Fever Season

Every year at this time a fever descends upon one or two regions
of the country. It spreads fast and furious among the infected
populace. It comes in October but it is not about the harvest or
changing outdoor temperatures. It happens even when it is not an
election year. And this year, the fever comes clad in lots of
orange and black, but it has nothing to do with Halloween’s witches
and goblins.
It’s “pennant fever” and San Francisco Giants fans all across
northern California are suffering in glee, ecstatic enthusiasm and
relentless last-inning jitters.
Don’t we love it? Go Giants! Workplace talk (it used to be
called “water cooler conversations”) is all about yesterday’s game
and tomorrow’s hopes. With the fever, there is no such thing as a
“casual” fan. Family dinner times are being re-scheduled to fit the
Opening Pitch TV schedule. Last week we were all on Philadelphia
time. This week the action is all at AT&T ballpark.
If the Giants win a few more games and get past the defending
National League Champion Phillies, the fever we all are suffering
will get much, much worse.
World Series fever is usually accompanied by very high rates of
absences from school and work. Lots of liquids must be consumed.
Apparently, it is one of the most contagious fevers ever. It
affects all age groups. Sometimes, its grip is so fixed that good
football fans forget about their favorite pigskin teams — even in
years when a 49ers or Raiders team might be winning more than just
one or two games all season.
Baseball is still named “America’s Pastime.” It’s times like
these full of pennant fever that remind us why this is still true.
Could such a reminder come at a better time? Who couldn’t use a
little relief and distraction from our economic woes, election
noise and budget bickering?
Year-long Giants fans, the die-hards, understand. All the rest
of us are now being infected with their illness and their spirit.
Maybe after the Giants win the World Series, we can bottle up some
of that spirit and solidarity to cheer together for better school
budgets, state government reforms and more jobs for the unemployed
among us.
What about electing Giants’ Manager Bruce Bochy as our next
governor? He knows how to put a winning team together. Can you
imagine if Pablo “King Fu Panda” Sandoval was in charge of our
schools? Every day would be a fun day, no matter if we’re in a
hitting (budget) slump or not.
The Giants this year drew over 3 million fans to
AT&T ballpark. That’s a lot of beer and hot dogs. That’s a big
economic boost. We all need to play more baseball!
Baseball is one of our American institutions that remains
resilient to all the social changes like Google, Facebook, mass
consumption of artifical goods and fake TV celebrities, among other
modern distractions.
Last weekend people went to a series of local Candidates’ Nights
election forums. In their laps were dimly lit smart phones,
flashing the boxscore of the Giants clinching win over the Atlanta
Braves. (Remember when we would sneak transistor radios to school?)
People with too many weekend errands skipped the 49ers-Raiders game
last Sunday, to be sure to be home for the early evening
Giants-Phillies game.
This spreading fever has united us in a common focus and
uplifting feeling. We talk differently, verbally replaying last
night’s game over and over among friends, co-workers and any person
wearing a Giants cap or color.
When Lincecum strikes out 14 Braves, it’s as if we did it
ourselves. When Posey, Burrell or Ross hit the next “big fly”
millions of us will be rounding the bases with them, high-fiving in
front of our TVs.
So, let’s go Giants! Let’s go Giants fans — each and every one
of us!
— Rollie Atkinson