Sweet torture!(ATHLETIC ARENA) (history of the San Francisco Giants from the point of view of a baseball fan) (Essay)

• Author: Barrett, Wayne M.

MAYS, McCOVEY, AND MARICHAL. Yes, the Yankees had their M&M boys (Mantle and Maris) piling up championships, and the Amazin' Mets had their Miracle, but my Giants had the Say Hey Kid, Stretch, and the Dominican Dandy--and Gaylord Perry, Jim Davenport, Orlando Cepeda, Tom Haller, all three Alou brothers, and so many others. Still, no championship. My 45 seasons as a fan of Frisco slipped by quietly--and quickly. You know how life is. All of a sudden, you're not a wide-eyed boy anymore, or even a wise-guy teenager, or that infuriating angry young man, or an up-and-coming sportswriter, or a how-did-I-ever-get-so-lucky-to- find-her newlywed, or a novice father. They say you've reached middle aged but, at 52, I have to believe I'm more than halfway there--wherever there ultimately proves to be. Finally, though, I am secure in the knowledge that I will be arriving replete with a treasure that has proved to be so elusive for so many years: a World Series title for the San Francisco Giants. I'm reminded of the N.Y. Rangers' fans who waited 54 years to raise the Stanley Cup, and also the banner: At Least I Can Die Happy Now.

Both my grandfathers rooted for the Brooklyn Dodgers; they never could quite figure out how my father raised a Giants fan, although the signs were there early on: when my dad went with his dad to Ebbets Field, he cheered on Gotham's black-and-orange over the Dodger blue-just to be a contrarian. My father, Brooklyn born and raised, paid no loyalties to cities when it came to favorite teams. He grew up cheering for the Pittsburgh Pirates (because of Ralph Kiner); Boston Celtics (Bill Russell was his favorite player): Chicago Black Hawks (the stories he could tell about Stan Mikita); and the New York football Giants (the Cleveland Browns were their big rival back then, so, of course, I became a Browns fan; there's that contrarian gene again).

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I, too, was born in Brooklyn, and the Giants and Dodgers left town for the West Coast four months later. So, you might say that the SFGs and I grew up together. Four seasons prior to their move--and three years after Bobby Thomson's famed "Shot Heard 'Round the World"--the Giants pulled off one of the biggest shockers in World Series history, sweeping the Cleveland Indians, who had just set an American League record by winning the 1954 pennant with 111 victories--and the Giants had not (at least until earlier this month) won since. Funny thing is, in terms of longest...