on being a Bay Area baseball fan

thank you for the ride
though it fizzled in the end
see you in the spring

So the Cardinals choked in the end and the Giants are going to the World Series. It’s a different kind of heartbreak for me but heartbreak nonetheless.

I posted this to my FB after the game:

Well, my baseball watching season is officially over. Thank you, Cardinals for giving me a few more games to watch. Still love you all, just not as much as the A’s. And good luck to those former A’s headed to the WS– Barry Zito and Marco Scutaro…

Someone commented:

I still don’t understand why so many A’s fans hate the Giants. You’d rather the Cards than the team just across the Bay?

Ummm, where exactly did I say I was a Giants hater? Because I’m not at all. They just aren’t my #1 or #2. During the NLCS, I wasn’t cheering for the Giants to lose, I was cheering for the Cardinals to win because I am a Cardinals fan. Perhaps the distinction is too subtle for some people to understand but I believe there’s a difference. And after I swallow the bitterness of the Cardinals’ season end, I will probably lean on hoping the Giants win because I am not a Tigers fan. And would a Giants hater wish luck to Barry Zito and Marco Scutaro?

I don’t ever want to be considered a bandwagon fan. Some people might think that I am for being a Cardinals fan but I’ve liked them for a long time, heightened by the fact that my favorite pitcher, Mark Mulder, played a few seasons with them. (Well, “played” is a generous term.) It helps that the husband is a Cardinals fan and probably influenced me to finally settle on them. But I am first and foremost an Oakland Athletics fan. I will NEVER cheer against them and my baseball heart belongs to them. And the only time I’ll cheer against the Cardinals is if they’re playing the A’s. 😉

So congratulations to the San Francisco Giants. I hope they do well in the World Series and showcase our Bay Area with pride.

And thank you to the St. Louis Cardinals for giving me a few more games of baseball to watch. It was hard to watch you all fizzle in the end…