We went to see the San Francisco Giants host the Philadelphia Phillies on the only rainy evening of the entire trip. The game lasted 3¾ hours, played largely in light drizzle. With the Phillies up 9-2 after 4 innings, SF manager Bruce Bochy took Barry Bonds and a few other stars out of the game. Despite this throwing in of the towel, the Giants rallied to get close but ultimately lost 9-7. The Giants managed to use 19 players, and the endless changes and double-switches reminded me why I prefer te DH rule and the AL over the NL.Apart from the chance to boo steroid-ridden Barry Bonds first-hand, the highlight of the evening was the crowd reactions to score updates from the NBA playoffs. It was the night when the Golden State Warriors knocked out the Dallas Mavericks in a shock upset, and it was obvious where the crowd would rather be.
Wind forward a couple of weeks, and the second game of the trip was the Los Angeles Dodgers taking on reigning World Series champions the St Louis Cardinals. OK, so Dodger Stadium is a few years old now, but in all other respects this was a better experience. Better crowd, better atmosphere, better weather and a better game. Randy Wolf pitched well for the Dodgers, and pinch-hiter Wilson Betemit made the difference with a home run. The Dodgers ran out winners 5-4.
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