Blast from the past

Driving around this afternoon listening to the Giants pre-game show, I heard a "this date in Giants history" segment and realized, hey, I was at that game 26 years ago, June 15, 1979. I showed up at Candlestick Park on a cool, breezy Friday night in a light jacket -- it was my first year in SF and I was not hip to the fact that you had to wear a parka even though it was June -- and suffered through an extra-inning game. Finally, after the Cards batted in the top of the 13th, I gave up and left, because I was so freaking cold. As I reached my car in the parking lot, I heard a cheer rise from the remaining fans: Willie McCovey had just hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the 13th to win the game.

The other remarkable thing was that playing for the Cardinals was another legend of the 1960s, one of my heroes as a kid: Lou Brock.