The San Francisco Giants beat the Los Angeles Dodgers three times last weekend. Swept the floor with them, you might say.
I caught Sunday afternoon’s game — the last of the series and a 4-3 victory for my guys. My seat was near third base — a more favorable location this season, since the team has found its offense. In years past, when only one or two Giants players even made it to third base, let alone scored, it could feel like the loneliest, saddest place on earth.
Matt Cain — who was winless in April — looked strong. Hunter Pence was en fuego. (Sunday was Cinco de Mayo, after all.) Andres Torres ran very fast. And Pablo looked… like a fat panda. His online bio puts his weight at 240 pounds, but these photos don’t lie. The guy is a house.
Right now Sandoval is batting .323, but you have to wonder how long he can maintain that when he huffs and puffs around the bases… and can no longer see his toes while doing it.
On a lighter note, being back at the ballpark on a warm day — camera in hand — brought me all the usual joy.
And as my tagline says… I have the pictures to prove it.
Day three of 2013 spring training passed without major incident. Tim Lincecum was scheduled to start, but had to bow out due to his blister situation. There were a lot of kiddies in 55 jerseys — and one slightly older woman — scuffling along dejectedly before the game as a result. The only one who was pretty pumped about the whole thing was Chad Gaudin, who started in Timmy’s place.
The Tribe beat the Giants 6-4. On San Francisco’s end, Gaudin, Kontos and both Brandons looked in fine form. And for the Tribe? Two words – Nick Swisher. Another homer. He’s a fantastic acquisition – and he seems thrilled to be back in Ohio. (He’s a former Buckeye from THE Ohio State University.) I am very excited to see the effect he has on the team this season.
A Giants vs. Indians World Series. It could happen!
Some of the best photos of the day were of Bruce Bochy, as he signed baseballs before the game. He was extremely gracious with fans, as was Ron Wotus.
No good deed goes unpunished, though. Their reward was even more fans calling out to them during the game, begging for autographs. Now, I understand that spring training is pretty casual compared to the regular season but… um, the game had started. The guys were kind of busy managing the team.
How can so many self-professed die-hard fans wearing head-to-toe Giants gear be that clueless?
This morning, my last in Scottsdale, I awoke to rain and wind. Instead of heading to the ballpark to watch the Giants battle the LA Dodgers as planned, I played hooky and drove to Sedona… where I experienced every form of bad weather imaginable: torrential rain, sideways hail accompanied by thunder and lightning (a weird combo), and a full-on whiteout somewhere around Prescott. But I also got a rainbow at the end of it all so I guess everything balanced out.
I also got the satisfaction of knowing I made a good choice to play hooky. The Giants game was cancelled.
No witty commentary today, due to writing time wasted searching for my USB cord to upload these photos. Bottom line: It was a good day one… and not just because I (obviously) found the cord.
Now, off to Goodyear to see the Cleveland Indians take off the LA Dodgers. (Boo Dodgers!)
Photo of the day: Finally caught a player in the act of spitting. It’s all about timing…
A very sad spring training bratwurst. Must be the Arizona heat that shrunk it.
Buster and Madbum
Buster and Madbum
Hunter Pence telling a kid, “No more signing right now. Zero more.”
Joaquin Arias sees a friend in the stands.
Tuesday’s starting pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka
Don’t recognize this guy — think it’s Luis Hernandez, a non-roster infielder invited to camp this year.
Left fielder Ezequiel Carrera looks ticked off, but in truth he’d spent the last few minutes singing balls for kids.
Cleveland Indians center fielder Michael Bourn gets loose before the game vs. the Giants.
Michael Bourn nearly loses a finger, thanks to me.
Michael Bourn
Indians rookie Tim Fedroff wins the Hunter Pence award for exuding joy with fans. He forced his teammates to sign balls, calling them out if they didn’t.
Tim Fedroff
Madison Bumgarner
Nick Swisher
Indians catcher Lou Marson. More photos of him to come…
Kensuke Tanaka
Everyone wanted to get a peek at Bruce Bochy’s son Brett. He pitched one inning.
SF Gate posted a very fine series of photographs today, tracing the history of San Francisco baseball. Some photos are vintage dating back to the Seals Stadium days, plus a few shots from the 2012 World Series thrown in. Check it out! There are 40 photographs in all, and these are a few of my favorites.
Question: Can you imagine what AT&T security would do to Sadie Case today, if she started chasing an umpire around home plate with a pair of glasses?
The news is out. San Francisco Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum underwent a shocking — SHOCKING — transformation in the offseason.
Adios Seattle skater dude… Hola Mormon missionary. The 2013 Timmy is all short hair, tortoise-shell glasses and cashmere sweaters.
(Was that a cardigan he was wearing at Friday’s media day, or a pashmina? I know it was BROWN. Not so long ago, Timmy was strictly a black/gray guy.)
My friends and family are well aware of my love for Timmy, and I was pretty amused by how many people immediately reached out to me for my reaction to his new ‘do. Even my parents in Cleveland knew about his haircut in time for our usual Sunday morning chat, and stood ready to console in case I didn’t like it.
Please, people! My devotion to this man is not based on superficialities. Don’t cheapen it! It was never about his hair – which on almost anyone else I would have dismissed as much too hippy. It’s about the shy, skinny, freakishly bendable, freakishly talented guy underneath.
But allow me to put your minds at ease; I think Timmy looks dreamy.
My Mom asked if I was sad he wears glasses. No way! His new look is so… brainy. Depending on his prescription, maybe we could share a pair someday. Just like Carrie Bradshaw and Mr. Big did in the first Sex In the City movie.
Please just tell me he really needs specs, and hasn’t gone all Dwyane Wade on me, OK? Ann Killion of the San Francisco Chronicle called them “faux glasses”, which I’m going to just pretend I never read. That really would break my heart.
The downside of this whole transformation is… given its magnitude, there’s got to be a woman behind it. Probably a really pretty, tall, blonde one. (Although if those glasses are phony, there’s also a whiff of Barry Zito, wearer of fedoras and bad mustaches.)
Several years ago, Tim Keown of ESPN Magazine wrote about Lincecum, “He showers intermittently and makes no apology.”
“I might go three days,” he says with a shrug. “If it feels right, I go with it.”
He went from showering bi-weekly and twice-a-year haircuts to being coiffed – with product! Friends, that kind of sudden interest in grooming doesn’t just come out of nowhere.
Tim tried to downplay the change. “It’s nice to have something to upkeep. To take care of yourself.” Yeah, right.
You know what? Short hair or long, real glasses or faux — what I really care about is how Timmy pitches this season. He’s supposedly been eating right, training hard, and he seems to have his old fire and confidence back.
It’s a contract year for him, so by next season it doesn’t matter what he’s wearing… as long as he’s still wearing our jersey. And maybe a third World Series ring. That would be OK too.
Thanks to Turner Classic Movies’ 31 Days of Oscar film lineup, I’ve been recording a ton of movies lately. DVR space is running out, so last week I made a tough decision: My oldest recordings would have to go. That included the broadcast of the 2010 World Series Ring Ceremony featuring the San Francisco Giants.
Before I deleted it, I bid it a fond farewell by re-watching it – twice. I was in the stands at AT&T Park that April night, shivering, sporting more layers than a compost heap. Seeing the ceremony again nearly two years later brought feelings of joy, excitement and pride rushing back. I could have happily watched the Giants get their rings 10 more times – even though I still haven’t gotten around to viewing my recording of the 2012 World Series Parade. Why is that?
You have to understand, I grew up just outside Cleveland, Ohio – a city that is passionate about sports, and its sports teams – no matter how many times they break our hearts. (The Indians, the Browns… and the Cavaliers. Oh, the Cavs.) None of my teams had won a championship in my lifetime… until the Giants did it in 2010. That first time was pretty special.
The first thing that struck me as I re-watched the ceremony was how few in the 2010 lineup still play for the Giants. With the exception of Buster Posey and Pablo, the only guys from the 2010 team still on the roster are pitchers.
I laughed at how young the players and coaches looked. Manager Bruce Bochy was sporting a lot more pepper than salt in his beard back then, while baby-faced Madison Bumgarner looked too boyish to even own a razor. Pablo Sandoval looked trim and fit.
The players acted like little boys on Christmas morning. (Imagine Ralphie’s face when he gets his Official Red Ryder BB gun in A Christmas Story.) NLCS MVP Cody Ross got so excited, he nearly forgot to pick up his ring after all the handshakes. When he finally saw it he gushed, “Ah, it’s beautiful!” Tim Lincecum also beamed. “It’s gorgeous”, he said.
Travis Ishikawa was on hand, looking a little mopey in his jersey and jeans. He was purportedly bitter to have been designated for assignment during 2011 spring training, and I’m not sure he wanted to be there. Assuming Brian Wilson does not return to the team in 2013 (the most likely outcome at this point), I wonder how he’ll participate in the ring ceremony in April?
I’m not the only one with profound feelings of nostalgia about the 2010 San Francisco Giants. On February 6, I saw Bruch Bochy speak at the Commonwealth Club of California, where he was asked how he’ll manage to wear two World Series rings. Boch got very wistful, and explained that while he has yet to see his 2012 hardware, he’ll always be partial to his 2010 ring. He kept staring down at it, like it was still a shock to see it on his finger.
I don’t yet have a ticket for San Francisco’s 2013 home opener or ring ceremony. My DVR is poised and ready but I still plan to be there in person. Rather than snapping up one of the nosebleed seats the Giants are offering, I will be throwing myself on the mercy of the secondary market. It could get ugly. It’ll definitely be costly.
How do I put this? I went to the World Series Parade in San Francisco today, and was a bit underwhelmed.
Winning the World Series for the second time in three years feels amazing, and is cause for great celebration in the Bay Area. I come from a city (Cleveland) that is positively starved for a national championship of any kind, so I feel a bit guilty for nit-picking about the parade.
I don’t want to be THAT PERSON: The one who whines about some ridiculous non-hardship, as if I’m really put out. And I really don’t want to be labeled a humble braggart.
You are familiar with the term humble braggart, right? They are those falsely modest folks who say stuff like…
Bummer, the limo that drove me to my appearance on Letterman hit a pothole, and I spilled my glass of Swarovski-studded limited edition luxury vodka all over my Vera Wang dress. I hate it when that happens!
I never gain weight, no matter how much ice cream I eat. It’s really frustrating.
My husband and I braved Hurricane Sandy in our Greenwich Village brownstone. It was terrifying. I mean, I had to move my red carpet gowns to a different closet because of a leak! (A real celebrity made this statement today. I’m not kidding.)
Why aren’t OUR World Series parades that good anymore?
All that said, 2012 parade organizers made some changes that I didn’t really consider enhancements.
This year, players rode in convertibles rather than motorized trolley cars. I’m not sure why. To be fair, there is a downside to trolleys; a player can only be seen well from one side of the street as they pass. In 2010 Matt Cain was on the “wrong” side of the trolley for me, and I was disappointed not to get a good look at him.
But the upside of a trolley is the riders are elevated, making them much easier to see if they are facing you. While I didn’t see Matt Cain in 2010, I saw Tim Lincecum, Brian Wilson, Freddy Sanchez and others very well, even though I was pretty far back in the crowd. I got some fantastic photos that day, which set the bar pretty high.
This year, I waited for more than two hours but barely saw any players for more than one or two seconds, because fans standing in front of me blocked my view. Also, the cars drove by pretty fast. I think they were running a little late.
Big surprise: Pat “The Bat” Burrell provided the best photo-op of the day! He was riding in the scouts’ trolley.
Organizers also chose to intersperse players’ cars, and slower moving trolleys carrying family members and Giants staff. There were sizeable gaps between vehicles, which made the parade feel kind of long. Besides, while I’m sure members of the Baer family are very nice I’m not really all that interested in them, even if they are throwing Halloween candy in my direction. Next time, let’s put THEM in the cars that zip by at 20 mph.
Starting tomorrow, baseball will be 100%, officially over for 2012. No more crowds wearing orange and black, streaming towards Third and King Streets. No more detours, or street closures, or parades. No more ballpark bratwurst, or trips to the dugout store. (I can’t promise this last one. It’s aspirational.)
It’s NBA season now, and time to turn my attention to the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors. Sadly, I don’t think either team stands to fare as well as the Giants did this year.
So I guess it may also be time to start planning my trip to 2013 spring training.
The key to surviving the NLDS Game 2 (Giants vs. Reds) was to take shallow breaths. Waving a rally towel? That was out of the question, thanks to the width of the gentlemen on either side…
It was a Big Weekend in San Francisco. Some might say, it was the Bermuda Triangle of weekends, as more than one million visitors paid a visit to our fine city to take in sporting events (San Francisco Giants and 49ers, the America’s Cup), the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, and Fleet Week.
For the first time I can recall, I’m actually thrilled that tomorrow is Monday. All these people will have gone home by then, right?
The most vexing parts of my weekend were two packed and plodding Muni bus rides to AT&T Park, followed by two miserable performances by the Giants. For now I will focus on Saturday’s game, because quite honestly… I am too depressed to process tonight’s loss, let alone write about it.
I had planned to watch game one of the NLDS from my couch, but an amazing seat near the visitor’s dugout popped up on StubHub. It was out of my price range, but I decided to stalk it for a while. As game time approached, the price dropped precipitously. Forty-five minutes before Matt Cain’s first pitch, I made my move.
When I got to the park in the bottom of the 2nd inning (thanks again, Muni), the previous owner of the ticket was sitting next to me. He immediately pointed out what a great deal I’d gotten. He paid more than twice what he got from me. Awkward!
The guy was pretty nice, all things considered. I nearly bought him a beer, since I figured he was feeling a little light in the wallet, but by the 3rd inning it seemed like he’d already had plenty.
I wish I had a slew of photos of great Giants at-bats and base running, but alas I’m a photographer not an abstract artist. Or a magician.
In Write Field 