Sunday, April 18, 2010
Shot to the Heart, and Manny's to Blame
Losses like this afternoon's 2-1 fall to the Dodgers suck especially hard. Not just because the team was beat by an obnoxious, dreadlocked jackass, but because just one inning before, the Giants had the bases loaded with designs on extending the lead to where no man, female hormone-addled flake or no, could do no harm. They failed to capitalize, of course, and that led to Manny shoving his fist into our collective chests and ripping out our hearts like a scenery-chewing madman fighting Indiana Jones. Devastating, game-winning home runs hurt more when you shouldn't have even been in a position for the homer to matter.
Despite it, I'm not as depressed as I should be. Let me count the reasons.
1) It's still early in the season. Yay. Imagine if that home run happened in a late-September series or, gasp, if it decided a pennant race. I'd be dangling off a skyscraper right now.
2)Sergio Romo coughed it up, and he's been awesome lately, so he gets a mulligan. I mean, how can you be mad at Romo? He's so friggin' cool. He's like Lester Freamon cool.
3) The Giants are still plating runs. Even down 7-0 early on Friday, they clawed their way back to make the Dodgers sweat it a little. The Giants we know and love from the past few seasons would have just rolled over and died. This newfound ability to cross that strangely-shaped object they call "home plate" may not last, but I'll take whatever encouragement I can get.
4) The evidence continues to pile up that this new, competent Barry Zito is the one that is going to stay around. If this keeps up, when reminded by Dodger fans about Zito awful contract, we can simply retort, "Yeah, well, he's not the worst pitcher in the world. And he's no Darren Dreifort." This time two years ago you couldn't say that at all.
The oncoming series in San Diego against the Padres has me worried. Not because the Padres are good; no, take solace in knowing that they're still comically terrible. I'm worried because all kinds of bad crap goes down when the Giants visit Petco. They don't hit, they blow leads, and Scott Hairston turns into Babe Ruth. Last year they didn't win a single game in Petco until the last series of the season. Petco is a Giant-killing dead zone, a place where they lose in very bad and wacky ways. It's kind of like Coors Field, only with its balls cut off.
Despite it, I'm not as depressed as I should be. Let me count the reasons.
1) It's still early in the season. Yay. Imagine if that home run happened in a late-September series or, gasp, if it decided a pennant race. I'd be dangling off a skyscraper right now.
2)Sergio Romo coughed it up, and he's been awesome lately, so he gets a mulligan. I mean, how can you be mad at Romo? He's so friggin' cool. He's like Lester Freamon cool.
3) The Giants are still plating runs. Even down 7-0 early on Friday, they clawed their way back to make the Dodgers sweat it a little. The Giants we know and love from the past few seasons would have just rolled over and died. This newfound ability to cross that strangely-shaped object they call "home plate" may not last, but I'll take whatever encouragement I can get.
4) The evidence continues to pile up that this new, competent Barry Zito is the one that is going to stay around. If this keeps up, when reminded by Dodger fans about Zito awful contract, we can simply retort, "Yeah, well, he's not the worst pitcher in the world. And he's no Darren Dreifort." This time two years ago you couldn't say that at all.
The oncoming series in San Diego against the Padres has me worried. Not because the Padres are good; no, take solace in knowing that they're still comically terrible. I'm worried because all kinds of bad crap goes down when the Giants visit Petco. They don't hit, they blow leads, and Scott Hairston turns into Babe Ruth. Last year they didn't win a single game in Petco until the last series of the season. Petco is a Giant-killing dead zone, a place where they lose in very bad and wacky ways. It's kind of like Coors Field, only with its balls cut off.
