Game 7

I've said before that when your team is in the playoffs, watching the games really isn't much fun. 

When the Giants were down 3-1 and starting Barry Zito last Friday, I wasn't nervous at all, because - and I hate to admit this - I really didn't think we had much of a chance.  But Barry came through like he's never come through before, and my anxiety level was ratched up quite a bit for last night's Game 6 - even though the Giants took an early lead and were never really threatened after that.  But having watched what the Cardinals did to the Rangers last year and to the Nationals in Game 5 of the NLDS, I knew that they were a team that you don't count out until the final out.

So now we come to what I believe is the 4th Game 7 in Giants history.  In 1962 (when I was 2 years old), they lost at Candlestick Park to the Yankees, when a screaming line drive by Willie McCovey that would have tied the game went straight into the glove of Bobby Richardson at second base.

25 years later, the Giants took a 3-2 lead back to St. Louis, lost a classic nailbiter in Game 6, and were left having to start the inconsistent Atlee Hammaker in Game 7.  Game over, and series over.

15 years after that, we had a Game 7 in Anaheim that they might as well not have played - that's how certain I was that the Giants were going to lose, after having blown Game 6 in a meltdown of epic proportions, losing after having led 5-0 as late as the seventh inning.

So here we are 10 years after that, another Game 7 against St. Louis, and I know that every pitch is going to be hard to watch.  For what it's worth (probably not much) all the momentum is on our side, and we've got Matt Cain on the mound, so you have to feel pretty good about our chances.  But these are the Cardinals, after all, and they are the champs.  And you know what they say - you have to beat the champ.  No one is going to give it to you.

We shall see.