air Force in August and they now live in Wisconsin. He has vowed to attend all Giants game in Milwaukee wearing all the gear we have bought him over the years.

This blog has brought many smiles and outright laughter for me and I cannot thank you all enough. I have learned much from the "new school analysis" of baseball in the few years I have been lurking then posting to this site. I tend to read here more than I post and I’m comfortable with that. I think I said when I first posted that I wouldn’t get into any debates for a few years. So I’ll be lurking over the winter, drinking my tea and laughing way too much at work with my boss asking "Do I want to know what you’re laughing at?"

Until next season, stay well and happy holidays.

timmeh

2008 was kinda crappy. I graduated from art school, but the months leading up to graduation were rather stressful. On top of that, my grandfather passed away during the summer, which made things even crazier. I was probably on the verge of a mental breakdown at some points. Also the Giants sucked.

Thankfully, 2009 has been a lot better. My outlook has been trending upward. I have a cool job with cool coworkers and am enjoying life more. I also started seeing an awesome girl who’s quite similar to me in a lot of ways except for a love of baseball. I’ll see what I can do about that part…

Happy holidays to you all!

-Nat

The cup is always full, whether it’s air, water, or bacterial plague! I’ve had adventures this year that were mind-boggling, including, on the down side, the ending of a twenty year marriage that we propped up with toothpicks and rubber bands for the sake of the kids, and my father’s huge heart attack coupled with the surgeon’s extreme reluctance to operate (due to age, diabetes and crappy lungs).

On the plus side, my son, the college freshman, woke up and realized that school might help him get somewhere in the world, going from slacker to scholar in three transformational months; my senior year daughter won awards for her fluting and is headed for a career in teaching (that would be the 4th generation for teachers in my family); my HS freshman daughter led her soccer team in scoring and pulled down straight A’s (whew! resilient kids in a crumby divorce!).

The best thing, after a tough, but optimistic, summer, enjoying this site and the pennant race (holy smokes, meaningful games, even with our frustrating knuckleheads, erase a lot of shit!!!), I met a wonderful woman. I mean, I really can’t describe how fate stepped in and handed me such a rare boon. Put it this way – she’s kind, attentive, loving, a wise and helpful friend, and she’s beautiful, AND she may even be a bigger sports fan than I am (although she roots for the Phils, cough cough).

Here’s wishing that the road will rise to meet you, and that around the corner there’s a game of baseball playing in an open field. Hope you all have a year filled with blessings for which you can be thankful, and that one of the blessings includes our guys in the damn playoffs!!

Dearest Friends,

I like to think that 2009 was an interesting year, but it wasn’t really. It was kind of another year of hiatus for me. I started writing this a few times, but then realized that I had nowhere to go. I’ve been in good health. I have a half decent job. I’m in a committed relationship. And I’m living at home. That’s a lot of what my year has been. But I’ll give it a go.

2009 began with high expectations. With my job, I was going to be in a position to move out and get my life started with my girlfriend. Unfortunately, while the money theoretically could have been there, unexpected expenses just took their toll.

One of the more distressing monetary drains has to do with my cat’s has chronic gum disease, which resulted in some hefty few vet bills. Totally worth it, mind you. Just expensive. At the moment, the problem has appeared to come back, but he doesn’t have the gum sensitivity that he has in the past and his eating habits haven’t changed, so I’m pushing off finally taking him to Davis to try to solve this for good while I save a little more money (which I can then use on Vet bills). If he shows any signs of his gums getting worse, we’re going straight to Davis and it’s going straight on my credit card.

One of the least distressing monetary drains has had to do with my grad school applications. Between tests, transcripts, and application fees, I’m spending fuck knows how much to be considered for admission into an MFA program in creative writing. The more this process has gotten me back into creative writing, the more excited I’ve been getting about the whole thing.

I have been writing on a fairly regular basis, but most of it has been either copywriting at work or blogging at NinersNation. Both of those are rewarding because they get me writing in different modes and styles, and they teach me to work on schedules and quotas. But they aren’t exactly creative. Now, suddenly my mind is back on my novel and a whole series of short stories. I’m getting back into the text. I’m seeing some of the things I’ve done. Felt alternately impressed and depressed about the quality of my past products. But mostly excited. I’m having unbelievable ideas for my novel. I’m realizing hundreds of things that I never knew my short stories could do. It’s awesome.

But, back to the beginning: I’m still at home. It’s not such a bad arrangement. I pay a modest rent and can actually survive and everything. I’m desperate for independence, but with my grad applications I can finally see the light at the end of this tunnel. And all of the schedules are lining up because, assuming I get accepted for the Fall of 2010, my contract at work will actually be up by then, so I’ll be able to transition and deal with a move rather conveniently.

In early October, my sister got married. It was an unbelievable wedding. They’ve been together for 10 years, and actually got married on their anniversary. They kept the ceremony short and sweet and made the reception a non-stop dance party. It was a damn high standard to set for the first wedding of this generation throughout the entire (local) family tree.

Meanwhile (and just to make good on my promise to Natto), I celebrated my seventh anniversary (that’s years) with my girlfriend. She’s not fake or anything. In one of the pictures of my that I post here, you can even see her cheek! Ferreals.

I’m running out of things to say. I’m excited about 2010. Going back to school is working out to be a dream come true. Assuming I get in, it’s going to be the first forward step I’ve been able to take in my life in almost two years. That’s huge to me.

And I got really drunk on Thanksgiving. Not throwing up and whining about how bad I feel drunk. But texting and facebook updating drunk. Which entertained me.

Happy Christmas (or whatever),
 - Garrett

… but I just spent about 40 minutes reading all of these. Y’all are fascinating.

Happy Holidays to all of the McCoven. Thanks for always welcoming n00bs with open arms!