We're In!

Finally. A celebration on the mound.

Since Game Three of the 2003 NLDS ended with a loss to the Florida Marlins, I have been looking forward to the day when the Giants could have a celebration on the mound. I've watched 18 bajillion mound celebrations since that gray afternoon in Miami seven years ago and no Giants have been a part of any of them.

I like watching catchers running out to hug pitchers. I like when grown men pour out of the dugout like kids on the last day of school. I like watching guys wearing awkwardly fitting Division Champs t-shirts they just got handed over their uniforms give high fives to geeked up fans. I like seeing someone like Bruce Bochy, who I actually thought was born without the facial muscles required for a human being to smile, smile from ear to ear.

I especially like seeing a guy like Freddy Sanchez - an All Star on last-place Pirates teams who never quite got fully embraced here in San Francisco because of his tendency to streak - streak his way into our hearts with a two out hit that started the scoring, and celebrate his first playoff appearance.

I also like seeing a guy like Aubrey Huff - who received a lot of MVP votes playing on bad Devil Rays and Orioles teams, and arrived in San Francisco to the sound of shrugging shoulders because we thought he was just another aging veteran who was past his prime - hit one into the gap to continue the scoring and celebrate his first playoff appearance.

In a way Huff and Sanchez symbolize the post-Bonds era Giants. Both guys picked up for their offense but nobody really expected much out of them. Aubrey because he was over the hill, Freddy because he wasn't going to repeat his good years. But both guys contributed big time this season, both came through in the most important game in seven years.

Tonight is a night of celebration, but I can't get too gushy yet. There is a huge orchard of post-season moments sprawling out in front of me and I need to save some of this up for that.

Now let's go get those Braves.