Giants victory, rain – a perfect Halloween

How many boys and girls do you figure will reject the usual witches, monsters and superhero costumes tonight and simply go door-to-door dressed in their favorite Giants jersey?

Who could blame them?

You can’t say the San Francisco Giants won the hearts of every baseball fan in the Valley on Wednesday night, because most of those hearts already belonged to San Francisco. But you can say they made us proud. All of us. (Dodger fans excepted.)

With one exception, the Giants were not spectacular. They made some fantastic plays, but they also booted the ball around in a gasping game of kickball in the ninth inning. They made some key hits, but only if their leadoff batter had reached first already, and seldom did those hits come from the first three batters in the lineup. Their starting pitchers were, well, ineffective – again, with one exception.

So, we’re offering all you scheming little tricksters who plan to brave tonight’s rain a strategy for getting more Baby Ruths, more M&Ms (that stands for Michael and Morse now), more Crunch (time) bars. While your neighbors are still euphoric over this Series victory, they won’t be able to resist a pigtailed Buster Posey, red-cheeked Pablo Sandoval or fake-bearded Sergio Romo. Pour on the orange and black, and watch the goodies roll your way.

But if you really want to cash in on the candy, dress like the exception. Put on a jersey that has the name “Bumgarner” on the back. Big number 40.

He was the Giants’ exception, and he was utterly, sensationally exceptional. No one can recall seeing a performance like his in the World Series because there’s never been a performance like this in the World Series. At least not since Christy Mathewson pitched three shutouts in the 1905 World Series during the dead-ball era. Bumgarner’s series will remain in Giants fans’ memories longer than the scores of the games, the big hits or whoever that singer was who forgot the words to the national anthem.

Oh, and if it rains on the Giants’ parade, as predicted in San Francisco? We’ll cheer all the more loudly. This is Northern California, after all, and that would be a perfect way to end baseball season and really start the fall.

Trick or treat with abandon tonight, kids – the Giants have given us a Halloween to remember.

This story was originally published October 30, 2014 at 5:04 PM with the headline "Giants victory, rain – a perfect Halloween."