Sunday was a beautiful day in San Diego and I was fortunate enough to be at Petco Park to watch my Giants play baseball.

I really enjoyed myself although I was expecting to beat the Padres, and badly. After all we had lost the first two of the series already and it didn’t seem feasible that we would be swept by the Padres.

I intended this whooping to be handed out politely by my World Champion team-all the while I would be soaking in the beauty of a park filled with gracious Padres fans and fellow SF Giants fans combined.  This Sunday afternoon game was also a much-needed break from the desert life, a life I will never become accustom to no matter how many years I have to endure it.

I felt very welcome at Petco and was fairly certain that after beating us the first two games they certainly wouldn’t mind if we took the last game before moving on.

The three hour drive from Yuma went quickly with no problems. Easy to find parking I breezed in,  just as the gates were opening.

After my previous bad experiences with “away” games (Chase Field Phoenix)I was pleasantly surprised to find absolutely no unsportsmanlike conduct among Padres fans. Quite the contrary they were kind, helpful, hey, they were downright friendly!

It isn’t news to most that Petco Park is called the “AT&T OF THE SOUTH” and I was surrounded by fellow Giants fans which to me is heaven. There is no substitute for my bay area home however my time spent in the Padres home was just about the next best thing.

I am very thankful for that. 

I was sitting next to two wonderful guys. Adam is a diehard SF Giants fan but has been living in LA for years.  I don’t know how he has managed to live in ‘LaLa’ Land and keep the charming nature of a Nor Cal native but everything about him reminded me of home.

Next to him was his father Alan who has been a fan of the Giants since 1951 and remembers when he found out they were moving the team from NY to SF and how pleased he was with the news.

Both Adam and his father had played ball in their younger years and both were pitchers and shared their inside knowledge of what was going on with Vogelsong’s delivery.

Ryan was struggling and gave up three home runs before he left the game but while he was on the mound I found a brand new reason to admire his build.

According to my new friend and favorite “displaced Giants fan”, Adam, Vogelson was not “dropping his butt” on most deliveries causing the ball to be up and out of range. When he “dropped his butt” after the kick he was able to keep the ball down and throw better pitches.

So it turns out that checking out the physical “gifts” of our gorgeous SF Giants players (and I’m not talking about their playing talents) is not only acceptable but necessary.

After all there may come a day (same day hell freezes over I assume) that Bochy decides that perhaps a new blonde perspective may come in handy when dealing with the mechanics of his pitching staff.:)

The game had many exciting moments at first then things started to get a little frustrating. Defensively the Padres hitters shelled my beloved Vogie and offensively snatched away hits in a very un-Padre like manner.

I think it was sweet of Bochy to give Scutaro the chance to redeem himself for the error that contributed to a loss in the 12th inning of Saturday’s game. Apparently it was Scutaro’s desire and Bochy agreed.

In my humble opinion I feel it may have made matters worse for Marco. He was 0 for 4 in yesterday’s game and I fear that now he is feeling worse than ever.

As last year’s Most Valuable Player in the NL Championship Series, “he inspires respect” as Bochy put it. I never question the “skipper”

SO,chin up Scutaro you are a struggling SF Giant right now. It’s your turn, soon it will be somebody else and you will make new happier memories.

No big deal we still love you. Even if you sit for a while and give Noonan a chance at some playing time it won’t change what you have accomplished for this team and what you will accomplish in the future.

 

 Buster doing his best to be the perfect MVPosey that everyone expects him to be, sent one sailing!

 That 2 run homer really pumped us up! We were back in the game trailing 4-6.

Buster has brought his batting average up to a respectable 400 and I expect one by one the rest of the team will come around.

 

As a fan that was very pleased to see Andres Torres return to the team I was praying he would do something magical as much for himself as for the rest of us and he tried only to have Denorfia snatch away a hit that would have put us right back in the game.

Pablo is hitting great and in my opinion doing a bang up job playing third even as “fans” make fat jokes which I think are uncalled for and rude.

“Sandoval working to trim down, speed up”

 http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=26626159&topic_id=11493214&c_id=sf

Written by Chris Haft / MLB.com

I’m not really sure what the heck is going on right now but I have a feeling it is a lesson for us all in “being human”. We are losing to teams that should have been a walk in the park.

Still playing some exciting come from behind games but too many victories have snatched away in the last innings of games that we should have won.

I never even thought about leaving early wanting to soak up as much of my team as I could- but Padres fans must have other pots on the fire.

Not really surprising, as I watched at least one beach ball being tossed around and at one point it seemed someone tried to get a “wave” going.

Thankfully it died out before I had to be in the midst of that dinosaur.

Before the game started I was exploring Petco impressed by the history of this park and I met up with “Moses”

Moses was reluctant to speak to me at first, most likely thinking I had some sort of screw loose, which is of course a fact.

My talent for being 100% authentic won him over as I told him that he reminded me of a Petco/Padres version of AT&T/SF Giants fan the “DAWG”.  Dawg as you probably know has not missed a game in 30 years and is a super fan who is a permanent fixture in the bleachers at AT&T. Moses told me that he is a personal friend of Tim Flannery our beloved 3rd base coach and very talented musician.  Moses said “When I say ‘bicep’ Flan will look up and acknowledge me but not until I say ‘bicep'”.  Sorry, I don’t have a clue as to what the significance is. Flan? Any help with this?  Moses warmed up to me quickly and was soon inviting me to join him in his section of the park.  I declined politely assuring him I had a pretty good seat myself and made my exit feeling confident that should I find myself at Petco again I will get a 2nd chance. 🙂

They are decent folk but can’t come close to the enthusiasm of our one of a kind fan base. No animal hats or underwear on their heads. Very reserved crowd not actually able to “make some noise” even when the scoreboard in capital letters demanded that they do.

They sat down a lot more than Giants fans never really seeing anything they felt was worth standing for I presume. Gingerly since I was at another teams home turf my new friends and I stood believing our team would drink in the enthusiasm and deliver the win we just felt was coming.

Giants fans seemed to arrive early and stay until the end which to me just seems natural. I never stopped believing we would win that game. I feel that way with every game we play. Of course this is due to the incredible comebacks I have seen from my team. If we have any at bats left, we have a chance to win. End of story.

I am not a fan of losing ball games but I am also not a fan of giving up. I learned that from years of being a SF Giants fan and it is in my blood.

I think our team will be just fine. I have been preaching that it is way too early in the season to put any stock in the “standings” and I have had that thought confirmed by those who are experts in this sport.

We are having some problems that seem to spread from player to player but when dissected don’t stand up as anything to be really concerned about. I can live with that it’s easy for me I’m not use to my team being in the winner’s circle.

We have a great team, the same team that call themselves World Champions are still right there on the field. No other team has that title or that trophy and that is the focus of my optimism.

Not one player on the team is in “trouble” and any real concern by a fan is just unnecessary.

Bochy will let me know when I should be worried. I am not saying it will be easy and it doesn’t make watching losses any better.

There may be a valuable lesson here that players and fans alike need to take away from this streak of losses.

Our World Champion Giants celebrities of the moment are still just ball players and human beings.

Nobody plays perfectly all the time and shouldn’t be expected to.

Drink it in boys, enjoy the limelight but remember all fame fades. Being a Celebrity and all the people and perks that go along with it will not last forever. Don’t get caught up in it remember what you did to get here and who stood by you while you gained that success.

Yes we think you are wonderful but don’t forget to focus on what it is that makes us feel that way. You are great ball players but more than that unique and amazing individuals. Honest family oriented team players with strong morals and priorities. Those who loved you before you achieved greatness should not be cast aside but cherished.

If you lose that part of yourself what will you do when you are no longer #1?

I understand it must be hard for these young players to see past the trophy’s the rings’ the parades the celebrations perhaps we are just experiencing a wake-up call.

I see the team, I know the players, and these boys are going to struggle because that is what they do best. The struggling is perhaps needed to remind everyone including themselves that they are capable of achieving greatness but may have to live with some failure along the way.

It will, if they allow it to, bring them back together as the team that picked up after each other. Would it be as wonderful if it had come easy? I don’t think so.

Several players have said it and it’s what they need to do now-“play the game they love and have fun! “After all they only win when they are having fun, right?!

COMPLETE GAME NOTES

KNBR The Sports Leader Game Notes

http://www.knbr.com/common/page.php?pt=gamenotes&id=2023&is_corp=0