The Giants' three World Series-winning squads last decade were great teams, ones for the ages.
But if their story's over, why I am still writing (web) pages?
That's because Taylor Swift is dropping a new album entitled "Folklore" after midnight Thursday, which, if you believe in such omens, means the Orange and Black could rediscover their even-year magic this season.
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[BALK TALK: Listen to the latest episode]
Allow me to explain.
As Kelsey McKinney noted for Vox back in 2014, the Giants won the 2010, 2012 and 2014 World Series within days of Swift dropping "Speak Now," "Red," and "1989," respectively, in those years. Why not in 2006 ("Taylor Swift") or 2008 ("Fearless")? McKinney added an important wrinkle that you can't forget existed: Neither of those albums sold (at least) 1 million copies in their first week, but Swift's albums in the Giants' World Series years did.
Swift didn't release an album in 2016, a nightmare end to the Giants season (dressed like a daydream) in which they went 30-42 after owning MLB's best record at the All-Star break. Swift's albums in 2017 ("Reputation") and 2019 ("Lover") came out in years when San Francisco didn't make the postseason at all. "Reputation" hit the million mark, but it also came out after the baseball season.
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Reading that might make you feel happy, free, confused and lonely at the same time. But if the Giants' miserable and magical connection to Swift's success is no mere coincidence, then Giants fans -- whether they like Swift's music or not -- should be rooting for "Folklore" to have sold 1 million or more copies by this time next week. "Reputation" was the last album to do it, and perhaps the album's surprise release will help Swift become the first artist with five such albums.
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So, was Swift making album history the real source of the Giants' even-year success all along? Or did it just put them over the hump during years in which they already made the postseason? This season, assuming it's completed, should be an interesting case study.
There are lonely, Starbucks-winners is a long list of ex-winners who will tell you this is insane. But the Commissioner's Trophy has a blank space, baby.
Will the Giants write their name?