Last night was heartbreaking. There are excuses for losing games like this, but none that offer much consolation. Right now I’m keeping in mind that we played the Dodgers for 5 games in 4 days – in LA! – and fought them to a halt. As we’ve probably all figured out over the last month, we would have done a lot better if we had had even a mediocre bullpen. But to win a 5-game streak almost consistently against a postseason team is impressive in my opinion. That has to do now. (I’m purposely ignoring that many of their regulars have been given days off – no matter who plays, LAD is a tough nut to crack)

Much more gratifying is that the San Francisco Giants are coming to our house for a three-piece set this weekend. We’re 3.5 games behind them for third place going into this series. To get any closer, we need Tommy Henry (who was recently recalled to make that start) to keep us in a game against Carlos Rodon (who is shooting well enough to exercise his player opt-out to play this winter to hit a bigger payday). That’s a big task. But there is one that Henry has shown in the past that he can handle. It’s time to see if he’s used his time in Reno to make those necessary adjustments. Few teams could test that better than the Giants.

They are a team that has had a miserable year if you believe 2021 is real. Or a team that’s overwhelmed when you think it’s past its prime and in the process of replacing franchise faces. The truth obviously lies somewhere in between. The roster is filled with aging legends (Belt & Crawford – 4 combined World Series wins) and newbies looking to make their own legends (Bart & L. Gonzalez).

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY – 1889

Nintendo Karuta is founded in Japan. Nintendo was still headquartered in Kyoto and initially made playing cards. By the 1960s they had branched out into different markets. As you probably know, they still exist. They are best known today for their video game consoles and intellectual property rights (IPs) that are sought after around the world. This seemed like a recent OTD call as The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was only officially announced last week (September 13, 2022). If you don’t know about it and its importance, take this away: Zelda is one of the most popular video game franchises of all time and TotK is the sequel to Breadth of the Wild, which is widely regarded as the best entry into the famous franchise.

Other notable Nintendo games/characters: Pokémon, Donkey Kong, Mario/Luigi, Metroid, Kirby, Fire Emblem and Super Smash Brothers. Finding a millennial who hasn’t played at least one of these games might be harder than finding a baseball player who hit 4 home runs in a single game!