Well, SturgeUrge and I spent the afternoon on San Francisco Bay. The NWS missed the wind forecast a little, but not enough to matter in the Grand Scheme of Things.
We definitely punched in on Banker's Hours! Because of the salmon fishery we were targeting, our best shot at them wouldn't come until 3PM, two hours before High Tide. Traditionally you fish two hours before and two hours after the top of the tide and hope the fish come through. It's an interception fishery, and picking the right time to be in the right place isn't easy!
At least it's scenic! We didn't bother to depart the SturgeUrge Compound 'till 10AM! We missed the tail end of rush hour, and were drifting frozen anchovies for halibut by 11AM.
We're convinced now that the halibut have scarcely entered the San Francisco Bay system this year. Most of the creditable halibut catch reports have been from outside the Golden Gate. Some halibut are being taken from Tomales Bay, but that's a long trip when Dungeness Crab season is closed!
The halibut have been taken on the Marin Beaches, off San Francisco's Ocean Beach, off Santa Cruz and in Monterey Bay proper. In the Bay they've barely made it past Angel Island.
We threw in the halibut towel early, and mooched the Tiburon shoreline for salmon for an hour or two before deploying the downriggers and trolling for salmon in earnest.
Mooching was just a time-filler...a low kinetics pastime while we made lunch. I packed the usual lunch (after trying my failed solar BLT experiment on our last trip) Today's fare was honey ham and swiss on a Kaiser roll...dressed with red onion, and incredible heirloom tomato named Pineapple and sliced thick. Mayo, dijon and leaf lettuce.
Unfortunately, the sandwich was the highlight of the day.
We trolled until after 5:30PM and had the worst wind in the last mile back to the Richmond Marina boat ramp.
We had hoped to watch some America's Cup World Series racing, but the course was too far towards the Golden Gate for the F/V SturgeUrge.
I watched the replay of the racing after the Giants beat the Atlanta Braves. There was a huge spectator fleet watching the AC45s on the opposite side of Angel Island from where we were fishing. The announcers said the wind was 22 knots and the tidal current was another 2 knots. High overcast made for "flat light" too. All in all, a recipe for discomfort or worse in a 17ft outboard motorboat.
The America's Cup 45ft catamarans are blisteringly fast. The accelerate like a dragster (at least for a wind powered craft) These boats are light years away from the stately 12 Meter sloops that contested the Cup back in the 70s and 80s over the course of a couple of hours per match race.
Today's AC45s are like STAR WAS spacecraft compared to the 12 Meter boats. Scary fast, and racing on a tight course.
After this week's World Series wraps up, the teams will start putting their new 72ft catamarans through their paces on the Bay. They say the AC72s will make 46 knots!
That's 53 MPH in Old Money...talk about breath taking! Wow!
Heads Up! No salmon or halibut were harmed in the production of today's blog.
Friday, August 24, 2012
Thursday, August 23, 2012
It's In the Air
When I crested the hill above Blue Canyon Monday, I could see the pall of smoke from the Chips Fire hanging to the North.
While not really watching "Mornings on 2" KTVU2's 7-9AM news, I caught a teaser citing this fire season as "the worst fire season since 2006" This evening I went to KTVU's site and found the story.
There's still a third of Fire Season ahead of us. Lightning strikes continue to bedevil fire crews up and down California, as well as the rest of the West. "While the number of fires is down from the 10-year average of 54,209 as of Aug. 22, the acreage was well above the average of 5.4 million acres, said Don Smurthwaite, a NIFC spokesman. "NIFC is the National Interagency Fire Center.
"Let's be careful out there" only goes so far...tonight I was enjoying the San Francisco Giants game on TV. They were playing the arch rival Los Angeles Dodgers in LA. You could see huge thunderheads growing east of the San Gabriels...just the kind that start lightning fires...
All this dry winter/bad fire season stuff reminded me to check on the ENSO discussion. Last month the Climate Prediction Center was saying an El Niño-style winter was likely...this month they say it's even money either way. I thought the El Niño call was a little premature because the Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies were way west...Mid-Pacific, not off coastal South/Central America. We'll see, most of the other temp cycles are still on their cold sides.
Oh yeah...the Giants swept the Dodgers...at their house! True, the Dodgers did it to us at our house last month...but we're Number One (for now)! We lead the NL West by 2 1/2 games.
Good night...SturgeUrge and I are gonna be on San Francisco Bay Thursday...Salmon and halibut are the quarry...America's Cup Racing is the distraction!
While not really watching "Mornings on 2" KTVU2's 7-9AM news, I caught a teaser citing this fire season as "the worst fire season since 2006" This evening I went to KTVU's site and found the story.
There's still a third of Fire Season ahead of us. Lightning strikes continue to bedevil fire crews up and down California, as well as the rest of the West. "While the number of fires is down from the 10-year average of 54,209 as of Aug. 22, the acreage was well above the average of 5.4 million acres, said Don Smurthwaite, a NIFC spokesman. "NIFC is the National Interagency Fire Center.
"Let's be careful out there" only goes so far...tonight I was enjoying the San Francisco Giants game on TV. They were playing the arch rival Los Angeles Dodgers in LA. You could see huge thunderheads growing east of the San Gabriels...just the kind that start lightning fires...
All this dry winter/bad fire season stuff reminded me to check on the ENSO discussion. Last month the Climate Prediction Center was saying an El Niño-style winter was likely...this month they say it's even money either way. I thought the El Niño call was a little premature because the Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies were way west...Mid-Pacific, not off coastal South/Central America. We'll see, most of the other temp cycles are still on their cold sides.
Oh yeah...the Giants swept the Dodgers...at their house! True, the Dodgers did it to us at our house last month...but we're Number One (for now)! We lead the NL West by 2 1/2 games.
Good night...SturgeUrge and I are gonna be on San Francisco Bay Thursday...Salmon and halibut are the quarry...America's Cup Racing is the distraction!
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Smokin'
Hey thanks everyone for sticking around while I ditched
CorduroyPlanet for more than a whole month!
Yes, I had planned a week at the lake…Jackson Meadows
Reservoir to be precise, but Life happened and I forgot my fishing license back
at the Digs, so I couldn’t even toss the crawdad traps into Donner Lake!
I’d shut down the broadband at the DaveCave back in May, so
I had to drive downtown to the Truckee Library to access the internet. A nice
robust connection…but not a Secure connection. Discretion being the better part
of valor, I did no online banking, no online shopping, and no blogging. Forgive
my sloth. Thank you all for your forgiveness.
I spent a week with a pesky head cold before I rallied and
got the pickup back on the road!
I drove the pickup over Donner Summit and across the Big
Valley in 99°F heat on July 31st. I’d planned to cross the valley
early but fate had other plans for me. When my alarm woke me up at 0600, I
turned on the Trainwreck News only to see a rollover accident with fatalities
gridlock westbound Interstate 80 on the Yolo Causeway. I didn’t leave Truckee
until the miles long parking lot got moving around 10AM
So just where has TruckeeDave been for the last month?
Well…far be it from me to blow smoke up your skirts gentle readers…I’ve been
slacking. I fell out of the habit of scribbling out a blog every night before bed. Once I returned to
the Ancestral Digs and jacked back in, I fell prey to the multitude of distractions
that is the World Wide Web…
Twitter, politics, and San Francisco Giants baseball.
Speaking of Giants’ Baseball…there’s no joy in Mudville this
week. I’ll address the Melky Cabrera MLB Drug Policy violation and suspension
later this week.
So I am back in the saddle, thanks again for reading
CorduroyPlanet!
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Wildfire Toolbox
In my last blog I laid out the various Over The Air Radio Services
where you can keep track of wildfire news. These are the primary delivery
systems for firefighting agencies to get the word out to the public. The
primary advantage of these services are, they’re free…and they can be heard in
your car or on any number of handheld receivers, and you don’t need an internet
connection…very handy should you be an evacuee!
On my way up the hill last week, I saw no smoke or other evidence
of the Robbers Fire as I passed the vista on I80 that overlooks the fire area.
Had I a mobile scanner in my car, at least I might have heard some fire
traffic.
I buried the lede there a little. As I drove by, Tuesday
July 17 was a very good day for the Robbers Fire…cool temps and higher humidity
helped crews make lots of progress. Containment by mid-week was at 65%
The winds were rising, and there’s smoke haze in the air
here in Truckee on Wednesday July 18th.
The winds are forecast to subside in time for a triple digit weekend in the
Central Valley and east of the Sierra Nevada
in the Truckee Meadows.
OK, the internet is full of ways to monitor fire news.
Twitter is where I start. You can’t beat Twitter for speedy
news delivery, provided you follow the right tweeters. Most fire agencies,
National Forests, and Fire Departments use Twitter. Find your local agency and
follow them. Look through their followers and follow the accounts relevant to
your area.
Local and regional media use Twitter to drive visitors to
their websites. These guys update the story every time there’s something new to
report. Radio and TV stations as well as local newspapers have robust websites
that update the news whenever it breaks. These updates always rate a Tweet.
Once there’s an active fire you wish to keep tabs on, you
can do a hashtag search on Twitter and all tweets with that hashtag will appear
in your search results. What’s a hashtag? hashtag = #. I found this very useful
when I was monitoring the #WaldoCanyonFire (Phonetically this reads
“HashtagWaldoCanyonFire”)
Each fire or incident is a little different than the next. I
found a local TV weatherman’s tweets most valuable during the #WaldoCanyonFire.
I followed him for the duration.
Here's some Fire Tweeters to get you started:
All the major fire information agencies maintain websites
that update major fires.
Fire Information Websites:
There are several websites where you can listen to scanner
traffic in real time.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Vacation Time!
CorduroyPlanet is going on vacation!
A week at the lake without internet!
While I'm gone, why not look at my archives?
You can scroll through the list by date,or click on a tag for more specific subjects.
I hope the fish are biting!
A week at the lake without internet!
While I'm gone, why not look at my archives?
You can scroll through the list by date,or click on a tag for more specific subjects.
I hope the fish are biting!
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Talkin' Radio
Well dear readers, I set out to put together my Wildfire Toolbox on Saturday, and despite my best intentions I got sidetracked listening to the radio traffic from the Robbers Fire over the internet. I'd totally forgotten that almost all Public Service radio services are now streamed online somewhere!
So bear with me, I'll get her done before Fire Season ends!
By all early indications, Fire Season 2012 is gonna be a rough one. Two seasons ago I wrote about Wet Winters and Summer Fire Seasons: "Monday Extra: Fire Weather Redux". With last Winter's wimpy water production, we're surely looking at the flip side of the fire season coin.
We certainly seem to be coming into the meat of fire season earlier that usual...though it could be that in the Twitter Age more news reaches us faster depending on our interests and how well tailored one's Twitter "follow list" is. Still there's an awful lot of fires in California and The West right now. I've already heard the "extreme fire behavior" meme from the fires near Reno, NV and from the Waldo Canyon Fire outside of Colorado Springs, CO
So what's the best way to keep abreast of Fire News and information in your area? In a word, Radio. I've been a radio junkie since I can remember. Born in the early 50s, radio was my information superhighway growing up. My love of baseball can be tied directly to radio, because in those days one listened to the game...televised baseball was rare until World Series time.
Growing up a San Francisco Giants fan I was blessed to listen to the best announcing team in the business, Russ Hodges and Lon Simmons. Does "Tell it Bye Bye Baby!" ring a bell? That was Russ Hodges' signature home run call. "The Shot Heard 'Round The World" was Hodges' call too. It's the October 3, 1951 tie-breaker game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants. When Giants' outfielder Bobby Thompson hit a three run walk off homer to beat the Dodgers, Hodges screamed "The Giants win the pennant, the Giants win the pennant,..."
Broadcast Radio AM/FM: That's radio to most people, or music radio. AM News radio is the easiest place to start your search for meaningful Fire News. Most News/Talk Stations will go wall to wall fire coverage if there's a fire in their service area. Most stations have a website where you can stream their signal. This is really handy if you want to keep tabs on a fire near distant friends and family. An internet search with the Town's name and Radio in the search field will yield results a-plenty. Notice I didn't say "Google It"...Ixquick It, I say!
Ixquick is like Google in that it's a metasearch engine just like Google, but Ixquick doesn't record your IP Address which saves on future popup clutter, and your cookie counts.
Television: I spent more time than I'd like to admit watching the Waldo Canyon Fire online when Colorado Springs was in danger. Same search strategy...Town and TV. Two Colorado Springs TV Stations streamed LIVE around the clock during the worst part of the firestorm. When things calmed down enough for evacuees to begin returning to their homes, the stations continued with the LIVE online streaming after they returned to "regular programing" on the air.
NOAA Weather Radio: The National Weather Service broadcasts 24/7 over VHF radio stations. Forecasts, local observations and warnings are all on the menu. Small inexpensive receivers are available. The 2-way radios in my snowcat has a dedicated channel to listen to NOAA Weather Radio. Each station across the country is linked to the nearest NWS Forecast Office. On My Mountain, the service is priceless during big storm periods.
When there's Fire Weather, the WX Radio will let you know. If there's an active fire in the area, fire info may be broadcast as well. (WX is a radio abbreviation for weather)
There's a whole "Other World" of radio out there. We're talking 2-way radio. Everyone's heard of "Ham Radio" Ham is sorta short for Amateur Radio. Hobbyists around the world play with radios and related technology. In America Ham Radio is making a comeback now that the Morse Code Requirements have been eliminated.
Business Radio: On My Mountain 2-way radio is essential. Each groomer has a multi-channel 2-way radio, all the management carry handi-talkies, ski patrollers all carry 2-ways, and most departments have a base station radio at their HQ. Every ski resort works this way.
Public Safety Radio: Police, Sheriffs, CHP, College Police Depts and Fire Departments all use 2-way radios. CalFire, US Forest Service, Municipal FDs and even Volunteer FDs are all on the air.
Scanner Radios: So how do you listen to the Firefighting Agencies and the Law Enforcement radios? Get yourself a Police Scanner! These radios scan banks of preset frequencies that you key into the radio's memory. The scanner runs through the freq. list over and over until it finds an active signal and stops to monitor the signal until the traffic ends..then it resumes scanning. If you don't know what freqs to monitor, scanners also have a search scan function to help you find the active freqs in your area.
Scanners are handy in Wintertime when you live in snow country too. I monitor CalTrans snowplows, Truckee Police, Town of Truckee snow removal, CHP, local ski resorts and Search and Rescue during storm periods.
Scanners come in handheld, mobile and base station configurations. I have a handheld, and I bring it along when I go out to the Reno Air Races, or the racetrack to listen to the drivers talk to their crews. A scanner really adds texture to the action, and there are vendors at most big-time motorsports events where you can rent a pre-programed scanner for the day or weekend. Vendors usually offer a print out of all the weekend team/car freqs for free.
There's much more on scanner radios at DXing.com They cost anywhere from $50 to $5000 depending on how many bells and whistles you're willing to pay for. I have an AOR AR-2700 that I bought new in 1996. I'm sure it didn't cost much more than $100. I have a power supply that it mounts on at the DaveCave so it's like a base station. I have a nice discone antenna on a mast that plugs into the scanner when you take the "rubber duckie" antenna off. I monitored the Russian MIR space station on the 2 Meter Ham Band with this setup.
If you're unlucky enough to have a fire chase you from your home, the handheld scanner would be worth it's weight in gold. If you don't want another noisy gadget in the house, you can listen to scanner traffic on the internet.
Internet scanning will kick off the next installment of the CorduroyPlanet Wildfire Toolbox
So bear with me, I'll get her done before Fire Season ends!
By all early indications, Fire Season 2012 is gonna be a rough one. Two seasons ago I wrote about Wet Winters and Summer Fire Seasons: "Monday Extra: Fire Weather Redux". With last Winter's wimpy water production, we're surely looking at the flip side of the fire season coin.
We certainly seem to be coming into the meat of fire season earlier that usual...though it could be that in the Twitter Age more news reaches us faster depending on our interests and how well tailored one's Twitter "follow list" is. Still there's an awful lot of fires in California and The West right now. I've already heard the "extreme fire behavior" meme from the fires near Reno, NV and from the Waldo Canyon Fire outside of Colorado Springs, CO
So what's the best way to keep abreast of Fire News and information in your area? In a word, Radio. I've been a radio junkie since I can remember. Born in the early 50s, radio was my information superhighway growing up. My love of baseball can be tied directly to radio, because in those days one listened to the game...televised baseball was rare until World Series time.
Growing up a San Francisco Giants fan I was blessed to listen to the best announcing team in the business, Russ Hodges and Lon Simmons. Does "Tell it Bye Bye Baby!" ring a bell? That was Russ Hodges' signature home run call. "The Shot Heard 'Round The World" was Hodges' call too. It's the October 3, 1951 tie-breaker game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants. When Giants' outfielder Bobby Thompson hit a three run walk off homer to beat the Dodgers, Hodges screamed "The Giants win the pennant, the Giants win the pennant,..."
Broadcast Radio AM/FM: That's radio to most people, or music radio. AM News radio is the easiest place to start your search for meaningful Fire News. Most News/Talk Stations will go wall to wall fire coverage if there's a fire in their service area. Most stations have a website where you can stream their signal. This is really handy if you want to keep tabs on a fire near distant friends and family. An internet search with the Town's name and Radio in the search field will yield results a-plenty. Notice I didn't say "Google It"...Ixquick It, I say!
Ixquick is like Google in that it's a metasearch engine just like Google, but Ixquick doesn't record your IP Address which saves on future popup clutter, and your cookie counts.
Television: I spent more time than I'd like to admit watching the Waldo Canyon Fire online when Colorado Springs was in danger. Same search strategy...Town and TV. Two Colorado Springs TV Stations streamed LIVE around the clock during the worst part of the firestorm. When things calmed down enough for evacuees to begin returning to their homes, the stations continued with the LIVE online streaming after they returned to "regular programing" on the air.
NOAA Weather Radio: The National Weather Service broadcasts 24/7 over VHF radio stations. Forecasts, local observations and warnings are all on the menu. Small inexpensive receivers are available. The 2-way radios in my snowcat has a dedicated channel to listen to NOAA Weather Radio. Each station across the country is linked to the nearest NWS Forecast Office. On My Mountain, the service is priceless during big storm periods.
When there's Fire Weather, the WX Radio will let you know. If there's an active fire in the area, fire info may be broadcast as well. (WX is a radio abbreviation for weather)
There's a whole "Other World" of radio out there. We're talking 2-way radio. Everyone's heard of "Ham Radio" Ham is sorta short for Amateur Radio. Hobbyists around the world play with radios and related technology. In America Ham Radio is making a comeback now that the Morse Code Requirements have been eliminated.
Business Radio: On My Mountain 2-way radio is essential. Each groomer has a multi-channel 2-way radio, all the management carry handi-talkies, ski patrollers all carry 2-ways, and most departments have a base station radio at their HQ. Every ski resort works this way.
Public Safety Radio: Police, Sheriffs, CHP, College Police Depts and Fire Departments all use 2-way radios. CalFire, US Forest Service, Municipal FDs and even Volunteer FDs are all on the air.
Scanner Radios: So how do you listen to the Firefighting Agencies and the Law Enforcement radios? Get yourself a Police Scanner! These radios scan banks of preset frequencies that you key into the radio's memory. The scanner runs through the freq. list over and over until it finds an active signal and stops to monitor the signal until the traffic ends..then it resumes scanning. If you don't know what freqs to monitor, scanners also have a search scan function to help you find the active freqs in your area.
Scanners are handy in Wintertime when you live in snow country too. I monitor CalTrans snowplows, Truckee Police, Town of Truckee snow removal, CHP, local ski resorts and Search and Rescue during storm periods.
Scanners come in handheld, mobile and base station configurations. I have a handheld, and I bring it along when I go out to the Reno Air Races, or the racetrack to listen to the drivers talk to their crews. A scanner really adds texture to the action, and there are vendors at most big-time motorsports events where you can rent a pre-programed scanner for the day or weekend. Vendors usually offer a print out of all the weekend team/car freqs for free.
There's much more on scanner radios at DXing.com They cost anywhere from $50 to $5000 depending on how many bells and whistles you're willing to pay for. I have an AOR AR-2700 that I bought new in 1996. I'm sure it didn't cost much more than $100. I have a power supply that it mounts on at the DaveCave so it's like a base station. I have a nice discone antenna on a mast that plugs into the scanner when you take the "rubber duckie" antenna off. I monitored the Russian MIR space station on the 2 Meter Ham Band with this setup.
If you're unlucky enough to have a fire chase you from your home, the handheld scanner would be worth it's weight in gold. If you don't want another noisy gadget in the house, you can listen to scanner traffic on the internet.
Internet scanning will kick off the next installment of the CorduroyPlanet Wildfire Toolbox
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Redeemed
Sadly...not yours truly...and I need redemption for my slacking this week...two of five blogs published eight hours late...Slacker City...
Tonight I watched the San Francisco Giants game from AT&T Park versus the Houston Astros. As is my wont, I was playing Twitter and Facebook while I watched the game. Usually these social websites are a rollicking snark-fest of trash talking when the Giants win, with hyperbole and commiseration when things don't go the Giants way.
Tonight there was a difference in the air...the vibe...the volume...the traffic was subdued...staid even...very atypical given the venue...
There was a reason for the unusually unsocial behavior on the social sites...we were all collectively holding our breath for our Ace pitcher, two time Cy Young Award Winning, four time All Star right hander, Tim Lincecum. Nicknamed "The Freak" a tip of the hat to his long hair and slight build, Lincecum looks like a skinny dustbowl kid in a Diane Arbus photograph, but armed with fearsome pitches and a competitive fire that burns white hot. Lincecum's tall skinny visage is something to see as he delivers a pitch with his unconventional motion.
Lincecum has gone from Giants Ace to the worst pitcher currently active in the Major Leagues in the first half of this season. Opinions vary wildly on just what Timmy's problem is on the mound. He's had control issues, he's lost a little speed with his fastball...from 97mph to 93mph.
This loss of speed wouldn't be a problem if he was putting the ball where he wanted, but he's been unable to keep his pitches down in the bottom third of the strike zone, and too often he "hung" a breaking ball out over the plate where Major League hitters were teeing off on them like kids playing in the town T-Ball League.
Lincecum's last two starts on the road were shockers for the struggling right hander, and for Giants fans. Against the Washington Nationals he threw only 3 1/3 innings and gave up seven runs on nine hits. His next start in Pittsburgh wasn't much better...3 1/3 innings six runs on seven hits.
In the other troubling games, Lincecum had trouble early, especially pitching from the stretch, but found his groove and dominated opposing hitters like he does at his best...but the last two starts shook even the most faithful. One could only imagine what Tim himself was thinking and feeling!
So it was against this backstory that fans were watching and hoping for the best. Somehow The Freak was his old self, bedeviling batters like his glory days. Lincecum made a quality start of 8 innings pitched, allowing 5 hits, no runs, no errors, he walked two and struck out eleven!
AT&T Park was electric from the get go...a playoff atmosphere as they say. Timmy got a standing O from the fans behind the Giants dugout after he retired the Astros 1-2-3 in the 1st inning! At the end of the 8th the cheers were deafening as Lincecum triumphantly returned to the dugout for the final time with the Giants ahead 2-0
The Giants bullpen set out to finish off the Astros in the 9th. Houston scored a run and put two base runners on before getting to two outs and two strikes. The crowd was roaring as Giants' closer Santiago Casilla threw the final strike which the batter swung at and missed!
The ball caromed off of catcher Héctor Sánchez and bounced towards third base as the batter broke for first. Sánchez got to the ball, turned to throw out the batter, but hurried his throw and pulled first baseman Brandon Belt off the bag, allowing the runner from third base to score when shell shocked Casilla forgot to cover home plate in the melee...game tied!
The Park went silent...Lincecum's redeeming masterpiece was now in jeopardy, and Lincecums Win was now a No Decision. All 42,171 attendees felt like they took a Mohammed Ali body punch...group despair isn't pretty...
The game went 12 innings. The Giants makeshift bullpen rose to the occasion. Héctor Sánchez got the walkoff single that won the game for the Giants, redeeming himself for the blown throw that tied the game.
So the theme of the game was redemption squared...just a few minutes before the Giants pulled it out, at Dodgers Stadium the San Diego Padres stole home, and a wild throw allowed the second run to score defeating the Dodgers and giving the Giants the lead in the NL West!
Of all professional sports baseball is the most Human...baseball at times is like Greek Mythology, Fairy Tales, Biblical Passion Plays, or Aesop's Fables. Depending on the day, baseball can be like Great Literature or Pulp Fiction...but it is never without the human element...there's a life lesson in umpire's bad calls as well as in perfect pitches. Baseball...Always changing...Always the same...redeeming or heartbreaking, sometimes surprising...it can seem slow, but it's never boring.
Tonight I watched the San Francisco Giants game from AT&T Park versus the Houston Astros. As is my wont, I was playing Twitter and Facebook while I watched the game. Usually these social websites are a rollicking snark-fest of trash talking when the Giants win, with hyperbole and commiseration when things don't go the Giants way.
Tonight there was a difference in the air...the vibe...the volume...the traffic was subdued...staid even...very atypical given the venue...
There was a reason for the unusually unsocial behavior on the social sites...we were all collectively holding our breath for our Ace pitcher, two time Cy Young Award Winning, four time All Star right hander, Tim Lincecum. Nicknamed "The Freak" a tip of the hat to his long hair and slight build, Lincecum looks like a skinny dustbowl kid in a Diane Arbus photograph, but armed with fearsome pitches and a competitive fire that burns white hot. Lincecum's tall skinny visage is something to see as he delivers a pitch with his unconventional motion.
Lincecum has gone from Giants Ace to the worst pitcher currently active in the Major Leagues in the first half of this season. Opinions vary wildly on just what Timmy's problem is on the mound. He's had control issues, he's lost a little speed with his fastball...from 97mph to 93mph.
This loss of speed wouldn't be a problem if he was putting the ball where he wanted, but he's been unable to keep his pitches down in the bottom third of the strike zone, and too often he "hung" a breaking ball out over the plate where Major League hitters were teeing off on them like kids playing in the town T-Ball League.
Lincecum's last two starts on the road were shockers for the struggling right hander, and for Giants fans. Against the Washington Nationals he threw only 3 1/3 innings and gave up seven runs on nine hits. His next start in Pittsburgh wasn't much better...3 1/3 innings six runs on seven hits.
In the other troubling games, Lincecum had trouble early, especially pitching from the stretch, but found his groove and dominated opposing hitters like he does at his best...but the last two starts shook even the most faithful. One could only imagine what Tim himself was thinking and feeling!
So it was against this backstory that fans were watching and hoping for the best. Somehow The Freak was his old self, bedeviling batters like his glory days. Lincecum made a quality start of 8 innings pitched, allowing 5 hits, no runs, no errors, he walked two and struck out eleven!
AT&T Park was electric from the get go...a playoff atmosphere as they say. Timmy got a standing O from the fans behind the Giants dugout after he retired the Astros 1-2-3 in the 1st inning! At the end of the 8th the cheers were deafening as Lincecum triumphantly returned to the dugout for the final time with the Giants ahead 2-0
The Giants bullpen set out to finish off the Astros in the 9th. Houston scored a run and put two base runners on before getting to two outs and two strikes. The crowd was roaring as Giants' closer Santiago Casilla threw the final strike which the batter swung at and missed!
The ball caromed off of catcher Héctor Sánchez and bounced towards third base as the batter broke for first. Sánchez got to the ball, turned to throw out the batter, but hurried his throw and pulled first baseman Brandon Belt off the bag, allowing the runner from third base to score when shell shocked Casilla forgot to cover home plate in the melee...game tied!
The Park went silent...Lincecum's redeeming masterpiece was now in jeopardy, and Lincecums Win was now a No Decision. All 42,171 attendees felt like they took a Mohammed Ali body punch...group despair isn't pretty...
The game went 12 innings. The Giants makeshift bullpen rose to the occasion. Héctor Sánchez got the walkoff single that won the game for the Giants, redeeming himself for the blown throw that tied the game.
So the theme of the game was redemption squared...just a few minutes before the Giants pulled it out, at Dodgers Stadium the San Diego Padres stole home, and a wild throw allowed the second run to score defeating the Dodgers and giving the Giants the lead in the NL West!
Of all professional sports baseball is the most Human...baseball at times is like Greek Mythology, Fairy Tales, Biblical Passion Plays, or Aesop's Fables. Depending on the day, baseball can be like Great Literature or Pulp Fiction...but it is never without the human element...there's a life lesson in umpire's bad calls as well as in perfect pitches. Baseball...Always changing...Always the same...redeeming or heartbreaking, sometimes surprising...it can seem slow, but it's never boring.
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