How about those San Francisco Giants!

I realize there are holes here and there, but even the remote thought that this team would be heading into its first meeting of the year with the dreaded Dodgers in June just one game back would have been written off as absurd when things began in April.

Admittedly, the Giants are not as good as the Dodgers. But right now, I’m not sure you can convince them of that.

The Dodgers’ sick and wounded list reads like an all-star ballot, and that explains the fact that they are not undefeated at this juncture of the season as “experts” might have expected. But they are still the team to beat.But shhhh… don’t tell that to the Giants.

There are a lot of comparisons being bandied about right now that this team is reminiscent of Farhan Zaidi’s first team that won 107 games in 2021. That is to say, an aberration. I’m not buying it.

There was a different vibe in spring training this year that was palpable. The feeling in the clubhouse was one of “we’re in this thing together.” It stemmed from the breaking down of the revolving door that was the hallmark of the Zaidi regime. Players didn’t know if they were playing that day, or even if their name would still be on their locker.

Matt Chapman, Willy Adames and Justin Verlander were respected grownups who embraced the team’s young players and wouldn’t accept lackadaisical game preparation, which was omnipresent in recent years.

And the biggest game changer for this team was the low-key toughness, dedication, and high expectations of the team’s new boss, Buster Posey. His fingerprints are everywhere.

I can’t tell you that this team is headed for the playoffs despite their great start. I’m also not going to tell you they won’t. What I do see is a plan. Where free agents dismissed the Giants out of hand in the old regime, I see this being a desired destination once again.

I trust Posey to put together a team that has character in addition to playing ability. I see a young, talented pitching staff that could be around for a long time. I foresee an improved minor league system after years of stagnancy.

This year? Maybe a bat or two short barring a few more miracles that I refuse to rule out. But I truly believe the Giants have found the right guy to push the buttons.

Bat and ball of another kind

This just in from the Department of Really??

The second most popular sport in the world is … are you ready? CRICKET!

Yes! It’s right there behind football (the kind you play with your feet) in terms of world popularity.

And it has arrived right here in the San Francisco Bay Area in the form of your San Francisco Unicorns.

That’s right. And the Unicorns begin their Major League Cricket season this week at the Oakland Coliseum. And I must say, it’s just like the sport of cricket to have the San Francisco team play in Oakland.

Here’s what I mean.

I did the Wimbledon tennis tournament for about 15 years. And every year during the Wimbledon fortnight, the most important cricket test matches of the year were held. So I decided, I’m a sports guy, I should understand this game. After all, many say it’s the forerunner of baseball. It’s not, but many say it is.

While the hometown Unicorns complete a match in about 3 hours, the test matches go on for five days. Roughly speaking, one side bats for two and a half days and the other team for the remaining two and a half days.

I figured that the first time I saw the scoreboard on TV, I’d at least be able to see who’s winning, who’s scoring, and for that matter, who’s playing. Wrong! The cricket scoreboard is composed of about 362 numbers, none of which meant anything at all to this neophyte.

A friend in London had already told me the main reason to go to a cricket match was that it was the only place in town that you could get a drink all day. At that time the pubs closed between 3 and 5 in the afternoon.

The next day I asked a colleague at the BBC how this game is played. And he sat me down and explained that one team bats until all its starters have hit. Then it’s the other team’s turn. This process takes five days.

One day, before leaving to call the tennis tournament, a player named Viv Richards was batting. I came back about eight hours later and Viv Richards was still batting. I ordered another Pimm’s Cup.

The pitcher in cricket is called a bowler. The ball is rather egg shaped with ridges on it. The bowler begins his delivery somewhere in the area where centerfield would be in baseball (cricket is played on a circular pitch), he sprints toward the batter and hurls a rocket that hits the ground and bounces so fiercely that low flying birds have to get dirt out of their eyes.

A power hitter is called a “Biffer,” a bottom of the order hitter is a “Rabbit,” and truly poor hitter is called a “Ferret.” I once tried to hit a ball tossed by a mere amateur bowler at a club in London. I couldn’t think what was worse than a ferret. But I was.

Truth be told, I wound up actually enjoying the sport once I stopped laughing at some of the position names like the Slip, the Gully, Silly Point, and Deep Square Leg.

So, if you’re looking for something different this weekend, you might want to head over to the Oakland Coliseum on Saturday and catch the Unicorns as they take on the Los Angeles Knight Riders.

And, you get five days worth of cricket thrills in only about three hours. I guarantee you one other thing. There’ll be more people in the stands for the Unicorns than there were for the previous tenants.

Barry Tompkins is a 40-year network television sportscaster and a San Francisco native. Email him at barrytompkins1@gmail.com.