The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!

For those of you who don't know, I love the San Francisco Giants. My dad grew up near the spring training location of the Giants. He grew up listening to Willie Mays on the radio, who wouldn't fall in love with that? One of my best childhood memories was going with my dad, brother and some friends to Candlestick Park to watch the Giants (we were living in Reno at the time). It was an early morning, a cold and windy day, but a great memory.

Being a Giants fan has not been easy. In 1989, the Giants went to the World Series, facing off against the Bash Brother led Oakland A's. Not only did the Giants lose the series 4-0, San Francisco was basically destroyed by a huge earthquake before one of the games. I'd call that a crappy series.

In the early 90's, the Giants had great teams, but kept falling short. The Giants even gained the distinction of the team with the most wins to not make the playoffs.

In 2002, the Giants made the WS again, this time taking the lead. In game 6, up 3-2 in the series, the Giants led 5-0 late in the game. I was sure I was about to witness our return to prominence. Not so much. We blew the lead and the series. The star of that team, Barry Bonds, went on to disgrace himself with steroid hoopla.

Finally, this year, the Giants made an improbable run. Trailing San Diego late in the season, the Giants made a push and clinched a playoff spot on the last day of the season. We boast a great pitching staff, and a piecemeal offense led by a rookie stud.

In the same year that star Bobby Thompson died (greatest homerun in baseball history), the Giants won again. For the first time since 1954, the Giants won it all.

I'll be putting up a post about one of the coolest experiences of my life: My dad I attended game 2 of the series in San Francisco.

Anyways, some highlights/awards:

1. Watching Matt Cain take the Rangers to school in game 2. What an unreal performance. Matt Cain gets the "Endurance" award. Cain is the longest tenured Giant. He's gone through some painful seasons, without any support.
2. Lincecum baffling the Rangers. Timmy is an incredible pitcher. A once in a lifetime guy. He had two performances this postseason that were just incredible. Professional hitters swinging like 5 year olds in coach pitch. It was incredible. Tim gets the "Best Pitcher" award. He beat Lowe, Holladay and Lee (x2).
3. Favorite Giant: J Sanchez. I love Sanchez.

Go Giants!