Tag Archives: cubs

I went to the Giants vs. Diamondbacks game last night and also watched FP Santangelo and Rich Aurilia doing Chronicle Live, the Giants pre-game show.  You know how everyone has been saying the energy level at the stadium is really high?  I didn’t notice that as much inside as outside, on Willie Mays Plaza.  It was electric out there.  That might have had to do with the lights and mics and cords everywhere, but I prefer to think that it had to do with the crowd’s mood.  Mid-way through, a man in a suit started weaving through the crowd.  As he walked past me, I had an Omigod, is that…?  moment.  It was Gary Radnich, about to go on air with Chron Live.  Being the chicken that I am, I needed a little egging on, but I eventually asked him to sign my ball and he was very friendly and his unmistakable voice is even more unmistakable in person.  He told me that he can only stand Ralph Barbieri once a month, which I basically get, and posed for pictures and was totally nice to everyone.  I am firmly in the Gary Radnich camp from now on.  If you don’t like his show, switch your dial to 102.1 KDFC.  It’s what all the radios in my house were set to, until I changed them to KNBR 680.  Needless to say, there was some resistance to that.

FP, the groom, with his best men.  That’s what their suits looked like.

Other celebrity sightings of the day are…

-          Dave Flemming, in the dugout wearing this beautiful, black coat.  He is the best dressed broadcaster, for sure.  I seriously nearly fainted when I saw him, just 20 feet away or so.  I listen to him every day.  I love him.  And his coat.

-          John Shea, in the press-box.  On computer.  Looking riveted.

-          Sean Astin.  Who I, sadly, did not actually sight.  But he was there.  That almost counts as a sighting, right?  I am not waiting for your answer on that one.

-          The Public House Patio.  That place is legendary.  It counts as a celebrity.  This was the first time I saw it.  Have not been on it yet, but that’s my next goal.

My brother also got a ball from Ramon Ramirez and I got a Darren Ford autograph.  Those don’t count as sightings though, because they weren’t incidental.

It was also save #47 for Wilson.  ::Cue House of Pain::

This really deserves its own blog post but I want to talk about it in a timely way: Mat Latos’ controversial quote to the press.  “Baseball works in funny ways.  The only way I could honestly put it is, we could be like the Giants and go and change our whole lineup, put guys with ‘San Francisco Giants‘ across their jerseys.  We didn’t.  “We added two guys (Miguel Tejada and Ryan Ludwick).  We’ve been the same team all year.  We haven’t just gone and grabbed guys from other teams.”  You can hate me forever for saying this, but I basically agree.  It’s actually okay with me.  That’s how baseball works and it doesn’t make me angry, but it does make me a little bit sad.  The line-up is so different from opening day that it feels a little strange when Cody Ross hits a homerun.  Should I really be cheering for this guy?  For me, there’s no chemistry with the new guys (Cody Ross, Jose Guillen, Mike Fontenot, Pat Burrell are who I consider the new guys).  Everyone says the chemistry in the clubhouse is good, which is obviously what matters but I honestly have a hard time believing that.  I imagine some days it would feel like, Who are these guys, anyway?

I don’t think Latos was having sour grapes.  I think he was speaking his mind to the press, which may or may not have been the best thing to do right now, but I do agree with him.  What do ya’ll think?  And who’s going to listen to Uncle Gary tomorrow?

Diamond Girl