The Atlanta Braves are far from my favorite team. I did enjoy, however, watching Dale Murphy win his back-to-back MVPs in the 80s, and I respect what Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine have done. The purpose of this blog? To give credit to John Smoltz, who will turn 41 in May. the guy went 24-8 in 1996 and six seasons later, after he volunteered to go to the pen to help the team, he saved 55. This year he's 3-0, has struck out 21 in 16 innings. The guy still has game.
I really enjoy watching Tim Lincecum pitch. His face makes him look about 15, but his serpentine windup resembles the crafty Luis Tiant, and his warp-six velocity brings Nolan Ryan to mind. So far he's 2-0, with a 2.25 ERA and a wicked 22 K's in only 16 innings. I'd like to see him win 18-20 this year. But with SF's offensive offense, yikes. The Giants are 6-10 (one of five teams already into double-digit losses) and I still think they will lose 105 this season. Out of the 30 MLB teams, they are last in on-base % (.290), last in RBIs (47), and first in strikeouts (121). Thank heavens that Bengie Molina has cracked three homers (two in one game). Aurilia and Durham are batting .387 — combined. Aurilia (.196) and Durham (.189) will hopefully enjoy a regular view from the bench as the young kids (Lewis, Bowker, Velez) take the field for the orange and black.
So Monday was opening day, both for the Giants and for Comcast Sportsnet, the partially-owned-by-the-Giants network formerly known as Fox Sports Net. The network's performance was decent. As for the team's performance, well, uh, I guess you could say they lived up to expectations.
Problem is, expectations are that the 2008 Giants will celebrate 50 years in San Francisco by being the worst, least-potent 25-man group the organization has ever assembled. (Related side note: the late FSN Bay Area's recent promo ad asserting that the Giants were "primed for a run at the title" is possibly the most laughable thing I've ever heard. No clue how the guy they paid to say that for the spot got through the sentence without bursting out into uncontrollable laughter.)
"Eugenio Velez, a switch-hitter who will be only 26 in May, can play second, third or outfield, and looked good in his September call-up. I hope they give the kid some playing time."
That's what I wrote in my column "Cry, cry, baby" last Monday. Well, in Saturday's game against the Brewers, Velez — filling in for Durham at 2B — hit a single, double and triple, knocked in four RBIs, and stole his 13th base of spring. Am I the only one who thinks that Velez ought to not only make the Giants roster, but that the orange and black should start him — somewhere— when the season opens?
Last week the San Francisco Giants announced that they are taking steps to be more like the Red Sox, Yankees and Mets — by acquiring a stake in Fox Sports Net Bay Area.
Giants officials hope that the move will bring in more money, which will mean the Giants can stay in the top 10 in MLB salaries. If you wish to know more about that, read this Mercury News article. But the reason I mention this today is because you'll be noticing some changes at FSN in the coming months, and they could affect you, the North Coast viewer.
Well, that's just awesome. It turns out that former Giants head trainer Stan Conte, by all accounts a good, honest guy who is of no relation to Balco founder Victor Conte, may have inadvertently set off the entire Balco scandal, and by extension, the Mitchell Report, and by extension (hopefully), the cleansing of baseball.
I have not read the entire 409-page Mitchell Report, but fortunately, ESPN.com has dissected every inch and found some interesting things. Mark Fainaru-Wada, who was half of the S.F. Chronicle team that wrote "Game of Shadows" before landing a job at ESPN a couple of months ago, reveals some interesting stuff about what the Giants knew about Barry Bonds, Greg Anderson and potential steroids in the Clubhouse.
Continue reading "Into the Mitchell Report: Way to go, Stan" »