Wednesday, November 03, 2010

San Francisco Giants - 2010 World Series Champions!

The San Francisco Giants defeated the Texas Rangers 3-1 Monday evening to win the 2010 World Series.  The win gave San Francisco it's first ever championship baseball team since the Giants moved to San Francisco over 50 years ago.

I will freely admit that baseball is not my favorite sport.  That distinction belongs to basketball.   However, the first ever professional sports event I attended was a San Francisco Giants game back around 1984 when I was about 10 years old.   I don't remember much about the game itself.  However, I remember that I went to the game because of a promotion the Giants ran.  The Giants were giving free tickets to "top students" who applied.  I asked my parents to help me with the application and next thing you know, I was at the game.

Over the years, I follow the Giants (and the A's as well).  I loved it when the Giants played the A's in the 1989 World Series.   Unfortunately, the A's were the better team that year and the A's swept the Giants in the earthquake interrupted series.  My craziest memory of the 1989 World Series was being at the Polo Fields before the start of game 3.  I had finished running in a cross-country match and was waiting for my other teammates when the earthquake struck at 5:04 PM.

The other moment that stands out is the 2002 World Series.  My friend was able to secure tickets to Game 6 in Anaheim and made the long drive to Southern California to watch the game.  We were thrilled to see the Giants take a 5-0 lead late.  LIke all other fans, we were stunned when the Giants lost 6-5 and then proceeded to lose Game 7 the next night.

However, with the 2010 edition of the San Francisco Giants winning the Series, all of the previous bad memories have been washed away.  I throughly enjoyed this year's Giants team.  They truly lived up to the definition of a "team".  Other Giants teams may have had a little better talent or bigger super stars, but the 2010 Giants probably had some of the biggest hearts ever.

While the previous Giants teams won't get rings, I'm sure all of the former players and others associated with the Giants organization are enjoying the moment.  Congratulations!

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