August 30, 2012
-
GIANTS!!!
The Daily News1 It should come as no surprise that since getting busted for juicing, the Giants' Melky Cabrerra is now leading the major leagues in hitting.
2 Amazing stuff. Indicative of baseball's fear of doing anything about any of it.
3 America's dark secret.
4 Ah, whatevs. If anyone opens that can of worms, sports will dissipate across the planet.
5 We have to turn our heads to the hypocrisy of doping, gambling, and all of that.
6 Sadly, it's just how it is.
7 Meanwhile, Melky is winning the batting crown. Does he get to keepit after his fifty days are up? Will the Melkmen have a parade?
8 Yeesh. I shudder to think.
9 Moving on, Part One: I think with a shot of brandy and a pound of Cheez-Its I can easily look the other way and watch our two bay area teams just doing it.
10 It's tough not to.
11 The A's are no longer looking at just the wild card. The A's have been the best team in baseball the entire second half of the season.
12 The Giants seem to keep pressuring the Dodgers at an astonishing rate.
13 And now Kemp and Jansen are down.
14 I worry about Jansen, because it is a heart condition, and I don't wish that on anyone.
15 You gotta have heart.
16 And compassion for anybody going through that.
17 Kemp, on the other hand, I can rib.
18 Wind the guy up and he runs into walls.
19 Moving on, Part the Second: Honestly? I'd rather have both teams totally healthy and going toe-to-toe.
20 What Dodger fans had to go through the past few years completely sucked for the rivalry.
21 I personally am glad to have it back.
22 I have good friends who are Dodger fans.
23 You tell anybody I said that and I'll moiduh youse.
24 I like Tommy Lasorda.
25 Only because I always needed at least one human being to hate.
26 It is a classic rivalry. The Dodgers looked somewhat pathetic going out and buying next year's team.
27 But the Giants brought in some great players after the Dodgers front office began their shopping spree.
28 Last night showed exactly why I was so excited to have landed Pence, who has been struggling all season. He didn't go yard last night.
29 He went moon, stars, and heaven.
30 Okay, okay, so I got a bit superlative there.
31 It's the poet in me.
32 And a lousy one at that.
33 So today it has to be totally about baseball.
34 When Zito went down and Kontos came in, I almost went over.
35 His numbers always seem good, but he's one of those guys who each time I see him, he gets in trouble.
36 Homie stepped up last night.
37 The presence of two-time loser Guillermo Mota did little to dampen the night. He just appeared briefly, like some gargoyle, to remind us of the dark side of sports, and then vanished with an audible pop.
38 Meanwhile, I'm holding on to the sport, in my own hypocrisy.
39 Baseball has been around me since for I was born. I worked around baseball, especially the Giants, for a hundred years.
40 Yesterday I talked with a friend about the game the previous night, one of the best games ever.
41 She smiled, and said, "I sort of stopped watching after Melky got busted."
42 The Game of Shadows once again reared its ugly head. I wanted to do the same thing.
43 But I'm an addict. I can't pull myself away from baseball.
44 And I'm still a Giants' fan. As most of us say, I bleed orange and black.
45 I'll watch, and I'll root for the guys who are clean.
46 The dark side of me says that there probably aren't many.
47 I will presume innocence.
48 I'll follow this amazing season to the bitter end.
49 It's the only thing I can do.
50 Baseball.
51 It ain't going away anytime soon.
52 Have a grand Thursday, willya?
53 Peace.
~H~
