The San Francisco Giants opened their first home series of the season with extravagant pomp, lengthy pre-game ceremonies, and taking two out of three from the St. Louis Cardinals. In an era when the team’s ownership prides itself on preserving and honoring Giants’ history, 2010 demonstrated we can legitimately add one other item to the top of their priorities list: a commitment to win.
But the quaint mantras of the 2010 season no longer apply: the “Giants baseball: torture” and “it’s magic inside” were appropriate for last year, but what’s happening now isn’t magic. The 2011 Giants win games because they’re tough, because they can hit and pitch, because they never give up, and because hard nosed baseball is better than magic seven days a week.
The 2011 schedule forced Giants fans to endure six road games before they had a chance to welcome the World Champions back to their home park. On Opening Day Friday and Opening Night Saturday, St. Louis Manager Tony LaRussa and his team had to wait a good hour before each game as the Giants held a variety of ceremonies and presentations celebrating their 2010 World Series win.
Prior to the Friday April 8th opener, closer Brian Wilson raised the team’s first World Series flag since April 14, 1955, when the New York Giants unfurled their Series flag over the Polo Grounds. Before Saturday night’s game, each member of the team walked from the dugout to the field to receive their World Series ring from Giants ownership leader Bill Neukom and team President Larry Baer.
Being in AT&T Park for both the raising of the Championship flag and the ring ceremony were two emotionally charged moments of history that will stay with me for many years to come.
The reaction of the fans in the stands at AT&T for the first two games was a fascinating contrast. On Opening Day, the first opportunity for home fans to see the team after that final Series game win at Texas last year, the stadium crowd was remarkably reserved. I expected an extra-dimensional, electric response that would raise the roof and create thunder in the air. But it just wasn’t there. Don’t get me wrong, the fans cheered and clapped, but it just didn’t reach that higher level I’d experienced at a several home playoff games in 2010 and 2002.
In fact, during Friday’s pregame ceremonies with the team lined up along the third base line after individual player introductions, on-field announcer Jon Miller actually had to ask twice for the crowd to applaud and cheer the team. Miller’s first “Let’s hear it for your World Champion San Francisco Giants” resulted in a brief low-keyed response from the crowd, prompting the Miller to repeat, “Once again let’s hear it for the World Champion Giants”. The AT&T fans responded with yet another brief low level reaction.
This wasn’t a big negative that in any way affected the excitement of Opening Day; it was simply a matter of the unpredictability of group dynamics on that particular day. In a sense, you could say the independent nature of San Francisco fans was on display– maybe the crowd was anxious to move on to the actual game and get some wins; after all the Giants came into the opener with a 2-4 record.
And win they did, taking game one on Friday from St. Louis after being down 3-2 in the 9th with two out. Pablo Sandoval knocked in the tying run in the bottom of the 9th, and Aaron Rowand won the game in the bottom of the 12th with a bases loaded single to deep center that scored Nate Schierholtz from third base.
On Saturday night, it was again the bottom of the 9th inning with Giants down 2-1. Again two outs, this time with two on base as Giants’ shortstop Miguel Tejada quickly went down in the count 0-2 against Cards’ closer Ryan Franklin. After battling back to a 3-2 count, and fouling off several pitches, Tejada hit a drive to deep center field where Colby Rasmus and left fielder Jon Jay converged at the warning track. Rasmus attempted a basket catch and the ball popped in and out of his glove. Two runs scored, Giants win 3-2.
The Cardinals finally managed a 6-1 win Sunday, but the victories in games one and two set 2011 in motion for this team and the fans. The Giants have a line-up that will not quit and has the ability to get hits from any spot in the batting order at any time. That will be the extra dynamic that powers this team’s outstanding starting line-up and bullpen the rest of the way this season.
And the magic? When you’re playing real good, the wand you’re waving is made of maple wood and it produces extra base hits instead of rabbits.
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