My (torturous) road to the World Series

1976: Candlestick park. Age 4. I remember very little about the game except that Bobby Murcer was playing right field and I was a huge fan before I knew what being a fan was.

1977-1992: A childhood spent hopping back and forth between the bay area and Massachusetts. The Red Sox were my AL team, and the Giants were my NL team. But I always had a preference for NL's clown ball real rules, and hence for the Giants.

1986: My longest stint in Massachusetts included a truly traumatizing Bill Buckner experience.

1989: Still in Massachusetts and only witness the Giants/Oakland series from afar. Rooting for the giants, but when you get swept *and* your stadium is rendered unusable, it's pretty clear it's not your year.

1993: A part of me died with the "last pure pennant race" and the Giant's inability to go to the post-season despite winning 103 games, 48 saves from Rod "fuck you, i'm a closer" Beck, and an MVP performance from Barry Bonds. Best team to not make it to the playoffs? Probably. Heartbreak? Definitely.

1994: We don't talk about 1994.

2002: As an active fan of the Giants since returning to the bay area, I was convinced that was the year, well before their chances went well above 98%. It was truly crushing to lose that game 6 (and the series) to the Angels, and I consoled myself with the miserable fact that the 1993 team was better. Some consolation.

2003: Jason Schmidt and Barry Bonds were my heroes and the Giants go wire-to-wire winning 100 games. Beaten by the Marlins (the fucking Marlins???) in the playoffs. Truly the deities hate us.

2004-2008: There are no real signs that Sabean's strategy of mixing a few young players with a bunch of older/over-the-hill players has any chance of working. Injuries and underachieving are the watch-words of the day...except...

2007: Even before spring training, there is something in the air. Jason Schmidt is dead to me (loldodgers), I find mccoveychronicles, and everybody is talking about this minor league kid with the strange name, and even stranger delivery. Lots of people don't think he will really cut it in the majors due to his short stature and , but the MCC folk are mezmerized. Tim the Enchanter. The Freak. And eventually...The Franchise. Lincecum and Cain provide a foundation for future success. But will the bats follow?

2008: Lincecum's first full year with the Giants. A Cy Young award. An otherwise completely lovable completely underachieving motley crew. I lurk even more on MCC. I go to one game at the park for the first time in years. Yes...definitely still something in the air.

2009: Another Lincecum Cy Young, and another team (except Sandoval) that just can't hit the ball. Something is still very much in the air, and I go to a few more games, but the frustration keeps growing.

2010: Nostrils going twitch twitch. There is no reason to think this team can hit the ball any better than the previous ones, but something is different...

April 11: I go to my first game of the season. *3 hour rain delay*. The only reason they wait that long and still play is because there is no room in the schedule for a makeup game against the Braves. Finally they play. There are only a couple of sprinkles during the game. Lincecum strikes out 10, Sandoval goes deep, the Giants win 6-3, and 3 seconds after the last pitch it starts absolutely pouring. Sniff...sniff.

April 24: Second game at the park. Zito pitches 8 (8???) shutout innings against the Cardinals. Giants score 2 in the eighth and win 2-0. Did I leave something in the oven?

June 25: Sanchez is good but erratic. Uribe goes yard. Giants score an insurance run in the 8th, which is good because the Red Sox scored against Wilson in the 9th. Giants win 5-4. Oh my.

July 1: I move to a new apartment 1 block from AT&T park. Yes...now I *can* smell the ballpark from my living room.

August 10: Fourth in-person game....against the Cubs. They score four in the first off of Lincecum. First time I've watched the Giants lose this year and its against the Cubs. I find myself involuntarily shouting at the top of my lungs: "DID YOU FORGET YOU ARE THE CUBS???". The Giants win the series 3-1, so hard to be upset, but seriously. The Cubs?

September 14: Lincecum 2-hits the Rockies over 8 innings and Burrell hits a two run homer in the seventh. Giants win 2-1. Yeah...this team is alright.

September 18: OK...I'm addicted to this team. I go to my second game in five days. The Brewers shut out the Giants. The word torture is definitely apt.

September 29: Lincecum gives up a leadoff homer and  then strikes out 11. Giants beat the Diamondbacks 3-1.

October 3: The Giants have been trying to clinch the division for an eternity. I held off on getting tickets to earlier games in the series against the Padres because I just wasn't feeling it. But I had to be in the bleachers on the last day of the season. Sanchez shuts out the Padres, the Giants clinch. This team is magical.

ARGLBLARGLBLARGL: I get invited to purchase NLDS tickets before realizing I can't be in town during the series. Sell for a profit on StubHub, and hate every second of it. I catch games in random hotels and airports while travelling. Epic Giants are Epic.

ARGLBLARGLBLARGL^2: I don't get an invite to purchase NLCS tickets. Suffer/cheer/pass out at home. Epiccer Giants are epiccer.

OMGWTFBBQ: I am invited to buy tickets for the World Series. It's going to take place while I am on a plane. I realize that all of my friends are flakes. I choose the least flakiest, give her my credit card info and tell her to buy the best tickets she can, preferably to each of the first two games. I get off the plane and find out that I have just spent $1200 on 4 club-level tickets to WS games one and two. After nearly passing out, I decide to sell one pair for a huge profit, and use one pair. At some point, true insanity sets in, and I end up going to both games.

Oct 27: Am I really going to a Giants game late in October? Seriously? Did the solid pitching, weak hitting Giants just beat the Rangers 11-7? Seriously.

Oct 28: I am hoarse and probably dehydrated. Certainly delirious. Did Matt Cain just shut out the Rangers? Seriously? No....seriously??? I predict Giants in 5.

November 1: Giants baseball in November. GTFO. GIANTS WIN THE FUCKING WORLD SERIES FOR THE FIRST TIME IN SAN FRANCISCO. I walk out my door, and into pandemonium.

I have a lot of happy.