Wednesday, July 21, 2010
The Best Fail Is Dodger Fail
Of all the things I expected out of the Giants in tonight's game, getting blanked on five hits wasn't one of them. Coming off a rousing, momentum-swinging win last night, I expected something like a 10-0 rout of Chad Billingsley, who had an ERA over five this season at Dodger Stadium coming into this start. I expected lots of hits, lots of brilliant pitching by Barry Zito, and Buster Posey walking upon the waters of Huntington Beach after the win.
I guess we can't have everything. Even tonight's loss, though, can't dampen the excitement of Giants baseball since the All-Star break, with the major highlight being the hilarity of Dodger Fail Night in the second game of the series in LA. You have to love a game in which the Dodgers are so insistent on pointless retaliation that it results in their manager, their bench coach, and their ace all being ejected from the game. All this led to Don Mattingly's ninth-inning blunder that forced George Sherrill to take the mound with the bases loaded. That's never a good thing, unless you're Andres Torres, who responded to Mattingly's gift by ripping a game-winning double of the wall.
Any time the Dodgers lose to the Giants, I sleep well for a week. Any time the Dodgers lose in horrible, horrible ways to the Giants, a family of four is fed for a month. That's the way I see it, anyway. Last night's game was the stuff that Dodger-hating dreams are made of. Any time I think back to one of those games at Mays Field when Dodger fans were taunting me as their team won, I'll immediately push those thoughts aside and think of Dodger Fail Night.
I'm not sure anybody noticed, but seemingly overnight, the Giants are a really fun team again. With Buster Posey and Madison Bumgarner in the majors and playing well, Bengie Molina's gigantic butt exiled to the American League, a starting pitching staff that is five-deep in quality arms, and a lineup that...well, isn't actually horrible, this team is playing an exciting brand of baseball. A far cry from the days of hoping the Giants' starting pitcher throws a 10-inning shutout during each start.
I guess we can't have everything. Even tonight's loss, though, can't dampen the excitement of Giants baseball since the All-Star break, with the major highlight being the hilarity of Dodger Fail Night in the second game of the series in LA. You have to love a game in which the Dodgers are so insistent on pointless retaliation that it results in their manager, their bench coach, and their ace all being ejected from the game. All this led to Don Mattingly's ninth-inning blunder that forced George Sherrill to take the mound with the bases loaded. That's never a good thing, unless you're Andres Torres, who responded to Mattingly's gift by ripping a game-winning double of the wall.
Any time the Dodgers lose to the Giants, I sleep well for a week. Any time the Dodgers lose in horrible, horrible ways to the Giants, a family of four is fed for a month. That's the way I see it, anyway. Last night's game was the stuff that Dodger-hating dreams are made of. Any time I think back to one of those games at Mays Field when Dodger fans were taunting me as their team won, I'll immediately push those thoughts aside and think of Dodger Fail Night.
I'm not sure anybody noticed, but seemingly overnight, the Giants are a really fun team again. With Buster Posey and Madison Bumgarner in the majors and playing well, Bengie Molina's gigantic butt exiled to the American League, a starting pitching staff that is five-deep in quality arms, and a lineup that...well, isn't actually horrible, this team is playing an exciting brand of baseball. A far cry from the days of hoping the Giants' starting pitcher throws a 10-inning shutout during each start.
