Top 10 Reasons Why I'm Claiming the Giants 2010 World Series

Happy New Year! I'm starting off 2011 with a commitment to blog once a week. Wait, I mean once a year --same as this past year, although I missed it by a week. Or as overheard on this Day 4: "good resolutions were made to be broken". Below should be retroactive to 2010 por favor:

I'm claiming this past World Series by YOUR, San Francisco Giants! Yep, stewed on it a bit (not long) and confident enough to post this, THE post of 2010.

Yes, we had our beautiful, and healthy, baby Anastasia this year on the 11th of September. It was a truly amazing experience with the sun shining, amazing help, and hearing Michael Franti playing the Power to the Peaceful concert in Golden Gate Park a few blocks away.

And so there's no debate-- THIS was the greatest day of year!

What was debated or at least internally discussed, was claiming this World Series win by the San Francisco Giants. You see, when you wear your home team's club on your sleeve (literally at times) you can't expect to think that it's going to be as easy as just deciding to be a part of the party. There's a little bit of self-assurance that needs to happen, which I believe is not only necessary but healthy. The below is why I'm claiming this World Series, without a doubt.

There are a number of us "transients" who've made their way to the Bay Area. We are baseball fans, but we are very much fans of the history of the game. We appreciate the game of course, but it's what happened before us that makes us who we are. For me, it seems to be the history of the game first and the beauty second. Good or bad. This is what makes it so fun to root for a West Coast team and meet fans on the west coat. They have history of course, but not to the same degree. There's the element of pure baseball enthusiasm that brings the game back to its core -- beauty first and the history second. Of course I'm talking about the Red Sox, but this is what happens when you've had a team for over 100 yrs and thru multiple generations! Also, the beauty of a National League coaches duel is really something to behold and a totally different game than those we are used to in the North East. Putting an NL coach in the AL should be as bad a use of talent as putting a pitcher who can hit .300 in the AL (San Diego, say hello to Casey Kelly).

As fans we're drawn to the local club and for me it's been fun, exciting, and rewarding to root for the 'Sey Hey' kids for the past 12yrs. A great history itself, this team has been an easy fit for me. As a Red Sox fan, the Yankees rivalry elevates everything about the team. The same holds true for the Giants and their rivalry with the Dodgers. If not for the Sox/Yanks rivalry -the Giants/Dodgers (NY/NY and SF/LA) rivalry is right up there. Plus I've always related Boston to NY as SF is to LA --this made it easy for me to find a place with the Giants early on.

Thompson, Mays, McCovey, Will Clark, Barry Bonds and now Timmy, Buster and the Beard. The most beautiful ("modern") ballpark in the country. A team who hadn't won the World Series since 1954 and not since moving to San Francisco in 1957.

I remember when my good friend from NY was living in LA and myself from Boston at the time living in SF. He told me "it's good to have a National League team". The Giants would start out as my "National League team", but this year they become my World Series champion! Yes, I'm totally claiming this World Series. Happy to do it, ecstatic! This is my parade! This is my reward. I'm claiming this World Series and below are my Top 10 reasons reasons why:

10) If you've ever frozen your ass off in the bleachers at Candlestick --you can claim this World Series
9) If you've ever participated in season tickets --you can claim this World Series
8) Lowry and Cain and pray for rain
7) If you talked about where to head for the party during Game 6 up 8-0 during the 8th inning in 2002 --you can claim this World Series
6) If both your kids were born in San Francisco --you can claim this World Series
5) Is Tim Lincecum not the love child of Pedro Martinez and Johnny Damon ('04)?
4) Were the 2004 "idiots" that much different than the 2010 "Cast offs" this year?
3) Renteria, Freddie Sanchez, Ramon Ramirez, Javy Lopez: Sox
2) I missed out on the Red Sox and Patriots parade(Z) ("poodles everywhere!")
1) You're still reading this (stolen from Letterman)

Happy New Year everyone! Go Giants; Go Red Sox!!