Thanks to the SF Giants

This is a blog I've wanted to write for a few months. This is my story as a fan. First I want to say thank you to my SF Giants, my Gamer Babes and Dudes, and my family and friends for helping me get through 2014. I was dreading October because it was Tony's bday, and the regular baseball season would be over. 

So, here's my SF Giants story. It begins in 1991 when I met Tony, the man who would be my husband for 21 years. When we met, I was an A's fan (sorry). We quickly fell in love, and he informed me that I had to like the Giants now. Over the course of a few years, he showed me how awesome the Giants were. By the time we had our son, we were a Giants family. We even took our boy to the final game at Candlestick....one of my favorite memories. 

Moving ahead to 2009...Tony was injured on the job. It was pretty bad. We realized that he wouldn't be able to do some of the things we loved to do together including going to games. He encouraged me to attend games with my girlfriends. So I would go to the game, and he would watch it or listen to it. Then we could talk it over later. Because of this time with my girlfriends and chats with my husband I became a die hard, stat knowing, every player loving fan. (I do have a couple favorite favorite players...Jeremy Affeldt, Brandon Crawford...dude, I should probably just list off everyone...Buster, Matt, Hunter, Sergio, Joe, Brandon...... )
 I got to attend the home opener in 2010. I become pathetically superstitious. What a great year for our Giants. What a dream come true for my fellow fans. The Giants did it again in 2012...amazing!

Then 2014 arrived. My Tony wasn't doing so well. I had received my 6 pack of Giants tickets for Christmas as usual. February 12, 2014, my husband died, suddenly and unexpectedly. He was doing what he loved...helping coaching baseball at the local high school. Around the time the initial shock wore off, it was time to attend my first Giants game. I was happy for the normalcy of this. However, when an amazing play was made, I grabbed my phone to text my husband. The rest of the game was hard...so many firsts...hearing one of "our songs"... I was probably the only person there crying while everyone celebrated a win. The rest of the season went by, and I began to get back into fully enjoying the games. I started to dread September though because that's my anniversary month. I had a ticket to the game the day before my anniversary. I decided to celebrate and get tickets for my anniversary as well. What better way to celebrate your anniversary than with the Giants! I asked my fellow Gamer Babes if they had any ideas. They told me about the Dugout Suite at the Hotel Union Square. What a great place. My girlfriends and I booked the night. We did lots of Giantsy things around the city for my anniversary. Hotel Union Square and my Gamer Babes gave me presents and cards. It ended up being absolutely perfect. Thank you, Mary Rose Parkman, and the rest of of the Gamer Babes. 

I had originally thought that the season would end in September. I wasn't looking forward to October (Tony's bday) and the rest of the holidays. So, of course, my SF Giants decided to help me out. They played and played and made it to the World Series. Then, they decided to help me out some more and made the series go 7 games...all the way to his bday. I know that they of course only did that for me...haha. I still want to say thank you. I honestly didn't know how I would make it through October. I got to talk about my man to whoever would listen (during the games). I had people cheering for the Giants who wouldn't normally be fans (just for me...this one is true...it really was just for me...they told me). I had Dodgers fans who weren't completely disgusted that we won the series because they were happy for me. It felt like the world around me unified. I felt so awe-struck that this would happen this year just when I needed it. It felt like it was all for me...I know it's not...I know others have stories...I know that none of the Giants knows I exist...but it was still amazing and awesome and I will claim that it was just for me. 

So I want to say thank you to my family for being there for me. Thank you to my friends for putting up with me during this season. Thank you friends who aren't fans who rooted for my boys. Thank you to my girlfriends who stood beside me this year and let me cry at Giants games and helped me create new good memories. Thank you Gamer Babes and Dudes for loving on me and helping me feel connected to a bigger family. And finally, thank you, SF Giants for living out the "together" slogan. You really made it feel like we were family (while you did the hard work and we sat around yelling and screaming). 
-JOY (a grateful fan)