Sometimes you can tell that it’s a kid’s first game. Some of them are a couple of weeks old, and some of them are in their late twenties. Sometimes you can tell because the kid is carrying a big sign that says “IT’S MY FIRST GIANTS GAME!” That’s the case with John, whose happiness at being in the ballpark takes up as much space as he does. Matt and Jennifer have brought him from Modesto to see the Pirates for his first game. I don’t know if he likes pirates – I forgot to ask, but I do know he likes Skittles, having eaten nearly a whole bag on the way to the park. I guess he’s got an average kid sweet tooth, because he’s audibly jonesing for some ice cream, even though it’s a little cold for that. He’s going to end up with hot chocolate, at least.

The.re’s another kid at home, but tonight is John’s night; he and his sign make it onto the big screen in the park at least twice – once before they got to their seats and once when after. I would have been in the shot as well, but I made the mistake of letting Ray know to direct a cameraman toward John’s sign when I was leaving to get food and not when I was on the way back. Ray pretends to be old and creaky, but he gets things done fast. I didn’t even know there was a cameraman nearby, but by the time I get back from a very short trip to the hot dog stand, he’d been and gone.

It’s a very different game from last night’s – a home run for the Pirates in the bottom of the first and a Giants run to tie it in the bottom start us off, and after that, there’s one more Pirates run in the fifth, but the rest of it is a tight pitcher’s game for the other seven innings. It’s not one of those games that feels out of reach, but the Giants also never really get rolling; we end up putting on our rally caps in the ninth inning, to no avail. The game ends in a 2-1 Pirates win.

A tight game without much scoring makes for a curious mix of tense and…well, not exactly boring, but there’s a lot of time to talk about stuff that’s not this specific game. For example, it’s Pixar Night, with Elemental, a new movie, taking center stage. Matt has worked in the industry and knows some of the Pixar people, but even that takes a back seat to kid talk. John, at seven, is the biggest kid on his little league team, and I get to see pictures of him looking as professional as a seven-year-old can in his catcher’s gear; his favorite Giant is Blake Sabol, who also wears glasses behind the plate. I also get to show off a very recent picture of my niece holding the two awards she won today in New York – All-League and MVP, as I was informed by my sister. I figure MVP means she was the star of her team, but All-League, while it sounds impressive, is kind of vague and not super-informative. I feel like I should have heard this news directly from my niece, but I’m guessing she was too busy having champagne sprayed all over her to text. I assume I will hear about it at Christmas.

In other news, the hour or so immediately before the game started was chaos, the worst part being that Eric, my guest for the game, texted thirty minutes before first pitch to say a medical issue was going to keep him away; tonight was thus my second solo game in a row, and I think maybe my third solo game since 2017. Eric’s giant blocks of text were, unsurprisingly given his nature, very heavy one “I apologize for not making it to the game and please forgive me and I will pay you for the ticket that I’m not using” and very light on “There is a possibility that I could perish today.” Fortunately, it looks like he’s going to be okay. He reads the blog sometimes, so please leave a comment encouraging him to get batter and take care of himself. I got lucky this time and had Jennifer and Matt and John to keep me company, but a continued lack of Eric could put a real crimp in the season.

The other thing that complicated the hour before the game was that I spent quite a long time talking to a guy who does a San Francisco-centric podcast and might invite me to be a guest on it. I’ve invited him to be a guest at the park, as I have McCovey Cove Dave and FP Santangelo. Hopefully one day soon all this hucksterism is going to start paying off. Until then, if you want to listen to an apparently very well-thought of SF-centric podcast about things that are not me, you should make this one part of your weekly routine so that when I’m on it, you’ll already be a devoted fan.

• 1 October: Farewells and Almosts
• 30 September: For the Love of God, Max Muncy
• 29 September: Flower Mary Child Lavender Blossom
• 27 September: Junk Time
• 26 September: Mathematically