It doesn’t get much better than that. We went out to dinner after the Chargers beat the Raiders in Oakland (Michael Vick? Yeah, he’s good; but so are LaDainian Tomlinson and Drew Brees, thank you very much) and didn’t get back till the third inning. By then, the score was 7-5 Angels and both starters had departed. Of course, both teams battled before the Angels ended up winning, 11-10. Yep, this is shaping up to be a classic.

A few thoughts:

• Francisco Rodriguez’ performance (three perfect innings, four strikeouts) was awesome, but so was Chad Zerbe’s for the Giants. He deserves a great deal of credit for keeping San Francisco in the contest.
• Tim Salmon. What else can I say? He had a dream game. I’ve been a fan of his since watching him in spring training in 1993, and it’s good to see him shine.
• Barry Bonds has gone way beyond exorcising his playoff demons. He is now systematically and thoroughly abusing them. That bomb off Troy Percival in the ninth was something to behold: one of those shots that everyone will tell their grandkids they saw in person whether they really did or not.
• I was glad to see the Angels bounce back after Ben Weber had surrendered the lead in the fifth. Weber looked sharp again but everything he served up found a hole.

In other news, thanks to my buddy Dan, I now find myself in the possession of a great many issues of Baseball America from the early ’90s. I don’t know how many issues fit in a 12″ x 9″ x 12″ box, but I’ll bet it’s a lot. At any rate, I’ve perused one from July 1993 and I thought I’d share a few nuggets:

• Current Boston skipper Grady Little was managing the Richmond Braves. He and some veteran minor leaguers (among them Dann Bilardello and Dave Telgheder) were up in arms about the recently instituted ban on chewing tobacco in the minors.
• The Mariners had surprised many observers by choosing high school shortstop Alex Rodriguez over college right-hander Darren Dreifort with the first pick in the June draft. The top 5 picks that year: 1. Rodriguez; 2. Dreifort; 3. Brian Anderson, LHP, Angels; 4. Wayne Gomes, RHP, Phillies; 5. Jeff Granger, LHP, Royals.
• Other notable first-rounders: 7. Trot Nixon, OF, Red Sox; 12. Billy Wagner, LHP, Astros; 14. Derrek Lee, 1B, Padres; 15. Chris Carpenter, RHP, Blue Jays; 16. Alan Benes, RHP, Cardinals; 19. Jay Powell, RHP, Orioles; 20. Torii Hunter, OF, Twins (he was projected to be a corner outfielder, BTW); 21. Jason Varitek, C, Twins; 23. Jeff D’Amico, RHP, Brewers; 26. Kelly Wunsch, LHP, Brewers; 28. Jamey Wright, RHP, Rockies.
• Other notable players taken in the first five rounds: 46. Scott Rolen, 3B, Phillies; 49. Jeff Suppan, RHP, Red Sox; 60. Brad Fullmer, 3B, Expos; 62. Scott Sullivan, RHP, Reds; 67. Jeff D’Amico, SS, Athletics (later, in a move strictly designed to create even more confusion, converted to a pitcher); 86. Matt Clement, RHP, Padres; 88. Eli Marrero, C, Cardinals; 108. Billy Koch, RHP, Mets (didn’t sign, went to Clemson; you know the rest); 148. Paul Bako, C, Reds (believe it or not, he’s probably the best of the fifth-rounders that year; the only others that made it to the Show that I’m aware of are Mike Jerzembeck and Dave Lundquist).
• Brooks Kieschnick was named College Player of the Year. The All-America Team included current big-leaguers Jason Varitek, Todd Walker, Mark Loretta, Paul LoDuca, Brian Anderson, and Darren Dreifort. A couple of former Padres, George Arias and Gabe Alvarez, made the second team. Only one name of note on the third team: first baseman at Tennessee named Helton.
• Four players from the 2002 World Series were playing in their current organization’s minor leagues: Garret Anderson was hitting .278-1-22 in 158 at-bats at Vancouver (PCL); Troy Percival was 0-1 with 4 saves and a 6.27 ERA for the same club before undergoing season-ending elbow surgery; Orlando Palmeiro was at .277-0-19 in 202 at-bats for Midland (TL); and Aaron Fultz was 6-3 with a 2.31 ERA in 10 starts at Clinton (MWL).
• In what seems a bit bizarre now, the Norfolk Tides were fined $8000 for operating a radar gun without a license. Apparently this triggered an awareness of the need for licenses.
• Players listed on the Player-Of-The-Year Watch (note positions): Kurt Abbott, SS, Athletics; Billy Ashley, OF, Dodgers; Rich Aude, 1B, Pirates; Carlos Delgado, C, Blue Jays; Cliff Floyd, 1B, Expos; Chipper Jones, SS, Braves; Chad Mottola, OF, Reds; Manny Ramirez, OF, Indians; Scott Talanoa, 1B, Brewers; Jim Thome, 3B, Indians; Scott Ruffcorn, RHP, White Sox; Aaron Sele, RHP, Red Sox.

Oh yeah, this was also right after Jose Canseco had made his one and only big-league pitching appearance. People were still laughing about it (and the homer off his head weeks earlier); they didn’t yet realize he’d blown out his elbow.

I could go on for hours about this stuff, and you’ll probably hear more tidbits from years gone by over the winter, but for now I’ll leave you with something more current: 2002 Win Shares Leaders (Baseball Musings). Enjoy…