Tuesday, April 05, 2005

 

Homecoming Gift

Today has been a choppy day. At work, my building is cut off from the rest of the company's network because an old Aironet wireless bridge has crapped out. I sure wish the IS manager there would get that sorted out. (Oh wait, that's me!) Because of that snafu, as well as a scheduled plumbing service on our apartment, I was forced (ahem) to telecommute today.

That's why I was able to watch today's Opening Day broadcast on Fox Sports Net Bay Area. Er, Fox Sports West 2? Why was Vin Scully on my TV? It turns out that FSN Bay Area's control truck caught fire an hour before the game. Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper couldn't broadcast! Therefore, FSN gave us the Los Angeles feed. Unless it was Kruk & Kuip's audio with the LA video. Or just 10 minutes of commercials when nothing worked right at all. It was a mess, but by the 5th inning it resembled a normal broadcast. Hell, at least my infrastructure problems don't go out to a million viewers!

The game itself was a typical, classic Dodgers-Giants tilt. Jason Schmidt decided to add drama early on, leaving his second pitch up for Cesar Itzuris to yank into the arcade in right field. That just seemed to piss Schmidt off, so that was the only run I saw him give up all day. (The Dodgers' scored again during that 10-minute commercial break.) His command was not all there, but it didn't need to be. He mixed his change in when he had to, and he had the Dodgers swinging at shadows, striking out nine against only two walks.

On the good side of the field, some skinny guy wearing Edgardo Alfonzo's uniform came to hit. Number 12 tied the game in the fourth with a line drive that reached the left field bleachers.

After that, it was a tight game until the Dodgers decided to just let the Giants win. Two hideous, gasping errors--that is to say, the kind of defense we expect from the Dodgers--gave the Giants two more runs. That would be enough for Schmidt, who turned the ball over to a brilliant Scott Eyre after seven innings.

The top of the ninth was a mini-classic all by itself. For the first time, new Giants closer Armando "Please Don't Suck Like Herges" Benitez took the mound...and promptly gave up a single up the middle to Jeff "Don't I Look Good In Blue" Kent. Hearts began to palpitate; stomach acid began to churn. Steve Finley's shadow loomed in the visitor's dugout. Cody Ransom, at shortstop, began to wonder what the hell he was doing back in a Giants uniform.

But wait! That wasn't Steve Finley, it was Milton Bradley. And it wasn't Cody Ransom at short, but The Flying Omar. Bradley grounded to Durham, who underhanded the ball to Omar. Jeff Kent came flying in like a truck with bad brakes. No way Omar would be able to make that throw, I thought. Then Omar leaped about 3 feet straight into the air, legs splayed, and threw a bullet from midair to complete the double play. Seriously, if I tried to jump like that, you'd need to call an ambulance. Two down, bases empty, crowd stoked.

Then J.T. Snow put an exclamation point on the proceedings. Valentin hit a wicked grounder that seemed like it would ricochet over J.T.'s right shoulder. Instead, J.T. flashed that Gold Glove and snared it. A quick trot to first, and the Giants had themselves a victory.

It's been a great season so far.

Note: Grant over at McCovey Chronicles will be hosting daily game chatters over at his site. There's where I'll be this season, posting comments in real time. Really, you can't ask for better or cheaper service. Head over there tomorrow night, and let's see if we can crush Grant's server.

Jefferson 5:42 PM

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