So much for the vaunted frigid conditions of Candlestick Park.
Saturday`s 5-4 San Francisco victory game began with 74-degree temperatures and a high, sunny sky. The flags beyond the fence in center field were completely still at game time (7:24 p.m. in Chicago).
”This is unbelievable,” third baseman Luis Salazar said. ”We`re surprised. It`s so nice and sunny and warm. We (the Padres) made three trips here this year and I think it rained every time.”
Everyone appreciated the calm spell but no one could explain it. Salazar`s guess: ”Probably it`s because of the playoffs. God said, `Let`s give these guys some nice weather to play in.` ”
– Dave Dravecky threw out the ceremonial first pitch with his right hand and was given a prolonged standing ovation. Dravecky, who still is recovering from a broken left arm, came back from what was thought to be career-ending cancer in his shoulder.
Dravecky, who won two games this year before he broke his arm, was asked if the playoffs were anti-climactic for him. ”Not at all,” Dravecky said.
”This is what baseball is all about.”
He said the day he came back ”was a great day, moments that I will never forget. But at the same time, this is baseball right here, being part of the four teams that have a chance to win the World Series.”
– The crowd of 62,065 set a Candlestick Park baseball record, passing the previous high of 59,363 that attended the fifth game of the 1987 playoff series.
– Saturday night`s first inning took 34 minutes. The Cubs and Giants scored five runs on six hits and three walks, two of them intentional.
– The pregame highlight for Rick Wrona was having his picture taken with Mike Schmidt, who`s analyzing the series for NBC.
– Rick Sutcliffe is a good friend of rock `n` roller Huey Lewis, who will sing the national anthem before Monday`s game. Lewis is from San Francisco and loves the Giants, but that didn`t stop Sutcliffe from bringing him a couple of Cub hats and autographed baseballs at a recent Wrigley Field game. ”He was happy to see them, but I don`t think he`ll put them on anytime real soon.”
– Will Clark has been lauded for his intense approach to hitting and defense. But Clark said he doesn`t take his job home with him.
Clark keeps a videotape library of his at-bats, but he said he only studies them at the ballpark. San Diego`s Tony Gwynn, who edged Clark for the National League batting crown, takes films home with him.
”When I leave the ballpark, I leave everything here,” Clark said. ”I want to be Will Clark, not Will Clark the ballplayer.”
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– San Francisco`s fans are about as fickle as San Francisco`s weather. The difference between them and the Cubs` faithful didn`t elude Clark.
”Cubs fans, if you go out there, win or lose, they`re going to support you,” Clark said. ”Giants fans, you never know.”
Clark said the fans have been a bit more critical since the Giants blew a three-games-to-two lead over the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1987 playoffs.
”We had a lot more intensity in the crowd then,” Clark said. ”Maybe we can have that this weekend, and they could be our 12th man.”
– Giants center-fielder and leadoff man Brett Butler thinks the Giants` edge in Candlestick Park is vastly overrated. ”You throw the 162 (games) out the window and you go out and play,” he said. ”When it comes to the playoffs, statistics don`t mean anything and home-field advantage doesn`t mean anything. It`s just going out there and executing.”