Sweethearts Candy Blog's

The San Francisco Giants won the 2010 World Series tonight, defeating the Texas Rangers 3 - 1 in game 5.

In recent times, when the Giants made the playoffs or even the World Series, they seemed a fragile affair, an unlikely, star-crossed champion for whom anything could and probably would go wrong, and at the worst possible moment.  In this World Series, however, I did not have that feeling.  The Giants seemed tough as nails, no BS automatons, an unemotional ball-batting and pitching machine, cold-blooded, resolute and unstoppable.

This was the first Giants World Series win in 56 years and the first ever since moving to San Francisco from New York in 1958.  I have waited for this victory since 1962, when the Giants lost to the Yankees in the 9th inning of the 7th game.  I was 17 years old.  Forty-eight years is a long time to wait, but the waiting has ended.  The San Francisco Giants are World Champions.

I love Texas and admire the Rangers.  My parents and older brother were all born in Texas.  My great grandfather, a Confederate veteran of the Civil War, is buried there, as is my decorated uncle who took part in the invasion of Normandy (on D-Day + 1).  Many other relatives are buried there as well. Two of my favorite cousins live there.  I would have been born there had not the Axis started World War II, and I am still mightily pissed off at being denied the honor.  (My father was sent to New Mexico to train air corps flyers on how to use the Norden bombsight, and I was born in Carlsbad.)

For these reasons, I wish the Rangers well.  May they soon win a World Series and more in the future.  However, 2010 belongs to us, the Giants players and fans, and we could not be denied.

Giants History:
The Giants baseball team has played in 18 World Series and won six of them, in 1905, 1921, 1922, 1933, 1954 and 2010.

The Giants played in the World Series 18 times:  1905, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1917, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1933, 1936, 1937, 1951, 1954, 1962, 1989, 2002, and 2010.

Tonight the Giants went up 3 games to 1 in the World Series against the Texas Rangers.  They had three home runs, one of which had a man on base, giving the Giants the 4 runs.  Texas is not often shut out in their own stadium, but they were tonight.

Former President George W. Bush threw out the first pitch with his father by his side, the former President George H.W. Bush.

It's beginning to look like a Giants series.  It's hard to come back and win the World Series when a team is down 3 games to 1, but it has been done...six times, as a matter of fact.  The last team to do it was the Kansas City Royals in 1985 against St. Louis.  I have posted a list of the teams that came back from the dead below.

Needless to say, I won't be cheering a San Francisco championship until the last out of the last game.  Nevertheless....GO GIANTS!!

Teams That Won the World Series After Being Down 3 games to 1 in the World Series:

1. 1903 Boston Americans (Red Sox), down 1-3, won World Series 5-3 over Pittsburgh (best of nine format).

2. 1925 Pittsburgh Pirates, down 1-3, won World Series 4-3 over Washington.

3. 1958 New York Yankees, down 1-3, won World Series 4-3 over Milwaukee.

4. 1968 Detroit Tigers, down 1-3, won World Series 4-3 over St. Louis.

5. 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates, down 1-3, won World Series 4-3 over Baltimore.

6. 1985 Kansas City Royals, down 1-3, won World Series 4-3 over St. Louis.

Source:  Answers.com

I had to go to a tax class tonight so couldn't watch the second game of the World Series.  I kept sneaking peeks at my iPhone Sportacular ap to keep up with the scores.  Finally, after several scoreless innings, the Giants led by 1 - 0, then 2 - 0 going into the 8th inning.  The next time I looked at my iPhone the game was over and the score was 9 to Zip!  I couldn't believe my eyes.

Apparently, Texas's pitching really fell apart in the 8th inning.  The bases were loaded, mainly on walks, and two runners were walked home for scores.  Then a single scored another two.

The Giants scored seven runs in the 8th inning, their greatest number in Giants post-season history.  Their former record was six hits in one inning in the 1937 World Series against the Yankees, a record they tied only yesterday against the Rangers.

I am hoping for a Giants win, but I won't tie myself up in knots with anxiety.  We've been here before and watched the dream crumble at the last minute.

I imagine the atmosphere will be different back in Rangers stadium and the Texans will be charged up for a win.

The first game of the World Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Texas Rangers was a high scoring affair, one of the most exciting games I've seen all year.  The Giants prevailed 11 - 7, but the Rangers showed themselves to be a tough team even in defeat.  This won't be a cake walk for either team.  Still, I am gratified that my team, the Giants, won the first game.

The Giants' "bull pen," their reserve of pitchers, wear beards, or at least, most of them do.  Hence the Giants' slogan, "Fear the Beard," with many fans wearing fake beards in the stands.  See video for more details.

My family has lived in California since January of 1954, when we moved here from Joplin, Missouri.  I fell in love with the place right away, enchanted by the palm trees, the orange trees, the salty smell of the sea mixed with the fragrance of citrus.  Eventually, we settled in San Jose and went through all the phases of life, finishing school, launching careers, choosing mates and having children.  Along the way we naturally adopted loyalties to our local sports teams, and most of my family are strong fans of the San Francisco Giants baseball team.

My loyalty to the Giants was cemented in 1962, when they played the New York Yankees in the World Series. It was a very close series, with no team winning two games in a row.  The Yankees won the 7th game, 1-0, in the 9th inning and of course, it broke my heart.  I was sure the Giants would be back the following year to complete their march to glory.  However, they wouldn't be back in the World Series for 27 years, until 1989, when they were swept in four games by the Oakland A's.

My father, now deceased, was a Giants fan.  The last thing we ever did together was to watch a Giants game on television in June of 1991.  The Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals 2 - 0.  My dad mentioned that the Giants were looking competent and scrappy as he headed for the door on that Sunday afternoon.  I never saw him conscious again.  I know how much a Giants win in the Word Series would have meant to him.

Finally, in 2002 the Giants returned to the World Series against the California Angels.  After five games the Giants led the series 3 games to 2, and their last victory was a 16-4 blowout over the Angels.  In Game 6, the Giants led 5 - 0 going into the 7th inning and things were looking rosy.  We were pretty confident that the Giants would win one of the two remaining games to take the series.  We were wrong.  In the 6th game, with three innings left to play, their 5 - 0 advantage became a 6 - 5 final score in favor of the Angels.  Their spirit broken, the Giants lost the 7th and deciding game 4 - 1.  We became only too acutely aware that, if it were at all possible, the Giants would find a way to lose.  At that point, I dismissed all hopes of a Giants World Series victory in my lifetime, and turned my attention to other things.  This month, however, I learned that the Giants had made the playoffs.  Though very cynical about their chances, I watched the games.  Incredibly, the Giants were up 3 games to 2 headed into game 6.  Would they blow it once again?

Last night I watched the Giants pitcher load the bases in the 9th inning.  I was sure the Phillies would score at least one run to tie the game and send it into overtime; but the pitcher came through, striking out the final batter and winning the game.

It's funny, but the Giants got their name from winning a close game over the Phillies, about 100 years ago (literally).  The manager of the Gothams (as the Giants were then called) stormed into the locker room and shouted, "My big fellows!  My giants!"  The name was subsequently changed to the Giants.

So the Giants will face the Texas Rangers in the World Series.  I would have preferred that they face the Yankees, as I like the Rangers and would root for them against any other opponent.  But this will have to do.  So for this moment, we Giants fans have hope.  Maybe, just maybe, the Giants will win their first World Series in California (the last time they won was as the New York Giants, in 1954).  On to the World Series!  Go Giants!