What a game! Burp.

The San Francisco Giants trounced the Kansas City Royals 3-2 in what had to be one of the most exciting games in World Series History. After winning four of seven games, the City by the Bay brings home the Commissioner?s Trophy for the third time in five years.

The Giants are starting to rival the incredible run enjoyed by the New York Yankees during the 1920?s. My grandparents went to every game 90 years ago, and enthralling me as a child with tales of Babe Ruth knocking the ball out of the park. Baseball runs in our blood in my family.

I attended game two in San Francisco, and spent the pregame completing my Christmas shopping for the year, feverishly buying commemorative baseballs, knit hats, and T-shirts at $40 a pop. China?s trade surplus must be soaring.

A Niagara Falls of beer was pouring out of the concession stands. The air was electric with enthusiasm. An entire flotilla of yachts and kayaks moored in McCovey cove, watching the game on iPhones, hoping for a home run to fly straight to them.

The F-16?s flew in formation 500 feet overhead right on cue, a GoPro camera broadcasting the cockpit view to a giant screen in the stadium.

Cool!

House Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi, and California Lieutenant Governor, Gavin Newsome, sat just below me, where else, but in the left infield. In fact, a foul ball almost landed in the lap of the Pelosi.

Staring Giants pitcher, 25-year-old Madison Bumgarner, seemed to defy the laws of physics, using a slight, boyish frame to throw a sizzling 98 mile per hour fast ball. If he would only get a haircut! Are baseball players getting younger, or am I getting older?

I missed heavyweight, Juan ?The Panda? Sandoval, belt out a home run because I was stuck in the 30-minute line to get into the men?s room. The blue clad Royals cheering section went comatose, where else, but in the far upper right field bleachers.

Both sides threatened to score in every inning. We spent virtually the entire game standing on our feet screaming our lungs out.

Many thanks to the San Francisco Bay Area readers who emailed encouragement to me throughout the game. To the Kansas City readers who sent messages like ?Go Royals? when they scored, a pox on your houses, homesteads, teepees, or wherever you live in that God forsaken land.

When the Giants won their games, the fireworks exploded over the bay. The city ignited into celebration, with cars everywhere honking their horns and cable cars ringing bells.

Probably 100,000 poured out of packed bars into the streets for a huge nonstop party. Groping my way through the crowd, I almost got run over by the black GM Suburban?s of Nancy Pelosi?s Secret Service detail attempting a speedy exit.

I almost fell asleep on the last train home. If I had, I would have ended up at the end of the line at Pittsburgh/Bay Point, where I would have gotten mugged and lost all of my $40 T-shirts.

But I didn?t. I?m back to Earth today writing this letter with the mother of all hangovers. My clothes were so covered with spilled beer, cotton candy, and errant mustard and ketchup I undressed directly in the laundry room. Hopefully, the dry cleaner can figure out how to get the chewing gum off my prized Giants jacket.

To watch a two minute video of one of the most exciting games in history, please click here.

?We have 3,500 nuclear weapons left over from the cold war we don?t need, they take 20 seconds to re-aim, we?re not afraid to use them. And by the way, they?re already aimed at you.? That is the approach James Baker III thinks America should take with Iran, Ronald Reagan?s Chief of Staff and Secretary of the Treasury and George H.W. Bush?s Secretary of State.

At the same time we should be talking to the regime in Tehran, while doing everything we can to support the reformers, tighten sanctions, and enlist Europe?s help. Baker does not see a military solution in Iran, even though their potential to create instability in the region is enormous. This was one of dozens of amazing insights I gained chatting with the wily Texas lawyer during an evening in San Francisco.

Baker is happy to take on the ?America Bashers?, pointing out that the US still plays a dominant role in the UN, NATO, the IMF, and the World Bank. It accounts for 25% of global GDP, and its military is unmatched. The US spread globalization, and the spectacular growth of China and India is largely the result of open American trade policies, raising standards of living globally.

But the US can?t take its leadership role for granted. The biggest threats to American dominance are the runaway borrowing and entitlements. US debt to GDP will soar to over 100% in the near future, the highest level since WWII. This is unsustainable, is certain to bring a return of inflation, and unless dealt with, will lead to a long term American decline on the world stage.

Massive trade and capital flow imbalances also have to be addressed. The 84-year-old ex-Marine, who confesses to being the only Treasury Secretary in history who never took an economics class, believes that the advantageous rates that the government now borrows at are not set in stone.

Baker is the man who engineered an end to the cold war with a whimper, and not a bang. He thinks that ?even our power has its limits,? and that there is a risk of strategic overreach.? With the US politically evenly divided, Congress has degenerated from debating teams into execution squads, and consensus is impossible. The media are partly to blame, especially bloggers who propagate wild conspiracy theories, as confrontation sells better than accommodation.

Regarding the financial crisis, we need to end ?too big to fail? and embark on re-regulation, not strangulation. All in all, it was a fascinating few hours spent with a piece of living history who still maintains his excellent contacts in the diplomatic and intelligence communities.