A Night of Revelry or Riots? Giants Win the World Series

Photo, video, and text by Joe Sciarrillo, November 1, 2014

The Giants won their 3rd World Series in 5 years on October 29, 2014, and San Franciscans took to the street ecstatic from the victory. From the crowds jumping over the blazing fires set in the middle of Mission Street to the champagne spilling out of boutique wine bars, Giants celebrations were portrayed by the media as a tale of two cities. But there's more to the city's celebrations than meets the eye. They included culminations of socio-economic and political movements that have been taking place in San Francisco and the Bay Area since even before the Giants 2010 win.
Police intervene on celebrations in the Mission District after the Giants won the 2014 World Series
Social media and headline news focused on the mayhem and crowds in the Mission District, such as people taking selfies in front of a burning couch, or the video of a girl trying to cross the police line to catch her Uber car. While crowds got chaotic later in the night, right after the game, the majority of the Mission was filled with people from different backgrounds gathered in the streets together cheering and dancing on the warm night. The constant sound of drums, honking horns, loud-bass stereos, and "Let's Go Giants!" chants were reminiscent of the Mission's Carnaval celebrations.

Giants post-season wins have served, since 2010, as a chance for city residents, and those living in neighboring cities, to reclaim public spaces as their own. At a time when the city's population grows denser, long-standing businesses are shutting down or are being pushed out, Ellis Act evictions are skyrocketing, and the 49ers moved to Santa Clara, the Giants are one of the remaining cultural institutions that all San Franciscans can celebrate together.

While many outdoor celebrations were diverse, with hipsters and homies chugging beers and dancing side-by-side, the city's segregated elements were also apparent. In the early hours after the Giants' World Series win, Valencia Street at 16th and 19th Streets was filled with large crowds of mostly white 20 to 30-year-olds spraying Pabst Blue Ribbon and champagne. On Mission Street at 19th and 22nd Streets, largely Latino youth, with an increasing trickle of white bar-hoppers, lit small fires and danced on car hoods. There were also mostly Latino youth at the sideshows on 24th Street and South Van Ness, with lowriders booming their music to 24th and Folsom. As the night grew on, the crowds on Mission and Valencia mixed to reflect the city’s demographics.
A six-year old pleads with fans to not riot in the Mission District before the Giants won. (image credit: Andrea Valencia)
What was a joyful celebration got out of hand after 10pm in some parts of the city. Some areas were more chaotic than other years, but at least no Muni bus was set on fire like in 2012. However, those in the street did not heed the six-year-old’s letter posted on Mission Local earlier in the week, calling people to not hurt the neighborhood.

Around 10pm, I witnessed roughly ten police officers in riot gear trying to break up a crowd gathered around a fire in the intersection of 22nd and Mission Street. As police tried to push back the crowd, they were met with over a half dozen glass bottles being thrown at them within 30 seconds. The police quickly retreated while several firemen entered the crowd to douse the flames. I had never seen police retreat like that in my years covering Bay Area demonstrations, from the Occupy to Oscar Grant protests, to the 2010 and 2012 Giants wins. Police Chief Greg Suhr said at a news conference, “To the clowns that came to San Francisco to act out, I guess you just don’t know what it’s like to have a good time without being a jerk, and we had a lot of them last night.”

SFPD fatal shootings of Oshaine Evans and Alex Nieto during the past year also exacerbated tensions between those taking to the streets and the police who responded. Protests for both Evans and Nieto occurred during post-season games, in which participants drew parallels to what’s been happening in San Francisco to the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. In both games, the Giants played teams located not far from Ferguson (St. Louis and Kansas City).

In the end, after the World Series “revelry” or “riots” (depending on where you stand on the issue), two people were non-fatally shot, and 40 were arrested after the World Series in San Francisco, with at least 6 of them in the Mission. 36 were arrested in 2012. Only 6 were arrested after the Giants won the World Series in 2010.

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Joe Sciarrillo lives and works in San Francisco's Mission District. He's co-author of Bay Area Underground: Photos of Protests and Social Movements, 2008-2012.

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