Yet Another Post-Season Scheduling Absurdity

Okay, Major League Baseball has a bunch of idiots running the post-season scheduling. I've written about this before, here, here, here and here. And here and here.

What I never knew prior to this year is that the home field advantage team gets to choose which division series schedule to play in. They can make their decision up until one hour after the regular season is completed. So the Yankees got to choose, but with one problem. The regular season didn't end until the Twins/Tigers tie-breaker was completed - on Tuesday, due to a Vikings game on Monday Night Football. So the Yankees could screw the Red Sox by making them play the next day with a warning only hours before the game. The tie-breaker game went 12 innings. Instead, they chose to screw the winner of the tie-breaker by forcing them to take a red-eye to Yankee Stadium where they would play the next day on sleep they could get only on the plane.

Baseball desperately needs to get rid of the guess work and pre-schedule which divisions play which and who hosts which games. They also need to ditch the network time slot pecking order. I'd hate to be a team's traveling secretary in the month of October.

Saying Goodbye To Rich Aurelia

Today was the Giants last home game of the year. Long time Giant Rich Aurelia played his last home game today. Eleven of his fifteen years were spent wearing the orange and black. Richie was a fan favorite. He had a stellar 2001 along side a nuclear year by Barry Bonds, and a 2002 that saw him rack up 17 RBI in the post season. Back in the early 2000's, my brother-in-law sported a goatee and he looked a dead ringer for Richie. The resemblance was simply stunning. He even wore an Aurelia shirt for a while.

Rich will never be forgotten among Giants fans, and today they paid tribute with numerous standing ovations. His last at bat was followed by taking his position at short stop in the ninth inning. Manager Bruce Bochy pulled the class move by replacing him before the first pitch of the inning so he could be cheered as he came off the field. Nora had the tickets for today's game and we're sure she shed tears for fondness of Rich.

We will miss you, Rich.

We're Still In This Thing

Nevermind that the Giants are sucking and that not only are they far behind the Rockies in the wild card race, there are now three teams in front of them in that race. Nevermind that the elimination number stands at three. We're still in this thing.

On Booing Your Own Player

In a commentary about the booing of Benjie Molina, Grant at McCovey Chronicles explains what it means for fans to boo their own players:

At the risk of repeating myself, one of the most important things that fans and players alike can remember is this:

When fans boo players or curse them out, it is almost always an editorial comment on the decision by the front office or manager to put the player in the position he’s in.
There are exceptions, of course. Armando Benitez was just an unlikable tub of goo. There are players who don’t try their hardest, don’t run out groundballs, or who curse the fans out. Those players earn their boos. Most of the time, though, a player is getting razzed because he shouldn’t be out there. When Marvin Benard would break in, back, up, and then back again to run after a fly ball, the boos didn’t translate to "Marvin Benard is a bad human being, and I object to his presence on this planet", it translated to "Jeez, guys, can’t you scrounge up a better centerfielder?"

I tend to agree with this assessment. Does this apply to fans in Philadelphia?

Giants Loss Projection Through September 15

September 1 through September 15, 2009:

L 72-60, 74; W 73-60, 73; L 73-61, 74; W 74-61, 73; W 75-61, 73; L 75-62, 73; W 76-62, 73; L 76-63, 73; L 76-64, 74; L 76-65, 75; L 76-66, 75; W 77-66, 75; W 78-66, 74; W 79-66, 74.

Giants Pitching Is Changing The Timing Of Restroom Trips

When the Giants come to town, it's bye, bye, baby. So says the song. Historically, the Giants have been more of an offensive franchise than a pitching franchise. Mike and I were talking about this earlier this year. It's always been more exciting to watch the Giants hit. So, traditionally, both Mike and I have always watched the Giants bat and have planned our trips to the restroom while they were out in the field.

Now that the Giants couldn't hit their way out of Wrigley Field with the wind blowing out, but have the best - and most exciting - pitching staff in baseball, Mike and I have inverted our scheduling so that we hit the head when the Giants are at bat. Neither of us can bear to miss an inning with a Gigante on the mound. If they just happen to score while we're in the men's room, we can hear it on the radio.

Ballpark Drive-By's

Last weekend my family drove to San Diego for some time away. It was a bummer that the Padres weren't home, but the R&R was more important. (At the end of our trip they were up here in San Francisco. Hey, let's get home!) But, I did endeavor to make three ballpark drive-by's. On the way down, I turned off the freeway (I-5) a few blocks and drove up to the Dodger Stadium parking lot entrance in Elysian Park. The one next to the Police Academy - yes the one in the Hollywood comedy! There was a game that night, and we were a few hours early, and a line about 10 cars deep were there. We still got a good view from left field in across to the stands on the first base line.

Our four year old loves baseball, so he gawked in wonder as I said, "Here's Dodger Stadium, where the Dodgers play." Then about an hour later we passed Angels Stadium (or whatever they're calling it this year). It is clearly visible from the freeway (I-5), just a few blocks down the boulevard, but a bit obscured from recent construction. The "Big A" in the parking lot with the halo around it is very red and can't be missed.

And while in San Diego, we drove downtown and made several circles around Petco Park on the city streets. Tours were available, and the kids fun lot was open behind left field, but our plans couldn't include those. Mrs. Scott and I have a special place in our hearts for Petco Park, since we used to vacation in San Diego all the time (and I had several business trips there) and got to see the construction of it progress from dirt to a completed ballpark. We saw a game there in its opening year, 2004.

I love looking into the open end of ballparks and seeing the huge bowl of seats and decks, flags flying, light towers above. We also saw Angels Stadium on the freeway on our way home (a better view while driving north) and the top of Dodger Stadium is visible from the freeway going north. Even without a game, the drive-by's were fun.

Giants Loss Projection Through August 31

August 16 through August 30:

L 63-54, 75; W 64-54, 74; W 65-54, 74; W 66-54, 73; L 66-55, 74; W 67-55, 73; L 67-56, 74; L 67-57, 74; L 67-58, 75; W 68-58, 75; W 69-58, 74; L 69-59, 75; W 70-59, 74; W 71-59, 74; W 72-59, 73.

T-Shirt and Shorts at Night Game!

Last night at AT&T Park against Arizona, the Giants played a warm weather game. I wore a t-shirt and shorts all night, and even on the long walk back to the train station, it was perfectly pleasant to be out. After 25 years of having season tickets, I still have maybe a dozen t-shirt/shorts night games. It was hot here in the suburbs, about 100 degrees, and never knowing what it will be like in the city, I took a chance and wore shorts without bringing long pants. My gamble paid off. A night game in San Francisco is usually shirt/sweatshirt/jacket weather and you still freeze your butt off.

The Giants got killed, 11-0. I watched seven of those runs in two short concession stand visits on the TV monitors on the concourse, the three run outburst in the first inning and the four spot in the fifth. I guess it was better than being in my seat for the punishment.

L - Sabean

Nuff said.

Throw Back Days

Back when I was much more of a baseball traditionalist, I liked those "turn back the clock" days, where old uniforms or old ways of doing things were put into play at a particular game. But not really anymore. I saw an A's/White Sox game recently that had throwback uniforms to 1929, a year the A's won the Series. The granddaughter of Connie Mack and grandson of Jimmy Foxx threw out first pitches.

The uniforms were interesting to look at, but when I looked at the total picture, it wasn't a real throwback attempt. Only the jerseys and pants were throwback. It just didn't look authentic because the uni's were polyester, not flannel with the right bagginess, and the players had their Nike swoosh spikes on, the A's wore their contemporary white shoes. Players also used modern gloves, had helmets, wore shin guards, arm guards, batting gloves, and other modern trappings. And I hate those throwback games where the current helmets are used if they don't fit the uniform. This game, the A's at least used blue helmets with a lone white "A" logo, like it was in 1929.

But the ones that are even worse are those games that use minor league uniforms or other past teams. Watching the highlights on SportsCenter is useless to identify those teams. If somebody broke some all time record or threw a no-hitter during one of those games, I'd hate to see endless replays of somebody who had to be explained every time. Oh, he threw a perfect game, but they were wearing minor league uni's in tribute to something or other.

The Worst Umpired Series Ever?

This last week's Giants/Dodgers series in San Francisco has to be the worst umpired series I have ever seen. Numerous calls were completely blown by the umpires. Not just bang-bang plays that happened to be wrong, but obvious plays. The announcers commented on this all series long. It was a nationally covered story.

The third game of the series had all the blown calls going against the Giants. Giants announcer Duane Kuiper recounted that Dodger announcer Rick Monday leaned into the Giants booth and said, "Oh-for-five." A play in the first game of the series had a throw to the first baseman dropped, then he stepped off the bag to retrieve the ball, the runner crossed the base and was called out. Amazing.

In the third game, 1) Manny Ramirez was picked off first, and called safe. 2) Pablo Sandoval was plucked on the arm trying to get out of the way of a pitch. The pitch was a foot inside, and the umpire not only didn't call it a hit-by-pitch, he called it a strike. Sandoval even started out toward the pitcher and both benches cleared. 3) and 4) were two blown calls on the same play. A grounder to second resulted in Sandoval being tagged out in the base path on his way to second base. Only one problem with the tag, the ball wasn't in the second baseman's glove but in his right hand while being thrown to first base. The second base ump called him out, but the first base ump overruled the call mid-play, and the ball was thrown late to first, and the batter was safe by a half step. But, the first base ump was so distracted by overruling the other ump, he blew his own call. Both runners were clearly safe, yet it was almost called a double play. And 5), in the ninth inning, a ground out to short had the Dodger runner out by a half step, yet the ump called him safe.

During this game, both Bruce Bochy and then acting manager Ron Wotus were tossed from arguing. Although none of the outcomes of the games were affected, the fifth blown call in the ninth cost Tim Lincecum both the win and a complete game. I wonder what the worst umpired game ever is?

WHOA, WHOA, WHOA!!!!

Unbelievable! While finishing typing the last paragraph, I witnessed two consecutive horribly blown calls on the A's/White Sox game on TV. A White Sox batter was out by a half step at first base, but called safe, and the A's argued the call [Update: I watched the replay, and not only was the runner out, he never even touched first base!]. Then the runner tried to steal second base and was thrown out as the runner over slid the base by several feet. The ump called him safe, saying the fielder shoved him out of the base path, and A's manager Bob Geren was thrown out for arguing. THE UMPIRE WAS THE SAME CREW CHIEF OF THE GIANTS/DODGER SERIES that blew all those calls last week. Gary Darling.

Unbelievable. Sandy Alderson, where are you?

Giants Loss Projection Through August 15

August 1 through August 15:

W 57-47, 73; W 58-47, 73; L 58-48, 73; W 59-48, 73; W 60-48, 72; L 60-49, 73; W 61-49, 72; L 61-50, 73; L 61-51, 74; L 61-52, 75; W 62-52, 74; L 62-53, 75; W 63-53, 74.

New Profile Photo

I've added a new profile photo to my blogs. This photo was a professional headshot produced by my friend Deb Wat. The photo shoot was a very interesting process, and Deb is a true professional. Her objective for this shot was to draw me out of my element as a writer. I think it came out great, and my family and friends agree. Check out her site at Deb Wat Photography.

I Got A Foul Ball, Then One Got Me

I got a foul ball in Friday night's Giants/Reds game at AT&T Park. A few minutes later, just one pitch after hanging up my cell phone conversation telling Mrs. Scott all about it, another scorching line drive came to the row just in front of me, and after leaning in over the ladies' heads in front of me (they duck and cover their heads, always, and are thankful for the chivalrous gentlemen around them who bring gloves) to glove it, a fan two rows in front deflected it slightly just as I was going to catch it, so I took it square off the bicep and another fan several rows up snagged it.

The ball I got landed about five seats in the next section across the aisle, about three rows back. I always play for a crazy bounce or series of bounces and flying bodies. Having aisle seats makes it easy to cover about ten rows because the aisle steps are clear, just zip up or down. This ball bounced off about four people, trickled down a row, then some huge guy from my section jetted across the aisle and belly flopped over a woman's lap, she just sitting there on the opposite aisle seat. It somehow got through him and out into the aisle. A ball in the aisle is my cue. Another guy piled on the squirting ball, but butter fingered it down a row into my waiting hands.

This was my tenth foul ball in my life. Double digits now. I've updated my baseball resume to reflect this fortune.

I was at the game with Mike, and he was getting food at the time. Even though the season tickets are mine, and I sit on the aisle seat, Mike made up a rule some years ago that if I'm late to the game, he gets the aisle seat. He needled me for this. So upon his return to his seat, he found the ball in his cup holder. I got the ball even though I wasn't actually in the aisle seat. Back atchya.

This wasn't the only crazy thing that happened this night, so in another post, I'll describe the other wild things that took place. It was really just one of those nights.

Luck Statistics

Over a 162 game season, everything averages out. Right? Well, I wonder. With both an imbalanced schedule and an asymmetrical one, how is the schedule fair to all teams? Let's compare the schedules of the Marlins and Mets. Since interleague play was introduced, each team's "rival" team (the other league's intra-metro or intra-state team they play six games against) is the Rays and Yankees respectively. Aside from last year, the Marlins have had probably a built-in two game advantage in only playing the hapless Rays as opposed to a near dynasty Yankees.

But other invisible things are real, and it would be interesting to see the following statistics. Like stats that show how hot or cold each opponent is when your team plays them. Say a team is good but they've had the bad luck of playing more of the teams - even the mediocre ones - while they were hot. Or in a slump. Maybe there could be a stat for winning percentage of opponents in the previous five games (or other number) before playing them.

Or what about stats that show how each team fares in facing other teams' starting rotations? The standard series in baseball is a three-game series, with some two- and some four-game series. But the standard rotation is a five-man rotation. Each team hits or misses the ace and second man in the rotation each series. What if some teams hit slightly more aces of other teams, and some teams fewer? How could this affect the final standings? Let's say the Mets hit the Yanks' aces each interleague series, while the Fish hit the bottom of the Rays' rotation each time, and the Marlins finished a game ahead of the Mets in the standings? Maybe the Mets hit the Nationals while in a slump three times, while the Marlins hit them while hot two times?

What if a World Series winner was just an above average team that had a bunch of breaks, or a great team hit a bunch of brick walls? Bill James, you out there?

Giants Loss Projection Through July 31

July 17 through July 31:

49-40, 73; 49-41, 74; 50-41, 73; 50-42, 74; 50-43, 75; 50-44, 76; 51-44, 75; 52-44, 74; 52-45, 75; 52-46, 76; 53-46, 75; 54-46, 75; 55-46, 74; 56-46, 73; 56-47, 74.

If The Season Ended Today

If the regular season ended today, here would be the playoff teams:

AL East: New York Yankees
AL Central: Detroit
AL West: LA Angels of Anaheim
AL Wildcard: Boston

NL East: Philadelphia
NL Central: St. Louis
NL West: Los Angeles Dodgers
NL Wildcard: San Francisco

The first round of playoffs would be: Anaheim vs. Boston, New York Yankees vs. Detroit, Philadelphia vs. San Francisco and Los Angeles vs. St. Louis.

League championship series could very well be the two greatest rivalries in baseball history: Yankees/Red Sox and Dodgers/Giants.

Now, that's what I'm thinking about. How about Giants over Yankees in the Series?

Cooperstown, Steroids and Bill James

Baseball stats entrepreneur Bill James, famous for his invention of new statistics and his ability to judge player ability based on those stats, has at long last commented on how steroids in baseball relates to the Hall of Fame. Read the four page .pdf file here. He believes that as we progress into the future, steroids will become a non-issue with respect to the Hall of Fame. He makes five basic arguments, in essence:

1. Steroids essentially keep us young. Many people outside of sports are taking these, and most people in the future will be doing so as well as life-lengthening drugs evolve. With society using them, they will look back on our time and wonder what the fuss was all about. The steroids users of today will be looked at as pioneers of a better life.
2. Some players who used steroids will make the Hall. Once these are discovered, an argument will arise to let the others in as well who were shunned.
3. History is forgiving, and statistics endure. He uses arguments from other players' faults and how they are viewed over time.
4. Old players play a large part in the Hall of Fame debate. They will not likely divide their ex-teammates into "users" and "non-users."
5. For the longest time there were no baseball rules against steroids, if there were they weren't enforced, and with a majority of players using them, was it really "cheating"? How then could players be kept out? And a great quote: "With the passage of time, more people will come to understand that the commissioner’s periodic spasms of self-righteousness do not constitute baseball law."

I agree with his assessment and have held many of these sentiments for a while now. James doesn't say all of these things by moral conviction, necessarily, but by how the future will shape the argument as time passes.

In addition to what James contends about baseball's Hall of Fame, I think the same thing will occur with respect to the use of these types of drugs, whether by athletes or not, and the decriminalization of drugs will follow.

Another thing I think should be debated. If a majority of players were taking steroids, who had any advantage over who? Who had the advantage when Bonds went to bat against Clemens? If pitchers were using steroids to be better pitchers, why did offensive statistics increase during the "steroids era?" Could the statistical change be due to other factors? With the Manny Ramirez issue, it is clear that performance enhancing drugs are still widespread, especially the ones undetectable by currently enforced urine tests.

Give the article a read. I think James has enough influence on baseball that the debate will change as a result.

Rickey Number Thirty Nine?

With the Rickey Henderson Hall of Fame induction coming up this weekend, there's a great number of stories and amount of footage of his career. With Rickey going in as an A, the question had earlier been raised as to which uniform number he would wear. His first stint with the A's had him wear number 35. After returning from New York, he wanted number 24, his Yankee number, but Ron Hassey had it, so Rickey wore number 22. Hassey later gave up his number to Rickey. It has been concluded that Rickey would wear 24.

But this week I saw a video of Rickey's first major league at bat. He wore number 39. I never knew this. I also heard of another game where a laundry or uniform mixup led to his wearing a generic numbered uni (no name on the back) for one game. What that number would have been, I have no idea. So, Rickey has worn at least four numbers with the A's alone.

Baseball Cards - Poses vs. Action Shots

Long lost in the art of baseball card photos is the pose. As players got richer due to free agency back in the late 70's and 80's, the tendency to go along with scheduled photo shoots for baseball cards diminished. What once was a rarity and often given special attention in a card set - the action shot - became the norm. After all, what could be better than a shot of your favorite player taken while in action?

Well, I prefer the still photo, the pose. Some of the classic shots in baseball card history were because of the pose. I still remember this shot of Bob Oliver, first baseman for the Royals, from my childhood.

Recently, our four year old went with a friend to a Giants game. He bought a Topps Giants card set at the Dugout Store. While looking through the team set, I discovered Randy Johnson's 2009 card. His was the only one in the set that was a pose shot. It wasn't an action shot. I am truly glad to see this card. It will be valuable for me for a long time to come.

Micro Brewers

The Giants single A team in San Jose is called the Giants, after the parent club. The team is known as the "Little Giants." Well, if you apply this logic to the Brewers team, and Mrs. Scott did, a Brewers minor league team can be known as the "Micro Brewers." Good thinking, Mrs. Scott!

Giants Loss Projection Through July 15

July 1 through July 12 (All-Star break):

42-35, 74; 42-36, 75; 43-36, 74; 44-36, 73; 44-37, 74; 45-37, 73; 46-37, 72; 46-38, 73; 47-38, 72; 48-38, 72; 49-38, 71; 49-39, 72.

All-Star Break.

At the break, the Giants are on a pace to win 90 games. They just missed a 50-win first half. Not bad for a bunch of guys who can't hit.

Bonds Available

I follow Barry Bonds' attorney on Twitter. He just tweeted an announcement that Barry is ready and will be available for tomorrow's All-Star Game.

No-Hitter Update

No sooner than I finish my last post about tonight's no-hitter, I turn around and watch the post-game show. Part of the TV coverage shows commentators talking about the game, and one of those interviewed is tonight's official scorekeeper. He is none other than an old bleacher bum friend of mine, David Feldman.

Congratulations David, on your scorekeeping!

No No-No, No-No, What Next?

Johnathan Sanchez throws a no-hitter! Well, it wasn't supposed to be tonight. It was supposed to be last night when Tim Lincecum pitched. Actually, I'm glad Lincecum didn't throw one last night, because I had a ticket but couldn't go. When I saw the no-hitter into the seventh, I was bummed. And, we have tickets for tomorrow when Matt Cain pitches.

Congratulations to Johnathan Sanchez and for his dad who saw his first game his kid started. Now, maybe Matt Cain can pitch one tomorrow night! The Giants really good pitching this year from a good rotation aside, the Padres look pretty anemic right now. Maybe their bats will stay quiet for one more day.

Bochy On Interleague DH Advantage

In a pre-game interview before a recent interleague game, Giants manager Bruce Bochy was asked which league's team had the advantage with the DH rule. To my surprise, he said that the AL team had the advantage, because they use a very good designated hitter that was signed for exactly that purpose and who is in the lineup every day. The NL team has to fit a bench player into the lineup.

I agree with him, and wrote about this a few years ago. I'm wondering if the conventional wisdom is either changing or has changed in baseball. I haven't heard an argument about the DH in quite a while and certainly haven't heard the "AL is penalized in the NL park by having a bat taken away, while the NL team gets to add a bat in the AL park" line of reasoning either. I hope the view of this is changing for the better.

Saturday Night Baseball

As long as I've watched baseball, a tradition existed that saw only three teams in baseball play more day games than night games. Those teams were the Cubs, Giants and A's. The Cubs were obvious because Wrigley Field had no lights for decades, then when they were installed, Friday night was the only usual night game scheduling.

The A's and Giants always played more day games because their traditions included exclusively day baseball on Saturday and day baseball on mid-week getaway games, usually Wednesday. Extra day games were usually sprinkled throughout the schedule on holidays or extra weekday games for whatever reason, including Opening Day for the Giants. Day baseball on Bay Area Saturdays is not too difficult to figure out. The weather is very cool at night, and beautiful during the day. Fridays have beer and the "it's the weekend, night-out" atmosphere to keep the crowd warm.

But the last couple of years, the A's and Giants have adopted Saturday night baseball as the norm with only a few day games. The main reason is because of the exclusive rights given to Fox for the game of the week slot. Now, the Giants are Bondsless and have sucked for four years, and the A's have sucked, too. Day games on Saturday are prohibited from being televised. They now need Saturday night telecasts for revenue. When the Giants were good and everybody wanted to watch Bonds, they were on Fox every Saturday afternoon.

I've attended a few Saturday night games and it is truly strange in several ways. First, the day. Saturday has always been a Bay Area staple of baseball. You wake up and go to the ballpark, and Saturday night is left for eating out, watching a movie, what have you. Now, the crowds at Saturday night games seem odd. It's like they don't know what to do. Their routine has been interrupted and are trying to figure out whether they are supposed to be like a rowdy Friday night crowd, or like a leisurely Saturday afternoon crowd trying to substitute something - anything - for the golden sunshine. I miss Saturday day games and wish they would make a comeback somehow.

Giants Loss Projection Through June 30

June 16 through June 30:

34-30, 76; 34-31, 77; 35-31, 76; 36-31, 75; 37-31, 74; 37-32, 75; 38-32, 74; 39-32, 73; 39-33, 74; 39-34, 75; 40-34, 74; 41-34, 73; 42-34, 72.

Cerveceros vs. Gigantes

It was Hispanic heritage night in Milwaukee tonight. The Brewers celebrated in part by translating "Brewers" on their uniforms into Spanish. "Cerveceros" was the result. The Giants joined them by wearing their "Gigantes" uni's. I've never seen the Gigantes on the road threads. I guess the usual "San Francisco" wasn't Spanish enough. Either way, it makes for an interesting marketing scheme for jersey collectors. I wonder what the Padres would wear on Hispanic heritage night.

Saltalamacchia: Longest Name Ever

Friday night's Giants game vs. the Texas Rangers I saw Rangers catcher Jerrod Saltalamacchia play. He has the distinction of having the longest last name in baseball history at 14 letters. The name on the back of his jersey starts at mid back on the left and curls all the way around his shoulders and ends at mid back on the right. It looks very strange indeed. The old record of 13 was shared by a number of players, namely Todd Hollandsworth and William Van Landingham, two players I saw play for several years.

Apparently there is a kid in the minors at AAA who originally had a 13 letter name (from his father), but upon his parents' divorce he took his mother's 16 letter name as his own. If he's called up and he plays, he'll have the new record. I just love baseball trivia.

Barry Zito Is The New Matt Cain

Okay, so Barry Zito got lit up last night. But he's had a dramatic improvement this year. Especially earlier in the season, he had some very good outings. His record doesn't show his improvement, though. As of his last start, thanks to the Giants anemic offense, he has the worst run support of any starting pitcher in baseball. Wow, that's exactly what happened to Matt Cain the last several years.

And Matt Cain? A dramatic improvement in offense while Cain is on the bump, he's one of the front runners for the Cy Young award. And like Pitt and Jolie, the new term in town for the starting two is "Lincecain."

Giants Loss Projection Through June 15

June 2 through June 15:

25-25, 81; 26-25, 79; 27-25, 78; 28-25, 76; 28-26, 78; 29-26, 77; 29-27, 78; 30-27, 77; 31-27, 75; 31-28, 77; 32-28, 76; 33-28, 74; 34-28, 73; 34-29, 75.

Wow, .500 or above for an entire half month!

Playoff Bound?

Okay, it's only mid-June, but if the season ended today, the Giants would make the playoffs! Yes, it's early and the Giants have had their share of struggling, but they've also had some great pitching that has helped greatly with some important win streaks.

Still, though, the Giants need a couple of big bats. Will Sabean work a deal before the trade deadline? Will it help them? I know that they'll probably have some more offense-inflicted losing streaks this year. Maybe it will come down to which team has winning streaks at the right time. I just hope it's the Giants.

There's still hope of a World Series victory this year. I'm not holding my breath, but if happens, I'll take it.

Cast and Crew: Dan's Family

There's a very colorful family that has season tickets in the row behind us at the Giants games. We've known them for ten years now, and they are great people to have sitting close by at a game. Dan and his wife, Monique, with their two kids Jeremiah and Madison. When we first met them, Madison and Jeremiah were just on the threshold of their teens. Now they're grown up and out of the house, living their own lives.

They are very receptive of our small children when they're with us at the game. They joke all the time and are all outgoing. Dan has a tradition of wadding up a hot dog wrapper or paper bag and tossing it across the aisle and down a few rows, trying to make it into somebody's cup hanging in the cup holder for two points. And although Dan is a few years older than me, with his glove and the aisle seat he's twice the ball hound I am. Any fly ball down the line and he's off to the third row waiting for the hop. He's a salesman and he never misses finding a strange group of people to buy their tickets if they can't go. Half the fun when they're not there is trying to figure out the story of how they got the tickets.

Monique is hilarious and will talk about anything whatsoever. She wears her opinion on her sleeve, but even if it's offensive in some way, it's guaranteed to be funny. Jeremiah is very vocal and into the game. Then when his parents aren't there, it's really a scream. He follows the Giants fiercely and posts their follies on Facebook. Recently he took the road trip to see them in Seattle. Madison has been away at school the past few years, so we haven't seen her as much, but the school stories about her friends are always entertaining.

Dan's family. Funny. Sarcastic. Giants fans.

Rain, Rain, Rain

The Giants had a total of 9 hours, 22 minutes worth of rain delays in a five game period this road trip. Washington and Miami were storm prone. It must be difficult for the announcers to come back on air every ten minutes to say it's still raining. And the crowd sizes have been puny. The total attendance in two series must have been less than either stadium holds if sold out.

But, I love small crowd games kept away by threat of rain. Not the rain itself.

Congratulations Randy Johnson

He did it. 300 wins. This is a great achievement, not likely to occur again any time soon. I got to watch part of it on TV and hear the rest of it on the radio. Nail biter when Wilson tried to get out of the 8th inning jam.

Now go out and win another World Series, Randy!

Rainout = Double Header

Tonight the Giants were rained out in Washington so Randy Johnson will try for his 300th career victory as part of a double header tomorrow. I love how baseball takes raining on the parade and turns it into something beautiful. Let's see football play two.

Those Timid Cardinals Fans

Mrs. Scott and I went to Saturday night's Giants/Cardinals game at AT&T Park. There were many Cards fans in attendance, and as usual, they dress in red. They are one of the NL teams that draw larger numbers of visiting fans (the Dodgers, Mets, Cardinals and Cubs lead the pack, with the Braves lagging behind a bit. The Red Sox, Yankees and A's lead the AL with honorable mention to the Tigers fans). With the red color, they are quite simply the most visible of the bunch.

Yet, they are the most timid in rooting for their team. They know their baseball like no other fans, yet don't really offer cheers, but applause when their team does well. The several instances where a group started with a "Let's go Cardinals" chant quickly resulted in protective Giants fans drowning out their chants with editing of their own. This not merely masked the cheers, but stopped them cold. Mets or Dodger fans wouldn't have let the Giants fans interfere.

In talking with the people behind us, we decided that if all those Cards fans were Mets fans with their typical bravado we would have known it an hour before the game even started. I'm not sure if it is the Midwestern demeanor, but they are an interesting breed. I'd like to watch the Giants play in St. Louis to see how many Giants fans would show and how they behaved themselves.

Giants Loss Projection Through May 31

May 16 through May 31:

18-18, 81; 19-18, 79; 19-19, 81; 19-20, 83; 19-21, 85; 19-22, 87; 20-22, 85; 20-23, 87; 21-23, 85; 22-23, 83; 23-23, 81; 24-23, 79; 24-24, 81; 25-24, 79.

Another Double Header the Hard Way

I enjoyed another "double header the hard way" yesterday, two games in one day, but in two different parks. The A's lost to Seattle 6-1 in a day game in Oakland, while the Giants beat Atlanta 6-3 in the night cap in San Francisco. A whole lotta baseball for one day.

In Oakland it was book reading club day, so 20,000 kids were there making quite a bit of noise. And I went to the game to take a break from mine! Ichiro got three hits and an intentional walk. It was dollar dog day (Wednesdays), a good value even though they are small. Ten dog limit.

In San Francisco, Randy Johnson struck Chipper Jones out three times, while the Giants showed what little bit of offense they've been able to muster this year.

Dressing appropriately without carrying a huge bag wasn't quite possible, so I was a bit warm for game one, and froze during game two.

Five Run Extremes

Last week the Giants had a streak of not scoring. Between the Padres series and the first two Mariner games, they scored five runs. Five runs in almost a week. Then in the late innings of the second Mariner game, they scored five runs in two batters. If you don't score, you don't win.

The Padres series was especially depressing. The Giants pitching staff, over four games, let up only five runs in 39 innings. The starters pitched 1) a shutout, 2) a two-hitter, 3) Lincecum's mowing down of the Padres with 11 strikeouts, 4) Johnson allowing no runs in his start. Their ERA fell off a cliff. Yet they were swept by the Pads and lost the first Mariner game.

This Giants offense is pathetic. Not quite like 1985, when in August they were on a pace to become the worst offense in baseball history, but pretty bad.

Missed Ballparks

Since attending my first other ballpark in 1985, I've missed a number of them who have been torn down. Here's a list: [update: I was so tired when I wrote this, I missed a few. There are twelve in total.]

Exhibition Stadium, Toronto; Memorial Stadium, Baltimore; Municipal Stadium, Cleveland; Arlington Stadium, Texas; Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta; Tiger Stadium, Detroit; Astrodome, Houston; Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati; Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia; RFK Stadium, Washington D.C.; Shea Stadium, New York. Unless I go to Minneapolis this year, I will add the Metrodome to the list to make thirteen.

Giants Loss Projection Through May 15

May 1 through May 15:

11-10, 77; 11-11, 81; 12-11, 77; 12-12, 81; 13-12, 78; 13-13, 81; 14-13, 78; 15-13, 75; 15-14, 78; 16-14, 76; 17-14, 73; 18-14, 71; 18-15, 74; 18-16, 76; 18-17, 79.

The Giants climbed up to four games above .500, which would project out to a 91-71 record, possibly enough to make the playoffs, but fell off again. A .500 season this year would be a major improvement and would give me hope for a contending team within the next few years if they play their cards right.

The Birds

Alfred Hitchcock's eerie movie The Birds comes to mind at the end of Giants games. As soon as the crowd leaves at the end of the game, thousands of seagulls invade the stands for leftover food. Especially in the bleachers. Tonight Mrs. Scott went to the game vs. Washington, but the crowd was so small that the gulls came in early to engage in a holding pattern. So many birds crossed the path of the center field camera it was hard to tell what was happening to the video. Nora remarked that they were happy that Randy Johnson was already out of the game.

TAINTED!

Everything the Dodgers have done since last August is now TAINTED!

Their playoff run, and victory over the Cubs; TAINTED!
Their signing of Manny this year; TAINTED!
Their all time winning record at home this year; TAINTED!
Their position in first place; TAINTED!

All their victories this year should be forfeited and they should be in last place. The Giants are in LA starting tonight. I can't be there, but I wish I were. I hope thousands of Giants fans show up and torch the place with chanting, heckling and making a scene. Slam it in their faces. We remember the Bonds era, so the Dodger fans should be forced to remember the Manny era.

Manny's Stick Turns Dodger Blue

Manny had a test. The stick turned blue. Dodger blue.

You know what would be an interesting suspension? Allowing the Giants to pick which 50 games Manny gets to sit out.

After all the Bonds hoopla, let's see how many Dodger fans treat Manny the same way.

World Series Winners Since Giants

Over the 54 years since the Giants last won a World Series, 19 different teams have won it. Fifteen of those 19 teams have won multiple Series, which includes 6 expansion teams. Here are the totals:

Yankees (10)
Dodgers (6)
Cardinals (4)
A's (4)
Pirates (3)
Orioles (3)
Reds (3)
Braves (2)
Tigers (2)
Mets (2)
Phillies (2)
Twins (2)
Marlins (2)
Blue Jays (2)
Red Sox (2)
Royals (1)
Diamondbacks (1)
Angels (1)
White Sox (1)

Get that? Even the LOWLY Pittsburgh Pirates have won three Series since the Giants last did. The expansion Marlins and Blue Jays have even won two. Arrrrrrgh!

Giants Loss Projection Through April 30

April 16 through April 29:

2-7, 126; 3-7, 113; 3-8, 118; 4-8, 108; 5-8, 100; 6-8, 93; 7-8, 86; 8-8, 81; 8-9, 86; 9-9, 81; 9-10, 85; 10-10, 81.

Note: The Giants actually reached .500 late in April. I'm still going to call this a loss projection until they have a winning season.

Wet Win

Last night, Mrs. Scott and I had a date night at the Giants game. We had our usual box seats, but got free passes to the club level. So we ate there, getting a greater selection of food and condiments. It rained, and there were only a few thousand at most for the start of the game. Our train coming in has less than a dozen people on it as opposed to the usual hundreds. The seats were wet, but it was not a very cold rain. More misty in nature. The kind where you can feel the water evaporate and the extra humidity takes the chill off, strangely enough.

The Big Unit struck out the first five batters of the game, and took a no-hitter into the fourth inning. There were so few people, except in our row, that we decided to move back a couple of rows and spread out. The bullpen struggled to hold a win for Johnson, and Wilson had to pitch a two inning save, basically. Enough of that! The Rockies bullpen took their share of verbal abuse from the Friday night crowd, the Giants won, and the train ride home was peaceful.

Giants Smack Bums

In a cold and windy night game, the Giants smacked the Dodgers around. Tim Lincecum pitched a good game and the Giants bats came alive. Plenty of vocal interaction between the fans of the two teams occurred. Fights in the bleachers. We also heckled the Dodger bullpen mercilessly. Just another night at the ballyard between these two rivals. A Friday night game would have made it more fierce.

Rivalry Continues

After splitting the first two, the Giants and Dodgers take up the rubber match Wednesday night, and I have a ticket. Heckling the Dodger pitchers will be a priority. It's my first game with Mike this year. It is especially fun to have tickets behind the bullpen when the Bums are here.

The Roof Was Open!

For one of the few times since the Phoenix ballpark was built did I see a game on TV with the roof open. I saw the Giants on the field in the sunshine. I forgot momentarily that they were playing the Diamondbacks. It wasn't 115 degrees, I guess. We saw one game there in 2001 against the Giants. After the game, they didn't open the roof, which is as I understand is a fan favorite in Arizona. Yep, sit after the game and watch it open. With the roof closed so often, I wonder how they get the grass to grow.

Year 55

On Facebook, one can become a fan of a favorite sports team and read the comments of other fans. Last week while the Giants were in the toilet, fans were ripping the team for their inept play and inferior players. One young fan, too young to appreciate the long suffering of hard core fans, protested the early season pessimism by replying, "Hey, it's only week two!"

I couldn't resist. I replied, "No, it's year 55."

Zito Lays Goose Egg

Bary Zito tosses a shutout? Okay, he didn't pitch all 10 innings, but he did give up no runs. Yes, the Padres were the opponents, but does it matter? Zeets is back! Another Cy Young award this year?

Sweltering San Francisco Day

Yesterday was a hot day for a ballgame in San Francisco. Randy Johnson's one-hitter. Just last week we were dealing with several days of high winds, with rain, hail, sleet and snow mixed in. Then to have a day in the upper 80's thrust into the mix in mid-April is a rarity here that made the day more unseasonably hot. Today was in the upper 90's.

Our seats were blistering in the sun as we sat down. Neither me nor my son could sit. I had to sit on my glove to avoid being scorched, as the seat cooled down. We switched seats and did it over again. A San Francisco baseball sun inversion took place. Usually, it's cold and windy here, so the crowd is marked by the shadow line. People are in the sun, and the shade seats are empty. Sunday was the reverse. Families with babies were retreating into the shade under the Coke bottle for relief. Okay, time to pray for summer fog.

Yet Again Another Non-No-Hitter

Today, I took our oldest son to the Giants game vs. Arizona. Randy Johnson was pitching for the G-men. The Big Unit took a no-hitter into the 7th inning before giving up a hit, the D-Backs' only of the game. I think I doomed myself to failure, as I called Mrs. Scott after the top of the sixth to make sure she had the TV on. I've never seen a no-hitter, but have come close on a number of occasions. Johnson is one of those pitchers where you know that he's able to do it if he's on.

42 Nobodies

Yesterday was the anniversary of Jackie Robinson's breaking into the major leagues. To honor this achievement, every player in the major leagues wore Robinson's uniform number 42. But the Giants and Dodgers played each other, so it was difficult for the fan watching. These two teams are among only a small handful of teams (Giants, Dodgers, Yankees, Red Sox - did I miss any?) that don't have players' names on the back of their jerseys.

Every player on both teams was 42 with no name. "Scorecards! Get your scorecards. You can't tell the players without a scorecard!"

Giants Loss Projection Through April 15

I'm doing a Giants loss projection like I did last year since the Giants are a losing team. For each game played in this half of the month, I will list their record in white, followed by the projected loss total over 162 games in orange. Same format will follow the rest of the year.


1-0, 0; 1-1, 81; 2-1, 54; 2-2, 81; 2-3, 97; 2-4, 108; 2-5, 116; 2-6, 122.

The Giants are off to a woeful start, and with 122 losses projected, they are on a pace to be the worst team in all of baseball history.

Still The Same?

A week into the season, and the Giants are 2-5 having lost four games in a row. Only four teams - Milwaukee, Houston, Cleveland and Washington - have worse records. Uhhm, I know it's very early in the season, but if I could point out that this is kind of where the Giants left off the last four years. Yea.

On the other hand, several teams that shouldn't be are off to a great start. San Diego, Florida, Seattle, Kansas City, Baltimore and Toronto are at the tops of their divisions.

Remembering Mark Fydrich

Two in one day. What a bummer. I remember Mark Fydrich on TV when I was a boy. His crazy antics won a nation of fans. I wish he could have pitched longer in his career.

Remembering Harry Kalas

I was saddened about mid-day today at the hearing of Harry Kalas's passing. He was a true voice, not only of the Phillies, but of baseball's history. I loved his deep baritone voice, the long drawn out way he would call the game - even it's exciting points - as a reflection of yesteryear's leisurely, pastoral pace of the game.

Philly fans will surely miss him.

Fan Participation Day

My childhood dream of playing in the majors ended in my late teens. One thing was sure. I would be a fan for life. But missing out on playing I was dedicated to still being an active part of the game. I committed myself to the game action by being an ardent taunter and heckler of the opposing teams. My 29th consecutive year of heckling action is starting this month.

During all these years, I've maintained a fortunate position of having seats in either the first, seventh or ninth row from the field. Twenty nine years of being within easy earshot of opposing players, whether directly behind the left fielder in the front row of the bleachers, whether seven rows behind home plate to heckle the batter or on deck hitter (dare I add umpire?), or nine rows behind the visitor's bullpen mound, have been a great joy.

I'm especially looking forward to the first Dodger series later this month when I'll be there with my long time friend Mike where we'll be able to heckle those hated rival Dodger pitchers. With me, every game is Fan Participation Day and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Remembering Nick Adenhart

I don't remember the Angels' Nick Adenhart apart from watching him pitch to maybe a batter or so the other night. I had the A's/Angels game on the TV in one room, then I heard about his death early the next morning. What a tragedy. I recall my own wife and oldest son being t-boned in an intersection by somebody who ran a red light. This occurred about four or five years ago. They were far more fortunate.

I hope the Angels are able to make it through this tough time. I'm sure the fans who attended that game are pretty freaked out, too. Sympathy to his family.

All Alone In First Place

After one game, the Giants are all alone in first place with a record of 1-0. The Rockies are in 2nd with a 2-1 record. Wire to wire? Last time that happened, the 2003 Giants failed miserably in the playoffs against the Florida Marlins.

Baseball Is Back!

Opening Day is here! Except it's raining. Only 32 rainouts in SF Giants history so far. Will today be another? More later...

Opening Day Is Next Week!

This off-season is flying by at a fast clip. Not only have I not been able to keep up with all the spring training happenings, I just realized that Opening Day is next week! Exhibition games start this week, as the Bay Area teams travel home from Arizona's Cactus League play. Man, time flies.

I'm sure the Giants won't go 162-0 this year, so I'm hoping for 161-0 with a rainout maybe. Of course, that won't mean anything unless they win the World Series. I don't care if they win the West playing under .500, just as long as they win the World Series.

World Baseball Classic

There was much discussion on radio about team USA's loss to Japan in the WBC. Our fans don't take this tournament seriously, and all the other countries do. Many people wonder why and give strange ideas for why we don't. Well, there's a very simple reason why our country doesn't take things like this seriously.

All the other countries have something to prove. If Japan or Cuba or Korea or the Dominican Republic win, they can boast of something great. If the USA wins, great, but it still won't matter. It's because we don't have anything to prove. We already have the greatest baseball spectacle the world has ever known. We have Major League Baseball, none of the other countries do (apologies to Toronto). From spring training through the World Series for more than 100 years, nothing else compares.

Combine every other baseball league, tournament, you name it, and our MLB season and history outshadow them. Where do all the best players around the world want to play, many Cubans included? Our majors. Where do all the best American players want to play? Our own majors. The World Baseball Classic will never produce entire careers of Babe Ruth, Willie Mays and Joe DiMaggio.

Our baseball history is our nation's history. Which is greater: Ty Cobb sliding into second, Ruth hitting a towering blast, the Black Sox scandal, Jackie Robinson, The Shot Heard Round The World, Willie Mickey and the Duke, Bob Gibson, the mustachioed A's, Reggie, the Rocket, Barry, Wrigley & Fenway? -OR- some no-name players winning a two week elimination tournament? The answer is obvious.

The Greatest Game Ever Pitched?

On July 2, 1963, what was probably the greatest game ever pitched took place at San Francisco's Candlestick Park. Future Hall of Famers Warren Spahn and Juan Marichal dueled to a 1-0, 16 inning decision, each pitcher going the distance. The game's lone run came in the bottom of the 16th, when future Hall of Famer Willie Mays homered off Spahn to end it.

Just to add some more future Hall of Famers to the mix, the Braves slugging teammates Hank Aaron and Eddie Matthews opposed the Giants Mays, Willie McCovey and Orlando Cepeda. This game is surely in my top ten woulda-coulda wishlist. See the box score here.

Tickets Have Arrived

I received my season tickets today from the FedEX driver. Bless you. It's always exciting to open the box and find out what they look like this year. Maybe I'll post a scan soon.

The Giants have their season tickets printed in book format, with sheets of tickets. Each sheet has usually five or six tickets, perforated between them, and perforated at the book binding. Tearing each ticket out and dividing them up between all the buyers is a very time consuming task. The sheets must be bent at the book binding, back and forth to weaken the perforation before tearing. Then each sheet must be folded up like a road map, first in one direction, then in the other, again to weaken the perforation. If you don't, the tickets will tear. One year I let a buyer do all the ticket logistical work, making a distribution spreadsheet, tearing out, passing around, etc. He swore never to do that again. I'll be sitting down to separate tickets here soon.

2009 Giants Loss Projection?

Last season, I posted regular projections (I settled into twice monthly, posted on the 15th and 30th of each month) of how many losses the Giants would total for 2008. I simply took their winning percentage each day of the season and multiplied by 162. Some people might think this is one of those "you've got waaaaay too much time on your hands" type of thing. Not so. It took about 30 seconds to create a simple formula using MS Excel.

I'm not as concerned about the Giants losing 100 games this year as I was last year. I'm not expecting them to win their division, but a .500 season would be a massive improvement. A .500 season isn't completely out of the question, and in this division, that might just win it. Just between you and me, I'd love to do a Giants Win Projection series, but I'll keep to a loss projection until the season after they break .500 again.

Just off the top of my head, I think the Giants will go 77-85 this year, a .475 winning percentage. I don't think that will win the World Series. Winning the World Series is something the Giants desperately need to do, and within the next three years. We're looooong past patience.

Ticket Draft

This last weekend, our friends and we had our ticket draft for my Giants season tickets. There are a number of players involved overall, and things are complicated, but we get together for a few hours and draft games from the schedule, over snacks and beers/sodas. We draft in order/reverse order fashion and try to accommodate those with special needs. I've developed a color coded spreadsheet for tracking every game and everybody's tickets. Great fun. Now it's time for the season to start. Tickets will be delivered next week. It's always fun to tear out all the tickets and divide them up. Well, actually that's a lot of hard work, and not for the feeble minded.

Manny Ends With Fizzle

The Giants blew an opportunity to help themselves out in the NL West in failing to do what they could to get Manny Ramirez. The Dodgers even withdrew their final offer. I became a "get Manny" fan a while back. I'm just not sure what the reorganized ownership group is up to these days.

Pee Wee Backstop

Our four year old had his first practice game with the pee wee Red Sox team. Minutes before taking the field, the coach announced that he would be playing catcher. "Oh, boy! Catcher!" He has a strong fondness for catchers, even at four years old, so putting the gear on was a true joy for him. He played well for half the game. Because he's so small, the gear was huge on him. The shin guards came up to mid-thigh, and the chest protector came down to his knees. No problem, though.

The coaches pitch to their own team in pee wee league. What I didn't notice until after a while was that he was putting his fingers down between his thighs and giving signals to the pitcher. Amazing.

Fan Fest Absentee Photos

As in most years of my life, I missed Giants Fan Fest this year, too. But vicariously, and unbeknownst to her, I will link to my friend Shelly's blog so you can see pictures of what I missed. See them here. Good pix, Shelly!

Why The Continuing Steroid Issue

It's too late for baseball to have an immediate effect with banning steroids. They have left this issue untouched, yet with complete knowledge for two decades now. I would like to propose that many players are faced with the following difficult position consisting of three possible scenarios from which to choose:

Scenario #1 - I'm using steroids. If I stop using, my production will fall off, my career will be over, and I will be out of baseball.

Scenario #2 - I'm using steroids. If I keep using them and get caught, my career will be over, and I will be out of baseball.

Scenario #3 - I'm using steroids. If I keep using them, and somehow manage to avoid detection, either by inside information or just luck of the drug testing draw, my career will continue, I will have success, and baseball will still be part of my life.

This is not an argument for or against steroid use, but it shows why the problem continues and why players who continue to use steroids, even in the current climate and environment, are not as "stupid" as most people would like to believe. Does anybody see a similarity between the first two scenarios, and a difference for the third?

Baseball On The Radio!

Today is a wonderful day on the calendar. It was the first game of the cactus league season for the Giants (spring training) and the first game broadcast on the radio. After an entire winter of silence, simply hearing a baseball game on the radio is the best music I can think of. I am a fan, and an avid fan at that.

But, my fandom does not mean that I hang on every pitch of a game and ignore all else. For me, listening to games on the radio is a daily event during baseball season, but I enjoy it at least as much as background music as I do paying attention to every pitch. It is soothing to the soul and easy upon the mind. That we are completely spoiled here in the Bay Area with wonderful announcers that communicate the game so beautifully makes me want to live here forever.

Clinching Games

I've been to three games that were the deciding games of the World Series. Game 5 in 1988, Game 4 in 1989 and game 4 in 1990. In each game, the winning team celebrated. I've also been to three games that decided a pennant. Game 5 of the 1989 NLCS, game 4 of the 1990 ALCS and game 5 of the 2002 NLCS (walk-off win). I've also been to game 3 of the 1981 ALDS western division (strike forced) series.

I've also seen Giants division clinches in 1997 and 2000. I'm not sure about others, as I may have seen an A's division clinch in the '88-'92 period.

Not only have I never been to a game 7, I've never been to a game 6. Maybe someday...

A's Disregard Their Own History

I'm often struck at the difference between the A's and Giants in how they treat their respective histories. Both teams started out as original teams in their respective leagues, the Giants in New York (moving to San Francisco in 1958) and the A's in Philadelphia (moving to Kansas City in 1955 and again to Oakland in 1968). The Giants celebrate their history, flaunt their history, relive their history. The A's seem to neglect - sometimes on purpose - much of theirs.

The Giants fully embrace their history in New York. With the A's, one would hardly know they played in Philly or KC. The Giants have retired uniform numbers for New York players, the A's don't for Philly or KC players. The Haas family, when they owned the A's in the 80's and 90's, seemed to shun the Charlie Finley years almost fully. They recognized hall of fame players and retired their numbers, but didn't greatly celebrate even their 3 consecutive World Series championships of the early 70's.

I wish the A's would embrace their entire history and teach their fans about it. While their history might not be quite as rich as the Giants or Yankees, it's still pretty good.

NL West Oddities

The last time the Dodgers played in a World Series was 1988. Every team in the NL West -- from either alignment, pre-'94 or post-'94 -- has won a pennant since then. The Giants ('89 and '02), Reds ('90), Braves ('91, '92, '95, '96, '99), Padres ('98), Diamondbacks ('01), Astros ('05) and Rockies ('07).

Since the last time the Giants won the NL West in 2003, every current NL West team has made the playoffs. Dodgers ('04, '06, '08), Padres ('05, '06), Diamondbacks ('07) and Rockies ('07).

Time to get that old rivalry into another pennant race. I'd love to see a Giants/Dodgers NLCS.

A-Roid Shocker?

I've never understood the argument that goes like this: Bonds put up such ridiculous numbers in obtaining his records; numbers that could have only been put up by using steroids. But now, there's a new breed of player in Rodriguez and Pujols that don't use steroids. I can't wait for them to shatter Bonds' records just to spite him and his cheating.

Uhhm, numbers that could only be reached by using steroids will be surpassed by even more astronomical numbers by players who never used steroids at all? This doesn't make sense. But now the "truth" is out, and nobody should be surprised in the least.

What concerns me far more than A-Rod using steroids is the trust that was broken in breaking a promise of privacy concerning test results. That's the real crime. Baseball and its weasel leaders (read: Bud Selig) completely allowed this problem to go on for decades now, profiting from it all the way. Now they are more than happy to see all the blame go onto the players.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Bud Selig is alone in holding the dubious distinction of having a steroids scandal take place right under his nose; both as an owner and as a commissioner. He wouldn't even stand up out of his seat to acknowledge Bonds' tying of Aaron's record, yet he acts like the whole thing is a tragedy.

Pee-Wee Red Sox

Okay, our four year old was drafted by the pee-wee Red Sox team. He had his first practice today, and it was muddy. He was intimidated by the format and group of other kids, and didn't think he was good. But, I think he'll do okay after a while. He loves all the peripheral things about baseball, like shopping for cleats, wearing his batting gloves and baseball jersey.

2002 World Series Highlights

MLB Network shows highlights from various World Series. Since the Giants lost the '02 Series to the Orange County Angles of Disneyland, I have avoided all watching of highlights from that Series. I recorded all seven games, yet haven't put one on. It's just too painful to watch.

Tonight I watched the highlight show from 2002. I sucked it up and watched. Still painful. I remember watching games 6 and 7 with Mrs. Scott form Yerba Buena Gardens in San Francisco, a downtown park, with about 10,000 other people. They hoisted a crane up with a monster big screen TV. The train ride home was very quiet.

I'll have to write about this topic some other time...

Zito Should Sign Manny

During my kid's pee-wee tryouts, another dad, named Will, had a great idea. He thought Barry Zito should sign Manny Ramirez. With all the cries that Zito should give back some of his salary, he should put it toward Manny. It would help his own run support, and gain him more victories, which will in turn help his future contract negotiations. What a win-win situation.

My Long Lost Ballpark Visits

With a new Yankee Stadium, the number of ballparks I've visited that are no longer in use has grown to nine. Those nine are: Candlestick Park, Jack Murphy Stadium, Kingdome, County Stadium, Old Comiskey Park, Yankee Stadium, Olympic Stadium, Old Busch Stadium and Mile High Stadium. Each ballpark has great memories for me, even if the park itself was terrible.

Equally in the negative, the ballparks I never made it to that are no longer in use kind of bothers me. I should have gone to some of these: Exhibition Stadium (Toronto), Memorial Stadium (Baltimore), Municipal Stadium (Cleveland), Arlington Stadium, Atlanta Fulton County Stadium, Tiger Stadium, Astrodome, Three Rivers Stadium, Riverfront Stadium, Veterans Stadium, RFK Stadium, Shea Stadium. The Metrodome will be added to this list next year unless I get a trip to Minnesota somehow. Detroit and Cleveland are the biggest bummers for me.

Pee-Wee Tryouts

Our three year old turns four next week. He's trying out for Junior Optimist pee-wee's. Today was the tryout. Pee-wee's are five and six year olds, with four year olds allowed if they can play well enough. They have to be four by a certain date to play, which is after tryouts. So at three, he's in the same grouping as some six year olds. He hit some balls (coaches pitch to their own teams in pee-wee), shagged some grounders, caught balls thrown to them, and threw balls to somebody else.

Trying to be as unbiased as possible, Mrs. Scott and I think he did as well as the average kid. He's small, so he doesn't have the strength as the older kids, as some hit the ball much farther. He had a lot of fun because he loves baseball. Some of the kids that play aren't interested much or play at the insistence of parents.

It's been raining for several days, so it was extremely muddy. Our shoes are caked with a mixture of mucky clay, pea gravel and tan bark. Everybody was about two inches taller because of the mud. It wasn't raining at the tryout, which was good. There was some great baseball conversation amongst some of the dads. We'll know next weekend how the draft went.

Jeff Kent Retires

Today, Jeff Kent announced his retirement. All the talk revolved around whether he would make the Hall of Fame on the first ballot or not. He had 17 good years in the majors, and some great ones, especially with the Giants. I got to see all of those first hand.

As a player goes, I'm on the fence as to whether he belongs in the Hall of Fame. But when compared to other second basemen, he places quite high on the list of great players. It's more than likely that he'll get in on his batting, as his glove wasn't quite Hall caliber. Either way, it was great to watch him play, and I won't argue if he makes the Hall of Fame.

Updated Resume

I've updated my baseball resume, and if you click here or at the margin at right, the resume will pop up. The big changes are that this is my 25th year as a Giants season ticket holder, despite being only 44 years old, and Yankee Stadium is a park I've attended that is no longer in use because a new one is being built.

Stupor Bowl

Okay, one of my few posts on football during the calendar year. The Superbowl teams are set, after two fairly exciting championship games. The winner gets a week off after the Superbowl, and the ProBowl essentially marks the final countdown to pitchers and catchers reporting. We're almost there.

The smashmouth brutality and punishing carnage in the trenches that made up the AFC championship game was so very welcome. I like good, physical football with relatively lower scores, where scoring points has to be earned. The high scoring games that are decided by who just happens to have the ball when the clock runs out are boring.

I will enjoy the Superbowl game, and hope the Cardinals win. I'm not a big fan of the commercials, although I do like a good one. I will become violently ill to my stomach if I watch the halftime show. This year, though, Bruce Springsteen should be a big improvement over the usual gag reflex pop star lipsinc trashing of the dictionary's definition of music, even though he can't sing very well. Maybe next decade the Raiders can climb back to the top.

Manny and Paris

Okay, I've questioned whether the Giants should sign Manny Ramirez. I've since come to the conclusion that they should. It will help the team, and the money spent isn't mine anyway. Heck, the more money the Giants spend that's not mine to win the World Series, the better.

But now that Paris Hilton is dating Barry Zito, Manny in San Francisco is a must. Who could pass up an opportunity to be on TV every day? Hilton could be the catalyst in a tag team media magnet with Manny that Bonds could never approach.

Some might object that such a woman might be a distraction to Zito. Yeah, the argument has been made about Tiger's golf game when he found a woman. But like Casey Stengel once said, "staying up all night with a woman never hurt no ballplayer; it's staying up all night looking for one that does him in." With Zito's record in his first two years of his contract, Hilton can only stand to improve upon it. We need both Paris Hilton and Manny Ramirez. We might get a Series trophy. We need one of those.

MLB Network!

A cool new channel suddenly appeared on our TV cable. The MLB Network. Baseball 24/7. So far, pretty impressive. Shows counting down the top 9 'x' of all time. (There are 9 innings in a game and 9 players on the field.) Top 9 pitching seasons of all time, top 9 characters who have been part of the game. Also, a look back at the 1986 season, and a replay of the 2007 All-Star home run derby.

Congratulations Rickey Henderson and Jim Rice

Congratulations to Rickey Henderson and Jim Rice for being elected to the Hall of Fame. Today was a day of great personal fulfillment for me. I saw both careers in their entirety. When I was a kid, I saw Mays, Aaron and McCovey make the Hall of Fame. I knew these players were great, but I only remember the very ends of their careers. They all started playing before I was born. Then there were players like George Brett and Mike Schmidt. I was a kid when they started playing, so I was aware of their entire careers, but I couldn't appreciate the first part because I wasn't a regular fan at the ballpark to see them.

Rice came just a few years later, but I was aware enough of his whole career. I saw Rickey Henderson's entire career. I sat in the front row of the left field bleachers in Oakland behind him so many times I couldn't count. He was right in front of me. When the Red Sox came to Oakland, I sat right behind Rice. I heckled him to no avail. He was the only visiting left fielder ever to have enough respect that fans didn't heckle him. I tried, and nobody laughed. The best somebody could do was to say, "Hey, Rice, you're a Chinese side dish!" He turned and shrugged his shoulders as if to say, "How lame was that?"

I've seen Rice as an on-the-fence Hall of Famer, but Henderson was a true HOF'er anyway you look at it. One question, though. He received 511 of 539 votes. What in the flying flip were the other 28 sports writers thinking? I just don't get that. They shouldn't be allowed to vote if they get this one wrong. Thank you Rickey and Jimbo for all the great memories. You are appreciated.

My First Ballpark Road Trip (7) - Ticket Stubs

Read entire series here.

These are the ticket stubs from my first ballpark road trip in August, 1985. Notice the "Swinging A's" logo on the Angels ticket at the right, and Mike Davis' autograph on the first ticket. The first two tickets were bought from Ticketron and Teleseat, and have no baseball design to them like the third. This played a big part in future tickets that I bought. If I could get an "official" ticket direct from the team, I always did. Heck, the first ticket looks no different than a Santana concert in Berkeley. Okay, call me a ticket stub connoisseur. I'm VERY picky about my ticket stubs.

My First Ballpark Road Trip (6)

Read entire series here.

After the Sunday doubleheader was over, I headed back to claim my motel room and take a real shower. A friend from my summer job was going to be on vacation in San Diego with his wife. He wanted me to join them at a comedy club that night in La Jolla, just a short drive away. I showed up and they didn't. I found out later that his wife had a bad case of food poisoning. Well, hungry I left for a restaurant. I couldn't find a good one open that late. I settled for a Taco Bell. Now, a Taco Bell in La Jolla was quite an experience. The parking lot was filled with Mercedes and BMW's. I had a yellow Camaro.

The next day I toured the beaches in San Diego, the same place where I took a shower the day before, and found some great places in Mission Beach. I fell in love with San Diego. I didn't plan it originally, but I decided to drive back up to Anaheim that evening to watch the Angels and A's. Anaheim and SD are only about 85 miles apart, barely an hour and a half drive. I bought a ticket at the park. I don't remember much of the game, but I just happened sit next to two sailors (or were they marines?) that lived only a few blocks away from me back home, and who had seen me in the bleachers in Oakland. They drove up from San Diego, just like me. Small world. I found out the following year that a cousin of mine was also at that game and had seen me.

After the game, the sailors wanted to go out, so I joined them. We went to a dive bar in Anaheim, and I played video games. Yawn. They really liked baseball and were going to go to the game the next night against the Yankees, so we arranged for them to pick me up at my motel and drive to Anaheim. They never showed, but I ran into them in the bleachers restroom in Oakland the following spring. Okay, so instead of going to Anaheim, I went out on the town to a hot club I heard about from friends back home. All in all I was there two more days before returning home. My battery also died while I was there, and had to bum jumper cables, then bought some. To me, a battery was just too big an expense for a 21 year old on vacation. I spent the other two days in San Diego, checking out beaches and clubs and Mexican food joints. Box scores for Monday's game in Anaheim.

Giambi To A's?

Jason Giambi back to the A's? Okay, bring them up, let them go sign for the big bucks elsewhere, then take them back at the end of their careers. Hope this doesn't keep as a pattern.

Rickey Henderson - First Ballot Hall of Famer

Rickey Henderson is a first ballot, unanimous Hall of Famer. He better be, and any sports writer who doesn't vote for him is a numb skull or an antisocial psychopath.

When I think of a Hall of Famer, I think of somebody who is instantly recognized as one. There is no doubt. A Hall of Famer is a player who changes the way the game is played simply by setting foot on the field. He strikes fear into the other team. He causes the players on the other team to bring extra pairs of clean underwear to the park.

Here's a logical progression: getting on base, stealing, and scoring a run. Rickey Henderson was at one time the all time walks leader. He was the all time stolen base leader. He was also the all time runs scored leader. So the obvious solution to this problem so far is to under no circumstances walk Rickey. But that solution doesn't help at all when you consider that he's also the all time record holder in lead-off home runs. When the opposing pitcher wakes up in the morning, he knows the first batter he will face is Rickey Henderson. Once Rickey finally takes a seat on the bench after his at bat, there is a higher likelihood for him than the 15-20,000 other players who have ever played the game that the score will be 1-0. You wake up knowing you can't pitch to him, and you can't pitch around him. There's nothing you can do. Your only hope is the possibility that the rest of Rickey's team has such a bad day as to make up for him.

I had the distinct privilege as a fan to witness a major portion of his career from the front row of the left field bleachers in Oakland. I personally witnessed the Chicken Stanley incident, talked to him from the bleachers at Yankee Stadium, and witnessed the final play of the World Series that got him a ring. Rickey Henderson is a Hall of Famer. Period.

Manny In San Franny?

Who am I?

I play left field. Well, I stand out there anyway, and try to play left field. I'm the greatest power hitter from my side of the plate in our generation. I hit many home runs. I change the way the game is played just by stepping onto the field. My personality is greatly misunderstood by the media. I am a cancer in the clubhouse. I make the most incredible statements to the media. I am a one-man three ring circus, being the center of attention all the time. I am aging and people aren't quite sure how much I have left to give. Who am I?

There are two answers to this question. The first answer was ours for 15 years. The second answer might be ours for another four. Let's see, that would be 18 out of 19 years with this answer. Been there. Done that. Do we want to go there again? What was so bad about 2008 again?

Happy New Year Means Pitchers and Catchers Report Next Month

Yes, we're just a few minutes into January, but that means pitchers and catchers report next month. That first radio broadcast does wonders for the mind, even if it is a meaningless practice between players who only play a few innings. Just the sound of the announcers makes merry. Doing wind sprints on the warning track has its place in life, just like the tiny buds on the ends of branches.