The San Francisco Giants are in the midst of their season-opening series against the San Diego Padres. And so far, it looks as if they're executing the old tried and true formula of "Get'em On, Get'em Over and Get'em In" perfectly. In other words, the hitting is there, and runners are being driven in at a high rate. Higher than what we saw much of last season anyway.
I know it's just opening-weekend baseball, but seeing the Giants put runs on the board right out the gate gives promise to a magical season ahead. Even in their 4-6 opening day loss, the Giants matched the Padres in hits. Games 1, 2, and 3 saw the Giants with 9, 13, and 9 hits.
Granted, the Padres have swung the bat decently against our pitchers, but with their big money line-up its expected. Speaking of pitching, the Giants seem to have a lot to work with. Giants' pitchers have the stuff to compete. The 2024 NL West, with last year's NL champion D'Backs and Ohtani's Dodgers, is gonna be a blast.
Today is game 4 of the Giants-Padres series. And win, lose, or tie, I'm very satisfied with the upgrades and additions I see so far on the Giants, including new manager Bob Melvin. You gotta have a manager who knows when to hold'em and when to fold'em. So far, Bob's 'Kenny Rogers act' is looking good. Because it's all really just a gamble, "when the dealing done!"
Thank You Renel for being the wonderful voice of our San Francisco Giants at the Ballpark these past 24 seasons. You helped educate me on what it means to adjust and welcome change in sports. I love baseball, I love the SF Giants, and I love the fact that women like yourself have pioneered in a new, inclusive era of sports.
I once wrote about memories of watching NFL Football sportscasters Phylis George and Jayne Kennedy paving the way in a field exclusively occupied by men up to that time. Both proved beautiful and bright, delivering Sunday football sportscast with style and substance. What you brought to Giants baseball Renell was a fresh, upbeat sound to go along with a fresh, spanking new, state-of-the-art ballpark.
You showed up with the Giants only a few years removed from old, decrepit Candlestick Park. We fans remembering the old "Stick" were still pinching ourselves to see if it was all just a dream. Then came three golden years of winning baseball, along with your winning, upbeat voice introducing our beloved players. You celebrated then suffered along with us fans through that horrible 2002 World Series heartbreak. But it would be a heartbreak which made what was to come in 2010, 2012, and 2014 that much more Jubilant.
I could now say without hesitation Renel, your voice welcoming my return back to the ballpark each season was like family welcoming home a prodigal son. Football and Basketball seasons gave much sinful excitement during the fall/winter off-season. But there's nothing like returning to a venue as accommodating and familiar as your home baseball park come opening day. With the Public Announcer giving warm greetings, excited about having you and baseball back for another season.
And so, I thank you Renel Brooks-Moon for making our Giants Baseball Park (Pac Bell, SBC, AT&T, Oracle) a place of community, camaraderie, and good sportsmanship. A place where upon returning you realize how much you've missed it all. And how much of your heart stays behind each time you leave it behind. Home truly is where the heart is, when you care about home and home cares about you. Thanks for caring so much for so long!
Best to you Renel
Always a Giant
[Verse 1]
The loveliness of Paris seems somehow sadly gay
The glory that was Rome is of another day
I've been terribly alone and forgotten in Manhattan
I'm going home to my city by the Bay
[Verse 2]
I left my heart in San Francisco
High on a hill, it calls to me
To be where little cable cars, climb halfway to the stars
Why watch 76ers vs Mavericks this Sunday morning when Iowa Hawkeyes and Caitlin Clark are running the court. After hearing of all the "hoopla" surrounding Caitlin, I had to finally get a look-see for myself. Just so happens the game this morning, still in progress, features Caitlin surpassing "Pistol" Pete Maravich for most points scored by a Division I basketball player, men's or women's.
Both teams shoot the long ball very well, but when you add in the style and grace of Caitlin's shooting, along with Iowa's team chemistry on offense and defense, it's no wonder they've led majority of the game. Once I saw Caitlin's step back three-point shot, I was convinced she is deserving of all the "Hoopla." She is a stone cold, sharpshooting basketball assassin. Sound familiar?
So now I know who "Ponytail Pete" refers to, and I'm sure the late, great Pete Maravich would be proud to have such a talented and inspiring basketball player break his collegiate record. She's broken not just Pete's record, but all sorts of collegiate basketball records throughout her young career.
Ohio State 69 Iowa 82: 6:26 4th QTR.
Looks like Caitlin will continue to be the talk of basketball throughout the rest of the 2024 collegiate and professional seasons. What a leadup to the NCAA postseason that is March Madness. These two teams will likely meet again in their upcoming Big Ten Conference Tournament which runs March 6-10, 2024.
The thought of a leader of any nuclear armed country suffering from dementia is alarming. Forget the calls of “lock him up” for crimes against his country. There should be rallying cries of “get him treatment” for a debilitating cognitive disorder we have watched get progressively worse over the years. A serious professional mental health assessment (MHA) is in order.
In the midst of writing this post my alarm went off signaling to move the car for morning street cleaning. I immediately saved my posting, bounced up out of my seat with the vigor of a twenty-year old, ran to the hallway and commenced putting on my beanie hat to brave the cool winter winds of February in San Francisco. Mind you I turned sixty-one my last birthday.
Upon seeing my coat hanging, yet before reaching for it, something felt out-of-kilter to me. Where the brain fails, intuition of habitreminds. As I hurriedly looked down to pick up my shoes the sad realization of a cognitive failure hit me. I was standing at my coat & shoe rack with my beanie on, in a tee-shirt, in my underwear. The thought of, "I never put my hat on first when dressing," hit me like a ton of bricks. Another look, down at my bare feet and briefs, brought first terror then complete laughter to my morning.
So perhaps the moral to this blogpost is from an old quote, "people living in glasshouses shouldn't throw stones." But then again dear reader, I am not running for a government office that puts my finger on the launch button for nuclear weapons of mass destruction. I'm just a sometimes forgetful 61-year-old senior blogging in his underwear, and not potentially standing on the White House lawn looking down at bare feet and briefs.
The good doctor John Gartner in the video above thankfully distinguishes between normal aging forgetfulness and a cognitive disorder from brain injury/aging called Phonemic Paraphasia. Based on the doctor's explanation my mental lapse is normal for my age. I've been given a reprieve, for now.
Oops! there's goes my afternoon alarm reminder of a luncheon appointment today. Slowly I Turn!
