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.