engaging digital

Is San Francisco A Baseball Town?

I hate when the baseball season is over.  As a player it is bittersweet. The season ends, you say goodbye to friends, the town, playing every day and a routine that takes weeks to transition away from. As a fan,  it is more one sided. You start thinking about the hot stove league, Spring Training and have an emptiness without games to watch, SportCenter highlights or  boxscores to read. Even the MLB app is stuck on the last game of the World Series. It sucks. Sorry, football, hockey or basketball you just don't cut it.

For Giants fans, this year ended magically.

Like any sport, you either win the championship or you go home a loser. This year FINALLY it worked out for the San Francisco Giants.  This year, the identity of the San Francisco baseball fan was changed forever thanks to a special 2010 team with one of the best pitching staff's in the history of the game.

  

The Giants  have been my favorite team since they brought up #22 Will "The Thrill" Clark. I remember sitting through freezing night games or cutting high school to see day games.  I have enjoyed introducing my wife and three girls to the fun of baseball. The girls love their rally rags, are learning about the baseball gods, and know not to jinx the game by talking about a no-hitter, what hasn't happened in a long time or how "quickly" the game is going.

My girls will scream "LET'S GO GIANTS" at the top of the lungs at any point practically anywhere during the season.  

Lots of my friends, family and people around town have been Giants friends their entire life waiting for this World Series Championship. We are all  still pinching ourselves, watching reruns of the game on MLB network and tickled orange. This season was remarkable. Fans got into it. They cared. People around town started wearing orange shirts every Friday, there was a buzz all around

the City. There were Panda hats, Fear the Beard t-shirts, viral videos created, Steve Perry sing alongs and seemingly everyone became fascinated with the Giants overnight. In San Francisco? Really? In St. Louis, Boston or NY, it is normal, but not here in San Francisco.  When they beat out the Phillies to earn the right to play Texas, the Giant Dugout stores inventory was decimated.  On the day of Game #3, I tried to take my daughter to get a bright orange T-shirt and there were 60 people standing outside waiting to get in. This town wearing Giants gear? Peninsula fans caring this much about sports? San Franciscans going to bars to watch the games?  The people of the bay area always blamed the apathy on "too many things to do" or some other nonsensical reason for not caring about baseball. Afterall, were weren't in the midwest, Boston or NY.  Something happened along that way that captured the heart of the thousands of people in the Bay Area that didn't really care about baseball. Humble well-spoken players, 100% effort, character, drama (or torture) and a late season miraculous comeback all helped make this team unique.

The big question will be whether or not San Francisco will continue to support their team as a baseball town.  I hope so.

Sparky Anderson Was A Baseball Legend

This week, we lost a baseball legend. Growing up a Big Red Machine fan,  Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, George Foster, Ken Griffey, Dave Conception, Joe Morgan were my favorite players & Sparky Anderson,their fearless leader was not afraid to fight for his team, kick up some dirt and lead his troops into victory. Sparky deeply believed in his players and let the world know by his actions. In the 70's, when I saw the Reds come to play on the shiny green Candlestick Park turf (remember that? eck.) I knew I wanted to be a professional baseball player.  Magically, when I got my first opportunity to play in a Spring Training Big League game, our opponent was the Detroit Tigers with none other than Sparky Anderson at the helm.  There he was, the crafty veteran manager with such a strong presence and respect from everyone on the field. A moment I will never forget. RIP Sparky. Thanks to Sippey.com for stirring some memories:

One of my most vivid childhood memories is being lucky enough to go down on the field for batting practice at Wrigley before an afternoon Cubs / Reds game. Everything was larger than life -- the field, the stadium, the players. Everything except Sparky Anderson, who squatted down and had a short conversation with an awe-struck six and a half year old boy...

via www.sippey.com

Flash From The Past

 

     

Nice of Reading Eagle's Mike Drago to include me in this weeks "Flash from the past" article. For anyone looking for a great minor league baseball experience, Reading is a must. Great fans, intimate setting and some of the best promotions in the sport.