The Rookies

Why I Root is an occasional feature at The Rookies in which we discuss our allegiances, or, in Samer’s case, excuse that Barry Zito article from a while back.

The only two Barry Zito fans. They couldn't find two more people to finish his name.

Whenever I wear my San Francisco Giants hat out in public in the New England area, I get really weird looks. It’s hard to explain why I started liking them.

I would attribute it partially to a combination of my love for the color orange, listening to E-40, and playing a season of Ken Griffey Jr. Baseball for N64 with the Giants for no real reason. Mainly, however, my affection for them comes from my experience back in high school.

No, not that kind of experience.

As a kid from New Hampshire who had never really traveled farther from home than New Jersey, I was very anxious about my trip to California during my sophomore summer in high school for a 10-day “leadership forum,” which is a euphemism for “nerd camp.” Leaving New Hampshire at two in the morning to land in San Jose was not something I enjoyed, but when I got to California, I took in all the sunlight and beautiful sights and girls that met my eye. It was such a change from a small town in New England with a population of about 2,000 to palm trees in the median of the street as you drove.

The camp included field trips to fill the time, breaking up the dicking around at the hotel we were staying at. (Seriously, I didn’t really learn anything from the camp, I learned more from the kids that were in it. My first foray into HTML and hotkeys happened that summer (Rock note: Dork, and if I’m saying that…), and my first taste of In-N-Out Burger, which was probably the best burger I have ever had.) One of the field trips was to go to then-SBC Park and watch the Giants play against the Cincinnati Reds. I had been to a couple of Portland Sea Dogs games when I was in middle school, and a few months before this trip, I went to Fenway Park to see Boston play the Toronto Blue Jays (Arroyo vs. Halladay, the Blue Jays won and my little sister got one of David Ortiz’s foul balls, which I keep in my room since she doesn’t follow baseball) and loved the experience.

With some research, I found out what game I went to that day in July. Here’s the box score. As you can see, it was a pretty unspectacular game, but looking at the names on that list, I don’t think there’s a person in that Giants line-up that even starts anymore. Barry Bonds was hurt or something for that game, so we didn’t even get to see him.

The game’s attendance was very small, as I clearly remember being in my upper bleacher seats near McCovey Cove and noticing the abundance of empty chairs at the game. As a matter of fact, this picture on Wikipedia is pretty close to what my seats looked like. Some of the kids I was with went on the Coca-Cola slide in left field. I was hungry, so I went to the concessions. For drink sizes, they had Small, Medium, Large, and Barry Bonds. To commemorate my trip, and because I was really thirsty, I bought the Barry Bonds-size cup and a churro. (Side note: churros are delicious.) The cup was “giant” (See what I did there?) and it barely fit in the cup holder. Whoever built the stadium was pushing it with the cup holder sizes. After I conquered the 64 fluid ounces of fountain soda, I rinsed it out and kept it with me. To this day, the Barry Bonds cup sits on my nightstand, collecting spare change.

For the record, I have never liked Barry Bonds. He’s clutch when it comes to Ken Griffey Jr. Baseball for N64, but I don’t like the man. The Giants logo is still associated with him, and people assume that I like him. It will take a while, but hopefully he won’t have any association with San Francisco in the future.

One memory from that game that really stood out was when a couple of people in my row attempted to start the Wave, because we were high schoolers/assholes, and a woman from security exclaimed one of the most memorable quotes from the whole trip.

“Hey,” she yelled. “We don’t do that here. If you want to do that, go to Oakland.”

Thanks to the recent success of the Giants, I’ve noticed that the seats are filling up and the crowd has been more into the game than before. The team isn’t at the bottom of the cellar anymore, and without Bonds, the team’s success seems more wholesome.

I really hope to go back to now-AT&T Park, sit near McCovey Cove, and hope for a Splash Hit.

Also, I would have Tim Lincecum’s children.