San Francisco Giants fans: this is not 2002

Oct 28, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; San Francisco Giants manager

makes a pitching change against the Kansas City Royals in the second inning during game six of the 2014 World Series at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

I agree the similarities are eerie. In 2002, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the San Francisco Giants were both Wild Card teams. Here we are in 2014 with the San Francisco Giants and Kansas City Royals and yes, both teams are Wild Card teams again for the first time since 2002.

It doesn’t end there. In 2002 the San Francisco Giants won game 1, lost game 2, lost game 3, won game 4, won game 5, lost game 6, and as we all know, lost game 7. The Angels had home field advantage in 2002 as well.

The 2002 World Series crushed the hopes and dreams of San Francisco Giants fans everywhere and little did we know, we were headed for a rough 8 years of disappointment afterwards too. It took 2 World Championships in 2010 and 2012 to wash away the pain of 2002 and it almost feels like 2014 is trying to slap us in the face with 2002 memories.

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Now hold on to your chairs because I’m about to tell you something extremely important that will blow your mind. IT IS NOT 2002!

Wait what? It’s not?

That’s right. Fear not everyone, it’s 2014 and this story is going to end the way we all want it to end, with the San Francisco Giants as World Champions once again.

People can throw out all of the game 7 statistics for road teams until the cows come home, and they will because we literally have nothing else to discuss until 5:07PM when actual things in this baseball game start happening, but as Mike Krukow said – none of it matters.

“This club’s so resilient. They’re so tough. They’ll put this behind them. It’s nice to know that you’ve done it. You’ve come back against the odds and you can do it again.” –Bruce Bochy

Every streak has to end and every new streak has to start some time. So tonight I demand that the streak of 9 consecutive home team wins in game 7 ends at the hands of the San Francisco Giants.

We can talk about how they’ve been there before and won 7 straight elimination games to make our selves feel better but here are the facts I believe to be true:

1. We are a better overall team than Kansas City

2. Our starter, Tim Hudson, is a better starting pitcher than Jeremy Guthrie

3. Our hitters overall are better than their hitters

4. In whatever capacity he may be used tonight, The Kansas City Royals do not possess a Madison Bumgarner

5. Our bullpen is just as good as theirs – I’d take Jeremy Affeldt, Javier Lopez, Sergio Romo and Santiago Casilla any day

6. The Skipper, Bruce Bochy, is a better manager than Ned Yost when it comes to executing strategy in high pressure situations 8 days a week

I will direct you to an article I read that lays out 10 reasons the San Francisco Giants will emerge victorious tonight to help make you feel even better. It’s from a National MLB writer too. Hey look, the whole baseball world is not actually rooting for the Kansas City Royals! So try and breath for the next 2 hours and just remember, it’s not 2002.