Things of Beauty

What a pitching clinic I watched this evening!

On his first trip back to the mound after getting destroyed in his last start, 21 year old San Francisco Giants pitcher, Madison Bumgarner put his previous debacle behind him and fanned 11 batters while giving up only one walk to tally the win.

In his last start, the first eight batters he faced got hits...yes eight hits in a row! He was pulled after getting the first out, but all eight hits became runs. Bumgarner struck out the opposing pitcher, gave up a ninth hit, and got the hook.

Tonight it looked like the young pitcher had ice water flowing through his veins.

The rest of the team looked like the World Champions they are too.Besting the Cleveland Indians 3-2 to sweep the three game series, the Giants are back on track, and back atop the National League West.

If Bumgarner's amazing comeback wasn't enough, the Giants' relief pitcher Jeremy Affeldt got the save by striking out five of the six batters he faced. Affeldt who's been on a roll for the last three weeks or so, had a curve ball that was flat-out un-hittable tonight. It was an amazing thing to see. A thing of beauty if you will.

The game was the national game on ESPN, seen in much of the country. (The Giants are the defending World Champions after all!) I put my new gadget the radioSHARK2 to good use synching the radio play-by-play through my computer with the High Definition TV broadcast via Comcast cable.

The Giants' broadcasters are too good not to listen to. Giants' play-by-play announcer, Jon Miller is a Hall Of Fame broadcaster bestowed with Cooperstown's Ford C Frick Award in 2010.

Miller cracked me up during a lull in the action when he did his Vin Scully impression. It was truly laugh-out-loud funny. Scully is the Hall Of Fame radio voice of the LA Dodgers. Miller's impression was spot-on and good natured, but still wickedly funny because it was so unexpected.

After the game I started scanning the web for some San Francisco Bay Halibut intel. SturgeUrge and I are heading onto the Bay Monday to salve our sturgeon wounds from last week's Monday fishing trip.

While looking at a "Halibut Try Report" from Tomales Bay, I read: "The water is still a little cold north of Hog Island. I guess it's late again, and things will heat up soon..."

That was like a light switch going on in my memory. I've heard something akin to that every year now since at least 2002...it's always a fishing report...salmon, Baja Bluewater Big Game, NorCal Albacore, even Sacramento River Shad...

I'm calling it a Bona Fide Trend...make that a Bona Fide Decadal Trend!

Did I mention that we may get rained on mid-week? Of course there'd be a Gulf of Alaska, mid-winter style cold front headed my way...I've been entertaining a trip up the Hill for a few days of R&R on my Pickup.

I'm really wondering what my pickup did to incur Mother Nature's Wrath like it has this year!