Thursday, September 27, 2007
Time It Was, and What a Time It...Um, Wasn't
Did anybody notice the sad (yet fitting) bookend to the Giants season at Mays Field? On Opening Day, they got utterly shut down by Jake Peavy, and then last night, in the home finale, they got shut down by...yup, Jake Peavy again. It was pretty much the Giants' offense this season in a nutshell: totally weak overall and utterly useless against the better starting pitchers in the league. It's also sobering to realize that of the eight position players in the Opening Day lineup against Peavy, only three (Bonds, Winn, Molina) have had even decent seasons with the bat.
I tuned in to the game last night to catch the standing ovation for Barry Bonds, but that was about it. I had better things to do than listen to the Giants get slaughtered by a Scott Hairston-led Padre attack (seven of his ten homers against the Giants this season...what is with this guy?). In the past three weeks, I have caught two full Giants games and otherwise perhaps a grand total of one hour of G-men baseball on the radio. That's sad, and it's a problem, because I never thought my Giants fanaticism would sink to such lows.
I'm not a bandwagon fan, and I never have been. Last year the Giants sucked and I was still at Mays Field during the last weekend series, yelling for the team to beat the Dodgers. I remember in 1996, the last time the Giants lost 90 games (they look to be headed well on their way this year), I was rooting and rooting up until the last game, because somehow they were still fun, even though they were trotting out some of the worst players to ever don the black and orange.
Unfortunately, this year the team is just so dull, so poorly constructed, so clueless, that it's gotten to be too tiring. Losing is one thing; losing while simultaneously offering absolutely nothing of entertainment value is another. Last season I linked to Dead Can Dance's "Host of Seraphim" as a eulogy to the lost 2006 campaign. This year I'm not going to bother; the Giants don't deserve anything as beautiful as Lisa Gerrard's voice.
And the worst part is that Sabean and Co put this team together harping about pitching and defense and improving team speed and other such bullshit, and then when things fell apart, they got all butt-hurt and defensive when the fans started hurling well-deserved criticism their way. And it's going to be even worse next year without Bonds! Worse! Can you imagine that?
To steal a line from The Nerd...Sabean's my ass and Magowan's my balls! What a miserable, forgettable, gawdawful year.
I tuned in to the game last night to catch the standing ovation for Barry Bonds, but that was about it. I had better things to do than listen to the Giants get slaughtered by a Scott Hairston-led Padre attack (seven of his ten homers against the Giants this season...what is with this guy?). In the past three weeks, I have caught two full Giants games and otherwise perhaps a grand total of one hour of G-men baseball on the radio. That's sad, and it's a problem, because I never thought my Giants fanaticism would sink to such lows.
I'm not a bandwagon fan, and I never have been. Last year the Giants sucked and I was still at Mays Field during the last weekend series, yelling for the team to beat the Dodgers. I remember in 1996, the last time the Giants lost 90 games (they look to be headed well on their way this year), I was rooting and rooting up until the last game, because somehow they were still fun, even though they were trotting out some of the worst players to ever don the black and orange.
Unfortunately, this year the team is just so dull, so poorly constructed, so clueless, that it's gotten to be too tiring. Losing is one thing; losing while simultaneously offering absolutely nothing of entertainment value is another. Last season I linked to Dead Can Dance's "Host of Seraphim" as a eulogy to the lost 2006 campaign. This year I'm not going to bother; the Giants don't deserve anything as beautiful as Lisa Gerrard's voice.
And the worst part is that Sabean and Co put this team together harping about pitching and defense and improving team speed and other such bullshit, and then when things fell apart, they got all butt-hurt and defensive when the fans started hurling well-deserved criticism their way. And it's going to be even worse next year without Bonds! Worse! Can you imagine that?
To steal a line from The Nerd...Sabean's my ass and Magowan's my balls! What a miserable, forgettable, gawdawful year.
Labels: baseball depression, brian sabean rant
