Almost every Giants fan dwells on playoff memories of Jose Cruz, Jr., Scott Speizio, Sidney Ponson, and Jay Payton, and with good reason. There is some raw pain associated with each of those names. Last night's game feels like it should go right up there.
Quick question, though: how many times over the past two years have you thought about Manny Aybar? Vinny Castilla on the Braves? Keith Lockhart? Yeah, me neither. But there was a time when those names were loaded with the same kind of pain.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SFN/SFN200210050.shtml
It wasn't the same kind of surprise pantsing that last night was -- it was more of a discouraging, humiliating defeat. So this is an imperfect comparison. But the Giants were down two games to one against the Maddux/Glavine/Millwood-era Braves. They'd just dropped their first playoff game at home, and in order to move on, they'd have to beat the Braves in Atlanta after winning the last game in San Francisco.
Talk radio was buzzing about Manny Aybar. It's hard to believe, but that's the first time that sentence has ever been typed on this site.
Everything worked out, and we were set up for a much larger heartbreak down the road. Awesome!
It's possible that last night was the beginning of the end. The elation/dejection cocktail feels like 2000. Maybe 2002. Possibly 2003. Quite likely all of the above. But it might be a Manny Aybar moment. I think at this point, it would be silly to give up on this team. They are capable of providing such bigger heartbreak. Give them a chance.