San Quentin’s Opening Day for baseball featured top administrators, Catholic Chaplain George Williams, a color guard and photographers — just about everything except a fly over by the Thunderbirds.
The capacity crowd was treated to the spectacle of the San Quentin A’s and San Quentin Giants lining the first and third base foul lines, caps over their hearts as trumpeter Larry “Popeye” Faison played the Star Spangled Banner.
Chief Deputy Warden W.A. Rodriguez threw out the opening balls (one for each team), in what appeared to be sliders across the plate for a strike.
“Play ball!” the umpire shouted!
Moments later the Giants took the field with ace pitcher Kevin Driscoll on the mound and A’s ace Marvin Andrews warmed up in the bull pen — the prelude to a 9-5 Giants victory.
Both teams sat down in order in the first inning. It would not take long for Andrews to find out he would not have his best stuff on this day. After he walked two batters, Giants catcher Johnny Taylor smoke a double to right center, scoring two runs, and more importantly breaking the competitive tension.
The A’s did most of their damage in the fourth inning, with left-fielder Chris Deragon kissing the fence for a double. First baseman Dalton “Big Cat” Martin hit safely and moved the runner over, and Dalton took second on a wild pitch.
With two outs, third-baseman Paul Jordan crushed one off the fence for a long single, scoring two runs. Jordan moved unwisely to steal second base and was thrown out by plenty.
A’s Pitcher Andrews had a short days work, allowing six runs on three hits with six walks. Teammate shortstop/pitcher Nghiep “Ke” Lam finished the game with six hits, three runs and four strikeouts.
The A’s would out-hit the Giants 11-8, but the Giants took advantage of their hits, with better execution. Pitcher Kevin Driscoll kept the A’s off balance, and when a threat arose, he minimized the damage.
Giants hurler Pete Steele pitched the last two innings. The Giants recorded 13 strikeouts, while their offense out-scored the A’s by four runs.
