And now, a post that was meant to be submitted Wednesday 9-16. . .

I drove into the city to see a Giants game Tuesday. It was a rollicking fun time, even though we lost. But there was melancholy too. The mood has changed at the ballpark; it now seems like there is an unspoken consensus that the magic of the past few years is spent—our starting pitchers are used up, our bullpen is aging—and if this team is going to be great again it will have to depend on new magic.

The merchandise store at the park’s entrance was the first sign of this. They were selling all of the relics of recent past glories. Selling them cheap. Key chains from the 2012 World Series, hats from 2010, a set of dog tags with former relief pitcher Brian Wilson's picture on them (Everytime my son sees him, he says, “Hey look, its 'fear the beard'”). All of these precious relics were piled into plastic bins, sorted by price. Some were as cheap as $2.00. No bin was priced above $5.00.

Not that there is a clear causal relationship between bargain bin merchandise and a team’s success, but the two things have to relate somehow. If the team was slaying all opponents and roaring into the playoffs right now, those relics would be “retro,” and probably priced beyond my budget. Instead, I bought a ton of stuff for next to nothing.

The old pieces are on clearance, and when the new season begins next year it will be all new pieces that fill our stores and our pitching rotation. Here’s hoping they are as high quality as those currently on sale.