A lot like many of the participants in the 2010 World Series, this is my first time being here. It is a feeling unlike any other and I can?t imagine what some of the players feel like. Take Aubrey Huff, for instance. In his eleventh season in the big leagues, this is the first time that Huff has even sniffed the playoffs, much less a World Series. To put that into context, Giants? catcher Buster Posey has played in a grand total of 115 games, compared to Huff?s 1479. So, that gives you an idea of how special an opportunity it is just to be here, let alone win. There are only a handful of players involved in this year?s Fall Classic that have reached the pinnacle of the sport previously in their careers. Juan Uribe helped the Chicago White Sox to their first World Series Championship in 88 years and is aiming to end a similar, albeit shorter, championship drought for the Giants. The nomadic Cliff Lee, the Texas Rangers? Game One starter, participated just one year ago in a losing effort with the Philadelphia Phillies. Edgar Renteria, the Giants? starting shortstop in Game One, has quite possibly one of the greatest highlights of all time, having delivered a World Series-winning walkoff single as a 21-year-old in 1997 with the Florida Marlins. Bengie Molina, a member of the Giants until a midseason trade brought him to the Rangers, was the starting catcher for the 2002 Champion Anaheim Angels. Baseball is as finicky a sport as any other. Truly a game of inches, the hardest hit ball in any given game could easily be an out (or two, for that matter), while a swinging bunt could very well be the difference between winning and losing. The Giants experienced the former firsthand in Game Six of the NLCS when a line drive off the bat of Carlos Ruiz landed in Huff?s glove and he tossed it to second base for an easy double play to end the Phillies? threat. It may seem unfair that oddities such as this play a pivotal role in determining the outcome of such an important contest, but plays like these are precisely what make baseball such a great, and unpredictable, sport. These oddities have been out in the open for all to see in Game One. In the first two innings alone, we saw the following: ? Texas? first run was scored on a grounder that caromed off of the knee of Tim Lincecum into no man?s land ? In the same inning, Lincecum fielded a ground ball that resulted in a rundown between home and third; only he forgot to throw the ball to third baseman Juan Uribe to record the out ? Cliff Lee, who accumulated all of three at-bats in the regular season, scorched a double to left-center field in his first at-bat ? On the next play, Bengie Molina, possibly the slowest runner in Major League Baseball, scored on a sacrifice fly It seems as if the two teams have flip-flopped roles offensively thus far. Texas, who mashed their way through the postseason, has scored both of their runs in a very unconventional fashion, while San Francisco sprayed line drives around the diamond to score both of their runs in the third inning. Adding to the craziness, Cliff Lee gave up as many runs in the third inning alone as he had given up the entire postseason combined at that point. It doesn?t appear that this series will go according to anyone?s plans. Through five and a half innings with the score tied at two apiece, it looked as though the Giants and Rangers might be settling into the pitchers? duel that everyone anticipated with Lee and Lincecum on the mound. The Giants? ace followed up his rocky first and second innings with a masterful third, fourth and fifth, with a Mitch Moreland double being the only base runner allowed in that span. Lee, on the other hand, allowed the fifth and sixth doubles of the night for the Giants in the bottom of the fifth, breaking the tie and resulting in a 3-2 lead. Speaking of oddities, Lee had given up six extra base hits in a game exactly once this season. The Giants scored two additional runs in the inning to push the score to 5-2 while knocking Lee out of the game after only 4 2/3 innings, matching his shortest outing of the year. The fifth inning barrage continued with a Juan Uribe two out, three run shot into the left field bleachers off of reliever Darren O?Day. The Giants continued the base runner parade, having batted around in the inning and then some, with a hit batsman and a fielding error by the Elvis Andrus before Andres Torres struck out to end the rally. This is an inning that Giants? fans will not soon forget, not only for the offensive explosion, but for the fact that it came off of the hottest pitcher going. That was quite the sight to behold. Not ones to go down easily, the Rangers mounted a rally of their own in the top of the sixth. Lincecum initially appeared to be unaffected by the long layoff courtesy of the offensive outburst his teammates provided, as he convincingly struck out the first two batters he faced. The third out proved to be a much tougher task, as Bengie Molina drove in a run with a base hit and scored on another single by pinch hitter David Murphy. Molina is proving exactly why trades rarely happen between division rivals, because the last thing any team wants is someone they disposed of coming back to haunt them. This brought Bruce Bochy out of the dugout to end the night for the Giants? ace. He left to a rousing ovation despite surrendering four runs and eight hits over 5 2/3 innings. Nevertheless, he left with a four run lead and that is no doubt what the crowd was reacting to. So much for the pitcher?s duel. Both starters were gone before the conclusion of the sixth inning. The action subsided until the bottom of the eighth, when Renteria led off the inning with a base hit to right field that exposed one of the many subplots in this series. The Rangers started Vladimir Guerrero in what used to be his standard right field position, however, this season he only played in 17 games there. Guerrero is not nearly as mobile as he once was (believe it or not, bad Vlad once stole 40 bases in a season), and it showed on the Renteria hit. Guerrero misplayed the ball badly, giving the Giants two extra bases and their leadoff batter was on third base with no outs. After pinch-hitter Travis Ishikawa doubled down the left field line to plate Renteria, Freddy Sanchez challenged Guerrero yet again. He then committed his second error of the inning, having allowed Sanchez to take second as he clumsily fumbled the ball before getting it back into the infield. Nate Schierholtz, who had entered the game as a defensive replacement for Pat Burrell, also got in on the action with an RBI single of his own to give the Giants a seven run lead. Going into the ninth inning with a comfortable lead, the Giants sent in Ramon Ramirez to polish off the Rangers for good. Once again, that proved to be a tough task as Ramirez and his replacement, Jeremy Affeldt, proceeded to load the bases. This prompted another odd occurrence that is rarely seen in any game, as Bruce Bochy summoned his closer, Brian Wilson (who some might consider an oddity himself), with a seven run lead. Wilson was able to close out the game, but not before allowing all three inherited runners to score, the last two on a booming shot to right-center by Nelson Cruz. Game One of the 2010 World Series ended up being just about the exact opposite of what anyone had expected. There were definitely some strange sights and rare occurrences, but it just goes to show how the old adage came about: you?re liable to see something you have never seen before at any given ballpark on any given night. Baseball is a funny game like that. Just ask Cliff Lee. The Giants were supposedly one of the worst offensive teams to ever make it to the World Series and they pounded out 11 runs in the first go-round. Go figure.