Reflections on a Title Run



I recently finished watching the official San Francisco Giants World Series DVD that I bought myself for Christmas. I'd never bought one of these videos before, primarily since my Bay Area teams haven't exactly hauled in the championship hardware in recent years. I assumed that the film would be cheesy, with sweeping music and excessive slo-mo scenes. However I was surprised at how instantly it took me back to the Giants fan experience from last October. The memories (both joyous and torturous) came flooding back:

* Brian Wilson closing out game 162, the only time the Giants had a clinching game at Pac Bell Park
* The jubilant players taking a victory lap after said game, slapping high-fives with fans
* Jumping online during the postgame show to purchase my NLDS Game 1 ticket on StubHub
* Attending Game 1 against the Braves, in which Lincecum pitched his 14-strikeout gem
* Leaving that game, assuming I would never again see a baseball performance that great, with a crowd that amped
* Watching Brooks Conrad hand us Game 4 of the NLDS with his cringeworthy comedy of errors
* Being the only Giants fan at the bar in the House of Blues in New Orleans, anxiously watching the final outs of Game 1 (long story)
* Listening to Matt Cain's NLCS Game 3 gem in my cubicle, thanks to a rarely-seen century-old technology called portable radio
* Watching Jonathan Sanchez's NLCS Game 6 meltdown-- and the subsequent Giants recovery to clinch the pennant
* My certainty that winning the pennant was gravy and the Giants' lineup would have no chance of out-slugging through a stacked Texas team that would start Cliff Lee twice
* My uncertainty over whether superstition dictated that I ought to remove my Giants Bengie Molina bobblehead doll from my shelf at work
* Watching the raucous crowd lift inspire outbursts of offense in World Series Games 1 and 2
* Witnessing Madison Bumgarner vault from obscurity into baseball supremacy in eight innings
* The unbridled joy of torture's end on November 1, 2010
* And finally, the greatest celebration I've ever had the pleasure of attending, the San Francisco Giants World Series victory parade

A $17.99 DVD can't fully capture a month-long life experience, but it sure can jog a few memories.