Special Latenight Tearjerker

Giants 2, Rangers 0

"First they ignore you
then they laugh at you
then they fight you
then you win."
-Ghandi

Tomorrow I'll have more about the game.

Tonight, I am sitting at my computer and arriving at a very simple conclusion: When this is over, I'm going to cry.

Obviously if they lose, I'm going to sob. What was my metaphor about your woman leaving you at the alter? We're way past that. Losing now would be so unbearably cruel, I can't even begin to imagine the horror.

But if they win, I'm going to cry too. For the same reason that this corny MLB ad video gives me goosebumps
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-r6O-XKU9o

It's not just because I grew up playing catch with my dad, or that I started a family through little league, playing catch with Collin. It's...ok....stay with me here, I'm about to get weird:

It's the picture of Timmy as a little kid...he has no idea! Like baby Jesus to Christians, or little Barack to Democrats (used to be that way, anyway...). He has no idea. No idea that one day he's going to stand at the front of something incredible. That millions of people will see him as a symbol for a team that in its own way is a symbol for something even bigger.

Because the Giants are underdogs, sure, but they're more than that. They are, when you think about it, kind of a symbol of hope. That if things seem really dark, even for a really long time like, say, hypothetically, for 56 years or forever, depending on how you see it, that one day there will be light. Or that maybe searing pain...

http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/2002_Angels
(oh god the picture!!!!!!!!!!!)

....is for a reason....that this team wouldn't have been THIS TEAM if the Giants had won in 2002. They'd be fun, but that's it.

No, I'm sorry, but I do not apologize for my goosebumps. We love Timmy not because he is a good pitcher, but because the combination of his spirit and his dominance are so rare. He doesn't take himself too seriously. He doesn't taunt people. He's sooooo West Coast. But more than that, he just seems like somebody who transcends what athletes are supposed to be like. It seems like he's having fun.

And he's leading the weirdest, most wonderful parade behind him, a crazy collection of panda hats, fake beards, baseball players nobody else wanted, and every weirdo who ever crawled out of Russian Hill, the Tenderloin, the Mission, or Twin Peaks. This parade is marching forward, pushing past baseball "experts", computer simulations, the media, the 2-time National League champions, until now, when it stands and faces the imposing brick wall of HISTORY.

History says no. History says teams like this don't win championships. History says people who are always heartbroken should stay heartbroken.

But as much as we love this team because they are so kid-like, we also love them because they are fearless. History doesn't scare them.

2 more wins.

2.

I think about Tim Lincecum starting high school at 4 foot 10 inches, and I get goosebumps. When I think about bringing this home, I don't think about any other Giants because even though Timmy is not exactly your standard "leader," he and he alone on this team has a certain aura about him...it says "give me the damn ball. I got this."

I can't wait to see him pitch one more time (oh shut up. we're not going to sweep and you know it). I want to think he dreamed this before he was even old enough to articulate what "this" is.

2 more wins.

This isn't going to be easy...history's not done screwing with us. But Baseball Gods, you better bring something more than just Cliff Lee and the "vaunted Ranger lineup." Because we have a bearded mental assassin, a Kung Fu Bench Panda, a bunch of rejects, and a scrawny kid with a magic arm.

You've got nothing but the status quo.