A beautiful cool SF afternoon was marred by a lopsided defeat by the Snakes of Arizona. The omens seemed good- as I approached the ticket window on the King St. side I was approached by a man and a woman who gave me 3 free tickets. (There's an interesting story to this but it would be too much of a digression). I accepted them. They were worth $26 each. Turned out to nose-bleeders, section 324 View Reserved row 15. We got our bobbleheads, then our Garlic Fries and settled in for some baseball.
Since I'm finally reconciled to having the Giants lose a lot, I can report the proceedings detached from most of the frustration I would normally be obliged to vent. That Zito would fail was more or less a given. I was glad he threw 3 scoreless innings before the inevitable occurred. I actually felt kinda privileged to watch the legendary Big Eunuch perform at a high level. He made it look easy.
Except (and here's the best part) when Fred Lewis was at the plate. Fred Lewis OWNS Randy Johnson! In the first inning he got a crisp single then stole second and then stole third. It was very exciting. Of course he didn't score. The next time he got another single and received a lot of attention from Johnson, ie. pickoff attempts. The next time he got a double, and as he walked off the field (after once again not scoring), something strange happened. I'm not quite sure what. But Johnson was obviously saying something to Lewis. At first I thought he must be giving him some sort of compliment, but the home plate umpire interposed himself and escorted Johnson halfway back to the dugout. So perhaps the comments were not entirely cordial. Or maybe the eunuch was responding to something Lewis said.
In his his next AB Fred Lewis did something no other left-hand batter has ever done- he got a 4th hit off Johnson, a double. Of course he didn't score this time either.
In addition Fred made a nifty catch high against the wall in the corner.
Way to go Fred. This is our every day Left Fielder. Grab some pine, Meat Roberts.
There was another wonderful moment. Matos had a very rough inning and it looked like it was going to go totally south when he threw a wild pitch which caused the runner on third to take off full speed. But the ball caromed off the backstop sharply, Molina grabbed it and threw to Matos who tagged him for out three. Then Matos delivered probably the finest spike of a baseball I have ever seen. It was great.
5 comments:
Here's that digression: The 2 people were Scott Juceam and Ronnie Deutch (you may have seen her commercials - she's a tax attorney) of the Hannah Rose Foundation. They asked me to donate at their website DontShakeYourBaby.com or call (916)320-8156.
Hannah Rose was Scott's daughter and she died 2 years ago from "shaken baby syndrome." Here's the weird part- the woman who's accused of the crime is an inmate at the jail where I work. When I told them that I knew her they actually recoiled physically.
Anyway, I'm grateful to them for the tickets. (Apparently they bought the whole section.) So if any of you care to make a donation to this worthy cause, that would be swell.
Wow, fabulous job of reporting. All that stuff was news to me. I listened to the first half, but not much of the end so I missed all that. This is exactly why we need those on-the-scene reports. ( I look forward to getting to do just that for Tim in a few days!)
It is so cool how FreddieLew got to Johnson. I sure hope that he fully appreciates what a studly day he just had. I mean we are talking ownage of a HOFer. Sweet...I swear Lewis can be a human highlight reel.
Sounds like there is more to hear. I can't wait to see you this weekend.
Hey Bro, did you see an euphus pitch from Johnson to Lewis in the first inning? That is what Rotoworld is reporting and I seem to remember you saying something to Robyn about a weird slow pitch. How cool is that?? Man, for a lopsided defeat, you sure saw agreat day!!
say.. maybe that weird pitch helps explain the "altercation" later in the game...
I did see the eephus but only from mid-delivery. Maybe I was taking a bite out of my Cha Cha Bowl, maybe I was distracted by being on the phone, but I wasn't totally focused on The Big Eunuch at that moment. It looked like he was trying to stop himself from throwing and the ball just happened to find the strike zone. I didn't have the advantage of being with knowledgeable companions (Liz & Maggie)or of hearing the radio guys tell me what I just saw. It was odd.
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