For The Giants, Beating L.A. Always Priority
There was a great, telling moment on trade day last week, as an elated Giants manager Dusty Baker attempted to rivet some perspective brackets onto either side of his team’s remarkable heist of the Chicago White Sox’s pitching staff. What did Baker come up with? Naturally: a reference to the Dodgers.
“It lets people know that, hey, man, we’re for real,” Baker said of the trade. “I remember in 1993 when the Braves picked up Fred McGriff … that trade really messed us up. I know in my heart that we would have been there - or at least been close - if not for the McGriff trade.”
Right, Baker did not actually refer to the Dodgers. But look closer; it’s all in there. It was the McGriff trade with San Diego that begat Atlanta’s stunning comeback that summer from 10 games behind the Giants in the National League West, producing an electrifying race that was not decided until the last game of the last day of the season.
How was it decided? Just like this: Dodgers 12, Giants 1, on a photo-op afternoon in Chavez Ravine. San Francisco thus held at 103 victories for the year; the Atlanta Braves, with 104, won the division. The fourth-place L.A. players and their manager, Tom Lasorda, crowed as though they had hijacked the other school’s mascot on the eve of the big game.
How has Dusty Baker forgotten? Just like this: never.
If you’re a Giants follower, the Dodgers are still the Alpha and the Omega, the subtext of every meaningful conversation. If you’re a Giants fan, everything else is soy milk and beanie-weenies. The Dodgers are the filet. The Dodgers are the team to beat, and that is true whether the battle is for first place or next-to-last.
Belle’s judge approved
The Ohio Supreme Court ruled that Albert Belle’s celebrity status won’t affect a Cleveland judge’s impartiality when hearing a case involving the outfielder.
Cuyahoga County Judge James Sweeney can preside over a civil trial in which Belle, who formerly played for the Cleveland Indians, is being sued by a woman who claims that he chased youngsters who tossed eggs at his house on Halloween 1995, the high court ruled Wednesday.
The suit was filed in January by Sandra Abdul-Razzaaq, the guardian of LaShawn Chambers. The suit alleges that Belle chased, assaulted and terrorized Chambers, causing him to suffer serious injury, medical expenses, mental shock, anxiety and stress. Belle allegedly chased the youths in his car, hitting Chambers.
Nieves’ son ails
Detroit Tigers outfielder Melvin Nieves will remain away from the club for an indefinite period of time to be with his newborn son, who is suffering from a heart ailment.
Nieves’s wife gave birth to twin boys, Brandon and Jacob, on Friday in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Brandon was diagnosed with a serious heart ailment and had to undergo surgery yesterday. Jacob was healthy.
Million-dollar clout
Want a chance at winning $1 million? Don’t waste your time standing in line to buy lottery tickets. The place to be the next two nights is at Coca-Cola’s Sky Field, high atop Turner Field in Atlanta.
Mark McGwire is in town for the first time with the St. Louis Cardinals, and if the former American League slugger launches one of his trademark moonshots down the left-field line, look for a mad scramble to retrieve the ball. Coke will pay $1 million to any fan who comes up with a home-run ball that reaches Sky Field.