Go Bells. Seriously, I don't think I've taken full advantage of this space to express the sheer joy I get from watching a former Bellarmine classmate light it up for the team we both grew up idolizing. And now, three times in nine days, Pat Burrell has won a game for los Gigangtes de San Francisco — first with his epic 8th inning blast against the Hated Ones, then on a pair of desperately needed sac flies. One of those SF's produced the only win that SF picked up in the ATL. The other ended an 11-inning contest on Jerry Garcia Tribute Night yesterday at the Cove. My avid Tweeps will recall that I called for the Giants to sign Pat the Bat the very day he was DFA'd by the Rays, and I lobbied for the move over the week that followed before a deal was finally struck. To a one, the beat writers — I'm looking at you @HankSchulman — said it would be a pointless endeavor considering the team's apparent outfield logjam and the apparent decline of Burrell's career arc. What a difference a couple months make. His numbers over 170 plate appearances since joining the Orange and Black? .291/.388/.511, 10 2B, 7 HR, 20 RBI — and 4 sacrifice flies. And just yesterday, Bochy says Pat's the de facto everyday LF. So go eat another donut, Henry, and let the big boys like #Butchtrodamus do the prognosticating. When this season is said and done, I hope we can all look back and be happy that Sabes and the brass took a chance on that kid who used to sit behind me in Counterculture Lit with Mr. Benson. But even if he never swung a bat after that homer against the Doyers, he would've held a special place in the hearts of Giants fans for years to come. Go Bells, indeed...BTW...
> This [lack of] offense is really starting to piss me off. I mean, for crying out loud, 7 BBs in 5 IP from Carlos "I Can't Help That I'm A Total Douche" Zambrano, and we score 2 whole runs — one of them on a WP? Yeah, it's odd to have a rookie catcher batting cleanup, but when you've only got three guys out of nine you can trust not to strike out feebly or bounce a two-hopper to short with runners on base, you've got to put them where they can make an impact. The good news? The boys picked up twice as many hits with RISP on Monday night as they did all weekend in Atlanta. The bad news? They still almost lost to a lesser team. Ah, the dog days...
> I'm certainly not the biggest Deadhead in the world, but I'm enough of a fan to appreciate last night's tribute to Jerry. As always, the team put on a wonderful pre- and in-game show, highlighted — for me anyway — by Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, and Bill Walton leading 8,500 strong in a kazoo chorus version of "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" during the stretch. There were plenty of heads in the crowd, and the lot before the game was reminiscent of my weekend with Phish at the Greek. I think I heard someone asking for a miracle for tonight's game...
> War Giants bullpen for coming home hard. Five and a third of shutout ball from six of seven available relievers, but I sure as hell didn't want this game getting to Santiago Casilla. Yikes! Thankfully, it ended with Chris Ray on the bump, as it has three times since he was acquired for Bengie Mo. Pretty good deal that...
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