The kid is all right

Posted on June 27, 2011

Madison Bumgarner #40 of the San Francisco Giants pitches against the Cleveland Indians during the game at AT&T Park on June 26, 2011 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Brad Mangin)

 

Were you worried about Madison Bumgarner? I wasn’t. No way should the Giants drop him from the rotation, or send him down to the minors after one horrendous outing last week. After what he did in Game 4 of last year’s World Series in Texas he has earned many yards of rope from me. Still only 21-years-old, the kid has a fire in his belly and is relentless on the mound. He sure proved all of his critics wrong last night, helping lead the Giants to a 3-1 win over the Indians to complete a three game sweep while striking out a career-high 11 and giving up one run in seven innings.

Last night was a great night to be at the ol’ ballpark. ESPN was in town, so we had a glorious 5:09pm first pitch. The light, as usual at that time of the day, was spectacular. I got there early, hung out before the game with Bay Area photojournalist George Nikitin, and eagerly anticipated what kinds of cool things might happen in the pretty light. Thanks to Bumgarner I was not dissapointed.

I shot like crazy anytime something happened in the quickly fading sunlight. I joked with my friend George that I would not shoot anything that happened in the shade, and for the lost part I didn’t. It was just like I was shooting chrome! I got to see some good friends, get a few nice pictures, and see the kid bounce back in dominant form. For a minute there I felt like I was back in Arlington watching the kid dominate the Rangers in Game 4 of the 2010 World Series. Nice going kid. There are a lot more games like this in your future.