Jaybird's Jottings

Written Oral History Project

I am excited to announce a research project I am currently working on. It’s called "Giant Memories." The beginnings of the project can be viewed at my website The Giants Journal. (Click On History and look for Oral History).

To quote from my introduction,

As a frequent visitor to these virtual communities, and as a Giants’ fan and historian, I decided to work on a project I am calling a Giants Fans’ Written Oral History. Instead of a car to take me to the fans, I am using email. Instead of asking the fans to talk about their experiences, I am asking them to write about them. The end result, the nice flow of words you see in oral history books, might not turn out the same. But the digital revolution is spawning new ways of doing things, and I wanted to see how this would pan out.

So far I have received a handful of excellent replies, including a very insightful piece from Richard Booroojian (see below).

When I receive a Written Oral History (“Writorary?”), I will post the beginning part here. The rest can be viewed at my website. Shorter length entries will probably be posted in their entirety here, as well as The Giants Journal.

(If you would like to participate, please email me).

Richard Booroojian

Richard Booroojian, age 46, is a Financial Consultant in San Jose, California. He is a frequent contributor to EEEEEE!, a website recognized by GIANTS magazine in the July/August 2000 issue as one of their top five Giants’ fans sites. His article, “I’m a Giants Fan, That’s My Job,” was an honorable mention in a writing contest on The Well in 1998.

I became a baseball fan the same day (really the same moment) that I became a Giants fan. Growing up in Fresno, California, my extended family was a big part of my life, and I had a lot of cousins, almost all of whom were loud and boisterous. Any time we went to my grandparents' house for a holiday or family gathering, it would be a loud, crowded, intimate affair, since there would often be 30 people crammed into a small, five room house. During the summer, almost everyone would be out in the back yard, where the shade would provide some comfort from the heat (since the house itself was not air conditioned and you can imagine how hot a small house would become with 30 people in it in 100+ degree weather).

Anyway, my oldest cousin Tom used to disappear indoors during a lot of those summer outdoor gatherings, and one time, on August 6, 1967, I followed him inside to find out what he was doing. Turns out he was listening to the Giants game, hiding in a back room so his mom wouldn't yell at him for getting upset at the game. There was nothing to get upset about that day, though, because the Giants swept the Mets in a doubleheader 9-7 and 4-1. I was instantly enraptured, possibly because to my naive nine year old mind, I had found something to follow where I would never be on the losing side.

No doubt that illusion was shattered the next day, but for some reason that spark ignited a fire in me, and I have been a dedicated fan ever since. Within days, I had discovered the....

Random Box Scores

Came up with an idea yesterday, one I hope you will like. It'll be called Random Box Scores and will be just that.

Every week or so, I will head over to retrosheet.org and randomly select a Giants' Box Score. Dave Smith, who heads up this wonderful website, has kindly given me his permission and blessings (Dodger fans and Giants fan can get along!).

In addition to the boxscore, I will also provide the play by play, at least for the years that retrosheet has finished thus far. The downside is the formatting. I can clean it up a little but it's not going to be perfect. And doing it once a week means not a whole lot of ground will be covered.

But this is for the fun of it more than anything and I hope you enjoy.

Here’s our lid-lifter, a Giants win over the Cubbies from 1986.

Happy New Year!

Box Scores provided by retrosheet.org.

San Francisco Giants 5, Chicago Cubs 4

Day Game Played on July 20, 1986 (D) at Wrigley Field

SF N 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 - 5 7 0
CHI N 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 4 7 1

BATTING

SF Giants AB R H RBI BB K PO A

Kutcher cf 5 1 0 0 0 1 1 0
Thompson 2b 4 1 1 0 0 2 1 0
Leonard lf 4 0 2 1 0 1 1 0
C. Davis rf 3 0 0 0 1 2 4 0
Brown 3b 3 1 1 1 0 1 0 2
Spilman 1b 3 1 1 2 1 0 12 0
Brenly c 4 1 1 1 0 1 7 2
Uribe ss 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 6
Mason p 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Berenguer p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Youngblood ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
M. Davis p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Woodard ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Garrelts p 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 2

Totals 34 5 7 5 2 11 27 12

FIELDING -

PB: Brenly 2 (8).

BATTING -

2B: Leonard (11,off Eckersley).

HR: Brenly (6,2nd inning off Eckersley 0 on, 1 out); Spilman (2,4th inning
off Eckersley 1 on, 1 out).

SF: Brown (4,off Smith).

IBB: Spilman (1,by Smith).

BASERUNNING -

SB: Uribe (17,2nd base off Eckersley/J. Davis).

Chicago Cubs AB R H RBI BB K PO A

Dunston ss 3 0 0 0 1 1 1 2
Sandberg 2b 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
Matthews lf 4 1 2 0 0 1 2 0
Durham 1b 4 0 0 0 0 2 6 0
Moreland rf 4 1 2 1 0 0 5 0
J. Davis c 4 1 1 1 0 0 11 0
Cey 3b 3 1 1 0 0 1 0 1
Speier pr,3b 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Bosley ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Martinez cf 3 0 1 1 0 1 2 0
Eckersley p 2 0 0 1 0 1 0 0
Smith p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 32 4 7 4 1 8 27 5

FIELDING -

E: Dunston (17).

BATTING -

2B: Moreland (17,off Mason); J. Davis (15,off Mason); Matthews (10,off Mason);
Cey (16,off Garrelts).

SF: Eckersley (1,off Mason).

BASERUNNING -

CS: Martinez (1,2nd base by Mason/Brenly); Moreland (6,2nd base by Berenguer/Brenly).
PITCHING

San Francisco Giants IP H HR R ER BB K

Mason 2.1 6 0 4 3 1 3
Berenguer 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 0
M. Davis 3 0 0 0 0 0 3
Garrelts W(8-7) 3 1 0 0 0 0 2
Totals 9 7 0 4 3 1 8

Chicago Cubs IP H HR R ER BB K

Eckersley L(3-6) 7 6 2 5 3 1 9
Smith 2 1 0 0 0 1 2
Totals 9 7 2 5 3 2 11

WP: Smith (2).

IBB: Smith (9,Spilman).

Umpires: Harry Wendelstedt, Terry Tata, Jerry Crawford, Charlie Williams

Time of Game: 2:43 Attendance: 33392

Starting Lineups:

San Francisco Giants Chicago Cubs
1. Kutcher cf Dunston ss
2. Thompson 2b Sandberg 2b
3. Leonard lf Matthews lf
4. C. Davis rf Durham 1b
5. Brown 3b Moreland rf
6. Spilman 1b J. Davis c
7. Brenly c Cey 3b
8. Uribe ss Martinez cf
9. Mason p Eckersley p

GIANTS 1ST: Kutcher made an out to Martinez; Thompson struck
out; Leonard doubled; C. Davis walked; Brown struck out; 0 R, 1
H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Giants 0, Cubs 0.

CUBS 1ST: Dunston struck out; Sandberg popped to Spilman in foul
territory; Matthews singled; Durham grounded out (Spilman
unassisted); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Giants 0, Cubs 0.

GIANTS 2ND: Spilman made an out to Moreland; Brenly homered;
Uribe lined to Dunston; Mason struck out; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Giants 1, Cubs 0.

CUBS 2ND: Moreland doubled; J. Davis doubled [Moreland scored];
Cey struck out while J. Davis advanced to third on a passed ball
[J. Davis to third, Cey to first]; Martinez singled [J. Davis
scored, Cey to third]; Eckersley hit a sacrifice fly to Kutcher
[Cey scored (unearned)]; Martinez was caught stealing second
(Brenly to Uribe); Dunston walked; Brenly allowed a passed ball
[Dunston to second]; Sandberg struck out; 3 R, 3 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Giants 1, Cubs 3.

GIANTS 3RD: Kutcher struck out; Thompson made an out to
Moreland; Leonard lined to Moreland; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Giants 1, Cubs 3.

CUBS 3RD: Matthews doubled; Durham made an out to C. Davis
[Matthews to third]; Moreland singled [Matthews scored];
BERENGUER REPLACED MASON (PITCHING); Moreland was caught
stealing second (Brenly to Thompson); J. Davis made an out to C.
Davis; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Giants 1, Cubs 4.

GIANTS 4TH: C. Davis grounded out (Dunston to Durham); Brown
singled; Spilman homered [Brown scored]; Brenly made an out to
Moreland; Uribe singled; Uribe stole second; YOUNGBLOOD BATTED
FOR BERENGUER; Youngblood struck out; 2 R, 3 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Giants 3, Cubs 4.

CUBS 4TH: M. DAVIS REPLACED YOUNGBLOOD (PITCHING); Cey made an
out to Leonard; Martinez struck out; Eckersley was called out on
strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Giants 3, Cubs 4.

GIANTS 5TH: Kutcher grounded out (Dunston to Durham); Durham
tagged Kutcher as throw pulled him off base; Thompson struck
out; Leonard was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Giants 3, Cubs 4.

CUBS 5TH: Dunston grounded out (Brown to Spilman); Sandberg
grounded out (Uribe to Spilman); Matthews grounded out (Brown to
Spilman); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Giants 3, Cubs 4.

GIANTS 6TH: C. Davis struck out; Brown grounded out (Cey to
Durham); Spilman made an out to Matthews; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Giants 3, Cubs 4.

CUBS 6TH: Durham struck out; Moreland grounded out (Uribe to
Spilman); J. Davis lined to C. Davis; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Giants 3, Cubs 4.

GIANTS 7TH: Brenly was called out on strikes; Uribe grounded out
(Durham unassisted); WOODARD BATTED FOR M. DAVIS; Woodard made
an out to Moreland; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Giants 3, Cubs 4.

CUBS 7TH: GARRELTS REPLACED WOODARD (PITCHING); Cey doubled;
SPEIER RAN FOR CEY; Martinez grounded out (Garrelts to Spilman);
Eckersley grounded out (Uribe to Spilman) [Speier to third];
Dunston grounded out (Uribe to Spilman); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Giants 3, Cubs 4.

GIANTS 8TH: SPEIER STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 3B); Kutcher reached
on an error by Dunston [Kutcher to first]; Thompson singled
[Kutcher to second]; SMITH REPLACED ECKERSLEY (PITCHING);
Leonard singled [Kutcher scored (unearned), Thompson to third];
C. Davis struck out; Brown hit a sacrifice fly to Martinez
[Thompson scored (unearned), Leonard to second (on throw to
home)]; Spilman was walked intentionally; Smith threw a wild
pitch [Leonard to third, Spilman to second]; Brenly made an out
to Matthews; 2 R, 2 H, 1 E, 2 LOB. Giants 5, Cubs 4.

CUBS 8TH: Sandberg grounded out (Uribe to Spilman); Matthews
struck out; Durham was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB. Giants 5, Cubs 4.

GIANTS 9TH: Uribe grounded out (Sandberg to Durham); Garrelts
was called out on strikes; Kutcher grounded out (Speier to
Durham); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Giants 5, Cubs 4.

CUBS 9TH: Moreland made an out to C. Davis; J. Davis grounded
out (Uribe to Spilman); BOSLEY BATTED FOR SPEIER; Bosley
grounded out (Garrelts to Spilman); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Giants 5, Cubs 4.

Final Totals R H E LOB
Giants 5 7 0 5
Cubs 4 7 1 3

NL East

Team Name G W L PCT GB RS RA

New York Mets 88 60 28 .681 - 441 312
Montreal Expos 88 48 40 .545 12.0 378 390
Philadelphia Phillies 89 43 46 .483 17.5 420 440
Pittsburgh Pirates 90 39 51 .433 22.0 392 387
Chicago Cubs 89 38 51 .426 22.5 376 427
St. Louis Cardinals 90 38 52 .422 23.0 319 344

NL West

Team Name G W L PCT GB RS RA

Houston Astros 92 50 42 .543 - 358 329
San Francisco Giants 92 50 42 .543 - 416 360
San Diego Padres 92 46 46 .500 4.0 365 391
Cincinnati Reds 89 44 45 .494 4.5 376 403
Atlanta Braves 91 43 48 .472 6.5 371 408
Los Angeles Dodgers 92 42 50 .456 8.0 354 375

New Book, The State of Baseball Management, Excludes Giants

My introduction to some good reading on the ways major league baseball teams operate came several years ago at the Business of Baseball section at a popular website called Fan Home.

Next came subject matter expert Doug Pappas, whose Business of Baseball web site is a must read.

Other sources include the passionate discussions at baseballprimer.com, SABR’s Business of Baseball committee, Baseball Prospectus’s Annual and website and the bestselling book Moneyball.

There’s a new book out on the subject, one that I saw an ad for yesterday when I got my copy of McFarland’s Spring 2004 Catalog. Scott Barzilla ("he picks up a mug and he throws it back down!!") has written, The State of Baseball Management, Decision-Making in the Best and Worst Teams, 1993-2003. (It costs $29.95. McFarland’s books are typically in this price range.)

I thought for sure the Giants would have made his Top Five Best Teams, but they just missed out behind the Yanks, Braves, Mariners, Astros and Indians.

You could make a good case that San Francisco should have been included. They have one more win than the Indians in the last decade and have been to the post season in three of the last four seasons. Cleveland, on the other hand, has just one visit since 2000.

The Giants have also finished first or second in the last six years and have had sell out or near sell out crowds in the last three seasons.

Barzilla was kind enough to reply to my email.

“I would have liked to have included the Giants,” the author said, “but they were one of my final cuts (my publisher also limited the book's length).”

Thanks Scott. It would have been great to read about the Giants in your book, but I, for one, will get over it. After all, the last decade has brought Giants' fans a series of near-misses.

Unfortunately, we seem to be getting used to it.

Jay Roberts

Oh, Canada

A couple of decades ago, maybe three, I watched The Miss America pageant on TV. The handsome host asked the five, nervous finalists, "If you had to live in another country, what would it be?" (The one who couldn't come up with an answer was given the crown!)

If I were asked that question, my answer would be Canada. Ever since I started liking Bachman-Turner Overdrive and Rush, I’ve had an affinity for the Great White North.

And what country delivers my new favorite web log? Canada.

I discovered Writing Fiction, the work of Crawford Kilian, a writer who provides great info and tips for aspiring scribes. I've enjoyed his links too.

Here’s my comments to an article by Neil McIntosh. As someone who started with a website five years ago and who is nursing a one week old web log, this article had me comparing then and now.

Neil McIntosh
Thursday September 25, 2003
The Guardian

Publishing your own personal web pages used to be a technical affair. You could use software to make the actual creation of the page simple. But you would likely still need to learn the mechanics of transporting (or uploading) the finished pages to a web server to make them viewable to the world.

I actually took a class on HTML at West Lake Training in downtown DC. The folks there were very helpful. My entire website was designed with HTML and I remember coding all my articles. I remember discoveirng FTP by accident and learning that my browser did not have to be on-line to work!

Weblogs - more specifically, weblog software - have changed all that. Weblogs are pages filled with the author's (or authors') observations about life or a specialist subject, with lots of links to other locations on the web. The pages are presented in reverse chronological order, often with the facility for visitors to leave comments on each post. They are archived by day, week or month.

It is definitely easier, no doubt.

If you want a web page, but don't want to spill your heart out to millions, don't be put off by the image of weblogs. The significance of weblog software is that it makes it easy to publish on the web. The software automates the tedious bits of updating and managing the page, leaving the author to simply work on the words (and photographs) in each post. The software handles the comments, the uploading process and the archiving.

And stats too!

There are various competing software packages, mostly free or at a low cost to individual users. The most famous - and popular - is Blogger…Most notable is TypePad.. Fitting into that category is AOL Journals, a new blogging service being offered only to AOL subscribers….Another easy-to-use blogging service is the Europe-based 20six, which claims a two-minute set-up time. The service is free - for the moment - and has some neat features including the ability to post text or photographs from your mobile phone…If what you crave is flexibility and total control, there's Movable Type. It lives on your webserver, where it can be installed in a fiddly process. In return, you get a rich array of features.

I would have had a tough time choosing and probably would have gone with blogger. But thanks to a tip from Rebecca Blood, I am using typepad and quite happy. I didn’t pay (extra) all those years with AOL, so dishing out 4.95 a month is still a bit of a budget concern, but you know the old saying…

You get what you paid for. And so far, I’m getting my money’s worth.

Time for la-la land ya’ll.

Bonne nuit.

2003 In Review

Ok, so you’ve already read a barrelful of these, so I’ll make mine short.

Giants

The Good:

17-4 Start
McCovey Point and China Basin Park Open
Ascent of Jesse Foppert
Barry Creates 500-500 Club, Wins 6th MVP
Schmidt Shines
Giants Win 100 Games, Division By 15.5 Games

The Bad:

Bobby Bonds Passes Away
Pac Bell Name Change
Nen Out For Season
Descent of Jesse Foppert
Giants Come Up Short in NLDS

Music

The Good: Rush and BOC release concert DVDs

The Bad: DC area radio still sucks

Politics

The Good: Good choices for Dem candidate

The Bad: Debates poorly advertised

Computer

The Good: Broadband

The Bad: Viruses, spam

Weather

The Good: Lots of rain

The Bad: Lots of rain

Cooking

The Good: Recipes galore on-line

The Bad: Fell into rut

Local Area

The Good: Jobs, economy

The Bad: Still no big league baseball

Personal

The Good: Started this web log

The Bad: Mom passed away

Happy New Year

Let’s Make It A Good One!

Jay Roberts
Alexandria, VA

The 660 Watch

My wife and I have paid a summer time visit to San Francisco for the last 10 years or so. During the past several trips, I’ve been very fortunate to have witnessed in person or on TV two of Barry Bonds’s milestone home runs.

On September 6th, 2001, I sat in the bleachers at Pac Bell with my good friend Joe. We watched Bonds join the Babe, Roger Maris, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa as sluggers with at least 60 home runs in a single season.

The following August, Roberta and I, along with Joe and his wife Dana were visiting Roberta’s brother and his friend Chris. We all gathered around the tube and watched Bonds crack his 600th home run.

Now comes another milestone for Barry, who sits on 658. With a little more luck, I'll at least be in the same city when he hits 660 to join Mays for the third place on the all-time list and/or 661 for sole possession. My wife’s other brother called us last week and kindly extended an invitation to fly out to San Diego this spring for catching up and some golf.

We graciously accepted and are hoping it will be Easter weekend. True that would be a nice backdrop to our visit, but self knows that’s the weekend the Padres open their new downtown ballpark with the Giants as the invited guests.

Bless the 2004 schedule maker (I think someone at SABR-L said MLB hires a lady consultant to do it). The Giants will open the season in Houston with a three game set, then fly to San Diego to help the Pads lift the lid on PETCO Park (The Litter Box? Dog House? With a few exceptions, I hate corporate-sponsored names!!)

So the possibility is there. I know getting a ticket is nigh impossible but just being there, maybe watching on TV, maybe hanging out at the park, maybe finding a place with the knot-hole gang if there's one there, will be good enough for me.

Of course if Barry does it at home, that will be really the best scenario. I can hear the call.

This one’s high! This one’s deep! 660 splashes into the water!!!!

_______

For the fun of it, I looked at how long it took Barry to get to two and three homers in 2000-2003.

2003

First Home Run Game One
Second Home Run Game Four
Third Homer Game Seven

2002

First and Second Home Run Game One
Third and Fourth Home Run Game Two

2001

First Homer Game One
Second Homer Game Nine
Third Homer Game Game Ten

2000

First Homer Game Four
Second Homer Game Five
Third Homer Game Eight

Jay Roberts
Alexandria, VA

What's In A Name?

For two days I fretted over what to name my new web log. It couldn’t be The Giants Journal, the name of my soon-to-be-transformed web site, because my plans are to make this a personal blog.

I surveyed beaucoup web logs looking for ideas and inspiration. Finally came up with William Jay (my first and middle name). It’s sort of a duality and balance thing, concepts that intrigue me. William, in a way, represents the more liberal things my Mom taught me. Jay represents the conservative Dad in me. William Jay could also represent the concepts of The Johari Window, where we all have a part of us open to others and a part we keep closed (actually there are four panes to the window).

Some blogs I looked at along the way.

West 116th Street

I like this one because it tells you where the blogger is. It speaks instantly of a New York City pride. And it's close to the site of the original Polo Grounds at 110th Street.

Seth Speaks

I love alliteration Seth, so I like the name of your blog. I thought about jaywrites.

To common, uh?

Jeremy Heit’s Blog

I thought about this theme too - Jay’s Blog, Jay Roberts’s Blog or just Jay Roberts. But I just hate the word blog. (Can we come up with something that sounds better to the folks who have not heard of blogging?)

Centerfield

Fits me but then again I played left field in my softball days.

Oh well, William Jay it is, with apologies to the other William Jays of the world and any confusion caused.

William Jay Roberts
Alexandria, VA

'54 Remembered

“What am I doin’ here if I’m not playin.’ I might as well go out in the lot and park cars for all the good I’m doin’.”

- Dusty Rhodes before Game One of the 1954 World Series, quoted by Tom Meany in The Incredible Giants.

The 2004 season is about 100 days away.

For the Giants, '04 means the 50th anniversary of their last World Series title. It will be interesting to see what events owner Peter Magowan plans to commemorate. He’s very good at this sort of thing so expect something worthy.

The timing isn’t going to be exact. On October 2nd, the date the ’54 Giants reached the top of the baseball world, San Francisco will be on the road for the penultimate game of the regular season. An educated guess is they will have the remember thing during their last home series on the weekend of the 24th and 25th. Their opponents? Dem bums in blue who won the NL pennant in ’52 and ’53.

Stu Leeds and The New York Giants Historical Society will no doubt be planning something in New York. Look for Stu to try and get some ex-Giants to speak at a luncheon or some such gathering.

Getting Dusty Rhodes would be a coup. All he did was pinch hit the winning homer in the bottom of the tenth in Game One, cracked a game tying pinch single in the fifth inning and a homer in the seventh inning for the final run in the 3-1 win of Game Two, and pinch hit a single in the third inning of Game Three that drove in two runs (final score 4-0).

Here’s hoping Dusty, who turns 77 on May 13th, is doing well.

Books on the ’54 Season.
None specifically that I know of.

Arnold Hano’s A Day in the Bleachers is a great account of Game One. Tom Meany wrote The Incredible Giants in 1955. It is a good look at some of the key players during that time.

Trivia
Who was the starting and winning pitcher for the Giants in Game Four?

Hint: He served up the pitch (as a reliever) to Wertz that Mays chased down in the eighth inning of Game One.

Trivia answer in next Giants post.

Did Ya Know?

Dusty Rhodes played in 54 games for the Giants in 1959. I think it was probably all pinch-hitting as baseball-reference shows no fielding stats.

Today’s FAQ

Jay, you said the Giants last World Series title was 1954. But the Giants I know, the San Francisco Giants, have never won it all.

Does get tricky Vern, I grant you that.

If someone wants to treat the SF Giants and NY Giants as separate entities, I completely understand.

But for me, it’s the Giants. I became a Giants fan in the mid-60s, and have always been interested in both the current team and the franchise history.

Jay
Alexandria, VA

My First Weblog Entry

Hi. My name is Jay Roberts. For the past five years, I have written about the New York and San Francisco Giants at my soon-to-be-gone website The Giants Journal. In the beginning I wrote frequently. I was a blogger, I suppose, although I don’t recall thinking of myself in that way.

In 2001 I guess it was, I began to write less about what was new with the G-Men and focused more on research and memory pieces, things like that.

TGJ was fun and rewarding. In May 1999, the Giants official site recognized my site as their leadoff hitter when they picked “a group of nine of our favorite sites that we’ll call our starting lineup.” A year later GIANTS, the team's official magazine, put me in the clean-up spot in their Top Five Giants fans sites.

Life was good, but within the last year, I began to realize something. Fan web sites, it seems to me, are beginning to get lost in the shuffle. The new way to communicate is blogging. Form is important. It identifies you as an active participant.

So here I am, reinvented and reinvigorated. My personal blog will be lotsa’ Giants (The Giants Journal articles will have a separate archive), but other things too. Interests include geddy lee and rush, walking dogs, playing with our cat, cooking dinner, learning about sabermetrics and researching baseball history.

I thank google for providing answers to a lot of my questions about weblogs and Rebecca Blood for her great essays and recommending Type Pad. This nifty program sure is easier than coding everything with HTML, which was what I used in the first few years with my now defunct website.

The Giants Journal
1999-2003
RIP

Quote

We are being pummeled by a deluge of data and unless we create time and spaces in which to reflect, we will be left with only our reactions. I strongly believe in the power of weblogs to transform both writers and readers from "audience" to "public" and from "consumer" to "creator." Weblogs are no panacea for the crippling effects of a media-saturated culture, but I believe they are one antidote.

rebecca blood
september 2000

(And if I make any novice mistakes, please forgive!)