E.K. NATION

Eight minutes until the Giants face the Cubs on ESPN....

Okay there. Here we are, and there's Felipe Alou, giving a thumbs-up sign to someone in a video clip. I agree. The appearance of Major League Baseball every spring is indeed a Two-Thumbs-Up™ situation ("Two Thumbs Up!" is indeed a registered trademark of Ebert & Roeper, or Siskel & Ebert, or Peaches & Herb, or Sacco & Vanzetti. One of those guys.) Seems like it hasn't been long enough since Josh Beckett tagged Jorge Posada to end the 2003 World Series, but then again, I am not complaining.

Looks like it's raining in Arizona, but knowing the weather down there, I am positive the rain is boiling.

We get to take our first look at the Giants starting lineup, which for today is...

2B Durham
1B Snow
LF King Kong
3B Alfonzo
CF Tucker (Wilkommen!)
C Pierzynski (Bienvenue!)
RF Grissom
SS Perez
P Rueter

As Bob Uecker says in Major League, you can get a sense of how a season will go by the first at-bat. And Durham has just walked. And as Snow co the plate, we see Barry take the on-deck circle. That's a sight to behold this March 4, 2004.

So Snow just singled, and here he comes, and the fans have their flash cameras ready. Barry went 45/90/.341 last year. He has a chance to make it 1/3/1.000 with this at-bat...

Topped grounder to the pitcher. But he did advance the runners in this crucial first inning of this crucial Spring Training opening game.

Smallball! Edgardo just knocked in Ray with a grounder to second. 1-0 Gigantes. If nothing else, a good start to the 2004 season....

Also, as this game progresses I am noticing a man dressed in a full Cubs uniform in the stands directly behind home plate. I thought he might have been a coach with a radar gun checking out his pitchers. Looks like it's just a fan, trying to cheer his team to victory. I both think it's weird and kind of like it.