San Francisco Giants: We Want More

San Franciscans believe in spreading the wealth around, but not when it comes to the success of their sports teams. The Giants are going to the World Series for the third time in five years. Even fans with a progressive disposition are saying "back up the truck and give us another trophy."

No one here is crying for the Cubs, who haven't been to the baseball championships since 1945, or the Washington Nationals, a never-been-there team whom the Giants defeated in the playoffs.

Most of the nation is probably rooting for the Kansas City Royals (29 years since their last title) in the World Series. Nevertheless there are good reasons to cheer for the Giants, whose individual players have engaging narratives.

Before 2014 Tim Hudson, 39, a multiple-year All-Star for the Oakland Athletics and the Atlanta Braves, had never played in a League Championship Series, much less the World Series. Injury-prone 32-year-old Michael Morse also never made it past the LDS.

From the doghouse to the penthouse  (NY Daily News photo)

But perhaps the most compelling story belonged to Travis Ishikawa, 31. After being cut by the Giants in 2011 (he did earn a 2010 World Series ring as a back-up first baseman), he tried unsuccessfully to land a spot on the Brewers, Yankees, Orioles, and Pirates. In 2014 he was re-signed by the Giants to the minor-league Fresno Giants, where he only played intermittently. A father of three, he was giving serious thought to giving up the game when the San Francisco Giants, in desperate straits due to injury, asked him to play left field for the first time since high school.

On Thursday night Travis Ishikawa hit the game-ending home run that propelled the Giants into the World Series. The last player to strike a walk-off National-League pennant-winning home run was the 1951 Giant Bobby Thomson, who hit the shot heard 'round the world.

If we stopped here, it would be a great story already. But we want more.