Some Thoughts on that Dodgers Series (expletives deleted)

Thought #1 (Pre-Series)
Turning point series for the 2010 Giants! We all know the Padres can't last atop the division forever (right?) This is where the Giants take advantage of a slumping Dodgers team, remind them that their owners are going through a messy divorce and they need too much help in too many areas. Lots of shots of Joe Torre rubbing his temples in the dugout. Eggs thrown at Ned Coletti's house by local hoodlums. Magic Inside! Then after the sweep, we ride some momentum into a pennant race!

Thought #2 (Game One)
Oh, yeah, the game has to actually be played.

Thought #3 (Game One)
Pablo Sandoval's baserunning just made Ruben Rivera look like Willie Mays. Drat! Sandoval's rare lapse in baserunning skill is going to be the difference between winning and losing tonight! That or the four other double plays Giants hit into.

Thought #4 (Game One)
For reasons I can't articulate, Casey Blake has been one of my least favorite Dodgers recently. Probably because his profile makes him look like Glass Joe. Or the two run homer he just hit. Oh well, Cain's starting tomorrow and he'll turn things around. We can still win this series!

Thought #6 (Game Two)
Dodger fans everywhere must be composing tweets made up of the words "Dodgers" some conjugation of the verb "own" and "Cain."

Thought #7 (Game Two)
Pablo "GIDP" Sandoval hits into another 6-4-3. Vin Scully just used the phrase, "Up jumps the devil once again for the Giants." Vin Scully: Timeless. Classy. Eloquent. And a complete bummer if your a Giants fan.

Thought #8 (Game Two)
So Buster Posey doesn't hit a game winning home run in the bottom of the ninth again??? Jeez, how many chances does he need, anyway? Back to Fresno for that bum!

Thought #9 (Between Games Two and Three)
Down 0-2 and game three is a daytime affair? Hmmm... Now that I'll be at work, I have a legitimate excuse to barely watch this game.

Thought #10 (Game Three)
Take a break to check in and it's 5-0. Take another and it's 8-1. Remember when they scored runs?

Thought #11 (Game Three)
Well, it's the bottom of the ninth, and I know I can't count on that bum Posey to hit an eight run homer, so I chalk it up as a sweep.

Final Thought
Series Final: Dodgers 3, Giants 0. Giants outscored 16-6. I do indeed remember when the Giants scored a lot of runs, and it wasn't that long ago when they could be counted among the league leaders for runs scored. Okay, it was six years ago and it's been the same problem every year since then. And it's no secret who's to blame. Sabean and Bochy have no idea how build a team with any offense. Its becoming tiresome to even talk about. But this series reminded me that we can't rely on our pitching being strong, either, especially when it's kind of sketchy, as it has been lately.

Why do these points always have to be proved when we're playing the Dodgers?

Giants Fan in LA

I've been to three Dodgers-Giants games at Chavez Ravine since I moved down to LA. That also makes for the three times in my lifetime I've ventured into enemy territory. The Giants lost all three in three different heartbreaking ways, the most recent on an eighth inning pinch hit home run by Manny Ramirez an a day where the Dodgers lineup looked hopeless against Zito for most of the afternoon. All I could think as it was happening around me was, "Can't all you cheering Dodger fans recognize this sadness?" And right there is where the toughest part of living in your arch rivals' city is.

What makes you cry makes them cheer. What makes you cheer makes them hate you. You're in kind of a bizarro world where everything is upside down - bright blue dodgers logos shoot at my face out of the TV screen; some video graphic designer thinks that for some reason these disturbing images will make me happy. Small children and babies are dressed in little Dodgers shirts and onesies and aren't crying or kicking their parents in the shins. Why, I wonder?

This week my beloved Giants open up a big series vs. the Bums. The Giants looked pretty bad against Boston this weekend - nobody likes seeing Lincecum leave in the third - meanwhile it looks like the Dodgers are out of their slumping ways with a strong showing hosting the Yankees. The sense of impending doom that is programmed in to every Giants fan makes me feel a mixture of excitment and nausea as the Dodgers come to San Francisco. The difference between the fans that live in the By Area and those of us that live in LA is that I'm probably going to have to sit next to people who get excited about seeing Jonathan Broxton run out from the bullpen to Black Sabbath with a one run lead while I deal with that sense of doom.