Power hitters are always at a premium because of their ability to instantly change a game.
Here’s a list of ten power hitters the Giants could acquire to improve their 2011 outlook.
And no, Prince Fielder is not on the list. He’s too fat.
Oh, one other thing. It isn’t cutesy or clever to say well what if Pablo Sandoval has a comeback year, or Brandon Belt breaks out.
They’re already on the team, knuckleheads.
Feel free to add any suggestions in the comments section below.
This week on the McCovey Chronicles, a debate roared whether Gary Monseigneur Brown would be spectacular in the majors.
While his draft position may not be Posey-like, he can become Rondell White and span 14 major league seasons.
Think of Brandon Belt: He was a fifth round pick, but came in second in the minors in batting in 2010.
Belt’s final numbers for 2010 include an incredible .352 BA, 136 G, 492 ABS, 99 R, 173 H, 43 2B, 10 3B, 23 HR, 112 RBIs, 305 TB, 93 BB, 99 SO, 22 SB, 8 CS, .455 OBP, .620 SLG, and 1.075 OPS.
Belt will come off the unemployment rolls if he can step up to the majors next year.
The answer to the question is up to you.
Who is Gary Brown is most similar to?
Scouting Report for Gary Brown Provided by MILB.com:
Hitting ability: Brown consistently gets the barrel on the ball. It’s not pretty, his feet are moving but the bat is always in the right place, particularly against fastballs.
Power: He doesn’t look like he should, but he’s got some surprising pop.
Running speed: He’s got plus, plus speed.
Base running: He wreaks havoc on the basepaths, though he’s still raw and needs to learn the nuances of baserunning.
Arm strength: His arm is not quite average and isn’t really a part of his game.
Fielding: When he first started playing center, he did not look good out there. But he’s improved quickly in his routes and reading the ball off the bat.
Range: With his speed, he’s got more than enough range for center.
Physical Description: Brown is an athletic, though not overly big, speedster. He’s got a Reggie Willits body type.
Medical Update: Healthy.
Strengths: Plus, plus speed. Better hitting skills than expected.
Weaknesses: He’s still raw in many facets of the game.
Summary: There may not have been another hitter in the 2010 Draft class who got off to a hotter start than Brown.
Speed is his best tool and he can wreak havoc on the basepaths. He’s got more strength and power than it would seem, and while his approach is unorthodox, he’s got good overall hitting skills.
Relatively new to the outfield, he’s come a long way in terms of his defensive skills in center. Pure speed guys who can hit don’t grow on trees, and if Brown keeps hitting the way he started out the year, he’s going to hear his name called sooner rather than later on Draft Day.
2010 Winter Ball League Numbers for Gary Brown: .152 BA, Projected SBs 32.
If you would like to ask me any questions email me at rayb.ucla@gmail.com alumni address
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
They’ve been called Torture, The Dirty Dozen, The Misfits, The Cast-Offs, The Scrapheap Gang, The
Bad News Bears, The Little Rascals and compared to virtually every underdog team in sports history.
For the video accompanying this article go here.
But now they’ll ultimately be known as the 2010 World Champion San Francisco Giants.
For a guy like me who was born and raised in San Francisco and grew up idolizing the Giants, it feels amazing to say.
This team of colorful, diverse, outspoken, crazy characters was indeed a team of destiny.
The Rangers lineup inspires much more fear than the Giants. Cliff Lee was thought to be immortal until the Giants proved otherwise.
The Phillies are a much better team on paper. They’ve got seven all stars in their lineup and a supremely dominant three headed pitching staff. Halladay threw the first no-hitter in the postseason in decades, then a no-name cast-off, Cody Ross, made him look junior varsity.
It doesn’t make sense—at all.
If the Atlanta braves don’t lose Billy Wagner, Martin Prado and Chipper Jones before the playoffs the Giants don’t beat them. Period. Because then Brooks Conrad isn’t on their roster and all those eighth- and ninth-inning comebacks don’t happen. Something miraculous had to happen. And it did.
Miracle after miracle happened, over and over, and no one could even attempt to explain it except with theories of heart and Divine Intervention.
It’s too bad a lot of the country didn’t follow the 2010 Giants and learn their story. It’s a great one, like Boston having their 3-0 comeback against the Yankees and then winning it all. Just a great story.
Sports stories like this one just don’t happen that often.
There is story after story of guys on this team who all faced extreme humility and fought back against adversity with the notion of team as their North Star as they overcame every obstacle on their way to World Series glory.
Instead of telling them all, I’ll just tell the most unbelievable one: Cody Ross. A few months ago he wasn’t even a Giant, and he was then, in fact, a strategic acquisition to prevent him from going to competitor San Diego
But more amazingly, Giants fans disliked him a few months ago.
Not like we dislike anyone in a Dodger uniform, but like we dislike Casey Blake for mocking Brian Wilson, or Vicente Padilla for nailing Aaron Rowand.
Ross flipped his bat at Matt Cain after smacking a dinger off him in July. Cain glared at him all the way around the bases, then struck him out swinging his next at bat.
Had that game versus Florida not been close Cody Ross would have gotten a Cain fastball in the ribs. And Giants fans would have loved it.
Has that ever happened before in the history of baseball? A guy goes from hated prick to irreproachable playoff hero in the same year?
It’s the kind of story that fiction writers make up and people laugh at because it’s so implausible and ridiculous. Yet that happened. That happened to the 2010 Giants.
And so in the end, there can be no logical explanation. The Giants played better defense in the playoffs than they’re capable of.
They got more clutch hits in the playoffs than they did in the regular season.
They had a higher percentage of late inning comebacks in the playoffs than they did in the regular season.
Yeah, we’ve always had great pitching, but we didn’t do play like this in the regular season.
We’re 11-4 in the postseason. That’s the best we’ve played all year.
Other teams players got injured. Invincible pitchers suddenly turned mortal. The San Diego Padres lost 10 games in a row, which must have had a probability of less than one percent.
We won game one of each playoff series and never trailed at any time. Everything went right.
The 2010 Giants shouldn’t be the world champions of baseball. But that they are is a reason to believe in something greater than ourselves for anyone out there looking for a reason.
Maybe that sounds like a cliche, but sports isn’t at its greatest when great competition leads to entertaining and dramatic finishes, it’s at its best when great contests tell the amazing, unbelievable and miraculous stories of regular human beings.
That’s what the Giants are: A regular and very flawed group of guys that somehow rose above themselves and played as a TEAM.
And I believe it is a miracle.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
NOTE: PLAY THE BELOW MUSIC WHILE YOU READ THIS ARTICLE
The San Francisco Union-Giants marched onto the fields at AT&T Gettysburg under an orange and black sky on this day of 27 October 2010.
General Lee (Cliff) looked to continue his invasion northward after successful campaigns against Fort Tampa and the Yankee outpost in the Bronx.
In the opening rounds of battle, General Lee attempted to flank the Union-Giants with cut fastballs and outlandishly wild curves.
But Calvary Captain Freddy Sanchez and Colonel Aubrey Huff were prepared for this tactic and managed several counter maneuvers, firing doubles to right field.
Lee’s face revealed his thoughts, “this is not going to be like previous battles.”
Furthermore, the doubles were the beginning of an onslaught to the right flank that left Confederate grunt Vladimir Guerrero bloody, limbless and concussed.
With the Confederate Rangers rolling through the countryside of late and Lee evoking the ghost of Julius Caesar, winning this critical battle would be a huge turning point in this World Series War.
Both Generals Lee and Lincecum seemed a little spooked by the magnitude of the battle in the early rounds.
After the first two rounds of battle General Lincecum was in mid-retreat and losing 2-0, but several of his mates, Cannoneer Juan Uribe and Major Edgar Renteria, made dazzling saves in the field to prevent an even greater deficit.
Meanwhile, General Lincecum took several buck shots to the leg, but bravely fought on.
In the third round of battle, the tide began to change for the Union-Giants.
They spotted Lee with grunt Michael Young, and witnessed Young abandon his General with a costly error. With Lee alone, Scout Andres Torres cornered him and took one for the team in close combat.
That set the stage for Captain Sanchez, who took aim and blasted Lee with a double shot to left center field.
Private First Class Gerald “Buster” Posey, a Southerner by birth but fighting for the North, got his opportunity. He pounded Lee with a golden bullet from his revolver and the score was tied at 2.
Lee’s Confederate mates finally dragged him off his mound bloody and bruised, but not beaten.
The night was still young and the battle would rage on.
General Lincecum kept the pressure on by breezing through the next two rounds of battle.
Then in the bottom of the fifth round of battle, the entire Union-Giant Cavalry arrived with the sound of blaring horns and pounding hooves. Scout Torres fired and landed a double round, followed by a Captain Sanchez double bayonet cut to Lee’s left shoulder.
The tide had turned with the Union-Giants taking a 3-2 lead. Smelling and seeing Lee’s blood, the Union soldiers fought with extra vigor and spirit.
Major Pat Burrell managed a freebie, then Colonel Cody Ross whipped his hatchet into Lee’s left shoulder. The battle score now rested at 4-2 Union-Giants.
Lee’s entire left side was now bleeding profusely. Yet Confederate Senator Ron Washington foolishly believed that Lee could still fight on.
The inspirational leader of the Union-Giants, Colonel Huff, then approached General Lee surreptitiously.
Lee could barely muster a response as Huff grabbed his throat. Lee fired off a harmless shot, which Huff batted right back at him and down his throat.
In close combat, Huff removed his U.S. Union-Giant issued hunting knife from its sheath and cut deeply through and across Lee’s throat, severing his jugular veins and leaving him to gargle and choke to death in his own blood, urine, and feces.
Lee was defeated. His legacy would never be the same. The Union-Giants shouted, “he is not a God!” just as the natives once said after drowning a Spanish Governor.
General Cliff Lee came to Gettysburg an immoral marauder, and left a bloody corpse.
He came to know the meanings of team, divinity, and faith through the acts of the heroes that slayed him.
The world was at peace.
But the Confederate army refused to wave the white flag. So President Bruce Bochy brought out the canons and Cannoneer Juan Uribe.
Uribe fired one massive blast into the heart of the Confederate Army. It was final.
The Union-Giants defeated the Confederate Rangers on 27 October 2010 by a battle score of 11-7.
AT&T Gettysburg would not give way to the invaders.
President Bochy rose to the podium and addressed the gathered:
Two score and twelve years ago our fathers brought forth to this coast a new team, conceived in wood and leather, and dedicated to the proposition that Giants are created superior.
Now we are engaged in a great baseball war, testing whether the Giants, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that World Series War.
We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those Giants who here gave their lives that the team might live: Mays, McCovey, Marichal, Bonds Sr and Jr, Clark, Krukow, Mitchell, Williams, Kent, Nenn, Aurilia, and more than can be listed.
It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave Giants, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.
The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what the Giants did here.
It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which the Giants who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.
It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead Giants we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead Giants shall not have died in vain—that this Giant-nation, under God, shall have a new championship—and that their Superiority, of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Battle Commendations
Freddy Sanchez: Silver Star
Juan Uribe: Congressional Medal of Valor
Aubrey Huff: Silver Bullet
Tim Lincecum: Purple Heart
Message delivered via Pigeon Post…. from Union-Giant Scribe Ray Brennan…
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
Much has been said and written about the Giants lackluster offense.
The team batted .257 in 2010, finishing sixteenth while the Rangers hit .276 and finished first.
On the other hand, both teams did hit 162 Home runs finishing tied for tenth.
But pushing aside generalized offensive statistics, something strange happened during the course of the year that only keen eyes were privy to.
The Giants cut up opposing teams’ aces.
Here’s a list of the best ten National League pitchers in 2010 using Earned Run Average, then what the Giants did against them.
Josh Johnson: The Emperor’s New Clothes
From May 13th, 2010 to July 22nd, 2010, Josh Johnson pitched six innings or more and gave up two earned runs or less in 13 straight starts, a major league record.
Yet, on July 27th he came into AT&T Park in San Francisco and got roughed up.
He gave up three earned runs in seven innings and his historic streak was over.
During his streak he dominated the Phillies (twice), Rangers, Colorado, Dodgers, and Tampa Bay among others.
Sure, the Giants lost the game 6-4 with Johnson getting a No Decision, but the point is they roughed up the best of the best, ended the streak, and showed the Emperor without his clothes.
Johnson’s season began to spiral downward after that with his ERA going from 1.61 to 2.3.
So how did the supposedly anemic Giants manage eight hits and three walks versus the hottest pitcher in the universe?
Adam Wainwright: Good is not Great
On May 24th, Adam Wainwright laced ’em up versus Barry Zito at AT&T park.
Nine innings later, Wainwright had his first loss of the season as the Giants won 2-0.
Zito’s stuff that night was electric as he gave up only three hits while striking out 10 in eight innings of work.
The offense didn’t pound Wainwright into the ground, but they scratched out a respectable two runs and seven hits to get the job done.
The cast of no name misfits proved their mettle against arguably the best pitcher in baseball over the last three years.
Roy Hallady: Meet Cody Ross
Not only did the Giants beat Halladay in game one of the NLCS, they marred him in game five and scorched him on April 26th for 10 hits, five earned runs, and his first loss of the season.
His ERA went from 0.82 to 1.80 on that night in April.
How did such a mortal offense give such an immortal legend fits all season?
Jaime Garcia: Not so Fast, Rookie
On April 23rd, the Giants got to the rookie phenom for 7 hits, 4 runs, 2 earned runs, and 3 walks over 6 innings.
They won the game 4-1. And while it was still early in the year, Garcia’s ERA jumped from 0.69 to 1.42.
Garcia would shut them down later in the year to finish 1-1, despite his 2.7 ERA for the year.
Roy Oswalt: Wile E. Coyote
Roy Oswalt must really, really, really hate the Giants.
Not only did he go 0-3 against them during the regular season with Tim Lincecum showing him the difference between owning Cy Youngs and wishing, but they eventually knocked him out of the playoffs.
Even when he finally got a win against them in Game 2 of the NLCS, he turns right back around a few days later and earns the loss in the ninth inning of Game 4.
Then, he gets cut up again in Game 6 and while not getting the loss he certainly didn’t pitch well enough to get the victory.
How much is he wishing he forced his way onto the Texas Rangers instead of the Philadelphia Phillies.
Twenty years from now Roy Oswalt is still going to have nightmares about the San Francisco Giants.
The funniest thing is he’ll think back to their average offense and just scratch his head in bewilderment.
Tim Hudson: Kryptonite
Hudson is the only pitcher in baseball this year who the Giants just didn’t get. Not ever. All year.
Including the playoffs, Hudson went 1-0 with two no decisions.
In 22 innings, he gave up only 10 hits and two earned runs.
Yet even though he was untouchable, the Giants won Game 2 against the Braves in the NLDS.
Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.
R.A. Dickey: Speaking of Lucky
Giants didn’t play him this year. Lucky for him.
Ubaldo “U-boat” Jimenez: A Game He’d Like to Forget
Jimenez starts against the Giants in 2010 netted a 2-2 outcome with him earning two wins against one loss.
His no decision against the Giants on July 3rd, however, was his worst of the year.
The Giants massacred an erratic Jimenez while feasting on seven earned runs in six innings. It was the most earned runs he gave up in 2010.
In his two wins, Jimenez was his typical dominant self. But on September 1st with the stretch run beginning, the Giants beat him 2-1.
Lincecum beat him in that game and also showed him the difference between owning Cy Young awards and wishing.
Clayton Kershaw: Dodger-meat
The Giants went 2-2 in games started by Kershaw in 2010. His two losses include a combined 13 innings, 11 hits, 6 walks, and 6 runs.
Despite his dominant stuff, the Giants kept him honest.
Mat Latos: Keep Your Mouth Shut, Kid
Mat Latos had the Giants number early in the year, but by the end of the year he wished they would just go away.
He faced them six times during the season, and in those six starts the Padres went 2-4.
The Giants offense got to him enough and at the right times, to keep him vexed. Even to the point he started trash talking.
Then on the last day of the year with the Padres still holding an outside shot at the postseason, the Giants clawed him into his grave, beating him 3-0 on October 3rd.
Conclusion
So what gives? How does an average offense manage to cut up aces. Reason, common sense, and statistical analysis would suggest the Giants struggle mightily against aces.
But they don’t. They didn’t.
Because… heart, courage, and pride don’t cater to reason.
The Giants offense is an overweight, poor, uneducated father who God has blessed with the most beautiful daughter in all the land.
He knows he is barely worthy to be her father, which makes him all the more stalwart and prideful in protecting her.
He would cut any man’s throat who even thought to impugn his daughter’s beauty and grace.
He is humble, but always ready to defend her, especially against other maidens across the land.
Cliff Lee is a very pretty princess, but he comes nowhere close to matching the beauty of the Giants pitching staff.
And so the overweight, poor, uneducated father that is the Giants offense will cut him, again and again, until he’s dead.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
All that can be said about this Giants team in 2010 is, “Wow!”
The funny thing is, to be perfectly honest, I had a feeling coming out of spring training the team would do something special.
I told my friend to look out for the Giants this year. We were the best team in spring training and on paper and on the field had the best pitching in all of the Majors.
Even though I’m not a gambling man, I wanted to go put down a futures bet for the Giants to win it all. With 20/1 odds, there would be a nice payday if things worked out.
In investing or gambling, the goal is always to identify positions of leverage through superior knowledge or value.
In the Giants case, they would have great pitching along with strong potential from additions like Aubrey Huff, Mark DeRosa, Buster Posey, as well as the return of 2009 studs like Pablo Sandoval, Bengie Molina and Juan Uribe.
Say what you will, but there was only a tiny chance the Giants couldn’t best their record for 2009, 88-74.
The team was a better one going into 2010 then it was coming out of 2009, and some credit surely has to be paid to Brian Sabean and the brass.
Moreover, Sabean kept insisting the Giants did have the payroll to play with the big boys of New York and Boston.
Whether Texiera was ever going to come here when he could hit innocent fly balls for home runs in Yankee Stadium is another question.
So the Giants were better than 2009, had money to spend if it came down to it, a GM that was willing to roll the dice and a manager who had already led a team to the World Series.
The odds-makers had it wrong. The Giants should have been slotted anywhere from 4/1 to 10/1. 20/1 was absurd and therefore represented superior value.
I got as far as looking at flights and even thought about driving to the border and hitting a sports book near Reno.
But alas, I got lazy and never did.
Winning a sweet payout would have been nice if the Giants go on to win it all.
I do believe that this is the year.
I’ve had dreams about them doing it this year. The four-hit game Buster Posey had in Game 5 of the NLCS I dreamed about six weeks ago.
I’m either a little psychic or a little crazy.
Anyway, the most important thing about following the Giants is definitely not gambling. It’s not even entertainment.
It’s the camaraderie, friendship and love that having the common bond of San Francisco Giants creates and facilitates.
And the team, fans and ownership here all deeply and truly hold dear and embody this value.
So in a sense, we’ve already won.
But let’s not let that stop us from going down to Texas and wrangling us some Ranger meat!
Go Giants and enjoy the video!
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
This article is going to be more of a blog post than an article since I was talking on the telephone for the first five innings of the game.
Here are some of my exact thoughts as the game took place.
Cain in trouble. Gets strong and gets out of it.
Sanchez base hit. Nice. Huff strikes out, he’s really not locked in.
[Girl continues to chatter.]
Burrell yanks one. Holy sh*$! It’s outta here! Yes!! Yes!
[fist pumps in air]
What’s she saying? Three zip. We’re gonna win this game. The series is over! Damn, what did she say again?
[“my reception cut off, I didn’t hear you.”]
Ross, double. Nice hustle! Cain right back at the pitcher. Holy sh*&! Cain RBI.
Four zip. We’re gonna win this game! Yes!!
[not paying attention for awhile]
They scored? What happened? Well at least it’s only one run.
[flash forward to seventh inning] Cain out for Lopez. Smart. Heyward won’t hit him. Strike three. Sit down!
Giants still in control.
[top of eighth]
Sergio Romo. Uh oh. Not gonna handle the pressure. This is gonna be bad!
Hit one. Here we go. Hit two. I knew it.
Wilson in for six outs? This has disaster written all over it.
Pablo! No!!
Okay, one out. Second and third. Let’s see.
Gonzalez way behind first heater. He’s dangerous. Good fastball hitter. Hurt Giants earlier this year with long bomb. Don’t challenge him, Willy.
[crack!]
No! Damn you, Pablo! No. Why is this happening? Last night good luck. Tonight bad luck.
The baseball gods are mad at us.
4-4. Why does this game feel over, like we lost?
Who can save us? Burrell? He’s out! Huff. He’s not locked in. Are only hope is Uribe.
[bottom of the 10th]
Edgar, the Legend. Nice! There’s hope. Torres, good work. Sanchez, sh*& is he okay? Will he be ready Sunday? No! They’re chanting, “Freddy, Freddy!” He’s up. He’s okay. Thank God.
Okay, Huffy, let’s do this. I believe in you. You can do this. Ball four? That was close, but we’ll take it!
The stage is set. It’s Buster’s playoffs. The rookie hero! He’s gonna do it!
I believe in you, Buster. You can do it. I know you can do it. Just hit anything into the outfield. Come on.
Oh no! One out! No! I’m not seeing this! Out two. Nooooooo! Mother fu*#^ Glaus!! I wanna kill that guy!!
[top of 11th]
Does Ramirez have another inning? I don’t know. Wow, nice play Edgar. One down.
Ankiel. What’s he gonna do? He hasn’t had a clutch hit off the Giants in forever. Uh oh, he’s due. He looks ready. He looks due. Don’t throw him anything close. Just walk him if you have to.
2-2. Don’t give in.
[CRACK!]
I knew it. I knew that was gonna happen.
I wonder which kayaker is gonna get the ball? I wonder if it’s worth anything?
Damn it! Damn did he smack that one good.
Ramirez wasn’t ready to go two innings with this much pressure.
Rick fu&#%ing Ankiel. I don’t think he’s had a clutch hit off the Giants ever.
The baseball gods are mad at us.
Uribe. Maybe if I don’t hope he’ll hit a home run he’ll hit a home run. I don’t know what’s gonna happen. Anything can happen. Base hit. Holy sh&#. That shot of the fans looks optimistic. Maybe we can do it.
What a comeback that would be!
[crack] Ishikawa got it! No, it’s a harmless fly. Damn, why did that look like a good crack? My eyes are playing tricks on me.
Ross. He looks defeated. One out left. These swings don’t look good.
Pop up. Damn it. We lost. Wait, maybe he’ll drop it. Nope. Three outs. Game over.
One game to one game. Two in Atlanta. Turner Field. Best home team in majors. It’s over. Hudson owns us. Lincecum on short rest? It’s over. The series is over. 3-1. Braves got it.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
With a gem of a shutout by Tim Lincecum, it’s hard to look at game one of the NLDS through anything but rose colored glasses for Giants fans.
The Incredible Hulk (Lincecum) pitched a two hitter, struck out 14, broke a Giants postseason record for Ks in a game, and tied a major league record for most Ks in a postseason debut.
But as great as Lincecum was, Lady Luck was even greater because Atlanta Braves starter Derek Lowe was also dealing.
Buster Posey led off the 4th inning with a single.Then, Pat Burrell swung and missed for strike three on a hit and run.
Posey slid into second base and tried to dodge the tag of 2B Brooks Conrad. Posey joked after the game, “I’m glad we don’t have instant replay.”
It was his first stolen base at the Major League level. And probably his last.
After Uribe struck out, Braves Manager Bobby Cox intentionally walked Pablo Sandoval so Derek Lowe could square off against Cody Ross.
Lowe would try to dance around Ross with Lincecum on deck and an open base.
But Lowe made a mistake and threw a 2-0 pitch too close to the plate.Ross smashed it to the left of third baseman Omar Infante.
Lady luck took over as Infante misplayed the ball.
Even though it was scored a single, anyone watching the game could see it was a misplay and should have been ruled an error.
So the Giants tripled up on luck in the inning to score the only run of the game: Posey’s stolen base, Lowe’s mistake, Infante’s error and Cox’s gamble in not intentionally walking Ross.
You may recall the reverse happened to the Giants earlier in the year versus Colorado when Bochy let Lincecum nibble at Clint Barmes.
Barmes got a hit and Colorado won the game, so maybe the Giants were owed one.
In any event, this game was decided in the tiniest details.
Most of the Giants postseason games probably will be.
Which makes the other managerial blunder so hard to take.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Posey led off with a double and got to third on a fielding error.
After Burrell struck out, Juan Uribe walked to give the Giants runners on first and third with one out.
This was the nail in the coffin moment. If the Giants put another run or two on the board, that was it.
Cox knew it, so decided to turn Pablo Sandoval around by making a pitching change to lefty Jonny Venters.
It was Bochy’s turn to return serve.
He could have pinch hit Aaron Rowand or Edgar Renteria, and in case Cox fired back he had lefties Fontenot, Ishikawa, and Schierholtz ready as well.
But with several options, he just let Cox’s serve go right by him.
Giants fans all knew what the most probable outcome was: Pablo Sandoval would ground into a double play. It would probably be a first pitch swing, and out of the strike zone.
It doesn’t take any statistical analysis or a PhD in probability theory to know it was a terrible, terrible move by Bochy.
It was like torturous slow motion as the exact thought in the back of every Giants fan manifested itself on the field.
So on a night that might inspire cautious optimism, it’s important to remember reality.
Thank Lady Luck and hope the Braves keep playing bad defense.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
The Giants lost 3-2 to the Padres Friday night in a battle of supremacy for the NL West.
Jonathan Sanchez’s prediction was proven wrong, his attempt at becoming a baseball mystic falling short.
But losing the game and the prediction will not be what this game is remembered for in the coming weeks, months, and years.
Tonight was the official death of Aaron Rowand as a San Francisco Giant.
His year long struggles, the burden of his inflated contract, and most importantly the arrival of Jose Guillen have ended this story once and for all.
While Rowand can’t be blamed for the loss of this game singlehandedly—teams surely win and lose games—he nevertheless led the charge as if blind and retarded, a Hellen Keller-Wiliam Hung type performance for the ages.
It began in the second inning when with a runner on first base, Chase Headly hit a fly ball to deep center.
Rowand huffed and puffed to get back, but fell about two steps short as the ball landed over his head, bounced near the warning track, then ricocheted off the wall.
Andres Torres catches that ball 10 times out of 10. It hung up in the air for a good while. It was not a pure line drive.
A third of the center fielders in MLB would have caught that ball: the speedy ones.
But on this night of death, the ball sailed over Rowand’s head, and to add insult to injury he tripped over his own feet and fell on his ass, ensuring no play as Headley trotted into third base standing up.
The only odd thing, actually, is that in all of Bochy’s mixing and matching I’ve never heard any writer or announcer point out how much is lost when Torres moves to left or right for Rowand to play center.
Tonight, it may well be that a game was lost. Instead of Headley harmlessly flying out, the play was an RBI triple. Scott Hairston then hit a sac fly and the game was tied at two.
Nail one in the coffin.
Rowand doubled downed in the bottom of the same inning by getting caught stealing with one out and runners on first and second.
Inexplicably, he tried to steal third before pitcher Clayton Richard even got the sign from catcher Yorvit Torrealba. Richard said thank you and tossed to third for a quick run down (pictured).
Perhaps Rowand forgot what month it is, and decided San Diego deserved a nicely wrapped Christmas gift.
Nail two in the coffin.
In the fourth inning, Rowand grounded out. In the eighth inning, he struck out.
And as if scripted in a mausoleum, Rowand recorded the final out of the game by striking out against Heath Bell.
Nail three in the coffin.
Jose Guillen’s plane landed at about 10 p.m Pacific Time.
The fourth and final nail in the coffin.
Unfortunately, Rowand is a great guy, the ultimate gamer, and has an impeccable reputation.
Thus, this passing is sad one.
If this were K-Rod’s obituary, there wouldn’t even be a story here.
In any event, Rest in Peace Aaron Rowand.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
Baseball managerial practices are organic. They change and shift according to knowledge into the laws of physics, culture, and economics.
In times of yore, a five-man rotation was thought to be useless, Cy Young started 49 games in a single year, and the concept of a closer would have been bizarre.
Getting back to the present, Stephen Strasburg’s muscles flared a few weeks ago, and it seems he may be shut down for the year.
Baseball’s “chosen one” had never pitched more than 128 innings in a season, and so nearing that number between the minors and majors this year, the Nationals began to tread carefully.
With his inflammation not abating, what are the chances they let him pitch again this year?
We live in the age of the pitch count and caution.
Looking at the numbers for the Giants’ starting pitching staff this year, some interesting trends start to emerge.
At the start of the year with a well-rested staff, the Giants came out firing on all cylinders, with the exception of Todd Wellemeyer’s road starts.
At home, however, Wellemeyer joined the party and the Giants maintained first place in their division.
Some ups and downs took them through the first half, but it was the offense’s impotence during stretches that prevented them from winning, e.g. the series in Oakland.
But before the All-Star break, the pitching seemed to completely break down and looked fatigued. They lost seven in a row and the formerly dominant pitching staff became average to subpar.
Of course, many will point to the obvious friction—holding Buster Posey back and continuing to use the very much depleted Bengie Molina—as the source of the teams’ woes.
The Giants traded Molina on June 30th, and the team has been much better since then.
Right before the All-Star break in Milwaukee, the team was able to get healthy on a fairly inept team, and Posey redonned his Iron Man suit and put the team on his back.
But the starting rotation really seemed to find themselves after the extra rest of the All-Star break.
Lincecum started the second half with a shutout. Zito followed with eight shutout innings. Cain then gave up 2 ERs in seven innings. Sanchez also gave up 2 ERs in seven innings. And Bumgarner finished up the first cycle by going 5.2 IP and allowing 1 ER.
The Giants won four of five, and the starting rotation posted an ERA of 1.28.
Since then, the offense has outperformed every other one in baseball while the pitching has stayed solid.
But those first five games are instructive—with a little extra rest, the starting rotation dominated.
Furthermore, Lincecum needed to skip a start at the end of last year to refuel.
Now Wellemeyer is ready to return to the big league club and the Giants will have five-and-a-half starting pitchers.
Yes, I said five-and-a-half. Earlier this year I wrote an article suggesting Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde should be separated at the hip. In other words, Wellemeyer should just make his home starts. It was supposed to be funny…a joke.
But now, it actually seems to make sense. If the staff pitches better with a little extra rest, why not let Wellemeyer take a few home starts from here on out?
The Giants can go in one of two directions: either say we’re embarrassed that the guy can’t pitch on the road and not start him at all, or say we’re proud the guy can knock it out at home and send him out there.
The glass is either half empty or half full.
But if the corollary that a better rested staff is more dominant is true, then a “5.5 Man Rotation Giants” would have the best staff in baseball going into September and October.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com