And now I have finally been to a Giants game where I could cheer for them.
Except that I forget that the image I always had about California being hot and sunny is a myth when talking about San Francisco. I didn’t bring a sweatshirt and my t-shirt wearing self started to get cold in about the 6th inning. “It’s not so bad,” I told myself, “There’s only a few innings left.”
Except that the Giants tied it up in the 8th which led to extra innings — late night extra innings in San Francisco without a sweater, with the wind whipping off the Bay into the bleachers. When Nate Schierholtz managed to get to third base in the 12th with only one out, I was sure it was going to end.
Except that pinch hitter Cody Ross struck out followed by another pinch hitter, Pat Burrell, popping out. On to the unlucky 13th we went and that’s about when I really thought about leaving a game early for the first time in my life. My scorebook was already kind of screwed up since I ran out of room after the 12th and had to do some creative cramming and arrow drawing to indicate which at bat actually happened when. But I stuck it out… all the way through the 14th. Since 14 is twice 7, they did a 14th inning stretch and we sang “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”… again.
Nate Schierholtz, who nearly ended my pain in the 12th, had another chance in the 14th against former Twin and Minnesota native Pat Neshek. I couldn’t root against a Minnesotan, could I? As I struggled with this dilemma, Schierholtz made the decision for me by hitting a home run that plunked into the right field seats. Upon getting swept up in the cheers of the crowd — and realizing that I could run home and get warm — I decided that, yeah, I can be a Giants fan when the Twins aren’t here, even against former Twins.