2013: The Marco Scutaro Rain Globe

We’ve been looking back at the best thing to happen to the Giants each year of the decade. The first World Series win in San Francisco history made sense for 2010. Ryan Vogelsong’s renaissance really did make 2011 something special. Even though the Giants won the World Series in 2012, it was #RallyZito that really stood out to me. That was the moment the Giants went from local interest to national curiosity.

Less than a year later, the local interest became devotion and we saw one of the few times when fans embraced a team and the team embraced them back. Literally.

From this very site came an idea to commemorate one of the greatest moments in human history. Also literally.

This is Marco Scutaro smiling to the heavens as his team secured their trip to the World Series.

Yeah, been there, seen that. Something we’ll never forget.

But outside of an occasional BreakingT or drunken streaker, how often do fans get to add to a moment’s lore? That’s exactly what we did by pitching the Marco Scutaro Rain Globe. Well, technically, “we” had nothing to do with it. It was thirteenthirteen and Grant who did most of the work.

Marco Scutaro exulting to the heavens. It was his Shawshank moment, and it was an image that will live with Giants fans for generations. Will Clark up the middle against Mitch Williams. Kevin Mitchell grabbing a ball with his bare hands. Gregor Blanco sprawling out for a catch. Marco Scutaro exulting to the heavens.

So if there isn’t time to whip up one of these this year, it will forever be applicable. This is the kind of thing that will still be relevant with a 10- or 20-year anniversary celebration.

This season would be swell, though. Because I need one, and there’s no time like the present

That was posted January 14, 2013. Two and a half months later:

And then we got our first look about three months later:

God.

Remember Vine?

Anyway, the Giants were really bad in 2013 but it really didn’t matter because we were all high off two championships in three years. Nobody was thinking about the future, they were too busy focusing on the recent and incomprehensibly amazing past — not because of nostalgia, but out of awe. The Giants were awesome. And one of the most awesome moments to ever happen on a baseball field, behind one of the greatest comeback runs in baseball’s postseason history, happened to the Giants.

Whatever weird curse or malaise that had befallen the franchise since moving to San Francisco had faded away and in its place was fresh new history filled with joy. The Giants’ story was easy to envy but impossible to duplicate. The best sports stories are.

And so, Grant and thirteenthirteen took this one moment and built upon it — not because it was all we had, but because it reflected our feelings about the Giants at the time. A critical mass of elation that every fan base can envy, but few can duplicate. Not even the Giants have been able to climb that mountain again, but they’ve certainly tried.

But the rain globe was the best thing to happen to the Giants in 2013 because it sold them — and us — on the idea that good feelings could go a long way in maintaining our interest. You might see that as a double-edged sword given the state of the roster and the need to forcibly turn the page, but if you think about why it has been so difficult for Zaidi & co. to comprehend why fans are bothered by what they’re doing, then you inevitably come back to this moment when the Giants and their fans opened a dialogue that hasn’t ended.