[新聞] Wilson's run highlights Giants' flag …
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Wilson's run highlights Giants' flag-raising
Mays delivers champs banner; closer carries it into stands
By Chris Haft / MLB.com | 04/08/11 11:59 PM ET
SAN FRANCISCO -- The Giants called upon their greatest player and best
finisher to provide the stirring conclusion to Friday's pregame ceremony that
celebrated the club's 2010 World Series triumph.
The banner commemorating the first Series victory in the franchise's San
Francisco history wouldn't simply be affixed to a flagpole and hoisted high.
More than that was necessary.
The Giants called upon Mays, their living legend who starred on the
franchise's previous World Series-winning team in 1954, to emerge from the
dugout and bring the folded flag to Bruce Bochy. The Giants manager, who
stood in third-base foul territory alongside the championship trophy that was
perched atop a pedestal, then started a chain in which the banner was passed
from player to player.
At the end of the line stood Brian Wilson. But not for long.
Wilson, the closer who sealed 48 victories last year and six more in the
postseason, dashed across the outfield, climbed a temporary stairway into the
right-center-field stands, jogged up an aisle (accompanied by policemen and
security guards) and made his way next to a pole that matched the height of
the one flying the American flag. The ballpark clock read 1:32 p.m. as a club
employee helped Wilson raise the orange pennant that bore black trim and
lettering, along with a likeness of the championship trophy.
"I was afraid of the flag being upside down," Wilson said. "I was really
nervous about that part. But everything went well."
A replica of the banner also was unveiled on the left-field wall.
"I got butterflies in my stomach," Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval said.
"I wanted to cry."
Julie Pilossoph, a native San Franciscan and lifelong Giants fan, conveyed
the emotions that thousands of others at the packed ballpark doubtlessly felt
as they watched tangible evidence of the team's success wave proudly in the
sky.
"That was one of the most unbelievable moments," Pilossoph said. "It's
finally real and happening in our own park and we can share it. [I've got]
tears and goosebumps! The Giants did an incredible job. It's surreal."
Said Peter Magowan, the Giants' former managing general partner, "I think
it'll be a time that people who were here today will never forget. They'll
tell their children and grandchildren, 'I was there.'"
The flag-raising concluded festivities that portrayed the Giants as
conquering heroes -- which they of course were.
Earlier, as the rock group Train finished singing "Save Me San Francisco,"
Bochy led players into the park through the center-field gate, striding
between smoke-producing sparklers as they headed for the third-base line and
individual introductions.
Train's lead singer, Pat Monahan, sang the national anthem -- a performance
accompanied by a flyover from the VFA-122 Flying Eagles from Lemoore, Calif.
Then came more revivals of 2010. After a video was shown of Wilson striking
out Nelson Cruz to end the Series, the bearded right-hander produced the
final ball and presented it to James Semmet, a Giants season-ticket holder
since the club moved west in 1958. The ball will be displayed at AT&T Park
for all to see.
"We didn't just win this as a team, we won it as a community," Wilson said in
a brief address.
Outfielder Cody Ross, named Most Valuable Player of the National League
Championship Series, and right-hander Tim Lincecum, elected postseason MVP by
the New York chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America, were
recognized. That was followed by a "moment of reflection" for Bryan Stow, the
Giants fan critically injured in a beating outside Dodger Stadium after the
March 31 season opener.
Bochy remained standing near home plate through those events, and it became
clear why he loitered there. The entire team gathered by the mound, where
right-hander Matt Cain, the senior Giant in terms of continuous service,
threw the ceremonial first pitch.
The salute to the flag came next.
Chris Haft is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the
approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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※ 編輯: JeremyKSKGA 來自: 140.113.63.48 (04/11 22:10)
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