Since my early childhood I've been attending baseball games with my father. In fact, some of my earliest memories are traced back when walking through the turnstiles at Dodger Stadium to cheer on the archrival San Francisco Giants. Continuing a tradition that we used to live by at least once a year when school was out for the summer until some 3 or 4 seasons back, my father and I set out to catch a pair of games at Chavez Ravine for my Birthday for the first time since the Giants added two World Series titles to their resume (one in 2010 and the other in 2012) while calling the Bay Area their home, leapfrogging the rival Dodgers in the process with 7 Championships to L.A.'s 6.
With seats down near the right-field foul pole in the outfield for game 1 of a 3 game series, my dad and I took a stroll down to the visiting bullpen where we watched in awe as the starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner threw strike after strike to the Giants catcher and reigning NL MVP Buster Posey as the battery warmed up before joining everyone in the ballpark as we sung the National Anthem in unison. Shortly after, we took to our seats some six rows back from the field as the game got underway. With the entire row to ourselves and our gloves in hand, we knew we had a good chance at catching a home run ball if one was hit our way. Little did we know our catching abilities would be tested several pitches into the game. After the Giants failed to get anything going in the top of the first inning, it was L.A.'s turn.
Three weeks into his big league career, Cuban sensation Yasiel Puig, who's been red-hot since being called up to the Majors on June 3, stepped up to the plate boasting a batting average well above .400. The noise Dodger fans made for their new favorite player when he stepped up to the plate was deafening as cheers and whistles were mixed in with the sound of maracas that blew out the stadium speakers. And in his first career at-bat against the Giants, Puig hit a 87 mph offering on a two-seam fastball our way. The ball appeared to be headed straight for my lap but then began curling around the foul pole a few seats over. Hesitant to move as if my feet were stuck in quicksand, I turned my head and saw that my dad had already drifted over some eight seats down the isle with his hands in the air. Doing his best Say Hey Kid impersonation decked out in his vintage Willie Mays Giants jersey lost in a sea of blue, my dad came down with the ball. Standing their in disbelief, I instantly began celebrating and laughing with my father as if he had just caught the final out of a World Series clinching game 7, despite our team falling behind, 1-0.
With a good amount of Giants fans sitting in our section, it wasn't long before they began shouting, "Throw it back!" And had it been me who caught the ball, I just might have. Instead, my father began to make a throwing motion as if he was going to toss the ball back onto the field but he played it off and shook his head no to the chorus of boo's from our fellow Giants fans to which he responded by blowing them kisses. As if the moment couldn't get any better, a Dodger fan sitting several rows in front of us pulled out and flashed a one hundred dollar bill from his pocket and offered to buy the ball from us. With little purpose of a ball hit by a player of the opposing team, my dad proudly obliged before handing me the Benjamin and saying, "Happy Birthday, son," Putting a stamp on the perfect father son moment. And though it would be the Dodgers who came out victorious on this day, 3-1 winners, snapping a five-game losing-streak against the Giants whom they would later sweep in the series, being there with my father to soak in a ballgame, much less witness him catch a home run ball which is a once in a lifetime moment, is something that far exceeds one single 'W' in the win column. However, getting the win would've been pretty nice, too, given I've been to nine Giants-Dodger games in L.A. in my lifetime and the only game they've won, I was too young to remember. Needless to say, this is one Birthday present that I'll never forget.
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Heading into the 2013 MLB season, no two teams had higher expectations than the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the Los Angeles Dodgers. So much so that many had predicted the first ever Freeway Series in this year's Fall Classic. Unfortunately those same two teams share another distinction two months into the season as being the biggest disappointments thus far into the year despite owning the two highest payrolls in all of baseball. With both clubs at or near the bottom of the standings, the Dodgers (25-32) dead last in their division and the Angels (26-33) ahead of only the lowly Houston Astros in the American League West, there's still plenty of time for both teams to turn it around. The question is, can they?
While the Angels are hoping for Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton to turn things around on offense after getting off to a slow start as well as get their ace Jered Weaver back on track after a fractured left elbow landed him an early trip to the disabled-list, their National League counterparts appear to have found what they've been missing all along. Having suffered from a lack of power all season long near the bottom of the pack in home runs and only ahead of the White Sox, Nationals and Marlins in the runs department, the Dodgers lineup has been rejuvenated practically overnight while getting a glimpse of the future. With their star player in Matt Kemp on the DL with a hamstring injury and scheduled to make a pit-stop in the Minor Leagues for a rehab assignment, Dodgers skipper Don Mattingly who's been on the hot seat, elected to make a decision many thought he would've made during the final weeks of spring training by calling up 22 year old prospect Yasiel Puig. Puig, a native of Cuba, signed a 7-year, $42 Million deal with L.A. after defecting from his homeland in 2012 and had a superb spring before being promoted to the Majors on June 2. He would make his big league debut the following day.
Taking on the division-rival Padres, Puig was plugged into the starting lineup as the lead-off man where he'd finish the game 2-for-4. However, his most impressive feat of the night would come on a play made for the final two outs of the ballgame. With 1-out in the 9th and a runner on first, Puig tracked down a fly ball on the warning track before rifling a toss on the fly to the first baseman Adrian Gonzalez in time to gun down the runner attempting to retreat to the bag for the game-ending double-play, worthy of a SportsCenter Top 10 nominee. And for those who missed his debut, the Cuban sensation made sure he backed it up with an encore even more awe-inspiring. Following their 2-1 victory over San Diego the night before, Puig highlighted a come-from-behind win over the Friars by going 3-for-4 with 2 home runs, 5 RBI's and 2 runs scored and possibly saving his manager's job in the process (at least for now) as L.A. improved to 2-0 in the Puig era after the 9-7 triumph Tuesday. The 22 year old stud became the first Dodger ever with a multi-homer game in his first two games and only the second player in franchise history with 2 home runs and 5 RBI's from the lead-off spot.
Up until Monday the Dodgers were a two man show led by Adrian Gonzalez and their ace Clayton Kershaw who's 1.85 ERA is third in the Majors behind only Clay Buchholz of the Red Sox and Shelby Miller of the Cardinals. The kid has made one hell of a first impression on his first homestand and already has as many home runs in his first two games as teammate Matt Kemp has all season. A start of this magnitude will most likely draw the comparisons to Mike Trout, Manny Machado, Bryce Harper and other young stars who made an immediate impact with their clubs last season, but Puig seems poised to write his own chapter as the one who helped save the season despite the year being far from over. While he definitely appears to be the shot in the arm the team was desperately in need of on offense, he'll need all the help he can get from struggling players like Andre Ethier and Hanley Ramirez while key cogs Matt Kemp and Carl Crawford are sidelined with injuries.
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