It’s the bottom of the eleventh now, the game still tied. Here’s what I’ll remember: we’re barreling down I-80, the night so black we could’ve been hurtling through space. Fans of other teams will continue riding the postseason roller coaster, while Giants’ fans contemplate both a disappointing loss and the magic of a season like no other. Last week, the season ended for San Francisco. In doing so, they gave me a feeling sorely lacking in this difficult pandemic season: I felt cheerful. They went on to win 107 games and the division. The 2021 Giants were projected to be good-to-middling, maybe winning 75–80 games. In the bottom of the ninth, with two outs and down to his last strike, Giants second baseman Donovan Solano hit a home run to tie the game and send it into extra innings.
The Giants were at home, playing the Atlanta Braves and leading 4–2, until Atlanta scored three runs to pull ahead.
We were returning to the Bay Area after backpacking in Colorado, a last-minute detour to avoid the wildfires ravaging parts of California.
Last September, I drove along a vast stretch of Highway 80 with my husband and adult daughter, listening to a baseball game. There will be no World Series for the San Francisco Giants this year, but fans like Bora Reed cherish memories of a thrilling season like no other.
