I played third, too - rather well, actually. Tried pitching, but all I had was a fastball right down the middle. Didn't work quite often enough.

paul spencer

As a neutral fan the rest of the way, these are my WS winners in order of preference:

1. Rangers
   
2. Gints
   
3. Philly
   
4. evil empire

you are the media you consume.

... he's decided to offer a screed to the gods of baseball, who are far more worldly and forgiving than most of the other gods running amok around the planet.

I take it you've never been a Cubs fan.

She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre

And those scientists know nothing. He told me of the mystery of the knuckleball and, by the by, demonstrated why the Jubilani footballs can't fly straight (they're too round). A fastball will rotate 4 to five times on its way to the plate but a curve ball will do 8 or 9, with a baseball that's about 2 inches displacement and when you're swinging a 2 inch bat, that's a strike.

and even tho' the song isn't really about baseball, this always makes me think of it

keep to the Fen Causeway

Leave 'Em in the Locker Room: Pro Athletes Make Lousy Public Officials

As you might know, it was as a Philadelphia Phillies pitcher that [the departing Republican Senator from Kentucky Jim] Bunning tossed a perfect game against the New York Mets in 1964. It was the high point of a 17-year Hall of Fame career. It also gave both sports and political writers license to hurl the word "imperfect" at his two-term senatorial record.  In 2006, Time called him one of the worst five senators of his time. Time dubbed him "the underperformer." In their 2007 conservative/liberal rankings, National Journal had Bunning as the second-most conservative senator trailing only that "Family" man, Jim DeMint of South Carolina.

In his final innings, Bunning notoriously prevented the Senate from extending unemployment benefits for more than 1.2 million workers for more than a month. When fellow senators begged him to halt his filibuster, according to Politico, Bunning's reply was: "Tough shit." Describing Bunning as "loutish, eccentric, and mean," Joe Conason in Salon accused him of using the Jim Bunning Foundation to shelter his fees from the baseball memorabilia shows at which he appeared to sell autographs.

It was the Republican Party that sent Bunning to the showers a couple of months ago. He decided not to run again because of lack of GOP support and funds. Score a rare one for the GOP. Bunning was my quintessential incumbent jerk-jock politician who you should never vote for. And he was stupid. Case in point: He said, "I watch Fox News to get my information."

[Former NBA, WWE, NFL stars] are already campaigning to fit into the woeful tradition of Jim Bunning, Jesse Ventura, Tom Osborne, and Vinegar Bend Mizell, athletic role models whose narcissism, ignorance, and conservatism helped them make a seamless transition from entertaining people to exploiting them.

Keep in mind that the sports-industrial complex tends to produce narrow-minded, self-centered, ethically-challenged mercenaries who are deeply submissive to established authority while being fiercely dedicated to winning by any means possible.  Or as one of my old political advisers, Sam Hall Kaplan, a former New York Times and Los Angeles Times reporter, puts it: "A pol who learned as an athlete just who ultimately butters his bread can be counted on to continue to wave to the crowds while doing the bidding of the owners." And the owners these days, thanks to the umpires (... er, Supreme Court) are likely to be unnamed billionaire warlords donating to right-wing candidates through dummy organizations that have no requirement to open their books to the voters.

there's also some magic about the adrenalin of a key game, and the drive to win.  tonight, the Giants have a chance to go to their second world series this decade, and the first i can watch.  they're up 3 games to one, and have three chances to win.  better they do it tonight at home rather than the following two games in the home of cheez steak.

couldn't sleep to prepare, but i'm ready for 2am first pitch.

must mention, the last time i went to a world series game, we didn't get to see the game, due to a 7.1 earthquake which still has me shakin.  10 days later we lost all four games, ouch.

only in sanfran, some remaining Grateful Dead sing the anthem.

Go Jints!

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin

they would do well to win tonight, because it gets harder when both teams have it on the line and the smallest events become earth-shattering. the ifs?

•  if Sanchez has his head right, w/ confidence
  
•  if Burrell and Huff strut their stuff
  
•  if Posey continues his fantasy rookie year
  
•  if the magic still resides in Cody Ross (Ssory Doc backwards)

i'll try to find a way to write some more, we'll see how it works with a completely disrupted time zone.  what you all should realize is...

this (so-called) World Series pits the misfits of San Francisco against the aptly named Texas Rangers, formerly owned by George W. Bush. why aptly named, well, with no reflection on the current ballplayers, the historical texas rangers were either klansmen or kriminals, who killed ndns and mexicans equally, with no resort to trial. appropriate for a team owned by a bush.

but now the military jets of destruction have flown over the beautiful stadium, the last act of propaganda equating "america's pastime" with war.  all that's left is first pitch, and finally, the ads, the hype, the propaganda, takes a back seat to a brilliant game which begins with a diamond.

Go Giants!  Beat the Texas Rangers.

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin

But it would be sweet to bring it home now, for the first time in Frisco history.  me was in Schland during the last series, and basically missed it 'cept for late nite radio.  But the last Series, 1989, i sold my seats for thousands, and copied a photog's pass into the Stadium.

Had my hands on the batting cage as the Giants took BP, and watched the games from the field (as we lost in four).  Now i sit at my laptop and Apple big screen, and wait for the Boys of Summer to get between the lines.

Ladies and Gentlemen, and ET nurds, we give you Game 5 of the 2010 World (hah) Series. World includes a team from Canada and some players from central america.

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin

you are the media you consume.

i can imagine some fireworks and perhaps even some noise taking place within the city confines, that i love.  i can imagine there are some old fans who watched Bobby Richardson snare that liner which broke the hearts of the city.

Karin's here, and there seems to be a celebration.  

i can say, with a bit of perspective, that The Freak pitched, as he would say, fuckin awesome, and the neanderthals from tejas are sent back to their caves.

in the past months, i have seen some good baseball.

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin