It was the best of times; it was the worst of times

Yeah, I know; only I would open a baseball post with a quote from Dickens. Guess I'm just twisted that way.

Anyhow, there were several stories going at once down at the ballpark by the Bay yesterday. One involved the perpetually undersupported Matt Cain taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning, hitting a home run to give himself a lead, and then having the bullpen blow a 5-0 lead for him. The Giants lost 8-7 in 10 innings. A second involved Bruce Bochy, the veteran-coddling, youth-hating skipper who seems so totally incapable of managing this team up to their ability level that some of the Giants' increasingly cranky fans are calling yesterday's game the worst managed game of all time.

But the one I'll choose to focus on is the feelgood story, the one about the kid from Sacramento who went to the same high school as my own kids, who made his major league debut yesterday, singled in his first at-bat, and then hit a three-run homer later in his very first major league game. It was an amazing debut for John Bowker, and hopefully the first of many highlights to come. This is excatly the kind of youth and excitement this team needs.