Wednesday, September 01, 2004

 

Ready? Set? PANIC?

Hi, guys. I've been laying low on the Giants blogging front here. That's because it's hard to type while holding your breath every time a Giants pitcher takes the mound.

It's a deathtrap up there, you know. Jason Schmidt pulled a groin warming up on the mound not too long ago, you know. Jerome Williams felt his elbow seize up like a car that hadn't had its oil checked in 15,000 miles. Matt Herges creates his own Bermuda Triangle every time he's up there--wins just mysteriously vanish. And then yesterday, Brett Tomko injures his ankle celebrating a freaking strikeout.

So many others have gone up there this year, never to be seen again. Leo Estrella. David Aardsma. Merkin Valdez. Kevin Walker. Brian Cooper. Felix Rodriguez (who I believe was kidnapped by aliens and replaced by a poorly programmed baseball replicant).

The casualty rate among the San Francisco 1st Pitching Battalion is simply horrific.

Some of the boys don't do too well under a barrage, either. Running the bases, dodging grenades, you'll see the guys suffer mental breakdowns far too often. In the field, they show good instincts, staying away from those hard-hit bullets--of course, those aren't bullets, they're baseballs, and they're supposed to do goddamn catch them.

Let's face it, this team is a mess. Bad pitching, bad defense, bad baserunning.

And yet this team is STILL in the goddamn lead for the National League wild card.

And against the probable playoff teams (St. Louis, LA, and Atlanta), they have a 12-14 record.

And over the last month, they are scoring over 6.2 runs a game.

Think about that a bit. It's entirely conceivable that this badly flawed, schizophrenic, maddening Giants team will make the playoffs. It's also perfectly conceivable that they could beat the Cards 3 games to 2, in a series where Jason Schmidt starts twice. Heck, they could beat the Braves or the Dodgers in a 7-game series as well, winning some games 7-6 and losing some 7-6.

It's not entirely laughable. This team isn't nearly as good as the 2002 team, but it might make the World Series anyway. Crazy.

Jefferson 9:10 AM

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