Steven Serafini: The Will and Thrill of Comebacks

By Steven Serafini
Sonoma Valley Sun Sports Editor

With my 25 years as a Sports Editor and columnist, and as a competitive athlete, coach and fan, I’ve experienced a wide range of emotions in the field of play.

 And I know that, whether you choose a sport to provide physical exercise, as a recreational pastime or simply entertainment, competition can make it more interesting, even if it’s not the focal point of your efforts.

But if you choose a competitive sport, either as a career or as a totally-engaged fan, devoted to a given team, club, or individual athlete, then it all centers around winning or losing.

Now there are many different ways a team or an athlete can attempt to pull out a win, and the variables include skill, experience, focus, confidence, inner belief and, in many cases, a bit of luck.

There’s also the issue of setting, whether the game is in a welcoming home environment, or on the road with an antagonistic audience.

On Wednesday, June 10, I witnessed and was mesmerized by a rare sports comeback double-header, two games with historic outcomes.

In a baseball, home day game, at the most beautiful ballpark in America, the currently struggling San Francisco Giants were on the verge of being swept in a three-game series by the visiting Washington Nationals who took a 9-1 lead into the bottom of the eighth inning. The outcome looked dire.

But there was a sudden flicker of hope after Matt Chapman and Rafael Devers hit back-to-back homers. It was Chapman’s second of the game and, after a furious rally plated three more runs, the deficit was cut to 9-6. Unfortunately, the Nats scored another run to make it 10-6 heading into the bottom of the ninth.

Then determination, grit and luck occurred for the Giants as they banged out hits to score a run and load the bases for rookie and now sensation, Bryce Eldridge, who smacked a grand slam homer over the right-field wall for an improbable 11-10 victory, with Eldridge becoming the youngest player to hit a winning walk-off grand slam in MLB history.

If that wasn’t enough to make my sports-minded day, that evening in game four of the NBA finals, the New York Knicks were being run out of Madison Square Garden by the visiting San Antonio Spurs who had a 29-point third-quarter lead on their way to tying the best-of-seven series at two games apiece.

But the Knicks, who had trailed for most of the series (although not by that staggering amount), put together what would be the greatest comeback in NBA playoff and finals history, sparked by 6-foot, 1-inch Jalen Brunson (with his teammate OG Anunoby) – in contrast to San Antonio’s 7-foot, 5-inch sensation Victor Wembanyama.

It was an unbelievable, unforgettable moment that reinforces my love and passion for sports, and serves as a reminder that, in life outside of sports, anyone can rally back from deficits and setbacks to get to where they want or need to be.

 Ciao!