The Lunatic Fringe

It’s fair to say I’ve seen a lot of Giants baseball.  But I’ve rarely seen anything like what happened over the weekend to the Dodgers.  Maybe the closest was a series against Atlanta in Augusta of 2003, where they were the top two teams in the NL, they played three close games, and Bonds came up as the deciding run late in all three.  He homered in the first game to win it, was intentionally walked to load the bases which led to the winning run, and then homered in the third to win it again.

That was an important series.  It was the top two teams battling late in the year, jostling for home-field advantage.  But it isn’t immortalized in replay videos or anything..  Barry Bonds didn’t have a lot of walkoff home runs, and he hit two in three games, but it isn’t one of those iconic moments.  Because it wasn’t against the Dodgers.

Only time will tell if what happened this weekend will be one of those immortal memories.  Brian Johnson’s walkoff home run had all the key elements of an immortal highlight: it was against the Dodgers, it was in extra innings, and it was late in the season with playoff implications.  The pair this weekend don’t have the late-in-the-season quality, and they weren’t against a great Dodgers team.  Sure, the Dodgers were picked by many to win the division, but no one’s going to remember that if they continue to have so many troubles this season.

Ironically, the Quiroz homer may be remembered longer just because it’s not a big name hitting it.  Let’s face it, if Johnson had not hit that home run, would most of us remember his name?  Probably not.  This was the biggest hit (so far) of Quiroz’s career.  But for Posey?  One could argue it was the second-biggest hit of his career so far…I think the clear biggest hit was the grand slam against the Reds in the NLDS.   But Posey’s career will likely be filled with highlights.

Still, it was a Dodgers sweep, and those clips will be added to the rivalry highlight reel.  And maybe when the Dodgers keep coming back to town, those big hits and the amazing calls by Jon Miller and Duane Kuiper will come back and remind us of how great this May weekend was.