wretch

Un-finished Business.

Well, I guess the ULTIMATE TORTURE begins. The same kind Giants fans have going through since the team moved to the west coast. I have been a Giants fan religiously since 1978. My first game was in 1971, but '78 was the first year I followed an entire season. It started with my dad taking me to Candlestick Park to see the Giants vs. the Cincinnati Reds. I was lucky, my first "serious" game and we saw THE "Big Red Machine" with Rose, Bench, Foster, Concepcion, Driessen and the list goes on. At the time, the Giants were Willie McCovey, Jack Clark, Darrell Evans and Jim Barr pitched that game. I was in middle high school. The Giants lost that day, but impacted me to where I became a fan of both the Giants and Major League Baseball.

I followed the Giants, not because of the quest to to win the World Series, just because, Major League Baseball was pretty cool and fun to follow for a 10-year old kid. As I got to my high school years, winning a world championship was never in the picture. They were the Giants, never a team in the picture or in the grand scheme of of the National League upper echelon. There were fun moments like '87 NLCS and the '89 World Series. After that, a lot of "middle of the pack" seasons followed. In '92, San Francisco almost loses the team to Tampa Bay and nearby San Jose, but is avoided with Peter McGowan and group of investors buying the ball club and keeping the team in San Francisco. The following year, the team signs Barry Bonds. For 14 years, Bonds was the face of the franchise and the icon that would bring San Francisco it's first MLB title or so we thought. Bonds couldn't do it alone, it was addition of new general manager Brian Sabean, who added Jeff Kent, where things took a turn. For 7 years since 1997, the Giants were either at the top of the NL West or in second place. In 2000, the Giants opened up a new ballpark. I was thirty-something and had a decent job at the time, so I made the commitment to be a season ticket holder (to this day, I still am.) In 2002 the Giants won the wild card and reached the World Series and were 9 outs away in game 6 from taking it all. I was drunk with the idea that they'd get back. 2003 was a great wire-to-wire run, but it led to the familiar heartbreak to the Florida Marlins in the playoffs. Just last year, was a return to .500 after a string of mediocre or "middle of the pack" (again) seasons that followed 2004.

There were years I was un-employed, but I still did my best to retain my season tickets. I couldn't even imagine not owning season tickets for my team. It would feel like a divorce. This ride has been an AWESOME trip, but it's now un-finished business. 2002 broke my heart. I stood at (then) Pac Bell Park, fighting back tears as the team tried to put it's best face to thank the fans after losing game 7, the day after. I saw the 2004 Boston Red Sox go on one of the best playoff rides in Baseball history and the Chicago White Sox the year after break their long title drought. I kept thinking, "why can't my team achieve that?" I wanted what they had sooo bad. Just once for my team to win it all. It wouldn't matter if it would only be one, just once. I always compare this life time ride to finding your significant other or lifetime partner. "Could this one (year) be the one?"

"Miss Right" is at the chapel, all that's missing is the ring.