| Daniel Leroux. 4th October, 2010 - 11:27 am
 This has been a remarkable season of Giants baseball. That very well may go without saying, but it bears repeating on a day when the team reaches the playoffs for the first time since 2003.
In order to get the full scope of the season, it proves worthwhile to take a look at the lineup San Francisco trotted out on Game 1 on Opening Day:
Aaron Rowand ? CF
Edgar Renteria ? SS
Pablo Sandoval ? 3B
Aubrey Huff ? 1B
Mark DeRosa ? LF
Bengie Molina ? C
John Bowker ? 1B
Juan Uribe ? 2B
Tim Lincecum ? P
Two members of that group are no longer on the team while two more played in less than half of this season?s games. While Brian Sabean deserves a ton of flack for the way he constructed the Giants going into the season (and trust me, I?ll do that down the road a little while), he also deserves immense credit for the moves made during the season.
While the call-up of Buster Posey could have come sooner, bringing Pat Burrell, Madison Bumgarner, Javier Lopez, Ramon Ramirez, Cody Ross, and Mike Fontenot into the fold made this team a legitimate threat in October.
The Giants are still not an offensive juggernaut, but they have the juice to generate enough runs for this astonishing pitching staff most nights. It feels like a strange fit to have a team with so many low-OBP guys paired up with a dominant rotation and bullpen, but September showed that a power and pitching punch can work if each is strong enough.
It has not been an easy season to be a Giants fan, from the dark days at catcher before Buster Posey came permanently into our lives, Matt Cain getting Cained even more times, Eugenio Velez playing ?defense? (even being called in as a defensive replacement- a lapse in judgment so grave it alone should disqualify Bochy from Manager of the Year), and the bullpen at the beginning of the year. This team earned the ?torture? moniker throughout the course of the last six months.
There are still some big decisions to be made, and sadly it looks like Nate Schierholtz (shockingly #5 on the team in appearances) could be left off the postseason roster in favor of the inferior Aaron Rowand and Jose Guillen. On a related note, I sincerely hope Bochy can put his feelings aside and make sure that Barry Zito only starts a game if necessary when the Giants are in a seven game series. Zito should be behind Bumgarner in the priority for starters as well, but Madison?s high innings count and potential effectiveness in an already filthy bullpen give him added utility there.
One more thing that feels worth mentioning at this point: As someone lucky enough to have had some access to the clubhouse with a press credential this season, let me confirm to you, dear reader, that this is a team full of great guys. I?m not saying they?re perfect and that there are no bad eggs, yet the overwhelming majority of the players on this team are individuals I feel more than comfortable rooting for moving forward. The team that has always held a special place in my heart was the 1993 team. This team may not eclipse that team in terms of sentimentality and impact, but there?s plenty of space and time for them to create their own legacy for both newer and older fans alike.
It?s all gravy from here, but eleven more sure would be nice. |
