Baseball back in Montréal; for two nights at least

Baseball, right back where it should be: Montréal.

Almost ten years ago, on Sept. 29, 2004, I was at the last Major League Baseball game in Montréal.

Or so I thought.

Tonight, the Toronto Blue Jays hosted the New York Mets for the first of two spring training games at Olympic Stadium, and the atmosphere was electric. The negativity that seemed to permeate media coverage of the Expos during their last days in the city was gone.

Instead, there was jealousy...

Envious of the baseball scribes in Montreal tonight. What a great city. Hope baseball returns there.
— Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) March 29, 2014

and appreciation of what the crowd meant ...

Attendance in Montreal tonight: 46,121. Speaks for itself.
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) March 29, 2014

(A crowd of nearly 50,000 is expected on Saturday.)

Even casual baseball fans in Montreal's traditional rival of Toronto were happy with tonight's outcome:

Miss watching baseball at the Big O. But even more, I miss watching the Expos play there. #BringBackTheMontrealExpos
— Phil Kane (@philistweeting) March 29, 2014

The atmosphere was compared to a playoff game.

Jays manager John Gibbons praised the "tremendous atmosphere" tonight, saying, "I did hear a lot of cheering for the Expos."
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) March 29, 2014

It was a far cry from when I was in Montréal for the last Expos game there. I had been an Expos fan for years, and an online advocate for their staying in Montréal. That day was an emotional experience, probably the last time I cried that was not connected to a relative's death. If anyone who doubted that Montréal could be a baseball city had been there, they would've changed their minds after seeing the heartfelt love the city showed their team that day.

Here's a short slideshow with some pictures I took before, during and after that final game:

How I listen to local announcers during the World Series

This gentleman shows the sentiment of many Giants fans regarding Joe Buck.  Source: Facebook.

San Francisco Giants fans love their hometown broadcasters, and with a team containing Jon Miller, Dave Fleming, Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow, who can blame them?

With the Giants in the World Series this week, however, San Francisco fans have had to stomach Fox broadcasters Joe Buck and Tim McCarver as national TV broadcasts bump out local ones. Buck in particular has had to face criticism for his style, including his perceived bias against West Coast teams and for the St. Louis Cardinals (the team for which his father broadcast for decades and the Giants' opponent in the NLCS). Such criticism includes:

Crowd out here in right field has taken exception to a certain Fox Baseball play by play guy chanting "Joe Buck Sucks"
— Jennifer Hammond (@HammerFox2) October 25, 2012

and,

I would rather listen to mating sounds of the humpback whale than listen to Joe Buck narrate this game
— Not Jason Hanson (@TheJasonHanson) October 25, 2012

and,

BELIEVE IT. And go suck it, Joe Buck and Tim McCarver. I hate you both. #MLBONFOX
— Karena (@karenaaaho) October 25, 2012

Never fear, because the Giants' regular broadcasting team are on the radio! Alas, because the TV broadcasts need time to encode, go up to the satellite, come back down and be transmitted, the radio feed is a few seconds ahead. Not easy to watch that way. So what to do?

When the Giants made their 2010 World Series run, I came up with the following method and have continued it this season. You do need a DVR and a smartphone with the MLB At Bat app to make it work.

First, turn on the TV, mute it, load the At Bat app and start the audio (right) for the team you wish to hear (yes, you could even listen to the Tigers if you want). You'll notice that the audio (thanks to the encoding and download process) is now about 30 seconds behind the TV broadcast.

Now, use your DVR to pause the video (as seen below) and press play when the radio broadcast over the app starts. This easiest way to do this in my experience is to wait until a player hits the ball and pause the video. When you hear the crack of the bat on the radio broadcast, press play.

You should then be more-or-less in synch. While I have Airplay for my iPhone and stream the audio through my stereo system, probably any speaker system will work. Heck, even a little tinny phone speaker sure beats listening to Fox!

The City's sure supporting the Giants, as I saw downtown last night:

San Francisco City Hall decked out in Giants orange the night of Oct. 23, 2012. Photo: John Baker

My Florida adventure

Holmes Beach, my home for the past week.

As soon as we exited the plane, I knew we were in trouble.

I am typing this blog entry both pool side and beach side, so I guess I don't have much to complain about. But from the moment I got onto the jetway and felt toy the hot blanket of moist air seeping through the seals, I could tell we'd be fighting the humidity -- as bad, or worse, than what I experienced during my last trip to the tropics (Darwin, Australia). And we did, the whole week.

We've spent the last week visiting Florida, mostly in an around the home of my grandparents in the Tampa Bay area. But we also spent some time in the Miami area, St. Petersburgh and Legoland in Central Florida.

We arrived at Fort Lauderdale airport shortly after 6 a.m. and it was already hot, as described above. After an adventure in and around the airport, trying to figure out how to get to our rental car, we finally got on the road. The first stop was Miami Beach, where we watched people watching what Miami Beach is famous for:



We then had breakfast at a beachside café, where we were given complimentary mimosas post-meal. The alcohol did not help our exhausted state after a red eye seated next to a baby. I did hope that we'd run into the crew of Burn Notice while in Miami, but no luck.

While I'm in Miami, wondering if it would be practical to have a mojito with Sam Axe aka Chuck Finley aka Bruce Campbell. #BurnNotice

— John C. Baker (@jcb10) August 7, 2012

Next, after a detour into Hollywood, Fla., for a car sick member of our crew, we got somewhat lost -- to our chagrin in these days of GPS and smart phones. Instead of cutting west onto Alligator Alley, somehow we ended going north, curbing along the north shore of Lake Okeechobee along rural roads. Moreover, Google Maps on my iPhone directed me to take an exit off the Florida Turnpike that did not have a cash toll plaza -- only a Sunpass (similar to Fastrack in the SF Bay Area) lane. Of course, we did not figure that out until already on the exit. So we are expecting a large fine in the mail when we get home.

Upon our arrival, Ian went straight into the pool. A pattern that was repeated later that evening and again and again and again over the next eight days.

My grandfather, Ian, myself and Charlotte during one of our many pool trips.

Most of our week was spent at my grandparents' condo on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico in Holmes Beach. What a condo! Great view of the Gulf out the back window, pool in the back and sufficient air conditioning!



(Update, Nov. 16, 2013: OK, I admit this post won't be updated. Suffice it to say, a fine time was had by all.)

My son writes to Buster Posey

Last year, my son's favorite baseball player -- San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey -- was injured in a horrific home plate collision and missed more than half the season.

This year, Posey is trying to make a comeback, so Ian wrote a letter to encourage him. There's nothing more heartfelt than an earnest letter from a second grader, so here you go:

The text reads:

Dear Buster Posey,

I hope your leg is better.

Besides, how is your wife(?)

On April 15th, I'm going to come in at 9:30 a.m.

From, Ian

P.S. Hope you play well.

(Ian is noting that we will be visiting the ballpark, with other members of South San Francisco Youth Baseball, for a 9:30 meet and greet with some yet-to-be-determined Giants before that day's game with the Pirates.)

I love the kid's idea of small talk! "Besides, how is your wife?" Priceless.

An instant classic -- 2011 World Series Game 6

Tonight's Game 6 of the World Series at first looked like it would be a forgettable one: a sloppy game with multiple errors, a letdown for the National League. Instead, by the end of the night it turned into one of the all-time classic baseball games.

Four hours and 33 minutes is a long time for a baseball game, but the tension, the back-and-forth reversals and the thrill of seeing a "goat" redeem himself Thursday night made every moment exciting.

The Texas Rangers would have won the series with a victory Thursday, and if you weren't watching, the St. Louis Cardinals not once, but twice, were down to their last strike.

In the bottom of the ninth, David Freese (right) -- who had a committed a costly error earlier which the Rangers took advantage of to take the lead -- tripled to score two and tie the game. An inning later, Texas took the lead again in the top of the 10th and got one strike away from victory in the bottom of the frame, but Lance Berkman drove in the tying run. An inning after that, Freese struck again with a walkoff home run to win the game for the Cardinals and force a seventh game on Friday.

Tonight's game joined a number of famous World Series Game 6s: 1975 (Fisk's blast at Fenway off the foul pole), 1986 (Bill Buckner's error), 1993 (Joe Carter's walk-off to win the series) and 2002 (the Angels rally to beat the Giants). Of course, none of those games had Twitter through which far-off fans could commiserate. To wit:

As Texas pulled ahead and the game went into the ninth, I posted the following:

@jcb10
John C. Baker Dang, what an entertaining baseball game this has been. #WorldSeries#Postseason
Oct 28 via webFavoriteRetweetReply

(Times and dates shown on these Tweets are GMT.)

A few moments later, the Cards were down to their last strike when Freese tripled to right just past the reach of outfielder Nelson Cruz, scoring two to tie the game and make up for an earlier error. That hit brought the following reactions online:

@nicko229
Nick Ostiller When Freese made that error earlier, I thought "what if he redeems himself later with a walk-off homer?" Here we are
Oct 28 via UberSocial for BlackBerryFavoriteRetweetReply

@jeremybalan
Jeremy Balan Holy hell
Oct 28 via TweetDeckFavoriteRetweetReply

@mlb514
Dave Kaufman best fucking sport on the planet.
Oct 28 via webFavoriteRetweetReply

Heck, even I got a little excited:

@jcb10
John C. Baker Man, I'm gonna retweet myself here, with emphasis: DAMN, what an entertaining baseball game this has been! #WorldSeries#Postseason
Oct 28 via webFavoriteRetweetReply

Outspoken Florida Marlins Manager Ozzie Guillen and Braves Pitcher Peter Moylan (writing from his native Australia) were also impressed:

@OzzieGuillen
Ozzie Guillen Wuaoooooo crazy game
Oct 28 via txtFavoriteRetweetReply

@PeterMoylan
Peter Moylan What a game, what a series!
Oct 28 via Tweetbot for iPhoneFavoriteRetweetReply

The game now tied, it went into the tenth. Reining AL MVP Josh Hamilton then blasted a monster shot into the bleachers to once again put the Rangers on the brink of their first world title:

@EncoreBaseball
Encore Baseball Mtl 1er hr des Séries d,après-saison de Hamilton et bon pour 2 points et contre Motte! Ah la la, Texas sont trop dûs, 9-7 Texas en 10e
Oct 28 via FacebookFavoriteRetweetReply

@mlb514
Dave Kaufman WOW
Oct 28 via webFavoriteRetweetReply

Cardinals fans looked forlorn, with good reason. They had the bottom of the lineup coming up, including the pitcher with no pinch hitters left on the bench:

@snapwilson
Snap Wilson I hate baseball. Not only does it break your heart, it takes five hours to do it.
Oct 28 via twiccaFavoriteRetweetReply

@JPosnanski
Joe Posnanski If Cardinals find a way to tie game with the hitters they've got coming up, Spielberg should be filming.
Oct 28 via Twitter for iPhoneFavoriteRetweetReply

But, whaddya know? Rally time! St. Louis gets two runs with a ground out and -- after a fan-infuriating intentional walk to superstar Albert Pujols -- an RBI single to right from Lance Berkman:

@jimramsey
Jim Ramsey I haven't followed the Rangers but I find it hard to believe that Darren Oliver was the best option to get the last 3 outs to win the WS
Oct 28 via Twitter for iPhoneFavoriteRetweetReply

People saw this game was becoming a classic:

@RattoCSN
Ray Ratto All fans of other sports will now bow down before their intergalactic overlord
Oct 28 via TweetDeckFavoriteRetweetReply

Well, most people did:

@karenaaaho
Karena WHAT'S HAPPENING?! Do I need to be watching this World Series?!
Oct 28 via webFavoriteRetweetReply

As the game moved past midnight (Eastern Time), this became a game not to go to bed during -- even if you start work at 4 a.m.:

@sal_castaneda
Sal Castaneda Looks like KTVU gets a slightly tired Sal Castaneda tomorrow.
Oct 28 via webFavoriteRetweetReply

@OzzieGuillen
Ozzie Guillen Told u before we were excited now u see why
Oct 28 via webFavoriteRetweetReply

Of course, politics gets into everything:

@RobertMackey
Robert Mackey 9-9, someone alert Herman Cain
Oct 28 via Twitter for iPhoneFavoriteRetweetReply

Then Freese strikes again ... home run to straightaway center and we're off to game 7! The reaction, by now, is predictable:

@jeremybalan
Jeremy Balan Jesus, Mary and Joseph
Oct 28 via TweetDeckFavoriteRetweetReply

@mlb514
Dave Kaufman Amazing! Game 7 here we go!
Oct 28 via webFavoriteRetweetReply

Freese's story will be the headlines tomorrow, if Twitter's any indication:

@nicko229
Nick Ostiller The night of Freese! From goat to redemption to hero. Wow #WorldSeries
Oct 28 via UberSocial for BlackBerryFavoriteRetweetReply

Personally, I had to give a shout out to the sports editor at Santa Clara University's student newspaper. He called it:

@jcb10
John C. Baker Posted 47 mins before it happened MT @nicko229 Freese made that error, I thought "what if he redeems himself later with a walk-off homer?"
Oct 28 via webFavoriteRetweetReply

Dang that rain that postponed game six until tonight instead of last night. Now Game 7 will be Friday night, when I have to cover a football game for the San Mateo Times. At least I'm not the only one who'll miss out:

@jeremybalan
Jeremy Balan As much as I love covering HS football... I wish I had tomorrow night off...
Oct 28 via TweetDeckFavoriteRetweetReply

Well, time to DVR the game, hope the PA announcer at Terra Nova High says nothing and keep the radio off on my way home!

(Go Cards!)