First Baseball, then the World

Be sure, this was more than just baseball.

This was Spiderman staring into the face of Venom, Mario taking on Wario, Newman vs. Feldman.

The 2010 World Series took the very extremes of the American psyche and slammed them together for five epic games of bizarro-world mortal combat. Well, mortal pastime at least.

Texas and San Francisco. Two more different places in this country I cannot imagine.  The slogans say it all – “Don’t Mess with Texas” (we like things just the way they are), and “Only in San Francisco”, (give us something new).

On the field, untamed and flashy hair so perfectly reflected the  attitudes of Wilson and Lincecum’s supporters.

It seemed like every supporter in San Francisco had a greater purpose; there were ball fans sure, but there were factions pouring into the streets for whom baseball was just the medium; they wore passionate political agendas on their black and orange sleeves.

Dotted around the city, and splattered in the Castro, men proudly walked hand and hand, their wedding rings clinking. They wore  matching Giants ball caps and t-shirts that read ‘Queers vs. Steers’. It was a defiant gesture, a celebration of the failure of Prop 8, which proposed a ban on gay marriage, and was turned down in California this summer despite over $1 million in ‘yes’ support from concerned Texans, five times the ‘no’ support from that state.

In other parts of town, environmentalists watched intently, as if the outcome of each game was some premonition of the outcome of Prop 23, to be voted upon today in California. The Prop would suspend California’s enlightened “Global Warming Solutions Act” (which requires a reduction in greenhouse gases) until unemployment dropped below 5.5% for four consecutive quarters. That’s happened a grand total of three times since 1980. More than $3.1 million has been poured into the ‘Yes’ vote by a host of ambitious Texas oil companies.

And then Texas fought back. San Franciscans were laid open to a searing reminder of the power of the Lone Star State when the Bush father and son team rolled back into their lives at the start of game 4. Involving such a controversial figure as George W. spoke volumes of the partisan nature of this series.

And now, with Prop 23 on the table in California today, it looks like this unlikely finals match up could have huge implications for the future of the state, the country and the world. I for one am hoping that the thrill of tonight’s Texas-bashing will carry over to the polls.

And you thought this was just baseball.