The champs are here!

I love baseball. My love of sports is the only thing about me that is distinctly not nerdy, and baseball in particular is my favorite sport. Being from San Francisco, I naturally root for the Giants. 

Well … the Giants won the World Series this weekend!

Much like the team that won it all in 2010, this year’s Giants were a scrappy bunch of misfits who lacked the number of flashy names as those on teams in New York, St. Louis, Texas, Los Angeles, or even Detroit. But champions aren’t about big name stars, champions are born out of teamwork and tenacity – two things the 2012 Giants had plenty of.

Fitting for a team whose marketing strategy all year focused around the word “together.” “Let’s get back together.” “Together we’re Giant.” Stuff like that.

I spoke of tenacity, of overcoming the odds. Look at the cards this team was dealt during the season.

All-Star closer Brian Wilson misses virtually the entire season due to surgery. 

Last year’s best hitter on the team lands on the DL twice; suffers a large decline in his power as a result. 

Melky Cabrera captures All-Star Game honors en route to capturing the hearts of an entire city. Then he proceeds to trample said hearts following a suspension for using performance enhancing drugs (he didn’t even say goodbye to his teammates, just slipped off into the night).

Melky Cabrera inspires a new breed of fan - temporarily. I may or may not have wanted an outfit like this (courtesy of http://sfgiantsphotos.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/060812-mm0125.jpg)

Tim Lincecum became mortal. Worse than that, he became arguably the worst pitcher in baseball!

The Reds had a 2-0 advantage in the NLDS with the next three games in Cincinnati. Won all three. The Cardinals had a 3-1 advantage in the NLCS with one more to play at home and Barry Zito of all people starting for the Giants. Won those next three, too.

And there was so much more! The Giants forgot how to score at home. Aubrey Huff forgot how to play baseball. Santiago Casilla forgot how to pitch for two months. Nate Schierholtz forgot he’s a truly mediocre player and suffered delusions of grandeur. Brandon Belt endured a 0-for-100 stretch at one point. And did you see the number of All-Stars our rivals, the Dodgers, added this year? 

Pretty good team you bought yourself there, LA. There’s just one thing you forgot to buy: the heart and soul of a winning team!

Yet this team persevered, adding a couple of key ingredients along the way. Not enough can be said about Marco Scutaro and Hunter Pence’s contributions to this team. Scutaro became the new Melky and Pence became the team’s spiritual guide following the dark days of the first two NLDS games. There’s no way we get here without them.

The same goes for so many others on this team.

Buster Posey showed a full recovery from last year’s horrific injury and is still racking up awards as we speak. There, just as I was writing that sentence he won another award. And now another. 

Posey for President (courtesy of http://aeryssports.com/third-street-kings/files/2012/07/tumblr_m6n2r4D9HE1qecapjo1_500.jpeg)

Matt Cain tossed just the 23^rd perfect game in baseball history (admittedly, it was against the Astros, whom I’m pretty sure I could throw a shutout against).

Ryan Vogelsong was a Cy Young contender for the first half of the season.

(courtesy of http://sd.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/i/keep-calm-and-vogel-strong-5.png)

Blanco and Crawford were miniature black holes on defense, swallowing up every baseball hit their way.

Pablo Sandoval made World Series history, becoming just the fourth player to hit three home runs in a single World Series game. He also became just the second person to ever hit three home runs in a single game at AT&T Park – a ballpark that sparks recurring nightmares to all hitters who enter (except for a guy named Bonds, and he even never hit three home runs in one game here). Baseball owners are currently hiring scientists to find a way to isolate the Sandoval gene and replicate it so they may have a secret weapon to use against Justin “I Didn’t Even Know We Had a Pitching Coach” Verlander.

Sergio “El Mechon” Romo locked down opponents all year and transitioned smoothly into the closer role by the end of the season.

I’m not sure there are any Hall of Famers on this roster. Except for Posey, there are no award winners for this season. There are no A-Rods, A-Gonz, Pujols, Jeters, Kershaws, Verlanders, Princes, Brauns, Sabathias, Vottos, or Hamiltons. 

Just a bunch of guys who kept things loose and fun through everything – from day one of spring training through Game 4 of the World Series. I’d like to remember those guys’ names just one more time (or at least the names I know them by).

Kung Fu Panda, Baby Giraffe, Great White Shark, and Panda Jr.

Huff Daddy, Big Daddy Cain, and Craw-daddy.

The Riot, The Freak, The Skipper (& Gilligan), The Reverend, and The Melk Man (RIP).

Big Z, X-Man, Mad Bum, Scootch, Stamos, Sergeant Pagan (Sarge for short), and Marty Feldman. 

Comic actor Marty Feldman, or Giants outfielder Hunter Pence? You be the judge. (courtesy of http://www.unsungfilms.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/feldman01.jpg)

Everyday Kontos, Night Train, Vogeltron, Babe Arias, Romo 3:16, and last but not least – just plain Buster.

Congratulations to the San Francisco Giants for winning the World Series twice in three years, and for making a die-hard baseball fan feel like a little kid again (except even happier than that, since we never won a World Series when I was a kid).

Oh, and one last thing:

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! WE WON THE WORLD SERIES!!!!!!!! OH MY GOD!!!!!! THE CITY’S GOING NUTS!!!!!! WAAAAHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

(courtesy of http://i.minus.com/iSsiqxr8VkZVS.gif)