AP Photo

When Willie McCovey scalded a liner that found Bobby Richardson's glove at first to end the 1962 World Series, there was no way for San Franciscans to know that, 48 years later, the Giants still would never have won a Fall Classic in San Francisco.

When the Loma Prieta earthquake wreaked unspeakable horror on the area in 1989, the once-highly anticipated Bay Bridge World Series became an afterthought.

When Dusty Baker famously handed Russ Ortiz the game ball as a keepsake when the manager summoned a reliever to protect a 5-0 lead with the Giants just eight outs from clinching the 2002 World Series, nobody could know then that the Giants were headed for their greatest train wreck yet.

And around town, they call Giants baseball "torture" in...