If the SF Giants win tonight, there will be much cause for rejoicing. After all, this will be their third National League pennant, and their next stop will be the World Series. Hooray! But San Francisco has a not-so-great track record when it comes to sports success celebrations — and the San Francisco Police Department says they're ready for any unpleasantness caused by a few bad apples.
Though the majority of the city's horrible sports-related rioting came after the Giants' 2010 and 2012 World Series wins, SFPD Chief Greg Suhr isn't taking any chances this evening. According to KCBS, all SFPD officers have canceled their days off and are ready to make sure any impromptu street celebrations of a pennant win stay safe and legal.
Police have certainly been on alert in the area around AT&T Park throughout the playoffs, conducting "crime suppression" patrols, breaking up a fight at 9:53 last night, and arresting three other drunk people shortly thereafter, SFPD spokesperson Sergeant Monica MacDonald says.
But Suhr isn't taking any chances with San Franciscans who might get a little too happy tonight (if we win! No jinxies!), saying “Certainly nobody wants to wake up tomorrow morning, just because they celebrated the Giants game, in jail with a case pending...Let’s act like we’ve been there before, because we have been.”
NCLS Game 5 begins at 5:07 tonight at AT&T Park. If we are victorious, then World Series games are scheduled at AT&T on Friday, October 24, Saturday, October 25, and, if necessary, Sunday, October 26, according to the SFMTA.