Clown coincidence

Remember yesterday’s Thought for the day clowns?  Yikes, I just discovered I’d photographed them two weeks ago outside Estadio Eduardo Vasconcelos (baseball stadium) on my way home from the Lluvia de Estrellas charity home run derby and softball game.  Seeing the boy’s San Francisco Giants’ baseball cap, I had to stop them and take a photo.

By the way, I was also wearing my SF Giant’s cap and they got a big kick out of that.  Gotta love this place!

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An ofrenda prepared

Visits to mercados in the city and Tlacolula have been made.  Along with mandarinas and manzanas, cempasuchil and cresta de gallo have been purchased.

Pan de muerto has been selected…

A calaverita has been chosen…

Mezcal and water have been poured, dishes of chocolate and salt prepared, candles brought out, and photos of departed family and friends and a few of their favorite things have been collected.  Yesterday, it was time to prepare my ofrenda.

As dusk descended, friends gathered; the candles and copal were lit…

And we offered our silent — and sometimes not so silent — prayers to the baseball spirits to bring victory to the San Francisco Giants in game 7 of the World Series.

The spirits listened!!!  Thinking of you, grandpa….

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World Series Oaxaca connection

Tonight, from the valley where corn was first cultivated, I’ll be watching my San Francisco Giants play game one of Major League Baseball’s, 2014 World Series.

Statue of Giants’ pitcher Juan Marichal outside AT&T Park

View from AT&T Park in San Francisco

Lou Seal, the Giants’ mascot

I was amazed to discover that one of San Francisco’s ace relief pitchers, Yusmeiro Petit, the Giants’ do-everything man, played for the Oaxaca Guerreros in 2011!!!   The Guerreros, a Triple-A team in the Mexican League play at Estadio Eduardo Vasconcelos, within walking distance (albeit, a long walk) from my apartment.  I attended several of the Guerreros’ games in 2011 and, who knows, maybe I saw him.

Tato, the Oaxaca Guerreros’ mascot

Estadio Eduardo Vasconcelos in Oaxaca

View from Estadio Eduardo Vasconcelos

When I was in Mexico, I always said to myself, “This is going to be my goal, to go back to the United States and be successful,” said Petit, through a translator. “I always knew that this could happen. I didn’t know how it was going to happen, but I knew this could happen.”  (from article, Giants’ do-everything man Petit ready for any task)

(AP Photo/Don Boomer, File)

And, from another article:

Petit thinks his experience with the Oaxaca Warriors was crucial in his career surge.   In Mexico he learned to mix his pitches and mastered the curve.  “I was in a slump, which happens to anyone,” he said. “But in Mexico I learned that I had to work harder to keep going and to reach what I was looking for, which was to come back (to the majors) and stay here.”

¡Felicidades Yusmeiro Petit y vamos Gigantes!

 

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Urban art, SF style

It may not be Oaxaca, but there is some major league urban art celebrating Major League Baseball’s 2012 World Series champion, San Francisco Giants.  The mural, by the Ex-Vandals, currently can be seen at Columbus at Union Street in San Francisco’s, North Beach neighborhood.

But, did the city’s Planning Commission have to deface the mural with its Notice of Public Hearing?  Couldn’t they have posted their notice in a more discrete location?  Honestly, have they no respect?!!

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