Vrroooom. You can see how it’s addictive.
When you watch a game like tonight’s, you’ve watched the pure, uncut stuff. A guy ties a game by vrrooming his way from first to third on a hit-and-run. Then he wins a game by vrrooooming from first to third on an error. In between, he makes a gliding, unreal catch to take away a leadoff double.
It’s so, so satisfying when it works. It’s beautiful. It’s an element of the game that’s taken for granted. It’s been a while since the Giants could watch a player who could take over a game by being much faster than everyone else, and Ford might be the fastest Giant I’ve ever watched. The high of vrrrroooom doesn’t wear off for a while.
Then one day you wake up naked, in a bathtub, freebasing Eugenio Velez. Just because they never made an after-school movie about it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be careful with that vrrroooom. It’s for recreational use only.
If Darren Ford were to start, he’d probably hit .210/.270/.340. But every dozen games or so, he’d use his legs to do something spectacular, and you’d think, wait, if he could just hit a little bit, he’d be a gamechanger. And you’d take another belt of vrrroooom. The lucky ones end up in a rec hall, listening to someone introduce themself and explain how they kicked Willy Tavaras.
But the Giants snapped a losing streak, and how. The Legend of Darren Ford continues. He shows up as often as an eclipse, but when he’s in the game, he’s usually scampering around the bases to give the Giants a needed win. Here’s to Darren Ford:
He’s been lauded in two different post-game threads for winning a game, yet he doesn’t have a hit in the majors. This is Paul Bunyan stuff, people. But with more vrrrrooom. Sweet, sweet vrrrroooom.