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JIM REALINI |
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SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA APRIL 1st, 2007 |
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I'm sorry this took a while to get posted but the combined effect of attending the Giants Opening Day stinker and a death in the family took a little while to recover from. Thanks for the prayers but really, the Giant's need them more. April Fool's Day originated with the practice of continuing to celebrate the New Year at the beginning of spring long after the Christian calendar was changed under Pope Gregory to account for the 365 1/4 days of orbiting Earth versus the 30 day lunar calendar.... Okay, that has nothing to do with baseball but it helps to explain the sight that awaited our eyes when we arrived at Oak Grove to find that after avoiding the rain for the first three weeks of the season, we were almost derailed by the school's sprinkler system which had transformed home plate and first base into a south bay swamp. Kudos to Heath Keller and Sugar Ray Miailovich for getting the field ready to play with only a few minute delay. |
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Yomuri Giants (Schmuck-Miller) 17 vs Saint Louis Giants (Hughey-Weishaar) 1 The best thing you can say about this game was that St Louis shoulda prayed for rain, it weren't their day. Chilly mowed down the St Louis boys over five innings yielding only one hit before giving way to Lorne Johnson for a couple of nervous innings (he forgot that he only needed to get three outs per inning!) with Carl Vargas quickly mopping up the futile St Louis effort. Hot-hitting Steve Bennett led the Yomuiri batters with a double and two singles while Mike Miller ripped off three solid singles. Dave Chilcote had a double and a single to go along with Matt Schmuck and Carl Vargas' two singles each. Dave "The Count" Montellatto (looking much trimmer), Sil Krevocheza, Lorne Johnson, and Scott Lueders each blasted singles to add to the St Louis agony. There were few bright spots for the depleted Gassed-Haus Gang. Jim Realini had two singles to go along with his inept flyball dropping in right field which didn't hurt but didn't help either. Doug Rusch and Mark Bruzzone each belted bingles to no avail to round off the feeble St Louie attack. One shining moment occurred when centerfielder Keith DaCosta nailed Chilly at the plate (actually trapped him in a rundown) after Dave had slipped on a sprinkler head rounding third. |
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'62 Giants (Terra-Realini) 7 vs Philadelphia A's (Mello-Luis) 5 Somebody had to win and that means somebody had to lose in this early season batlle between the two teams unlucky enough to reside at the bottom of the standings. The '62 Giants rode the strong arm of Joe Gagliardo and the guttty pitching of old Randy Wallace to parlay a six-run sixth inning outburst to prevail over the spirited Philadelphia A's. The A's went down fighting and showed they have a gritty team that will prevail over the long season. The Giants made six hits, smart base running and some smooth fielding trys stand up for their first win. Henry Perezalonso from the pool smacked two singles to lead the way while Jim Realini, Randy Wallace, and Drew Greenlee each slugged singletons for the '62 Giants. Don Luis led a trio of A's (Luis, Mike Hilton, and Gordie Yost) who pummeled the Giant pitchers with a double and single each. Dave Gamson, Mike Mello, Rod Oehrlein, and Jeff McAusland each batted singles to keep the fightin' A's alive. |
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#1. Well as we know Buzz (Mark Bruzzone) was having a rough day (couldn't get anybody out), but he did smile once. Scott (Leuders-Line) Leuders is at the plate. Buzz sets, winds, delivers and Scott pulls the trigger. The enormous kinetic energy produced by Scott's swing forced the bat out of his hands and fly's almost to short stop. Nice swing Scott...YOU'RE OUT! Strike three. That's three bucks Scott, we figure the bat did three full rotations before softly landing out by Buzz. Buzz returned the favor by leaving his bat at the field. #2. It was obvious Chilly was leaving it all on the mound today, but his brain kinda stopped working while running the bases. Yomuiri loads the bases in the 2nd and Chilly's on first. Mike Miller's at the plate one-out. Buzz once again sets, winds, and deliv....oh wait, Chilly is yelling at everyone to run since Buzz was in his full wind-up. Dude, you've been in this league a long time, NO STEALING with the bases loaded. Well the rest of us aren't too bright either so everyone starts running. Can you believe it? Buzz plunks Miller! That saves Chilly and everyone else's collective asses for running on the pitch. Chilly, that's a buck dude, in fact it's three bucks for making everyone else run too, one buck per player. #3. Mike Hughey had a really gross day!! After he gets picked off third rounding the bases like he's Ruben Rivera... He has the temerity the next inning to yell out "runner" and then trot out to pinch run at first base to the dumbfounded stares of everyone present, followed by several hoots and catcalls. |
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