Giants Fever, Catch It!

THE SPORTS BOTTOM - October 16, 2010

I see ORANGE people.

Fear the Beard!

F*CK YEAH!

San Francisco definitely has Giants Fever! Our beloved Orange and Black start the National League Championship Series today in Philadelphia against the Phillies. ¡Vamos Gigantes!

Nobody expected the Giants to do much this year. Sure, they had great pitching. But the offense was supposed to be so “offensive” that the team would have been overachieving if it finished at .500.

But look what happened. The National League West was a two-team race in the end. Yeah the Rockies tried to get back into it and were in it until the last two weeks. But it was mano a mano, or is that equipo a equipo, between the Giants and the San Diego Padres.

The Padres? How can you hate the Padres? San Diego is beautiful. You can even go into the water in San Diego without worrying (too much) about sharks, riptides and hypothermia. And, they are NOT the Dodgers.

But as the season wore on and the Pad’s huge lead in the West started to dwindle and get smaller and smaller, San Franciscans realized, “Hey, we can win this thing.” Suddenly we all took notice of the standings because Giants’ games were becoming and event again at AT&T Park.

Once the Rockies fell off the pace (and you had to worry about them, seeing as how they won, what, 13 out of 14 to win the wild card in 2007, or something crazy like that) the battle was on between the Giants and the Padres. NorCal versus SoCal. Bring it on.

The battle for the West raged on. Giants up by three games with three to play, all three against the Padres. Pads win the first. Pads win the second. Suddenly it’s the last game of the regular season and the Giants are clinging to a one game lead. The City was ready for a showdown.

Final game. Giants win. Off to the playoffs. The team made a victory lap around AT&T Park after clinching the West, and all of the Bay Area rejoiced. Champagne glasses were raised. Beer glasses were toasted. Joints were lit up. Los Gigantes were off to the playoffs.

Everyone rallied around the Giants in the first round against the Braves. Young and old, gay and straight, hipsters and yuppies. It was awesome to be a part of. Giants win a thrilling series.

But now things get ever more serious. Four wins away from the World Series. Four wins against the two-time defending National League Champions. Timmy Lincecum opens the series for the Giants. Awesome, no problem, right? The Phillies counter with Doc Halladay. All he did was pitch the second no-hitter in post-season history in the Phillies’ first series. Damn, that’s pretty awesome.

So it’s on. Love your cheese steaks, Philly, but that’s about it. San Francisco is ready to rally around our local nine again. 

Rally rags? Check. Orange pompoms? Check. Bright orange shirt? Check. See you at the bar, Giants fans.