An inspiring story from the minor leagues

The 2009 baseball season had barely begun on April 9 when Mike Cameron of the Milwaukee Brewers cracked a line drive through the box. The ball struck San Francisco Giants pitcher Joe Martinez in the forehead, causing fractures and a nasty concussion — and jeopardizing the young pitcher’s career.

Martinez is playing baseball again, pitching for the San Jose Giants in the Class A California League. He is scheduled to pitch tonight in Modesto against the Nuts.

In an interview with The Modesto Bee, Martinez says the continual replays of his scary injury don’t bother him. And he doesn’t hold anything against Cameron, who sent him a gift of Milwaukee sausages after the incident. That’s one thoughtful, gracious young man under the Giants cap.

Gigantes vs. Cerveceros

I turned on the TV in roughly the fifth inning last evening to watch the Giants play the Brewers and gleefully discovered the teams were wearing Spanish-language uniforms. The Giants’ road grays had “Gigantes” emblazoned on the front, and the Brew Crew has “Cerveceros” across their chests. The teams wore their normal caps.

While crass commercialism no doubt in part drives the proliferation of alternate uniforms at major league games, I can put that aside. It’s cool to see the uniforms in Spanish, all the more so when so many Latin American players are in the game.

The Brewers have scheuled a Hispanic heritage game in recent years, and there’s now a sombrero-clad chorizo taking part in the sausage race during the 7th inning stretch.

As for “Los Gigantes,” they always seem to find a way to lose in Miller Park. I should have stuck to the game on radio. Once I started watching, things turned sour for Barry Zito.

As a former Milwaukeean, I still hold a strong allegiance to the Brewers. But although my wife was beside me rooting for the home team, I was fully pulling for the Giants, who grabbed a 6-4 lead in the top of the ninth only to blow it in the bottom and lose 7-6.

But I take heart. There’s always manana.

Love those throwback uniforms!

I always get a charge out of the games in which major league ball clubs wear “throwback” uniforms, such as the Pittsburgh Pirates did last night. The Pirates wore the uniforms of the Homestead Grays in defeating the Kansas City Royals, who were wearing Kansas City Monarchs uniforms. Virgil Vasquez (in photo) sports a Grays cap as he delivers a pitch.

There was one strange experiment a few years back in which major league teams wore so-called “uniforms of the future,” and I can recall pictures of the Oakland Athletics in jerseys with quirky sans-serif script that looked like it was out of “Blade Runner.” Better that the teams stick to the throwbacks.

Emerging cap style at the U.S. Open

If Ricky Barnes can hang on to win the U.S. Open, it’s a good bet his unusual golf cap will gain some sales. Even if he fades on Monday — assuming the weather holds up at Bethpage Black — he’ll have gained some fans, as will his Wilson Staff cap.

I strained while watching him on TV this afternoon to figure out what’s written on the right side of the cap. It’s rickyenergy.com, which takes you to a site for Verve, “The Official Energy Drink of Ricky Barnes.” (I’ve lived half a century without consuming reconstituted mangosteen juice, so I think I’ll pass on the Verve.)

I follow pro golf to some degree, and I have to admit that Barnes didn’t register until he vaulted into the Open lead a few days ago. I’ve been impressed with how at ease he is in media interviews. Bob Costas on TV and somebody for ESPN radio were both pressing Barnes about how he’s coping with the rain delays, the course conditions and the general pressure of the Open.  Barnes has good-naturedly shrugged off the questions and said he’s getting enough sleep and relaxing with family living near the course.

Monday finishes for major golf championships are rare. If it’s a close finish, you can be sure millions of man (and woman) hours of productivity will be lost on the job as the leaders approach the final holes.

The Bard in Oregon

One of the highlights of our recent vacation was a side trip to Ashland, Ore., where I spotted this cap among many on sale in the gift shop for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. We were only in Ashland for a day and didn’t take in a show, but that’s on the “must do next time” list.

Don’t knock the Rock: An update

One of the joys of blogging is when a post triggers a reaction in someone or enables you to learn something new. My recent post on the 50th anniversary of Rock Colavito’s four-homer game brought a comment in from someone who runs the Rocky Colavito fan site. There you’ll find a link to a petition to the veterans committee of the Baseball Hall of Fame to put the slugging Cleveland Indians right fielder (and off-season mushroom farmer) in the hall. Note: A donation via PayPal is required to contribute.

This blog has now cleared the one year mark, which must mean it has achieved some level of viability. My “hello, world” post was on June 18, 2008, and the first “real” post was on June 21, 2008. Thanks to everyone who has stopped by to take a look. I’ll be looking for an updated banner image to mark the occasion.

The 2009 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black

Mother Nature isn’t being cooperative, but the U.S. Open Golf tournament is under way at the fabled Bethpage Black course. While conditions have been stormy out on Long Island, here in California they are sunny, ideal for snapping a shot of my U.S. Golf Association 2009 cap.

The annual event always stirs up memories of the one time I got to play on media day for the Open. It was in 1998 at the Olympic Club in San Francisco. That year, media day was a week or two ahead of the actual tournament, so the rough I faced wasn’t quite as high as what the pros would face.

I spent plenty of time in the rough and posted a terrible score. But I did have one great moment.

On the ninth hole, I faced an approach shot to the green from roughly 50 yards out. The green is at the base of a towering, ampitheater-like embankment, ideal for a gallery assembled to watch a major championship.

I pulled out my wedge, stepped up to the ball and took a whack. The ball popped onto the green and rolled right into the cup, giving me what likely was a par or maybe even a bogie. I don’t remember and don’t care. What I do remember was the imagined thrill of raising my club and waving thanks to a wildly cheering gallery.

The Bay Bridge series: Athletics vs. Giants

I’m on vacation for a week, and I celebrated by watching the San Francisco Giants host the Oakland Athletics in their first interleague games of the season.

I wish I had one of those A’s-Giants combo caps that were available during the 1989 Bay Bridge World Series, the one that was interrupted by the Loma Prieta Earthquake.  A good friend back east still has his, but I can’t even find a photo of one. This ersatz Giants’ cap in the A’s green and gold will have to do.

The San Francisco Bay area is the only market where a twin logo cap could exist. In New York, would any fan of either the Yankees or Mets want to share space on the crown with the other team’s NY? No way.

In Chicago, would a Cubs or Sox fan tolerate such? Never.

In LA? Angels and Dodgers together? Inconceivable.

Around San Francisco Bay, fans have fierce allegiance to their team, but it’s a market that appreciates both franchises. I take the twin logo cap as a signal that Bay Area people are true fans of the game, recognizing the value of both the American and National leagues.

(The Giants won tonight on a 3-0 shutout by Tim Lincecum. I was rooting for the Giants.)

Don’t knock the Rock!

By happy chance, I stumbled tonight onto a story on Cleveland.com about one of the great occasions in Cleveland Indians’ history, the night 50 years ago when Rocky Colavito slugged four home runs against the Orioles in Baltimore. That was June 10, 1959.

I wish I could say I remember the game, but I was only two years old at the time. The Rock’s performance is legendary in Cleveland history, and it was part of the Gospel of Baseball my father imparted to me.

The names Colavito (Rocco Domenico), Francona (Tito) and Minoso (Minnie) were among the first I learned after “Mommy” and “Daddy.” For years, Mom would laugh recalling my efforts to pronounce Minoso, which apparently came out something like “Mimoso.”

Colavito was my favorite player, always. I have no doubt that I cried, as many Clevelanders did, when Rocky was traded to the Detroit Tigers for Harvey Kuenn. But the Tribe got Rocky back a few years later, an event I still count among my greatest sports memories. (We post-’48 Clevelanders have to grab on to what we can, understand?)

Entertaining Cole Hammels ad for New Era caps

Watching ESPN at lunch today, I spotted this commercial for New Era caps featuring Cole Hammels of the Philadelphia Phillies. It’s good for a chuckle or two.