Fun While It Lasted

So I post about the Giants' miraculous comeback, then in Game 2 they go up 3-0 in the first on a Bonds homer. All looked good.

Then Brett Tomko took the mound.

The Giants, in true 2005 form, followed up one of the best performances of the season with one of the worst. Misssed opportunities and gift runs abounded, capped by an inning where the Giants gave up a walk, another walk, an error, and a grand slam. 4 runs, 1 hit, 1 error.

No surprise then when the Giants were listless in Game 3, and the Padres clinched. The Padres have been hot ever since (St. Louis, watch out) and the Giants have looked...defeated.

Entertaining game tonight, but we lose again to the red-hot D-Backs. The best we can hope for is a second-place tie by winning tomorrow and Sunday.

In spite of the incredible disappointment, at least they gave it a run and really only played four meaningless games this season (and only 19 since 1996). The brief glimpse of Bonds confirmed that we would've made a mockery of the West (more than it already is) had we had him and Benitez healthy for the brunt of the season.

Gleefully, I report the Dodgers own fourth place and recorded their 90th loss tonight. Once it became clear we wouldn't need to buy World Series tickets, my goal for the team is just to finish ahead of the Bums. Not only did they accomplish that, they won the season series 9-8 by winning the last three.

(Something Cal athletics has taught me, a lousy season can be forgotten if you crush your rival. Likewise, a great season can be tarnished by losing to The Farm.)

Unfortunately, the end of baseball season means football season, which usually is great except a) I'm not playing fantasy football for the first time since I had my own money, and b) the 49ers flat-out stink. Then we go on to basketball season (with the most blatantly awful officiating since Bush v. Gore, before spring training returns to relieve the pain.

One for the ages.

Unbelievable. That's the only way to describe it.

All season long, the Giants have struggled. Finally, Barry Bonds came back, but it still looked like we would only get a glimpse of what might have been.

A couple of late-inning comebacks and late-inning disasters from the Padres, and it's, as they say, a whole new ballgame. Coming into tonight, four games back with seven to go.

It didn't look good. We had our least consistent starter, rook Brad Hennessey, against the Padres' ace, Jake Peavy. It looked even worse when the second batter of the game hit a two-run homer. But the Giants gutted it out, like they always do, and got a run back while holding the Padres to the two runs.

If there was any doubt, Randy Winn etched himself into Giants' history tonight. With two outs in the ninth against Trevor Hoffman, his long drive to center epitomized the unpredictability which has been the Giants' schizophrenic season. Yes, it's gone! No, it's caught! Yes, he dropped it! I mean, the bells had already sounded. The fireworks guy even got it wrong (which, amusingly enough, is not the first time in the Giants/Padres rivalry).

Winn definitely has earned his place in the long lineage of improbable Giants heroes, alongside Rod "Shooter" Beck, Kenny Lofton, David Bell, J.T. Snow ('00 NLDS Game 2, we were there) and the immortal Brian Johnson.

This is not a game that will be quickly forgotten. Matheny's clutch single off Hoffman to start the rally (can anyone remember the last time Hoffman blew a save against the Giants?). The gutsy performance by B. Henny and the bullpen. Bonds pulling up lame after a running catch in the second, then gutting it out for the remainder of the game while clearly in pain. Vizquel effortlessly taking away two sure singles in the ninth. Snow faceplanting into a camera going after a foul ball, blood on his jersey. And, of course, the catalyst for the Giants' improbable run: Randy Winn.

(Peter Gammons just said Hoffman has not blown a save in September in three years.)

All those people who ripped Brian Sabean and Felipe Alou all season owe them both a frickin' apology.

I've given this team up for dead several times this season. And I was one of the optimistic ones (I didn't write them off until last month). A lot of people talk about athletes who make millions of dollars but don't try, don't hustle, don't respect the game, because it makes for good press. But the teams that keep grinding, even when no one thinks they have a legitimate shot, never get the attention they deserve. I've always said I don't need my team to win all the time, I just want them to make me believe we have a chance.

Tonight, it worked. I believe.

Everybody Hates Me

As baseball season winds down (at least for the Giants, barring a miracle), fall television season has graced us with its presence.

I missed the boat on Lost and Desperate Housewives, fell behind on 24 and Alias, and eventually fizzled on all the anime series I was watching last year. I had a good excuse though, I got married.

I have a big-time incentive to tune in this year. Two, actually. A sixty-inch TV and high-def.

The results so far:

• Kitchen Confidential was O.K. It tried hard to be quirky, but in the end it's looking like Cheers in a restaurant.
  
• My Name is Earl wasn't too bad. I had really high expectations since it had good word-of-mouth, and Jason Lee. I thought it was funny enough to watch again next week.
  
• The Office is still on the DVR.
  
• Lost didn't disappoint. Had to watch the Destination Lost special to catch up, since I've only seen two or three episodes from Season 1. It was, in a word, nuts.
  
• Invasion wasn't too bad. It suffers from the misfortune of essentially being a hour-long hurricane scene on the heels of the worst natural disaster in American history. It also suffers from following Lost, which makes its scare tactics seem almost pedestrian.
  
• Finally, Everybody Hates Chris not only lived up to expectations, it exceeded them. I wasn't sure how well a Chris Rock show without Chris Rock (he only narrates the show, but is surprisingly effective) would work, but it's very, very funny. The cast is terrific, the writing is sharp, and fans of Chris will find all sorts of references from his stand-up act (such as the big piece of chicken). Other than Lost, the best thing I watched all week. Too bad it's not in HD on Comcast.
  

No 24 until January, sadly.

UPDATE: The Office was very funny. It's the only British-imported sitcom that has been halfway decent. This, of course, means it and Earl are probably too smart for the masses, and are destined for cancellation. Hopefully, the success of The 40 Year Old Virgin will keep that from happening.

Yay for Arianna

I never thought ten years ago I'd say this (when her then-hubby tried to unseat Dianne Feinstein), but you should check out Arianna Huffington's website, The Huffington Post. It's scathing, Michael Moore-esque stuff. It's absolutely imperative that someone take the press in this country to task for pandering to the right wing (if you still think the media in this country is liberal, you should have your pulse checked).

I don't know when exactly she switched over from the dark side (it must've been before the California gubernatorial election, in which I realized she actually made a lot of sense), but more power to her.

Stupid Jeff Kent

Can't blame him really, the Giants had some chances to score, including a golden opportunity in the tenth with runners at the corners and one out.

Lots in the news today:

• Barbara Bush shows her sensitive side.
  
• FEMA dragged its fast on responding to Katrina (duh).
  
• Alan Dershowitz throws William Rehnquist under the bus. (Meanwhile, some Stanford Law guy whined on KTVU News tonight about The Farm's diminished stature on the Court. Boo Friggin' Hoo.)
  
• Karl Rove is trying to throw Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco under the bus. (I hope someone throws the phrase "blame game" under the bus.)
  
• Bush is now pushing John Roberts to be not just a Supreme Court justice, but the Chief.