Teen dies after assault from another teen at Giants game

Argument over usage of Merkin Valdez spills into crowd. Fans wig out!

An 18-year-old man died from head injuries sustained during an assault from another teenager at a San Francisco Giants home game Friday night, according to the San Francisco Police Department.

The victim was assaulted by the suspect, also 18, around 10:30 p.m. towards the end of the baseball game at AT&T Park, police said.

The victim was transported to San Francisco General Hospital in critical condition. He was pronounced dead at about noon Saturday, according to police.

The suspect was arrested at the ballpark on charges of assault. The incident has since been changed to a homicide case and a murder charge will be added to the suspect, police said.

SF Gate: Ratto: Rumor has it, Magowan may be a goin’

A solid rumor from Ray Ratto (insert joke here):

The rumors that Peter Magowan may be looking to end his tenure as managing general big shot of the Giants have been swirling for a few weeks now, but it wasn’t until the organization confirmed that the rumors have legs that they started to run.

Wouldn’t it be cool if this woman delegated control of this team to somebody named Smithers?

Sue Burns, the widow of Harmon Burns, who owned the largest single share of the team, could take control simply by virtue of holding the most stock.

Baseball Evolution: Van Zandt: Zito’s Downfall: Blame it on Billy Beane

Van Zandt: Little Richard’s Underhanded Barrage?

A lot has been made of the A’s success working in a small market and Beane deserves a great deal of the credit (since when by the way, did the Bay Area – populated by more people than the entire state of Oregon – become a small market, I wonder?).  When it comes to making decisions for his club, he’s among the very best in the game.  When it comes to the future of major league pitchers however, I wouldn’t want my kid pitching for him.

What I am getting at here is overuse.  It’s simple; the A’s know that they likely have a player for no more than six-years until he becomes a free agent and bolts for a wealthier team.  That’s why when they have a pitcher as talented as Zito, Tim Hudson or Mark Mulder, whom they know the can control for only so long until they become too expensive, they use them. 

A lot.

Now I’m not faulting Beane for riding his aces, since it was in the best interest of his club.  He, like any other GM, wants to win, and the Big Three consistently gave the A’s a fighting chance at a reasonable price for several years from 2001 through 2004, until Beane dumped both Hudson and Mulder just prior to their big paydays. 

I’m just saying that in any discussion regarding Barry Zito and his loss of velocity, Billy Beane deserves a bit of mention.

SF Gate: Vizquel set to play Saturday

At last, the Giants have a cleanup hitter.

The 41-year-old Vizquel is set to make his season debut for the Giants on Saturday in the middle game against the Philadelphia Phillies, kicking off his 20th major league season. He has been sidelined all season after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his left knee on Feb. 27.

Yahoo: Zito returns to starting rotation against Pirates

So that the Giants can employ my favorite useless strategy:

Starting Zito on Wednesday allows Bochy to slot a left-hander, Pat Misch (0-0), between right-handers Matt Cain (1-2) and Tim Lincecum (4-1). Misch, who was to have started Wednesday, will start Friday against the Phillies, with Lincecum going Saturday.

“Oh mommy, the Giants are going to switch from a lefty to a righty. How will Utley and Howard sleep at night?”

IBA: A’s need to sign Bonds to help team, draw fans

Another hopin’ letter from Art Spander.

This is a perfect year. The Giants are down. Now’s the time to put your foot on their throat by putting Bonds on the roster.

Those legal problems? The federal government is having more difficulty building a perjury case against Barry than it is in keeping gasoline affordable. If Barry ever comes to trial, and that’s doubtful, it won’t be for at least a year.

Bonds is going to end up someplace this season. Could any place be more perfect than Oakland? Barry knows the territory. The A’s fans know Barry. True, they haven’t liked him, but loyalty in sports is little more than the letters on the front of a uniform. Let Barry pop a couple against the Yankees or Angels, and you’ll be amazed by his popularity.

We’ve heard reports Barry is being blacklisted, that there’s collusion among teams in the majors. Then Bud Selig, the commish, tells us, “Every club is free to do whatever they want with whomever, and I mean that.”

The A’s are a team in need of jolt of energy, at the plate, at the box office. Sign Barry. It isn’t the least you could do, but it’s the best you could do. Thanks for listening. Sincerely, A. Spander.

MLB: Balk sends Lincecum, Giants to loss

My Darling, I NEED you
(la-la-la-la-la-la) to call my own and NEVER do wrong...unless you really #### up (NOTE- this is the original version by The Not-So-Gladiolas)

Chris Iannetta doubled leading off and moved to third base on Clint Barmes’ sacrifice bunt. As Lincecum prepared to throw a 1-0 pitch to Yorvit Torrealba, catcher Bengie Molina threw up his arms to signal a request for time out. Plate umpire Gary Darling responded by also waving his arms calling a balk on Lincecum, enabling Iannetta to score. Bochy argued with Darling and was ejected after a three-minute harangue.

“Lincecum flinched,” Darling told a pool reporter. “Bengie was giving him the signs, then he started, stopped. Bengie tried to cover for his starting and stopping, called time. I went time with Bengie and then enforced the balk from starting and stopping.”

It never occurred to Lincecum that he did anything that might be interpreted as a balk. All he knew was he saw a bunch of hands flailing behind home plate. “It was almost simultaneous,” Lincecum said. “Bengie started to get up and that’s when the umpire called time out. It was right when I took my step back. I wasn’t even into my motion yet.”

Said a relatively calm Bochy, “I still don’t understand it.” Bochy pressed for an explanation from Darling just a little too hard.

“He wanted me to get together with the crew and there was no reason to get together with the crew,” Darling said. “I said, ‘You’ve had your say’ and blah blah blah. He didn’t curse me or anything. It was a big enough play that he thought he needed to get run, I guess.”

Lookout Landing: Brian Sabean Appreciation Thread

The Pile-On Appreciation Society has new members!

I knew from the get-go that Zito was a bad idea, but never at any point did I think he’d fall apart this quickly. That’s come as a surprise. But the fact of the matter is that smart front offices knew what they were doing and stayed the hell away. They saw the red flags, understood the market, and looked elsewhere without even placing a call to Zito’s agent.

Bill Bavasi offered him six years and ninety-nine million dollars.

There but for the grace of Sabean go I, and you, and the Mariners, and all of our collective hopes and dreams. This team tried its damndest to kill itself in the face, but thanks to the existence of another, more stubborn holdout from the daunting realm of intelligent thinking, we were spared. We were spared. Mr. Sabean, I am forever indebted to your misguided courage. Regardless of your intentions at the time, you fell on a nuclear grenade, and for this gesture I cannot thank you enough. May this thread be construed as a token of my appreciation.

And damn you Bill for ever thinking this was a good idea for the Mariners. Damn everyone who thought this was a good idea for the Mariners. All of you are stupid. There, I said it. Maybe you’ve gotten smarter over the past year and a half, but if you wanted the Mariners to sign Barry Zito as a free agent, you were stupid. Stop being stupid. Brian Sabean can only prevent so many bad decisions.

AP: Giants send struggling pitcher Barry Zito to bullpen

Barry Zito was demoted to the bullpen Monday by the San Francisco Giants, who hope the former ace can correct his problems by working in relief.

Zito, who only 16 months ago signed a $126 million, seven-year contract with the Giants to lead their rotation, was informed of the move in a meeting with manager Bruce Bochy.

The left-hander has lost his first six starts this season and has a 7.53 ERA that jumped considerably after Zito was tagged for eight earned runs in a 10-1 loss Sunday to Cincinnati.

Hurd: Zito not far removed from being very good

Yea, and I’m not far removed from playing on that Mordecai Shehori boogie-woogie piano tour…

How both sides plan to accomplish this is the $126 million question, of course. Manager Bruce Bochy hinted strongly that Zito may take a detour to the bullpen because “there’s no getting around” the fact that the status quo isn’t working. Zito, for his part, “definitely want(s) the ball.”

So at least we know Zito’s fight is OK, and that is no small thing. Zito said that “saying ‘screw it’ is not an option (because) you can’t do that in life.” He’s right. But that doesn’t mean the temptation isn’t there and that more than just a handful of athletes haven’t succumbed to it.

...Trouble is when it goes missing, because it takes more than devouring videotape for mechanical flaws to get it back. Zito’s lack of velocity and inability to command the zone may be killing him—his eight-pitch leadoff walk to Jerry Hairston Jr. set the tone for a six-run, 39-pitch first inning—but when Zito speaks of “not being aggressive, not attacking the strike zone, and not pitching to contact,” it’s worth wondering if his troubles may be originating elsewhere.

It would make sense, because self-confidence and success go together like the chicken and the egg, and right now, the wolf has invaded and eaten both.

WSJ: Carlton: Life After Barry Is a Strikeout At the Ballpark

Folding kayak folding?

Mr. Bonds was a major force behind another Giants-stadium oddity: kayaks. Kayakers used to float by the dozens in McCovey Cove, hoping to fish out a so-called “Splash Hit.” Of the 45 homers that have been blasted into the cove since the ballpark’s opening in 2000, 35 came off the bat of Mr. Bonds. This season, no homers have been hit into the cove, and the number of kayaks bobbing in the water fell to about 10 on opening day from 50 on opening day last year. During the second game of this season, there were no kayaks in the cove. “It’s not as fun,” says 52-year-old Mark Busch, a San Jose businessman who sat in one of the few kayaks on opening night.

That’s bad news for Ted Choi, a 44-year-old Korean immigrant who has rented kayaks to baseball fans for five years here. Game-related rentals used to account for as much as a third of his business, persuading a stable of advertisers to pay roughly $20,000 each to put their brands on his kayaks. This year, he has just two advertisers, and game rentals are scarce most days. “I will be happy if I can break even,” he says.

BBD: The Balance Points of Tim Lincecum and Brett Sinkbeil

Alex Eisenberg looks at Stiv Lincecum and the “balance point”.

San Francisco Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum and Florida Marlins pitching prospect Brett Sinkbeil aren’t exactly on the same level in terms of talent, but the only thing we are comparing today is what they do at their “balance point”.

When a pitcher hits their balance point, they basically stop mid-way through their wind-up to establish balance and then start again as they head toward home plate.  This is called a “tall-and-fall” pitcher.

When a pitcher “drifts through the balance point”, there is no stoppage in the wind-up. As the pitcher lifts his knee during his wind-up, you see him start to drift toward home plate before ever reaching his balance point.  Momentum carries the pitcher toward home plate as he leads with his hips.

Sanchez shuts down Cincinnati (Giants move to second place in NL West)

Amid Tim Lincecum’s repeated excellence, Matt Cain’s power pitching and Kevin Correia’s 7 2/3 shutout innings against St. Louis on April 10, Sanchez turned in what might have been the finest effort by a Giants starter this year. He took a two-hit shutout into the ninth inning and emerged with his second consecutive victory as the Giants subdued the Cincinnati Reds, 3-1.

Bengie Molina drove in two runs to help the Giants win their third game in a row, all of which have been close enough to require Brian Wilson’s services for the save.

The offense is still abysmal, but the way their young pitching is coming together I’m beginning to think they may get into a real dog fight this summer over fourth place in the division.

For this team, that would be quite the coup.

Gimbel: A Call To All Baseball Fans…Protest The “Blacklisting” Of Barry Bonds

Mike Gimbel is back...and BASN has got him!

I have a special disgust for the owners of the San Francisco Giants. They made millions off of Barry Bonds. They were able to build a money making stadium based, to a great extent, on Barry Bonds. Where is their gratitude? Nowhere!

He was their star player who was loved by the fans in the Bay area, yet the SF Giants team owners shamefully released Barry Bonds after the 2007 season so as to do their part in the “blacklisting”! They deserve a Hall of Shame of their own!

Years from now, when Major League Baseball is forced to apologize to Barry Bonds for their actions, that apology will never make up for the crime that Major League Baseball is inflicting today on Barry Bonds and on the many fans who admire the athletic greatness that Barry Bonds has been as a player.

...To all concerned fans: Perhaps you could use the above as a petition circulated at stadiums or handed out at stadium gates. While ending the Iraq occupation and fighting for a moratorium on home foreclosures take precedence, I know that millions of you will still be in attendance at MLB games.

While there, couldn’t you also do your part in fighting against the shameful “blacklisting” of Barry Bonds, the greatest hitter in Major League Baseball history?

AP: Molina help Giants break loose to beat Cardinals

Bengie Molina hit three doubles and drove in three runs and the Giants reached season highs for runs, hits and winning margin in an 8-2 victory on Sunday.

San Francisco won the season series 4-3, with all seven games played in a span of 11 days.
...
John Bowker hit his third career home run, all against the Cardinals, and Aaron Rowand drove in two runs as the Giants took two of three and handed St. Louis its first series loss of the season. Molina, a somewhat sheepish cleanup hitter, has 11 RBIs in 11 games and a team-leading 13 overall.

“I’m not a fourth hitter at all, I don’t hit home runs,” Molina said. “Seriously, I’m the kind of guy who is happy with the win. Getting the RBIs was huge.”

MLB.com: Giants bring back Yabu, drop [Rajai] Davis

The Giants placed left-handed relief pitcher Erick Threets on the disabled list with a right intercostal strain, recalled right-handed pitcher Keiichi Yabu from Triple-A Fresno and designated outfielder Rajai Davis for assignment. On Sunday, they will purchase the contract of shortstop Emmanuel Burriss from Triple-A Fresno.
...
“We’re hoping to get Davis some playing time,” manager Bruce Bochy said after the game. “He hasn’t been getting the playing time that he needs up here and we want to get some help for (Brian) Bocock. We think Burriss can come up here and help us. He also gives us some speed on the bench. He’s similar to Davis, he just gives us more infield depth.”
....
The 23-year-old Burriss is expected to provide some depth in the infield, specifically behind rookie shortstop Bocock, and add some offense.

In his first 16 games with the Fresno Grizzlies, Burriss batted .258 (16 hits in 62 at-bats) with two extra-base hits, six RBIs, six runs scored and two stolen bases. He had a .281 on-base percentage and .306 slugging percentage.

“He can play short and second,” Bochy said. “It gives us a little more flexibility.”

Former all-star Ryan Klesko retires after 16 seasons in major leagues

Come down to Bootworld and tell them I...packed it in.

Ryan Klesko is retiring after 16 seasons in the major leagues, agent Joe Sambito said Friday.

Klesko, an all-star in 2001 with San Diego, hit .260 last season with six homers and 44 RBIs in 362 at-bats for the San Francisco Giants. He played in only six games the previous year for the Padres because of shoulder surgery. The 36-year-old became a free agent following the World Series and didn’t sign.

Klesko batted .279 with 278 homers and 987 RBIs. His best season was 2001, when he hit .286 with 30 homers and 113 RBIs.

He spent seven seasons with San Diego after playing his first eight years in the big leagues with the Atlanta Braves.

AP: Earthquake awakens Giants manager—on road

Imagine the confusion of San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy, awakened in his hotel room by a Midwestern earthquake early Friday.

“I had to think whether I was in San Francisco or on the road,” Bochy said before the Giants opened a three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals. “I don’t know if you ever would have thought we’d leave San Francisco and have an earthquake.”

A 5.2 magnitude quake, believed to have involved an extension of the New Madrid Fault in the Missouri Bootheel, struck before dawn.
...
Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, whose home is in northern California, slept through the earthquake. He didn’t feel any of the aftershocks, one of which had a magnitude of 4.6, either.

“I know a lot of people did, but I didn’t,” La Russa said. “Nope.”

Barry Bonds demoted at San Francisco’s Wax Museum

But Bonds IS front and center at the Criminals Hall of Fame Wax Museum...right next to Joachim Kroll and his gooey inflatable doll collection!

The San Francisco Giants have dumped him. Now the city’s Wax Museum at Fisherman’s Wharf is demoting him.

Barry Bonds has lost his prime spot in the lobby of the popular museum of wax replicas.

The museum moved the home run king’s wax likeness downstairs to join his godfather Willie Mays and other sports heroes.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie moved into Bonds’ high-profile spot on Thursday.

Museum curator Curtis Huber says they decided to move the slugger downstairs because he isn’t signed with the Giants this season and it appears his baseball career is over.

The replica of Bonds, which created in 2003, joins more than 270 figures and scenes in the underground exhibit.

ESPN.com: Baker: Giants stand at precipice of offensive infamy

Are the Molina-powered, Bowker-infused Giants destined to make their mark as the worst offense of the last 50 years? Jim Baker investigates and lists his top 10 contenders, with the help of EqA.

How are we gauging this? It’s not a simple matter of looking at the teams that scored the fewest runs. We have to take context into account. Otherwise, the list would be dominated by pitchers’ park teams from 1968 and 1972. What follows is a look at the worst offensive teams dating back to 1958, the year the Giants arrived in San Francisco. These were selected by using a combination of runs scored in league context and team EqA, with an emphasis on the latter. EqA is a stat developed by Baseball Prospectus that is “a measure of total offensive value per out, with corrections for league offensive level, home park, and team pitching. EqA considers batting as well as baserunning, but not the value of a position player’s defense. The EqA adjusted for all time also has a correction for league difficulty.”

IBA: Spander: As Giants struggle, attendance dwindles

Well...I hear Patty Hearst is looking for new digs.

You wonder what Giants management is thinking here at the corner of Third and Townsend, which these days seems more like the intersection of Despair and Hopelessness.

Their $126 million pitcher has yet to win a game this season, although, if he’s not worried — Barry Zito has done this 0-4 business before, with the A’s — why should they be?

Their beautiful ballpark by the bay, AT&T, suddenly has record numbers of empty seats.

...The biggest change, however, seems to be a response from the patrons. They’re not buying what the Giants are selling. The announced attendance of 30,510 Wednesday was the fourth-fewest fans since 42,000-seat AT&T opened in 2000, and the only three smaller crowds were during the last week and a half.

It’s only a matter of time until the attendance finally drops below its own version of Mendoza line, under 30,000.

N.Y. Times: Curry: Bats Ready, but Bonds May Not Need Them (RR)

Layin’ down the Bonds bat...for good?

Barry Bonds was prepared to play baseball this season, so he asked Sam Holman to have a dozen bats ready for him. Holman, the founder of the Original Maple Bat Corporation, has made Bonds’s bats since 1997.

Holman set aside 12 pieces of the lightest-density wood he had, stored them in his factory in Gatineau, Quebec, and waited to see if Bonds got a job. But no one has signed Bonds. Now Holman has doubts about whether Bonds, baseball’s career home run leader, will play in the major leagues this season.

“I don’t think he’s planning to do much this year,” Holman said. “I talked to him about the bats yesterday and he said: ‘Leave them there. I don’t know if I’ll need them.’ ”

SF Gate: Jenkins: In season of little promise, Giants will have moments

Like checking out chicks at the pool and then puking...uhh, from what the scout said.

Eugenio Velez: A bit more patience. Pitchers are pounding him down low, an obvious weakness in Velez’s hitting approach, and he saw the master in Arizona’s Brandon Webb. As every opposing scout took note, Velez whiffed badly on one of Webb’s notorious sinkers in the first inning.

(Then again, Velez joined a cast of thousands. Arizona left fielder Eric Byrnes says he’s always “shocked” when a fly ball actually comes his way. As Webb gets one groundball out after another, Byrnes said, “You feel like you should just pull up a lawn chair, order up a drink from the bar and check out all the chicks at the pool.")

...Matt Cain: A nice, 11-0 victory in which he goes the distance. How many pitches? Oh, maybe 138. That’s right, you heard it. “I mean, my God, look at him,” said an old-school type among the scouting fraternity. “He’s a horse. He’s ready to throw 140 right now - and the game after that. This pitch-count stuff makes me puke.”

Mercury News: Giants’ closer requests loud music

Brian Wilson’s selection, “Rise Up,” has the same hard edge, though it’s not instantly recognizable to most fans. That’s because it’s a song by the Christian Rock group Disciple. Wilson, a born-again Christian, was inspired by the lyrics and felt they fit the energy of a save situation:

“I will not sit silently as you mock and curse my God/Stand against Him, you will be brought down/Here I come/I’m ‘bout to rise up/With all of my people/We’re ‘bout to rise up.”

It’s not the Christian theme but the public’s unfamiliarity with the song that gives pause to Bryan Srabian, the Giants’ director of marketing and entertainment. That’s why, at least for now, Srabian’s staff doesn’t plan to boost the decibel levels.

“We’ll play the song and read the situation,” Srabian said “You’ve got to let the fans cheer him on. We don’t want to manufacture any false atmosphere. So we’ll play his song and hope that it builds up organically.

“It’s still your traditional hard rock closer-entrance music. The message might be a little different than ‘Hells Bells,’ obviously.”

All of a sudden...Sabeanessence ain’t good enough for Brian Wilson?

AZ Republic: Defense squanders Johnson’s debut

Two errors and a handful of other miscues allowed the San Francisco Giants to score five unearned runs en route to a 5-4 victory over the Diamondbacks on a chilly and windy night at AT&T Park.

[Randy] Johnson allowed three unearned runs in five innings, looking a lot like he did in his first start off of back surgery last year. At times, he looked like the Johnson of old. Other times, he looked like a pitcher still trying to find his form.
...
Johnson showed flashes of dominance. A slider in the first inning nearly hit the back foot of a swinging Aaron Rowand. He froze Rich Aurilia on an inside fastball for strike three and struck out Dan Ortmeier and Brian Bocock on high fastballs.

At times, however, his location was spotty, his stuff inconsistent and his velocity just passable, as he worked in the 89-92 mph range. But if last season is any indication, this just might be the beginning for Johnson as he works into shape.

Still, he was effective and likely would have pitched deeper had the defense been better.

MLB.com: Lincecum, Bowker star in Giants’ win

John Bowker continued his outstanding start and Tim Lincecum pitched six strong innings as the San Francisco Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-4, on Sunday to split their four-game series.

Bowker became the first San Francisco Giant to homer in his first two games, slamming a two-run shot during a five-run rally in the fourth inning against Joel Pineiro, who was making his season debut.

Bowker drove in four runs on the day, adding a single and sacrifice fly as the Giants won their fourth in six games.
...
Lincecum (2-0) became only the second Giants starter to earn a victory, joining Kevin Correia. He allowed two runs on six hits over six innings, walking one and striking out 11, one off his career high and the third time he’s struck out 10 or more in a game.

MLB.com: Cardinals get last blow in slugfest

No-hit through six, down 5-0 through six, win 8-7 in 10.

Chris Duncan’s two-out single in the top of the 10th inning gave St. Louis a wild 8-7 win over the Giants at AT&T Park on Saturday afternoon. The Cardinals rallied from a 5-0 deficit, then let a 7-5 lead get away in the bottom of the ninth before finally finishing things off.

Through six innings, the Cardinals not only trailed by five, but they had been held hitless by Matt Cain. But Albert Pujols’ double ended Cain’s chance at history, and Adam Kennedy and Rico Washington hit RBI singles to get the Cardinals on the board. Duncan hit a solo homer and Rick Ankiel a two-run shot in the eighth, and Ryan Ludwick hit a go-ahead jack in the ninth.

Great fangraph, too.

AP: Giants’ [Dave] Roberts has surgery on left knee, could be out 12 weeks

San Francisco outfielder Dave Roberts had surgery on his troublesome left knee Saturday, and it could be 12 weeks before he rejoins the Giants.

Fred Lewis will play regularly in Roberts’ spot in left field. Roberts batted .118 with one RBI in six games this season.

Team orthopedist Ken Akizuki performed the 45-minute procedure to clean out cartilage behind his kneecap caused by arthritis and wear and tear. Athletic trainer Dave Groeschner said there was not a tear, as the Giants believed there might be.

SF Gate - Jenkins: Giants are not hopeless, but don’t get too excited

Bruce Jenkins jumping on the stat geek-trashing bandwagon:

You can’t imagine what the Giants’ resurgence has done for clubhouse morale. Teams don’t often panic during the season’s first week, but the Giants wanted a victory so badly after going 0-2 in Los Angeles, they allowed Tim Lincecum to pitch after a 74-minute rain delay.

It was a great move, actually. All the pitch-count paranoia geeks can take a hike, as far as we’re concerned.

I love the name of the second pitcher below. I dated a girl who insisted that she wanted a son named Madison. I responded that it was a girl’s name. Perhaps that is why it didn’t last.

There might be a half-dozen coveted players in the minor leagues, notably Tim Alderson and Madison Bumgarner, the two pitchers drafted out of high school last year.

Nah, it’s probably because I was/am a proud stat geek.

The Onion: Giants Band Together To Score Run

I don’t know… they have a good chance to win three in a row.

The San Francisco Giants put aside their differences Sunday night, working together as a team in a common effort to score a run in a baseball game. The scrappy nine-man crew overcame daunting odds to cobble together the run, as each player used his individual strengths and skills to help string together an unlikely series of events—including a walk, advancement on a wild pitch, an infield single, and perhaps most selfless of all, a ground into double play—that ultimately resulted in a Giant crossing home plate. “This just shows you what a team can do when they put their mind to it,” said Giants first-baseman Dan Ortmier, who was swarmed by his celebrating teammates at home plate after scoring the run. The Giants lost to the Brewers 12-1.

As Flemming or Krukow might say, what a gamer!