Wednesday Night at the Big Phone

by Kitspool on Apr 10, 2008 9:06 AM PDT

I was at the game last night. Holy hell, that was as much fun as I've had at the old ballyard in ages.

Quick notes:

There were maybe 20,000 people there, but that means you could walk around and sit/stand anywhere that was open. None of the ushers really bothered us.

Crowd was great. Not to have that snobby indie rock part of me coming out, but the one true benefit of the post-Bonds era is that the posers are pretty much gone, especially on weekday night games. It actually has a Candlestick feel to it in the bleachers, which may not always be a good thing for parents bringing their kids (a little rowdy, a little excessive drinking, and lots of "Dirty Sanchez!" chants).

We walked right by That Guy from Tuesday's game, the Asian dude with the Giants hat full of pins who spent the entire time clapping and yelling. He was definitely getting the love from the fans and staff who recognized him. Gamer.

Fred Lewis' catch-and-throw was AMAZING to witness in person. The crowd was totally jacked after that.

Is it too early to talk about Tyler Walker being the team MVP? Not to jinx the guy, but did anyone predict he'd be this solid?

The way the team came on the field after Ort's walk-off hit (LOL Jim Edmonds) was like they had just won a playoff series. Really cool to see these guys so excited for each other. Not sure if it was shown on TV, but Kevin Frandsen hobbled onto the field when the game was over, dropped his crutches and gave Ort a big bear hug. Awesome.

I screamed myself hoarse.

I agree with Fairweather Fan from last night's thread: "Even if we lose 100 games, if they all go like this, I'll take it. This is a team I can watch." Good times, good times.

This FanPost is reader-generated, and it does not necessarily reflect the views of McCovey Chronicles. If the author uses filler to achieve the minimum word requirement, a moderator may edit the FanPost for his or her own amusement.

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The Wave

I haven't checked out the open game thread yet to see if it's been discussed but I was pretty disappointed people were able to get the wave going in the 8th inning of a 0-0 game. I've been to both night games of this series and I agree that the crowd does seem rowdier. But seriously folks, the wave? What's up with that?

by SF Pete on Apr 10, 2008 9:19 AM PDT 0 recs

Yeah...

...that was the one dark moment. I hate the Wave anyway, and of all the times to get it going, the 8th inning of a 0-0 game is probably the worst. There was a guy in our section (142) who was bravely trying to get everyone to abstain from doing it, but unfortunately he was outnumbered. We blamed the fans for Merkin getting distracted by it and Rowand not being able to get to the bloop single.

Eagerly awaiting Crazy Crab Bobblehead Night on 7/18.

by Kitspool on Apr 10, 2008 9:26 AM PDT up 0 recs

When they start the wave BS I yell over my shoulder THIS IS NOT OAKLAND. I usually get a smattering of applause for it.

Democracy is lovely but baseball is more mature. BVCE supports Manny Burriss and SF Dugout.

by BaronVonCurrentEvents on Apr 10, 2008 9:29 AM PDT up 0 recs

You'll have to get used to saying "THIS IS NOT FREMONT!" pretty soon.

Idolizing the Nuschler Face since April 8, 1986 / GIANTSPACE™ returns!

by SoFa King Mike on Apr 10, 2008 9:31 AM PDT up 0 recs

Oh I can't wait for the new ballpark in Fremont. Soon they'll suffer the same yuppie garbage we suffered. Then they can take their series of inferiority complexes elsewhere.

Democracy is lovely but baseball is more mature. BVCE supports Manny Burriss and SF Dugout.

by BaronVonCurrentEvents on Apr 10, 2008 9:34 AM PDT up 0 recs

I hate the fact I live up the road from the proposed site.

Since there is no mass transit planned to that park which is going to create a nightmare on 880 & 680.

I'll hate the A's even more.

Idolizing the Nuschler Face since April 8, 1986 / GIANTSPACE™ returns!

by SoFa King Mike on Apr 10, 2008 9:46 AM PDT up 0 recs

My commute

takes me right up 880 past Auto Mall/Durham. Can't wait to be stuck in Milpinas for four hours after a day games wraps up at Cisco...

by tyrannoman on Apr 10, 2008 11:29 AM PDT up 0 recs

I was there as well, and it was definitely a distraction, especially with Merkin ready to pitch as it went around behind the plate. There's a game going on, people! Thankfully it died shortly after.

by rightcenterfielder on Apr 10, 2008 9:32 AM PDT up 0 recs

I hate it

But I think any time you get tens of thousands of people together at once, there are going to be enough stupid/casual fans to raise the wave threat level a lot.

The only way to keep it from getting really bad is to keep yelling at the people who do it, though, so let's not sit quietly in the middle of these things.

He is Vengeance. He is the Knight. He is Dave Righetti. PRAY TO HIM!

by howtheyscored on Apr 10, 2008 11:00 AM PDT up 0 recs

don't forget alcohol

the wave is almost unforgivable, but alcohol is a mitigating circumstance. this team demands lots of drinking.

Bengie Molina: stretching doubles into singles since 1998.

by jasomack on Apr 10, 2008 5:08 PM PDT up 0 recs

a little rowdy, a little excessive drinking, and lots of "Dirty Sanchez!" chants

These are my people. Sign me up.

Democracy is lovely but baseball is more mature. BVCE supports Manny Burriss and SF Dugout.

by BaronVonCurrentEvents on Apr 10, 2008 9:24 AM PDT 0 recs

Hell of a game

Idolizing the Nuschler Face since April 8, 1986 / GIANTSPACE™ returns!

by SoFa King Mike on Apr 10, 2008 9:26 AM PDT 1 recs

Now that's just beautiful.

And thanks , SoFaKing , for bringing it.

Aaron "Swag" Rowand

by victor frankenstein on Apr 10, 2008 10:18 AM PDT up 0 recs

Holy smokes. I hadn't seen that before. What a play.

by Evan on Apr 10, 2008 10:27 AM PDT up 0 recs

Me neither

Well-played.

¿Julio is tourist in San Francisco? Harper's Bizarre!

by hairball on Apr 10, 2008 10:55 AM PDT up 0 recs

Those 10 Ks ...

Wow!

by withclubsauce on Apr 10, 2008 2:38 PM PDT up 0 recs

I never get tired of watching these.

SAVE_US.RAY
Get yer Nattowear

by Natto on Apr 10, 2008 2:52 PM PDT up 0 recs

that throw

Unbelievable.... right down the line NEXT TO the base runner without hitting him and still on target. Wow.

by natteringnabob on Apr 10, 2008 4:41 PM PDT up 0 recs

If MLB would just play butterfly rules

Lewis wouldn't have even have had to worried about hitting the runner.

Thus, MLB made that play unnecessarily difficult.

Disclaimer: I in no way, shape, or form, condone the butterfly rule at the ML level.

He is Vengeance. He is the Knight. He is Dave Righetti. PRAY TO HIM!

by howtheyscored on Apr 10, 2008 6:43 PM PDT up 0 recs

Size of the crowd

I doubt that the crowd numbered more than twelve thousand. It was the sparsest crowd for a regular season game since the days of the 'Stick.

by biff pocoroba on Apr 10, 2008 9:51 AM PDT 0 recs

Didn't they

announce 30K sold? That seems like an awful lot of no-shows which is also bad. Although the story I saw did say that 30k was the "smallest" crowd, so I assume that means smallest number of ticket sales.

by natteringnabob on Apr 10, 2008 4:42 PM PDT up 0 recs

The games where SF gets pitching like Lincecum, Sanchez and The Bullpen provided the last few nights the games should be close and exciting.

by wilriv21 on Apr 10, 2008 10:35 AM PDT 0 recs

3 ace potential?

Seriously, if the Dirty one is for real, and his stuff looks MUCH more harnessed than before, then we've got 3 fireballers, including a lefty, who can all do 9 K/9 or better. That alone is worth watching! This kool-aid tastes good!

¿Julio is tourist in San Francisco? Harper's Bizarre!

by hairball on Apr 10, 2008 10:58 AM PDT up 0 recs

Cain still has a bit to go to be a 9 K/9. In the minors he'd been above that mark in every season except his half year at AA. If he added another K per game he'd make it, but that's easier said than done. As long as Sanchez can get a bit of control then he'll make it too. Or if he's a reliever permanently but no one wants that.

The Basil Fawlty Moderating Strategy:
"We could run a nice blog here if we didn't have all these members getting in the way."

by WalrusMan on Apr 10, 2008 11:05 AM PDT up 0 recs

2011 rotation:

Lincecum
Cain
Bumgarner
Alderson
Sanchez

Holy moly, I'm excited.

Looks like I picked the wrong day to stop sniffing glue...

by UnleashTheGore on Apr 10, 2008 11:11 AM PDT up 0 recs

All I can see there is Lincecum, Cain, Sanchez, and one of the other two who will be blocked by Barry Zito.

If you like things that are funny, perhaps you will enjoy ChatterBalks Dot Com?

by groug on Apr 10, 2008 1:50 PM PDT up 0 recs

By 2011, Barry Zito will have converted to LF and become an All-star slugger.

SAVE_US.RAY
Get yer Nattowear

by Natto on Apr 10, 2008 1:57 PM PDT up 0 recs

Oh good

But can Future Zito play center?

If you like things that are funny, perhaps you will enjoy ChatterBalks Dot Com?

by groug on Apr 10, 2008 1:57 PM PDT up 0 recs

With his mind.

He just stands in one place and uses his psychic abilities to make the ball come to him.

2008: My previous assessment may have been overly optimistic.

by EliminateMe on Apr 10, 2008 1:59 PM PDT up 0 recs

Yeah

But he can't play Future Center.

He is Vengeance. He is the Knight. He is Dave Righetti. PRAY TO HIM!

by howtheyscored on Apr 10, 2008 2:07 PM PDT up 0 recs

Do you remember

those Future jersey's all the teams wore a few years ago? Sooo horrible. Can Zito be forced to wear that uni for the rest of his career?

by tyrannoman on Apr 10, 2008 2:35 PM PDT up 0 recs

The worst!

On the Padres feed the other night, they showed clip of Ellis Burks hitting a HR off Sterling Hitchcock in a SF/SD game with those future jerseys. Good to see the Ellis highlight, but those were the worst unis ever.

"I been waitin' a long time for this! I been waitin' since the f**kin' amateurs!" --WILL "THE THRILL" CLARK

by Josh from Hollywood on Apr 10, 2008 6:26 PM PDT up 0 recs

Such a great game

I started thinking this morning that there is a chance this team is a little better than we might have first thought...

Forgot to mention in my report:

Sheboygan brats. Still under $7, still delicious.

(Mr. Baer, Ms. Slaughter, I hope the check is in the mail.)

Eagerly awaiting Crazy Crab Bobblehead Night on 7/18.

by Kitspool on Apr 10, 2008 11:13 AM PDT 0 recs

I'm at 3.5 sheboygans on the season.

by SF Pete on Apr 10, 2008 11:39 AM PDT up 0 recs

I'm looking forward to my first ChaCha Bowl and horchata of 2008. When I wear my Team Mexico WBC hoodie, they love me there at Orlando's BBQ.

Democracy is lovely but baseball is more mature. BVCE supports Manny Burriss and SF Dugout.

by BaronVonCurrentEvents on Apr 10, 2008 12:04 PM PDT up 0 recs

Would love to see..

An influx of merkins and enchanter costumes at the park.

by mxmob33 on Apr 10, 2008 11:27 AM PDT 0 recs

Look for me at the park in this...

by Angry Dwarf on Apr 11, 2008 11:23 AM PDT up 0 recs

by Angry Dwarf on Apr 11, 2008 11:28 AM PDT up 0 recs

Here you go...

Idolizing the Nuschler Face since April 8, 1986 / GIANTSPACE™ returns!

by SoFa King Mike on Apr 11, 2008 11:43 AM PDT up 0 recs

My bad

Your pic wasn't showing up, and now it decided to appear.

Enchanter indeed

Idolizing the Nuschler Face since April 8, 1986 / GIANTSPACE™ returns!

by SoFa King Mike on Apr 11, 2008 11:46 AM PDT up 0 recs

i can't BELIEVE how good Sanchez looked!

Actually, everyone's stuff was sick. And that's a terrifying lineup. Jonathan Sanchez is a gamer.

Freddie caught that ball just a few feet from us in front of 128, plus i caught a foul ball AND a bag of Cracker Jack from Lou Seal.

what an amazing night.

Billy Hayes: Nine more big-league plate appearances than you.

by delorean on Apr 10, 2008 12:12 PM PDT 0 recs

throw in a shout

to Tyler Walker. That splitter he's throwing in awe inspiring. The 'pen is actually starting to gel nicely.

by tyrannoman on Apr 10, 2008 2:35 PM PDT up 0 recs

Tyler Walker - early season favorite to win the Willie Mac award for most inspirational Giant? (He should at least win for most persperational Giant.)

2008 Giants: A steaming pile of scrap!

by Goofus on Apr 10, 2008 4:03 PM PDT up 1 recs

Dude can work up a sweat, on Mt. Everest in the winter climbing season...

by tyrannoman on Apr 10, 2008 9:53 PM PDT up 0 recs

Fabuloso

I would rather watch a bunch of 20+ year olds (well, under 30 year olds anyway) play exciting baseball. They will screw up and probably lose a lot of games, get picked off, etc., but I find the unexpected step-up performances exciting.

I also loved the way the last run scored... Davis pinch-ran, stole, and then another rookie got a hit to bring him in.

Endlessly more interesting than watching players decline game by game until they are designated for assignment.

Also: I hope Walker is for real. I was amazed all spring at how everyone here seemed to assume he would be effective in late innings. I'm now warily optimistic that you all were, in fact, not as hopped up on goofballs as I thought.

by natteringnabob on Apr 10, 2008 4:46 PM PDT 0 recs