Game #25-Oracle Park-San Francisco Giants vs. San Diego Padres

We have been staying in a nice RV Resort in Petaluma just north of the Bay Area to be close to the ballparks, but not too close. On Monday, June 19 or "Juneteenth" we left early to make a stop at a favorite place of ours introduced by my dear friend Judy Zuber, Sam's Anchor Cafe. Often we would sail or motor over to Sam's on Judy's boat which is moored at South Beach Yacht Club next to Oracle Park. Sam's is a beautiful little place with breathtaking views on the waterfront of the charming city Tiburon. Jim and I enjoyed a beverage and shared a delicious calamari appetizer for our pregame festivities. As game time approached we took the beautiful drive south on 101 across the majestic Golden Gate Bridge. The drive across the bridge never gets old! I remember so many times as a child taking that drive with my family who were season ticket holders of the San Francisco Giants. My dad would always take us early before the games to explore and visit many of the historic areas of San Francisco, even Haight-Ashbury in the 1960's. FOND MEMORIES! We parked our truck and walked along McCovey Cove towards the stadium. Willie McCovey never played at Oracle Park as this was built way ofter he played. McCovey played at Candlestick Park where I watched him for years along with many other greats: Juan Marichal, Gaylord Perry, Willie Mays, Jim Davenport, Jesus Alou and Bobby Bonds to name a few. The good ol' days! Outside the stadium it was packed with fans all taking pictures of the statues around the park. Located in the front of the ballpark entrance is the Willie Mays statue surrounded by 24 palm trees in honor of his number 24 uniform. Another statue is located across McCovey Cove of Willie McCovey. On the first base side of the park is the Lefty O-Doul Gate entrance where the Juan Marichal statue is located. I so remember his high leg kick when he would pitch so fitting the statue is in this pose. On the corner of 2nd and King Street are statues of Gaylord Perry and Orlando Cepeda. On the exterior wall of the stadium is the Giants Wall of Fame which recognizes retired players whose records stand highest among their teammates on the basis of longevity and achievements. Talk about a trip down memory lane! I have posted several pictures on our Instagram @ourfieldofdreams2023. The San Francisco Giants are one of the winningest teams in baseball. The franchise began in 1883 as the New York Gothams until 1885 when they became the New York Giants. They moved to San Francisco in 1958 (my birth year). The Giants have won 23 NL Pennants and 8 World Series titles. Most of those were in New York. The Giants under manager Bruce Bochy won three World Series Championships in five years; 2010, 2012 and 2014. Those were the glory days and current manager Gabe Kapler is working hard to add another championship to the franchise. Inside the park Jim and I marveled at the World Series Trophies in our walk around the stadium. We also located the retired numbers hanging on the left field side of the stadium: NY-Christy Mathewson and John McGraw before they had numbers; #3 Bill Terry; #4 Mel Ott; #11 Carl Hubbell; #20 Monte Irvin; #22 Will Clark; #24 Willie Mays; #25 Barry Bonds; #27 Juan Marichal; #30 Orlando Cepeda; #36 Gaylord Perry; #42 Jackie Robinson (retired throughout Major League Baseball); and #44 Willie McCovey. The stadium was extremely crowded making it difficult to get around. Tonight's Monday evening crowd would be 35,376 in a 41,915 capacity stadium. We decided to get the hot dog for the review as the food and drink lines were getting terribly long. We had asked a few people about the hot dogs at the park and they recommended the bacon-wrapped hot dog at Doggie Diner. Jim got the Giants bacon-wrapped hot dog and gave it an 8.0. As for me I skipped the long lines as it was getting too close to game time a figured I would just get something from the vendors going up and down the aisles. Just before game time we had planned to meet up a Guy, a person we met along our baseball tour who was also visiting 30 ballparks in 2023. We met up with Guy, his wife Alison and their daughters and congratulated him on his completion of his dream. I believe we attended 5 games together along the way. See our photo on Instagram @ourfieldofdreams2023. We settled in our seats for the game with great anticipation as the Giants have just come off of a sweep on the Dodgers and have won their last 7 games. The San Diego Padres are a tough team with great players. First pitch was at 6:45 and Padres Fernando Tatis, Jr. wasted no time hitting a double. Tatis is a very fast and aggressive base runner. He tried to steal third and was picked off by a throw from catcher Patrick Bailey to third baseman David Villar. Good thing because next to the plate was Juan Soto who hit a homer. Score Padres 1 - Giants 0. It would go scoreless for the Giants in the bottom of the first. In the top of the 2nd inning Gabe Kapler would have to use his bullpen because the Giants are down to three starters due to injuries. Taylor Rogers came in and ended the Padres hope for another score leaving a runner stranded. The bottom of the 2nd inning it was looking hopeful for the Giants to score with a walk by Brandon Crawford and a single by Patrick Bailey to put runner on the corners. David Villar would fly out ending the inning. Score Padres 1 - Giants 0. The top of the 3rd inning Fernando Tatis Jr. would reach on a fielding error by Brandon Crawford before Gabe Kapler would make a pitching change. Jakob Junis would replace Taylor Rogers and get out of the inning. The Giants were unsuccessful in the bottom of the 3rd inning with a three up and three down. Top of the 4th inning the Padres came in hot. Jake Cronenworth hit a single and then Rougned Odor hit a double. With runners at second and third Ha-Seong Kim hit a single scoring Cronenworth and Odor. Giants pitcher Junis would get out of the inning with a flyout by Trent Grisham and a GLORIOUS strikeout of Fernando Tatis, Jr. Score Padres 3 - Giants 0. The Giants once again went three up and three down in the bottom of the 4th inning. In the top of the 5th inning another Giants pitcher, Keaton Winn would take the mound. First batter Winn faced was Juan Soto who had homered in the 1st inning. Well Soto did it again sending one soaring high in the air and over the left field wall. Score Padres 4 - Giants 0. Winn was able to get the next three batters ending the inning. At this point I must say I was feeling defeated but still believed in my Giants. Bottom of the 5th inning Brandon Crawford and Patrick Bailey would gound out. With two outs David Villar would come to the plate and smack one out to left center field. HOME RUN GIANTS! LaMonte Wade Jr. would hit a single followed by Joc Pederson flying out to end the inning. Score Padres 4 - Giants 1. The Giants pitcher Winn would keep the Padres from scoring in the 6th. In the bottom of the 6th inning with two outs Mike Yastrzemski would homer sending the fans into rally spirit. People were already flipping their hats inside out and on their feet. Score Padres 4 - Giants 2. It would be three up and three down for both ball clubs in the 7th and 8th innings. Keaton Winn would continue to stay in and face the Padres in the 9th inning. Roughned Odor hit a single putting a runner on first. The next three would go down in order with a flyout by Ha-Seong Kim, a strikeout by Trent Grisham and a GLORIOUS strikeout by Fernando Tatis Jr. By this time the entire crowd was on their feet in the hopes of a rally in the bottom of the 9th. Padres brought in a new pitcher Luis Garcia to try to close the deal. First up was Blake Sabol who walked followed by Mike Yastrzemski's single. A wild pitch would score Sabol. Score now Padres 4 - Giants 3. Luis Matos would flyout and then J.D. Davis would walk to put runners on the corners. By this time the crowd was at the peak of their rally spirit. With one out and Yastrzemski on third the prospect of tying the game was in sight. A pitching change would not work out too well for the Padres when Patrick Bailey hit a sacrifice fly to score Yastrzemski. Score Padres 4 - Giants 4. The pitcher would walk the next two batters to load the bases. Padres manager got the hook out and brought in a new pitcher to face Joc Pederson who struck out swinging to end the inning and send the game into extra innings. By this point no one is sitting down and the noise of the cheering is loud! Top on the 10th inning Giants intentionally walk Juan Soto, you know the player who has hit two homers this game. Good move! Manny Machado struck out swinging, Zander Bogaerts grounded out and Jake Cronenworth lined out sharply. Bottom of the 10th inning crowd is going crazy myself included! Padres intentionally walk Thairo Estrada then Blake Sabol hit a picture perfect sacrifice bunt to advance the runners. One out and runners at second and third. This is when the BEST PART OF THE GAME happened. Mike Yastrzemski hit a walk off 3-run SPLASH homer to win the game. The Giants 102 SPLASH HIT. Final Score Padres 4 - Giants 7. Yastrzemski was definitely the hero of the game. Our Field of Dreams Tour record is 11 wins for the Home Team and 14 losses for the Home Team. Important to note that we have seen 4 games with the Giants playing and they have won ALL of them. What a game and what a way to end the game and our RV part of our Field of Dreams. We head home on Wednesday and will finish the remaining five games out of our RV. We will be flying to Houston for Jim's mother's funeral when we return. We then will fly to Toronto for a July 19 ball game between the Blue Jays and Padres. Next we will fly on to Washington DC to make up the rainout we had there with a July 21 game between the Nationals and Giants. In August we will visit the Dodgers, Padres and Angels with our final stadium #30 being on Jim's birthday at Angels Stadium August 23. This has been the dream of a lifetime and one we will never forget. We have met so many nice people along the way and learned so much about our beloved game of baseball. Thank you for following along on "Our Field of Dreams 2023 Tour." Until next time.....PLAY BALL!