San Francisco Giants World Series Champions!!!

Congratulations to the San Francisco Giants for winning the 2010 World Series!

San Francisco Giants Clinch!

I would have gotten to the ballpark on time if it was just any other game. I had trouble finding parking because this wasn't just any other game. This game against the San Diego Padres, would decide whether the San Francisco Giants would clinch the National League West Championship. 

From a block away, I heard what sounded like the roar of a home run. I fired up my MLB.com iPhone App to check. Nope, only hits so far.

When I entered the stadium, I was happy to still get one of the 40,000 orange rally rags.

It was a standing-room-only crowd

We only needed to win one of the three games in this series against the Padres. We lost the first two, now we are down to the last game. In fact, it was game 162, the last game of the regular season.

Jonathan Sánchez pitched expertly...

Miguel Tejada didn't make it to first base in time.

In the third inning, the Padres played Jonathan Sánchez short; he was the pitcher after all. The stadium lit up when  Sánchez smacked the ball over the heads of the outfielders into right field for a triple. At third base, a bat boy brought him his jacket.

Third base coach Tim Flannery gave him kudos and advice.

More kudos from Aubrey Huff after he crossed home plate thanks to Freddy Sanchez's hit.

More rally rags.

Freddy Sanchez coming home brought the score to two zero.

To give you an idea how challenging it was to get these photos, here's the uncropped version of the same photo.

I also have a bevy of photos of orange rally rags obstructing my lens. But I digress.

With the Padres, a two-point lead is no reason to feel comfortable, even in the eighth inning. The Giants fans were still cautiously optimistic. But then Buster Posey hit a home run at the bottom of the eighth and the crowd went crazy. It would be very difficult for the Padres to catch up from a zero-three deficit. This home run should  be the icing on the cake for the "Rookie of the Year Award" for Buster Posey.

Now all we have to do is protect this lead. Closer Brian Wilson is in the bull pen warming up.

Wilson's colorful personality inspires the fans to pay homage to his mohawk...

...and his new beard.

We watched his familiar form with anticipation.

Every fan stood up for the final outs

And then Wilson struck out the last batter.

Pandemonium broke out. The media rushed the field...

...security made sure the fans did not.

The Giants took a victory lap around the field.

Comcast was broadcasting live from Willie Mays Plaza

while fans celebrated sweet victory

My son insisted on standing in line for thirty minutes in order to buy the grey championship t-shirt, just like the Giants wore for their victory lap.

He will wear it proudly to school on Monday.

A Foggy Night at AT & T Park

Our friends Jane and Joe invited my husband and me to a San Francisco Giants game on Wednesday night. It was one of those magical, perfect evenings at the best address in baseball.

AT & T Park was packed and the crowd was revved up because we were playing our rivals: the Los Angeles Dodgers.  

The fog began to roll in, giving the stadium that only-in-San-Francisco look...

My favorite player this season is #17 Aubrey Huff.

He brought in the last run, giving the Giants a 2-1 win.

Thank you, Jane and Joe, for a winning evening!

Last night, for the first time since May 6th, the Giants pulled ahead to the top of the National League West. Woohoo - Go Giants! 

Hup Holland Hup!

Congratulations to The Netherlands for advancing to the finals in the World Cup 2010 competition. This photo was taken last year, not far from Museumplein, where this scene took place yesterday:

Groundskeepers at AT & T Park

Many will say that our family is passionate about baseball. My daughter and I returned from watching three spring training games in Scottsdale, Arizona on Monday and she ordered tickets for a pre-season exhibition game at AT & T Park for all four of us on Friday. The kids love arriving at the park as soon as the doors open so that they can watch batting practice in hopes of catching a ball. It had rained on and off all afternoon and I was concerned that the game would be called off. The kids assured me that the game would still be on because they have awesome groundskeepers at AT & T Park. When we arrived, the diamond was covered by the most ginormous tarp I have ever seen.

It was still blanketed with a substantial layer of water. 

After most of the water was squeegeed off, the groundskeepers began the business of folding the tarp with a running start:

By the time they got to the outfield, the drenched tarp was a heavy load to haul:

Then they performed a precisely choreographed sequence of folds:

Let's give a round of applause to the great groundskeeper crew...

...for preparing the field for a perfect night of baseball!

To see my slideshow of the tarp folding, click here.

I wish I knew how to easily add music to my Flickr slideshow (I'm open to suggestions). If I could, I would have used Bobby Darin's first hit "Splish Splash".