Giants Baseball: Torture.

November 2, 2010 2:01 AM

The San Francisco Giants are the 2010 World Series Champions, having defeated the Texas Rangers 4 games to 1.

2010 marks the Giants' first World Series Championship since the 1954 World Series famous for Willie Mays' "catch", and their first championship since moving from New York to San Francisco in 1958.

Before this year, the San Francisco Giants have appeared in the World Series three times, in 1962, 1989, and 2002.

posted by clearly (131 comments total)

Well, as a Phillies fan, all of my desires were satisfied when the Mets failed to make the post-season. (This helps ease the particularly grim and unrelentingly painful form of torture which comes along with being a Philadelphia sports fan.)
posted by three blind mice at 2:26 AM on November 2, 2010 [4 favorites]

My friends and I were listening to the police scanner here in SF after the win. It sounded like Bill Paxton in Aliens.
posted by hototogisu at 2:29 AM on November 2, 2010 [11 favorites]

And the city has erupted in riots. I live in the mission district and have watched as the windows of buses and businesses have been bashed in. Ive seen multiple fires started in the streets and have had my life threatened this evening. It was exhilarating, but angering to have my neighborhood treated this way.
posted by matt_od at 2:29 AM on November 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

And the city has erupted in riots.

I'm deeply disappointed in San Francisco for behaving like Detroit.
posted by twoleftfeet at 2:34 AM on November 2, 2010

Eamus catuli 4life
posted by hal_c_on at 2:50 AM on November 2, 2010

Team Sports!
posted by Aizkolari at 3:15 AM on November 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

I remember vividly the 1989 series, interrupted by the Loma Prieta earthquake as linked above. I was on the other side of the country waiting to see the game (against the hated As) and all there was on TV was a blimp shot of South San Francisco and the 'Stick. It looked like a bomb had landed there, or that the earthquake was a huge, huge, horrible one. And all lines were down, couldn't reach family or friends. But even though the earthquake was a big one, what I was seeing wasn't damage from it; that was just South San Francisco in 1989. And when the World Series resumed, the Giants promptly lost the other 2 games.

I am very, very happy the Giants won this time around.

Finally, finally, the Giants Fever of my youth breaks. Bye, bye baby!
posted by chavenet at 3:21 AM on November 2, 2010

I'm deeply disappointed in San Francisco for behaving like Detroit.

I'm deeply disappointed in you for recycling a trope that made sense, oh, twenty-six years ago. Try harder.
posted by joe lisboa at 3:29 AM on November 2, 2010 [4 favorites]

"I'm deeply disappointed in San Francisco for behaving like Detroit East Lansing."

ftfy
posted by HuronBob at 3:34 AM on November 2, 2010 [4 favorites]

Yeah, the hit on Detroit was a bit old... This has happened in a lot of major cities.. As far as I'm concerned, just another reason to get rid of professional sports altogether.
posted by HuronBob at 3:36 AM on November 2, 2010 [2 favorites]

So, how many teams from, er... the rest of the world played in this 'World Series'?

Seriously, I need to know, coz if the number is say, zero, then I am totally the new World Series Bean Burrito eating champ as decided by my wife and I this evening.
posted by tim_in_oz at 3:52 AM on November 2, 2010

Japan won the last World Series. If by "world" we include Little League.
posted by twoleftfeet at 3:53 AM on November 2, 2010

I hope the local sports stores here in Austin have a firm return policy on Rangers gear or they're all going under.
posted by jcking77 at 4:09 AM on November 2, 2010 [2 favorites]

It was a great series even if I barely knew any of the players going in. San Fran has some amazing young talent. Of course next year the Mets will take it all........
posted by caddis at 4:21 AM on November 2, 2010 [2 favorites]

So, how many teams from, er... the rest of the world played in this 'World Series'?

Two Canadian teams. Rest of the world: represented.
posted by shakespeherian at 4:46 AM on November 2, 2010 [7 favorites]

So, how many teams from, er... the rest of the world played in this 'World Series'?

15 of the 50 players on the two World Series rosters were born outside of the USA.

Andres Torres, the Giants center fielder, was born in Puerto Rico, and spent 8 years playing for various minor league teams before getting called up by the Giants this year.

The World Series MVP was Edgar Renteria, from Columbia, who spent 4 years on the Marlins' minor league teams.

Colby Lewis spent the last two years pitching in Japan after a mediocre major league stint, before signing with the Rangers.

Tell me why any of these players sign with teams representing Major League Baseball. Surely they wouldn't get the chance if they weren't the best players in the world. They play Minor League baseball for years, taking buses to games and making peanuts for salary, because often it is an improvement in salary over what they would get in their home countries' leagues, and because of the prestige and huge amount of money that comes with an MLB contract.

There is the World Baseball Classic that attempts to create a World Cup like tournament for baseball, except without many big names, one game "series", and the majority of the players on top teams playing for MLB teams anyway.

tl;dr: Your favorite rugby/cricket team sucks, and will probably lose to New Zealand, just like every other year.
posted by clearly at 4:57 AM on November 2, 2010 [28 favorites]

I was kinda conflicted -- grew up in SF and actually saw Willie Mays play when I was about 8 at Candlestick. I loved watching Nolan Ryan pitch back in the 80's, but then Dubya bought the team, and it got kinda hard to support them. The better team most definitely won. I looked at my son in the middle of the game last night and said "I've got an idea! I know how the Rangers can win! They can hit the ball with the bat!" It turns out that it was just crazy talk.

SF Gate: Joyful Mayhem.
posted by Devils Rancher at 5:03 AM on November 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

And the city has erupted in riots.

I'm sort of puzzled as to why US fans seem to riot when they win. Is this a thing, or just confirmation bias on my part, having seen it a few times?

So, how many teams from, er... the rest of the world played in this 'World Series'?

I guess in the same way that there isn't a team from Texas in State of Origin, because they'd get their asses kicked, there's no reason to have a team from New South Wales in the World Series.

tl;dr: Your favorite rugby/cricket team sucks, and will probably lose to New Zealand, just like every other year.

*Cries*. As for the cricket....I suspect not. [/sad NZ fan]
posted by Infinite Jest at 5:07 AM on November 2, 2010

The SF Chron describes the mass mattress fires, broken windows on business storefronts, and rowdy crowds at Mission and 5th and King and 4th last night as "joyful mayhem." Another score for the hapless Chron! (The description of the Castro bartenders ripping their shirts off was kind of hilarious, though.)

Anyway, congrats to Edgar Renteria (described a couple years ago as a washed-up has-been), Matt Cain, Buster Posey, Tim Lincecum, and all the other guys. I'm trying to imagine how Willie Mays must have reacted to all this.
posted by blucevalo at 5:07 AM on November 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

So, how many teams from, er... the rest of the world played in this 'World Series'?

Oh god. This old chestnut again? The best baseball players in the world play in MLB, excepting maybe a few Cuban players, and even there the best tend to find a way to MLB eventually. Therefore it is totally justifiable to call it the World Series.

Seriously, I need to know, coz if the number is say, zero, then I am totally the new World Series Bean Burrito eating champ as decided by my wife and I this evening.

If you could demonstrate that the best bean burrito eaters in the world were all at your house last night, sure.

Two Canadian teams. Rest of the world: represented.

Just one. The Montreal Expos are now the Washington Nationals.
posted by kmz at 5:16 AM on November 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

An explanation of the name "World Series."
posted by .kobayashi. at 5:21 AM on November 2, 2010 [2 favorites]

Remember kids, don't smoke pot, or you'll never be a sports hero.
posted by uncleozzy at 5:21 AM on November 2, 2010 [3 favorites]

It's been called the World Series since 1903. The fact that, in 1903, well before the American hegemony, someone decided to call it that says a lot about how Americans think. But the name certainly isn't going to change now. But it isn't like (international) Football. Dozens of teams play dozens of games against each other for months and months in order to figure out who goes. An international team would pretty much have to live in America from March to October.

Canada participates though.

I could see a free Cuba playing some day.
posted by keratacon at 5:25 AM on November 2, 2010

Personally, I'm fine with SF winning, but I'm really disappointed that Fox didn't show any reaction shots from Dubya after Renteria's home run, or the final out. I so very wanted to see him confused and disappointed, wincing, furrowing his brow, trying to understand how his side -- the side of 'good,' no doubt, in his mind, the side of decent god-fearing Texans, and not the decadent louche cosmopolitans from San Fran -- could have lost.

Watching him watch his favorite team lose would have been petty, would have been schadenfreude, and would have been small comfort after all he's done to this country. Alright, so I'm petty. I wanted to see it.
posted by .kobayashi. at 5:27 AM on November 2, 2010 [21 favorites]

Two Canadian teams.

In my morning grogginess, you had my heart going there, that maybe, just maybe, the terrible theft of my Expos was some horrible dream, and I had an actual team to follow, instead of just following 'the game'. Then I woke up. Stupid reality...

Congrats, Giants. When you made it look so easy, I was wondering why it took you so long.
posted by Capt. Renault at 5:28 AM on November 2, 2010 [3 favorites]

Remember kids, don't smoke pot, or you'll never be a sports hero.

Lincecum's postgame interview:

Karl Ravech: What do you think is going on in San Francisco right now?

Lincecum: Just a lot of craziness I'm hoping. A lot of beer flowing, smoke in the air.
posted by clearly at 5:30 AM on November 2, 2010 [4 favorites]

Lincecum is the new Dock Ellis.
posted by twoleftfeet at 5:36 AM on November 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

[Your favorite sporting event sucks]

I grew up in Sunnyvale with an orange felt pennant from Candlestick Park tacked to my bedroom wall. I can still remember that image of a giant player stepping into the stadium. I can't really remember the game my dad took me too, but I do wish I had that pennant to stick on Ebay right now.
posted by mecran01 at 5:44 AM on November 2, 2010

Obvious baseball troll is obvious.
posted by BeerFilter at 5:47 AM on November 2, 2010 [2 favorites]

It was exhilarating, but angering to have my neighborhood treated this way.

Well, be fair: it's their neighborhood too, a lot of them.

After jumping up and down and screaming in the livingroom after Wilson's last pitch, we put on shoes and walked up 24th St to Mission. People were happy. There was a lot of high-fiving with strangers and standing on corners exchanging cheers with drivers. The two cars that got the most love: a classic Mustang that was Giants orange, and a low rider that hydraulic'd its way through a worshipful crowd.

24th St was closed at South Van Ness, and of course, Mission was closed. One of the funnier sights of the night was at 24th and York: hipsters on the corner in front of the St Francis, and cattycorner, in front of Taqueria San Francisco, was solid homeboys.

A lot of beer flowing, smoke in the air.

Oh yes, Timmy, there sure was.

It was an amazing series, and last night's game was really beautiful. Cliff Lee's pitching was something to see, and Lincecum's was apparently invisible, given how many Rangers whiffed. It's been a hell of a season.

Who's going to the parade on Wednesday?
posted by rtha at 6:00 AM on November 2, 2010 [5 favorites]

I'm sort of puzzled as to why US fans seem to riot when they win. Is this a thing, or just confirmation bias on my part, having seen it a few times?

I'm not sure what the question is. Why would you celebrate when you lose? They're happy that they won, they go a little crazy and things get out of hand.
posted by octothorpe at 6:13 AM on November 2, 2010

Just one. The Montreal Expos are now the Washington Nationals.

I was counting the Twins.
posted by shakespeherian at 6:14 AM on November 2, 2010 [2 favorites]

HuronBob: "As far as I'm concerned, just another reason to get rid of professional sports altogether."

I really hope this is a joke. Competitive sports are an analog for violence and war. Outlaw them somehow and you'll have more problems, not fewer.
posted by Plutor at 6:20 AM on November 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

I'm sort of puzzled as to why US fans seem to riot when they win.

Rioting is fun?
posted by smackfu at 6:26 AM on November 2, 2010 [3 favorites]

I'm sort of puzzled as to why US fans seem to riot when they win.

We are a warlike culture that derives pleasure from destruction. Our most popular science show is one where blowing stuff up is frequently the goal (even if it has nothing to do with the experiment).
posted by dirigibleman at 6:41 AM on November 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

Plutor, really, you believe we would start WWIII if we didn't have the superbowl?
posted by HuronBob at 6:44 AM on November 2, 2010

We are a warlike culture that derives pleasure from destruction. Our most popular science show is one where blowing stuff up is frequently the goal (even if it has nothing to do with the experiment).

Which is why no other culture ever riots when they win or lose.
posted by Lord Chancellor at 6:44 AM on November 2, 2010 [2 favorites]

I'm not sure what the question is. Why would you celebrate when you lose? They're happy that they won, they go a little crazy and things get out of hand.

Maybe I'm misinterpreting what's happening then. To my mind, smashing windows and starting fires and threatening people's lives would be a sign of anger, not celebration. So I can see it happening if my team loses, but not if they win.
posted by Infinite Jest at 6:45 AM on November 2, 2010

Sports riots are not a uniquely American phenomenon.
posted by The Card Cheat at 6:46 AM on November 2, 2010 [6 favorites]

Americans are dumb and violent and don't know the world exists! NUANCE
posted by shakespeherian at 6:48 AM on November 2, 2010

Sports riots are not a uniquely American phenomenon.

I certainly wasn't trying to imply that; I was more interested that it was the fans of the winning team specifically who would smash stuff. I've certainly seen losing fans in other countries riot, but winning fans...not in my experience and that covers New Zealand (cheer once or twice, go home), Australia (a bit more enthusiastic), India (set off fireworks), Egypt (everyone runs down to the centre of town and jumps up and down for 2 or 3 hours, and climb on buses and street lamps, but don't break anything), England (lots of jumping around and singing...).

Apologies if this is getting de-raily.
posted by Infinite Jest at 6:52 AM on November 2, 2010

smashing windows and starting fires and threatening people's lives would be a sign of anger

Nope, smashing windows is fun. As long as they aren't your windows.
posted by smackfu at 6:59 AM on November 2, 2010

Nope, smashing windows is fun. As long as they aren't your windows.

Fair enough, I guess that answers the question :)
posted by Infinite Jest at 7:06 AM on November 2, 2010

I'm deeply disappointed in San Francisco for behaving like Detroit.

And Montreal, and Toronto, and Los Angeles, and...
posted by Edison Carter at 7:14 AM on November 2, 2010

Shaky ipod video from 24th & York:

Low rider

Orange Mustang (about halfway through)
posted by rtha at 7:16 AM on November 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

If anything I thought American sports fans were less riot-y then the European football fans.
posted by r_nebblesworthII at 7:26 AM on November 2, 2010

I think the football fans tend to brawl with the opponents more.
posted by smackfu at 7:28 AM on November 2, 2010

Europeans riot like this while Americans riot like this.
posted by Lord Chancellor at 7:41 AM on November 2, 2010 [7 favorites]

> It's been called the World Series since 1903.

Nope, since 1884. (Even back then, the Mets lost. And as a Mets, fan, let me just say: don't tell me about torture!)

Well done, Giants! And what caddis said.
posted by languagehat at 7:41 AM on November 2, 2010 [3 favorites]

I'm trying to imagine how Willie Mays must have reacted to all this.
posted by blucevalo at 8:07 AM on November 2

He liked it.

"Oh, man, I don't get overly excited about baseball, but looking at these kids and how excited they were, I had some tears in my eyes," Willie Mays said from his Peninsula home shortly after the Giants won the World Series on Monday night, "because you never know, this might be the last time something like this happens to some of these kids. It's a wonderful feeling for me, and I'm sure it's a wonderful feeling for these kids and their families."

Mays, surrounded by a half-dozen friends, had to leave the room after watching the final out, Brian Wilson striking out Nelson Cruz. "I had to get out of here for a minute because I'm not used to getting emotional like this."



Willie Mays has a good point about this might be the last time. He won a World Series championship when he was 23 and then never again in his long career.
posted by Rarebit Fiend at 7:51 AM on November 2, 2010 [4 favorites]

I'd seen Lincecum pitch his very first Majors game a few years back on a TV in bar in the Tenderloin, and my inner-baseball daemon said, "Take heed, this is a special day." The Cult of Baseball is a fine one for blessed leisure.

A few weeks back, I had the good fortune to attend one of the Giant's post-season NL-West-deciding games against San Diego as a fifth-wheel guest to two geeky couples. We tried to be very participatory, waved our Rally Rags when prompted by the large, flashing sign, chanted "UUUURIBE!" at the proper assigned moments, partook in the Transubstantiation of Garlic Fries, threw peanuts at hot young Padres fans, drank good beer and laughed.

Even though we lost that particular game, and I can barely count myself a "fan", I had an inkling we'd go all the way and win the World Series that day. I even got an extra Rally Rag that some faithless, digusted fan had thrown on the edge of a trash can while exiting. I've been using it to wipe up crumbs and spills on the desk around my laptop in the past month.

If you just focus on the game as it is played, the tension of the wind-up, pitch, bat meeting ball, the arc of ball, the running, walking, standing, spitting, scratching, signaling, brief pauses--it's quite a mellow, lovely thing to lose yourself in on warm afternoon in a ballpark.

Some pent-up folks break out windows; it's like they don't really believe, and they've all got to go back to work. I'm curiously dreading the bus and the train and the other train to learning institution this morning. Plus, I've got to do my civic duty and vote. Waving my Rally Rag, eternally, as prompted...
posted by eegphalanges at 8:05 AM on November 2, 2010 [2 favorites]

What I find odd -- and would be interested in hearing how this played elsewhere -- is what a freakin' afterthought this was on the local news sports. It was maybe the 4th sports story and delivered with absolutely no importance. I don't expect much from the local news broadcasts at all and expect them to be more Chicago-sports focused than a Wrigleyville bar -- but still it was weird.

.kobayashi.: An explanation of the name "World Series."
As for this New Yorker cartoon, I found it refreshing that it looked like the woman's mouth was moving, so for a minute, I thought it was her telling her husband to shut up after calling the World Series a misnomer, but the sales caption underneath describes it the other way around, so I was then disappointed again. Which is a feeling Chicago baseball fans know well.

(Yes, I just beanplated a New Yorker cartoon on Metafilter and brought in gender stereotypes at the same time. No, this does not unlock some sort of special achievement badge.)
posted by MCMikeNamara at 8:07 AM on November 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

• Glad the Giants won
• Wish Texas had been able to make a better series of it
• Glad I can now go another year without hearing Joe Buck and Tim McCarver
posted by Thorzdad at 8:08 AM on November 2, 2010 [2 favorites]

Congrats to Brian Wilson on his second greatest achievement. The first, naturally, being that awesome awesome beard.
posted by jerseygirl at 8:11 AM on November 2, 2010 [2 favorites]

I used to love baseball, but that was back in the days when they played World Series games during the day. In October. Before the first snowfall.
posted by tommasz at 8:16 AM on November 2, 2010

Nope, since 1884.

The MLB considers the 1903 World Series to be the first. Previous Championships are considered precursors.
posted by Plutor at 8:37 AM on November 2, 2010

Hapless Chronicle indeed; the print edition contains nothing about the "joyful mayhem". I guess the print deadline is 9pm now? Here's some great birds-eye video of the cops clearing 22nd and Mission. Dumbass drunks.
posted by Nelson at 8:38 AM on November 2, 2010

The fact that, in 1903, well before the American hegemony

ARGUABLE! Arguable. Mahan's Sea Power thesis came before this--and so did the Spanish-American War and the Philippine Insurrection. So, uh, hi-5 for American hegemony.
posted by liketitanic at 8:44 AM on November 2, 2010

A combination of the stonefruit and pomegranate guy at the farmer's market being a total fanatic and that the Giants were my dad's old favorite team got me rooting for them this time, all the way through the playoffs. I've rooted for the Phillies before, but what the hell, the Giants seemed like a good team, and both of them were well-stocked with former Tigers (I still think Rentaria is a bum, but now he's a bum with a ring). I'm glad they pulled it out, but frankly, they've been playing so well I was a little surprised when they lost one game.

I only rooted for the Rangers because my hatred of the Yankees is that strong — once they'd knocked the evil empire out, I didn't need them anymore (like mujahadeen!).
posted by klangklangston at 8:49 AM on November 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

I find it really groovy that the Giants have employed two consecutive female PA Announcers.
posted by Danf at 8:51 AM on November 2, 2010 [2 favorites]

• Glad I can now go another year without hearing Joe Buck and Tim McCarver

Yes yes a million times yes.
posted by rtha at 8:52 AM on November 2, 2010 [3 favorites]

> The MLB considers the 1903 World Series to be the first. Previous Championships are considered precursors.

I am happy to say I do not allow MLB to determine my view of reality. Also, as I have had occasion to say frequently before (and especially since that asshat Bud Selig has been masquerading as Commissioner): fuck MLB.

The series of the 1880s between the two major leagues were called World Series then and now. It boggles my mind that some people can decide for specious reasons that they were somehow not "real" and attempt to efface them from history (just as they have done to the National Association).

In conclusion: Go Giants! Fuck MLB!
posted by languagehat at 8:55 AM on November 2, 2010 [2 favorites]

San Fran has some amazing young talent.

Congrats to Brian Wilson on his second greatest achievement. The first, naturally, being that awesome awesome beard.

No way, dude. Wilson's crowning achievement in his career to date is this interview with Jim Rome, which sold me completely on the Giants. (Well, that and Tim Lincecum having the look and general vibe of an extra on the set of Dazed & Confused.)

That interview is totally worth 8mins. of your time. Starts a little dry and brash and jocklike, but by 3:05 you're into this exchange:

Rome: How long did that take? To become a certified ninja?

Wilson: Well, I believe we discussed - it happened in a dream.

[. . .]

Rome: Right. So are you a throwing stars guy, a nunchuk guy?

Wilson: Mental assassin.

And then at 5:25 . . .

Rome: You've covered this a number of times, but it bears repeating once more. The orange spikes. You get fined a thousand bucks for orange spikes. What was the fine for?

Wilson: Having too much awesome on my feet. Clearly that was the reason.

In an era of milquetoast, corporate stooge athletes, I'll take Wilson's slightly overdone Xtreme facade if you get unvarnished goofball like this underneath in a package that can lead the NL in saves and then go 0.00 through the playoffs.

Congrats, Giants. Couldn't have happened to a less Yankee-like bunch of guys!
posted by gompa at 8:57 AM on November 2, 2010 [19 favorites]

And no knocking Tim McCarver, please; he's the most knowledgeable announcer the game has had in decades. I can understand how some of his mannerisms might grate, but how can anyone prefer the usual run of morons spouting an endless string of "Say, he hit that one a ton! He can smoke it, I'm tellin' you. He hit last year with the Tigers, and he's hittin' here! He's a hitting machine, I'm tellin' you. And how about this guy comin' up to the plate? He can hit a ball or two himself!"? When McCarver says the infield should be farther over to the right because the batter is a pull hitter, you can bet the batter will push one past the second baseman. He knows what he's talking about, and that's more valuable than rubies and pearls.
posted by languagehat at 9:00 AM on November 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

Maybe, maybe, lhat. But here, we're spoiled with Kruk and Kuip.
posted by rtha at 9:10 AM on November 2, 2010 [5 favorites]

Best Ron Washington Costume Ever!
posted by pianomover at 9:12 AM on November 2, 2010

And no knocking Tim McCarver, please; he's the most knowledgeable announcer the game has had in decades.

Yep.. Baseball for Brain Surgeons broke my brain (mainly the chapter on different types of pitches).

Also, Congrats Giants.
posted by starman at 9:18 AM on November 2, 2010

"And no knocking Tim McCarver, please; he's the most knowledgeable announcer the game has had in decades."

I'd take Vin Scully or Ernie Harwell over him in a second.
posted by klangklangston at 9:20 AM on November 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

Can we all agree that Joe Buck is terrible?
posted by Copronymus at 9:22 AM on November 2, 2010 [2 favorites]

I think my favorite single moment of the series was watching W put his hand over his heart for "God Bless America" as though it were the national anthem.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 9:28 AM on November 2, 2010 [3 favorites]

Glad I can now go another year without hearing Joe Buck and Tim McCarver

Oddly I found myself hating them less this year than I ever have before. But take that with a grain of salt, because last night I was feeling so expansive and generous that I was babbling about what a nice lady Laura Bush seems like she might be. I really just think that when baseball joy is firing on all cylinders, I start loving everyone.

Also, the other night Joe Buck was taking the piss out of Justin Bieber and it was pretty funny.
posted by padraigin at 9:32 AM on November 2, 2010

Congrats to the Giants, but we all know the real championship is currently ongoing between the righteous CHIBA! LOTTE! MARINESU! and the Chunichi Dragons. I mean, if you want to see real fans, you've got to take in a Marines game.

I mean, this is at an away game, and the fans are that loud. I'll take this over watching the fans chat on cellphones and ignoring the game anyday.
posted by Ghidorah at 9:39 AM on November 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

languagehat: And no knocking Tim McCarver, please

O noes, a metafilter hero of mine defending the most annoying national sports broadcaster in existence! Wait, no, I take that back; forgetting about Joe "he's a clutch hitter" Morgan.

But still! McCarver is knowledgeable, no doubt, but is also astonishingly predictable, prone to repeating himself, says blindingly obvious things as if they offer insight to the game ("We used to call these 'how you doin' conversations, because the first thing the pitching coach asks when he gets to the mound is 'how you doing?', thus 'how you doing' conversations") and likes to go on long tangents about players' extra-baseball activities so he can tie them back in to the game at hand with the most forced, sterile puns ("Cody Ross used to want to be a rodeo clown, but there has been nothing funny about his at bats"), and all with that ridiculous shit eating grin on his face. He is so bad.
posted by ericost at 9:39 AM on November 2, 2010 [4 favorites]

Don't worry, Texas, at least you still have the Cowboys-- oh wait...
posted by lullaby at 9:40 AM on November 2, 2010 [2 favorites]

I think my favorite single moment of the series was watching W put his hand over his heart for "God Bless America" as though it were the national anthem.

Both he and Babs did. About half way through they were glancing nervously around at the crowd and, noticing no one else was doing that stupid thing, tried to nonchalantly pretend like they weren't doing it by pulling at their lapels and such until their hands were down at their sides again. Overprivileged, confused, idiots who were allowed to run our country for a while. Sigh.
posted by Mental Wimp at 9:50 AM on November 2, 2010

Another big win for this World Series: not having "America's Damn Team" the Yankees and ending in 5 games causes a severe ratings shortfall for Fox. So no November Sweeps win for you, Rupert. (And I remain hopeful that a Simon-less Idol will underperform later this season)

And nth-ing Vin Scully. He's even better when he's not calling for his beloved Dodgers. But I still hold out hope for Ken Levine, the only human being on earth to have both called Major League Baseball and written for M*A*S*H and Cheers. (He also wrote the "Dancing Homer" episode of The Simpsons; maybe Fox could hire him as both play-by-play and show doctor for the Springfieldians.)
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:02 AM on November 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

Sorry about the trigger-happy comma.
posted by Mental Wimp at 10:02 AM on November 2, 2010

ericost: I hear you, and those are the grating mannerisms I was talking about, but I personally am happy to overlook them to get the benefit of his deep knowledge of the game. I can understand how someone could be so annoyed they just tune him out, but that (in my opinion) is their loss.
posted by languagehat at 10:16 AM on November 2, 2010

FJM tag Tim McCarver
posted by klangklangston at 10:21 AM on November 2, 2010

I love the Giants because they are the anti-Yankees, a collection of cast-offs and weirdos. It's such a reflection of what I imagine San Fran itself is like.

Also, I'm a huge Pirates fan (I know, I feel sorry for me too) and Freddy Sanchez was really good to the community when he played there.

I would have enjoyed the game more if not for the bitter Rangers fan next to me who called Tim Lincecum a "skinny faggot."
posted by elder18 at 10:45 AM on November 2, 2010 [2 favorites]

I was deeply upset by seeing Ranger fans holding Steers Vs. Queers in the stand for the final game, so I penned them a little note.


Dear Texas,

You've been messed with.

Love,
San Francisco
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 11:14 AM on November 2, 2010 [12 favorites]

Also the 'rioting' was a bit overblown in the Mission. A few cracked windows at Wells Fargo, a few charred mattress husks, and lots of broken beer bottles. If I can cruise through the 'riot' at 11:30pm only to see some hyped sports fans on the sidewalk and a row of rather relaxed police in gear, it ain't no riot.

You need at minimum:
Looting
Burning police car
Pepper spray/tear gas
Molotov cocktail tossed by bandanna-clad Latin-American Studies grad.
At least one reporter from Pacifica network

The police didn't even break out the shields. I mark it down as irrational exuberance.
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 11:18 AM on November 2, 2010 [2 favorites]

Wow, can't believe the McCarver fandom from an otherwise esteemed poster. I guess that's the reason he's not called "baseballhat"...
posted by hincandenza at 11:23 AM on November 2, 2010 [3 favorites]

I was deeply upset by seeing Ranger fans holding Steers Vs. Queers in the stand for the final game

I missed that. Probably just as well. Although perhaps someone should invite those fans to some Texas Gay Rodeo Association events, just so they know what it really looks like when the queers meet the steers.
posted by hippybear at 11:28 AM on November 2, 2010

What I find odd -- and would be interested in hearing how this played elsewhere -- is what a freakin' afterthought this was on the local news sports.

Here in the Northeast, which is usually baseball mad, people were trying to get the TV changed to another station. Texas and California = who cares.
posted by smackfu at 11:45 AM on November 2, 2010

he's the most knowledgeable announcer the game has had in decades

The fuck he is.
posted by Edison Carter at 11:55 AM on November 2, 2010

Face it. You guys would not be happy, really happy, unless you saw one jerk make a gay reference so you can keep the fantasy in your head that we are backward homophobic racists. Keep your dreams alive!!
posted by Senator at 11:57 AM on November 2, 2010

we are backward homophobic racists.

Yes. All we (non-Texans) do is sit around thinking about Texas. And try to come up with better ways to hate Texans.
posted by Edison Carter at 12:00 PM on November 2, 2010

"The Rangers aren't hitting because the Giants are pitching."
-Tim McCarver. Yes, he actually said that.
posted by dirigibleman at 12:01 PM on November 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

I'm 47 and have been a Giants fan since I was a boy -- I remember going to Candlestick with my grandfather and cheering on Mays and McCovey. Somewhere my grandfather is smiling broadly.

I was never a huge sports fan, but as I've gotten older I've really begun to appreciate and enjoy baseball. It's a wonderful game.

Last year, I was lucky enough to take our 8 year old to some Cactus League spring training games with my folks. I can't describe how awesome and fun that was. If you are a baseball fan I highly recommend taking in a few spring training games at some point in your life -- it was incredible. It's so wonderfully casual and laid back, and the games really move -- pitchers pitch, batters hit or whiff, and the games move along briskly. It feels like a Little League game. My only regret -- and it's a very selfish one -- is that I think it just became a lot harder to get tickets to Giants' spring training games.

I'll, uh, make my peace with that somehow ;-)
posted by mosk at 12:08 PM on November 2, 2010

Face it. You guys would not be happy, really happy, unless you saw one jerk make a gay reference so you can keep the fantasy in your head that we are backward homophobic racists. Keep your dreams alive!!

I doubt anyone here is generalizing all Texas baseball fans' characters based on the actions of a few ignorant jerks.
posted by hippybear at 12:12 PM on November 2, 2010

I enjoyed the World Series even more by watching the games while reading the tweets of FakeTimMcCarver.
posted by lukemeister at 12:19 PM on November 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

mosk, there's still the minor-league San Jose Giants. Despite capturing the California League championship in '98, '01, '05, '07, '09 and 2010, tickets are easy to get and the atmosphere at the park is very kid-friendly. And they have garlic fries.
posted by jamaro at 12:30 PM on November 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

Congrats Giants you were definitely on in October. Now please give us at least a dozen more interviews with Brian Wilson and his ninja style.
posted by cmfletcher at 12:32 PM on November 2, 2010

Plutor, really, you believe we would start WWIII if we didn't have the superbowl?

I believe there are other forms of violence than World War Three.
posted by Plutor at 12:39 PM on November 2, 2010

I'm deeply disappointed in San Francisco for behaving like Detroit.

Sir, I grew in Detroit. I experienced Devil's Night in Detroit. I was in Detroit on October 14, 1984. I have lived in San Francisco for 15 years (and Oakland for 1).

San Francisco, you are no Detroit.

Remember kids, don't smoke pot, or you'll never be a sports hero ...

- a four-time NBA champ and 9-time all-star
- Heisman Trophy winner
- 25-game MLB winner
- a two-time NFL champ and five-time all-star
- an Olympian with 14 gold medals

On 2nd Street last week, I bought a bootleg T-shirt with a big marijuana leaf that says "LET TIMMY SMOKE"

And no knocking Tim McCarver, please; he's the most knowledgeable announcer the game has had in decades.

This statement needs a HAMBURGER as tall as the Rincon Center. He is constantly, consistently wrong about all sorts of stuff.
posted by mrgrimm at 12:42 PM on November 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

I enjoyed the World Series even more by watching the games while reading the tweets of FakeTimMcCarver.

It's sorta like playing basketball with kindergarteners, but still funny.

"The pitch, the swing, the contact, the reach, the catch, the throw, the catch. Too late. Safe."
posted by mrgrimm at 12:44 PM on November 2, 2010

This Brian Wilson interview is hilarious. Watch at about 45 seconds for something...odd in the background.
posted by elder18 at 12:48 PM on November 2, 2010 [4 favorites]

I love that in some way, maybe not a huge way, we beat Dubya. I was at the AT&T Park home opener in 2001, and the crowd booed his Play Ball jumbotron message for a solid minute.

As a Giants fan, this victory meant more to me than I can say. Yes, it is sports, and there are far more important things on the planet. But for that moment, when my wife and I were jumping up and down in front of the muted television, with Kruk and Kuip cranked on the radio, it was everything. My eyes started watering after the first out in the 9th and they are misty now even thinking about it.

I remembered being at the Grand Canyon in 2002, the champagne on ice for Game 6. And how much that hurt. Now, we have this victory to chase those memories away.

Baseball is beautiful. If you don't feel that way, that is fine too. But to me, it is.

Go Giants.
posted by Kafkaesque at 1:03 PM on November 2, 2010 [8 favorites]

And no knocking Tim McCarver, please; he's the most knowledgeable announcer the game has had in decades.

oops, you misspelled "Jon Miller".
posted by mach at 1:11 PM on November 2, 2010 [8 favorites]

All this criticism of McCarver is really clogging up the basepaths thread.
posted by SpiffyRob at 1:12 PM on November 2, 2010

"Face it. You guys would not be happy, really happy, unless you saw one jerk make a gay reference so you can keep the fantasy in your head that we are backward homophobic racists. Keep your dreams alive!!"

The best part of messing with Texas is getting comments like this. They're like the easiest trolled state in the nation!
posted by klangklangston at 1:55 PM on November 2, 2010

So, how many teams from, er... the rest of the world played in this 'World Series'?

The same number of football clubs that played in the World Cup. This meme is an apples to oranges comparison, and it needs to stop being made by people who know better.

I was deeply upset by seeing Ranger fans holding Steers Vs. Queers in the stand for the final game

I don't know why you should be. You know what a steer is, right? Because the sign holders clearly didn't.

I love that in some way, maybe not a huge way, we beat Dubya.

Dubya's connection to the team now is as a fan, so it's really in almost no way. The only way Dubya was involved with the series was as the salesman on getting the Rangers ballpark built by the taxpayers of Arlington. Pretty much everything that ownership group built was destroyed by Tom Hicks and his overleveraged stupidity. Best thing to happen to the Rangers, other than finally getting a front office that could draft worth a damn, was the Yankees re-upping with ARod in 2007. That deal cancelled the $250M contract Hicks signed with Rodriguez, which finally meant the Rangers no longer had to send the Yankees money every year to offset the deal. (Really. The Rangers were paying the Yankees, the richest team in American sports, to employ ARod.)

And no knocking Tim McCarver, please; he's the most knowledgeable announcer the game has had in decades.

Please tell me you're being ironic or sarcastic, as in "knowledgeable like Joe Morgan." Or that in "decades" you mean "decades in which Vin Scully, Red Barber, Dave Niehaus, Jon Miller, Ernie Harwell, Jerry Coleman, or Harry Kalas were not living." Because I hate to tell you this, but Scully, Niehaus, Miller, and Coleman are all still alive.
posted by dw at 1:56 PM on November 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

Cmfletcher, your wish will be granted. Unfortunately it will be granted at first by Jay Leno (on Thursday)
posted by TwoWordReview at 2:33 PM on November 2, 2010

Let's hope Wilson brings back "The Machine."
posted by elder18 at 3:09 PM on November 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

The best part of messing with Texas is getting comments like this. They're like the easiest trolled state in the nation!

Yeah . . . let's not troll anyone. I've known some good Texans in my time, so I'll give the whole state the benefit of the doubt due to them alone.

However, I rooted for the Giants. No offense Rangers, but the Giants rank higher in my heart.
posted by Lord Chancellor at 3:14 PM on November 2, 2010

Ranger fans holding Steers Vs. Queers...

Surely a Texan knows that steers are male cows that are, ahem, missing certain body parts?
posted by phliar at 4:12 PM on November 2, 2010

You all can hate on McCarver all you want. He called the Mets games during their (and my) glory years, and nothing will change my affection for him, even if he's lost a few steps over the years.
posted by languagehat at 4:45 PM on November 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

A New Yorker writes...
posted by chavenet at 4:55 PM on November 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

Best thing to happen to the Rangers, other than finally getting a front office that could draft worth a damn, was the Yankees re-upping with ARod in 2007.

Not to mention trading Mark Teixeira to the Braves for Elvis Andrus and Neftali Feliz among others. Texieira, playing for the Yankees against the Rangers in the ALCS put up a historically bad 0-14 performance at the plate, before getting injured in game 4.

Tom Hicks famously said that Alex Rodriguez would send the Rangers to the world series, and in his final at bat of the 2010 ALCS, he managed to do just that.
posted by clearly at 5:01 PM on November 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

chavenet: A New Yorker writes...

That's a nice piece, comments too.
posted by ericost at 5:23 PM on November 2, 2010

I'm so glad they won. I haven't been following baseball for years now (soccer has really captured my heart in terms of sports), but I really enjoyed watching SF play in both the playoffs and in the World Series. Both my dad (who lived in SF) and I agree that Tim Lincecum is just the bee's knees.

Sort of makes me regret not catching a ballgame in person when I visited SF a while back.
posted by spinifex23 at 10:39 PM on November 2, 2010

The Rangers don't have to worry: I understand that the Texas Board of Education will be saying in it's history textbooks that the Rangers won the world series. Teach the controversy!
posted by happyroach at 12:07 AM on November 3, 2010 [1 favorite]

This was the first year my wife and I followed the Giants—or any pro ball team, for that matter. It's been like hitting the trifecta of awesome. I almost feel as if we cheated somehow.

Kruk and Kuip got props earlier in the discussion, and they've earned 'em. We wouldn't have made it a week with any other broadcasting team. Krukow in particular is the first color man whose commentary has actually made me feel like I better understood the subtleties of the game. Between Krukow, Kuiper, Dave Fleming and Jon Miller, there isn't a single meathead in the booth—I can't recall having heard a "you've gotta make it around the bases to score runs"-level comment out of them all season. It's not just a refreshing change, it's positively bracing.

Same for the guys on the field. There are standout players but there doesn't seem to be a single prima donna or attitude case in the lineup. Wilson and Burrell grabbed some lunch in a neighborhood joint THIS AFTERNOON, hanging out and taking pictures with fans. Would Barry Bonds have been caught dead doing that?

It's been said that they gelled as a team this year because they felt comfortable in their own skins. They aren't wasting energy burying their personalities to create a unified "team image". Nobody in San Francisco has a problem with Lincecum's hair or smoking habits (thank you Philly for the HURF DURF STINKY HIPPIE signs), or with Wilson's ongoing performance-art freakshow. I doubt Huff would be chatting amiably with the hometown press about the Rally Thong if the "home town" in question were Dallas or Philadelphia.

So yeah, I'll be at the parade. These guys proved to me that there's more to sports than the never-ending humiliation hellhole of middle-school PE. Spending a long lunch hour cheering for them is the least I can do.
posted by Lazlo at 1:30 AM on November 3, 2010 [4 favorites]

So yeah, I'll be at the parade.

I saw a fair amount of Giants gear on the 5:45am (!) train into SF.

It might get a little crowded today.
posted by mrgrimm at 6:26 AM on November 3, 2010

This was the first year my wife and I followed the Giants—or any pro ball team, for that matter. It's been like hitting the trifecta of awesome. I almost feel as if we cheated somehow.

Hey! You can't skip to the end like that!

Go be a Royals or Pirates fan for a few years first.
posted by Edison Carter at 6:36 AM on November 3, 2010 [1 favorite]

I've been a Giants fan since '91. This year is certainly not as rewarding for me as the '84 Tigers or the '95 Wings, but I was much younger for both of these.

Also, despite the fun factor of the guys on the team, there aren't a lot of hardcore Giants veterans on the team. It's a weird mix.

I mean, who are the longtime Giants on the roster? ... Eli Whiteside? :D ... Barry Zito? To be honest, Zito is probably my favorite Giants. There aren't a lot of players on this team that I like individually. Maybe Torres? Uribe? I'm sure I'll love Posey eventually, but he's sorta white rice.

While I'm extremely happy that the Giants finally won it, I'm not nearly as happy as I would have been if they did it in '93 or '02. Bonds, Thompson, Williams, Snow, etc.

Also, this was the first year in a while I didn't have cable TV, and I have a young child, so I got to watch about 3 regular season games this year. (Thank god for fox in the playoffs. If the Giants were on TBS, I was screwed.)
posted by mrgrimm at 6:56 AM on November 3, 2010

We should have a meetup at the parade!

By which I mean, as many of us local mefites as possible should go, and we should take pictures and video, and then post them, and then come back here and talk about what we saw and where we were. Because we'd never find each other in that crowd.
posted by rtha at 7:06 AM on November 3, 2010

I mean, who are the longtime Giants on the roster? ... Eli Whiteside? :D ... Barry Zito? To be honest, Zito is probably my favorite Giants.

Well, his performance this season was sure better than in the last few. But Matt Cain, dude! Matt! Cain! (I don't know if Renteria counts as "longtime," since this is his...second season, I think?, but Edgar! BOOM! His postseason play made up for a lot.)
posted by rtha at 7:09 AM on November 3, 2010

> That's a nice piece, comments too.

No kidding! (They must moderate the hell out of that comment section.) I'll repost my favorite comment here:

I am truly happy for the Giants and their fans. But I inhabit an unimaginably more torturous circle of baseball hell: I am a Cub fan. The scar tissue has scar tissue. We have not been IN a World Series in 65 years, 9 years longer than the Giants' World Series VICTORY drought. We have not WON a World Series since man first trod the North or South Poles. We have not won since the human voice first was carried by radio. We have not won since 90% of the world's population was ruled by one of seven emperors. We have not won since both Mark Twain and Leo Tolstoy were alive and writing books. We have not won since the first Model T was two weeks old. We have not won since the year the Sultan was deposed. Remember how, allegedly, in old folks' homes around New England, codgers clung to life so they could witness another Red Sox championship in 2004, causing a drop in mortality before the clincher and a spike right afterwards? That could not happen in Chicago. Because all those who witnessed the last Cubs championship first-hand, on October 14, 1908, are already dead. Put simply: We have not won in the lifetime of anyone who could possibly remember. If they ever do win now, it will be too late. The fandom of many of us has simply curdled. We have heard "We have the right organization" and "We're just a couple of players away" so often that all it draws from us is a dry rasping laugh of contempt. Ironically, the only Cub fans who will be cheering on the streets if they ever do win will be those who cannot possibly have been through what the real Cub fans have been through. We are the hollow fans We are the lost fans Leaning together Blue hats filled with straw. Alas! Our dried voices, when We whisper together Are quiet and meaningless As a muffed grounder at third Scoring one more Redbird In our NL cellar.
Posted 11/2/2010, 3:31:55pm by patrickmarren

Now that's how a baseball fan should complain. And I loved Angell's brief but perfect evocation of Will Clark and his "eloquent swing."
posted by languagehat at 7:43 AM on November 3, 2010 [4 favorites]

I mean, who are the longtime Giants on the roster?

The longest tenured Giant on the team is Matt Cain. He is 26.

There aren't a lot of players on this team that I like individually.

The thing about this year's Giants is that their success wasn't based on the lineup, it was based on the pitching staff. Each of the four starters and the closer on their playoff roster came up through the Giants system. None of them have played for any other team.

Brian Sabean assembled a lineup of cast off veterans who had been around the block: Renteria with the Marlins and Cardinals, Burrell with the Phillies, Uribe with the White Sox. If the lineup could produce enough runs to give their pitching staff a chance to win, which isn't many, the Giants would succeed.

In September, while chasing the Padres in the NL West, the Giants had a streak of 18 games where they allowed 3 or fewer runs. That streak went largely unnoticed by the analysts predicting that opposing pitchers Lowe, Hudson, Halladay, Hamels, Oswalt, Lee, and Wilson would have their way with the Giants. Each of those pitchers were out pitched.

In Game 6 of the NLCS, the Giants bullpen pitched 7 shutout innings in a 2-2 ballgame, and gave Juan Uribe the chance to win it with a solo home run in the 8th. Keep in mind, this was in Philly, which isn't known to be the most hospitable town for opposing teams.

A lot of faces on the Giants will likely change in the upcoming seasons, but their entire rotation is signed until 2013. When you have a pitching staff like that, it becomes easier to build a team because you don't need 40 Home Run 120 RBI type guys to win ball games.
posted by clearly at 9:56 AM on November 3, 2010 [3 favorites]

Good point on Matt Cain. He's had about 5 full seasons now. I always think of him as 22 or 23, so it's hard to imagine him as a veteran.

The thing about this year's Giants is that their success wasn't based on the lineup, it was based on the pitching staff. Each of the four starters and the closer on their playoff roster came up through the Giants system. None of them have played for any other team.

Don't get me wrong. This season was like a ridiculous dream. I've been hearing those cryptical names "posey" and "bumgarner" bandied about as "giants saviors" for a few years now. To have those guys take us to the World Series in their rookie year? ... well, I scoff at all the "unbelievable" and "amazing" hyperboles from Monday night, but it really is a remarkable surprise. (This whole MLB season was. Jose Bautista, anyone?)

I'm down with pitching, and I certainly love the rotation. Any team that can afford to use Barry Zito as a 5th starter is in damn good shape.

We still need hitting, though. Regardless of pitching, a lineup like that winning a World Series is a blue-moon event. (One inherent problem with SF is that no batter wants to come to AT&T and watch their OPS drop .140 points. Ross and Huff's bumps this year were also blue-moon events.)
posted by mrgrimm at 10:28 AM on November 3, 2010

Go be a Royals or Pirates fan for a few years first.

The Royals and Pirates have won the World Series in the last 31 years. The Mariners and Expos/Nationals have never even been to the Series. So I'd beg to differ over the long-suffering fans.

And even then, at least the M's have been to the ALCS three times. The Expos went to the NLCS once (in '81) and had their shot at the Series robbed from them with the '94 strike.
posted by dw at 11:21 AM on November 3, 2010

The Royals and Pirates have won the World Series in the last 31 years.

I never said they had the longest drought. I use them as examples of providing annual pain for the fans.

That being said, THIRTY-ONE years is a long time.
posted by Edison Carter at 11:49 AM on November 3, 2010

Well, it's not like the Pirates won 116 games, only to have All Of The American Sports Media declare that because of 9/11 the Yankees MUST win their 27th title to Heal NYC's Wounds And America's Psyche.

Still bitter.
posted by dw at 1:45 PM on November 3, 2010 [2 favorites]

My brother-in-law Jeff grew up in Palo Alto and he and his two brothers have always been committed Giants fans. They split a pair of season tickets every year and he was kind enough to take me to the opening of PacBell Stadium when we were visiting. After waiting for all this time, he finally saw his beloved Giants win their WS ring.

His son, 11 years old, has followed the Giants himself for as long as he could watch TV. An avid sports nut, he reads the entire sports page every day, knows and can draw the logos of all teams in all major league sports, has done his own brackets for the NCAA basketball tournament since he was 5 years old, and plays baseball, soccer, basketball, and football. As soon as the 5^th game was over, the phone rang and, when the answering machine came on, he shouted "Giants win the World Series!" and immediately hung up. Big deal, I thought. Your dad waited 44 years, you only had to wait 11. Kids these days are spoiled.
posted by Mental Wimp at 2:50 PM on November 3, 2010

Apparently 1 million fans showed up for the parade, would love to be there.
posted by TwoWordReview at 3:00 PM on November 3, 2010

Well, it's not like the Pirates won 116 games, only to have All Of The American Sports Media declare that because of 9/11 the Yankees MUST win their 27th title to Heal NYC's Wounds And America's Psyche.

Apparently even that wasn't enough to overcome Randy Johnson and Curt Shilling on the same team.
posted by hippybear at 4:20 PM on November 3, 2010

We went to the parade - it was pandemonium. The good kind. We were at least 12 people back from the street, so what we saw most of was a forest of waving arms and hands clutching cameras. I did catch a glimpse of Huff waving his red thong.

The energy was completely electric. Everyone was just so. damn. happy. I'm really glad we went.
posted by rtha at 7:18 PM on November 3, 2010 [1 favorite]

Say Hey (I Love You)
posted by gingerbeer at 10:45 AM on November 4, 2010 [1 favorite]

Apparently 1 million fans showed up for the parade, would love to be there.

I think I preferred the "riots."
posted by mrgrimm at 11:38 AM on November 4, 2010