The Giants tried hard last offseason to pry Bryce Harper away from the Washington Nationals. Both teams ultimately watched as Harper chose a record deal from the Philadelphia Phillies, with the Giants continuing their rebuild and the Nationals then ... winning the World Series without him.
It was a stunning run, and not just because it came without Harper. Even with him in the lineup, the Nationals had one of the saddest postseason résumés in recent history, repeatedly taking loaded rosters into October and losing in the first round.
The Giants contributed to that in 2014, but Friday they would have hosted a team that found a way to finally win a championship.