Giants get shimmies, a big hit and a win in the home opener

SAN FRANCISCO — “The morning fog may fill the air, but I don’t care.” Yes, the words of Tony Bennett, filling the air at Oracle Park. What little fog there had been was gone on these best-of-all home openers for the Giants, who true to the last line of the song found their golden sun shining.

What a day. Orlando Cepeda and Barry Bonds were in the stands. Johnny Cueto was in a groove. Hometown guy Brandon Crawford — well, he’s from across the bay — got the big hit.

Does it get any better than this?

The Giants, climbing above .500 for the first time this very young season, defeated the Colorado Rockies, 3-1, in a game as well played and as enjoyable as any since the last time there were fans in the seats at Oracle Park.

That was the year Cueto returned from shoulder surgery, and this game for Cueto, with his shimmies and dreadlocks flying, was his best game since. He got within one out of a complete game, holding firm the first time manager Gabe Kapler came out with the apparent intent to relieve him.

Kapler, booed by virtually everybody in the crowd of 7,390 — if good naturedly — didn’t take out Cueto the first time, the fans chanting “Johnny, Johnny,” but then did, if reluctantly.

“He pitched his best game I’ve seen,” said Kapler. “He mixed things up.”

His normal procedure is to shake things up. “I like to entertain,” said Cueto through a translator.

Going four innings without allowing a hit and in the end striking out seven will entertain most managers. Even those of opposing clubs.

"He's a great competitor, first of all,” Bud Black, the Rockies manager, said of Cueto. “He's passed the time with success, and I do think there's a little bit of an entertainer aspect to Johnny, and I think that's a good thing, because he backs it up."

Cueto, Crawford and Brandon Belt, who didn’t play, supposedly are in their last season with a Giants team trying to build for the future. But Crawford certainly seems to be a keeper for awhile.

He and Buster Posey get the cheers from fans still appreciative of contributions to the Giants’ three World Series championships. Posey, of course, opted out of the shortened Covid-19 season of 2020, after adopting babies, so he’s getting recognition that was somewhat overdue.

And after the response Thursday, Posey had a single.

"He deserves all that support, he's meant so much to the city, this franchise, the players that are on the team right now," Kapler said. "I certainly love when he gets that level of respect.”

Crawford’s family was at the game, the first in two years to which fans have been permitted. Then he gets the deciding hit with his family in the ballpark.

“It was definitely special,” said the shortstop. “Just being out there, just being back at home. Being able to get the big hit in a situation was a lot of fun.

“The crowd was loud, louder than the number of fans who were announced.”

Why not? Giants fans, waiting to be involved in the fun of cheering and booing — if in an unusual circumstance — were watching good baseball.

For Crawford, it was fun backing Cueto. “He did such a good job of keeping them off balance,” Crawford said about the pitcher. “His timing was great.”

So, too, was the timing of the Giants. Over the years, even the title years, they dropped the home opener. But Thursday, returning from the void and the vaccinations, from the lonely season, the Giants won.

Just as scripted and as hoped.