by Curtis Otaguro, Board Member
After the Giants were roughed up by the Dodgers in a home series back in July, I was hesitant to attend the NSC event, REPEAT PERFORMANCE – SF Giants VS LA Dodgers on Sunday, September 14. However, a late surge by the Giants lifted my spirits, so I decided to go at the last minute along with my baseball buddy, Steve. We joined 18 family and friends for the finale of the weekend series at Oracle Park. The first game of the series started off with a bang on Friday night, when Patrick Bailey hit a walk-off grand slam to beat the bums, 5-1. Unfortunately, the Giants could not ride that momentum, losing 13-7 on Saturday, setting up the rubber match on Sunday. Could the Giants take the series by winning the final?
Steve and I had an early start on Sunday, riding Caltrain to the ballpark arriving early at around 10:00 am, so we could get our free Willy Adames t-shirt. After the gates opened at 11:00 am, we headed to the View Reserve level to meet the NSC gang. No one was there yet, so Steve and I went to hang out in the View Box seats to enjoy the beautiful views of the bay and pleasant warm weather. A flotilla of kayaks and boats dotted McCovey Cove, eagerly hoping for a splash hit during the game. We then returned to the food court and met Jeanne and her carpool mates John and Lorraine. Judy and her extended family, Tina and Arthur, and others soon joined us for a delicious lunch of Oracle Park offerings, including the famous Crazy Crab’z sandwich, Giant Nachos w/ Chicken, and Pita Lamb and Beef Gyros. Yummy!
With our appetites now sated, it was on to the game! I was anticipating a great matchup with All-Star Robbie Ray of the Giants facing Tyler Glasnow of the Dodgers. Ray had a great start, retiring the Dodgers in order in the top of the 1st inning, including a strikeout of Ohtani. The Dodgers went ahead in the 2nd inning, scoring one run. The Giants answer with one of their own in the bottom half of the inning. Dodgers scored one more in the 3rd. Ray finally faltered in the fifth inning, giving up a walk, single, and a double with the Dodgers scoring another run. He was replaced by the normally reliable reliever Peguero, but the misery continued with a walk, single and disengagement violation, scoring 2 more runs for the Dodgers, now leading 6-1. The Dodgers added 2 more in the 6th inning, increasing the lead to 8-1. At this point, my fellow NSCers lost hope and started to leave the game, leaving just Steve and me to contend with the obnoxious Dodger fans. Single runs in the 8th and 9th by the Dodgers and a single run by the Giants in the 8th ended the scoring, with the final score of 10-2. It seems that the NSC event name, “REPEAT PERFORMANCE” was a harbinger of things to come since the Giants also lost at the first matchup at the NSC Members at the Yard event. Maybe we should have named the event “BEAT LA” instead!
Although the Giants missed the playoffs again this year, I believe that there are better times ahead with the addition of Devers to the core group (Adames, Chapman, Lee, Webb, Ray) of players and arrival of a new manager that will hopefully get the most from this team. And NSC will be there so we can see a victory next time!
