Pitchers and catchers report today in Giants Nation. I'm getting excited for this season, what with some familiar faces (Aurilia, Ortiz) returning to the Giants. I suppose, however, that for the rest of my life as a Giants fan, I'll have to relive this Disney-sponsored nightmare...
| excerpt from Ortiz gets another shot in San Francisco |
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| Ortiz was among the National League's premier pitchers during his Giants tenure, and his six-game winning streak helped push San Francisco into the playoffs in 2000. He later propelled the club to the 2002 World Series. Game 6 of the World Series against the Angels would be a pivotal moment. Ortiz gave up only two hits over 6 1/3 innngs, and then-manager Dusty Baker symbolically handed Oritz the "game ball" when pulled in the seventh. But San Francisco's 5-0 lead evaporated, and the Angels won that contest and captured Game 7 for the title. "I still have that ball," said Ortiz. |
I can still remember that day. I was watching on a jumbotron at Yerba Buena Gardens, just outside the Metreon, along with maybe a thousand other Giants fans? We all knew that Russ Ortiz was prone to loading up the bases right around the sixth inning and just barely escaping with the win, so when Dusty pulled him, we figured it was for the better.
But then Dusty handed Russ the game ball.
And with one of my fuckhead friends counting down the outs (from 27 in the first inning, which we all told him was bad luck) we were witness to yet another sad chapter in Giants History-- via jumbotron.
Again, this would not be our year.
So, while certain older Giants fans can replay Bobby Thomson's "Shot Heard 'Round the World" off of Brooklyn Dodger Ralph Branca, my friends and I are stuck with memories of moping out of Yerba Buena Gardens thinking, "Oh fuck, we're gonna lose Game 7." I fuckin' hate Anahym.
Jihad Jimmy
Commissioner, SHoP Department of Recreational Sport (Non-nude)
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