I hit a low point in my San Francisco Giants fan career.
The Giants were the best team in baseball before the All Star break.
And the worst after the break.
It’s been an oh-so-painful ride straight downhill.
I was watching the Giants-Mets game last night… tied in the 4th… the Giants Ace Madison Bumgarner on the mound… and with a 1-hitter going into the inning… somehow loaded the bases… and I thought to myself:
This is it. This is the entire Giants season right now. We have our best pitcher on the mound. What team are we really… the before-the-All-Star-break team that will find a way to get out of this jam… or the after-the-All-Star-break team that will continue to get abused… ? This next pitch will tell…
And just when you think it couldn’t get any worse… the very worst thing happens: The batter hits a GRAND SLAM!
I’ve been a lifelong Giants fan… which means I’ve suffered my share of heartbreak…
… but that one was one for the ages.
I distinctly remembering at that very moment giving up hope for the season. That’s NEVER happened to me before while there’s been a mathematical chance to win and a pulse left in my body.
I was dejected. Heartbroken. I turned off the game.
I climbed in my car 30 minutes later to hear the Giants announcer say something I will NEVER forget:
“After allowing 4 runs in the fourth, the Giants rally right back in the bottom of the inning to drop a 5-spot on the Mets and take the lead, capped off by none other than Madison Bumgarner’s two-run homerun.”
People thought I was crazy in my car… it’s hard enough scoring 1 run in baseball, let alone 5 in the same inning… I was cheering and clapping unabashedly… just as if I were at the game!
Thank you, San Francisco Giants, for reminding me that until you are dead — no matter how improbable — there is ALWAYS HOPE!
Royal Blog 