Friday, April 17, 2009
Requiem for a Post-Sweep Dream
I tuned out of last night's game right about the time Doug Mientkiewicz tore his shoulder apart sliding into second base. By that time, the game had degenerated into too much ugliness to handle. Bad defense, bad pitching, no hitting, and now an old Stankeye fave hurting himself after ripping a Giant-killing double. It finished off a bad, brutal sweep. Move on, nothing to see here.
Sadly, it seemed like things were taking a turn for the rosier on Wednesday night, when Aaron Rowand slammed the hangiest slider to ever hang into the left field bleachers. It looked as if the Giants' season had suddenly taken a turn for the better.
Then the bottom of the eighth came along, and there wasn't much to say after that. Well, actually there's a whole hell of a lot to say, but none of it good. The last sentence of this post sums it up pretty succinctly. Then last night, just pure ugliness, starting with Manny Burriss's first inning brainfart on the basepaths.
I'm confident that the Giants' pitching can get itself straightened out, but I'm not so sure about the hitting. I'm not at the point where I'd rather tear my eyes from my sockets than watch the Giants bat, but I'm getting there. The team is dead last in walks and home runs, and you're not going to score a lot of runs that way unless you're mad clutch, which the Giants haven't been so far by any stretch.
So when the Giants come to bat they need to start asking themselves: WWJCD? What Would Jack Cust Do? The answer: take a shitload of walks and hit home runs. Maybe they don't have the personnel to do that, but something has to happen. No more of these one-pitch at-bats or feeble peformances that make Eric Stults look like Steve Carlton.
The last roadtrip is something to put in the rearview mirror. Don't look back, as Bob Dylan would say. Recovery starts tonight at home against Arizona. Who do the DBacks have going tonight? Dan Haren? Um, okay, maybe tomorrow.
TGIF Vid...Anybody who can play guitar with his teeth is OK by me.
Sadly, it seemed like things were taking a turn for the rosier on Wednesday night, when Aaron Rowand slammed the hangiest slider to ever hang into the left field bleachers. It looked as if the Giants' season had suddenly taken a turn for the better.
Then the bottom of the eighth came along, and there wasn't much to say after that. Well, actually there's a whole hell of a lot to say, but none of it good. The last sentence of this post sums it up pretty succinctly. Then last night, just pure ugliness, starting with Manny Burriss's first inning brainfart on the basepaths.
I'm confident that the Giants' pitching can get itself straightened out, but I'm not so sure about the hitting. I'm not at the point where I'd rather tear my eyes from my sockets than watch the Giants bat, but I'm getting there. The team is dead last in walks and home runs, and you're not going to score a lot of runs that way unless you're mad clutch, which the Giants haven't been so far by any stretch.
So when the Giants come to bat they need to start asking themselves: WWJCD? What Would Jack Cust Do? The answer: take a shitload of walks and hit home runs. Maybe they don't have the personnel to do that, but something has to happen. No more of these one-pitch at-bats or feeble peformances that make Eric Stults look like Steve Carlton.
The last roadtrip is something to put in the rearview mirror. Don't look back, as Bob Dylan would say. Recovery starts tonight at home against Arizona. Who do the DBacks have going tonight? Dan Haren? Um, okay, maybe tomorrow.
TGIF Vid...Anybody who can play guitar with his teeth is OK by me.
