RealClearSports: A Good Man Takes His Leave

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

SAN FRANCISCO -- He came to the plate in the second inning, the beginning of the end as it were, and the fans at the San Francisco Giants' final home game of 2009, Rich Aurilia's final home game with the Giants, began to stand and cheer. And there were tears in the man's eyes.

This last season with the Giants, this 11th season of the 15 years he has been in the majors, was less than hoped for Aurilia. His bat had slowed. His average had dropped to .215. All that didn't matter to the crowd.

They were saying goodbye. They were showing class to a player who never showed anything but class.

Aurilia wasn't Barry Bonds. Aurilia isn't Albert Pujols. But he was an All-Star when he had a 203-hit season in 2001. And as the Giants' Bruce Bochy, who managed against Aurilia and managed with Aurilia, would say, even when facing teams with Bonds and Jeff Kent, "Aurilia was the guy you didn't want up there.''

Now, on this Wednesday afternoon, with the sun shining, the bay a delightful blue and autumn nowhere in sight or in mind, Aurilia, at age 38, was the guy up there, and the crowd up on its feet.

Aurilia was the reminder of the way it was, the last player remaining from the 2002 World Series team. He had left, gone, to Seattle, San Diego, Cincinnati and then, because he still was able to help and because he never complained, he had returned in 2007 to back up at shortstop, third base, first base.

"He did a great job of accepting his role,'' said Bochy, who on Wednesday put Aurilia, the one-time kid from Brooklyn, who went to Xavarian High and St. John's University,  as did the great Chris Mullin, into the starting lineup for the first time since July 17.

It was a grand gesture, appreciated by Aurilia, appreciated by the fans, and before the day was done, and the Giants had beaten the Arizona Diamondbacks, 7-3, Aurilia would get two more standing O's and a curtain call. Even though he went 0-for-4.

It was his 1,291st game with the Giants. His last home game with the Giants. And when he went to play first in the top of the ninth, he put on sunglasses so nobody would know he was crying. Then, Bochy removed him, as was proper, and then more cheers.

It was a day for nostalgia. Randy Johnson pitched the ninth inning for San Francisco -- and having reached his 46th birthday in September, who knows if he's reached the end of the line.

Aurilia is unsure of whether he'll try for another team or just retire. He wanted just one last base hit. A blooper to center in the eighth was caught. "I thought I hit it just soft enough,'' he said, "and cracked my bat enough for it to fall in there, but it was just not meant to be.''

Nor was one more chance for the postseason. The Giants were better than expected, already reaching 86 wins, after only 72 in 2008, but they weren't quite good enough to get to the playoffs.

"That's the only thing I could have wished for me,'' said Aurilia, "that we were still in the race. But it's been a great ride, and I have great memories. I'm thankful Bochy put me in there and let me have a a day like that, because it's something I'll never forget.

"That first (ovation) surprised me. I guess they had been reading the papers knowing this would be my last game here. It's been an honor to be here, an honor to wear that uniform with 'Giants' across it the majority of my career.''

He'll go home to Arizona, near the Giants' spring complex, and then sort out what's ahead. "I know I won't be back here as a player,'' he confirmed, "and that's OK. But I know I have relationships here I'll keep forever, and there could be a spot in the organization if I decide to come back.''

Asked his most powerful memories, they were less about himself than about teammates.

"A lot of them were when I was on deck,'' he explained. "I was on deck when Brian Johnson homered (in the 12th against the Dodgers) in 1997; on deck when J.T. (Snow) homered in the 2000 playoffs off (the Mets) Armando Benitez; on deck when we clinched the NLCS (in '02) to go to the World Series.

"I guess that makes me a good teammate, because all my memories that are great have nothing to do with what I've done but with us winning.''

Nothing wrong with that. Everything right with Rich Aurilia.

As a reporter since 1960, Art Spander is a living treasure of sports history. A recipient of the Dick McCann Memorial Award -- given for his long and distinguished career covering professional football -- he has earned himself a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was recently honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the PGA of America for 2009.

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http://www1.realclearsports.com/articles/2009/10/02/a_good_man_takes_his_leave_96492.html
© RealClearSports 2009

SF Examiner: Things going right for Giants as they aim for playoffs

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

SAN FRANCISCO — They blow one in 14 innings, they lose one 11-0, they are frustrating. They make too many errors, they don’t get enough hits and they may get into the playoffs.

Randy Johnson might have another start, Eugenio Velez lacks baseball instincts, Aaron Rowand has done less than expected and they may get into the playoffs.

It’s a year too early for the Giants. It’s five years too late. This is next season’s team. It’s also for the moment, a team that is doing it with pitching and mirrors, heart and hustle. A team that for the first time in a long while has made September baseball relevant.

Brad Penny joins the ranks. The Red Sox didn’t want him. The hated Dodgers didn’t want him before that. But now the Giants want him. Maybe he has a month of fastballs left. Maybe he can be the difference, and if he isn’t, it was worth the try.

Something has gone right at AT&T Park. For all the criticism of Brian Sabean, for all the knocks on Bruce Bochy, for all the agony caused by Edgar Rentaria — who, naturally, beats the Rockies with a slam in Sunday’s version of the biggest game of the year — something has gone right.

Baseball’s a strange sport, not so much a team game as a linking of individual performances. There are no passes to an open man, no trap blocking. Each man does his thing, but if he does it correctly and if there’s harmony in a clubhouse, baseball becomes a collective group effort. That’s what the Giants are giving.

They aren’t as good as the Dodgers, not as good as the Cardinals, probably not as good as the Phillies, but the Giants are better than they were supposed to be. That’s no small virtue after the losing seasons, after finishing 18 games below .500 in 2008. They won 72 games last year. Total.

They had won 72 games this year before the end of August. Progress, more progress than a Giants fan, or Bill Neukom or Larry Baer could have dreamed.

Out of the shadows, into the sunlight, into the pennant race. To borrow a Duane Kuiper quote used frequently of late: “unbelievable.”

In April, before the first pitch, Baer was touting the garlic fries’ green booth at the park, in effect selling the clean sizzle rather than the spuds, trying to persuade us there were reasons to buy tickets other than to suffer with the ball club.

Now that’s small potatoes. Now it’s the ball that counts. Being there, that’s the whole idea, being there when the final month arrives and every pitch is a reason to gasp or grimace, a reason to hope or agonize.

“Here we are approaching September,” Bochy said last weekend, “and we’re playing some very important games.” Now September has arrived, and because of the unforeseen sweep of Colorado, the games are no less important, no less suspenseful.

Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain are on the cover of Sports Illustrated, if only the upper corner. The country has been alerted. Baseball again matters by the Golden Gate.

Art Spander has been covering Bay Area sports since 1965 and also writes on www.artspander.com and www.realclearsports.com. E-mail him at typoes@aol.com.

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http://www.sfexaminer.com/sports/Spander-Things-going-right-for-Giants-as-they-aim-for-playoffs-56685642.html
Copyright 2009 SF Newspaper Company

Randy Johnson makes the Bay Area smile

As the man himself said, “It’s nice to have this moment.’’ More than nice, it was exciting. It was uplifting. For Randy Johnson. For his family. For baseball. No less significantly, for the Bay Area.

Maybe this hasn’t been a complete sporting wasteland. The Sharks had the best record in hockey before they collapsed as normal in the playoffs. Cal football had a winning record. But mostly, we’ve been through tough times.

The Giants, the A’s, the 49ers, the Raiders and the Warriors all have had a losing season, the 49ers and Raiders multiple losing seasons. We needed something to make us smile, to make us cheer. To make us remember the enjoyment inherent in sports.

On Thursday, we remembered.

On Thursday, Randy Johnson won his 300th game. He did it in a San Francisco Giants uniform. A carpetbagger, in a way. A “rent-a-player.’’

A newcomer who is an old-timer. But who also grew up in the region, Livermore, and has deep ties even if for the previous 20 of his 21 years he played in Montreal, Seattle, Houston, Arizona and New York.

The last memorable occasion was Barry Bonds’ 756th home run. Steroids didn’t matter. His personality didn’t matter. Barry drove one to centerfield and the strobe lights flashed and the crowd screamed. The ordinary had become the extraordinary.

Now, finally, another thrill. We’d been spoiled through the years, the Catch, Baron Davis’ dunk against Dallas, the Raiders’ Sea of Hands, Canseco’s blast into the upper desk in Toronto.

Do you recall Dave Stewart out-staring and out-pitching Roger Clemens? The instant the Giants captured the pennant in 2002?  Now we can recall 45-year-old Randy Johnson, laconic, iconic, bringing one home for Northern California.

“It was a long road,’’ Johnson said on the Comcast postgame show. “If there is one word to sum it up, I persevered.’’

Not just on a rainy afternoon in Washington, when the 6-foot-9 Johnson made history by becoming the 24th pitcher and sixth lefthander to reach 300 victories. But through a career in which, because of his size, he had to perfect mechanics and later had to come back from injuries.

Baseball, it’s been said, is less a team sport than a series of concerts by the artists. Still, when a baseball player helps himself, with a well-pitched game, with three hits in four at bats, he is helping his team. All of Johnson’s wins meant 300 victories for the clubs on which he played, number 300 coming for the benefit of the Giants.

“I’m exhausted,’’ conceded Johnson, who came out with a 2-1 lead after six, watched the defense make some spectacular plays to retain the advantage and then sat in the dugout when the often hitless Giants picked up three runs in the top of the ninth.

“I had a senior moment when I thought I was 25,’’ said Johnson. “Just think about it. I’m coming on 600 games.’’

Johnson’s son, Tanner, in a Giants uniform, was with his father. “I think the coolest moment has to be able to share it with a son,’’ Randy said.

“I wish my dad was here,’’ he added, referring to his late father. “But I haven’t been able to think about that for the last 17 years. I hope he was watching from up above.’’

The rest of us were watching from down here. And from everywhere. At Nationals Stadium, everyone seemed to be a Johnson fan, even those in red Washington caps. Baseball fans appreciate records, whether set by their team or the opposition.

Maybe Randy deserved a better stage, a larger crowd, but scripts are not to be prepared in sport. Everything is extemporaneous. You never know what might happen. Or what might not happen. Any hope that number 300 would be recorded at home, at AT&T, was incidental. You take what you can get.

Johnson went out and took this one, pitched beautifully. Which is what is needed for the Giants, a team that is last in hitting.

“I came here,’’ Johnson said of joining San Francisco, “to help this team turn things around.

“The one thing a pitcher has control over, essentially, is strikeouts. He has no control over wins that he gets. But wins always outweigh the strikeouts. I wanted to be known for winning games rather than for strikeouts.’’

He’s known for both. And in the Bay Area he’ll be known for an afternoon when we remembered the excitement of a magic moment. Welcome to the club, Randy.