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On a sunny Summer Day, The Sicard Family invited Alessia to
partake in a wonderful bit of Americana: A Major League Baseball Game.
We drove up to The City to see the San Francisco Giants hosting the San Diego
Padres.
We parked the car and strolled over to the ballpark to meet Felix Sicard and the
delightful Danielle.
The statue behind Pierre and Aviva is that of the Giant's legendary first
baseball, Willie McCovey.
As we strolled along McCovey Cove, we enjoyed perusing the
various "tiles" which people had installed to help raise funds for
building the new ballpark.
Please notice Clementine was dressed, from the waist up, in the Giant's Black
& Orange.
Even her hair was the proper color!
We explained to Alessia that Giant's fans have two favorite
teams:
1--The Giants
and
2-- Anybody who beats the Los Angeles Dodgers.
And my favorite tile:
We walked across the Third Street Bridge...
We then ambled over to Willie Mays Plaza.
The Giants, apparently, knew Alessia was coming to see them play as her
appearance was noted on a schedule posted at the entrance of the stadium!
"Say, you're Alessia from Barolo, aren't you?"
Alessia & Clementine...hanging out in San Francisco!
We walked around the stadium to find our seats and the kids checked out the ball
park cuisine.
We had a little surprise for Alessia once we found our
seats...
A Panda Hat!
Being hungry, we then got up to go get some Ballpark Food.
I explained to Alessia the dynamics of a "Corn Dog" as being a hot-dog
on a stick, dripped in a sort of 'polenta' and then fried.
She immediately joined Clementine in ordering one!
A couple of young, hot potatoes about to enjoy some Garlic Fries...
I had a hot dog...
...with mustard!
Danielle was ready to enjoy the game.
Felix was just saying "I don't always watch sports, but when I do, I
prefer ice hockey."
Though he was wearing a Montreal Canadiens jacket, Felix did have a Giant's cap
and was waiting for them to score a hat trick.
Clementine then explained to him about a Silver Sombrero and Golden Sombrero,
noting National's outfielder Bryce Harper recently earned himself a Platinum
Sombrero against the Yankees (in an inter-league game) by striking out 5 times.
"Felix," she said, "I know it's freezing cold out here, but the
only ice you'll find is in the lemonade."
Giant's catcher Buster Posey came by to ask Felix if he could
borrow his goalie's mask.
Alessia was impressed by all the vendors roaming the aisles in
the stadium...
Also impressive were the fans, who came in all shapes and
sizes.
Alessia was on her feet to sing "Take Me Out to The Ballgame" in the
7th inning...
The Giant's Bullpen was active in the late innings and they pitched well, but it
was spectacular defensive plays which kept the Padres from scoring.
And the Giant's batters were off balance after the first inning, as the Padres
pitched well.
Clementine called the Giants to ask manager Bruce Bochy to please win this game
in 9 innings.
"It's too damned cold to sit here for extras." she explained.
The seagulls knew the game was nearing its conclusion as we got towards the
ninth inning...
Chase Headley got a base hit for the Padres in the top of the 8th and with one
out Carlos Quentin hit a rocket towards center. Angel Pagan raced back to
track down the ball and suddenly flew towards the fence, somehow miraculously
spearing the line drive.
Even more amazing, he rose to his feet and hurled the ball to shortstop Brandon
Crawford who fired a strike to first base, doubling off the shocked Padres'
runner!
The crowd, lulled to sleep by a pitcher's duel after the second inning, came to
life and cheered the Giants.
"Holy smoke! Did you see that???"
With the game still tied at 2 apiece in the bottom of the ninth, we all got up
to yell for the Giants.
The Giant's Brandon Belt coaxed a walk out of the Padre's
relief pitcher and this brought Manager Bud Black to the mound.
Angel Pagan, Superman, then singled to left field, bringing up
Brandon Crawford.
A Passed Ball moved the runners to second and third, so we wondered if the
Padres would walk Crawford to load the bases. They did not and Crawford
lined the ball over the drawn-in infield towards center field and the
celebration began, with Belt scoring the game-winning run!
The Giants poured out of the dugout to mob Crawford and to celebrate.
We like seeing this term posted on the scoreboard as we hear the lovely,
heart-warming voice of singer Tony Bennett echoing around the stadium!
Someone, apparently, woke up Pierre and told him the Giants were victorious.
And soon we climbed the stairs and made our way around the stadium to the exit.
Alessia was recognized by some young folks.
A little Panda danced for the crowd.
And soon we were in the car and heading home!
Many thanks to The Sicards for a great evening and to the Giants for beating the
Padres!
The Giants, who won the division race by a single game a
couple of years ago,
had this tune playing all around the Bay Area as the season was finishing...
The Giants, miraculously, won the World Series for the first
time since they moved to San Francisco back in 1958!
We still enjoy hearing this tune!!
