The Death of Mannywood

Baseball got some news this week as Manny Ramirez joined the Chicago White Sox.  Then it got some more news as the White Sox strolled into Boston to mark a Manny return to Fenway.  But a special extra bit to tack on to the end of that story was found in Chavez Ravine.

You see, the Giants and Dodgers re-engaged their historic rivalry on Friday.  But, contrary to last year and the end of '08, Manny wasn't a factor.  A couple of months ago it was reported that the Mannywood ads were taken off of LA freeway billboards, a sad prelude to the start of this series.  A great Dodger to hate, as we haven't had many of those in recent years, Manny served as a target to silence, but even if he hit some homers, beating the Dodgers could silence those.  But the eerie silence this weekend almost spoke of a sad end to an era, even though there was the big news of the week.  Manny didn't matter enough to the Dodgers to matter in the rivalry with us.  Mannywood is dead.

Beat LA!

Okay, what a game last night.  Yet another classic Giants/Dodgers rivalry game.  Before the game I heard that Dodger pitcher Ted Lilly had one of the lowest run support totals in baseball lately.  And Giant Matt Cain has one of the lowest totals in his career.  So, I assumed that either it would be a scoreless game until the bullpens took over, or the Giants would stay true to their course of a complete lack of run support for Cain while giving it up for Lilly.  It turns out I was 3/4 right (right about no run support for Cain {=1/2 point} and half right about one bullpen giving it up {=1/4 point}).

Down 4-0, the Giants hit four homers, one solo in the 7th, back-to-back solos in the 8th and a 2-run Jack in the 9th by Juan UUUUUU-ribe in the 9th to win.  Of course, Brian Wilson did his usual bungee jump save, where the the cord pulls you back up just before you crash into the rocks below.

As noted by Mrs. Scott: It's difficult to listen to Giants/Dodgers games due to the number of opposing team's fans cheering for the visiting team.  A huge cheer doesn't guarantee it's for the home team.

Rubber game tonight is a must win for the Gyro's, as the Padres keep losing.

Classic Rivalry Game, or, Don Mattingly for Manager of the Year

Last night's game between the Giants and Dodgers at Dodger Stadium was a classic rivalry game. It had all the marks of those games you don't see anywhere else with any other opponent. A promising pitching matchup between Lincecum and Kershaw turned into a beanball war, ejections and a bizarre rulebook application that led to the game winning hit in the 9th inning.

The Dodgers had a commanding 5-1 lead, but the Giants chipped away. A previous beanball war from April was resurrected, and three Dodgers were ejected. The bench coach, then Kershaw and Torre (the manager gets ejected after warnings are issued), leaving hitting coach Don Mattingly at the acting manager. Then in the 9th after the Giants got runners on 2nd and 3rd and Johnathan Broxton intentionally walking the bases loaded to set up a double play (the Giants were down by one), Mattingly paid a visit to the mound. As he left, James Loney asked him a question, prompting Mattingly to turn back around to the mound. But, as the rules state, once a manager leaves the dirt circle, that concludes his trip to the mound. Brucy Bochy alertly caught this, and called it to the attention of the umpires. The umps ruled that Mattingly turning around and stepping back on the mound was his second trip. Broxton was removed from the game, and since there was nobody warming up in the Dodger bullpen, a reliever had to enter the game without any warmups! Andres Torres followed up with a double off the wall, and the Giants took the lead and held on. See the video of Mattingly's rookie blunder here.

What a game. I just love it when the Dodgers melt down in such a huge matchup. I wish I were there in LA to see it, full Giants gear, letting the Dodger Stadium faithful know who screwed up.

Priceless

World Series Ticket: $200
Airfare: $595
Hotel: $95
Seeing Manny take a mulligan off the first tee shot tomorrow morning: Priceless

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.

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!"

Beaten LA - More Info

In my last post I said that every other team in the NL west had won a pennant since the last time the Dodgers did in 1988. That is true of the current NL west. Then I realized that the other teams in the old NL west before realignment had each won pennants too.

The Reds in '90, the Braves in '91, '92, '95, '96, and '99, and the Astros in '05.

BEATEN L.A.!

The Dodgers lost the pennant! The Dodgers lost the pennant! The Dodgers lost the pennant!

It was scary this year, though, they did win a playoff game. I just realized that every other team in the NL west has won a pennant since they did in 1988. The Giants in '89 and '02, the Padres in '98, the Diamondbacks in '01 and the Rockies in '07.

Silence Is Golden

The Dodgers held a commanding position in last night's game. The Phils were floundering and the crowd was wild. I was thinking, "Oh, great. They'll win tonight and in game 5, too, and the Phils will have to go home and win both, but they won't win at all." Then Victorino tied it and old man Stairs hit a bomb. Man, did that shock Chavez Ravine into stunned silence. It was beautiful.

How To Heckle - Pitchers Named McDonald

The last series of the regular season saw the Giants play the Dodgers. Friday night Giants/Dodgers games are always extra rowdy with lively crowds. Heckling is at its height. Late in the game, the Dodgers had quite a few pitchers warming up in the bullpen. One pitcher got up to throw, and his name was James McDonald. McDonald? This name was ripe for heckling.

Think of the cultural things surrounding McDonald. In children's nursery rhymes, he owned a farm. Think also Big Macs and clowns named Ronald. But Mike, Dan (he sits behind us - I'll write about him later) and I quickly came up with a chant about sending him down to the minors. Mike: "Send McDonald to the farm", Dan: "E-I-E-I-Oooo" (repeat), Me: "With an Albuquerque here and an Albuquerque there, here an Albuquerque, there an Albuquerque, everywhere an Albuquerque". "Send McDonald to the farm, E-I-E-I-Oooo!" Okay, Albuquerque is no longer their AAA team, but it was for so long that it doesn't matter.

Giant Spoilers

Okay, the Dodgers are 2 1/2 games in front of the D-Backs with a week to play. They finish the season with 3 games against the Giants at AT&T Park. I would love to see the season come down to knocking the Bums out of the pennant race on the last day of the season, as has happened between the Giants and Dodgers so many times in the past. They play the lowly Padres this week, while the Snakes play the Cards and the Giants play the Rockies.

Sunday's game in Chavez Ravine saw the G-men win a 1-0 exciter in 11 innings. This is good stretch baseball, even if one team is out of it. Go Giants. Beat LA!

Manny Watches Dodger Meltdowns From Left Field

In game one of the Giants/Dodgers series, the Giants merely brought the tying run to the plate in their last at bat. In games two and three, they won with last at bat, come from behind walkoff wins with Manny watching it all from left field. Just coming from the hot and coming Red Sox, Manny must be wondering what the heck these Bums in blue are doing.

Saturday, the Dodgers scored in the top of the 10th inning only to see the Giants rally in the bottom of the frame to win. Today (Sunday) the Giants hit four consecutive balls within the infield; including an error, a tardy game-ending double pay attempt and a ball that went through the pitcher's legs and booted by the shortstop for the game winner.

I love this rivalry, even when both teams are not in contention.

The Longest Drive Home

One of the greatest pennant races in my life took place during the 1993 season. The Giants and Braves were hot that year, the Giants' first year with Bonds, both winning over 100 games and entered the last game of the year tied for first place with records of 103-58. The Giants closed out their season with a four game series in Los Angeles against the hated Dodgers. The Giants won the first three and the Braves won the first two of their three against the Rockies.

I drove the nearly 400 miles down to LA to witness that fateful last game of the year and bought tickets from a scalper. I stayed with some friends - not big Dodger fans but they cheered for them nonetheless. The first three games of the series were amazing in that there were more Giants fans in attendance than Dodger fans. The last game, however, was fan appreciation day and Dodger fans had bought tickets to that game all year long. Still, there were at least 15,000 Giants fans there. Dusty Baker made a controversial decision to start young head-case Salomon Torres instead of veteran Dave Burba. The Giants were nuked, 12-1. Meanwhile the Braves completed a season sweep of the Rockies, winning all 13 games and the division on the last day. The Giants won 103 games and watched the playoffs on TV.

The long drive home was painful. There were thousands of Giants fans on I-5 for hundreds of miles. I stopped at a gas station and a rest stop and both places were packed with fans.

Joe Torre Is A Bum

Joe Torre is a Bum. That's right, with a capital "B." Why would I say such a thing since I have recently said I have respect for him? Well, he's a Bum in the sense that the Dodgers are 'Dem Bums. I don't hate Joe Torre. Yet. But he's a Dodger now. I'm sure it will change.

Spoiling Dodger Dreams

This weekend the Giants and Dodgers tangled up for the millionth time. The Gyros took two of three in spectacular fashion from the pennant contenders, with a walkoff homer on Friday and a pinch-hit, three run homer in the 8th on Sunday. It's September, and that's what baseball is made of. The Giants and Dodgers beating each other up to kill the other's dream. It's because of playing spoiler that I think it's a greater rivalry than the Yankees/Red Sox.

These two sets of teams have finished first/second more times than any other sets of teams ever. They're the two greatest rivalries. But the Yankees usually beat the second place Sox by 15 games, and they have relatively fewer pennant races against each other. Each set has had monster playoffs against each other; major history. But where the rivalries really tilt toward Giants/Dodgers is in the area of spoiler. Every several years, one of the teams knocks the other out in the last series of the season. This is almost non-existent with the Yanks/Sox. In the last 20 years alone, the Giants and Dodgers have had either pennant races with each other decided in the last weekend of the season, or have directly knocked the other out of the race on the last weekend of the season six times ('91, '93, '97, '01, '02, '04) compared to the Yanks/Sox whopping zero. They play the last series of the year again this year and the Dodgers are still in the race. Time to add '07 to the list.

Fashionably LAte

Los Gigantes faced Los Dogjers tonight in what coulda been Barry's 755 night. As usual, LA fans are late. When Bonds took his first at bat, only about 10,000 of the "sold out" crowd were in their seats. The rest of them were still on the freeway - until the fifth inning.

Now, I'm often late to a game, but that usually means that I'm in the park before the first pitch - and get to see it - and get my food and beer before sitting down in the bottom of the first. I rarely catch the national anthem, which is good because the poor slob usually butchers it. But when tens of thousands of fans show up in the fifth inning, that's late.

SWEEP!

Three Game Sweep! In Dodger Stadium. It doesn't get any better than this. Well, it does if you make the trip down there.

Map of Dodger Stadium

From the McCovey Chronicles. Somehow the teetotaling conservatives were left out.

Schmidt A Bum - And Bonds?

Dem Bums signed Jason Schmidt. So my favoritest pitcher of probably my life is now gonna hurl for the enemy. I wanted him to return to the Giants, but there are concerns about his age and arm. So it goes in the grand old game. I just hope he hurls according to the word's other meaning.

With Ned Coletti in LA, there seems to be a few ex-Giants heading south. Would he be so bold as to go after Bonds and the record? Hmmm.