A couple of years ago, National Public Radio ran a story about people recalling what they had done on the day before September 11, 2001. Perhaps the most notable aspect of the story is that people actually recalled in detail what had happened that day, as opposed to September 11th itself. A few people, such …
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Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Pittsburgh Pirates 5 5 1 3 3 1 0 5 4 27 60 4 New York Yankees 7 2 8 7 3 13 6 4 5 55 91 8 In October 1960 the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the New York Yankees four …
Recently I ordered my set of DVDs of the 2012 World Series from Major League Baseball. I had deliberately delayed my purchase, and my patience was rewarded with a price that was half what had been offered during the holidays. I was pleased with MLB’s choice of games to include in addition to the four …
Last Saturday at the KNBR Giants Fan Fest I walked onto the grass of AT&T Park for the first time. If anyone had told me beforehand that it would be one of the most frustrating experiences of my life, I would have thought that to be impossible. However, I will remove the suspense from this …
Thinking to get an early start to this Super Bowl post, I wrote the following two paragraphs prior to the game: The National Football League requires its fans to wait two full weeks after the conclusion of its conference playoffs for the Super Bowl to take place. This is an ungodly amount of time that …
When a big game is about to be played, it is fun to go online and scan for tickets, even if you don’t plan to attend. It is an effective way to see how the business of sports works, and it can be a pleasant reminder of how far short most of us have fallen …
Going into this season’s playoffs, the biggest weakness of Jim Harbaugh’s San Francisco 49ers seemed to be an inability to play from behind. This had rarely been a problem over the last two years, as the 49ers usually combined their defense with a strong running game to keep control of the ball, avoid mistakes, and …
For the San Francisco Giants and their fans, where once was poverty is now an embarrassment of riches. Enjoy the pictures. – Chuck Strom
If anyone still harbored doubts about Colin Kaepernick—I at least will admit to it—he has effectively put them to rest tonight, and barring serious injury he has established himself as the quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers for the next decade. The statistics—45 points, 2 touchdown passes, 2 rushing touchdowns, and 183 yards rushing (not …
To the surprise of no one who is familiar with my posts, I paid another visit to AT&T last week, this time with my daughter Bethany and her current significant other. Enjoy the pictures. – Chuck Strom
A few weeks ago the San Francisco Giants broke my wife’s heart. They chose not to offer her favorite player, Brian Wilson, a contract for at least $6.8 million, which is the minimum allowed by the Major League Baseball collective bargaining agreement based on Wilson’s previous service. The Giants, openly concerned about their closer’s ability …
Until a couple of weeks ago I could hardly be bothered with the NFL. The 49ers were playing well, but Orange October baseball had upstaged them and temporarily reversed the general preference for football in the hearts and minds of fans and media schedulers, at least in San Francisco. Once the Giants disbanded to their …
A month ago I watched the San Francisco Giants get thrashed 9-0 in Game 2 of the National League Division Series. Except for a few delusional optimists, all of us who were there that night believed that we had witnessed the final game at AT&T Park for 2012. I cannot overstate the depressing sense of …
I have been asked whether I have World Series tickets, well… Standing Room Only starts at $400. The price goes up significantly at this level, probably because now the beautiful people and the high rollers will be showing up. My bankbook isn’t quite in that league, which is why for the last two Giants Octobers …
When the Giants clinched the National League West title with almost two weeks left in the season, I put in a call to my brother in San Francisco. “We need to go to a playoff game,” I said. “It could be ten years before they get back again.” That had become my standard method of …
The All-Star Break is almost upon us—time for a mid-season report on the San Francisco Giants. At 46-39, the Giants are one-game behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West, and if the season ended today they would be tied with the Mets for the second and final wild-card spot after losing four …
Last week, feeling overwhelmed by life, I e-mailed my brother in San Francisco. “I need a Giants fix,” I told him. “How about a game?” A few minutes later he e-mailed back, “Funny you should ask. The company tickets are available on Sunday. Are you interested?” God bless having a member of my immediate family …
Not long ago I discovered that AT&T Park gave tours to the general public, including visits to a luxury box, the Giants’ dugout, and the visitors’ locker room. At $15 dollars per ticket, the price of admission seemed cheap for the privilege of living a childhood dream, so after Christmas last year I prevailed upon …
Those who read Grantland may have seen Jonah Keri’s recent preview of the San Francisco Giants, where he predicted that their stellar pitching will be betrayed again by another punchless lineup of veteran retreads, for which he excoriated general manager Brian Sabean for not improving. In general it’s hard to argue with Keri’s reasoning. The …
As most of you are aware, the San Francisco 49ers ended their season in dramatic fashion, losing the NFC Championship Game in overtime to the New York Giants due to a turnover on special teams and a subsequent field goal . Since the 49ers had won many of their games in the same way during …
When it comes to sports, it’s the NFL’s world. All the other leagues just live in it. While the NBA and MLB hope and pray that at least one East Coast big-market team goes deep into their playoffs in order to generate fan interest, the NFL can match up bottom-feeders from such trendy cities like …
When I heard that Moneyball was being made into a movie, I wondered how a book about the inside business of baseball and the arcane subject of sabermetrics could ever translate into something that could be watched on a screen for two hours. I thought it would never work. Now that I’ve seen the movie, …
Anyone who believes that the age of sacred relics is over has never been to see a World Series Championship trophy, particularly one that took over half a century to arrive. When I heard that the San Francisco Giants’ 2010 trophy would stop in Redding as part of a tour of northern California, I quickly …
There are few experiences in life as exciting as attending a baseball game in October, when the outcome of a marathon season hangs in the balance. Despite the handicap of being a Giants fan of modest means, I had seen two such games in my life prior to last year. The latter, back in 2002, …
Those of you who read my post on visiting Shanghai last month might have noted my expressed hope that the coronavirus, which had sent my daughter stateside when her English school closed, would not follow us home. Though both of us, currently living in my home in Redding, CA, are healthy and hope to stay …
With Kevin Durant to the Brooklyn Nets and Kawhi Leonard to the LA Clippers, the major free agent moves in this NBA off-season have completed, with some lower-tier signings and trades to follow in the coming weeks. A few hot takes are in order: 1. The 2019-20 NBA season may well have been saved by …
Photos of Houston posted this morning. Lots more rain to come. https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2017/08/hurricane-harvey-leaves-houston-under-water/538215/ – Chuck Strom
At an East Portland Blog staff meeting tonight, one of our fine writers related a story about visiting the Billy Graham Library in North Carolina. This reminded me of hours lost in the 1970s sitting forcibly quiet and heroically bored as my parents monopolized the lone family boob tube watching televised versions of Billy Graham …
A couple of Spotify samplers for Sinatra anniversary week. The first recreates (almost) the singer’s last recording project, now out of print: Everything Happens to Me, a self-selected anthology of the songs that meant the most to him. No ring-a-ding-dings here; just the deepest ballads and most penetrating readings from his later years. In the …
Charles Pierce is one of the best sportswriters in the business today. He was at PNC Park last night, and he is also right on the money on the NFL. – Chuck Strom http://grantland.com/the-triangle/baseball-playoffs-mlb-roger-goodells/