Consider a lot of us alleged experts officially fooled. In spring training, even the Cubs looked like a better team. Surely that is the ultimate indignity, being compared unfavorably with the Cubs.
But here are the San Francisco Giants, thinking pennant. It’s the only real race left in baseball, and they’re in it–the same Giants who, during the Cactus League, appeared to all have the necessities for another crash landing in the National League West basement.
Instead, the Giants dare to defy. They beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 Wednesday night to move within a game of first place, a position the Giants have held alone for 108 days this season. The Dodgers have been there only 22, yet are probably the better team.
How that hurts in San Francisco, where natives would rather do without fingerbowls for a week than see anything good happen to Los Angeles. What a rivalry. What a ballgame Wednesday night before 56,625, about triple the usual crowd.
Barry Bonds mashed a two-run homer in the first inning, and it sufficed, for it was framed by terrific pitching from Kirk Rueter and Roberto Hernandez. Raul Mondesi homered for the Dodgers, who had just four hits and must win Thursday or be tied.
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This brief series even has this city excited about something besides eating. Tickets are almost impossible to find. Usually the fans are invisible. The Giants average fewer than 20,000 per date at 3Com Park, the worst pro sports facility this side of Soldier Field.
They renamed this mausoleum, but it feels the same as old Candlestick Park, where pitcher Stu Miller was once blown off the mound. But Wednesday night it rocked. Mix fog with smog and you have a longstanding feud begun on the East Coast.
Of course, the most famous saga occurred in 1951, when the Brooklyn Dodgers led the New York Giants by 13 1/2 games on Aug. 12. The Giants, under manager Leo Durocher, won 16 straight games and 39 of 47 to force the storied playoff game in which Bobby Thomson’s home run off Ralph Branca brought New York a 5-4 triumph.
The Dodgers and Giants bolted for California in 1958, and hostilities were resumed. They’ve finished 1-2 or 2-1 four times since, and both teams have had their moments otherwise. In 1982 Joe Morgan’s three-run homer at Candlestick eliminated the Dodgers from the pennant race. The Dodgers returned the favor at Dodger Stadium in 1993, knocking the Giants from postseason eligibility despite 103 victories.
In 1965 Juan Marichal, a great pitcher for the Giants, went after Dodger catcher John Roseboro with his bat. An ugly incident. Now, when the Giants get in a pinch, they just telephone the White Sox. In late July, the Sox sent Hernandez, Wilson Alvarez and Danny Darwin to the Giants.
That was supposed to put the Giants over the hump, but the Giants aren’t having a very good second half. Maybe it’s the ex-White Sox Factor. The Giants suffered a devastating loss in Atlanta Monday night and needed a big game from Alvarez Tuesday. He didn’t oblige. His earned-run average in the National League is 5.50.
Brian Sabean, the Giants’ general manager, gutted the team over the winter and heard all about it. Fans were enraged when Matt Williams was traded to Cleveland. But the Giants, an oddball collection, have surprised all.
Years ago, when Patty Hearst was missing, Bobby Murcer of the Giants offered a suggestion: “The FBI should try the upper deck at Candlestick. Great place to hide.”
Not Wednesday night.