Talk of the Post-Season

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"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone."

      -- A. Bartlett Giamatti, "The Green Fields of the Mind," Yale Alumni Magazine, November 1977

The fall brings in school (*insert sarcastic whoopdeedoo here*), bipolar weather here in the East Bay, light jackets, golden, brown crunchy leaves that make walking home more entertaining, but all these things are a quiet reminder that summer is over, and more devastatingly, baseball season is coming to a close. Every time this time of year comes around I'm somehow reminded the song 'Leaves That Are Green,' by Paul Simon.

Luckily for me, football season feeds in right after and soon after hockey season does the same. And VOILA, before I know it, it's spring again and baseball season creeps back in welcoming, yet another summer. It all sounds so fast when you talk about it, but when it's actually going on...man it feels like forever.

So as people are going back to lugging around textbooks and settling back into scarves and sweatshirts, I sit there my eyes peeled on the AL and NL standings of baseball listening to "Hello, Goodbye," by the Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Donovan's, 'To Try For the Sun,' and "We Are Going To Be Friends" by the White Stripes on loop. 

This time period is something of a stressful time for me. Despite the light workload at school, the baseballs got me going crazy. It's sort of absurd, the effect it's got on me, but it's a heart breaking sport. It's like our last shot at making a memorable summer before it's washed away; the season forgotten, names gone, memories of games and hot dogs and cheering and way to many churros left behind where nobody can find them. Gone is the summer of 2010, buried behind the oldies they play at AT&T park -- and now all I can say is "April Come She Will." (Simon and Garfunkel)

As for the Red Sox and their beloved Green Monster and Fenway, their season, in my opinion is over. Yet, I'm not as disappointed as I thought I would be. In the end, it's been quite the season and one day, in future reference, I'll bring the 2010 season up as the season of injuries. Seriously, we were playing like triple AAA. A true optimist would say, "...if we win EVERY game and they lose EVERY game, we could do it." I don't think I've quite reached that level of optimism yet. We had a good run, and, well, there's always next year. = )

The Giants though, let's get talking. Winter is long and harsh without a team in the postseason. Here we are in the beginning of September starting on the road. A tough start against the Los Angeles Dodgers, but we turned it around and took back two of those games in two brilliant wins. That's the magic of it. The rush you get knowing that your team came back from a 0-4 deficit on FOUR home runs. Seeing bats that have been dormant for weeks due to slumps suddenly come alive and knock one out into the stands...it's a beautiful thing. Watching as your new outfielder (one of seven, talk about a crowded outfield party) run as fast as he can to make an infield single so the next run (a home run) could make the score 5-4? It deserves more credit then it's given.

The best part is seeing the excitement in the dugout. All of a sudden all the seriousness of the players dissolves and you're reminded that they must have some little kid left in them if they play baseball for a living. They're falling all over the railings and tripping on their shoelaces, choking on their bubble gum and congratulating each other. The moment is priceless, for them and for the fans.

The Giants took a little slip a little before this, and the one thing I feared was their consistency. Here we are now though, one game behind the Atlanta Braves for the wild card, and one game behind the San Diego Padres for the NL West first place. Now all of a sudden, all those moments you stood to cheer home a base runner and high-five strangers feels like part of something bigger, not just a pause, a moment in time that passed quickly.

Where we are now, it's crucial that the team pulls it together. With a seven man outfield and a very shaky bullpen I wonder about our chances, but then again, I know we've got it in us to win, Just why can't we find it? Faith I've got, faith is good, faith is very good, but in the end, I want more than just faith.

We can't forget about season highlights, though. This season has brought fourth an amazing summer. Off the top of my head, the Boston Red Sox and Colorado Rockies game. The epic battle that ended in a 5 hour game, spanning through 13 innings. The win that took three home runs by second baseman Dustin Pedroia. Talk about a serious adreneline rush after that game -- I was in bed that day with a fever. I think I was instantly better. Oh and who could forget Daniel Nava? Called up to play in the outfield for the Red Sox, Nava, on his first major league pitch hits a grand slam -- welcome to the club, rookie.

Brian Wilson and his 40-some saves for the San Francisco Giants. The Giants come back from a 10 run deficit, of course, we lost that game, but being able to come back was good enough for so many of us. Killer come backs involving the Panda and Aubrey Huff. Buster Posey's 21-hit streak -- I saw his debut game, and I remember cheering, "GO NEW KID" and thinking to myself that he would make an impression, and leave a footprint in San Francisco baseball.

Memorizing the pitching rotation, Sanchez, Bumgarner, Lincecum, Zito, Cain and for the Red Sox, Beckett, Lester, Dice-K, Buchholz, Lackey.

Feeling the pain of the Red Sox as they were missing both their catchers, Josh Beckett, Dustin Pedroia, and Jacoby Ellsbury.

Truth behind it all, no season will ever be forgotten, even if it doesn't earn us a pennant or a title. That's the beauty behind it. Come October, wherever we find ourselves...it's just good to know that there's something out there away from all the other chaos in the world...something that reminds us every year that summer is here, and to just...step back for a second and be a part of something bigger.