Hey y’all.

Obvious why we’re here.

No long, eloquent reason for my absence this time. Let’s just get right into it.

A series of incredible pitching, clutch hits, stellar defense, and classic managerial chess moves, which was set up by a 162-game dogfight between Major League Baseball’s two best, most fascinating ball clubs, ended on perhaps one of the worst calls in postseason history, or at minimum, in recent postseason memory.

I can deal with big time losses. I had to watch the Celtics dump Gatorade on Doc Rivers with time left on the game clock. I watched the Giants bullpen’s slow, demoralizing collapse in 2016 on our own field. Most recently, I watched the upstart Browns lose to team with a one-legged quarterback and his skippy little backup.

And even though it was the dreaded Dodgers. Even though they sunk us at Oracle Park. Even though it was potentially the last time we see Buster Posey in a Giants uniform (unlikely, but possible). Even though it was THE FUCKING DODGERS.

I would’ve slept great. And here’s why.

Last year everybody thought the Giants’ success was a product of the weird COVID season, and just some random dudes playing way above their pay grade due to the overall irregularity of the 2020 campaign. Think Marlins, Cubs, and soon to not be Indians. Those were playoff teams last year, and no, you did not just read that wrong.

But alas, Giants just missed one of the 100 open playoff spots, people said “fun run, back to rebuild reality in 2021” when schedule, fans, etc. go back to normal.

Career minor leaguers and overall no names would regress, old Giant heroes would wither further towards retirement, and the Giants wouldn’t be heard from again until 2025 or later.

Bottle all that up, and the experts told us…

75 wins.

And, according to that same metric I won’t cheekily post here, less wins than the Arizona Diamondbacks.

…

Yeah.

Of course hindsight is 2020, but damn somebody said with their whole chest, “less wins than Arizona. Yup, print it. Get our designer on that graphic, pronto.”

BUT THEY WEREN’T WRONG. I thought 75 was even a game or so too generous. I thought we’d spend another year in obscurity, with some younger guys having some bright moments in a late, meaningless September.

Safe to say, that did not turn out to be so.

See, Farhan and friends brought back all those same dudes to build on their successes: Kevin Gausman, Darin Ruf, and Wilmer Flores headlined reclamation projects from last season that would return. Alongside them some new faces of similar background, as guys like Anthony Desclafani, LaMonte Wade Jr., and Tommy La Stella joined the crew to also show they had something to prove in the midst of potential “rebuilding” season.

I use quotes because it was honestly more like slow rebranding but, rebuild just always feels like the go to.

Moreover, said old dudes, whom a majority of their peers probably forgot are still in the league, said “hey, wanna fuck around and win this thing?” and decided to turn the clock ALL the way back. Buster Posey, the Brandons of both the Crawford and Belt variety, and Evan Longoria figured at this season’s start that this was their one last good crack at a postseason run, so let’s go for it.

And finally, our muscled-out manager himself Gabe Kapler had to show that his struggles in Philly weren’t necessarily all on him, and given the right tools and situations, he could earn his chops as a manager.

Turns out the Giants guessed right on every literal one of the players they picked up this season, from start to finish. Turns out they weren’t lying when they told us the old farts figured some things out and got some much needed rest. And every single one of them helped carry the team to its 107 regular season wins, ultimately dethroning the Dodgers of the NL West crown for the first time in 8 years and giving us a season of Herculean overachievement, excitement, and fun.

I cannot begin to explain to you people how fun it felt to be a Giants fan again this year.

So yeah, they prove they’re for real for an entire 162-game regular season. Top to bottom, no question. Beat out LA for the division after grappling with them for it literally since Opening Day. Now we get to watch the loaded Dodgers duke it out with the Cardinals in the Wild Card game, and potentially avoid them in the DS.

I mean, we all knew St. Louis had no business winning that Wild Card game against the behemoth Dodgers, but at least they made it fun, right?

So we all waited for the NLDS. A grueling regular season battle of 215 total wins between the two clubs, only separated by 1 game for the division crown, as well as just 1 in terms of wins in head-to-head matchups too.

A battle for the ages. Two teams that have hated each other for over 100 years, across both ends of the country.

And a battle it was.

Game 1 saw Logan Webb firmly etch his name into the future of the team.

Game 2 went LA’s way, but Game 3 saw a dominant collective effort by the pitching staff, capped off by a 6 out save by young September call up (sent down 4 total times this year?!) Camilo Doval to set up an elimination game down south.

They dabbled as best they could, but the Dodgers wouldn’t go down that easily, and forced the Game 5 we all knew was coming…except when I was giving people my brutally honest ‘Dodgers in 4’ prediction.

I would die for my teams, but as we know, I don’t ever go into stuff with a blind bias just because I claim them.

At any rate, Game 5. In San Francisco. Madness sure to ensue. The cultivation of the incredible seasons the Giants and Dodgers had, scratching and clawing and fighting until the first last breath. It’s a pitcher’s duel throughout, and even though the Dodgers push one across in the 9th, the Giants have last ups.

I guess before I start mourning the call that ended the game, let me first say the Giants did NOT hit nearly enough to win this series. Pitched well enough, but 10 runs total over the entire series does not even remotely suggest you have enough to take down the Dodgers.

AND THEY STILL ALMOST DID.

But alas…

Lefties not named Crawford or La Stella turned in a 1-30 with 13 strikeouts. Chalk most of that up to some other-worldly Dodger pitching, but guys like Mike Yastrzemski, Wade Jr., and Steven Duggar just simply did not carry over the production they showed in the regular season over into the postseason at all when we needed it most.

Again, talking in hindsight is never a preferred form of constructive critiquing, but omitting Johnny Cueto and Thairo Estrada for Kervin Castro and Alex Dickerson on the postseason roster seems a little glaring right now.

Dick couldn’t hit the side of a building with his bat, and I just have to assume Thairo’s ABs would’ve been more competitive than that shit we just saw. But I got the decision with the Belt injury (man, how much more fun would it have if the Captain and Max Muncy had been healthy) to get more potential left handed thump from somewhere, especially with the Dodgers best arms, top to bottom, being right-handed.

I was always in the camp of going Johnny Cueto over Disco D in a potential Game 3 or Game 4 start if it had to be between the two. I know Cueto hadn’t logged the innings of late, and Desclafani was undoubtedly the better pitcher from season start to season end. But I just liked his postseason experience, and just overall ability to still compete even when his stuff isn’t right on any given day. Plus, Johnny always brought a little extra in Dodger matchups. Furthermore, LA absolutely torched Desclafani all season, why would things change in the playoffs?

Also, only mustering 6 total runs of offense after a dominant Game 1 can only cut it if you have a staff like…well, the Dodgers do.

So the final call isn’t nearly the reason we lost. Neither is the shameful umpiring throughout the series in literally every single game, but I digress and pull things back.

They get a runner on to spice things up, and just when Wilmer Flores garners two-strikes with two-out, two seasons of epic proportions from two unfathomable teams all coming to one last pitch.

And first base umpire Gabe Morales rings him up on what could be the most blatant failure at one’s profession I’ve ever witnessed.

If the Dodgers won 100-0, and every Dodger that crossed home plate personally said “suck it” to me and only me on their way back to the dugout, I would’ve slept fine. Giants make a ton of errors and beat themselves, fine. That’s including all the shit I just laid on the table.

All of it. Dodgers. Crazy productive season. We lose this Game 5, I’m great, see you next year.

But to have it end the way it did, on a call as easy as that one…like forget the game situation and all that, throw out the fact its a postseason do-or-die game, bottom 9, runner on. Forget ALL that. It’s just…an easy fuckin’ call.

And congrats to the Los Angeles Dodgers on a well fought season, an even better Division Series, and the eventual World Series they’re winning ‘cuz ain’t no way in hell any team still standing can hang with the Dodgers in a 7 game series.

But I do hope there’s at least a small contingency of Dodger fans who, somewhere in the midst of their celebration of personally sending their bitter rivals home, are also disappointed on how this whole thing ended.

Everything seemed as it rightfully should’ve been. Except for the very end.

And that just sucks.

And I’m sorry but I’m aware the Darin Ruf game where he totally swung and didn’t get called for it and we ended up eventually winning.

That being said, I’m also aware that 1 game did decide the division so that game DID mean something, a lot of something actually.

But Dodger people…

If we are saying that a regular season call that TIED THE GAME, not ended and/or changed the lead in a REGULAR SEASON GAME, is due the title of a fair “make-up call” to end an elimination game in postseason, we might need to watch some more baseball.

Because any baseball head knows you don’t end someone’s season on a call like that. Listen to the national broadcast. Listen to the people who know and love this game.

The call’s brutal. Nothing can be done about it now, the right team, in my eyes, still won. But that’s a sad take to hang your hat on if it is. You’re allowed to enjoy the win and rightfully rub it in, and also acknowledge you benefitted from a terrible call that was terrible and made something not terrible terrible for everyone involved.

In terms of what’s next for the Giants, who knows. Spend the money, I assume. At least some of it. No secret now that hitting at Oracle is safe with those tunnels closed. And the Bay Area is only distancing itself further from the rest of America in every category so, should be an enticing destination for the new generation.

Same old story will open the 2022 season: all this things we’re doing are nice, but the talent gap between the Dodgers and the Padres (remember them?) is just too big, won’t really matter in the long run.

But as I round out this post on my couch, in the spot I watched so many of this season’s unforgettable moments, I’m smiling. Genuinely.

My Giants just lost to the Dodgers in the playoffs, and I’m smiling. Kinda fucked, right?

But, just because everything that’s transpired, was incredibly good for the game I love so dearly. The season, the series, had so many people into baseball this year that typically aren’t. People will be on the lookout for next year’s Giants-Dodgers with excitement, like I am every year regardless of their successes.

And man, was it fun to watch these cast of largely unwanted, unknown, and under-appreciated characters give the best team in baseball a run for their money down to the final “strike.”

And, technically, be the best team themselves, just only in the regular season.

I mean, our run ended in 3 World Series rings, and here we are still in the mix for some more when we really shouldn’t be. And ain’t no asterisks on ours. We got plenty to be thankful for.

See you next year, Giants fans. It was an unbelievable ride. Nothing but proud of our team.

Cheers.