Giants Advance To NLCS – Four Wins From World Series

What a motherflockin ride this season has been. Maybe the Giants did know something when they announced their official montra as “It’s magic inside”.

Four wins away from the World Series. Four. Quattro. Who would have expected that back in late May when the Giants were floundering around .500 (after their impressive 7-1 start to the season) and we were forced to watch Aaron Rowand and Bengie Molina drive the Giants into the ground. Those same times when Eugenio Velez and Edgar Renteria were every day players and when the hopes of our season relied on rumors of picking up a Jermaine Dye, Jose Guillen, or better yet – Corey Hart.

But then Buster came along. And then Pat the bat. The offense became legit, well, kinda. Jonathan Sanchez went from a thrower to a pitcher. Guys like Aubrey Huff, so tired of losing, did everything in their power to win ballgames. He didn’t care where he played – he’d have played catcher if the Giants needed him to. Madison Bumgarner, nearly left for dead after a poor spring training and lost velocity issues returns to the big leagues to have a rookie campaign that would normally challenge for the ROY award if not for such impressive seasons by guys like Buster Posey, Jamie Garcia, and Jason Heyward. Cody Ross, simply given to the Giants by the Marlins late in the year knocks in the winning runs in two games, not to mention a solo homer off of a fantastic Derek Lowe to keep the Giants in it.

To say this current squad was built on the fly would be an understatement. So many of the Giants impact players weren’t even in San Francisco for the first two months of the season but they’ve clearly became winners together. As a team. A collective unit. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a team with this type of fight. This type of will. The collection of personalities on the roster is amazing. This has certainly been one of my proudest and most fun times as a Giant fan and I’m sure that rings true to many other fans.

You really feel a sense of accomplishment with this squad.

The Phillies are going to be one hell of a series. Am I realistically expecting a series win? Probably not, no. But that doesn’t mean the Giants have no shot. After all, these boys have surprised us all season long…who’s to say they can’t do so again? After all, they’re only four wins away from playing in the Fall Classic.

A couple side notes I have from the game tonight:

• Impressive act by the Brave fans to give Brooks Conrad a standing ovation prior to the game. As Pat Burrell said, every player has gone through that kind of moment at least once. Obviously Conrad’s was on a far bigger stage than game 83 of the season, but the point remains. Conrad took the situation to heart as any player would so for the Brave fans to “forgive” him, it showed a ton of class.
• Also impressive act by both Bobby Cox in his post game presser for giving the Giants love and to the Giants for stopping their celebration to give Bobby Cox a reception and he waved goodbye to the home crowd.
• I was a bit hard on Cody Ross earlier this season….but what he’s done through the NLDS deserves a lot of praise.
• Maybe the best moment of the post game celebration came when Aubrey Huff was giving an interview to the MLB Network. Mid interview, Guillermo Mota comes up behind Huff and starts pouring two Miller Lite’s (I believe…) over Huff’s head. Huff, thinking it was cheap champagne, basked in the moment. But after a quick glance, Huff noticed that “champagne” was actually beer which lead to a very panic stricken “OMG BRO, DONT WASTE THE BEER!!!!!!!!!!!!!” – Seriously, how could you not love this collection of guys?!
• Oh. And one more gem before I go, from none other than Brian Wilson:

SF closer Brian Wilson on whether he would pay to see NLCS Game 1 matchup of Halladay vs Lincecum: “No. They are paying me to see it.’’