Urban: World Series Live Playoff Blog, Game 1

Oct. 27, 2010URBAN ARCHIVEGIANTS PAGEGIANTS VIDEOMLB POSTSEASON
UPDATED: 8:08 P.M.
Mychael Urban
CSNBayArea.com

SAN FRANCISCOBaseball, were told, has a way of evening things out.Tonights a pretty good example of that. Cliff Lee, prior to Game 1 of the World Series, had turned the playoffs into his personal playground, bullying opponents around the swing sets, the jungle gym and the balance beams.Tonight the Giants did the bullying, essentially slamming Lees jaw on the cement base of the drinking fountain as he leaned in for a sip.The Giants have been different-hero-every-night kind of team this postseason, but Freddy Sanchez hadnt yet gotten his turn.Three doubles tonight changed that. Two of them were huge.
And finally, it was the Giants who stumbled through the first couple of innings like 21-year-old sailors on birthday leave. But it was Texas Ian Kinsler who, in the top of the eighth inning, looked like the drunk when he rounded first on an infield single and had to just stand there as Aubrey Huff tagged him out.What goes around comes around, right? It sure did tonight.UPDATED: 6:14 P.M.
Its the fourth inning, and its incredible that the game is now tied.The Giants looked like nervous children in the first two innings, ceding a two-run lead to playoff god Cliff Lee in the process, and wow, did things look bleak.Top of the first, runner on third, roller up the line fielded by Tim Lincecum. The runner was caught too far off third, and Lincecum did the right thing by running him back in that direction. But dude, youve gotta give up the ball. Lincecum didnt, everyone was safe.
Amazingly, it didnt hurt the Giants. Freddy Sanchez brain-cramping in the bottom of the inning might have. On second after a double, he apparently was the only person in the park who thought Buster Poseys bloop was going to drop, and he got doubled off second to end the inning.Then, in the top of the second, with Bengie Molina at third base, Elvis Andrus hit a medium fly to center. Anyone else in the world, its an easy run. But it was Molina, who is to fast what Ochocinco is to humble.Torres throw was awful. Johnny Damon was probably watching at home thinking, I couldnt have thrown Molina out. And thats quite something. Molina was safe by a mile when he should have been out by a half-mile, and 2-0 led the Rangers.Now its 2-2, and it sure feels like the Giants dodged a bullet. They played some of their worst baseball of the year in the first two innings and got away with it.UPDATED: 4:40 P.M.Nuts. Thats what it is. Absolutely nuts.You cant move on Willie May Plaza. You cant move in the Public House. You cant move on the field during batting practice. The crowds, everywhere, are ridiculous. The World Series. In San Francisco. Are you kidding me?No, youre not. Because its real. There actually are women here with newborns wearing orange and black bibs.There actually are grown men waxing what they think is poetic about Aubrey Huffs thong. There actually are 20-something girls toting signs paying homage to a strangers facial hair, at the same time proposing marriage. The World Series does strange things to people.One bit of evidence of such: I ran into a man, in his early 50s, wearing a wedding gown. This is San Francisco, so I didnt bat an eye. But I had to ask. Dude, who you getting hitched with?Heres his answer: Nobody. Im in love with myself, with the Giants, with my city. And to tell you the truth, with myself again. I love myself. I love the Giants. And I love to feel pretty. So here I am.Ok, bro, Knock yourself out. But whats this dress got to do with the World Series? Duuuude, he said. Whats a wedding? Happiest day of your life, right? This is it. Happiest day of my life. Might as well wear the dress.