San Francisco Bay Area

A season of torturous happiness and excitement was capped off when Aubrey Huff Zoolandered his famed rally thong in front of thousands of overjoyed Giants fans on the steps of City Hall.

As the realization set in, and the splurging on championship gear began for fans, the organization was quickly back to work. At hand was a task completely foreign to San Francisco -- how to defend a championship. 

It was the same feeling I had as a little kid on the night before Christmas, where no matter how hard you try to sleep, it is physically impossible because you are anticipating the next day’s excitement.

As a kid, I was excited to see what Santa left under the tree, but last week I couldn't wait to attend my first ever World Series.

Fake bearded towel waving Giants fans watched as Matt Cain was able to deliver a crushing defeat to the heavy hitting Texas Rangers, and for many fans, the idea of capturing their first World Series since 1954 is but a stone’s throw away.

Cain kept his 0.00 postseason ERA intact going nearly eight as he dazzled and confounded the Rangers’ hitters, while postseason veteran Edgar Renteria did the rest, going 2-4 with a key home-run in the fifth inning that got things going.

The Giants entered their third 2010 postseason series as the underdog, again. Everybody was told the Giants can't score runs. The Rangers will light up Giants pitching.

In two games, the Giants have outscored the Rangers 20-7. San Francisco had only scored 30 runs in their first 10 games leading up to the World Series.

Expect a healthy dose of torture tonight. 

After last night’s offensive firestorm, where the San Francisco Giants ran up a week’s worth of runs in one game, tonight should be a nice reversion to the tense, nail-biting and familiar mean. 

Cue “The Machine” and bring on the thumbscrews. 

Getting an opportunity to play in Major League Baseball doesn’t come without sacrifice and hard work. Everyone that gets there goes a different route in realizing their dreams.

Some players have more obstacles in front of them than others, which make the success of San Francisco Giants’ second baseman Freddy Sanchez quite remarkable.

Before the 2010 World Series began last night, the common consensus was the San Francisco Giants had to score more to have a chance of winning the World Series.

The Giants pitching staff is excellent, but could they win a slugfest against the offensive prowess of the Texas Rangers?

Game 1 was labeled as an all-time pitching showdown. The matchup between Texas Rangers ace Cliff Lee and the San Francisco Giants two-time defending NL Cy Young award winner Tim Lincecum was billed as a classic to be.

Of all the major pro sports leagues, Major League Baseball's postseason is the least valid at crowning a champ.  This is for a number of reasons.  There is good news, however. Many positive tweaks to the playoff structure have already been discussed.  Time to shed light on just what is missing, and what actions should be taken.

The San Francisco Giants are regarded more for their pitching than hitting—and for good reason. They ranked 15th in batting average and 17th in runs scored during the regular season.

But while their offense was mediocre then, their approach at the plate is one of the main reasons they've made it this far in the postseason.

NOTE: PLAY THE  BELOW MUSIC WHILE YOU READ THIS ARTICLE

The San Francisco Union-Giants marched onto the fields at AT&T Gettysburg under an orange and black sky on this day of 27 October 2010.

General Lee (Cliff) looked to continue his invasion northward after successful campaigns against Fort Tampa and the Yankee outpost in the Bronx.