Go Giants!

[Subdeacon Joe]

Clean sweep.

 

At least this one was a game.

[Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172]

Joe, I don't think that the Giants have anywhere else to go. They won.

[Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967]

GO GIANTS!!

 

Back 'bout forty years ago one of my college days jobs was as a "sweeper," cleaning Candlestick Park after Giants games. All in all a pretty miserable gig...

 

There were generally two castes of workers: college students and winos. Upon reporting for work (at the bottom of the ninth - no "free" watching of the base-a-ball!) we were each issued a barrel, push broom, and scoop. We'd start at one end of an upper row and sweep to the end, then down, then the next row, and so on 'til a section was finished. One man per section.

 

In those days one side of Candlestick was still open, and the winds were capricious... often you'd sweep a row with the wind then suddenly have it change direction and blow trash back where you'd just swept. Ah well... we managed!

 

Now, you had to work at least three hours to be paid the princely sum of seven bucks an hour... 'bout the equivalent of forty bucks in today's dollars. But that was SF... Anyway, if you didn't complete at least three hours you weren't paid. So at the end of three hours, the winos would all line up, get their $21 (cash!), and split, leaving us college kids.

 

Rudely but frugally, they'd turn off the lights - we had to work with only security lights and what we could get from the stars and moon - which, this bein' Candlestick, wasn't much. Usually we'd be working when the sun went down (unless it was a night game,) and finish well after sunrise (especially if it was a night game!)

 

But it wasn't all bad! Usually you could depend on finding odds and ends of lost money, odds and ends of jewelery, and the occasional wallet. The latter we'd see were returned to the owners.

 

When we were released to work, there'd be an "Oklahoma Land Rush" stampede to the dugouts - first guy there had to clean it, but got to claim the manager's lineup card - a VERY neat collectible!

 

So, after about my third shift, I discovered that the "veteran" who had risen to the coveted position of cleaning the press box was a frat brother's cousin... and we not only hit it off, but he suddenly decided he needed an assistant - ME! Now, that was TOUGH duty... cleaning the press box included getting rid of the leftover pizza, fried chicken, beer.... Those broadcasters ate well!!

 

GO GIANTS!!!