Oh my god, OMG you guys

[owlmoose]

I saw Dennis Haysbert in a restaurant this afternoon! He was just walking by my table, calm and cool as could be. I didn't say anything, I just sat and stared, unable to take my eyes off of him until he was out of sight, hopefully not too embarrassingly open-mouthed. This is not quite as exciting as it would have been 7 years ago when I was a full-blown "24" fangirl, but it was still really, really cool.

He was a lot taller than I imagined he would be, and his smile is even bigger in person.

In other news, I went to a baseball game tonight, and although no one threw a no hitter this time (curse my luck for picking a game one day too late!), it was still an enjoyable outing. Even though it rained on us a little bit. Rain? In San Francisco? In July? What is this world coming to? On the upside, I saw one of the most spectacular rainbows of my life, springing out of the scoreboard and covering the sky. T took some pictures, and if he decides any are worthy of posting, I will definitely link.

Comments

[auronlu.livejournal.com]

Manny drove me nuts even before he turned out to be a cheater.

I watched our young core of guys develop over the last few years, with Ethier joining them from the A's farm. It's the first time I've seen a homegrown team, at least partially, in my fledgeling fan career.

When Casey Blake came, he fit in smoothly and innocuously, while whacking out the HRs we needed. The way Hudson did. The way Pierre -- bless him and his noodle throwing arm -- did. They weren't superstars, but they added to the team in various ways.

Then Manny shows up, and suddenly the team I've followed as a team is getting touted as "Manny's Dodgers."

What about all the guys I'd been rooting for? Martin and Kemp, Loney and Ethier, Broxton and Billingsley, Kershaw and Kuo? I feel like the sports media only discovered the Dodgers exist because we got an ex Red Sox superstar, and none of them got ANY credit for what they did. Admittedly they weren't Manny, but they weren't chopped liver.

This irked me. Yet the wins Manny contributed to were enjoyable. I can't pretend they weren't.

But then it turns out he was cheating, as I should've guessed all along.

Juan Pierre did an incredible job during Manny's suspension. I know the Dodgers will do better with his return, yet what little enjoyment I had from Manny has turned, as it did for Sox fans, to surly resentment. I'd almost rather keep Manny as a PH and use Pierre every day. Which would be stupid, but I don't want my Dodgers, the ones I was rooting for before Manny arrived, saddled with an asterisk. But if they have any playoffs success, that's what will happen.

And the worst of it is, Manny's bust reminds me that I can't rule out the possibility that some of the young players I've been rooting for have followed his example.

So yeah, er, there's my Manny rant.

As for Sandoval -- I hadn't become aware of him until very recently, embarrassingly enough, but I will be watching for him now. I actually got into a bit of a fight with Phillies fans over Werth being picked above Sandoval. I like Werth -- ex Dodger, hard worker -- but it shoulda been Sandoval. Hopefully he'll get there next year.

If Sandoval keeps playing like this, here's one Dodger fan who will give him his due, just as I voted for Adrian Gonzales over Loney despite being very fond of Loney.

Stating the obvious:
Lincecum -- wow.
I can't wait for a Kershaw/Lincecum matchup, although Kershaw is still very green behind the ears, and would probably have his jock strap handed to him.

[owlmoose.livejournal.com]

As a Giants fan who spent many long years defending Bonds, I have a somewhat different perspective on the steroids part of the story (before they couldn't any more, MLB not only looked the other way, they subtly and not-so-subtly encouraged players to use, and it's not so much about who dunnit as it is who's been caught), but I definitely hear you on how he's overshadowed the young locally-developed guys who deserve their day in the sun. Unfortunately, the sports media tends to focus on the Sox, the Yankees, and whoever happens to be playing them, which is how Sandoval managed to fly under the national radar for so long. (Don't feel like you've missed anything if you hadn't heard of Jonathan Sanchez before yesterday, though -- he was having a terrible season, had been demoted to the bullpen, and only got that start because Randy Johnson is hurt. I suspect we will see him back in the rotation now!)

I feel like I'm watching history in the making with Tim Lincecum. He's spectacular. I wouldn't be surprised if he takes home the Cy Young again. Back when everyone thought the Giants would have another rebuilding season, the best we were hoping for was a highly watchable game every five days (and *maybe* the team would break .500). In a way, it's funny that you call Kershaw green in comparison -- Lincecum is only in his third season, but watching how cool and collected he is out there, it's easy to forget. How long has Kershaw been up?

Sandoval, on the other hand, came out of nowhere. He'd been somewhat of interest in the minors, but no one expected a breakout like this. And he just looks like he's having so much *fun*. I love that in a ballplayer. :)