The San Francisco Giants are team I fell in love with as a boy, and they continue to break my heart year after year. They haven’t won a world series since 1954, when they were the New York Giants. But, unlike the 49ers and Warriors, they have played for a championship in my lifetime. Being only eleven years old at the time, my whole life revolved around watching my favorite team, playing my favorite sport. The 2002 World Series loss was the most disappointing event of my young life. The players’ failure seemed like my failure. It seemed like the city’s failure. This was only the most disappointing thing the Giants have done. For the early years of my ‘fanhood’ they went to the playoffs every year. They had the best player to play the game since Babe Ruth in Barry Bonds. But even he individually teased his fans with his inflated stats and records because of his alleged (and probable) steroid use. The Giants are the only major Bay Area sports team that still leaves the fans with hope at the end of the regular season. But it all comes crashing down when it counts, making the pain of their fans sharper and more severe.

Image borrowed from onlyinsanfrancisco.com