The Rock and Baseball

Hey boys and girls!

Day two here in San Francisco is complete. It was a very long day, but it was very fun.

Waking up at 0515, we drove to the Aquatic Park to see my mom participate in the famous Swim from Alcatraz. She was pretty nervous last night and even into this morning, but she did just fine. She traversed the 1.25 mile swim from Alcatraz to Aquatic Park in just about an hour.

While watching all the swimmers come in, I have made the decision to do the swim myself next summer. Most of the swimmers were older people that looked out of shape. Heck, if they can do it, I certainly can. And, besides, it gives me an excuse to come down for some baseball games.

We came back to the hotel and took some much needed naps. The plan was to get on the BART train back into town and ride cable cars. The Cable Car turn around was right next to the Aquatic Park, and it was so tempting to just jump on board when we were there. They are so intriguing and they are so representative of San Francisco. They're an icon.

When we got to the BART station, the plan was shot down. For some reason, BART is so much more expensive than all other transportation into San Francisco? It would have cost my family and I almost 40 bucks to ride into the Embarcadero Station. I suggested we just drive into the city, but after waiting for the shuttle and finally getting back here to the hotel, we just didn't have the time I wanted. I was kind of disappointed.

We drove into the city and my folks dropped me off at the ballpark. On the way, I was waffling on whether or not to bring my jacket. Last night, it was eighty degrees when the game got over, and bringing my jacket was such a pain in the butt. Tonight, however, I remembered my words of wisdom from the blog posting from last night about the unpredictable nature of San Francisco whether, and brought my jacket. It was a smart idea because the wind whipped up, the fog rolled in, and the temperature dropped considerably.

After sitting in the rich people section last night, I migrated to the cheap bleacher seats in left field. This was a very different experience, but same results. There was more diversity in the clientele of the spectators, but they still had the superiority complex. The spectators sitting there showed up late, left early, and were back-and-forth getting beer. It drove me crazy. I met up with a friend, Chana, who works for the Giants, and when I told her about what I had garnered, she was not surprised at all. For being such a beautiful ballpark, the fans there really degrade it a lot.

The Giants, for the second night in a row, got stellar starting pitching, this time by Barry Zito, to drop the Rockies 5-3 and move to within a game of tying the Rockies for the wild card lead. Pablo "Kung Fu Panda" Sandoval homered, for the second straight night, on a splash hit to McCovey Cove. Giants are playing really good ball due to their excellent starting pitching. If they make into the playoffs, they're going to be a dangerous team, especially if their bats heat up.

Tomorrow, it is back to Oregon. When we get back, I will sum up this trip with a Final Thoughts entry.

Always take on a 3-0 pitch ;)