I have to admit, I was expecting defeat - the offensive juggernaut that was the Rangers leading into the series seemed to me unstoppable. But then I made the mistake of comparing AL pitching with NL pitching. Everyone knows real pitchers take a turn with the bat. It was stunning to see how inept the Giants made the Rangers seem at the plate.
Suddenly the heartbreaks of 1989 and 2002 are gone (not to mention the Dodgers world series titles in '81 and '88) and I can revel in the notion that the Giants have finally won it all. And I also have to admit to being very happy that Barry Bonds was not a part of this. Had the 2002 Giants won their world series, the presence of an obvious juicer would have been deeply unsettling. I loved him as a player early on, but he very obviously went on the juice hard and so that whole era of player - McGwire, Canseco (1989 series anyone?), Palmeiro, Giambi, Bonds - can just fade from memory in my view. You can't rewrite the record books - I am sure many pitchers were juicers as well - but we can all just move on.
But what to tell my kids? My dad had to wait 60 years for his Red Sox to win, I had to wait 42 for the Giants, my sons don't even have to wait until double digits? Ah the innocence of youth. They'll learn the true despair of being a baseball fan in due course...
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