Baseball Americana: celebrating history, community

Baseball Americana at the Library of Congress

Baseball in 1879

Americans, I learned, during a recent visit to see the "Baseball Americana" exhibit at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., had been playing baseball for a long time before they agreed upon the rules of the game – or even settled on how to spell it. Baseball, it seemed, was known by some as "town ball" or, more generically, as "round ball." Yet, no matter what form, the sport which has given us Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Hank Aaron and Mickey Mantle, among so many stars – and broken the color barrier with Jackie Robinson – has endured. But it hasn't stayed the same in anyone's lifetime. One need only look at the use of the designated hitter in the American League since the 1970s.

"Baseball Americana" is a colorful and important showcase of pieces of baseball history curated by the Library of Congress with the help of Major League Baseball, ESPN, and the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, that cannot be found anywhere else – but it's not meant to be a comprehensive history of baseball. Instead, as viewers to the exhibit will see, "Baseball Americana" is a celebration of baseball as community as well as an exploration of the sport's "gritty roots" and its "changing traditions." It's also about the game of baseball as we know it today.

The  American essayist and culture critic Gerald Early once said, "I think there are only three things America will be known for 2,000 years from now ... the Constitution, jazz music, and baseball."

Magna Carta of Baseball

Visitors are given a chance to consider baseball, both in its past and present forms, as it relates to the players and teams and to the communities that it creates. We learn how each of these groups has contributed to the fabric of baseball – its customs and traditions – and how they thrive, evolve or eventually fade into memory.

Front and center, the Magna Carta of Baseball shows the handwritten "laws" of the game. They are the founding documents for the modern version of baseball, going back to 1856, before the Civil War. The evolution of baseball equipment – bats, balls and gloves – are explored. The role that Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey played in integrating the Major Leagues is discussed in great detail. There are also plenty of vintage black and white photographs, colorful posters, scouting reports and scorecards – even bobble-heads. Also, there are interactive areas that allow visitors to touch and feel bats and balls and gloves, create their own baseball cards, and test their baseball knowledge and IQ.

Free agency and player rights are addressed. The Negro Legues and the role of women's baseball are featured, too. And, the comedy of baseball as seen on TV (Cheers) and in film (Bull Durham) is not to be missed.

Willie Mays ca. 1965

My favorite part of "Baseball Americana" was hearing the "voices of the game" – Mel Allen, Vin Scully, Russ Hodges, to name a few – create colorful word pictures of some of the great moments of our National Pastime, including the final out of Don Larsen's 1956 World Series perfect game, Hank Aaron's record-breaking 714th home run from 1974, and Bobby Thomson's 1951 "shot heard 'round the world." And, nothing beats watching the greats of the game, including Willie Mays, Bob Gibson and Barry Bonds – in black and white and in color – come alive on the video screens.

The late commissioner of baseball, Bart Giamatti, once said, "Baseball breaks your heart. It's designed to break your heart." How else do you explain what the long-time suffering Chicago Cubs fans endured before they finally won a World Series in 2016 after not winning one in the past 118 years?

Time and again, baseball brings us together to watch or play the game – and to discuss it, analyze it, debate it. Heck, it's even spawned an entire cable network devoted to our National Pastime. From visiting "Baseball Americana," which opened on June 29 and continues through next June, I came away with a renewed appreciation of the way the history of baseball illuminates the history of our nation and the role baseball plays in providing us with a shared sense of belonging.

Cover Photo: By Michael Dickens © 2018.
Note: A digital version of "Baseball Americana," can be seen at www.loc. 

Out of the Park: The Art of Baseball

We Did It! / 2013, Oil on canvas 16 x 20 inches
By Jon Francis

Out of the Park: The Art of Baseball is a visual and artistic metaphor of the American pastime that reminds us that baseball is rich in art and literature.

Last Saturday, I visited the Out of the Park: The Art of Baseball exhibition at the George Krevsky Gallery of American Art, located at 77 Geary Street near Union Square in San Francisco. Seeing this year's exhibit brought back fond memories of the 2012 San Francisco Giants World Series championship as depicted through a painting of Sergio Romo, shown moments after striking out Miguel Cabrera to clinch the decisive victory, while his battery mate Buster Posey races to the mound to join Romo in celebration.

This year's 16th annual exhibition of baseball art includes iconic images of Jackie Robinson, Joe DiMaggio and Willie Mays, all which reinforced for me on this April afternoon why baseball matters ~ why it has an important purpose in my life.

Also, there's Oakland A's reliever Rollie Fingers illustrated in his prime, a collage of the outfield wall at Brooklyn's old Ebbets Field featuring the advertisement "Hit Sign, Win Suit" ~ even a gelatin silver photograph of Fidel Castro swinging a baseball bat.

Each work of art from the more than 40 artists in this year's exhibition, created through the use of a variety of mixed media ~ graphite on paper, oil on paper, oil on canvas, gelatin silver photograph, acrylic and marker on canvas board, hand-cut paper collage, and pastel on paper ~ cements our lasting memories of the game we've loved since we were children.

And, there's also a featured literary component, "Baseball Canto," by the American Beat poet and San Francisco resident Lawrence Ferlinghetti:

Watching baseball, sitting in the sun,
eating popcorn, reading Ezra Pound,
and wishing that Juan Marichal would hit a hole right through
the Anglo-Saxon tradition in the first Canto
and demolish the barbarian invaders.
When the San Francisco Giants take the field
and everyone stands up for the National Anthem
with some Irish tenor's voice piped over the loudspeakers,
with all the players struck dead in their places
and the white umpires like Irish cops
in their black suits and little black caps, pressed over their hearts
standing straight and still
like at some funeral of a blarney bartender, and all facing East
as if expecting  some Great White Hope
or the Founding Fathers, to appear on the horizon
like 1066 or 1776 or all that.

But Willie Mays appears instead,
in the bottom of the first,
and a roar goes up, as he clouts the first one into the sun
and takes off, like a footrunner from Thebes.
The ball is lost in the sun and maidens wail after him
but he keeps running, through the Anglo-Saxon epic.
And Tito Fuentes comes up, looking like a bullfighter
in his tight pants and small pointed shoes.
And the rightfield bleachers go mad
with Chicanos & blacks & Brooklyn beer drinkers
"Sweet Tito! Sock it to heem, Sweet Tito!"
And Sweet Tito puts his foot in the bucket
and smacks one that don't come back at all
and flees around the bases
like he's escaping from the United Fruit Company
as the gringo dollar beats out the pound.
And Sweet Tito beats it out, like he's beating out usury,
not to mention fascism and anti-semitism.
And Juan Marichal comes up,
and the Chicano bleachers go loco again,
as Juan belts the first ball, out of sight,
and rounds first and keeps going
and rounds second and rounds third,
and keeps going, and hits pay-dirt
to the roars of the grungy populace.
As some nut presses the backstage panic button
for the tape-recorded National Anthem again,
to save the situation.

But it don't stop nobody this time,
in their revolution round the loaded white bases,
in this last of the great Anglo-Saxon epics,
in the Territorio Libre of Baseball.

A special treat of this year's show is A Baseball Salon: Memories of the Game, an evening of baseball poetry and literature readings, music and short film that will be hosted by the gallery on May 2.

"Baseball has a new purpose in our lives," writes Dr. Marshall Ledger, a magazine editor, in the gallery notes for Out of the Park: The Art of Baseball. "We have discovered the sport in the visual arts and in literature, where artists and writers use it as theme or metaphor to draw us into their special, and often unexpectedly rich, creative worlds."

(Out of the Park: The Art of Baseball continues through May 25. Gallery hours are Tuesday-Saturday, 11:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.)

52 seasons: A long and winding journey ...

The San Francisco Giants celebrated their first World Series title in the city's history Monday night.

"Wait 'til this year!," as someone suggested to San Francisco Chronicle Datebook columnist Leah Garchik, has a nice ring to it.

So does GIANTS WIN IT! as today's front page of the San Francisco Chronicle proclaimed.

San Francisco Chronicle front page, Nov. 2, 2010:
Big headline, "a lot of happy" on the field, says it all.

Although the Giants previously won five World Series titles in the team's long and glorious history, they were all as the New York Giants.  The team's most recent title came in 1954, during the Eisenhower administration, against the Cleveland Indians. Remember the grainy video and black-and-white pictures of Willie Mays' over-the-shoulder catch at the Polo Grounds?

However, until last night, they never had won a World Series title as the San Francisco Giants, a city that's been the Giants' home since 1958.  There have been a few close calls, though. The Giants came within one out in 1962 against the New York Yankees; got swept by the rival Oakland A's in the earthquake-interrupted Series of 1989; and lost a seven-game heart breaker to the Los Angeles Angels in 2002.

Through the years, the Giants' roster was well supplied.  Yet, they never won any titles despite the best efforts from Mays and fellow Hall of Famers Willie McCovey, Juan Marichal, Orlando Cepeda and Gaylord Perry, as well as other popular Giants through the years, including: Will Clark, Matt Willams, Kevin Mitchell, J.T. Snow, Jeff Kent and the Home Run King himself, Barry Bonds.

Buster Posey, the Giants' gifted, 23-year-old rookie catcher, nicely summed up the meaning of winning a championship for an organization and city that has been starved for 52 years. "It's crazy to think with all the great baseball players who have come through San Francisco, there hasn't been a World Series championship," Posey told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Over the past week, there's been so much to absorb about this current merry band of baseball misfits ~ "quirky dudes" writes The Hollywood Reporter chief TV critic Tim Goodman ~ these 2010 San Francisco Giants are.  One thing is clear, as Giants starting pitcher Matt Cain told the San Francisco Chronicle's Henry Schulman (and, maybe others, during the pandemonium of last night's victory celebration): "We're the World Series champions of 2010."

Nicely put, Matt, who earned the nickname "Texas Cain-saw" after his mastery of the Rangers in Game 2. Now, let's toast the town with a glass of Champagne and celebrate with a victory parade.

52 seasons:  It's time to celebrate with a victory parade.

The Giants' journey started during spring training in Scottsdale, Ariz., back in February, which by now seems an eternity instead of just nine months ago.  It carried through the marathon of this season ~ baseball is a marathon, never a sprint ~ and took on a life of its own, earning the slogan of "Giants baseball: (dramatic pause) Torture!"  Finally, during the last weekend of the regular season, at home, the Giants caught the San Diego Padres to win the NL West.  The Giants lost their fair share of close games, but they won a lot of one-run nail biters.  Yes, they provided their fans with a lot of torture.

The Giants dugout on a Saturday afternoon in May:
Top of the 9th, a 1-run lead ~ it's torture time ~ and no thoughts
of playing in the World Series.

Then, national baseball critics ~ especially Fox and ESPN ~ didn't give the Giants much of a chance to go deep in baseball's second season. However, they ran the table during the post season, beating the Atlanta Braves in four games; the defending NL champion Philadelphia Phillies in six games and, finally, the Texas Rangers in what seemed like five quick games.   The Giants garnered great pitching and capitalized on some very timely hitting.

"The Freak": Tim Lincecum has won two Cy Young Awards.
He came up big in the final game of the World Series.

On the final night of the 2010 journey, a 3-1 victory over the Rangers at Arlington, Texas, the Giants' two-time Cy Young Award pitcher Tim ("The Freak") Lincecum shut down the AL champion Rangers, hurling eight masterful innings, which included 10 strike outs, and the game produced an unlikely hero in Edgar Renteria.  The soft-spoken, injury-plagued short stop, who earlier in his career played on championship teams with the Florida Marlins (1997) and St. Louis Cardinals (2006), and is considering retirement, hit a three-run home run off Rangers ace Cliff Lee in the top of the 7th that broke a 0-0 tie and gave the Giants all the runs they needed.  Closer Brian ("Fear the Beard") Wilson shut the door on Texas in the ninth by striking out Nelson Cruz for the final out of the World Series, and the celebration was on.

During the post-season playoffs and the World Series, fans got to see Giants pitchers like Lincecum beat Derek Lowe and Roy Halladay, not to mention besting Lee twice.  They saw Cain and Madison Bumgarner shine on a national stage ~ both pitched brilliantly in World Series Games 2 and 4 ~ and quirky players like Cody Ross and Aubrey Huff strutted their bats, too.  Ross was Ruthian at the plate, knocking out four post-season homers, and Huff ~ a true baseball journeyman ~ laid down the perfect bunt of his life in the 7th inning Monday night that set the table two batters later for Renteria's homer.

Taking time for paradise:
A view from the center field bleachers at AT&T Park.

I would've loved snatching a ticket to one of the two World Series games played in San Francisco at AT&T Park, our Ballpark by the Bay, as I prefer to call it.  After all, I've been to many Giants games since the park opened to great fanfare in 2000 and, before that, saw some memorably cold games at old Candlestick Park.  However, tickets to this year's World Series were scarce and extremely costly ~ three-figures-and-up costly.

Instead, I spent about half an hour last Sunday walking around the ballpark, bought a couple of souvenirs at the Giants Dugout store, and stepped inside the area around the outfield bleachers and kid's play area to soak up some sunshine and enjoy the atmosphere.  Then, I went home and watched that night's Game 4 from the comfort of my living room with the Fox TV sound muted in order to enjoy the play-by-play broadcast delivered by the Giants' announcers: Duane Kuiper, Mike Krukow and Dave Flemming, on the radio.  (Giants Hall of Fame announcer Jon Miller called the play-by-play for ESPN Radio, but was on hand for the post-game celebrations on Monday night with his colleagues.) That's right, baseball on the radio, a 20th century invention that's still relevant and enjoyable in the 21st century age of the Internet.

Speaking of the Internet, my wife and I participated in a live Internet chat (my moniker was "micdic") via San Jose Mercury News baseball writer Andrew Baggarly's "Extra Baggs" blog before, during and after Games 3, 4 and 5, that was highly entertaining and provided a forum for many Giants fans like us, near and far, to bond and unite, and share the "torture."  We would have logged in for all five games had I known about it sooner.

It's a beautiful day to reflect on a "torturous" but winning season:
Enjoying the Sunday afternoon sunshine and solitude of AT&T Park.

As I blog, it's time to step back and regroup, reflect, read the headlines and digest the many wonderful stories and blogs about the Giants' triumph.  Tomorrow, there's a victory parade in downtown San Francisco along Market Street. I suspect there will be hundreds of thousands of Giants fans like me from all around the Bay Area lining the parade route.  I know there will be lots and lots of orange and black (the team's colors) worn by fans of all ages, a lot of SF logos displayed, and a lot of congratulatory posters and banners like the one I saw on TV last night after the game ended: "The torture has ended." After the parade ends, we'll collectively sigh, and ask our baseball nines:  "Must you go?"

Fans across the country, including here, enjoy taking pride in supporting their city's winning athletic teams.  Especially ones that just won a World Series title.  Even if it took 52 years ~ more than a lifetime for many fans ~ for the moment to happen.  I've merely been along for the ride since moving to the Bay Area in 1995.

One of my favorite sports columnists, Bruce Jenkins, summed up his feelings ~ and, I imagine, those of many long-time, suffering Giants fans ~ in the front page of today's San Francisco Chronicle Sporting Green section.  Simply stated, he wrote:

"San Francisco Giants. Born, 1958. Blessed, 2010."

True that.

Fall Classic means baseball, crisp weather

Late October is one of my favorite times of the year for many reasons.

Fall colors arrive
just in time for
baseball's Fall Classic.

For one, the fall Bay Area weather is crisp ~ cooler temperatures mixed with just the right amount of sunshine ~ which makes it ideal for taking brisk walks.  Plus, the beautiful autumn colors have started dotting the neighborhood landscapes.

Best of all, baseball's Fall Classic has arrived.  And this year, it holds an extra-special meaning for me since my local nines, the San Francisco Giants, have made it to the World Series for the first time since 2002.

The Ballpark by the Bay:
Home of the San Francisco Giants
and site of Games 1 and 2
of the 2010 World Series.

This year's World Series starts today in the Bay Area at AT&T Park, which I prefer to think of as the Ballpark by the Bay. Less commercial that way and, in its decade of existence, the ballpark has changed its name three times (from Pac Bell Park to SBC Park to AT&T Park).  Still, it's a wonderful setting for watching a game ~ regular season or World Series ~ with great upper-deck views of San Francisco Bay ~ and, it's not every park that has knothole area (located in right field) for walking in to sneak a peak of the game for free, or a McCovey Cove, the water inlet beyond right field, that's about a 350-foot shot from home plate (a tidy 309 feet to the foul pole).

Giants baseball ~ Torture:
Brian Wilson preserves a 2-1
Giants victory on May 15.

The team's theme this year was coined by Giants broadcaster (and former player) Duane Kuiper:  "Giants baseball (pause) ~ Torture." Dramatic emphasis is placed on the word "torture." Kuiper came up with the moniker on May 15 after the team's maniacal and tattooed closer, Brian Wilson, needed 39 pitches to save an early season, 2-1 home victory for Tim Lincecum over the Houston Astros.  I remember the game well because I was there at the ballpark that day to witness the "torture." The Giants had their fair share of one-run victories in 2010.  They also accumulated a lot of one-run losses, too. Folks, it's the same gut-wrenching feeling, win or lose.

The Ballpark by the Bay provides
parking for ferry boats and
great views of San Francisco Bay.
Plus,  it's only 309 feet to
the right field foul pole.
(Photo: 2009)

Still, it's hard to believe the Giants have emerged as the last team standing from the National League.  It's also improbable that the Texas Rangers, who have never been to the World Series before now, are the last team remaining from the American League.  And, the Giants have never won a World Series in three previous tries (1962, 1989, 2002) since moving from New York to San Francisco in 1958.  So, in the words of Giants infielder Juan Uribe, there's going to be "a lot of happy" for which ever team wins the World Series this year.

Win or lose, a walk along
the Embarcadero from
the ballpark is just one
of the many things for
Giants fans to appreciate.

When you follow a team like the Giants on a day-in, day-out basis as I have this season ~ watching on TV, listening on radio, reading in print and on the Internet ~ it's like a season-long soap opera filled with plenty of ups and downs, and it involves a lot of unusually interesting characters.  I've spent a lot of time since the beginning of the 2010 season watching Kuiper and Mike Krukow describe what I'm watching on TV; a lot of hours listening to Jon Miller and Dave Flemming paint word pictures on the radio and, along with Kuiper and Krukow, after the games during their often-hilarious Post Game Wrap segments; reading Henry Schulman and John Shea's game accounts and columns in the San Francisco Chronicle and Andy Baggarly's San Jose Mercury News "Extra Baggs" blog.

This year's Giants team includes the following cast of characters:

* A youthful, long-haired, two-time Cy Young Award pitcher (Tim Lincecum), who was the object of Philadelphia fans' affectionate whistling during the NLCS.  Perhaps, they thought he looked cute with long hair or had a cute butt.

* A journeyman, tattooed first baseman (Aubrey Huff), who had never been to the post season before now, and who likes to sport colorful "rally" thongs around the team's clubhouse to keep the players loose while providing the press good quotes.

* A switch-hitting outfielder (Andres Torres), who needed an emergency appendectomy last month, then returned to the club healed just in time for the final weekend of the regular season, and who was voted the team's winner of the Willie Mac Award (named for Giants great Willie McCovey), voted by the team's players and coaches as most inspirational player on the team.

* Another outfielder (Cody Ross), who was waived by the Florida Marlins in August and, then, was "accidentally" claimed by the Giants in order to block the San Diego Padres from claiming him.  Ross merely became the starting right fielder in the post season and hit three home runs against the Philadelphia Phillies ~ including two against Roy Halliday ~ and he won the NLCS MVP trophy.  He's been all smiles this week.

* Finally, there's the rookie catcher (Buster Posey), who was recalled to the big leagues in May and not only became a regular by July, but also became the team's cleanup hitter and best clutch performer ~ both at the plate (.305 batting average, 18 homers and 67 RBI) and behind it, guiding a very deep and talented pitching staff like a seasoned veteran. Posey has been the team's MVP and is a deserving candidate for NL Rookie of the Year.

On paper, it says the Giants should have lost to the Phillies in the NLCS and, with a different outcome, it could have been the New York Yankees ~ or even the Minnesota Twins, had they played up to their potential ~ winning the ALCS.  But, the Giants and Rangers have gutted it out with the right amount of clutch hitting, the right amount of clutch pitching, the right amount of dumb luck.  Never underestimate the importance of dumb luck during the post season.  However, to their credit, Giants manager Bruce Bochy and Rangers manager Ron Washington have pulled all the right levers, made all the right moves to get their teams this far.  Now, four more wins closes the deal for one manager and his team.

Little Timmy:
After winning back-to-back Cy Young Awards in 2008 and 2009,
Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum went 16-10 with a 3.43 ERA this season.

So, the scene is set for Game 1:  It's Lincecum against Rangers lefty Cliff Lee, a mid-season acquisition, who has been unflappable and unbeatable in the post season.  Game 2 is Thursday in The City (as locals like to refer to San Francisco as) before the Series shifts to Arlington, Texas, for Games 3 and 4 over the weekend.  Maybe, Cody Ross continues hitting homers like Babe Ruth.  Maybe, Tim Lincecum  comes up big and tosses another 14-strike out gem like he did against the Atlanta Braves during the NL Division Series.  Perhaps, Bengie Molina comes back to haunt his former team.  After all, he was made redundant when it was time for Buster Posey to become the every-day catcher for the Giants and, then, was traded to the Rangers.  Molina knows what it's like to play against the Giants in the World Series.  He was the starting catcher for the victorious Los Angeles Angels against the Giants in the 2002 World Series.

An inspirational Giant:
The Willie McCovey statue is located across
McCovey Cove from the ballpark.
(Photo: 2008)

The Say Hey Kid:
The Willie Mays statue is the focal point of
Willie Mays Plaza in front of the ballpark.

I hope the Giants (finally) win a World Series title for San Francisco.   Do it for Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Orlando Cepeda and Juan Marichal, all Giants Hall of Famers, who never experienced the thrill of winning a World Series for the San Francisco Giants.  Heck, do it for Will "The Thrill" Clark, who was the charismatic leader of the 1989 Giants that were swept in the Earthquake Series by the Oakland A's.

It would be a lot of fun to join in and be a part of The City's celebration if the Giants win the World Series.  I remember the euphoria of the Twins' 1987 World Series victory when I lived in St. Paul, Minn.  There was "a lot of happy" back then, and the memories of the victory parade carried us through the cold, snowy winter months. However, if the Giants come up short, like they did in 2002 when it was the Barry Bonds Giants, there's always next season to look forward to.  Spring training starts in just a few months.

For now, however, it's all upbeat and smiles around The City and pretty bunting spread around The Ballpark by the Bay. The Giants have the home-field advantage for the first two games. Dumb luck.

Game on. Play ball!

All photos copyright by Michael Dickens (2010, except where noted).

A knothole perspective of the game

AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, is a classic urban baseball ballpark with a brick facade whose old-time feel has been a welcome, if not always kind, addition to the downtown city landscape since its opening in April 2000.

The privately financed ballpark at the corner of Third and King streets, in the South Beach neighborhood of San Francisco, replaced crumbling Candlestick Park as home of the Giants. It's been host to one heartbreaking World Series (in 2002, the Giants lost in seven games to the Angels); the scene of many towering home runs hit by Giants great Barry Bonds (including his record-breaking No. 756 on Aug. 7, 2007); and, it provided the setting for pitcher Greg Maddux's 300th career victory (on Aug. 7, 2004), a game my wife and I were witness to, from both far and near.  More about that later.

AT&T Park:
The ballpark at Third & King

With a 12.7-acre site, bounded by Second, Third and King streets and the China Basin (renamed McCovey Cove in honor of the Giants great first baseman and fan favorite, Willie McCovey), AT&T Park was built into one of the coziest parcels of land of any Major League ball park. Within it, the Giants have honored their past heroes, too. There's Willie Mays Plaza gracing the corner of Third and King streets complete with palm trees and a statue of the Say Hey Kid. Further down King, there's a statue recognizing Hall of Fame slugger Orlando Cepeda and heading toward McCovey Cove on Third is a statue saluting Hall of Fame pitcher Juan Marichal. Finally, a statue honoring Hall of Famer Willie McCovey sits across McCovey Cove and is accessible by walking across the Lefty O'Doul Bridge on Third Street.

View of the Portwalk at AT&T Park
from across McCovey Cove (2006)

One of the unique aspects of AT&T Park is its Portwalk, located beyond the right-field wall, which allows visitors sweeping views of McCovey Cove and the San Francisco Bay beyond while walking along the perimeter of the ball park ~ and, in a nod to baseball charm, the opportunity to sneak a peek of the ball game for a few innings ~ or longer ~ without having to pay a fee in the tradition of the old knothole gang.

Framing Greg Maddux:
We watched part of Greg Maddux's 300th career victory while
standing in the knothole at AT&T Park on August 7, 2004.

Standing under the right-field arcade stands, looking through a chain link fence at the field, is an interesting, if not unusual, way to observe a baseball game ~ from the perspective of the right fielder ~ without the benefit of television monitors, but with the radio broadcast of the game piped in.  It's how we saw the start of Maddux's quest for his 300th Major League victory six years ago during his second stint with the Chicago Cubs. (We later lucked into buying field club seats behind home plate for the final seven innings of the game.)  Also, it's how we spent a portion of our afternoon last Sunday, standing in the knothole, watching a couple of innings of the Giants' 9-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.

Watching the Giants chase after
the 2010 NL West pennant
from the knothole.

Our Sunday travels brought us into San Francisco for morning church and brunch at Home. During our meal, I suggested we ride the Muni Metro train across town afterward to watch a bit of the Giants game from the knothole before returning across the bay. After all, the Giants are fun to watch ~ they are chasing after the NL West pennant ~ and the Muni Metro train would drop us right outside the ball park.

A knothole perspective:
Looking over Aubrey Huff's
shoulder, about
309 feet from home plate.

By the time we arrived, the Giants were batting in the bottom of the third inning, already leading 4-0 thanks to a first-inning grand slam homer by Jose Guillen.  There were a couple dozen other knothole customers enjoying the game, some who looked like regulars.  A few Giants fans took to razzing Brewers right fielder Corey Hart in between pitches, nothing unprintable mind you, just keeping him in the game. We stayed until the fifth inning.
No worries, the rain showers that were predicted for game time never materialized and neither did the Brewers' offense against Barry Zito.  The Giants scored five more runs after we left.

Looking back, our stroll along the Portwalk and visit to the knothole was an hour well spent at the ball park.  After all, we were cheering for our local nines.  And it didn't cost us a dime.

All photographs by Michael Dickens, copyright 2010 except where noted.