San Diego: where old New Yorkers go to retire

The Giants are home this weekend, playing a series against the San Diego Padres that so far has gone in the Giants favor. But the game on Saturday held a few surprises for this New York transplant: David Wells, Mike Piazza, and Mike Stanton. All in the same game.

Wells, traded from the Boston (where my brother maintains he was their only decent pitcher), is now a pitcher for San Diego. He seems to be getting old, and it showed in inconsistent pitching. But Barry Bonds' two-run homer (731) kept me from complaining about that much.

Then Mike Stanton, who's done time for both New York teams, came in as a reliever for the Giants. He's pitching pretty well here, and we certainly need it, since our closer can't pitch and routinely loses games that enter the 9th with big leads.

Then, in the bottom of the 10th, Mike Piazza, former Met and Dodger, came in to pinch hit. I hate Mike Piazza, and was thrilled to go to this game (thanks, Sherry) for the sole purpose of heckling him. And then he didn't catch. But, this was a good opportunity, and I took it. He got a base hit and then was pulled out because he's one of the slowest runners in the MLB.

So, in this one 11-inning game I got to see three former New Yorkers, and two former Yankees. Nice. And I can pick up my Barry Bonds commemorative home run pin after 10 am today. Oh, and the Giants won 5-4 after San Diego, in a tied game, loaded the bases on walks with one out. Stupid San Diego.