The 10 best Giants home runs of 2012

Well, this was an easy list to cull! The Giants hit 103 home runs in 2012, plus 14 in the playoffs. And if you want some perspective, check this out: 20 of those home runs came against the Rockies. If the Rockies weren't so terrible, the Giants would have set franchise records.

But the Giants did hit a few home runs, and they were most certainly awesome. With the magic of embeddable video again, here are the top 10 homers of the season. This list is completely infallible, and it is not up for discussion. I SAID GOOD DAY.

10. Brett Pill vs. Clayton Kershaw

The Giants lost 76 games in 2011. Seventy of those losses were against Clayton Kershaw. Look it up. This homer came in his first start against the Giants in 2012, and it came early in the game. It made you feel whatever the opposite of dread is. Hope? You know … I think the word I'm looking for is "hope."

Cool first-pitch fastball to Brett Pill there, A.J. Ellis. Maybe it will work the next time, so keep trying it.

9. Brandon Belt vs. Jerry Blevins

Did you know that Belt has the last three splash hits for the Giants, and the only two in 2012? Well, you do now. This one wasn't a splash hit, unless you count the TEARS OF A'S FANS BECAUSE THEY WERE UPSET AT THIS HOME RUN BECAUSE OF INTENSE RIVALRIES. So, yeah, I guess this was a splash hit.

The Giants were down early in this game, and Belt's dinger gave them a lead they wouldn't relinquish, though Santiago Casilla tried his best.

8. Buster Posey vs. gravity

That sound is the e-mail notification on my phone.

7. Hunter Pence vs. Rafael Betancourt

This was when we were waiting for Hunter Pence to do something/anything. Turns out he never really got going, but it was fun to pretend he was about to when he did something good.

6. Posey vs. Joe Blanton

You can't get the full beauty of the homer in this highlight because it came on the 10th pitch of the at-bat. That's what put it on the list -- it was one of the best at-bats of Posey's career, and Blanton said it was one of the best he's ever seen. So you can't fully appreciate it with just this highlight.

But you can still appreciate Joe Blanton making a discouraged face and Dodgers fans being sad.

5. Madison Bumgarner vs. Jhoulys Chacin

This was back in the middle of the stretch of rotten pitching. Everyone was bad, and if the Giants couldn't pitch, it's not like they were going to do anything in the playoffs. In this game, Bumgarner was pounded early, but he tied the game up on his own, dammit.

4. Angel Pagan vs. Sean Marshall

The Giants had no business winning this game, but somehow they did. And they did it with Pagan hitting a three-run homer (one of just 11 for the entire season for the Giants) down by two.

Coming into that game, by the way, Pagan was hitting .230 with a .269 on-base percentage. I don't think a lot of us were thinking "four-year deal" at that point.

3. Posey v. Max Scherzer

You can't take this one for granted. Yeah, the Giants were up 3-0 in the series, but the only thing I wanted from the World Series was for the Giants not to ruin the already spectacular season. There was the perfect game, the MVP, the comebacks in the NLDS and NLCS … if they lost the World Series, it wouldn't have been the end of the world. But if they blew a 3-0 series lead, that's all the season would be remembered for. "Remember the time the Giants had a 3-0 lead in the World Series …"

Scherzer was amazing in that game. I didn't think the Giants would touch him, and if they went to a Game 5, that got them closer to a Game 6, which … I didn't want to mess with that at all.

And then the Giants won the World Series

2. Pablo Sandoval vs. Justin Verlander

You can choose any of the three. I'll take the first because for a week all we heard about was how Justin Verlander was going to sneak in our rooms, sleep with our significant others, and take the change from the top of our dressers. And Verlander had an 0-2 count with two outs, and he was about to breeze through the first like everyone expected.

And then the Giants won the World Series.

1. Buster Posey vs. the collective enemies of this great nation

Perfection. As much as I love Jon Miller's call, this one would have been great without a broadcaster, too. Cheering cheering cheering cheering cheering ohhhhhhhhhhhh.

If it isn't against Mat Latos, it's still the best homer of the year. But because it was against Latos, it's one of the best homers in franchise history. What ranks over it? Renteria, sure. Juan Uribe's opposite-field shot in Philly can't compare. Neither can Joe Morgan's homer. I'd take this over Brian Johnson, even. It was a stunning, brilliant grand slam against the right pitcher at exactly the right time.

And then the Giants won the World Series.