Category: Sports

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Oh What a Night

Glenn picked me up for the Giants game at the usual time.

The clouds in the distance looked dark and were cause for concern.

It appeared that there might be some light showers at game time.

There were, along with thunder and lightning, which caused the start of game to be delayed until 7:55pm.

During that time, we found shelter and ate our Cha-Cha Bowls.

The rain subsided and we returned to our seats for the starting lineups and the National Anthem.

The rain started up again during the anthem.

Chris Stratton retired the first Dodger batter, Curtis Granderson.

And then the downpour started again and Glenn and I hightailed it out of there.  It wasn’t enough to get soaked, and the temperature was warm enough that it didn’t feel as uncomfortable as it should have.

We stopped by the Dugout Store to do some browsing, but didn’t pick up anything.

Glenn dropped me off at home, where I got to watch the second half of the Chargers-Broncos game, which was more stressful at the end than it needed to be, with the Broncos blocking the game-tying field goal to seal the win.

After the game I switched channels back to the Giants game, where they said that the game would resume at 10:50pm.

Ack.

So I went to bed listening to a live Giants game instead of the midnight replay.

I woke up around 2:30am and heard the end of the game, Giants 8 Dodgers 6.

Woohoo.

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Replay Baseball

I’m replaying Dwight Gooden’s rookie season in 1984, and I’m up to game #24 of his career: a road game vs. the San Francisco Giants, at Candlestick Park.

The opposing pitcher: Mike Krukow.

On this day, August 17, 1984, both pitchers went 9 innings, with no scoring.

In the top of the 10th, Krukow gave up a 2-run homer to Wally Backman, giving the Mets the lead.  Jesse Orosco pitched the bottom of the 10th for the save (his 26th), with Gooden winning his 11th game of the season.

Starting pitching lines:

Gooden: 9 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 12 K
Krukow: 9.1 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 10 K

I doubt my replay will turn out the same.  We’ll see.

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Epiphany

As I sat there at AT&T Park tonight, during a game where the Giants were playing spoiler instead of contending for a playoff spot, I came to realize that THESE are the games that I enjoy watching and going to.

Prior to 2010, I grew up watching a lot of bad baseball in San Francisco, so I’m used to this.  It’s what’s comfortable to me as a Giants fan.

The three championships?

Anomalies.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy that they’ve won 3 in 5 years, but for a majority of my lifetime, this never happened, nor did we believe that it would ever happen, prior to 2010.  The prospect of rooting for the Giants as a defending world champion was (and still is) a very alien concept to me.  It made me less relaxed at games, or watching at home.

But now that they’ve been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, the mindset changes, and while a majority of fans are disappointed, I find myself more relaxed and can enjoy the games.

Now, if we can do something about the idiots trying to start the Wave during the game…

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Return to Levi’s

My cousin Rich was kind enough to invite me to the pre season home opener between the Broncos and the 49ers.

Coin toss

As much as I’m content to watch sports at home, nothing beats being among the crowd during a live event.

We stopped by Chik-fil-a before the game.  I’d never had it before, so I ordered grilled chicken nuggets.

At the stadium, the weren’t going to let us in because if their “no outside food” policy, so we had to scarf down our meals rather quickly.  Once we finished, we made our way to our seats, just in time for kickoff.

We stayed in our seats through the first quarter, then went around the stadium. Rich was looking for a friend who might have been able to let us sit in the lower bowl for a bit, but he was not working the game.

While walking around and checking out the new banners and stuff, we noticed that there were banners for 4 of the five 49ers Super Bowl wins.  The missing one?  Super Bowl XXIV.  I wanted to take a picture under it while wearing my Elway Broncos jersey.

Eventually we met up with the recently retired GY, working his first game at the stadium.  After chatting for a bit, it was halftime, so we decided to go home.

Thanks again to my cousin Rich for the opportunity to see the stadium, and my boys from Denver, again.

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10 Years Ago

Barry Bonds hits career home run #756.

This is my photo that I took of the moment, sitting in the upper deck with Glenn.

As I said the night this happened, Glenn and I have been present for a lot of Barry’s milestones:

  • First grand slam as a Giant
  • Career HR #500
  • Season home runs #71 & #72, but we were not sitting together
  • Career HR #600
  • Career stolen base #500, even though we had left the park, we were across McCovey Cove
  • I *think* we were present for career home run #700…

Sure doesn’t feel like 10 years ago.

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Rant

I wish I could say that I’ve seen Giants teams play worse that this year’s squad, but that would be a lie.

And it doesn’t help that the Dodgers seem to have put all the pieces together for a deep run into the playoffs.

I guess we’ll see in October.

—

This wasn’t much of a rant after all.

I waited a while before typing the title of this post, and starting to type the post itself.

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Baseball

My desire to play table top baseball appears to be directly influenced by how well the Giants and Mets are doing in real life.

Right now, both teams are below .500, with the Giants (38-63) dead last in the NL West, and the Mets (46-51) in 3rd place in the NL East.

Alas.

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Home Run Derby

I actually watched a bit of it tonight.

This Aaron Judge guy is unreal.

The expression on the umpire’s face…

The guy is from NorCal, he grew up a Giants/Buster Posey fan, and a 49ers fan.

He’s got me as a fan now, I hope this kid goes far.

#allrise

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Marleau

I’ve been calling for his trade or release for years.

Now that it’s happened, I’m a bit sad.

He’s been a part of the San Jose Sharks for the past 19 seasons, so it’s like watching a chunk of my own past leaving.

During those years, I was a huge fan, attending games, following them in their playoff runs, and until that 3-0 blown lead debacle in 2014, I would support them 100%.

Maybe 95%.

Anyways, good luck, Patrick Marleau, and thanks for all you did in San Jose.

*waits for Leafs #12 Marleau jersey to go on sale*

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Baseball 2017

Giants suck.

So do the Mets, but not as bad as the Giants, which is why they swept this weekend.

So when do the Giants hit rock bottom?  All-Star break?