Wednesday, June 01, 2005

 

Plugging Holes

The fear is palpable. On every street around the Bay, you see nothing but furrowed brows and nervous sweating. At least twice a day some panicked fanatic asks me, "Is this the end? Is there anything that can be done? By God, someone should do something." All I can do is pat them on the back and tell them to draw the blinds and wait for further word.

The truth hurts, and I don't like to be the one wielding the hammer.

I know you can handle it, though. You've been there those other times, and seen the disasters. The one in '85 was the worst, but '92 and '96 were pretty bad too. Crappy teams, boring teams, teams no one could save.

This '05 could be one of those.

Sabean ain't going down without a fight, though. This hurts him as much as it hurts us. That's why he shipped poor Jerome and that Aardsma guy off to Chicago to get Hawkins. Then he dumped Herges. I can't say as I blame him.

We all like Jerome. Nice kid, loads of talent. We've seen the likes of him a million times in these parts. The sophomore slump wastes most of them. In the end, they end up vagabonds, pitching for whoever will buy them a drink or a cup of coffee. I hope Jerome doesn't end up like that, but my spies in Fresno think it's a vain hope.

Hawkins is supposed to hold down those 8th-inning leads for us. Great. Let me know when we get them more than twice a week. So far, the boys have played 50 games. In 25 of those, they have led the game, or been in a tie, after seven innings. Their record in those games is 20-5. Not great, but not a disaster either.

The big problem is on the flip side. In games where they trail after seven, the Giants are 3-22. To protect that lead late in the game, you have to get it in the first place. The Giants do that less than half the time, and it's because they can't hit, and the pitching has regressed.

Here's the ugly numbers:

2004 -- 5.24 runs scored per game, 4.29 total ERA
2005 -- 4.40 runs scored per game, 4.68 total ERA

Look at that offense. It's anemic. Missing Bonds is part of it. Bonds might actually get back this year, but will he be any good? You can't count on it. I wouldn't, if I were Sabean. Getting Hawkins is a nice little move, but the Giants need some spectacular big moves if they want to turn this season around. If they can't, they need to make some spectacular big moves to stock up for next season, and the season after that.

You get what I'm trying to say? I know it's hard.

Say bye-bye to this roster. One way or another, it's going away, and soon.

Jefferson 12:25 PM

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