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being_a_fan


i am obviously enjoying the Giant's playoff run so far. it's been fun to "go through" this with amy who has never had the awesome privilege of experiencing my behavior during a playoff swing. 


in my life time Giant's baseball has been a "tortured" affair (to use the trendy descriptor of this 2010 version of the team). i recently explained the torture of my particular life from '85's 100 loss team, to '87's NLCS collapse, to the WS earthquake in '89, to the team almost moving to tampa, to the bonds era, to the marlins in '97, robb nen and the one game playoff in 98, to benny agbayani in 2000, to falling 2 games short in 2001, to the world series collapse in 2002, to the marlins again in '03 (this time with the horrible iconic images of jose cruz jr and jt snow), to the late season disaster at the hands of the dodgers in '04 (darn you steve finley), to the dark ages of '05-'08, to the "are-we-really-going-to-waste-historically-good-starting-pitching-with-this-lineup" of last season, to some of my sojourn colleagues. i don't think they look at me the same way.


baseball seems to produce a special kind of suffering...a suffering that cannot be brushed aside for a week and engaged only on sunday's...no it is deeper and more pervasive than anything other sports can offer. giants fans, often overshadowed by the red sox (until 2004) and the cubs and the indians and various other teams, have suffered as long and as traumatically as anyone.


this postseason can end triumphantly and ecstatically or with another chapter of suffering written, but either way, without a doubt, i will be back next year (sooner actually because i will likely be scouring the internet for off season news). 


i've been reading some excellent baseball books recently, and the one seen here (are we winning) is now safely among my all time favorite books. will lietch nails what it means to be a fan:


"these men (referring to management and players) can go somewhere else: dusty baker can go to chicago and then cincinnati. jeff kent can become a dodger and an astro (i changed examples here for the sake of the analogy). we have no such options. we're not going anywhere.


when you break it down, what exactly is a sports franchise? is it a succession of ownership? an institutional philosophy? a corporate machine? pretty orange and black uniforms? all of these can be changed...


...but when people talk about The Giants, they are not talking about players or managers. they are talking about us. that's the constant. that's the single continuous line..."


Go Giants!