I had just taken my seat at Oracle Park on Aug. 28 when Willy Adames did it again.

During his first plate appearance of a weekday afternoon game against the Chicago Cubs, the Giants shortstop smashed a 90.9 mph fastball from pitcher Shota Imanaga straight into the bleachers. Legendary announcer Duane Kuiper greeted the first-inning blast with his signature call: “high drive, left field, outta here!”

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It was Adames’ 23rd home run of the season, and his first of two in a 4-3 Giants victory. The timing was perfect. I took the day off work to attend the game with family visiting from out of town and we were eager for some excitement on the field. Just before meeting up with them, I bought a cream replica jersey with Adames’ name on the back – and I put it on just as he hit his first homer.

One month later, Adames capped his inaugural Giants season by making San Francisco baseball history. With his 417-foot dinger off Colorado Rockies pitcher McCade Brown on Sunday, Adames became the first Giant in 21 years to hit 30 home runs in a single season. The last was Barry Bonds in 2004.

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The Giants’ drought was extraordinary. In the two decades since Bonds last cleared the threshold, every other team in Major League Baseball has had at least six 30 home run seasons. Players on the New York Yankees had 34 such seasons in that timespan; the Los Angeles Dodgers had 15. San Francisco’s 30-homer drought included the Giants’ entire championship era, when the team won three World Series from 2010 to 2014.

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So for fans like me, Adames’ milestone marked a welcome end to an embarrassing curse that dated back to when Gavin Newsom was mayor and George W. Bush was president. It was also nice to have something to celebrate at the end of a dissatisfying season in which the Giants missed the playoffs for the fourth year in a row. I’m bitter that the team failed to make the postseason yet again, but Adames gives me some hope for the future.

It also feels appropriate that Adames was the one to break the Giants’ 30-homer dry spell.

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Giants legend Buster Posey signed Adames to a seven-year, $182 million contract last offseason just a few months after Posey became president of baseball operations. It was the most expensive contract the team had ever awarded – eclipsing only Posey himself – and an early sign that Posey, in his new role at the helm of the front office, would be unafraid to make bold moves.

At the time of his signing, Adames was described in the Chronicle as a player who “makes everyone around him their absolute best.” Pat Murphy, Adames’ former manager with the Milwaukee Brewers, praised how Adames “goes about his business, how he treats people, how he treats his teammates, how he leads.”

The reasons for his sterling reputation became obvious to me when I watched him play this year. Adames had an exuberant energy, one he brought to the ballpark every day regardless of how well he played. He could often be spotted removing the helmet of a teammate who just homered, or running parallel to a fellow Giant as they sprinted from third base to home plate.

He maintained his good spirits even as he struggled to perform early in the season, batting just .193 in his first 65 games. Yet even when the Giants were trapped in a horrid slump in August, a KRON journalist shared a video of Adames signing autographs for young fans in a hallway by the clubhouse.

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“He was the exact same guy all season,” Giants pitcher Logan Webb said of Adames, according to the Athletic.

Adames’ resilience paid off. He put his early offensive struggles behind him and roared back over the summer, looking more like the player the Giants expected when they signed him last year. While his overall offensive statistics were still somewhat disappointing in the aggregate, the way he concluded the season was encouraging.

After seeing how Adames turned his season around, I’m optimistic that he can help the Giants compete at a higher level in the years to come.

Adames’ buoyant attitude earned him the Willie Mac Award, the annual honor for most inspirational Giants player that is voted on by fans, players, coaches and clubhouse staff. In announcing that Adames received the award, the team praised his “integrity and passion” and said his “hustle and heart are contagious – inspiring teammates and fans alike.”

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In his first at-bat about half an hour after the team presented Adames with the award on Friday, he hit his 29th home run of the year.

I couldn’t make it to closing day on Sunday, but my husband bought a last-minute ticket, desperate to see Adames break the 21-year curse in person. The prospect of history making was felt by all in attendance, as manager Bob Melvin slotted Adames in at lead-off in the hopes of giving him as many chances as possible to meet the golden moment. No one had to wait long: Adames scorched the big No. 30 on his very first pitch.

“Oh my God, he did it! He did it!” my husband screamed in a shaky video he recorded on his phone, accidentally turning the camera straight at the ground as he jumped out of his seat in excitement.

As Adames rounded the bases and many in the crowd gave him a standing ovation, my husband decided he would buy an Adames jersey just like mine. We’ll wear them together on opening day next year.

This article originally published at How the Giants’ Willy Adames broke a 21-year S.F. curse – and gave fans hope for the future.