The Giants and Dodgers franchises played their first-ever official game on Oct. 18, 1889. Could it be that 125 years later, on Oct. 18, 2014, the clubs meet in a seventh and deciding game in the National League Championship Series? It’s not a total stretch.

One of the teams will win the division title, and it seems likely that the other will play in the do-or-die wild-card game. If the Giants/Dodgers win the wild-card game to reach the five-game division series, the clubs would likely meet either St. Louis or Washington based on the current races. Assuming both were victorious, the Giants and Dodgers would play each other in the NLCS, and game seven, if necessary, would fall on and near the historic Oct. 18 date.

The Giants franchise, formed in 1883 in New York, and the Dodgers franchise, formed in 1884 in Brooklyn, began with the teams in different leagues, so it wasn’t until 1889 that both won their titles so they could meet in a best-of-11 championship series. Brooklyn took the opener 12-10, and built a 3-1 lead in the series, but New York then won five in a row to win the championship. One of the keys for New York is that they twice beat Brooklyn’s 40-game winner Don Caruthers and 22-game winner Adonis Terry, a workhorse who started five of the games.

NOTEBOOK

Price is wrong: The Giants will either be two or three games out going into this weekend’s three-game series against the Dodgers, based on the outcome of today’s Giants-D-Backs game. It will be interesting to see if Dodger Nation has a big presence at AT&T this weekend, as was the case when the clubs met in San Francisco in July. Giants management is to blame, as it jacked up prices for the games, which had the effect of making it attractive for its fans to profit by putting their seats on the market. The cheapest ticket for this series is $51.50 (Friday), $68.75 (Saturday) and $51.50 Sunday. That doesn’t even include those handling and convenience charges, and aren’t we thankful  that there are handlers who are so nice to make buying a ticket so convenient for us. The Dodgers, on the other hand, are making the Giants-Dodgers series at Dodger Stadium on Sept. 22-24 more conveniently affordable for their fans, with tickets as low as $25.

Mismatch?: The pitching matchup for the Giants-Dodgers finale of the three-game series Sunday looks like a mismatch — Clayton Kershaw vs. Yusmeiro Petit. I mean, how can poor Clayton compete with a guy who missed a perfect game by one out a year ago, set a major league record for consecutive outs this year and is coming off an 84-pitch complete-game shutout with nine strikeouts and no walks. Petit for MVP? While this is written in jest, who would have thought at the start of the year that a Kershaw-Petit matchup in a September Dodgers-Giants pennant battle would be one of the sexiest in baseball?

Wild card: Here’s an interesting decision the Giants might have to make. If they can’t chase the Dodgers down and win the West, they have a good chance to be the top-seeded wild-card team and host the win-or-go-home game against probably the Pirates, Brewers or Braves. Assuming the Giants hold on to their comfortable wild-card lead and clinch the spot early, they can set up their rotation as they wish for the wild-card elimination game and five-game division series against probably the Cardinals or Nationals. So who would pitch the wild-card game? Everyone’s first response would be Madison Bumgarner, but if that’s the case, and the Giants advance, he probably couldn’t pitch until game four. If the Giants were swept, that means their ace never got a shot. Sunday could be an audition for that wild-card game. If Petit can dominate on the big Dodgers-Giants stage by beating Kershaw and establishing himself as one of the hottest pitchers in the game, he might give manager Bruce Bochy all the confidence needed to give him the ball for the wild-card showdown. Another option would be to start Jake Peavy (I’d take him over Tim Hudson), with Petit in the wings ready to  step in at an early sign of trouble. I just think the Giants have enough, especially at home, to get past the wild-card game so Bumgarner can possibly go twice in the division series.

One of the marvels of the Giants-Dodgers rivalry in its more than 120-year history is that while the clubs have had only a handful of late season head-to-head pennant races, the rivalry still thrives. The teams are engaged in a high-stakes race for the flag now, though we’ll have to see how things shape up over the next two weeks before 2014 becomes a rare September to remember for the rivalry. The chase this year is for the NL West title, since the consolation prize will likely be a one-game do-or-die wild-card game that both teams wish to avoid.

How rare are these September showdowns?

The Giants and Dodgers franchises began regular season play in 1890, but it wasn’t until 1924 that they had their first down-to-the-wire battle. Brooklyn, which trailed first-place New York by 13 games on Aug. 9, went on a 24-4 run to tie the Giants for first on Sept. 4. Brooklyn slipped after that surge, but came back to gain a virtual tie with New York in the final week of the season. The Giants, propelled by a three-game sweep of Pittsburgh, clinched the pennant Sept. 27. It would be 15 years until Brooklyn would experience another late pennant race.

In the 56 years since coming to the West Coast, there have been just 10 seasons  which both clubs were involved in a September bid for the post season.

1959: A three-way pennant battle involved the Giants, Dodgers and the Braves, who were gunning for their third straight NL crown. On Sept. 19, as the Giants and Dodgers prepared for a crucial three-game series, first-place San Francisco led Los Angeles by a game and Milwaukee by 1-1/2. In the biggest series in the young West Coast rivalry, the Dodgers stunned the Giants with a three-game sweep. The Giants never recovered, and the season ended with the Dodgers and Braves in a tie. The Dodgers took the flag by defeating the Braves two games to none in a playoff. SPECIAL NOTE: The third game of that series against the Dodgers was the last game played at Seals Stadium, as the Giants would move into Candlestick Park in 1960.

1962: The Dodgers had a one-game lead with one to play, but were barely hanging on after losing nine of their last 12. The Giants forced a three-game playoff by beating Houston while the Dodgers fell to the Cardinals. The Giants outlasted the Dodgers in the playoff, winning the flag by rallying from a 4-2 deficit in the ninth inning of game three. SPECIAL NOTE: Sandy Koufax was sidelined for much of the stretch drive because of a circulatory disorder in the forefinger of his pitching hand. Older Dodger fans still swear that their team would have won the title outright had Koufax, who still went 14-7 with a 2.54 ERA, not gone down.

1965: The season always will be known as the one when Giants pitcher Juan Marichal put a gash on Dodgers catcher John Roseboro’s head in their infamous clash, but it also was a year of a red-hot pennant race. The Giants held the lead as late as Sept. 28, but they were sliding while the Dodgers were soaring. The Dodgers won 15 of their last 16 games to edge the Giants out by two games. SPECIAL NOTE: The Dodgers allowed only five runs in their last nine games while tossing five shutouts.

1966: Pittsburgh made it a three-team race for the NL title, and led the Giants by a half-game and the Dodgers by 1-1/2 in early September. The Dodgers tried to pull away with an eight-game winning streak. The Pirates faded but the Giants stayed close. The Dodgers needed to lose their final game to Philadelphia, which would have required the Giants to play a rain makeup game against Cincinnati for a shot at a tie. But the Dodgers got past Philadelphia to clinch the pennant. SPECIAL NOTE: During a tense August series, the Dodgers put on a shift to the right side with Willie McCovey at bat and Willie Mays at first. McCovey beat the shift with a run-scoring double to left, and the Giants went on to a big victory.

1971: Twenty years after Mays broke in during the legendary 1951 New York-Brooklyn pennant race, the clubs were again involved in a classic duel. The Giants led the Dodgers by eight games on Sept. 6, and had the chance to eliminate their foes in the five head-to-head matchups between then and Sept. 14. Los Angeles refused to blink and won all five hard-fought games. On the final day of the season, the Giants defeated the Pirates to win the flag. A loss would have forced a playoff with the Dodgers. SPECIAL NOTE: A Sept. 13 matchup turned ugly when Marichal and Dodgers pitcher Bill Singer engaged in a deck-the-batter exchange. After Marichal hit Bill Buckner, he headed toward the mound holding the bat up, evoking memories of the Marichal-Roseboro moment. Cooler heads rushed onto the field before Buckner and Marichal could tangle.

1978: The Giants rejoined the pennant race following a six-year hiatus, and led Cincinnati by a half-game and the Dodgers by 2-1/2 as San Francisco and Los Angeles prepared for home-and-away four game series over the next 11 days. The teams split the eight games, which was enough of a moral victory for the Giants to energize them for a September run. But the Dodgers were too strong, winning 30 of 40 from Aug. 5 through Sept. 16, and the Giants were eliminated on Sept. 23. SPECIAL NOTE: While this season might not qualify as a true deep-into-September race, it was a year when the rivalry had a revival. The fans certainly thought so, as the two August series drew 193,954 in San Francisco and 207,570 in Los Angeles.

1982: Never mind September showdowns. This battle went into October. The Giants and Dodgers went into their last head-to-head weekend series trailing first-place Atlanta by a game. Rick Monday single-handedly put the Giants’ hopes into the coffin in the opener with a tie-breaking grand slam, and the Dodgers used a team effort to add the nail in a 15-2 trashing the next day. The Giants’ Joe Morgan gained revenge the following day with a dramatic home run that ended the Dodgers’ quest and gave the pennant to the Braves. SPECIAL NOTE: Morgan’s heroics were no fluke. The veteran had a key role in five earlier Giants wins over the Dodgers this season.

1997: A two-team race. involving the Giants and Dodgers, had developed by mid-July with San Francisco holding a four-game lead. In most years, the teams might have at least another nine games against one another. But a scheduling shift starting in 1993 dramatically cut their head-to-head contests from 18 to 12 or 13. That left the teams with only one two-game series in San Francisco the rest of the way, which began with the Dodgers two games in front. The Giants won them both, highlighted by catcher Brian Johnson’s now famous 12th-inning walk-off homer for a 6-5 win on Sept. 18. The blast had the effect of sending the Dodgers on a tailspin and the Giants on a tear, with San Francisco clinching the crown on Sept. 27. SPECIAL NOTE: To this day, the Dodgers still can’t figure out how this one got away. In the  Sept. 18 game, they had the bases loaded and none out in the 10th but failed to score. Overall for the season, the Dodgers outhit the Giants .268 to .258 and outpitched them 3.62 ERA to 4.39.

2002: Arizona’s dominance had left the Giants and Dodgers having to battle for a wild card as the only road to the post season. The Giants held a one-game advantage in the wild-card race over the Dodgers on Sept. 15, and maintained the lead as the teams split a hard-fought four-game series. The Giants won their next eight straight , and clinched the wild card Sept. 28 though the Dodgers didn’t go quietly, winning six of their last nine games. SPECIAL NOTE: Rivalry gamesmanship was on display early in the season. The Giants opened at Dodger Stadium, and requested that the time of the final game of the three-game series be moved up so the team could get back to San Francisca earlier to get ready for its home opener the next day. The Dodgers declined.

2004: Post-season berths through a division title or wild card were both at stake in the final 10 days of the season, and the Giants and Dodgers would be meeting six times. The first-place Dodgers led the Giants in the division race by 1-1/2 games, while Chicago and Houston were contending for the wild card. The Dodgers took two out of three against the Giants Sept. 24-26, and led by three games heading into the final weekend’s three-game series against the Giants. The Giants won the first, but their post-season hopes crumbled the next day as Steve Finley’s grand slam in the ninth put them on the ropes. Houston supplied the knockout punch by clinching the wild card the next day while the Giants and Dodgers were playing, as Dodger Stadium fans cheered the demise of their rivals. SPECIAL NOTE: The Dodgers, having been pounded by Barry Bonds the previous few years, finally discovered that avoiding him was the best strategy. In the last six games between the clubs, Bonds walked 14 times and had only 10 official at bats.

Will 2014 join the list of classic Giants-Dodgers finishes?

The Dodgers lead the Giants in the division race by three games with 19 to play, and the teams will meet six times over the next 17 days. Another page of the 124-year-old rivalry awaits to be written.

It was a Hall of Fame weekend where three managers — Tony LaRussa, Joe Torre and Bobby Cox were inducted. That raised speculation locally whether Giants manager Bruce Bochy would someday deserve the honor. Bochy’s two championships and total wins make him a legitimate part of the conversation in the future. But Bochy certainly did nothing in this weekend’s embarrassing home sweep to the Dodgers to win any votes.

Bochy began the key three-game series in retreat, playing down its importance. In that, he might have been the first manager in the 125 years that the Giants and Dodgers have been playing not to view the three-game weekend meeting between the historic rivals to have any more meaning than a three-game weekday series against the Rockies. Said Bochy prior to the weekend home debacle: “I don’t know what’s not a big game,” thereby lessening the significance of the matchup in the heat of a pennant race. If the manager isn’t fired up about the series, where should we expect the players to get their motivation?

Just another game, Bruce? Listen to the words of an expert on the rivalry.

“There’s so much pride involved. We try as hard against all other clubs, but somehow, some way, we feel all of the bad breaks, or sloppy games or mistakes will be forgiven by the fans if we beat the Dodgers.” That’s what Willie Mays said about the rivalry in 1971.

The Giants front office certainly viewed the series as something special. Dynamic Pricing, AKA price gouging, was in full view this series. The cheapest seat was $65 going into the series, for seats in the far upper left field stands, a terrible place to watch a baseball game. “Hey Dad, can we go to the Giants-Dodgers game?” “Sure son, just let me sell the car and the house, and we should have enough left over for a garlic fry.” Shame on you Giants, who love talking about the greatest fans in baseball. Now to be fair, Giants season ticket holders might have gotten the last laugh because the high market price set by the Giants meant that their reasonably priced tickets would bring in a nice profit on StubHub. There were a lot more Dodger fans in the park than in past series, so way to go Giants. Your greed helped to bring a lot more blue to Willie Mays Plaza. Heresy!

Other thoughts about this crucial series:

* Dodgers manager Don Mattingly took a hit when he arranged his rotation to have Zack Greinke, Clayton Kershaw and Hyun-Jin Ryu to pitch against the Giants. Mattingly understood, far more than Bochy, that this was a statement series. Also, in a very practical sense, each game was worth a full game in the standings. So it is big in how it immediately affects the standings. A baseball cliché is that momentum is only as good as the starting pitching you face tomorrow, but ask yourself now: Who has the momentum after this series?

* Right now, the Giants must declare that Buster Posey is their first baseman. The battering sub catcher Hector Sanchez is taking, and the somewhat recent history of seeing top-notch catcher Mike Matheny forced to retire because of a concussion should be enough to force the change. The Giants are a weak offensive team. Posey is their best hitter. So, how smart is it to put him in jeopardy for a shortened career. I don’t know why it seems catchers are getting whacked in the mask now, but Posey has already taken a number of head shots in his early career. Posey’s switch from catcher wouldn’t hurt defensively, assuming the Giants could find a veteran to take over. Posey is not an exceptional defensive catcher. He is barely in the same zip code as sliding runners in plays at the plate, who easily avoid his desperate swipe tag as happened when Hanley Ramirez scored on a Crawford triple Sunday night. And Posey got totally conned by Dodger speedster Dee Gordon, who in effect stole a run when Posey chose to throw out Adrian Gonzales after he struck out on a pitch in the dirt. A pump throw to first and Gordon was dead.

* The Giants have lost five of their last 18 games at home. Why? Sure, the loss of Angel Pagan and Brandon Belt to injuries is a factor, but the obvious reason the Giants don’t hit at home is that their lineup is intimidated at spacious AT&T. The Giants do not build an offense for this park. They won two titles with weak hitting and some of the best pitching I’ve ever seen. So if the pitching can’t match those extraordinary staffs, the team will be challenged.

* Poor Dan Uggla. That ground ball that went right under his glove on national TV Sunday reminded me of a similar fate that happened to former Giants infielder Hal Lanier. A sports reporter wrote that ‘the ball went through Lanier’s legs like this (.)” Uggla hit .179 in 2013, and .162 this year. He is not trending to fill the Giants needs at second base.

* I am not a Jake Peavy fan. He was arrested on Jan. 4, 2007 at the Mobile, Alabama, airport on a disorderly conduct charge. He double-parked while dropping off bags outside the terminal. A security officer told him he could not double park, and to move on. Peavy objected, and said write him a ticket and he’d pay it. His refusal to move his car got him a trip to jail. The charge was dropped after he apologized to the airport police and the court. Did Peavey ever hear of 9/11, and the tightened airport security rules that followed, or did he think that didn’t apply if you could throw a 90-plus mph fastball. He struck me as one of those wealthy athletes who was so removed from the real world of those fans who worship him. Of course, I must note that everybody double-parks in San Francisco, so maybe fans will accept him as one of them, especially if he picks up a few wins.

* Despite the mismatch this weekend, the NL West isn’t over. The Dodgers appeared all-world against the Giants, but it’s difficult to get a clear reading on them. The Giants still have a strong pitching staff, and a healthy Pagan and Belt should help. Both teams have tough schedules through the next month, so there won’t be an easy path to success. And, of course, what happens at the trading deadline could affect the race. Giants fans can only hope that if they are in a battle with the Dodgers when the clubs play again six times in September that even the low-key Bochy will get a bit more excited.

The Sunday finale prior to the All Star Game break already has media and fans (and the ball clubs too, though they won’t admit it) looking ahead to the July 25-27 three-game showdown series between the Dodgers and Giants at AT&T Park. The Dodgers looked like the pitching-rich teams of the Koufax-Drysdale era of the 1960s, winning 1-0 against the San Diego Padres for the second straight day to preserve a one-game lead over the Giants. The slumping Giants suddenly went from misdemeanor row to murderers row in one afternoon, as catcher Buster Posey and pitcher Madison Bumgarner slugged grand slams.

It’s not easy to predict what either team will do once play resumes on Friday. Everybody recalls the Dodgers’ off the charts 42-8 run that cemented their division crown a year ago. But that was a freak streak — those things just don’t easily repeat. Both teams have pitching with the potential of keeping them relevant deep into September. There will be no predictions here, but here are some things to consider as the Giants and Dodgers possibly prepare to launch one the rivalry’s great pennant races.

THE SCHEDULE: The three games the Dodgers and Giants play near the end of July will be great theater, but they won’t decide who wins the Tony. Starting Friday, and lasting through Aug. 24, the teams shift play away from the weak bottom-three of the NL West to an out-of- division schedule. The team that fares best against this challenge may be your NL West champion.

The Giants play 31 of 34 games during this period against out-of-division foes, with the three games against the Dodgers the only exception. The Dodgers play 29 of 35 games during this stretch against teams out of the division. The Giants might have a slight advantage in the matchups. The Dodgers have seven against NL East contender Atlanta, six against NL Central contender Milwaukee and four against the red-hot Angels in a home and away series. The Giants have seven against vulnerable Philadelphia, but also must face formidable opponents such as Washington, Pittsburgh, Kansas City and the White Sox. The Dodgers are home for 17 of these 35 games. The Giants are home for just 11 of the 34.

PENNANT RACES: The teams have had 10 strong head-to-head pennant races since coming to California in 1958. The Giants won titles in four of them (1962, 1971, 1997 and 2012). The Dodgers won titles in five of them (1959, 1965, 1966, 1978 and 2004). The teams eliminated each other in 1982.

STATS MATCHUP: The teams are fairly even in hitting and pitching statistics this year. Complicating that analysis is that the Giants built their numbers with a torrid start that led to a 9-1/2 game lead at one point, and have notably fallen since then. The Dodgers are batting .258 to the Giants .243, and have outscored them 403-365. The Giants have a slight lead in homers 84-76. A difference-maker for the Dodgers might be their speed. Dodgers second baseman Dee Gordon channels up memories of speedster Maury Wills of 1962, having stole 42 bases so far. The Giants team has 35, and 11 have come from Angel Pagan, who has missed significant time because of injury.

ATTENDANCE: Who will have the biggest support? It looks about even. The Dodgers lead the league in attendance this year with 2,230,760, while the Giants have drawn 2,163,097.

NO-HITTERS: The Dodgers have two this year tossed by Clayton Kershaw and Josh Beckett. The Giants have one thrown by Tim Lincecum. If there is one recorded in the nine games the teams have remaining against each other this year, history says it is unlikely to come from a Giant. The last five no-hitters in the rivalry have been thrown by Dodgers: Kevin Gross (1992), Jerry Reuss (1980), Sandy Koufax (1963), Carl Erskine (1956) and Rex Barney (1948). The last Giant to no-hit the Dodgers was Rube Marquard in 1915. The Giants Tom Lovett, a 23-game winner in 1891, was the first to throw a no-hitter in the rivalry, beating the Dodgers 4-1 that year. Amos Rusie, who was the losing pitcher in that game, countered a month later by no-hitting the Giants 6-0.  Rusie’s performance was no fluke. That season, he was 33-20, with 52 complete games and 337 strikeouts in 500 innings.

PUIG VS. POSEY: These are the offensive stars for the two teams. The success of each club may very well rest on which produces the best. So far, Puig has the upper statistical hand, leading Posey in average (.309 to .275), OBP (.393 to .331), RBI (52 to 46) and HR (14 to 12). Of course it’s hard to measure Posey’s value to his team as a catcher with baseball savvy against Puig’s raw play and his sometimes costly decisions in the field and on the bases. But ultimately, the story of the 2014 Giants-Dodgers season may be answered in who delivered the best when it mattered — Puig or Posey.

PITCHING MATCHUPS:  Based on each managers’ post-break rotations, it appears the pitching matchups for the July series will be Zack Grienke vs. Tim Lincecum, Clayton Kershaw vs. Ryan Vogelson, Matt Cain vs. Hyn-Jin Ryu. I was hoping for Kershaw vs. Lincecum, and maybe there will be some tweak in the starters that will make that possible. The combination of  Lincecum’s recent success, and his charismatic flair, against All-World Kershaw would give today’s younger fans a feeling of what it was like in the 1960s when Sandy Koufax dueled Juan Marichal. The Kershaw-Lincecum matchups in 2011 were classics. Kershaw was a rising star and Lincecum had quickly established himself as one of the best in the game. Kershaw showed greatness was in his future as he won all four matchups against Lincecum. The stats from the four games: Kershaw 30.1 IP, 2 R, 16 H, 36 SO, 5 BB. Lincecum: 29 IP, 5 R, 24 H, 23 SO, 12 BB. C’mon, Don Mattingly and Bruce Bochy, line up your rotation so we get this matchup.

So let’s get that Home Run Derby and All-star exhibition done and gone so we can get to some old country hardball over the next month that will shape the National League post-season picture. I can’t wait.

My Dad wasn’t unfairly demanding, but often advised about using common sense and showing responsibility. On a Saturday in 1961, my summer league baseball team (10 year olds) was playing at Big Rec Park in San Francisco. After my game, I was sitting on the lawn to watch the next game when I decided to go to the hot dog stand. I tossed my glove on the ground and ran off with my friends. When I returned, I couldn’t figure out what happened to my glove. A man sitting nearby asked if I had left my glove there. He said a kid on a bike just picked it up as he rode by. He pointed way across the field, and there was the kid, too far away to even give chase. I was mortified, not just at having the glove stolen, but of knowing I would have to explain to my Dad what happen.

When my Dad got home from work that night, he asked how the game went. I stood there nearly in tears, and told him what happened. Even worse, I had a game the next afternoon, and didn’t even have a glove. I braced myself for a stern lecture about common sense and responsibility, which was well deserved. He sized up the situation, and only said, “Tomorrow morning after church, we’ll go to the sporting goods store and find another glove.” While I was happy about that, I still had trouble in my young mind of knowing that I had let him down.

We were at the store just after it opened at 10. My eyes locked on one glove, signed by Joe Cunningham. He wasn’t the most famous ballplayer of the time but he hit .345 in 1959, so I knew  of him. But the cool thing that made his glove stand out was the trapeze webbing, almost like a first-baseman’s glove. I thought I would never make another error if I could snag every ball in that trapeze webbing.

When we were driving home, I thanked my Dad over and over for the glove, and promised I would forever take care of it. He smiled and said, “I know you will, son.” I then thought a minute, and said that maybe that kid took my glove because his father wouldn’t buy him one. My Dad didn’t answer, but looked the other way. “Your eye Ok, Dad,?” I asked as I saw him go to rub it. “Yea,” he said, “it’s fine.”

. . .

My Dad was a star on the sandlots of San Francisco in the 1930s. He was an all-city pitcher for  Commerce High School who hit .385 in his senior year in 1935. He was a left-hander with a sweeping curve that left most batters paralyzed. The newspapers called him the “husky, bulldog hurler,” and his one-hit, 11 strike-out performance against Lowell High got much attention in the local press. He moved on to the very competitive semi-pro leagues of the Bay Area following graduation. In one game, he struck out 19 while allowing just three hits, which prompted a local newspaper headline to declare him as possibly “the next Lefty Gomez,” referring to the great Yankees Hall of Fame ace. His talent attracted professional scouts, who signed him to a minor league contract in 1938 with the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues. Unfortunately, one too many curve balls thrown without proper supervision resulted in a shoulder injury and the dream ended before it could get under way. He remained proud of his accomplishments, however, telling me the stories as I got older, and he kept his old worn and beaten up baseball glove in a prominent place in our garage through the years.

. . .

It has been 25 years since I received a late-night phone call telling me that my father had suffered a fatal heart attack. I never got to say goodbye, but that wasn’t needed. I often dropped by to have dinner with my Mom and Dad, and saw him just the week before, so there were no regrets of anything left unsaid. There were so many good memories over all the years, but for me, much of it came down to baseball. That was where we formed our father-son bond at a very early age, watching the games at the park or on TV, talking ball and playing catch.

It’s still hard not to think of that devastating phone call every time another Father’s Day draws near. But to fend off the sadness, I head over to my baseball memorabilia bookshelf, where two of my most precious possessions sit side by side — my Dad’s tattered glove, and that beautiful 53-year-old Joe Cunningham mitt with the trapeze webbing. In my own private moment, I smile, and say, “Yes, Dad, I really did take care of it.”

Happy Father’s Day to all Dads, but especially to those Dads who find a way to show understanding and compassion when their child is most in need of a lift.

“Basically, we’re bleep.”

Those were the words of motivational speaker Don Mattingly, faced with the challenge of trying to get his $240 million payroll to make up a sizable deficit in the NL West standings. With about 100 games remaining, Mattingly buzzed his squad with a high inside shot about the importance of team play. “I think that’s the one thing we’re missing at this point, a collective group fighting and pulling in one direction trying to win a game,” he said.

It’ll be interesting to see if he gets the ears of his players. Oh, wait, that’s sort of unfortunate phrasing after the recent incident on the club’s minor league team where a catcher bit off part of the ear of his teammate. Actually, Mattingly could have used that as an example of players pulling in different directions — one trying to free his ear, and the other trying to yank it off.

It’s all about that chemistry thing again.

The Giants swear by the chemistry thing, though it apparently only works every other year, as the team stumbled in 2011 and 2013 after championship seasons. I’m a bit confused about the Giants motto anyway of how they play for the name in front of their jerseys, not the name on the back. Sounds good, but when the Giants are home, their names aren’t even on the back of their jerseys. Oh, well.

The Dodgers at this point are 32-31, and trail the Giants by 9.5 games. Last year, they were down 9.5 games on June 22, and clearly appeared chemistry-less. Then they went 42-8. That didn’t happen because of team unity. It happened because of a torrid offense and clutch hitting, and drop-dead pitching. I don’t think team unity is formed by having all the players toss sunflower seeds into the air in unison or doing Yes-Yes chants. That’s a lot fun for players and fans, but it only works after success on the field. I believe that nothing builds team unity like a five-game winning streak, which the Dodgers are capable of pulling off. Some pundits, the same ones who coronated the Dodgers in March, are now conceding the division to the Giants. It’s hard to believe the Dodgers won’t make at least one good run at the Giants, and that the Giants will run into some obstacles, although right now, as Mattingly might say, San Francisco is basically hitting and pitching the bleep out of the baseball.

The uphill climb is made even steeper for the Dodgers because they only play the Giants three times until mid-September, when they meet six times in the closing weeks of the season.

So the Dodgers will need to respond immediately to their skipper’s inspiring call to arms, and win one for the Guggenheims. Not that there is any evidence that Mattingly’s message has gotten through yet. The other day, Matt Kemp smacked one that he assumed was gone, and even slowed down for a congratulatory handshake from first base coach Davey Lopes. Minor problem: the ball stayed in the park and Kemp had to break into a full sprint to reach second. He was called safe, but in a replay challenge, it was ruled that he had been tagged out when he over slid the bag.

Good luck, Don. You’ve really got a bleeping handful.

If I go to a baseball game with someone who might not be very familiar with the sport, I try to widen their perspective of the game by comparing it to attending the symphony. If all you do is watch the conductor, you are not getting the full effect of how all the sections mesh together to create the visual and musical experience. In baseball, if all you do is follow the ball, you are not getting the full experience of the game.

For example, if runners are on first and second, and a ball is lined into the right-center field gap and you only follow the ball, you are not getting the full appreciation of the beauty of the game. At the crack of the bat, all nine players have a responsibility. The right fielder and center fielder converge on the ball. The second baseman goes out for a relay throw. The shortstop needs to stay around second in case there is a play there on the batter. The third baseman is at the bag in anticipation there could be a play there. The first baseman moves toward the pitcher’s mound in front of home plate to potentially cut off a throw home. The pitcher has to make a decision on whether to back up third or home in the event a throw gets through. Even the left fielder, who at first glance doesn’t seem to be part of the play, needs to come in toward the infield either as a backup should a throw get away or to join in a rundown should one occur. This movement of players is the symphony of baseball.

All of this came to mind in the Giants 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates two nights ago in the first walk-off replay reversal since the new system was installed this year. Pirates outfielder Sterling Marte drilled a ball high off the right-field wall with two outs in the ninth against Tim Hudson with the score tied 1-1. Marte kept running as right fielder Hunter Pence threw the ball to second baseman Ehire Adrianza, whose throw to third got past third baseman Pablo Sandoval. Marte broke for home while Sandoval tracked down the ball and threw a strike to catcher Buster Posey. Posey reached down to make the tag, and plate umpire Quinn Wolcott called Marte out. Pirates manager Clint Hurdle protested that Marte beat the tag, and the umpires decided to ask the command center in New York to review the play.

The call was overturned, Marte was declared safe, and the Pirates celebrated while the Giants moaned. The focus since Tuesday has been on the replay system, such as what is the definition of “conclusive” or “inconclusive” evidence in determining safe or out. The Giants still think they got robbed, but before the team puts all the blame on the replay call, they might take time to review how they could have avoided putting themselves in a position where they had to rely on the New York center.

I counted defensive lapses by seven Giants on Marte’s smash.

Pence (1) never had a chance to catch the ball, yet he made a bad judgment in running all the way to the wall, allowing the ball to carom back toward the infield. If he plays it safe and takes the carom, Marte has no more than a double. At the crack of the bat, center fielder Angel Pagan (2) must automatically dash toward right field, especially when he sees Pence going to the wall so he could be in a position to pick up a carom. But there was no sign of Pagan in the video of the play I saw. leaving Pence on his own to have to chase the ball down. Adrianza, (3) the relay man who took Pence’s throw, should have surveyed where Marte was as Pence was fielding the ball and determined there was no chance to get him at third base. In addition, Adrianza was charged with the actual error for the throw that got past Sandoval. Two Giants should have signaled to Adrianza not to throw the ball to third. Sandoval (4) should have stood at third with his arms up, the international baseball sign to a fielder not to make the throw. Shortstop Brandon Crawford, (5) who was near Adrianza, crouched down to get out of the way of the throw to third. Instead, he should have alertly been playing the part of the traffic cop, yelling and signaling to Adrianza to hold the ball because there was no chance to get Marte. Hudson (6) ran over to back up the play, but was way out of position based on the direction of the throw, so when the ball skipped toward the stands, he was unable to grab it and keep Marte at third.

What happened at home plate was fascinating.

Sandoval made a good hustling play to retrieve the ball and throw a strike to Posey (7) that beat Marte, but the Giants catcher had himself out of position at home plate. Posey was standing in front of the plate before the ball arrived. His orders, long before baseball’s new collision rules were enacted this year, are to avoid contact with the runner at all costs. So Posey, even though he had Marte nailed, began to awkwardly back-pedal, and then had to lean in for the tag. Posey’s better play would have been to be situated right in back of the plate. where he could have taken the throw and then be the aggressor by going low which would make his legs less vulnerable. Instead, Posey’s retreat not only increased his chance of injury, but allowed Marte to be the aggressor, as he came hard with a head-first slide.

The Giants are in first place, playing good ball, and finding ways to win. But on Tuesday night, while fans, sportswriters and announcers were all watching the conductor, the symphony fell flat.

Going to a Giants baseball game as a kid with my Dad involved a lot more than hot dogs, sodas and souvenirs. I look around at AT&T Park, and youngsters are kept busy at the game with an ongoing supply of food treats, video games on a phone and time spent on the big Coke bottle slide in left field. Even at seven years old, the age when I saw my first game, I would have likely passed up the slide because I might miss something on the field. My Dad always kept score and I would assist him, so you couldn’t miss a play or the scorecard would have a big empty spot in it.

My Dad had played high-caliber ball in high school and in Bay Area semi-pro leagues in his younger days, and was eager to pass on the finer points of the game to me. He knew that there was no greater authority on playing baseball than Willie Mays, so he’d have me pay special attention to No. 24. One of great techniques of Mays was how he would draw a throw as a base runner as a way to give a batter a chance to take an extra base. For example, if Mays was on second and the batter singled to left field, Mays would run at half-speed to make the outfielder think he had a chance to get Mays at the plate. Just as the outfielder got ready to unleash the throw, Mays would put on the after-burners, and arrive at home ahead of the throw. The batter, then, was able to make it safely to second base.

I couldn’t wait to try this out when I played my first little league game for my fourth-grade team. I somehow got on second base, and then the batter singled to left. I took inventory of where the outfielder was and how far I had to go to reach home. Right around third base, I slowed up, causing my bench to erupt with cries of “Run! Run! Run!” The relay throw from the leftfielder came in to the third baseman, who then fired the ball to the catcher. As soon as I saw the defense had swallowed the bait, I dashed down the line at full speed and touched home plate as the ball skipped past the catcher, allowing the batter to go to second. The coach came up to me a few seconds after I took my seat at the end of the bench. While praising me for getting on base and scoring, he asked why I didn’t run hard all the way. I looked up at him in all innocent sincerity, and replied, “I was trying to draw the throw.” This was not a strategy he had taught the team, so he said. “OK, OK, That’s good. That’s good.” He started to walk away and then stopped, turned back to me and asked, “Where did you learn that from? I said “from watching Willie Mays.” He smiled and said that’s a good player to follow. My Dad, of course, knew exactly what happened as he watched from the grandstands, and when I told him about my conversation with the coach, well, I don’t think I ever saw my Dad with a wider smile than that moment.

I’ve been thinking about that story of so long ago upon the occurrence of Willie Mays turning 83 on May 6. I rate Mays as the greatest ballplayer in history. The only one who comes close is Babe Ruth, because his offensive numbers were so far ahead of his contemporaries. Great players are referred to as having five tools: Running speed, arm strength, hitting for average, hitting for power, fielding. But Mays had a sixth tool: baseball instincts. I’ve never seen another player who had a better grasp of all facets of the game like Mays.

In raw numbers, Mays finished with 660 home runs. He missed two years early in his career to military service. When he returned, in 1954, he hit 41 homers. He also played all his home games with the San Francisco Giants from 1958 to 1972 in Seals Stadium and Candlestick Park, where strong winds routinely kept long drives in the park. I don’t think its a reach to say that he lost 100 homers for those two reasons.

I saw my first Giants-Dodgers game on Sept. 1, 1958, and I still have the program from that game and the scorecard inside where my Dad kept score as we watched in Seals Stadium.  Mays went five-for-five, and I assumed that was what he always did. Giants fans of that time had reason to believe the same thing. In a four-game stretch against the Dodgers in May 1958, Mays led his club to four straight wins with a phenomenal slugging outburst. His totals for those four games: AB 17, RUNS 10, HITS 12, RBI 15, HR 7. Followers of Mays can recall his fascinating skills as a base runner. My favorite came against the Dodgers in 1966. In the 12th inning of a tied game at Dodger Stadium, Mays walked and Frank Johnson singled. Mays never stopped running and when the right fielder’s throw went to the second baseman, he came charging around third to home. Mays crashed into catcher John Roseboro, knocking the ball loose, and the Giants won 3-2. When asked later if the third base coach tried to stop him, Mays laughed, “Man, I wasn’t even paying attention to him.”

Despite such rough moments with the Dodgers, the hated Southern California rivals made an exception when it came to Mays. On the occasion of Mays’ 20th anniversary in baseball, the Dodgers held a pre-game ceremony to honor him in 1971. The scoreboard message board listed his accomplishments, and added, “We’ll always remember that there was never a more exciting player than Willie Mays.”

Such is the respect that sets Mays apart even beyond his extraordinary on-field feats. Mays still would receive that kind of warm reception today in any ballpark.

I saw my grandson play ball the other day for his pony-league team. He’s only five now, and still focused on the basics like which way to first base and which way to the post-game ice cream stand. But in a few years, I’ll sit him down and tell him about a man named Willie Mays, and maybe give him his first baseball strategy lesson on how to draw a throw.

All the best Mr. Mays, and Happy 83rd.

Giants announcer Duane Kuiper is credited as coining the phrase “Giants baseball: Torture” during the dramatic 2010 championship season. In fact, the word torture was actually used three years earlier in an account of a Giants-Dodgers game in a story April 7, 2007, by San Francisco Chronicle Giants beat writer Henry Schulman. New Giants skipper Bruce Bochy was managing his first game, with the Dodgers as the foe. The last time Bochy managed against the Dodgers, while a San Diego Padre, Los Angeles whacked four solo homers in the 9th inning to tie the game, and one more in the 10th to win it. So when the Giants lost Bochy’s initial game to the Dodgers 2-1 while placing 15 runners on base with 12 hits, Schulman wrote: “Bochy led his new team against the Dodgers for the first time and experienced a different type baseball torture.”

Giants and Dodgers fans shared in the baseball torture these last three days April 15-17 at AT&T Park, with the Giants coming out on top two games to one. The cumulative score of the three games was Giants 6, Dodgers 5. The opener, on Tuesday night, lasted just six minutes short of five hours, eventually won by the Giants 3-2 in 12 innings. The Giants bullpen was just a bit better than the Dodgers bullpen in game two, as San Francisco squeezed out a 2-1 win. Dodgers starter Hyun-Jin Ryu kept the Giants batters off balance and confused in game three, and set-up man Brian Wilson and closer Kenley Jansen survived high-wire acts to prevent an embarrassing sweep in a 2-1 Los Angeles victory.

The three games were reminiscent of the great rivalry battles of the 1960s, where it seemed every at bat, every inning and every game was crucial. It’s still early, but this series had the feel of those memorable games of hardball. This is looking like a two-team race for the NL West division, and perhaps, another September to remember.

Other notes on the series:

* The first game, appropriately, occurred on Jackie Robinson Day, marking his major league debut in 1947. Giants announcer Jon Miller, in a pregame interview with Giants manager Bochy, said there was a plan to have Giants and Dodgers players shake hands before the game as a way to show solidarity for Robnson’s great achievement. Fortunately, that bad idea never materialized. Robinson played the game hard, and his on-the-field clashes with the Giants added to the lore of the rivalry. One such moment came in April of 1952. Robinson was upset at brushback pitches thrown by Giants pitcher Sal “The Barber” Maglie, so named for giving batters a close shave. Robinson bunted to the right side, and crashed into the Giants second baseman as he covered first base. Giants shortstop Alvin Dark charged across the diamond to express his outrage to the aggressive play. Dark got his revenge an inning later when he slid hard into Robinson at third. There was no mention of this in the stories and coverage of Robinson day during the Giants-Dodgers celebration, but it is worth noting that Robinson’s first major league homer came on April 18 against the Giants in the Polo Grounds. On Dec. 13, 1956, Robinson was traded to the Giants for pitcher Dick Littlefield and $35,000 cash. Some have tried to say that Robinson chose retirement rather than join the enemy, but the truth is that by then, Jackie had given all he had, and felt it was time to step down.

* The AT&T Park Boo-ometer had Dodger teammates Yasiel Puig and Brian Wilson in a dead heat. Wilson, once beloved for his heroics in San Francisco, burned the bridge with his bizarre, classless post-game stalking of Giants president Larry Baer last year in search of his World Series ring. Puig draws venom for his on-and-off-field adventures. He is fast becoming a cartoon character with his mix of brilliant talent and bozo execution. In the series windup, he got so nonchalant with a lazy popup to right, that the ball bounced off his glove. Yet, he used his powerful arm to force a helpless Brandon Belt at second. Later, he hit a high fly ball to medium-deep right. He barely ran, stopping well short of first base. This followed his being benched by manager Don Mattingly for not running out a ball in the first game. I’m growing weary of an attempt to explain all of Puig’s screw-ups on the experience of being a Cuban defector. Is that why he has decided that the speed limits and hustling somehow don’t apply to him? The Dodgers, no doubt frustrated, are stuck with putting up with Puig. And he provided an example of the Dogers’ dilemma right after botching the popup, making a remarkable running overhead catch of a deep twistng drive by Gregor Blanco

* I’m not sure why the boos for ex-Giant Juan Uribe (“Boo-Ribe”). The Giants didn’t want him anymore, so he found a job with the Dodgers, and didn’t trash his former employer. I loved  Uribe’s businesslike game that helped the Giants to the World Series, and good for him that he still has game.

* Baseball wants to speed up the game. Here are three ways: (1) Find batting gloves that fit so hitters don’t have to step out and adjust them even after not even swinging; (2) Put Dodgers pitcher Josh Beckett on the clock — he took so long between pitches in the first game, there was enough time for Wilson’s beard to actually grow some more; (3) Set a time limit on the New York Command Center for making a decision on a replay challenge. It took nearly five minutes to uphold the pickoff of Matt Kemp in the opener. Plus, the fans are being limited in the number of replays they are shown. Only two actual-speed replays of the disputed pickoff were shown on the AT&T Park screen. Viewers watching the game at home on the local Giants channel got six replays, including some in slow motion and closeups. Dear MLB: Show more respect to your customers who buy all your pricey MLB products, and show them everything. And, if MLB brass would sit in the stands instead of the suites, they would have heard the boos and the disgust I heard as the replay review dragged on.

* After the three games, the Giants and Dodgers are tied for first at 10-6. Yet, it stills feel a bit like David vs. Goliath. The heart of the Dodgers order is Puig, Ramirez, Kemp and Gonzalez. The bullpen is stingy. Once their ace returns from injury, the top three in the rotation are Clayton Kershaw, Zack Grienke and Ryu. And there is a bunch of cash in the vault to replenish the roster if necessary. The Giants rotation has settled in, and two hitters they are counting on heavily — Hunter Pence and Pablo Sandoval — are hitting below .200. The bullpen is phenomenal, but how long can that last with starters not going deep enough. But for at least three days in April, it was the 1960s all over again — the Giants and Dodgers in gut-wrenching battles, and first place on the line.

With the first series of the season between the Giants and Dodgers in the books, San Francisco is 5-2 and the Dodgers are 5-3. Could this finally be the year that the clubs engage in a head-to-head, down to the final week of the season pennant race? Such a down-to-the wire showdown has been a rarity in the rivalry. The Giants and Dodgers played their first regular season game in 1890, but it took until 1924 for the teams to really have one of those great one-on-one battles, the Giants clinching the pennant over the Dodgers on Sept. 27. The rivalry is in another of those competitive droughts, with the last late-season race having occurred 10 seasons ago in 2004. The Dodgers clinched the flag over the Giants that year in a season-closing series. The clubs appeared headed for a lively finish in 2012, especially after the new Dodgers owners went on a spending spree for new talent. However, money did not buy happiness for the Dodgers, and the Giants ran away from them on their way to a World Series title.

The just-concluded three-game series in Los Angeles is too small a sample size to do a credible analysis. The Giants, after all, won their first series against the Dodgers 2-1 in 2013, but Los Angeles went on to win the NL pennant while the Giants took a nosedive after flying so high the previous season.

Some thoughts on the opening series:

* The Giants’ 6-run first inning in the first game was the most runs in the initial frame in a rivalry opener between the teams since they moved West in 1958. Here are some other notable highlights from past opening games. April 16, 1962: The Giants scored early and often, building a 12-3 lead after six. They scored seven more in the seventh and took a 19-3 lead into the ninth. The Dodgers rallied for five, but fell 19-3. April 7, 1977: The game marked Tommy Lasorda’s first as a manager after the 23-year reign of Walter Alston. The Dodgers got the Lasorda era off to a good start with a 5-1 win. Lasorda showed he would bring entertainment to the rivalry, as he got Frank Sinatra to sing the national anthem for the Dodger Stadium crowd. Sinatra stayed partial, however, and showed up at San Francisco eight days later to toss out the ceremonial first pitch at the Giants home opener against the Dodgers. April 11, 1986: This was perhaps the wildest opener, as the Giants took an 8-1 lead after six innings, only to see the Dodgers come back to tie it in the ninth. The Giants scored the winning run in the 12th for a 9-8 victory. July 3, 1998: A terrible new scheduling format limited the Giants-Dodgers to only 12 meetings that year. After a hot pennant race in 1997, the clubs didn’t meet for the first time until July 3, just before the All-Star break. Orel Hershiser got his first win as a Giant, as he beat his former club 6-3. April 11, 2000: Bit player Kevin Elster ruined the party at the opening of the Giants new ball park, taking center stage with a three-homer performance that helped the Dodgers to a 6-5 win.

* The best moment of this past weekend’s series came before the games. Dodgers’ announcing legend Vin Scully made the ceremonial first pitch to the great No. 32, Dodgers’ pitching legend Sandy Koufax. Minutes later, Ryan Vogelsong, who also wears No. 32,  took the mound for the Giants. Vogelsong couldn’t make it through the fifth inning despite being given an 8-0 lead, and blamed lazy mechanics for his poor outing. But that wasn’t it. On this day, the Baseball Gods decided that this day could only be about one No. 32, so Vogelsong never really had a chance.

* I started wondering whether the new flamboyant Dodger star was dead, because every story referred to him as the “late Yasiel Puig.” Fortunately, that reference was about Puig being tardy for the opener, which led manager Don Mattingly to bench him. Puig explained  his lack of promptness to having the starting time wrong. As the great lawyer Alan Dershowitz says when evaluating someone’s questionable story, “That doesn’t pass the giggle test.” What really made Puig late? And for a guy who drives 110 in a 70 mph zone, and 97 in a 50 mph zone, how the heck could he late for anything? Footnote: Puig has taken the early league lead in public apologies, both for his mea culpa about the speeding and for being late.

* The Dodgers can survive for a time without injured ace Clayton Kershaw, but can they win big-time without him? It also remains unclear just how long he’ll be sidelined. He would have started the opener, and it’s unlikely the Giants would have jumped on him for the quick six they put up against Hyun-Jin Ryu. There are also questions about the back end of the rotation, although the Dodgers have the cash to find reinforcements if needed. The Dodgers bullpen, even with the loss for now of set-up man Brian Wilson, looks deep and solid. After the Giants KO’d Ryu, four Dodgers relievers no-hit the Giants for seven innings while striking out 10. In game three, the Dodgers bullpen blanked the Giants over the final three innings while striking out six. The return of Matt Kemp and his two homers in that game are a sign of the Dodgers firepower. If the Dodgers lineup stays healthy, and Puig can be settled down, Los Angeles still appears to be the team to beat.

* It’s hard to make an argument that the Giants lineup won’t keep the clubs in games this year. While staying healthy is always an issue with any team, keys for the Giants are keeping leadoff hitter Angel Pagan and new slugging leftfielder Michael Morse in the lineup as much as possible. This gives the Giants a nice one-through-seven lineup so they don’t have to totally rely on pitching. That might be a good thing because the jury is still out on the Giants rotation. The three Dodgers homers off Matt Cain seem eerily familiar to what Giants fans saw last year, and there already is a clock ticking about how long the Giants will stick with Vogelsong. The Giants are also as curious as the rest of the Giants fans about whether the “new” Tim Lincecum will be enough to solidify the No. 3 spot in the rotation. Madison Bumgarner had a less-than-stellar first game, and needed the bullpen to bail him out against the Dodgers despite a solid lead, though he’ll likely return to top form.

Beyond all the analysis, the three games between the rivals felt good. In fact, the games were only marred by the appearance of beach balls and the wave in the Dodger Stadium stands. The clubs play three more in a week in San Francisco, where the sellout crowds are expected to give the Dodgers much verbal grief. The six early matchups still won’t be enough of a sample size to determine how this race will turn out, but they could further the fun of speculating whether the six games the clubs will play against each other in September will lead to one of those rare all-out fights to the finish.