With the San Francisco Giants opening their 2014 season on the road with trips to face the division rival Arizona Diamondbacks as well as the Los Angeles Dodgers, the GMen ride a hot start into San Francisco for Tuesday's Home Opener. After taking 3 of 4 in the desert followed by 2 wins in 3 games vs L.A., the 5-2 Giants will host their first game of the season as they welcome the D-Backs for a three game set. Failing to complete the sweep against the archrival Dodgers on Sunday in a 6-2 loss, the Giants stand atop the NL Western Division standings in first place. For a team that's been better known for their pitching over the last few years, it's been the Giants' bats that have landed them in first place.
After placing dead last in the league in home runs last season and near the bottom of the pack the last few years, the Giants as a team have already belted 10 Home Runs on the year in just seven games. Something that took them 18 games to accomplish just a year ago. Four of which have come off the bat of first baseman Brandon Belt who has so far this year shown the Giants the power they've been expecting from him since drafting him in 2009. Through seven games, Belt who finished with 17 homers in 2013, trails only Arizona's Mark Trumbo who has five homers on the year including one off of Tim Lincecum in Thursday's D-Backs-Giants series finale. Giants All-Star catcher Buster Posey has also contributed a pair of Home Runs to start the year while Angel Pagan, Hunter Pence, Pablo Sandoval and newcomers Michael Morse and Brandon Hicks have all gone deep once.
While it's unlikely they'll be able to maintain their recent slugfest the rest of the way as the Giants get set to take to the much more pitcher friendly AT&T Park, I can easily see them putting up a decent Home Run total this year opposed to the last few seasons. But hitting the long ball won't be the only thing Giants fans hope to see an improvement from last year. Starting pitching which has been the bread and butter of the orange and black for the last several years, saw both former ace Matt Cain and Ryan Vogelsong take a step back from their 2012 output. While Vogelsong spent time on the disabled list, Cain struggled for much of the season and suffered from a rocky first half before bouncing back down the stretch. 2-time Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum had slightly better numbers in 2013 than he did in 2012, but still had an ERA north of 4.00 and has yet to regain the magic that put him among the top hurlers in the game.
Madison Bumgarner who was named the ace on this year's starting staff, would be the only bright spot in the rotation while logging a superb 2013 season and being named to his first All-Star Game. Last season also saw the last of Barry Zito in a Giants uniform as the Giants chose not to accept the 2014 option on the veteran southpaw's contract who was replaced with the elder but more consistent Tim Hudson. Hudson dazzled in his Giants debut, pitching 7.2 innings of 3-hit, shutout ball as the newest member of the rotation struck out 7 Arizona batters and was awarded with the Win in a 2-0 victory. The 38-year old Hudson will look to carry that momentum into Tuesday's game as he gets set to start the Giants' Home Opener against the same team he pitched against in his debut. Catch Hudson and the Giants kick things off at home for the first time this season as they take on the Trevor Cahill who will be seeking revenge for the (2-7) Arizona Diamondbacks at 1:35 p.m.
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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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