Baseball Reflections

It’s an Orange October in San Fransisco

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Wow!! Is this an Orange October or what?! So much has happened for the Giants that it has been absolutely incredible!! I am sorry that I haven’t written sooner, but I am just beside myself. It all started with the end of the season, and the Giants needed to win one game out of three games to win the NL West. Of course, the Giants had to wait until October 3rd, the last day of the season to beat the Padres, 3-0 to clinch. Never let it be said that the Giants don’t truly know how to torture their fans. It’s been like this all season, and why should the end of the season be any different.

The play-offs, thus far, have been incredible with great pitching and clutch hitting. The Giants certainly took care of the Braves beating them three games to one. The most impressive game was Tim Lincecum striking out fourteen hitters and only giving up two hits, winning 2-0.

Well, once the Giants got past the Braves, it was on to face the Phillies. Surprise playoff hero Cody Ross hit two home runs off Phillies ace Roy Holladay, to spur the Giants to a 4-3 win. The Giants lost the second game, 6-1, despite a good a starting pitching performance by Jonathan Sanchez.

Game 3 of the 2010 NLCS was truly special!! I went to the Public House, which is a bar and restaurant right next to AT & T Park. I got there early for the Mac/Murphy Show on the Giants’ flag ship radio station KNBR broadcast in the morning. I sat down at a table, and started talking with some other Giants fans. A very nice woman, Consuelo, came in and joined our table. She said that she had an extra ticket for the game. I said that I would buy her breakfast in payment for her extra ticket. This worked out great!! We all talked about our passion the Giants, and our history with them. It was very special!! We also all got together after the game to hang out and celebrate their win.

One of the highlights of the pre-game party was the appearance of Ashkon, who has done a great Giants highlight video on Youtube, which has had over 650,000 hits. It is wonderfully creative, and truly touches the soul of what it means to be a Giants fan, with Giants highlights and pictures of fans. My only regret is that I’m not in the video, but it is truly great!!

Oh, did I forget to mention this? Yes, the Giants did win, 3-0 behind a spectacular effort by Matt Cain. He threw seven innings of shut out ball, and the bullpen finished it up. The Giants got clutch hits by “who else?” Cody Ross, Aubrey Huff and Freddy Sanchez. This win gave the Giants a 2-1 lead in the NLCS, and put the Giants in the drivers’ seat.

Photo of Ryan Cavan taken from Google Images by Ashlee

Another highlight of the game was the people that Consuelo and I sat next to were not only great Giants fans, but that their son, Ryan Cavan is a minor league second base man playing in the Giants farm system. He’s played for the Giants n Augusta, GA, and will play for the San Jose Giants next year. Ryan grew up on the South Bay Peninsula and played college ball at UC Santa Barbara. Another story of a local guy trying to make good!! I could hear the pride in his parents’ voices as they spoke of him. I also believe that the parents both realized how difficult it is for Ryan to make it as a professional baseball player. I do wish Ryan all the luck, and I do hope that he does continue the Giants’ tradition of being a good second base man, and that he does play one day at AT & T Park.

I had the great fortune and pleasure to watch the Game 4 win with my neighbor and dear friend, Diane. We’ve been watching games together for many years. And we do share a great love of the Giants and all things orange and black, including Halloween. It was a very exciting game, with the lead going back and forth several times throughout the course of the game. There were also so many Giants heroes in the game– Javier Lopez, Sergio Romo and Brian Wilson out the Giants bullpen pitched great! Aaron Rowand throwing out a runner at home plate, Buster Posey with two clutch hits, and a ninth inning hit, which helped to set up the win, Pablo Sandoval who had a bad year after hitting .330 in 2009 even came through with a clutch double to drive in the tying and lead runs in the sixth inning. And of course, Cody Ross, with another clutch hit. Oh, and don’t forget Juan Uribe who got the game-winning sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth to score Aubrey Huff. This win puts the Giants one win away from going to the World Series. With a pitching match-up of Tim Lincecum vs Roy Holladay it should be a great game!!

If you had told me that the Giants would be so close to going to the World Series in March or April, I would have thought that you were absolutely insane. Of course, this is not the same Giants team that existed in April or May. It is a team of gamers and I love them. The only thing I can do is hope that this Orange October continues to roll on…

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