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Writing the script for the San Francisco Giants’ 2012 World Series title run would be a piece of cake – assuming you were prepared to write the script for about a half-dozen different movies at once. It seemed to change every night, and sometimes every inning. Were they David or were they Goliath? Were they the comeback kids or the schoolyard bullies? They were alive and kicking, dead in the water, alive and kicking again, and on and on the cycle went. Which movie was it going to be on any given night over the last few weeks? You had to tune in to find out, every single game. Just like 2010, that’s just what fans in Sacramento did, packing local venues like R15 and Firestone Public House

"On the bright side, we're finally getting some Giants coverage on a national level." Lindol French, you do indeed have a point - albeit one that Giants baseball fans here in Sacramento, in the Bay Area, and around the country would just as soon not have to face, as the team's golden goose is now its Dodger-blue goat. For those who haven't heard, All-Star game MVP and second-place N.L. hitting Melky Cabrera was banned 50 games (essentially the rest of the season) today after testing positive for le juice. The numbers and the accolades with this guy weren't the real story. The now famous jumpsuit-clad Melk Men, the "Got Melk" shirts, the rampant enthusiasm - those were the story. Remembe

Saturday afternoon, a small portion of United States Marine Corps Recruit Platoon 1034, known as the “Giants Platoon,” reunited at the Vietnam Memorial in Capital Park in Sacramento for the second time since their homecoming. Retired USMC Sgt. Ed Flores stated that they come and reunite “to honor the accomplishment of our youth, to give praise to our fallen, and to thankfully celebrate life one more time, together.” July 26, 1967, the young volunteers of Platoon 1034, made up of recruits mostly from Northern California, made a special trip to Candlestick Park in San Francisco. During pre-game festivities, they were sworn in on national television and in front of the crowd gathered for th

With their division rivals in town and the possibility of seeing Manny Ramirez and Yoenis Cespedes, the series opener against the Fresno Grizzlies promised to be an exciting one. In front of a solid Tuesday crowd of 8,729, Ramirez didn’t play (finished 10-game rehab stint), but it didn’t matter as the River Cats beat the division-leading Triple-A team of the San Francisco Giants 4-2 on great pitching and a walk-off home run by Brandon Hicks. It was relatively quiet until the bottom of the second inning when Cats first baseman Chris Carter led off with a walk. After he stole second, Anthony Recker, who was optioned back to Sacramento yesterday, ripped a line shot into left field that plat

San Francisco Giants President and CEO Larry Baer compared Sacramento’s efforts to build a new arena to the campaign to build Pac Bell Park in San Francisco, telling a collection of businesspeople and government officials that there is “tremendous opportunity” for Sacramento going forward. Baer’s remarks were part of the 2012 State of Downtown address at Memorial Auditorium Tuesday morning, in which Mayor Kevin Johnson, State Senate President Pro-Tem Darrell Steinberg and other officials stressed the “why” of building a downtown entertainment and sports complex. Baer said efforts to build the downtown ballpark in San Francisco were under way as early as the 1960s, with four attempts at u

Moscoso on the mound: River Cats pitcher Guillermo Moscoso returns to the mound for Sacramento tonight to face the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. In eight starts and 10 appearances with Oakland this season, Moscosco posted a record of 3-4 with an ERA of 2.16. With Sacramento, Moscoso is 3-2 with an ERA of 4.02. He has started against the Grizzlies just once before in his career (August 9, 2009), where he shut them down. The right-hander pitched 6.1 innings, and allowed just one earned run and struck out three. Double time: The River Cats won both games of a doubleheader against the division rival Las Vegas 51s on Saturday. The River Cats combined for 18 runs, while Las Ve

Riding high on a World Series Championship spirit, the Southeast Sacramento Junior Giants launched their annual summer youth baseball program on July 9th with 225 smiling faces. The Junior Giants, the flagship program of the Giants Community Fund, is a free, non-competitive and innovative baseball program for boys and girls ages 5-18 years old. Councilmember Kevin McCarty and the City of Sacramento founded a local chapter of the program in 2005 in the Avondale/Glen Elder neighborhood. It has now served over 1,000 boys and girls over the past seven years at George Sim Park. “I couldn’t be more excited about this season and the continued success of our Jr. Giants league”. Councilmember McC

The Fresno Grizzlies, Triple-A affiliate of the Word Series Champion San Francisco Giants, will visit Raley Field eight times to take on the reigning South Division champion Sacramento River Cats. The Grizzlies, who finished in second place behind the River Cats last season, will play at Raley Field on June 17-20 and July 14-17. Last season, the River Cats sold out three of the eight home games against Fresno, and five of the eight games saw at least 10,000 fans. Both 2011 home series feature Friday and Saturday night games. The two PCL rivals will also play eight games in Fresno (July 4-6 and August 24-28). Several key players in the Giants' World Series run - including catcher Buster

Hundreds of San Francisco Giants fans endured waiting in line for hours for a one minute photo opp behind the trophy. The Giants won the Commissioner's Trophy in November when they defeated the Texas Rangers in game five of the World Series. A circle-of-flags, the trophy made its only stop in Sacramento on Thursday; in the State Capitol during late morning and early afternoon at Sacramento City Hall. Fans stated over and over, "I just gotta see the trophy". One said "it's a once in a lifetime thing, well hopefully not once in a lifetime". This young fellow was "born the year the Giants won the series, so he's gotta be here." It was a long and winding line to get to Room 211 in the Capi

Nothing will make a loyal fan see red like the dreaded bandwagoners. In most corners of the sports universe, no one who clearly remembers the barstool arguments in March over whether John Bowker or Nate Schierholtz should be the Giants starting right fielder in 2010 wants to all of a sudden be seated next to twenty-something girls in orange and black (with the factory stickers still sparkling) who are cooing over what a stud Cody Ross is. Usually, there is little tolerance for those who didn't see a single Barry Zito start this year and hardly knew the name Edgar Renteria until game two. But you know what? There was room on this bandwagon for everyone, the doors were open, and all were

If you aren’t one of the lucky fans who will actually be at the 2010 World Series, then you’ll probably be like the rest of us rooting for the Giants at local watering holes. Don’t worry though, there are more than enough flat-screens and drink specials to go around. So pull up a stool, grab a beer, and pick one of the places below to cheer on the Giants!   Basic, 112 Pacific St., Roseville 5 flat-screen TVs $1 shots every time the Giants score Brew it Up, 801 14th St. 4 HD flatscreen TVs, 2 additional CRT TVs in bar World Series specials: $4 3 Olives flavored vodka cocktails $3 Kraken dark rum and Cokes $10 64-oz pitchers of Brewery Fest beer Buffalo Wild Wings, 6301 Sunrise Blvd., C

              Red Sox/Yankees.                            Giants/Dodgers.               Cardinals/Cubs.               River Cats/Grizzlies?                 Is it crazy to compare the Highway 99 Showdown, taking place this week at Raley field, to the fiercest rivalries in professional baseball?  Maybe, but all the pieces are in place for the Fresno/Sacramento rivalry to become the AAA equivalent of these major league grudge matches.               In addition to being natural geographic rivals vying for Central Valley bragging rights, the two teams are division rivals who entered last night just a game apart in the standings, fighting for a single playoff berth.               And to t

Neither Rickey Henderson's presence nor a sellout crowd of 14,014 was enough to inspire the Sacramento River Cats to win Saturday. Having won the first two games of a three-game series against the Fresno Grizzlies, who are leading in the Pacific Coast League South Division, the River Cats lost game three 5-1. The River Cats remain six games behind the Grizzlies in the standings. Before the game, River Cats second baseman Eric Sogard said that winning and making up all three games in one series would be huge, but that the team is satisfied it has won the series already taking two out of three. "We've been playing good, we have a solid squad right now," said Sogard. "We're not where we wan

 There are a lot of little things that I love about baseball: the crack of the bat, ballpark dogs with extra onion and sauerkraut, the sound of the ball smacking leather, nerding out on statistics, big swooping 12-to-6 curve balls that fall off the table, monster jacks, infield hits, bleacher bums, diving catches, when infielders barehand the ball (or even better, when outfielders do it).   The list goes on and on, but there may be nothing about baseball that I enjoy more than a good manager ejection.   The "manager ejection" is unique to baseball. I mean, you see basketball coaches get tossed from time to time, and sometimes they throw a little tantrum, but it's not the same.   I do

San Francisco Giants pitcher Matt Cain was on hand this morning to dedicate the Matt Cain Junior Giants Field at the George Sim Community Center in Sacramento. Through the leadership of Sacramento City Councilmember Kevin McCarty and the City of Sacramento Parks and Recreation and sponsors including the Giants Community Fund, the Good Tidings Foundation, and Giants pitcher Matt Cain, the Junior Giants field in South Sacramento was completely renovated to a top-notch baseball field. Since 1995, the Giants Community Fund has worked with Giants players and partners such as the good Tidings Foundation to refurbish more than 20 youth baseball fields. Giants Broadcaster Dave Flemming was the e