Tiny Dancer

To be a baseball fan, you have to believe in magic. What else explains game-winning comebacks when your team is behind 8-1? Not that tonight will produce one of those, but as I type this, the Giants are trying to do just that, and they've closed the gap to 8-5. A 6'7" tall pitcher, Scott Munter keyed the rally with his first MLB hit, a humungous double that carried out to "Triples Ally" in Telephone Company Park, and bounced up into the stands, which converted the hit into a ground-rule double.

Later in the comeback, Barry Bonds smashed a mighty line drive that bored its way into the right field wall. How odd. Another ground-rule double. If the Giants win this game, Munter will not be the winning pitcher, but he did a great job, throwing a sinker that turned batters' swings into easy ground balls that his infielders converted into outs.



***

Do you remember the man who wanted a tiny woman? He was driving down the highway recently, and since his local NPR station was pledge-driving, he fumbled into a "Light Rock, Less Talk" environment, which immediately yielded Elton John's song Link to Lyrics.

It turns out that the man did not end up getting a little tiny woman. He didn't get a dancer. He didn't get a pet, although two promising young cats have been offered to him, in the far North Country.

Another man got a phone call. He got an email, too. Once a long, long time ago, the emailer reminded him, obliquely, he helped somebody in trouble. All he did was drive this friend in his car to a place where help was available. On the way, he inadvertently made an illegal left turn, for which he was ticketed.

The emailer reminded him of this incident, so far in his past now it has faded entirely out of his memory. It's nice when friends do that, remind you of where you've been. In this case, the man may one day soon find himself in similar trouble. His emailer made him laugh; if he needed a ride to find help, no doubt another traffic ticket would be issued.

Nice symmetry.

***

Doing homework with his 12-year-old son, another man was surprised at his son's new maturity. No tears, not even any complaints, as he worked his way through difficult math assignments. Instead, he showed patience and persistence, and after a couple of hours, he had the math problems nailed. Very satisfying.

***

Giants trail by four now. One out, one on, courtesy of an Omar Vizquel bunt hit. Gutsy. It's the bottom of the 7th. They've walked Bonds this time, no doubt hoping to avoid another hole in the stadium wall.

***

I have a photo of a little boy, just a few years old, kissing a beautiful woman I know. It is a very sweet photo, but my friend does not wish her photos to be published. Seems like many of my friends don't like their photos published, and I understand. I'm happy having my photo published, as long as they are from my first five years on this planet.

Because this kiss was so sweet, and because the lovely woman closed her eyes, this qualifies as one of the best kissing photos I've ever seen. But all you can do is imagine the scene I have painted. Perhaps the meaning will come through.







This is serious now. The Giants are within two runs, 9-7, and those runs are sitting on 2nd and 3rd. Oops. This looks very bad. They will have to do it in the bottom of the 9th. There may or may not be enough magic tonight.

But, before I know what happens, I will close this post. Maybe magic, maybe a painful loss. Everyone who reads this blog knows all about loss, so we can assume that is how this will end.

The photos, BTW, are of my 12-year-old, who hits, pitches, and catches. He believes in magic still, but soon he'll be a teenager...

***

I'm still wondering about that guy and his imaginary tiny dancer. What is it he really wanted? Even more importantly, what did the tiny dancer want? She, after all, was the one calling all the shots.

Women, of all types, as we eventually discover, always do. That's one of the main reasons men play baseball. And, therefore, why we know how to lose, (if we do), which the Giants just did, in spite of a tremendous Barry Bonds home run in the 9th. They fell one run short.

Much like the story of my love life.