I had some trouble filling this game spot – it came down at the last minute, even my solid standby Eric was unavailable, but it turned out that Michelle was feeling like a visit, both to see my new place and to come to a game; it will most likely be the last time I’ll be able to take her this year. there were things, as it happens, that she hadn’t eaten yet at the park. I don’t know why, but I don’t think to take pictures of her with each new item. This time around, I only remembered to start documenting the feasting halfway through the game when Michelle, having already had a hot dog, a slice of pizza, chicken tenders, and fries, decided it was time to get hot chocolate and a churro. To be fair, it was extraordinarily cold, and the hot chocolate was a boon to us both. I even ate the churro.

The Giants come skidding into town on a six-game losing streak, having been outscored 41-14 by the Padres and the Cubs (eight of those Giants runs came in one loss in Chicago). The postseason is receding in the distance, but – as is often the case – just as we are letting go of hope, we get a game that makes us wonder why the Giants’ record is what it is. Kyle Harrison doesn’t have the best of days, but neither does the Rockies’ starter; it’s one of those games where you think you’re going to be able to count on one part of the team, you watch it fail, and then you see another part take up the slack. Harrison is supposed to be the stopper, the man who puts his foot down and ends the nightmare (although he was part of the nightmare last week), but he gives up three runs early. The Giants get four runs on three homers in the sixth, though, and although the Cubs aren’t done scoring, neither are the Giants; the final is 9-8. The Giants are twenty games ahead of the Rockies in the West and barely manage to eke out a win.

There are other things to occupy the attention tonight: it is the night devoted to fighting pediatric cancer, which means it’s one of my favorite nights of the year – the night on which, instead of player photos we get pictures drawn by the kids benefiting from the charity. I cannot tell you how awesome and amazing these pictures are, nor can I describe with any degree of fidelity how proud I am of the Giants for putting them up on the Diamond-Vision screen not just once, but every time the players come up for the whole game, but I can show you and let you decide for yourself. (This is not ordinarily a picture-heavy space, but indulge me this once.)

Michelle floated the delightful idea that maybe the players get to keep the original artwork, and I have never wanted anything to be true so much as that.

In addition to the drawings, a cadre of kids – maybe the same ones that drew the pictures – I don’t know -get to come out on the field and take up their positions, after which the Giants come out and sign balls and give them shirts and stuff. I honestly don’t know what other teams do, how whimsical or charming they are, how involved with their communities they are; it is possible that every franchise does this kind of thing all the time. I am no longer a believer in the purity of the sport or the motives of the people in it – my innocence was gone long before the Cruise patch made its shameful debut, and I know that change at the corporate level comes when the organism perceives that there is money to be made. I don’t want to be cynical, though; I try not to be. You may argue, and you are not wrong, that whimsy and charm is just a weather eye for the profitable, a cunning counterfeit of spontaneity, but even if that is so, I will take it and like it when the result is something like this.

It was also the evening of the postponed and unwieldily-titled Salute to Bay Area Hip-Hop Drone Show; Michelle recorded the entire thing, but I am not paying for video privileges in this blog, so you can either watch this recording on Youtube or call Michelle and ask her for her version. I took a few pictures, though.

PS: I ended up, accidentally, with two of the Pediatric Cancer Night beanie hats, and I gave the extra one to a guy in my section who looked cold, and at the end of the night he handed it back to me, and I said, oh, you can keep it if you want, and he said no, that’s okay, so i took it back and I gave it to a little girl who was really excited to get a free warm hat, and just as I was handing it to her the cold guy changed his mind and asked for it, and then they both looked sad that the hat might be going to someone else, so I gave the guy back the hat that he had and I gave the little girl the one that i was going to keep for myself, and then Michelle gave me the one she got, and everyone ended up happy. Go Giants!

What Did You Think of the Evening, Michelle?

“I had a wonderful evening despite being a little under the weather. Although my main focus is usually people watching and deciding what to eat, I found myself totally drawn into the game this time. So many home runs, it was very exciting!! It was also really nice to stay close to my main squeeze on a chilly night after 3 weeks apart. I loved it!“

• 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