buh bye curse

congrats to the chicago cubs! what a game 7.

AP Photo: Gene J. Puskar

 

believen end

so the even year streak ends. the demons of blown saves in our second half come to haunt us just in time for halloween. it was a great wild card game and game 3 wasn't bad either. some fans are asking why they didn't leave matt moore in, but somehow i have a feeling these feisty cubs would have broken through. congrats to them and to my giants thanks for an unbelieve(n)able season. 

oh and for kicks the post that i forgot from the day before when there was so much hope.

honestly i knocked out when the cubs tied it at the top of the 9th. it was about 1am est. sleeping the torture away to wake up at 4am to see that baby buster (aka joe panik) hit a walk off to secure tonight's game 4. at least the game starts an hour earlier. let's go giants!

i'm not a jinx

photo: Al Bello/Getty Images

in a previous post i mentioned i might be jinxing the wild card game by changing my viewing locale. turns out watching orange october in my hometown doesn't effect the outcome when mad bum is on the mound. off to chicago we go.

beliEVEN

here we go and i'm probably jinxing this already, but it is an even year. we are building some momentum into the wildcard sweeping our arch rivals, the dodgers. we are (again) the underdog and we travel to citifield to face my adopted team, the mets. it's a rare time that i'll be in sf for a playoff game. i've only experienced playoff baseball in london or brooklyn, so i hope my location won't ruin any mojo. let the torture begin.

giants are world series champs (again)!

(AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

prior to the game i had emailed my fellow fans these facts:

we have a lot of history to break:

If you go back to the last 15 times a home team forced a Game 7 in the World Series or the League Championship Series, 14 of them came away with the title.

Teams with home field advantage have won 23 of the past 28 titles.

And the Giants have never won a World Series Game 7 in their history, losing in 2002, 1962, 1924 and 1912.

This series has followed the exact pattern of the only other all-wild card match-up in 2002 - we all know how that ended. 

i freaked a lot of them out, but for me it made me hungry for a win and i could think of no other team that could pull it off. a friend that had just flown from sf via chicago even joined me at the brooklyn bar that i watched the 2012 win. familiar faces were in attendance and i was feeling safe even when there was that bobble by blanco and perez in the 9th.  giants always have to add a little torture to the mix. i'm still delirious and in a surreal state that we have actually won a third world series in 5 years. yes yes yes! don't stop believin'!

giants win!

 (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

the niners were on a bye and honestly we all know where all the bay area fans attentions were on. mad bum took care of business like no other and here we go back to kc for game 6. so i missed the first pitch last night but glad mlb posted the video.

here we go again

Ezra Shaw/Getty ImagesEven with the Giants' backs against a literal wall,
players such as Hunter Pence came through.

late into early this morning, i sat with fists clenched watching the giants get the last out in the ninth inning to propel them into another nlcs. i was like my fellow giants pals and new pals at a local watering hole in bed sty. a round of shots were had in celebration. what is it about even years and the giants? it's truly tortuous to watch these series but somehow you can't not watch. in 2010, i was up at the dead of night watching in london. 2012 it was brooklyn but pre-sandy. coincidentally, i've also traveled respectively to dc and pittsburgh to see the g-men lose to the two teams they've beaten this fall to get them to the nlcs. lessssss gooooo giants!

road to torture

so that was fun last night. mad bum (top) shutdown the pirates and the brandons (crawford and belt) took care of putting up runs. so we go in with the lowest odds of winning it all. for some reason i like where we are. i like being the underdog and folks aren't completely counting us out. we are a battered bunch but we have heart. with bated breath i'l looking forward to the torture to continue as we go up against the heavily favored nationals. orange october continues.

congrats timmy

you've gone and done it again. woot for another no hitter!

Photo: San Francisco Chronicle

thanks giants

so we didn't have the season that we thought we would but i'm still proud of my g-men.  i made it out to their new york games versus the mets and the yankees. they won both of them. 8-4 against the mets and 2-1 against the yankees.  petit was the starter in both games. 

reunited with kristen at citifield. her first time there

kai's first yankees-giants game

he was out by the 7th inning stretch

final game for famed closer mariano rivera

giants fanfest

i'll actually be home for fanfest, but already occupied with this dude's red egg and ginger party. if anyone is going next week, tell buster hi for me. 

trophy tour

so come january 19, somewhere in new york the 2010 and 2012 world series trophies will be on display.  who's coming with me?

congrats giants!

braving the pre-hurricane winds to watch with the orange faithful at the rock shop, we were glues to the screens in baited breath as sergio romo struck out triple crown winner miguel cabrera to win the second world series in three years.

hometown celebration

the morning after...

i love coming into work a little sleep deprived and getting heaps and heaps of congrats.  my boys did the unthinkable and won the national league pennant.  i do miss not being home to enjoy the all the celebration in my city by the bay. how cute are the hometown peeps?

San Francisco Giants fans celebrate the San Francisco Giants win in Game 7 of the NLCS against the St. Louis Cardinals outside of AT&T Park on Monday, October 22, 2012 in San Francisco, Calif. Final Score: Giants: 9 - Cardinals: 0. Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle / SF

SFPD Officer Michelle Alvis receives a kiss on the hand from Giants fan Eddie Nazlou, of Santa Clara, after she gave him a high five, at right, James Adams, from Landmark Security, looks on during Game 7 of the NLCS between the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals at AT&T Park Monday, October 22, 2012 in San Francisco, Calif. Photo: Pete Kiehart, The Chronicle / SF

Wearing matching Buster Posey outfits, Enrique Escalante and his son Gabriel Escalante, 16 months, celebrate in the Mission as their team beats the Cardinals on Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, in San Francisco. Photo: Noah Berger, Special To The Chronicle / SF

1-1

so the series is even, but marco scutaro got banged up badly by the evilllle matt holliday.

despite the worry about scute, sergio romo was having a great time photobombing matt cain.

next stop st. louis. let's get 'em gmen.

let the torture begin

okay boys, we have a pulse. let's keep it going tomorrow. 

together we are giant?

thanks to joanne i scored tickets to see my giants. it was pablo "panda" sandoval bobblehead day, but alas panda wasn't hitting well. timmy wasn't so hot giving up two in the first inning. he would eventually lose the battle of the tim's (the other being tim hudson.) at least my fav buster posey scored the only run of the night. i've been 0-3 on attended giants games this season. eek!

giants have oscar winners as fans

standing o for chipper jones possible last at bat in at&t park



ack, panda swings and misses

the beard's got a new pal

sweep!

marco scutaro and joaquin arias celebrate with brandon belt and hector sanchez after arias hit a 2-run homer in the 1st. (jason redmond / ap)

timmy's back

and we are tied for first.  lesssss go g-men!  see you in pittsburgh and i guess daughtry too.

congrats matt

on your perfect game!