San Francisco Giants: Remembering the Travis Ishikawa walk-off

It’s the five-year anniversary of one of the most memorable moments in San Francisco Giants history. Travis Ishikawa…need I saw more?

We all remember where we were when Travis Ishikawa‘s three-run walk-off home run clinched the NL pennant for the San Francisco Giants in 2014 on their way to a third World Series title in five years.

I remember exactly where I was.

I was on a trip to a tournament with my high school golf team in Flagstaff, Arizona and we were eating at a pizza place. My coach was cheering for the St. Louis Cardinals, and as I was ordering, I heard him make a disgusted noise and turned around to see Michael Morse on the TV raising his arms and running around the bases after his pinch-hit home run had tied things in the eighth inning of Game 5 of the NLCS.

I remember being upset for most of the day because we had to drive up to Flagstaff when I would have much rather been watching the game. But I forgot about all of that when I got to see Ishikawa blast a 2-0 fastball over the arcade to forever etch himself into Giants lore.

I stood up as soon as I saw him hit it, knowing at the very least it was going to get the runner home from second base, and I raised my fist into the air once it cleared the wall.

Jake Peavy almost stopped him from reaching third base, and as he tapped home, he was mobbed by the entire team as the crowd went absolutely ballistic.

“Wow,” was all my coach could say.

Wow indeed. Wow that the Giants were going to their third World Series in five years. Wow that they were doing it with clutch homers from the injured Morse and the journeyman Ishikawa.

We’d all be saying wow again a few weeks later once Madison Bumgarner carried the team to victory in Kansas City. But I remember sitting in that pizzeria in Flagstaff and thinking of how lucky I was to have seen such incredible Giants moments in my young life.

My thoughts were interrupted by the server bringing out our pizza. As he turned away, I saw he was wearing a backward Cardinals hat. I couldn’t help but wonder if my food was safe to eat, but I didn’t care. I was too elated that the team I loved was looking like they were about to do the improbable yet again. And of course, that’s exactly what they did.