It's Game 7, Baby

Your humble blogger is a front-running homer, that is, I usually follow baseball only when the hometown Giants are contending, but I have to admit that this year's postseason run by the Dodgers is must-see TV. Los Angeles' Shohei Ohtani has not only broken records, he has given us moments that Major League Baseball in its 149-year history has never seen before. Ohtani had nothing to do, though, with what happened in Game 6 of the 9th inning last night.

The ball hit the seam on the fly and became wedged

With the Dodgers nursing a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the 9th, the Blue Jays leadoff hitter, Alejandro Kirk, was hit by a pitch and replaced by pinch-runner Myles Straw. Then a freak play happened. [bold added]

[Addison] Barger hammered a [Roki] Sasaki fastball over Hernandez's head in left field with a drive that left the bat at 106 mph as Straw rounded the bases. The ball headed for the padding on the outfield wall then became wedged just beneath it, stopping on a dime between the padding and the warning track.

Confusion was everywhere. Dodgers center fielder Justin Dean raced over and threw up his hands, calling attention to the trapped ball. Hernandez, who initially also had his hands up, ran over and started yelling at Dean to grab the ball and throw it into the infield because Barger was circling the bases.

"I was just screaming at him to get the ball and throw it in because that's the umpire's discretion," Hernandez said. "The fact that the ball stuck there doesn't mean that they're actually going to call ground-rule double. So I was screaming at him. That's kind of why I've lost my voice a little bit."

Left-field umpire John Tumpane called time as soon as he saw the ball trapped under the padding. Taking nothing for granted, Barger rounded third and crossed the plate. The fans thundered, certain they had seen the Blue Jays tie the score on a two-run, inside-the-park homer.

"Been here a long time," Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. "I haven't seen a ball get lodged ever. Just caught a tough break there."

The play was ruled a ground-rule double, sending Barger back to second and Straw to third. They advanced no farther after the wild play was confirmed on replay.

The Dodgers had caught a huge break. Still, there was a man on second and third with no one out and the potential winning run was coming to the plate. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pulled Sasaki and installed potential Game 7 starter Tyler Glasnow in relief. Desperate times....

The ball arrives at 2nd a split second before Addison Barger

Glasnow got Ernie Clement to pop out to first base on the first pitch. The next batter, shortstop Andres Gimenez, hit a line drive that would normally have been a single and brought in the runners from second and third.

However, the Dodgers Enrique Hernandez was playing in shallow left field, caught the line drive and alertly threw to second baseman Miguel Rojas before Barger could get back to the bag. (Barger represented the tying run and had aggressively wandered too far from second base in case the ball fell for a single.) It was the first 7 to 4 game-ending double play in World Series history. (Position 7 is left field, and position 4 is second base.)

Bring on Game 7, baby!

Santa Cruz Wharf

Debris from the partial collapse (CBS/YouTube)

The Santa Cruz Wharf experienced a partial collapse after being buffeted by large waves on December 23rd. Repairs had been planned since 2014 but were stymied by environmentalists to protect seagulls (who are not endangered): [bold added]

Strict permitting requirements and lengthy litigation by environmental activists have stalled efforts to fortify the pier that could have helped it withstand the storm, current and former city officials say.

At the center of the delays: seagulls.

It was for the benefit of the western gull, commonly known as the seagull, that the city of Santa Cruz delayed the most critical part of the repair work, installing new timber piles — the columns that hold up the wharf — until September, because gulls and another bird, the pigeon guillemot, make their nests in the wharf’s wooden beams.

The protections for the birds are imposed by the state Coastal Commission, from which the city must obtain a permit before it can do repairs. Most major construction — including replacing the piles — must take place between September and March to avoid the nesting season.

“Our work window is a very narrow six months over the winter time when we tend to have storms and big waves,” said Tony Elliott, director of Parks and Recreation, which oversees the wharf. “The wharf is a 110-year-old structure, and it requires a lot of work. … It takes more than six months out of the year to maintain it effectively.”

Neither the western gull nor the pigeon guillemot are endangered species, yet the Coastal Commission says federal and state laws protect their nesting areas.

One can see thousands of seagulls in San Francisco and down the Peninsula in Foster City. They swoop into the stands at the end of Giants games, looking for scraps. They are ubiquitous, far from endangered, and, frankly, hazardous to human and animal health. Somehow I think the seagulls will adapt if they couldn't nest at the Santa Cruz Wharf over several summers.

The blame for the wharf collapse rests squarely on the shoulders of the California Coastal Commission, which refused to modify its protection of the nesting areas of a species called by many as flying rats.

Willie Mays (1931-2024)

(SF Chronicle photo)

Willie Mays has died at the age of 93. Rather than do what hundreds of others have done in reciting the statistics that show his greatness or tracing a career that began in the Negro leagues, I'll just provide a (free) link to the Chronicle's obituary. Several of its sportswriters also chipped in with separate articles about what Willie meant to them.

I had become a baseball fan in the early 1960's when my grand-uncle Fred (the owner of Buck's sweet bread), bought season tickets behind home plate for the Triple-A Hawaii Islanders. He often gave tickets to my father and me to the games at Honolulu Stadium (aka the "Termite Palace"), which was only a quarter of a mile from our house.

Another catalyst for my interest was the chase after Babe Ruth's home run record of 60 in a season by Yankees Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle in 1961. I devoured every baseball article in the morning Advertiser and the evening Star-Bulletin. I learned about all the stars in the game, and none were greater than Willie Mays.

I did get to see him and the San Francisco Giants play in the summer of 1962, thanks to my uncle who was the best mechanic I ever knew. He invited me to stay with him over the summer at his home in San Bernardino.

One night he took me to Dodger Stadium, whose four decks dwarfed the Termite Palace back home. But the real difference was in the players. Even from our distant seats along the right-field foul line, I could sense the power in just the practice swings by Giants Orlando Cepeda, Willie McCovey, and Willie Mays. I don't remember the specific batting statistics from the game, although the Dodgers did win because their outstanding pitching staff got the better of the Giants.

I did see enough to realize that both the Dodgers and Giants played on a different plane from the Islanders. Baseball is the one professional sport, IMHO from watching film clips, where the stars from a half-century ago can compete with the stars of today. Willie Mays was the greatest player in history during his time, and according to many baseball fans, sportswriters, and players he retains that title 51 years after his retirement. R.I.P.

Florida Woman

Every Asian-American knows this expression:
don't mess with me (WSJ photo)

Kim Ng holds a number of firsts: in 2020 she became the first woman and the first person of East Asian descent to be a general manager of a major league baseball team. Her roster moves helped the Miami Marlins, who have a payroll of $105 million (#22 out of 30, the league average is $165 million), to make the playoffs this year.

Digression: both her parents are of Chinese descent, hence the "East Asian" qualifier. Farhan Zahdi, who is Pakistani-Canadian ("South Asian"), became general manager of the Dodgers in 2014.

Kim Ng upends another stereotype: despite her Asian upbringing and going to the famously quantitative University of Chicago, she eschews analytics in favor of a traditional approach:

The Marlins open the wild-card round against Philadelphia on Tuesday night with a team Ng designed by prioritizing old-school principles such as avoiding strikeouts and the pursuit of higher batting average—ideas that are far from cutting edge in today’s data-driven game...

The question for Ng and the Marlins is if this traditional approach still has a foothold in today’s game. Her tenure as general manager thus far has featured a contradiction: She’s a reluctant symbol of social progress in baseball, but her day-to-day work reflects reverence for another era.

Ng asserts that she is not “new school” nor “old school” in her mentality. She just wants to build a balanced roster, a philosophy that has fallen out of fashion as baseball executives increasingly seek to construct teams made up of extreme outliers.

The Giants didn't make the post-season, and I didn't intend to pay attention to the MLB playoffs. Now I have a rooting interest.

Giants v. Guardians: Unexpectedly Pleasant

There's no substitute for travel if one wants to get a full sense of a place. In this case I'm not talking about visiting another country or another State, but just spending time in the maligned City by the Bay.

It was a perfect day to take in our one Giants game of the season. Highway 101 North from the Peninsula was moderately busy at noon, a sign of returning commerce, but still not up to the levels of 2019.

We pulled into Oracle Park's Lot A, a quarter-mile south of the stadium. The Mission Bay district, formerly the land of railyards and industrial warehouses, has been transformed with residential highrises. The UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay opened in 2015 and the $1.4 billion Chase Center, home of the Golden State Warriors, opened in 2019.

McCovey Cove behind right field and the O'Doul Bridge

There was nary a homeless person or drug dealer in sight as we walked with hordes of fans over the draw bridge and to the south gate, both of which were named after baseball legend Lefty O'Doul. Except for areas under construction, the sidewalks were pristine and wide. Perhaps by coincidence there were friendly patrol officers all around Oracle Park

We got to our seats at the bottom of the first inning, and the Giants were already trailing the Cleveland Guardians by a score of 4-0. The Giants looked lifeless; by the bottom of the 7th, with a score of 5-2 and taking into account the Giants' month-long lack of hitting, we talked about leaving after the 8th. But to everyone's surprise

Wednesday, the Guardians led the entire way until the eighth when their lead evaporated with one swing of J.D. Davis’ bat. His three-run homer tied it and San Francisco went on to win 6-5 in the 10th on LaMonte Wade Jr.’s late-afternoon heroics, a sacrifice fly to left with no outs.

The Giants won on a walk-off sacrifice fly, an unexpected outcome just three innings ago.

In fact the whole pleasant experience today was unexpected. Maybe next year we'll sign up for two games.

This Could be the Giants' Year

The Giants lead the Dodgers 7-5 in the bottom of the 11th inning, make two defensive errors on the same play, and look like they're about to blow another lead as they did in the 9th inning. But as Yogi might have observed, the Fat Lady hasn't sung yet.

Fair Weather + Shirt

The Giants (46-43) are 13 games behind the Dodgers(59-30), yet the bleachers were filling rapidly an hour before game time. It could be the dedication of Giants fans, or the perfect weather (69 degrees, sunny), but the likeliest motivator was the free aloha shirts given to the first 20,000 to enter Oracle Park.

Someone close to me suggested that I could leave after obtaining the colorful garment. No sirree, if I left now these would be the most expensive aloha shirts in the closet at $100+.

Besides, I'm not just a fair-weather fan. Admittedly, the weather is pretty nice...

Update: the Giants won 2-1 on a balk in the 8th inning:

Former Giants reliever Jandel Gustave balked home Wilmer Flores with the go-ahead run and San Francisco held off Milwaukee 2-1...Crew chief Bruce Dreckman said plate umpire Pat Hobert noticed a “start and stop” by Gustave in his motion, terming it a “textbook balk.”

To the End He Knew What He Was Doing

He quit to spend more time with his family (Chron)

Perennial All-Star catcher Buster Posey is retiring. We have followed his career since he was called up briefly to the San Francisco Giants at the age of 22 in 2009.

In 2010 he was National League Rookie of the Year as he helped lead the Giants to their first World Series title since the franchise moved to San Francisco in 1958. Long-time fans were incredulous and grateful, but the moment wasn't too big for Buster:

After the all-night celebration following the Giants' National League Series victory, veteran Aubrey Huff gave advice to rookie Buster Posey as they headed back to the room.

Huff: Don't think this happens every year, kid.

Posey: Why not?

Two World Series championships followed in 2012 and 2014, then the nearly inevitable injuries and aging-out of the championship roster. Only Brandon Belt, Brandon Crawford, and Buster Posey remained from the glory years.

Most unexpectedly, the Giants won the Western Division title in 2021 with a franchise record 107 victories. Though they lost to the Dodgers in the playoffs, the Giants' performance had fans dreaming of the club being in contention for years to come. Buster Posey's retirement makes those dreams unlikely, but no one's angry at him. He earned every penny of his 8-year $159 million contract and is going out on his own terms.

Giants vs. Dodgers Game 5: Good But Not Great

A checked swing ends the season (USAToday)

Everyone knew that the Giants-Dodgers season-long rivalry had to come down to the deciding game of the 5-game series.

As contests go, it was good, but not great, and not because the result let down this home town fan: the Dodgers won 2-1. They will go on to face the Atlanta Braves for the National League Championship, the winner going to the World Series.

IMHO, a "good" game is close throughout, thereby heightening the suspense of each pitch. Moreover, both teams should play well and not lose the game because of a fielding mistake, e.g., a dropped fly ball with the bases loaded. (Actually this time the lone error by the Dodger's third baseman in the bottom of the 9th inning raised the excitement because it increased the Giants' chances of winning or tying the game.)

A great game should have a number of spectacular fielding or base-running plays. Home runs can aid the enjoyment, but not for me are the 9-8 bashfests where the pitchers can't do anything right. The game ended, not with a spectacular play at home plate, but just the opposite of excitement: a checked swing that was ruled strike three by the first-base umpire.

It was a desultory end to an unexpectedly glorious season.

We are spoiled by a culture that bombards us with narratives every day; life is often not that exciting, and the results often disappoint.

Elitism in the Defense of the Giants is No Vice

Grammar needs work--elitist, much? (pinterest image)

We take a break from debt-ceiling histrionics--apparently there's an agreement to postpone the reckoning day for almost two months--to talk about news that's equally important--The Giants will meet the Dodgers in playoff baseball: [bold added]

The Dodgers beat the Cardinals 3-1 on Wednesday night to earn the right to fly to San Francisco and face the winningest team in the majors. Game 1 of this rivalry revelry is Friday night, and history’s in the making at Oracle Park...

It’ll be the first Giants-Dodgers postseason series since 1889 when the Giants played in New York and the Dodgers were in Brooklyn and known as the Bridegrooms, a best-of-11 series in which the Giants’ John Ward was that century’s Mr. October. You can look it up.

Fast forward 132 years, and baseball’s two premier teams will meet in a best-of-five Division Series to determine bragging rights not only in 2021 but in the latest chapter of the game’s greatest rivalry, with apologies to Yankees-Red Sox.

"Brooklyn Bridegrooms"--be careful, autofill assumes you're typing "Brooklyn Bridge"--is not the most ridiculous name that preceded the Dodgers monicker. In fact the entire history of the club's names, much like Elizabeth Taylor's, is a subject for hilarity.

The Dodgers were originally founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Atlantics, taking the name of a defunct team that had played in Brooklyn before them. The team joined the American Association in 1884 and won the AA championship in 1889 before joining the National League in 1890. They promptly won the NL Championship their first year in the League. The team was known alternatively as the Bridegrooms, Grooms, Superbas, Robins, and Trolley Dodgers before officially becoming the Dodgers in the 1930s.

The New York Giants were first known as the Gothams, a centuries-old respectable name for the Big Apple, and unlike the Dodgers, had no past or trolleys to run away from. (People run towards San Francisco cable cars.)

The Dodgers, with their huge Southern California fan base showering the team with riches, are loaded with All-Stars and future Hall-of-Famers, but we know where you came from, Grooms, Superbas, and Trolley Dodgers.

Los Angeles is not in the same ballpark as San Francisco, and we're not just talking baseball.

A Win, A Loss, and A Controversy Ended

Yesterday the San Francisco professional sports teams dominated the local headlines with a win, a loss, and a controversy ended.

Giant architects: President of Baseball Operations
Farhan Zaidi and Manager Gabe Kapler (Chron photo)

The Win: Giants outlast Dodgers in historic NL West race, fitting finish to stunning season

The Giants got their franchise-record 107th win and wildly celebrated the clinching of their first division title in nine years, and the Dodgers — the defending World Series champs and winners of a mere 106 games — got nothing but a participation trophy as the team with the most wins ever not to finish in first place.

The Giants were expected to finish third in the division, perhaps a "tad" above .500 (an 81-81 record). Instead, they posted the best record in the history of the New York/San Francisco Giants franchise, and the fourth-most wins in the post-War era, behind the 2001 Mariners (116), the 1998 Yankees (114), and the 1954 Indians (111).

Trey Lance (SJ Mercury photo)

The Loss: 49ers' Lance shaky in relief after Garoppolo injured in loss to Seahawks

this was the most pressing question after the 49ers’ 28-21 loss to the Seahawks on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium: When can Jimmy Garoppolo get back on the field?

Garoppolo was sidelined for the second half with a calf injury he sustained early in the first quarter and [Trey] Lance’s work off the bench didn’t suggest he’d steal the starting job while Garoppolo rehabs.

Injuries to running backs and key defensive players had already eroded expectations for the Niners as a Super Bowl contender. The injury to starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo made fans even gloomier.

The excitement over #3 draft pick Trey Lance had been over his raw talent and long-term future, not about his ability to be a starter in the NFL today. With a 2-2 record and rookie Lance at the helm, the 49ers outlook isn't pretty, but there's still a chance for a miracle; look at the Giants.

Andrew Wiggins (USA Today phoo)

Controversy Ended: Warriors' Andrew Wiggins reverses course, gets vaccinated to play home games

In an unexpected reversal, Warriors starting small forward Andrew Wiggins got vaccinated against the coronavirus and will be allowed to play home games at Chase Center...

Under San Francisco’s indoor vaccination policy, which goes into effect Oct. 13, Wiggins could not play home games if he remained unvaccinated. The Warriors’ home opener is Oct. 21 against the Clippers, and Golden State plays nine of its first 12 games at Chase Center.

Wiggins would have forfeited more than $350,000 per game he missed.

Compelling individuals to be jabbed is an issue far beyond basketball, but the celebrity status of NBA unvaccinated players made the topic highly visible. It came to a head over the weekend when Warriors (vaccinated) teammate Draymond Green stood up for Wiggins' right to make his own vaccination decision. None of the societal issues has gone away because of Andrew Wiggins' change of heart, but for the Warriors at least, it's one less worry.

Giant Over-Achievers

Buster Posey, 34 is the only likely HOF
member on the Giants roster. (Chron photo)

The San Francisco Giants (99-54) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (98-55) have the two best records in Major League baseball, but unfortunately for both they are in the same division, the National League West. This means that the one who finishes second will be a wild-card team which will play in a one-game elimination for the right to advance in the playoffs. If either of them were in another division, they would have already won, or be cruising to its title and could be resting their starters for the playoffs.

Last year's World Series champion Dodgers were expected to contend again, but no one expected the Giants to be in this position. The Dodgers are loaded with All-Stars and future Hall-of-Famers while the Giants have a few aging, formerly great players, cast-offs from other teams, and rookies.

With 94% of the season gone, the experts still have a hard time explaining the Giants' success.. From an ESPN article written two days ago:

The San Francisco Giants have been the best team in baseball for nearly six months now, through 151 games, 227 home runs, and at least a million roster moves. And every day of those nearly six months, and each one of the 137 days that they woke up in first place, they have been described, collectively, with endless derivatives of the word surprise.

...despite the durability and repetition of the Giants' achievements -- 97 games don't just win themselves -- they continue to be regarded as something of a fluke.

Your humble blogger freely admits to being a fan who jumps on the bandwagon, i.e., follows the local teams a lot more when they are winning. However, I must admit to really enjoying the way the Giants are going about doing it, not by creating a Murderer's Row but by playing smart and maximizing their (average) physical talents.

Example: below are the two key plays in the 9th inning when the visiting Giants broke a 5-5 tie with the Padres to win the game.



Top of the 9th: a single brings Brandon Belt home with the winning run.

The first thing to notice is what didn't happen. Manager Gabe Kapler did not put in a fast pinch-runner for Brandon Belt, 33, stating that what the first baseman lacked in speed he made up for in base-running savvy, and besides, he might (and did) need his defense later in the game.

Concerning the scoring play itself, Brandon Belt immediately took off for home plate, judging that Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. would fail to make the catch, which he missed by inches. (Tatis would have easily doubled off Belt at second base.) When catcher Austin Nola made what would have been a successful tag, Belt punched the ball out of Nola's glove and was safe at home plate.

Bottom of the 9th: Giants close out the Padres with a double play.

All-Star Padres 3rd baseman Manny Machado hit a sharp groundball to 1st baseman Brandon Belt, who was positioned perfectly between 1st and 2nd. With no one to hold him at first base, the Padres 1B runner was nearly halfway to 2nd when the play started.

Belt had to hurry his throw to shortstop Brandon Crawford, who stepped on 2nd and threw to first to pitcher Tyler Rogers covering. Crawford had to make a 95 MPH throw to Rogers to catch the speedy Machado, and Rogers had to run to first at the crack of the bat (baseball cliche) to beat him. (Note how Rogers flinched; pitchers throw fast balls and are not used to receiving them.) It was a play that took place in four seconds and required perfect execution by three players.

Note: Brandon Belt proclaimed himself team captain two weeks ago, and a teammate taped a "C" to his uniform with black electrical tape. He then wore it in a game. The Giants are riding the joke for all its worth:

Just a Captain and his sea men 👨🏻‍✈️👨🏻‍✈️👨🏻‍✈️@SFGiants pic.twitter.com/hXrXzeosM5

— Kevin Gausman (@KevinGausman) September 24, 2021

Another Pleasant Afternoon

We had such a good time at the Giants outing earlier this month that I couldn't pass up the promotion for today's contest against the Padres. The Giants are only 1½ games ahead of the Dodgers for the National League West title, so every game counts.

The view from left field wasn't as good as the one near home plate. On the other hand the tickets were 80% cheaper.

The Giants were losing 4-0, at the end of 5 innings, so I took a stroll around Oracle Park.

The Coke bottle and glove had lost some of their shininess over the years.

Inside the Coke bottle are slides that kids 14 years and younger can ride, ending with a slide into a "home plate."

9/16/21: the view from the LF bleachers

The glove is 501 yards from the batter's box, and no one has ever hit a home run that far at Oracle Park, much less into the glove.

In the sunlit stands fans were partaking of liquid refreshment, chatting pleasantly with their seatmates, and giving the action on the field half their attention. Families wandered around the food kiosks, cogitating about whether to spring for the overpriced comestibles.

2004: at least you could say you watched Barry Bonds

I got away cheap with a $10 hot dog, and a $7 diet Coke.

The view from the left field bleachers is pretty good, especially if one is a fan of Giants outfielder #33 Darin Ruf, who has a .277 batting average, 15 home runs, and 41 runs batted in.

Darin Ruf has a way to go, however, before he makes people forget the player who wore #25 in left field.

The teams traded a few scores, but the Giants weren't making headway. I continued the slow, 3-inning circumnavigation around the stadium.

The kayakers in McCovey Cove were enjoying the afternoon, though there wouldn't be any "splash home runs" hit their way.

The Giants caused a brief flurry of excitement in the 9th inning, but the tying run never got to the plate. San Francisco lost 7-4 and now holds a 1 game lead over the Dodgers, who didn't play today.

The Giants' loss just made the final 15 games more suspenseful, and we will follow them closely....on television. We can handle only so many pleasant afternoons.

A Pleasant Afternoon

On this pitch Darin Ruf broke a 1-1 tie in the 8th with a double that scored Kris Bryant from 2nd base.

When one goes on a trip and doesn't know when one will go back to that destination, caution and credit-card limits are thrown to the wind.

And so it was that on our only Giants game of the season we sat behind home plate in the best seats that I had ever purchased for a major league baseball game. (My grand uncle Freddie had closer seats for the Triple-A Islanders back in the 1960's, but that was the only thing better then than now.)

My helmet had "SF", not "NY" (Bon Appetit)

The afternoon was warm, not hot, at Oracle Park with only a slight breeze. There was no need to don the sweaters that we always carry to San Francisco even during the summer.

Marking another first, I bought a $20 helmet nachos, a gross-looking but good-tasting mixture of nachos, cheese, guacamole, ground beef, sour cream, and jalapeño peppers ladled into a plastic bowl in the shape of a full-size SF batting helmet.

Did I mention that dietary restrictions were suspended as well?

The Milwaukee Brewers had won the first three games of the four-game series, dropping the Giants to second place in the NL West; the Giants needed the win to keep up with the Dodgers. Augmenting the tension, the game was a tight 1-1 pitching duel through seven innings. The Giants went ahead 2-1 on a double by Darin Ruf in the bottom of the 8th, and Thairo Estrada followed with a three-run homer to seal the deal.

The Brewers didn't go down quietly in the 9th, as a long ball down the right field line was initially ruled a two-run home run, then corrected to a foul ball. Adding to the crowds' pleasure, Brewer's manager Craig Counsell was ejected for protesting the call. After that, the Brewers were done.

A thrilling 5-1 Giants victory (the game was closer than the score indicated) and a pleasant afternoon in the San Francisco sun--it's rare that an experience exceeds high expectations. I'll start saving up for next year's game....

Giants: Hope They Snap Out of It

Maybe the lucky hat will help.

The San Francisco Giants are on a four-game losing streak. More significantly, they fell out of first place in the National League West for the first time in three months to the rival LA Dodgers.

We are going to see them play the Brewers today at Oracle Park. This will be the first and probably only game we'll attend this year.

Hope we'll see them snap out of it.

Laughing Because It's The Dodgers

It's only a strike if the umpire says it is.

Whenever I fancy myself to be an ethical person, something comes along to remind me that I still have work to do.

On Thursday night the Dodgers were beating the Giants, 3-2, in the top of the 9th inning at Dodger Stadium. The Giants had the bases loaded and two outs, and Darin Ruf had a full count of three balls and two strikes.

The Dodgers thought Ruf swung and missed on the next pitch and that the game was over. Instead the umpires called a ball and a checked swing, and the walk forced in the tying run. Photographs showed that Ruf had broken his wrists, and my personal weakness stood revealed: I immediately cheered the umpires' mistake.

What was even more delicious is that the reprieve not only tied the game, but the Giants ending up winning with a score of 5-3. The fulminations by the Dodgers and their fans on social media made me laugh even harder.

I suppose I'll have to go to church tomorrow and ask forgiveness for my sins. Meanwhile, that's 24 hours from now and I'm still smiling.

New Year, New Steph

In February the San Francisco 49ers lost to the Chiefs in the Super Bowl, which was the last time this humble journal posted anything about the Bay Area teams. Though not even a year has elapsed, the months-long suspension and de-prioritization of all sports has made last year's pre-COVID Super Bowl seem like ancient history.

In the regular NFL season just ended, the 49ers were plagued by injuries to their biggest stars and finished with a record of 6-10, last in the NFC West.

Turning to baseball, the San Francisco Giants ended their schedule out of the playoffs with a 29-31 record. The Giants had only three players (Buster Posey, Brandon Crawford, and Brandon Belt) remaining from their 2014 championship team and will need several rebuilding years to contend with the 2020 World Series Champion L.A. Dodgers, who are in the same division.

Damian Lee celebrates Steph's
performance (Chron photo)

The Golden State Warriors, after their June, 2019 defeat by the Toronto Raptors in the NBA Finals, finished dead last in the 30-team NBA during the COVID-abbreviated 2019-2020 season, when they lost almost the entire team to trade, retirement, and injury. Future Hall-of-Famer Stephen Curry showed only flashes of his 2016-MVP form as teams focused all their defenses on him.

The new basketball season began dismally as All-Star Klay Thompson suffered a season-ending injury for the second year in a row. With only five games completed through Friday the Warriors were already declared by CBS Sports as "quite possibly, the worst team in the league right now."

With mutterings from the rest of the league that Steph Curry is not good enough to carry his team to the playoffs without other star players helping, Steph Curry put up 62 points last night as the Warriors beat the Trailblazers.

After 11 seasons in the NBA, two MVP awards, and three NBA championships, Stephen Curry at the age of 32 scored the most points in his storied career. The feat made him the second-oldest player (behind Kobe Bryant, 37) to score at least 60 points in an NBA game.

For one game Steph Curry reminded us of the joy that fans used to find in sports and gave us hope that a New Year will chase away the clouds of 2020.

Saturday in the Park

Good reasons to see the Giants vs. Reds on Saturday:

Beautiful afternoon weather, with great views of the bay.

High quality, albeit pricey, food.

The fancy, new scoreboard--now fully operational--chock-full of information for baseball junkies and casual fans alike.

Free bobblehead that depicts Pablo Sandoval's pitching:

[On May 6] Sandoval became the only other player besides Hall of Fame pitcher Christy Mathewson in 1905 with a homer, steal and scoreless pitching outing in the same game, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Reason not to go the park on Saturday: Giants baseball. The Giants lost to the Reds, 5-4, in a desultory performance by the home team.

Front Runner, C'est Moi

I thought I was a sports fan, but it's become clear that I'm a front runner, aka bandwagon-jumper (on when my teams are winning, off when they're losing).

I followed the 49ers and Raiders through the 1980's and mid-90's, after which both became perennial losers (the Raiders somehow made it to the 2002 Super Bowl but were blown out 49-21 by the Buccaneers). I didn't regularly watch football again until Jim Harbaugh coached the Niners to three straight Conference championships and one Super Bowl in 2010-2014.

Klay Thompson and fan in 2014

I first went to see the Giants in the Oughts to see Barry Bonds hit home runs in the new AT&T Park. I continued to attend games during the championship runs in 2010, 2012, and 2014 but gave up on the Giants after 2016.

As the football and baseball teams faded, the Golden State Warriors picked up the slack by winning an NBA title in 2015. After losing in the 2016 finals, the Warriors astounded the basketball world by signing Kevin Durant, one of the top-three players in the NBA.

The Warriors were champions in 2017 and 2018 but this year seem to have found another gear. Their two superstars and shoo-in Hall-of-Famers, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant, have regained their MVP-level form.

Tonight the team's third- or fourth-best player, Klay Thompson, set the record for three-point shots by making 14 in a game against the Chicago Bulls. Sports Illustrated: Klay Thompson Scores 52, and Now the Warriors’ Death Star is Fully Operational

Thompson’s 52 shows what the Warriors can do when they are singularly focused on maximizing their talent on a night-to-night basis, and not taking a long-term view about saving it for the postseason. We aren’t even two full weeks into the NBA season, and we’ve already seen top-level performances from Curry, Durant and Thompson.

The Warriors appear to be fully living up to the hype placed on them in 2016, and at a more sustained level than we’ve seen in the past, at least during the regular season, and certainly never this early. We don’t even need to discuss what that means for the rest of the league. It’s the same as what they feared the moment this team was put together.

Experience has shown that I can't be a fan the entire year; work and family (sigh) have their own demands. Thank you, Warriors,--and 49ers, Raiders, and Giants, too-- for allowing this front-runner to strike the right balance.

Breathe Deeply and Count to Ten

Local sports item: Giants closer Hunter Strickland punches door, breaks pitching hand

In 2017 Strickland brawled with Bryce Harper (Mercury News)

subsequent X-rays revealed that the closer broke his hand after what manager Bruce Bochy described as a “snap” in which he punched a door with his right hand.

After being removed from [Monday's] game with three runs in and one out, Strickland made a “stupid decision,” he confessed a day after the fact.

Strickland underwent surgery Tuesday afternoon to repair his fifth metacarpal....Strickland will miss six to eight weeks.

Who does he think he is, LeBron James?

LeBron James revealed after Friday's [June 8] Game 4 loss to the Warriors that he had been playing with a broken right hand, which he injured following the Cavaliers' heartbreaking Game 1 overtime loss.

James said his emotions got the best of him as he punched a whiteboard in the locker room and called the injury "self-inflicted."

Comments:
1) Players feel the greatest anger when they or a teammate--but not the other team--are to blame for a loss;
2) Professional athletes spend a lifetime training under strict self-discipline. Possible explanations for these explosions of temper: a) the coiled spring snaps; b) roid rage; c) other athletes are doing it, so it's more acceptable.
3) Teams should consider installing padding everywhere, just like they do on goal posts.