And on Social Media Night, with several of his biggest fans and defenders in attendance, Brandon Belt made a backbreaking error in the top of the ninth inning, sending to the Giants to another dismal defeat. The playoffs were a far-fetched scenario before the game started; the error turned that idea into science-fiction.

It's too much for me. This team, this season. Losing in soul-spindling fashion time and time again. It isn't worth it. This is supposed to be fun. This is supposed to be something people do with their free time by choice. And there's no reason … the frustration … it's just …

Forget it. I'm done. I can't take this anymore. This season just isn't fun anymore, and, really that's why we follow baseball. We follow the sport, the team, to enjoy ourselves. There's no point. Screw it.

Goodbye, 2013 Giants. Goodbye, baseball.

a flash



Where am I? What happened?

You are here, my child.

Who are you? Those lights? I can't see.

You lost faith. But we're here now. We're home.

The last thing I remember, the Giants were … a strike away from beating the Cubs. Wait, no. They lost to the Cubs. There was an error. Then I swore off baseball. Now I'm here. Where is here?

You swore off baseball after it gave you so much? After the improbable happened, time and time again? When your wildest baseball fantasies came true, and then they all came true again? You disappoint me.

I don't … look, it wasn't … I was just tired. Tired of baseball. Tired of losing. After so much success, it just stings a little bit more, you know? I guess I'm just spoiled.

I guess you are.

I miss it. I miss the winning. I miss the confidence, the arrogance. The thrill of the playoffs.

Do you know where you are? It's the year 2018.

No. No. Oh, god, no.

And the Giants just won the World Series again.

Wait, how? Really? No fooling?

Kyle Crick pitched Games 1, 4, and 7 of the World Series to win the MVP. Nicholas Gordon was the MVP in the NLCS.

Who is Nicholas Gordon?

The Giants' top draft pick in 2014. You see, if Brandon Belt catches that ball and runs to first for the last out of the game, the Giants trade Kyle Crick for Ervin Santana. They don't make the playoffs, but Santana helps them win a couple more games, so the Giants pick #12 instead of #10. They draft Skance McCown, who never advances past A-ball. They make the playoffs once in the next 20 years, where they're bounced in the first round by the Cubs.

So …

The error saved the team, my child. The error saved the Giants. The most divisive player on social media ruined Social Media Night, but he did it for you.

I wanted him to enjoy Social Media Night with us.

Because he was carrying you.

What?

You were supposed to ask … never mind. You get the point. If no one makes that error, the Giants make all the wrong decisions. This is how it had to be.

a flash





And suddenly I'm home. It's July 26, The Giants are eight games back. Who was that mysterious man? Why couldn't I see him through the light? Was that one of the baseball gods? I'll never know. The last thing I saw were his shoulders slumping in the blinding white robes.

The lesson stayed with me, though. The lesson that baseball works in mysterious ways, that what makes for a happy game might not make for a happy season. That if the Giants had one more win in 2007, that Bengie Molina might still be the starting catcher. Buster Posey sure as heck wouldn't be. That was the value of a loss in 2007. This is a short-term disappointment, but maybe it was a long-term gain.

…

Ha ha ha, no. Just kidding. That game sucked. There are no lessons. Just sucking.

That game sucked.