Thank You Giants

I learned about baseball through the love my father had for the game. He grew up in Detroit, his idol was hall of famer Al Kaline of his beloved Tigers. My dad always remained a Tiger fan growing up, but when he came west and decided to stay in the bay area he also took on a love of all bay area sports teams. He never said he disliked any of the bay area teams (A's, Giants, Raiders, 49ers, Sharks, or Warriors). But what I recall most of all is us sharing the highs and lows of the Giants. I remember in the last few years we would get down on the team a lot but never give up hope or stop watching every game we could. The last time I saw my father he was asking for the score of the Giants game, and also still saying he was going to be watching it on his Dvr when he got back home.

I can recall a time when he was living in Daly City, not too far from San Francisco. We ended up getting tickets to see the Giants play on a Friday night. The only thing I can recall is that Matt Williams fouled a pitch off his foot and broke it, ending his season. I was pretty sure the game ended with the Giants losing, and the stadium seemed half empty that night. I think my dad really wanted to see a win, so the next day we went right back to the stadium and watched another game. It is still the only time I have ever seen back to back games.

So today, The San Francisco Giants are National League Division Champions. I wish with all I could that I can share and talk about this with my father, I believe he would be focused on the road ahead and we would talk about how the Giants match up against the Atlanta Braves. But he would for sure be happy, probably gloating.

I just wanted to thank the Giants for winning and doing it for a team my father watched, this season had some magic in it and I feel a connection between watching the Giants and knowing this is the same team my father watched before his passing. If the Giants were somehow able to win it all, I would probably be ecstatic yet mournful. A team like the Giants is a family tradition (ahem, for most of us) and I know my cousin Bryan and my father are up there enjoying this win today.