Celebrating the Past or Trying to Forget the Present?

Apparently the Giants lost to the Cleveland Indians tonight, 4-1. This came as a shock to me, because I could have sworn I just watched them beat the Texas Rangers 5-3 behind a walk-off home run by Armando Rios. No, the game I was watching was actually one of a series of "Classic" games that Comcast Sportsnet plans to televise to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Giants in San Francisco.

July 18, 2000, the night Rios hit his dramatic homer off Rangers' closer John Wetteland, was a simpler time. Barry Bonds had 475 career home runs, Joe Nathan was a promising young starter, and Scott Spiezio was some dude on the A's. I'll admit, I'm kind of sucker for these classic games, but as much fun as they are, there's something a bit bizarre and creepy about watching them. There's a strange pre-2002, pre-BALCO, even pre-9/11 innocence to everything. I felt like leaning in to the TV and saying, "Oh, old Giants, there's so much I need to tell you." The game against the Rangers was one of the most exciting games I can remember at the time, but watching it again, I couldn't help but remember that the story of the 2000 season didn't have a happy ending.

I've got a better idea. How about we keep showing these classic games, but have Kruk and Kuip overdub the old players' names with current Giants. Trying to forget the legacy of Barry Bonds? Easy, he's now Fred Lewis. That wasn't Kirk Rueter getting a big out. That was Barry Zito. Rich Aurilia can stay the same. It will just be a better Rich Aurilia.