SAN FRANCISCO — Among the many demons Josh Hamilton battled, marijuana wasn’t one of them.
So, when the Rangers center fielder smelled the sweet smell drifting out of AT&T’s bleachers during his team’s 11-7 loss to the Giants in Game 1 of the World Series last night, it didn’t serve as a dreaded trigger mechanism for him to get high.
“Weed, no, that wasn’t my deal,” said Hamilton, who battled booze and narcotics.
Hamilton was more curious than surprised pot and baseball came together in this city.
“I could smell weed in the outfield,” Hamilton said. “It was crazy. I was looking at the cops a couple of times during the game.”
It was the second straight day Hamilton ran into weed smokers.
“My wife and I were walking down the street [Tuesday] and there was a guy smoking a joint with a cop 50 yards away,” he said.
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Giants starter Tim Lincecum
said he suffered a “brain [bleep]” that gave the Rangers a chance for a big first inning.
With runners on the corners, Nelson Cruz
hit a bouncer that Lincecum fielded. Lincecum started toward Michael Young
, who had broken toward the plate, getting into a rundown. But when Young broke toward third base, Lincecum mysteriously held the ball, allowing the runner to get back safely.
Lincecum later admitted he thought there were two runners on the base and he merely could walk over and tag one of them out.
“Obviously those aren’t the kind of situations you want to be in,” he said.
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Giants manager Bruce Bochy
shrugged off the fact he used six relievers to survive last night.
“To be honest, they needed work,” Bochy said. “We’ve had some time off, and I think a couple of them had some rust on them. I was actually happy they got in the game and got some work.”
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This can change but the early vibe coming from the Rangers is that they aren’t going to ask Cliff Lee
to pitch Game 7 on what would be two days’ rest.
“I feel good if we go to seven games having Colby
[Lewis
] start,” tonight’s Game 2 starter, C.J. Wilson
, said before Lee was pounded for seven runs (six earned). “He is lined up to start the seventh game. He can swing the bat, too, so that’s cool.”
Lewis batted .286 (2-for-7) this year and drove in two runs.
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The pitching mound is 60 feet, six inches from the plate and bases are 90 feet apart. Nevertheless, when it comes to Yankee Stadium and AT&T Park, the ballparks aren’t close, according to Wilson.
“It’s the exact opposite of Yankee Stadium,” Wilson said. “Yankee Stadium is like 310 down the lines and 340 in the gaps. It’s like you sneeze on a ball, break a bat, it’s out. This place you really have to hit the ball better. It’s much more of a pitcher’s ballpark.”
Yankee Stadium is 318 feet down the left-field line, 314 down the right-field line, 399 in left-center, 385 in right-center and 408 to center field.
AT&T Park is 339 to the left-field foul pole, 364 to left-center, 399 to center, 421 to right-center and a cozy 309 to the right-field corner.
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Bochy wrestled with the idea of adding Barry Zito
to the roster as a potential long reliever, but ultimately decided to stick with the same crew from the NLDS and NLCS. The roster included Guillermo Mota
, who didn’t pitch in either series.
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The Giants’ Edgar Renteria
became the 34th player in major league history to appear in the World Series with three different teams.
Renteria played in the 1997 World Series with the Marlins and the 2004 World Series with the Cardinals.