Two Little Words that Mean So Much: Beat L.A!
As this disheartening, dispiriting, and disillusioning Giants' baseball season comes to a close, it is quite possible that there is still a chance that this season could be saved, redeemed even. For all could be forgiven, all forgotten, with just one act, one thing, one simple, simple thing-- knocking the Dodgers out of the playoffs.
Here's the setup: The Dodgers are a game behind the Padres in the division, two games ahead of the Phillies in the Wild Card race. It's impossible to know what sort of combination of games that could happen that would lead to the elimination of the Dodgers but let's just say the Giants need to just win, baby. Anything else and a sight virtually anathema to Giants fans everywhere will happen, that being watching the Dodgers (and Jeff Kent!) celebrate in the Giants' yard.
Strip away all the envy, jealousy and resentment that simmers between the City of Angels and the City of Saint Francis and this rivalry between the Dodgers and Giants is in its essence about the knocking of one team out of the playoffs. You know, like, if we can't make it to the playoffs, we sure as hell don't want you to make it either. Misery loves company and all that. These games, these end of season games between one of baseball's long-standing rivalries, have occasionally slipped into the realm of storied, the kinds of things passed down from generation-to-generation (or, in today's case, MySpace to MySpace). For the Giants, there's '82 and the Joe Morgan home run and of '91. For the Dodgers it's '93 and the Salomon Torres game and of '04 and the Steve Finley Grand Slam walk-off home run.
We actually went to one of the games in '91 when the Giants knocked out a Darryl Strawberry led Dodgers. The game was kind of fun but also kind of weird. It became pretty obvious that the crowd was more into seeing the Dodgers lose than the Giants win, if that makes any sense, and there was kind of a negative vibe to the whole thing. The 'Stick was rocking to the constant refrains of "Beat L.A!" and "Dodgers Suck!" and the sing-song calls of "Dar-ryl! Dar-ryl!" On the other hand, it was at Candlestick and the 'Stick always had negative vibes attached to it. With the sun out, the sky clear, and boats in Cove, will the same thing happen at the Phonebooth or will it be it's usual laid-back, sun-drenched self? We don't know.
We do know that whenever these teams get together, the possibility of something exciting happening is high. Put them together with these kinds of stakes, something historic, something magical, something people will still be referring to years from now could happen. A season completely unmemorable still has a chance to be something we'll remember for years.
Our prediction: Giants blow this one too and go down in all three.