Surprises

This past week proved to be a week of surprises from the Giants, Warriors,  49ers and the CA Income Tax  

First the 49ers -  The NFL Schedule was announced and to the surprise of many the 49ers are playing their first  Monday Night game at Levi Stadium.  It was reported last year that because of traffic problems the 49er would not play a Monday Night game at home.  The kickoff time for the September 14 opening game against the Vikings will be at 7:20 pm or 9:20 (Central) that I am sure thrill the fans in Minnesota. The kickoff is later because it is the second game of a double header on ESPN.  A check of the 49er schedule and to the surprise of no one there are tickets available. This Monday Night game is history making and you can still be apart of it. Tickets for example are available in the lower end zone close to the field starting at $500.+  Hurry, they won't last long!

I remember seeing the first Monday Night football game at Candlestick on a cold December 1st in  the early 1970s.  The 49ers were playing the Kansas City Chiefs and the place was electric and you could see the booth with Howard, Dandy Don and Frank Gifford shinning brightly.

The game between the 49ers and the Vikings  has lost some of its luster from the past since they use to play each other every year.  We always remember the late Lon Simmons call of  Marshall when he picked up a fumble for the Vikings  and Lon screamed "he's running the wrong way, he's running the wrong  way!"

The 49ers don't play their first home afternoon game until October 4 against the Packers.  The afternoon sun at Levi Stadium is a real problem.  I guess the NFL didn't get the message that October can even be hotter then September in the prune valley area. 

A word of caution.  If you're planning to attend the upcoming 49er Draft Party remember that  everyone including the team leadership got diarrhea following the 2012 draft that is still lingering.

Warriors - The big surprise came in game 3 of their 1st round playoff  with the Pelicans. Trailing by 17 points with a little over 6 minutes to go the Oakland based team rallied and forced the game into overtime thanks to the great 3 point shot by Curry.  Even a bigger surprise is the fact that the Pelicans did not foul Curry before he could shoot so he could have only scored 2 points.   We were not surprised that the Warriors swept New Orleans as predicted a couple of weeks ago on this blog.

Giants - The Giants sweeping the Dodgers early in the week surprised both Giants and Dodgers fans.  Many were shocked because the Dodgers had a seven game winning streak while the Giants had lost 9 out of 10 going into the series.  The games were blacked out in the greater southern California area.

Maxwell has been the big surprise for Giants fans.  His performance at the bat makes it a complete new lineup.  He hits with authority and has power and can play the field.  We mentioned in a very early blog in spring training that the fifth outfield spot was his to lose because Bochy loves to have a power hitting outfielder like Burrell in 2010 and Morse last year.  Maxwell had just an average spring and one has to wonder if he would have made the team if Pence had not gotten hurt.  As Shawn Estes mentioned on the post game show there might have been a silver lining in Pence's injury.

Pagan raised his average to .355 that even surprised himself with 4 hits Saturday night including one key hit in the 11th inning to set up the winning run.  However early in the game he was up with two on and two outs and failed to produce.  This has been a big problem for many of the Giants.

I was surprised to see McGehee get two hits to bring his average to .188.  However late in the game I wasn't surprised when he was up with none out and two on and swung at the first pitch hitting into a double play killing the rally.  The Giants then took him out in a double switch to start in the 10th inning which allowed Panik to bat in the 11th inning and bunt in the winning run.  Great planning by Bochy and his staff.

Third base still is a problem for the Giants.  We have not been impressed with McGehee from the beginning but maybe he is playing hurt and in a slump.  I believe playing for the World Champions has over whelmed him.  Its a lot easier to play for the Marlins who expect to lose over 80 games. Every time a ball is hit to third I hold my breathe because he has botched so many plays this year.  Almost reminds me of Orlando Cepeda who I saw play third base when the Giants of the late1950s  tried to get the Baby Bull and McCovey in the lineup at the same time.  

The Sunday game against the Rockies was rained out so Lincecum will start against the Dodgers Monday night moving Bumgarner back to Tuesday to face Kershaw.  One of our loyal blog readers George L will be at that game.

It was sure a big surprise when we learned that the California Income Tax law allowed Hamilton to be sent to Texas from the Angels.  It seems that Hamilton gave up $6 million to allow the deal to go through.  It was the $6 million he would have paid in CA Income  tax that he doesn't have to pay in Texas because they have no state income tax.   Our Texas blog provider Russ J is filling me in with this information.  He wonders if the Texas fans will boo or cheer the return of their former hero.  My reply is if he hits they will cheer if he strikes out they will boo!

It wasn't surprising to hear that Barry Bonds obstruction of justice conviction was over turned.  Listening to many attorneys who said that rambling and not giving the answer the prosecution wants is not lying.