Sunday, October 05, 2003

 

Cold Wind To Valhalla

They lost, my boys in orange black did. But oh, what a fight they did give. If a season must end in heart-rending manner, let it end with a mighty collision at home plate, with the son of a football player doing his damnedest to knock the ball out of the hands of a catcher named Pudge. Let it end in utter exhaustion, with J.T. lying face down upon home plate, knowing that in any other week, with a little more concentration, it would be he and his fellow Giants celebrating.

For analyzing this series, I think you can safely toss a lot of the statistics out the window, and just look at the Brain Fart Ratio:

* Marlins scored 20 runs in four games--only 15 were earned. On the other hand, the Giants scored 16 runs, and 15 were earned. That's a BFR of 5:1 for the Giants. Not good.

* Marlins stole two bases and were not caught once. Giants stole one base, and were caught once (hi, Marquis). That's a BFR of infinity:1 for the Giants. Not good.

* Marlins scored once when Torrealba wasn't paying attention where the ball was. Giants never scored on a mental error by Florida.

* Marlins picked people off first base once (maybe twice, I can't remember now). Giants never picked anyone off.

You see where this is going? The Marlins won because they were paying attention. The Marlins won because they executed every play on the field, and did not give the Giants any extra runs. The Marlins won because they were focused.

The Giants lost because, let's face it, they choked. Repeatedly. This is not a word I use lightly, but the evidence is there for all to see. And you know what? It happens. You hope it doesn't happen to your team, but sometimes it does. A bunch of the 8 teams in the playoffs have been guilty of similar dumb mistakes (see Yankees, game 1; Athletics, game 3; Braves, game 3; Red Sox, game 1). Only the Marlins have been immune, and that's why their series finished first.

Bah. It's a bitter taste indeed, but it's the result of the most basic test in human drama: put someone in a pressure situation, and see how they perform. In the Giants case, mostly badly.

We should take heart, though, those of us who are suffering from bad hangovers and the taste of ashes in our mouths. The Giants could have just folded completely yesterday. They didn't. They accepted the challenge, and they fought back valiantly. They went out with a bang, and a thud, and a cloud of dust, and with visions of glory in everyone's minds, even if it only lasted about three seconds. In the end, it wasn't enough.

But the tale of this game will be told to our children, and our children's children, of how these Giants could play so badly, with both hands wrapped around their throats, and how somehow, despite all their failures...they damn near won anyway.

Jefferson 9:38 AM

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