Nirvana
November 2nd, 2010 | by Ray Flowers |
In the grand scheme of things a championship in sports means nothing, and the life of one person is also rendered insignificant when placed in the context of the world. But I gotta tell you, in this corner of the sphere that we all inhabit, there have been few things that can rival what has occurred over the last 24 hours.
I’ve never been married or ever welcomed a child into this world, so I don’t have that frame of reference to draw upon, but I can tell you this – in the pantheon of events that have shaped my life, this event ranks near the top of the list.
Willie May, Willie McCovey, Orlando Cepeda, Juan Marichal, Barry Bonds – some of the greatest players ever to done a uniform – were never able to bring a World Championship to San Francisco. In more recent years players such as Jeff Leonard, Will Clark, Kevin Mitchell, John Burkett, John Beck and Jeff Kent were also unable to bring the World Series trophy home to San Francisco.
On Monday night, November 1st, 2010, that all changed.
The names will likely be forgotten in a few years if you aren’t a Giants fan. Honestly, some of the players might not even be at the forefront of your mind right now (Sergio Romo, Travis Ishikawa, Javier Lopez, Jeremy Affeldt, Mike Fontenot, Nate Schierholtz), but isn’t that the wonder of baseball? The sport is more than one great player leading a team to victory through sheer will and determination. The grind of six months of a regular season an another month for the playoffs offers the chance for numerous players to make history or to step to the fore at a moments notice. Cody Ross? I mean seriously, unless you were a Marlins’ fan or a fantasy baseball addict, did you even know who he was prior to the postseason? Edgar Renteria? Wasn’t he washed up and heading off into retirement after the worst season of his career (.276-3-22)? My goodness, he didn’t even start the first five games of the playoffs for the Giants. But that was the beauty of the 2010 Giants. They may not have been a team filled with “names,” but they had timely hitting, excellent work behind the bench by Bruce Bochy, and some of the best pitching the game has seen in this century.
As for me, the day after is surreal. For every year of my life that I have consciously been aware of the game of baseball, I have lived and died with the Giants. I’ve lost sleep worrying about games, I’ve skipped out on dates with pretty ladies to watch games, and I’ve nearly given myself an ulcer with each gut wrenching failure I have endured along with the club. So when Brian Wilson threw that final strike last night, what was my response? Did I jump up and down? Did I scream at the top of my lungs? Did I get plowed to the point that I forgot my own name? The truth is I didn’t do any of those things. Instead, I looked over to my parents, both of whom who have been there right with me nearly every step of the way, and simply smiled and said “wow.”
It may not have been a celebration for the ages in the Flowers’ household, but I can tell you this – other than those major life events, like my parents wedding, my brother and I being born, my brother having two wonderful children of his own, it was one of the happiest moments of our lives.
Thank you San Francisco Giants. It was a long time in coming, but as I’ve written before, it was all worth it as I can now walk down the street, #1 finger held high in the air, with a huge smile on my face. We, and yes I’m including myself and all the Giants’ fans in the world, WE are World Champions.
By Ray Flowers
Tags: Barry Bonds, Cody Ross, Edgar Renteria, End of Curse, Giants, Heaven, History, Javier Lopez, Jeff Kent, Jeff Leonard, Jeremy Affeldt, John Beck, John Burkett, Juan Marichal, Kevin Mitchell, Mike Fontenot, Nate Schierholtz, Nirvana, Orlando Cepeda, Rangers, San Francisco Giants, Sergio Romo, Tim Lincecum, Travis Ishikawa, WIll Clark, Willie Mays, Willie MCCovey, World Series
By Larry Yocum on Nov 3, 2010
Hey Ray,
It feels so good doesn’t it? My first call was to my Dad after the game. We watched game 6 together in 2002 and I just remember dancing around before Baker gave Ortiz that ball and the pain that followed. I wish I would have watched this one with my Dad, but we talked for an hour after the game by phone about how this was “our” type of team.
I remember ’89 and being in the living room waiting before game 3 and the world shook. I was only 12, but even then I seemed to mark life events through baseball moments. I remember a gold glove suddenly turning to lead against the Marlins and Shooter getting out of a bases loaded jam to get us to the playoffs along with a Brian Johnson HR that barely cleared the fence. I remember so many of Barry’s HRs before my memories some how became tainted like so many “samples” from the era. I too lived and died with this team and last night felt oh sooo good.
I read Bart Giamatti’s “The Green Fields of the Mind” today. I do it every season after the Giants are eliminated. This time it was different though. It didn’t break my heart. Not this year. It’s going to be a great winter.
“There are a lot of people that know me who can’t understand for the life of them why I would go to work on something as unserious as baseball. If they only knew.” -Bart Giamatti
Just wanted to come by and congratulate you for being a fan. I knew that you would understand what I was experiencing. It’s wonderful.
Enjoy my friend.
-Larry Yocum
By Ray Flowers on Nov 3, 2010
Well said my friend, well said.
By Mike Flowers on Nov 3, 2010
Ray,
Your descriptions of a lifetime of hope, facination, frustration, and ultimately elation, are right on the money. Many of us have shared similar affairs of the heart with the Giants over the years. There may have been a certain ebb and flow to my involvement from season to season, but the result is that I would always come back. From the early promises of Spring Training, to the final moment they ran out of enough games to catch up to make the play-offs, it always was one of hope and possibilities. But then, it is a bit like life in that regard. Without that, where would we be ? Gotta’ have it in our lives, to fuel our own emotional engines. The rag-tag, hardscrabble Giants showed us all that we can never relinquish that hope in our hearts. “You gotta’ believe…”
Well said, Ray,
Mike
By Mick Connor on Nov 3, 2010
Ray, I live on LI,NY. I’m 55 years old and I have been a Giant fan since I was 8 years. My older brother was a Giant fan and when the Giants were playing the Mets we would take the subway to Shea stadium. Willie Mays was my favorite Giant. My NY license plate is, MAYS 24 with the Giant emblem! When my son turned 8 I started taking him to the Giant games too and he became hooked on Will Clark and the Giants. For the past 11 years we have taken a summer vacation in SF to see our Giants play. Having this time with him is a blessing. We have lived the torture baseball the Giants have played together. At the beginning of this season while having dinner together he said to me, “Dad I have a really good feeling about this year. I really think they could do it!” Well, he was right! They did it! I’m still pinching myself. We watched the games together and what a feeling it was for us when Brian Wilson struck out Howard in the NLCS and then Cruz in the WS! We were high fiving and hugging each other! I stayed home from work today to watch the parade on the MLB network. He taped it so he could watch it when he came home from work. I am very blessed to have a son like him and be able to have all our years of frustration now turned into elation! I hope we can savor this elated feeling for many years to come!
By Pat from DC on Nov 4, 2010
The Giants were 6.5 games back on Aug 26, my birthday. The day of my wedding rehearsal they started their 21-13 march towards the NL West Championship and then dominated all comers in the playoffs.
I am not ashamed to say I shed tears of joy last night talking to my Dad, who (with my mom) took me to my first Giants game when I was only a few months old. The Giants have always been our connection.
I saw the fog roll in, I earned my Croix de Candlestick (Veni, Vidi, Vixi)
I spent countless summer nights/days at AT&T, Pac Bell whatever you want to call it.
Barry Bonds was and is my favorite player. Will Clark will forever be my hero.
I suffered through the 2002 Rally Monkey.
I felt it this year when the Giants came to DC, they had it. Even if no one else believed me then.
The San Francisco Giants are the 2010 World Series Champions.
26 years as a Giants fan has finally paid off.
By Ray Flowers on Nov 4, 2010
Mike- The time you can share this victory with your family is why all the years of frustration are worth it. Hope you enjoyed the parade.
Pat – Croix de Candlestick baby!
Glad you hung around like I did – well worth it wasn’t it?
By Kevin on Nov 4, 2010
I had quite a similar experience. After the NLCS clincher I was in a state of pandemonium – we were going to the World Series! After game 5, when Wilson threw the final pitch, I jumped up from my seat and just stood there. I’m 21, my brother is 26, and my father was born about 9 months after the ’54 series (coincidence? I like to think not). Needless to say, we are a family of Giants fans, and each of us had been waiting for this moment our whole lives. I don’t live in the Bay Area anymore and have only been able to make it to one game in the last two seasons (in 2009), but I can’t tell you how much I love this team. It’s built into my DNA.
The past few days have been simply incredible. Just thinking those words – “World Series Champions.” Brings a stupid, stupid grin to my face. I learned how to ride a bike, I kissed a girl, and I’ll graduate college in a couple of months. It’s truly incredible to know that a Giants World Series win can sit along with those moments.
By Ray Flowers on Nov 5, 2010
Love it Kevin -
thanks for sharing a story that sounds pretty similar to this guys.