The Baseball God's Must Be Giants Fans

Lance Niekro rounds the bases after his game-tying homer in the ninth.


Today, April 9, 2006, a day of threatening rains and possible thunderstorms here in San Francisco. My friend Angie and I decide to do some much needed power walking and drop by SBC/AT&T Park to catch a few innings of Giants baseball. We'd figured on watching the game for free from the knothole underneath the rightfield wall. The Sunday game was the fourth and final of the opening week games against the Atlanta Braves. We'd won the first game which Angie and I attended, blew the Friday night game thanks to Tyler Walker's pitching and won the Saturday game with ease. So this game today could have us finishing off opening week with a home record of 3-1 against the hard hitting Braves.

My friend Angie and I had spent an hour or so earlier discussing, more like debating, the relationship between Christianity and the Seventh Day Adventist Church. By the time we'd both exhausted our arguements and pulled up reference information on the internet we were cursing each other to an afterlife of hell and wanting to drop the whole religious subject altogether. We agreed to disagree and asked God to forgive us of our sins and misunderstandings of religion.

And so it was that as we walked mostly in silence not wanting to irritate one another nearing SBC Park that a white haired man appeared on the narrow sidewalk approaching us. I noticed he was wearing the type of Giants gear that an usher in the stadium would wear. As he got closer I notticed he was also wearing a black waist-level apron with pockets like someone who collected tickets and after tearing it returned half to the ticket holder and the other half into a pocket.

It only took seconds for me to recognize that this could be a Giants employee but I questioned why an employee would be walking away from the stadium with the game still in the early innings. My intent was to say something jokingly to him about leaving the job early, maybe something like "The Giants Aren't Playing That Bad Are They?" But before I could say a word this man with gray hair and a straight face quickly said "You want tickets to the game, right behind home plate?" The way he said it was as if he were in a rush with little patience for chit chat. By the time I said "Sure" he was passing me with two tickets held out for me to grab up. The gentleman never broke stride as I snatched two tickets from his fingers and thanked him in passing. I looked at the tickets, looked at Angie with her mouth dropped open and turned to look at the back of this generous soul to make sure he was real. He never said another word.

Angie was too shocked and excited to respond to what had just happened. She had a kid-like giddiness about her as if just seeing a spectacular magic trick performed right in front of her eyes and not being able to comprehend just how it was done. I on the other hand began checking the authenticity of the two tickets and hoping this wasn't some practical joke with a hidden camera rolling on us somewhere for someone's personal entertainment. The tickets looked good and we immediately went into gameday mode with our pit-stop at safeway for food and beverages.

As we entered the stadium and found our seats, (Sec318 Row15 Seats10/11), we'd already sumised that we may be behind home plate but three tiers above it, which was fine by us. Our seating view turned out to be just wonderful with overhang protection should the rains begin pouring down. Immediately we saw that Braves fans were all through our section and were cheering their team on. The Giants had a 4-1 lead with the Braves starting to hit our pitching ace Jason Schmidt. We'd already gotten to their ace pitcher Smoltz. But when I compared the two ace pitchers numbers it appeared Schmidt had thrown far more pitches than Smoltz and was beginning to show some wear.

It was in the sixth inning that Schmidt gave up a three run homer allowing the Braves to tie the game 4-4. The Braves fans were alive and loud after that and though gracious, they wouldn't let up until the final play of the game. We saw Barry Bonds strike out, to the hoopla of Braves fans, and then he was walked yet again with a man on second. Barry made a good hustling catch on a pop-up to left but raised temporary concern in us Giants fans who thought maybe he'd pulled something in his leg on the play. Angie reminded me that Barry always walks with a slight limp, it would take a woman to notice such a thing.

In the seventh inning Edgar Renteria doubled in a run and the Braves took the lead 5-4. By now the Braves fans had been given more to cheer about of late and I must say that the Giants chances of pulling this one out looked bleak. The Giants were still playing excellent defense but weren't getting the hits needed for a comeback. When Braves outfielder Chipper Jones went down with a leg or ankle injury the Braves fans were a bit shaken but still confident of winning the game.

A throng of boos filled the stadium when Tyler Walker came in to face a Braves pinch-hitter for what would turn out to be the final Braves out in the eigth inning. Finally, the Braves replaced Smoltz with a reliever in the bottom of the eigth and our hitting gave us a bit of hope.

By the top of the ninth the Giants Tim Worrell, to the relief of all paying Giants fans, relieved Tyler Walker and shutdown the Braves, giving our hitters a chance in the bottom of the ninth inning. The big jumbotron had already shown skits from the movie Rocky in hopes of pumping up our team and our fans. Lou Seal was donning his golden boxing gloves throwing combo punches to the wind. The Braves fans were still sounding loud and looking assured of a victory. But as the saying goes, something happened on the way to the forum, and because the game is never over until the fat lady sings, us faithful Giants fans who stayed behind witnessed the following bottom of the ninth inning magic:

--------------------------- MIDDLE 9TH

Bottom 9TH B:2 S:2 O:0
Atlanta Braves second baseman Marcus Giles left the game due to an injured leg.

Bottom 9TH B:2 S:2 O:0
Lance Niekro homers (1) on a fly ball to left field.

Bottom 9TH B:1 S:2 O:0
Pedro Feliz singles on a line drive to left fielder Ryan Langerhans.

Bottom 9TH B:1 S:0 O:1
Mike Matheny out on a sacrifice bunt, pitcher Chris Reitsma to second baseman Pete Orr. Pedro Feliz to 2nd.

Bottom 9TH B:0 S:0 O:1
Offensive Substitution: Pinch hitter Steve Finley replaces Tim Worrell.

Bottom 9TH B:4 S:0 O:1
Chris Reitsma intentionally walks Steve Finley.

Bottom 9TH B:0 S:0 O:1
Randy Winn singles on a pop up to second baseman Pete Orr. Pedro Feliz scores. Steve Finley to 2nd.

Giants Win 6-5
Heroes of the Game: Nance Niekro & Randy Winn
Memorable Moment: Pedro Feliz's read and run home off Winn's game winning hit
Priceless Snapshots: Stunned Faces of Atlanta Braves Fans


On a day when the San Francisco weather held long enough to allow the Giants a comeback victory I am overjoyed to have witnessed such a spectacular win. And as I think back to the events that led to my being at SBC Park for this miracle game I wonder about the generous gentleman that so nonchalantly passed me the tickets that gave me and Angie the privilege to see this game. Who was he and why was he the only person walking away from the stadium? I wonder if he maybe he'd already known that today's game would be one for the ages. Wherever you are mister, I and my friend Angie want to Thank You for your generosity and hope that someday we or some other soul can return the gesture of kindness to you.

The rains did finally come but only after I'd made it to the comforts of my home and ESPN was replaying highlights from the Giants/Braves game. For a minute I thought I saw the generous gentleman who gave us the tickets in the camera's background. Who knows, maybe their are angels in the outfield.