Photo Credit: Kevin Cunningham | Giant Futures
I don’t know about you, but I thought that everything about last night’s game — aside from the final score — was absolutely perfect! Great setting, great production value, thoughtful attention to every little detail (like setting the manual clock at 8:24 for Willie Mays, who wore #8 in Birmingham and #24 with the Giants), and Heliot Ramos, playing CF, naturally, becoming the first Giant this year to reach double-digit home runs. We’re getting closer and closer to Ramos really and truly breaking the Giants’ ridiculous four-decade drought of having a homegrown, All Star outfielder!
And then there was Reggie Jackson’s profound contribution to the night. Asked to recall his summer as a 21-year-old minor leaguer in Birmingham in 1967, Reggie’s comments were bracing, immediate, and raw in their emotions, more than 50 years later (much more raw than one suspects Fox Producers were anticipating). In a night devoted to historical reflection, nobody brought history home the way that Reggie did. If you didn’t see his appearance on the pregame show, it’s worth your time to watch (in particular the last 3-4 minutes, and know that there were no bleeps on the live version:
But let’s not lose one of the small details that was perfect last night that didn’t receive a lot of attention. Both the Giants and Cardinals invited all of their African-American prospects to come to Rickwood Field and attend the game and soak in the rich history. Ten of the Giants’ minor leaguers attended: Scott Bandura, Reggie Crawford, Grant McCray, Ben Madison, Josh Bostick, Nadir Lewis, Donovan McIntyre, Bo Davidson, Michael Rodriguez, and Elijah Pleasants (recently signed Oakland Baller). It must have been an incredibly powerful and enriching experience for all of them, and the Giants (and Cardinals) are to be applauded for making the logistics work — despite, as we’ve discussed plenty here lately, some real roster pressures around the farm lately.
Great job all around! (but would a victory in honor of Mays really have killed you guys?)
HITTER of the NIGHT: Cole Foster (SJ), 3 for 5, HR (3), 2 2b, 2 R, 6 RBI
PITCHER of the NIGHT: Brayan Narvaez (DSLGB), 4.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K
I neglected to get out my weekly call for questions for the mailbag yesterday, so I got it out first thing this morning so I could drop a reminder here. We’re getting close to the All Star break, Futures Game rosters, end of the first half….a lot going on this week. Let me know what’s on your mind:
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