MY BASEBALL WEEK DAY 6: A WALK ON THE WILD (CARD) SIDE: LIVE AT AT&T, DODGERS VS GIANTS

Post Game San Francisco from the ferry after Dodger Shut Out

by the Editor

Holly came from Miami, F L A

Hitch-hiked her way across the U.S.A.

Plucked her eyebrows on the way

Shaved her legs and then he was a she

She says, "Hey babe, take a walk on the wild side"

He said, "Hey honey, take a walk on the wild side"

Lou Reed

We came from Vallejo by ferry across the bay. It was late afternoon, a gorgeous day. The ship's insides were bleeding with black and orange but I tried not to let it bother me too much. The Dodgers had come on strong in the beginning of the season, buoyed by an ownership change, but seemed to be fading, so now they were trying to get back the glamor, spend some big money on some plastic surgery and make a move for the spotlight again. But it probably just wasn't gonna happen this fast.

The Giants were in good shape this weekend, four games above the Dodgers, so Los Angeles basically HAD to win the series. After their Saturday win, it looked like that might happen, especially with Clayton Kershaw scheduled to pitch, but a few hours before game time Kershaw was scratched because of hip problems, and Blanton was added. Blanton's struggles this season continued and Barry Zito looked like he did a few years ago (i.e., tremendous) and the Dodgers were shut out. It's cruel and brutal being a Dodger fan at a Giants game, what with most of the fans gloating and preening like Andy Warhol superstars; towards the end one of the “gamer babes”, as the Giant announcers call them, ripped a Dodger fan's hat off his head and began rubbing it on her butt, rendering him crushed, beaten, and emasculated. I was “incognito”, but my happiness at the few Dodger hits and amazing Flyin' Hawaiian catches probably gave me away, and I swear the guy behind me “accidentally” brushed my head with his dirty Giants rally rag on purpose more than once.

The Dodgers' main post season chance at this point seems to be the wild card. I've been pretty much against this one-game wild card playoff change, but I will say this: on the plus side of it, more so than before, NO ONE wants to be a wild card team because in a one game playoff anything can happen and it's no surprise for the “inferior” team to win. So every contender wants to be sure to win their division more so than before to stay away from that unpredictable wild card, and this seems like a good thing to me. I'm not sure if that's enough to keep the new system, it probably isn't, but it is one positive aspect to this new wild card business.

Here's the thing about this Dodger season though: it may sound like sour grapes, and I'm still rooting for a Dodger “comeback”, but even if they don't go post season this year, 2012 will be a victory for them. Because after a decade or more of one of the worst ownership debacles in baseball history, the Guggenheim Group seems to actually have a handle on Dodger history and wants to once again field a team that represents the glory of “The Bums” tradition. This ownership has some deep pockets, and no, you probably can't “buy” a winning team so close to the end of a season, but no matter what, it has been a pleasure to see them out from under the McCourt travesty. 

But yeah, it was a mostly agonizing few hours, what with 40,000 rabid Giant fans unable to shut up. But that's the way it goes, and any time at the ball park, even under these adverse conditions, is a great time. And I gotta give it up to SF: AT&T is probably the best stadium I've been in – no, not steeped in the traditions of the east coast parks, but good lord, that view, of the game AND the bay, is simply heaven. And ya know what? The ushers have little signs that stop you from going back to your seat until the batter has completed his at-bat! Wouldn't want to disturb the extremely sophisticated absorption of the Giants dilettantes! Ah, what the heck. I WILL be back.