At-Game Recap: In Enemy Territory (NLDS Game 1, Reds @ Giants, Oct 6, 2012)

The Dodgers' 2012 season is over. However, the season for our arch-rivals, the San Francisco Giants, continues. So being a fan of baseball, and finding myself up in the Bay Area this past weekend, I called an audible and opted to spend Saturday night going back to AT&T Park and seeing what Giants playoff fever was all about.

First, a confession: my brother-in-law is a Giants fan. Aside from that, he's a really nice guy with a whole lot of redeemable qualities, and hey: you can't have everything in life. And I will note that he was kind enough to pick up the tickets for the two of us, which was super-cool of him since he had already planned to attend Sunday's Game 2 anyway.

The understood condition was that I was not to wear Dodgers gear (which would have been ridiculous, I know). After threatening to wear Dodger gear all morning long, I finally assured my brother-in-law I wouldn't do it.

Instead, I wore a red-colored cap and sweatshirt picked up that weekend at my college reunion. Perfect.

This was my second trip to AT&T Park this year, the first coming during the capper of a three-game Dodgers sweep. I think it's my fifth time at that ballpark, so I'm pretty familiar with it. Our seats were high up but closer in than last game, and I admit that the view over of the bay was beautiful and picturesque, particularly as the day faded into night.

Another distinction of Phone Park is the vibrant bar scene around the stadium, which is a stark contrast to Dodger Stadium's sea of asphalt, I admit. It reminds me a lot of Wrigley Field or Petco Park or PNC Field. I confess that I've never done a pre-game visit to the Short Stop, but these bars were incredibly convenient and fun. Man, if we only had public transportation to Dodger Stadium.... Anyway, the Giants' scene was pretty hopping, with queues outside most of the main drags just to get in.

En route, we spotted this option for nearby parking, at prices so low, you'd have to be crazy not to spend...$80.

Did Frank McCourt provide consulting services to the Giants?

We snuck into Lucky Strike and grabbed a beer (Guinness and Anchor Steam, thanks for asking). People were jazzed for this game. My brother in law was worried, given how he felt the Giants had been playing in the last week. I reminded him that the team was around 20 games over .500 post-the all-star game, leaving the Dodgers in the rear view mirror. What could possibly go wrong?

There were more strikes in here than from Matt Cain.

We made our way into the ballpark and it was packed like sardines. First you had to get past the purse-check station. Then into the gates. And then, for us, up the long escalator to the upper tiers. Each level was a bit of a logistical nightmare. Amidst the cattle herding was a Reds fan who was summarily heckled, but nothing too bad. Giants fans would save their most unpresentable hosting behavior for later.

Making our way into the park.

Inside, the Giants staff handed out these rally towels, printed with the inspiring plea to "get on one's orange." Uh, yeah. Anyway, we're stocked on toilet paper in my house, so I let my brother in law take my towel.

First things first: we have to get a beer. And what do I find serving alcoholic beverages?

The Giants stereotype of alcohol elitism is indeed true. Stretch out your pinkies!

When we finally hit our seats, even though they were nosebleeds, the sightlines were incredible. Giants fans were waving their towels in earnest (maybe they thought they were white flags?). It was awesome to feel the tension of playoff baseball, which was palpable even for me to feel, despite the fact that I didn't really have a horse in the race. Every pitch was meaningful, every play had people pretty transfixed. This is playoff baseball.

My brother-in-law and I debated this during the game. NFL playoffs are exciting because they're single-elimination, and the NBA playoffs are interminable. But the MLB playoffs are great. There's already so much drama in very pitch, that it doesn't necessarily need to be further concocted and manipulated by additional one-and-out wild card games. In this stadium, you knew it was a special game, and it was electric.

Getting fired up. Yes, that's a Reds fan in front of us. He was pretty cool.

The view of the diamond.

Giants fans are so excited, they're texting each other rather than engaging with each other or taking in the moment!

Okay, so let me take a quick second here to dispel some of the myths around AT&T Park. Yes, it is definitely newer than Dodger Stadium and with that comes its benefits; it's shinier, and the concourses are open and more airy, and it's a fun fan experience if your kids are into all those distractions in the outfield. I like new, and having been to almost every MLB stadium, I can say with some experience that the Giants' ballpark is pretty sweet.

But just like any other stadium, AT&T Park has its own set of issues.

Bathroom lines are horrible. They've got two entrances leading into a small restroom on the View Level, and the queues stretched for sections on the concourse.

Television monitors at the concessions stands weren't only on a one-second delay (as afflicts Dodger Stadium as well); they weren't even operational for half of the video feed.

And there's other problems, too, but back to the action on the field for now. The Reds went 1-2-3 in the top of first inning (Giants fans going nuts), and then Johnny Cueto took the mound for Cincinnati. When Cueto called for the trainer, beset with back spasms eight pitches and two batters into the game, some Giants fans cheered a little too eagerly than I thought was appropriate given someone might be injured. To be fair, I'd probably be a little psyched myself if I were a Giants fans.

However, it did give me pause when some idiot behind us yelled, "That's what you get, Cueto, for taking too many steroids before the game!" I looked at my brother-in-law with an incredulous expression. "Really?", I asked him. "You guys, of all people, are going to go there?." He could only just shake his head in disbelief. There was no defense for such idiocy.

Brandon Phillips' solo shot in the third silenced the crowd (I missed this one as I was getting beer). I did see Jay Bruce's HR to right-center, giving the Reds a 2-0 lead. The Giants fans were largely still for most of the game thereafter, with the exception of the bottom of the fourth, when the leadoff hitter, Hunter Pence, reached on a Scott Rolen throwing error. When Brandon Belt followed with an unassisted DP to Joey Votto, however, you could feel the air being punched out of the guts of Giants fans with a collective exhale.

I should also note that the seats to my left were unoccupied for half the game, until midway through the fifth inning, when a Giants-clad couple decided to join us. I don't want to hear it, Giants fans. You guys show up even later than the worst Dodger fan stereotype.

Oyster Pubes' solo HR in the sixth brought the home fans back into it, and it was funny to watch former Dodger, current headcase, and Red midseason-pickup Jonathan Broxton get into and out of trouble in the bottom of the eighth. The fateful top of the ninth sealed the victory, however, when Phillips singled in Ryan Hanigan to make it 4-1, and successive miscues from the Giants' Santiago Casilla (wild pitch) and Oyster Pubes (passed ball) allowed a fifth Red run to score.

Most Giants fans around us were largely civil, save the steroid-shouting guy above us, who later tried to mock a Reds fan wearing a Jay Bruce jersey (to his credit, he soaked it up, remaining in a standing position and pointing to the name on the back). I did see a section over that someone had tossed a Reds cap over the edge of the balcony, and I think there may have been a fight to the section left of us. But look, you can't blame the whole fan base for a couple of scattered idiots. Down 1-0 at home in a 2-3 series, I understand the frustration, even if I don't get the lame actions that accompanied it.

(The Reds fan in front of us loved our anagram for Buster Posey, as well as the fact that I was clad in a non-confrontational shade of red--cardinal red--that evening.)

And remember Giants fans showing up late? Well it also true that the Giants fans were leaving early, possibly to avoid that Saturday night city traffic.

That's a lot of open seats in the left field corner.

The Giants need James Van Der Beek to get them pumped up. Ah don't want...yer life! (Note that Giants fans are already streaming out of the Stadium; yes, those are red taillights illuminated over the right field wall.)

In fact, when the ninth inning got interesting for the Giants, with Oyster Pubes representing the tying run at the plate--many Giants fans had already evacuated:

Rows of empty seats in front of us.

And when Buster Posey struck out to end the game, it was time to look to Game 2.

And now for our exit from the View Level, which took twenty minutes just to get out of the ballpark. We took the stairs, which basically didn't move an inch for five minutes, with people just crammed into a cinder-block-walled staircase with nowhere to move. Not a place for the claustrophobic, and the poor logistics are consistent with my experience trying to leave the ballpark earlier this year. The Giants have their own set of traffic problems.

Once outside, it's not much better. Exiting the gates of AT&T Park is treacherous due to the streetcar line running right outside; even though streets are closed to car traffic, and there are police folk trying to keep things flowing, weaving your way through the first five blocks is a disaster. Once you get in your car, it's almost worth it to just wait it out rather than swim against a sea of pedestrians. I barely made it onto the Bay Bridge without picking up an errant pedestrian on the front fender of my car (which was a rental, so it would have been okay).

Luckily, however, Giants fans are clad with trendy, eye-catching fashion.

Works better than an orange cone!

Anyway, I was pleased to see the Giants lose but thankful just to see playoff baseball (even at our rivals' stadium). I owe a great deal of thanks to my brother-in-law for putting up with me all game. It was a good time. Heck, with my record this season at SF games, I'll have to make sure to come back soon.

At-Game Recap: An Apology to SoSG Sax

If SoSG Sax woke up this morning with concussion-like symptoms, or merely a bruised vertebra or two, it's totally my fault. If this cut above my lip gets any worse, I have only myself to blame.

Sax was kind enough to invite me to yesterday's game. Although it was blazes hot, we cooled off with a few beers, moved to some shady seats and had a great time catching up.

But the Dodgers were back to their old tricks. Although Matt Kemp started the game off with a much-needed home run, the Diamondbacks' 4-2 lead in the seventh inning felt insurmountable.

While A.J. Ellis' pinch-hit double and Shane Victorino's RBI-single put the Dodgers within striking distance, I was still feeling, um, snakebit, even when the Dodgers put two on with one out in the ninth.

The Dodgers had won the day before, and there was a relatively small crowd at Dodger Stadium yesterday. But an extra sense of desperation was in the air, as if everyone knew falling 5.5 games behind the Giants would be too much to bear.

So when Victorino scored the winning run on Adrian Gonzalez's walk-off double, a lot of pent-up emotion came loose. People jumped up and down, people cheered, people screamed.

And I, uh, tackled Sax.

Totally didn't mean to. He turned to me for a high five and I gave him a bear hug instead. Unprepared for this idiocy, Sax absorbed the blow; we lost our collective balance and tumbled across the aisle (did I mention we had had a few beers?) into another (thankfully empty) row of seats.

Like Miguel Montero after being hit by Victorino the other day, Sax popped right back up and was gracious enough to laugh it off.

So, Sax...sorry about that. And you probably don't want to be sitting next to me if the Dodgers make the playoffs.

At-Game Recap: Vin Scully Bobblehead Night

Vin and Sandra Scully take center stage.

Vin pauses from posing with his bobblehead to admire something behind him. Perhaps a rainbow?

Vin went out of his way to greet Kirk Gibson. Pure class.

Vin acknowledges the love from his adoring public.

Vin blesses the crowd between innings after a moving video tribute was played on Diamond Vision.

See Vin's pitch after the jump!

At-Game Recap: Aug. 4 vs. Cubs

Magic Matt hits the go-ahead home run.

Apparently 1908 is the loneliest number.

"Keep your brain inside your cranium, little girl!"

Hanley checks the boys before his at-bat.

"Good job, boys!"

More photos after the jump!

At-Game Recap: Sweeping Through San Francisco (July 29, 2012)

Had a great time up at AT&T Park this weekend, specifically Sunday, when the Dodgers put the finishing touches on a three-game sweep and consecutive game shutout, restoring the Dodgers back to first place in the NL West with a 4-0 victory. It was a sunny Sunday afternoon, and despite the city's attempts to thwart my arrival (thank you, SF Marathon street closures), I was able to make it to Pete's Tavern beforehand, and then the game itself.

The pictures don't do this game justice. Sure, the Dodgers won 4-0, and sure, there were a ton of Dodger fans in the crowd who could enjoy this victory with me. But there were also two special guest stars who met me at the Phone Booth on Saturday: long-time SoSG reader fanerman (a.k.a. Mr F),...as well as someone who holds a special place in all SoSG readers' hearts:

SMONK!!!!

I can't get the jump thingy to work properly right now, so I'm going to have to show all these pictures in one mongo-crazy post. Sorry about this.

First off, let me start by saying AT&T Park is, admittedly, a beautiful stadium. Even a stalwart Dodger fan can recognize this. On a warm day, the stadium gets a slight breeze from the ocean. The view of the bay is picturesque. The sightlines to home plate are pretty good, with the seats angled such that you don't have to crane your neck to watch the action.

And we had seats up on the View Level (read: high, high up), but down below the concourse in a section that had only four rows, so it was pretty intimate and calm.

Despite the city's attempts to thwart my on-time arrival (thank you, SF Marathon street closures), I was able to get there in time to have a couple of drinks at Pete's Tavern (across the street from the ballpark) prior to the game. There was a guy in a Kershaw t-shirt here as well, and the bar was jumping prior to the game.

Heading up the ramp to our seats.

American virgins get their own seating area.

Okay, so we were a little bit late.

And finally, at our seats. Not too bad, though I couldn't argue balls and strikes from up here.

Our view of the scoreboard. Mark Ellis has never been this large.

I like this tradition, which I first noticed at Petco Park a couple of years ago, of not letting people down to their seats until after an AB. It makes sense. I'd like to see Dodger Stadium pick up this custom...but then you'd need ushers at every aisle, which may be a problem.

We hung out for a couple of innings, but by then the kids were antsy and it was time to go to the Coca-Cola Fan Lot, which is a nice distraction for families who don't want to depress themselves watching a substandard home team play baseball. Of course, I needed sustenance along the way, so I picked up a hot dog:

Sauerkraut available at the condiment stand. Nice touch!

One of many Dodger fans I saw on Sunday. I am not one for sloppy seconds, so I didn't answer the question.

By the time I arrived at the great Coke bottle in the sky, my kids were ready to slide. Here are some shots from the area where the kids emerge:

The top of the shorter slides...

...the view up the galley...

...and down the hatch...

...and out the exit.

The only bummer about this was that the Dodgers put on their first runs of the afternoon while I was tending to the exits, trying to make sure my munchkins didn't emerge and get lost in the crowd. It's a little chaotic since you can't really tell when your kids have entered or how long the queue is up top.

I heard the Dodgers put on their first run when Hanley Ramirez grounded into a force out but avoided the double play, allowing Juan Rivera to score from third. The Giants crowd let off a big cheer which was followed by a depressing sigh; the sigh was echoed moments later when Marco Scutaro biffed an infield fly in the sun, which led to yet another sigh when Luis Cruz doubled in the second run of the day.

Of course, I couldn't see much of this action from where I was, which was a bummer. But oh, well. After a couple of go-rounds, we continued onward toward right field, stopping at the cable car for some more photos (not posted here).

Kayaks in McCovey Cove.

Line for the womens bathroom: loooooong. Welcome to Russia.

Walking around the main concourse, I have to say, Giants fans were pretty civil all in all. I ate a Chicago Dog along the railing by McCovey Cove and there were no incidents. But then, there were a lot of Dodger fans around; in fact, it was fun to walk by and high five a random Dodger fan as we coasted to victory.

Bored pigeons, waiting to attack the scraps in the eighth inning (good luck fighting off Pablo Sandoval, guys).

The monitors on the concourse seemed better than those at Dodger Stadium. However the images kept fritzing out and would pixelate and stall. Too bad NoCal doesn't know much about tech so they could fix this issue.

As we made it back up to the 300 level, I figured I'd buzz fanerman and see if he was up for a stadium connection. Sure enough, he was ready. I bought him a beer and it was great to see Smonk again.

Remember, Smonk was awarded to fanerman in a contest that took almost a full year to play out. When fanerman finally won, it was like an era of SoSG had passed. He was a worthy contestant and deserved his spoils.

So it was great to hang out with fanerman through the remainder of the game and enjoy the sun, make wisecracks about Juan Uribe, and regale in the stories of fanerman's clever strategems which defeated Mr. LA Sports Czar down the stretch. I had no idea how thoughtful fanerman's Smonkstakes gambits were. He really needs to write a book on this stuff: "The Art of Smonk War". (Smonk, by the way, is not to be confused with Smock, Mr. LA Sports Czar's prize for winning Assassins' Circle 2011.)

Don't worry, Smonk had been lathered in SPF60 stuff (at least, I hope that's what that slick substance was).

After Hanley Ramirez extinguished the Giants' flame, we took the long walk down the ramps toward the exits. And it was slow going, not only because of the crowds but because Giants fans walked with their heads bent down:

Bumper-to-bumper traffic on the ramps in SF.

More traffic.

You can't make this out too well, but the archway as you exit says, "The Giants and AT&T Thank You." For rolling over and playing dead, ceding first place and a sweep? No, thank YOU!

Free at last! Free at last!

This was a wonderful game to see in person (I'm sure Saturday's 10-0 drubbing was great as well). Here's hoping this roadtrip (and series) signals a more positive trajectory for the Dodgers from here on out!

At-Game Recap: "Hands Off My Ramen, Be-Yatch"

My weekend - by the DelinO.

Saturday I got up at 5am to catch the first train down to Comic-Con.

Note: I remember the white dude from Prometheus. But not the hot lab technicians. Maybe they're from the European cut.

Sunday I got up the crack of the dawn with the family to celebrate my son's 4th Birthday at Disneyland.

I barely slept last night to boot - and I was more awake than all of the Dodgers combined. My memory of this game will never be found in the boxscore. Think we lost by a run, and had the tying run on third when Papelbon closed the game out.

Nope, this game was the night I was surrounded by killjoys and thieves.

And worst of all, Philly fans.

First, the killjoy.

I'm not a fan of Beach Balls, and plan to raise my boys to understand that they only belong at Phish concerts. But why hand the ball over to security and kill everyone's mellow.

Most nights, this would be the lamest person in my vicinity (unless I'm seeing the game with Sax:-). To quote Yoda "There. Is. Another."

Earlier in the night, I had emotionally prepared myself for no Bobble Heads or Beach Chairs, when I walked past the Nongshim booth...

...took cues from the kids ahead of me and rigged my spin of the wheel

...and won the Bowl Noodle Soup Prize Pack!!!

As I got ready to leave the game, my lucky Bowl of Noodles bag was missing. High and low I looked, until I spotted it on the girl's seat next to me. I proceded to chastise her for failed attempt to STEAL my Ramen. Probably a little louder than I needed to for $3 worth of goods. But F Her.

As I exited, a few of my neighbors shook their head at this classless individual who attempted to steal freeze dried noodles from the DelinO family's mouths. I'm not sure what the rest of my section did to this harlot when I left.

Nor do I care. For this Bowl Noodle Soup will be that much sweeter with the tastes of VICTORY and JUSTICE FOR ALL!