“Wait a second,” you might be thinking. Didn’t you write about Spencer Bivens in your last column? I did, but the story of the kid from State College who made it to the big leagues after years of wandering the baseball wilderness just keeps getting better.
I’ll let San Francisco Giants commentator Dave Fleming sum up Spencer’s day at the ballpark last Sunday:
“Spencer Bivens: What He’s Been Through, Striking Out the Best Hitter in the World.”
The “best hitter in the world” would be Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani. Bivens, a State High graduate who has been a major leaguer for less than two weeks, retired Ohtani all three times he faced him, first on a ground ball and then twice on strikes.
“All that’s been through” refers to the winding road that led Spencer to his date with Ohtani and his Dodgers teammates: He didn’t play for a major college, he wasn’t drafted or signed by a major league team and he played on the fringes of the baseball world for most of his 20s. Now here he was, making his first major league start and facing the guy whose prowess as a pitcher and hitter draws comparisons to Babe Ruth.
Given his newness to the big stage, Bivens observers have been impressed by his calm, even after walking a couple of players or allowing a home run, or even facing the best hitter in the world. But after Ohtani’s second strikeout, which ended the inning (and Spencer’s workday), he exploded, practically throwing himself onto the turf as he punched the air.
The Giants broadcast team loved it.
“I’m still smiling,” former Giants pitcher Mike Krukow said when he returned to the air after the inning break.
Me, too. As I mentioned in that first column, Spencer and my son Ethan played together at every level of youth baseball in State College. Seeing this sweet kid, who always called me Mr. Frank when I drove him home after a game, now wearing the same uniform as the great Willie Mays and the great Orlando Cepeda (Mays died on June 18, Cepeda on June 28, the day Spencer turned 30) is a delightful counterbalance to the grim news that makes up the rest of my media diet.
In total, Spencer allowed the Dodgers four hits and one run in five stellar innings on Sunday.
“He was spectacular,” Krukow said after the match. “I’ll never forget this match because of how good Bivens was.”
Krukow and Fleming noted that the strong performance couldn’t have come at a better time: The team’s bullpen was overworked. By pitching five innings instead of just two or three, Spencer gave those tired arms a break.
His manager, Bob Melvin, was grateful. Of Ohtani’s second strikeout, he said: “I think it gave everyone goosebumps.”
Giants first baseman David Villar called it “a once-in-a-lifetime moment.”
A sampling of the headlines Spencer Bivens is generating as a 30-year-old rookie.
The moment even inspired a meme: Spencer carrying a mini-Ohtani in a forward-facing baby carrier, a reference to Boston Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez, who called the Yankees his daddies after pitching poorly against them in a 2004 playoff game.
A couple hours after the game on Sunday, I texted Spencer to tell him I was okay.
“To be honest,” he replied, “I’ve been waiting my whole life to start a major league game.”
“It was worth the wait, huh?” I replied.
“It took a lot longer than expected, but that’s how it was.”
Speaking of texting, one of the joys of watching Spencer pitch is texting back and forth with my son in Salt Lake City. A little over a month ago, when he was still a member of the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats, Spencer came to Utah for a series against the Salt Lake Bees, dropped off tickets for Ethan and met him for drinks afterward. Ethan and I are now looking ahead to a Giants-Orioles game in Baltimore in September for a chance to repeat that experience at the major league level.
As much as I love watching Spencer do his thing, he also gets on my nerves. I don’t know how his parents (any athlete’s parents) can stand him.
On the other hand, I do. As I sat watching all those games at Community Field and the Little League complex on Bristol Avenue and the Teener League field on West College Avenue, I reminded myself that they were just kids having fun, and then I lived and died quietly with every pitch.
It doesn’t matter if it’s a small stage or a big one. If it’s your child, or in Spencer’s case, a friend of your child’s who you’ve known for 20 years, you want it to shine.
So far, Spencer is shining. His stats: 6 games, 2 wins, 2.57 ERA.
“He rewards us every time he goes out on the field,” his manager said Sunday.
So have we. Aside from hosting about 25 friends and family members last month, from my 3-year-old granddaughter to my 70-something sisters, following Spencer’s first dream-come-true weeks in the big leagues has been the highlight of my summer so far.
Keynote USA
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