I have a lot of talented friends. Some of those talents are less useful than others – my old college roommate Jason could make a noise with his nose that defied description but was endlessly entertaining – but some are really world-class. Gary has been making his living as an artist for most of his life, working in comics and fine art, both as a creator and a teacher. Most of the time when he comes to a game with me, he brings a sketchbook (to be fair, he takes it everywhere) and spends a lot of the game drawing some aspect of the park. Tonight, he opted to just enjoy the game without having to focus on drawing, which was nice. Still, he sent along a couple of previous pieces, so I can show you those.

Gary picked up tonight’s ticket after a last-minute cancellation, which was a nice surprise. This is Gary’s first game this year, but he’s come with me at least once every other year. I’ve been friends with Gary longer than almost anyone else whose company I wasn’t born into – children of my parents’ friends and such – and although neither of us had much interest in sports when we met, a Giants game once a year has become something of a tradition.

I don’t think tonight’s attendance was exactly a record, even for this year, but there were a little over forty thousand fans in the park. A lot of them – a very vocal group – were As fans who felt like this was the venue to let Major League Baseball know that they’re not happy with the team leaving Oakland. The media kind of makes a big deal about the “cross-bay rivalry” but rivalry is a really strong word to apply to what’s really going on. I think if you asked a population of Mets fans or Cubs fans if they’d like to see their American League teams banished to Las Vegas, most of them would love the idea, but I don’t think many Giants fans are happy to see the As leaving. The chants of “SELL THE TEAM’ were overpowering at times, and a lot of Giants fans joined in. It was a very supportive night.

After I’d had these tickets for a couple of years, I realized that one of the things I wanted out of the long-term experience was to be a fixture at the park, which has a lot to do with why I appointed myself Mayor. Originally I had hoped that my section would be filled with other enthusiastic regular attendees. On the bright side, I got Christine, but she was the only one. To be fair, it was a bad couple of years, but I still expected at least some die-hards to be there most of the time. I wanted a group of people I’d be able to bond with and see every day. I wanted to be Norm from Cheers – to walk in every day and have a half-dozen people yell my name, but it didn’t happen that way. Instead, I have had to fashion for myself a position as the opposite of Norm – an Abnorm, if you will – where people have to come to me to greet me joyously.

Tonight was a high-water mark in that regard – I got visits from Alice and Rich, and Michelle’s friend Susan made a special trip from Napa to see the game – she bought a ticket in a different section but came to sit with me and Gary. I think she might have come as much to see the tribute to Tony Bennett as much as for me, but she got stuck in hideous traffic, couldn’t find decent parking, and ended up finally making it into the park in the sixth inning. She missed almost all of the Tony Bennett stuff but had a good time anyway, especially because the Giants won.

It was a tighter game than it should have been, given that the As aggressively pursuing their worst season since 1919, but the Giants have been spotty lately too, coming into tonight’s game at the end of a season-worst six-game skid. They’ve been outscored 34-9 in the last week, with only Wilmer Flores shining over the whole road trip. Just before the game, when Gary and I were talking about ways that teams can build or alter the architecture and conditions of their stadiums to boost their odds of winning, Gary asked what I would do to the field to give the Giants a win tonight, and I said “Well, to start, I’d put the As on it,” which was clever and funny but also a little bit of whistling past the graveyard. It worked out okay, though – the Giants squeaked home with a 2-1 win.

In addition to my visitors, I met Dan and Monica, who also showed up in my section in the sixth, and who I told that they could always find me here. Monica was a very vocal As fan, so I didn’t hear much from Dan, who was wearing a Giants jersey and an As hat, but he said he was pretty sure he’d seen me here before. He was probably right. They were a cheerful addition to the 152 population, which was definitely up from previous games. There are thirty seats on my part of the section, and all of them were taken except for the one that Susan eventually got into. Although they live in the South Bay, Dan said he’d be back for more games, so maybe I have more Norm moments to look forward to soon.

It would be irresponsible not to mention that last night was both Italian Heritage Night at the park and the night on which the Giants paid tribute to Tony Bennett, who died a few days ago. I’m sure Tony didn’t plan his exit so that his tribute could come on this particular evening, but it was a particularly pleasing piece of symmetry, especially since the Giants won and we got to hear “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” twice – once when they played it during the seventh inning singalong and once after the game when the win flag went up. Best of luck, Tony.

PS: I know I said I wasn’t going to criticize national anthems, but I feel like I would be a bad blogger if I didn’t mention that the woman who sang it tonight sang that the broad stripes and bright stars “were…gallantly spleening.”

• 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