Here it is again for the 1,000th time. Photo courtesy of Google Images.

This article was written by Ronni Redmond from the blog, “Garlic Fries and Baseball: Baseball Odds and Ends” and was originally posted there on 2/23/2012.

The only reason I’m bringing this up again is because Calcaterra over at Hardball Talk said Posey was told to “stop” blocking the plate.   This implies that Posey “was” blocking the plate, which he was not as the photo above clearly shows.  The runner intentionally left the baseline with a spectacular charge aimed directly towards the catcher with no intention of getting to the home plate.  The runner, Scott Cousins, said later his intention was to dislodge the ball~ which he could not, because Buster never had it.

But here’s what’s really amazing about this photo.   Notice the umpire.  No one had a better birds-eye view than this umpire, standing steadfast and staring intently at the play as it was happening and boom!  Crash!  Bam! Slam!   The play’s over and the umpire calls the runner safe, run counts, and the catcher is lying mortally wounded* (defined below) on the field.  What the heck was he thinking?  The umpire I mean.

Somehow it seems reasonable that MLB Rule 7.08 (b) could be construed to somehow apply in this situation.  A good attorney could probably make it work.  I don’t know.  I’m just saying the umpire has total charge of the game.   And in this case I think he let this one get by.  Too bad.  Would have been a real feather in his cap if he’d stepped up to the plate (no pun intended) took a stand and said something like “No more! This ain’t gonna happen on my watch”.   Like the NFL did when they made it illegal to spear with their helmets, with no intentional blows to the head.

Who knows?  An umpire taking a stand.  Might have changed the game forever.  He has the authority to do that you know. Baseball needs a little cleaning up.   It’s not just bulldozing the catcher at the plate that can get really nasty, but what about all those pitches thrown at the batter’s head, back, arm, foot, leg in retaliation for some stupid reason (there are hundreds of them) that everyone knows about, including the umpires.  They all know what’s going on.  It’s extremely rare that a pitcher gets thrown out of a game for hitting or trying to hit a batter, even though it happens regularly.  And if a pitcher does happen to be ejected for intentionally hitting a batter the minimum fine is a whopping $200! (MLB Rule 8.02)  Can you believe it?  Who makes these rules?  I mean a batter could get killed, and has, from one of those bean balls.

"The Scales of Justice"

Here in the land of fruits and nuts according to Wikipedia, “on April 6, 2006, in a case arising from a game involving community college baseball teams, the Supreme Court of California ruled that baseball players in California assume the risk of being hit by baseballs even if the balls were intentionally thrown so as to cause injury.” So I guess the message is if you’ve got the moxie to do it, do it in California.

You might notice I’ve not once tried to blame any of this on Scott Cousins (see my June 4, 2011 post).  Scott was doing what he was trained to do which is to do everything he can to win. And he did.

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking"

No, this is something that falls on the Major League Umpires Association.  They’re the only ones who can get this violent aspect of the game under control and they don’t need any rule changes to do it.   If they’d start bouncing players out of the game when they resort to these retaliatory pitches and the unnecessary violence at the plate and elsewhere, the players would get the message and it would stop.  The question is, will they?  The answer is, probably not.  They’d have to move  a tad out of their comfort zone and who the heck wants to do that?

* Mortally Wounded Defined:   A mortal wound is a very severe and serious injury (almost always a form of penetration or laceration) whether accidental or inflicted intentionally…

Had Posey not been injured on this play, just how different could the Giants' 2011 season have been?

Well, it looks like the 2011 NL West Champions will be the surprising and over-achieving Arizona Diamondbacks. I think that it would take a miracle for the Giants to repeat as NL West Champs and make the playoffs. If the Giants did repeat as NL West Champs, I honestly do not believe that they would get very far in the playoffs. I do think that the Giants ran out of miracles last year when they won the World Series. This is why it is so difficult to repeat as Champions. I would say that had the Giants not had so many injury problems in 2011 that they might have had an easier time trying to repeat this year. Of course, watching the Giants offense this year has become downright painful to watch, too.

I also do feel that had Posey not been injured so early in the season that the Giants probably would not have traded for Mets right fielder Carlos Beltran. This definitely has not work out for the Giants. I do think that the Giants should have traded for a catcher to replace Posey rather than go with Whiteside and Chris Stewart. I am already starting to try to figure out what the Giants will do next year. I am looking at rookies on the way up and players on the way down.

I do have no problem with the Giants’ releasing Aaron Rowand and Miguel Tejada. Rowand was moderately productive in the time that he spent with the Giants, but his offensive numbers have clearly been on the decline, and Tejeda was basically never productive with the Giants. It is unfortunate that in professional sports you have to pay players for not playing. This doesn’t take place in the real world, generally. I think that the Giants and other teams should be more careful in offering free agent contracts to older players. They need to look at age and the injury history of players.

I love baseball trades, especially in midseason. They are exciting! You just do not know what you are going to get. of course, it also depends on whether your team is a buyer or a seller. Is your team competitive and trying to build for the post season? Or, is your team auctioning good players to get prospects to build for the future?

The Giants have been hit hard by injuries throughout the season. And yes, at times, the team has been difficult to watch. The injuries have necessitated trades to shore up the team. After Freddy Sanchez was lost for the year, the Giants picked up Bill Hall, who had been released by Houston. Hall was unproductive and was sent down to Fresno. The Giants then picked up Jeff Keppinger from Houston, who was playing well until he too got hurt.

The team supposedly won the Carlos Beltran sweepstakes by trading their 2009 1st Round Draft Pick Zack Wheeler for him. Wheeler was a good pitching prospect who was still developing. Everyone’s expectations were that Beltran would pick up the Giants’ offense. Unfortunately, he started off cold before he too got hurt. It remains to be seen what level of productivity the Giants will get from him over the remainder of the year. I do not even know if the Giants will sign him this offseason and I hope that they don’t.

The Phillies further strengthened themselves by trading for Hunter Pence. As did the Braves when they acquired Michael Bourn. Now, the Giants are dealing with injuries and nicks and dings to other players. It is truly stiffling their offense. While I recognize that it took the Giants most of last year to get on track, I just don’t feel the magic that surrounded the team last year. One issue that the 2010 team never had to deal with was health, as the only major injury they had to endure was to Mark DeRosa. The loss turned out to be a blessing as it led to the signing of Pat Burrell, who sparked their offense. Of course, he too has been injured this year.

The team then went and picked up Orlando Cabrera from the Indians. This was a smart pickup. Cabrera is a veteran with playoff experience, including playing on the 2004 World Series Champion Boston Red Sox. The Giants needed him because of the infield injuries and the inabilities of Miguel Tejada, who was supposed to help the offense but has not been the player that the fans, myself included, or the team expected they were getting.

What do I see happening for the Giants the rest of the year? That is a very difficult question to answer. I don’t know if their offense can pick things up. We know that their pitching is solid. It is similar to last year, except that magic, which was so apparent last year, is still lacking.

It was great to see so much midseason trading activity this year, but generally, it is quite lacking. I firmly believe that it is due to the amount of money being paid to athletes in general, and baseball players specifically. Owners and General Managers are always trying to figure out if they can afford to take on another contract. Last year worked out well for the Giants because Tampa Bay was still paying the majority of Burrell’s salary while he played for the Giants. The team also got their value’s worth from Cody Ross, who the team had wanted to keep away from the Padres. The additions of Ramon Ramirez and Javier Lopez solidified their bullpen for the rest of the year and through the playoffs. Now, with some trades, it is trading one huge contract for another in the hopes that the player acquired with a huge contract will benefit from a change in scenery.

So, in my history of being a Giants fan, what midseason trades do I remember fondly? Of course, in 1978 the Giants traded for Hector Cruz, Jim Dwyer, and Roger Metzger. All solid players, but not quite good enough to get the Giants past the more talented Dodgers and Reds and into the post season. In 1987, then GM Al Rosen picked up Dave Dravecky, Craig Lefferts, and Kevin Mitchell from the Padres and Rick Reuschel from the Pirates – two trades that helped lead to the ’87 NL West Division and 1989 NL Pennant winning teams. The Padres did receive a Cy Young Award winning closer, Mark Davis, out of the deal, amongst other players. In 1997, the Giants picked up Wilson Alvarez, Roberto Hernandez, and Danny Darwin from the White Sox for Keith Foulke and Bobby Howry. The Giants won the division, only to lose to the Marlins in the playoffs. In 2000, the White Sox won the AL Central with help from the players they received in that deal.

In baseball terms, you have to give up something to get something. Are you playing for right now or for the future? It looks like the Giants and their fans may have to continue to suffer through the rest of the 2011 season while waiting for a hopefully healthier 2012 season. I still believe that the biggest piece of the offensive puzzle missing in 2011 has been Buster Posey, but hope does spring eternal.

I did absolutely hate to see Buster Posey get hurt in a collision at home plate. And, to see him out for the rest of the season was utterly awful. I have watched Scott Cousins’ collision with Buster Posey multiple times, and I get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach each time i see it.

Image taken from Google Imgaes via the Bleacher Report

I am a die hard Giants fan!! And I always have been. However, there are several things that should be pointed out. Buster Posey was blocking the plate and did not have possession of the ball. I do also think that the way Posey set himself up at home plate to receive the ball from the outfielder did look physically awkward with his leg pinned under himself. I do think that this made Posey, in all likelihood more susceptible to a severe injury, which is what did happen when he was hit by Scott Cousins.

I do not think that it was the intention of Scott Cousins to hurt Buster Posey, and put him out for the rest of the year. It is just something that happened like a freak accident. I do also recognize that emotions have tended to run high since Posey’s injury have cost the Giants one of their big contributors from last year’s World Series team.

The next step after Posey’s season-ending injury is for the Giants to regroup, as a team, and try to move forward from it. I think that professional athletes have the ability to regroup mentally out of necessity, because they have been conditioned to do so. I do think that it is more difficult for fans to do so, since fans are on the outside looking in, and players tend to be an insular group, as a team.

Recently, I was hanging out with a group of friends and we were watching the Giants play the Cardinals. One of my friends, Robert, was trying to bait me by rooting for the Cardinals. I did find this to be ironic since Robert is a Cincinnati Reds fan, and it was better for the Reds if the Cards lose since they are in the same division. I told Robert that a half game in the standings in June may not matter now, but it may have a huge impact in September, when your team is fighting for a playoff spot. This is constantly evident between the “have” teams and the “have not” teams, teams fighting to be in the playoffs.

So, now, it is up to the Giants to regroup, and go forward with the rest of the season. The starting catcher is now Eli Whiteside. There were rumors that the Giants might go out and get another catcher, possibly bringing back the now-retired former catcher Bengie Molina or picking up Ivan Rodriguez. I have heard that Molina is no longer in playing shape, and that the Giants are not interested in pursuing a trade yet for a catcher, just yet.

I did forget to mention that the Giants had three other significant injuries– Barry Zito with a sprained foot, Pablo Sandoval with a broken hamate bone, and Mark DeRosa with an injured wrist. Zito and  Sandoval may be coming back fairly soon, but for DeRosa, it may be the end of his career after re-agrivating the same wrist that he injured last year.
The loss of Zito was made slightly better with the emergence of Ryan Vogelsong, a Giants draft pick from 2001. Vogelsong has been around the block– traded to the Pirates in the Jason Schmidt deal and then, to Japan and now back to the Giants. He is doing very well, which creates even more questions of what happens when Zito does come back.
With the loss of Sandoval, Miguel Tejeda moved over to third base, rookie Brandon Crawford has been playing shortstop. Crawford does have a solid glove, and his bat has been a pleasant surprise. Crawford hit a grand slam home run in his first game as a Giant versus the St. Louis Cardinals.

There is a new surprise team in the National League West this year, the Arizona Diamondback. They have a revamped bullpen, and have been a solid team for the first couple months of the season. However, being realistic, I do expect them to fade before the end of the season.

Of course, the Giants are not the only team to have to deal with injuries. They are, of course, the defending World Series Champions, but it remains to be seen what will happen the rest of the baseball season. I do expect the Giants to have a lag with the loss of Buster Posey, but the Giants seemed to have picked it up– taking three of four from St. Louis on the road to close out May, as they head into June.

It does look like a repeat of last year– inconsistent hitting, good pitching and solid defense. So, basically, it is one year later, and still more torture. Ah, you’ve got to love this game….

One factor that was not prevalent last year is the number of injuries that the Giants have faced this year. Already, they’ve lost Andres Torres, their center fielder, Barry Zito, a starting pitcher, and Pablo Sandoval, their third baseman. Sandoval, who lost weight during the off season, showed himself to be back in his 2009 form– with good range at third base, and a solid bat in the lineup. Sandoval should be back in seven weeks, Zito, who sprained his foot should be back in, I believe, a couple weeks, and Torres is due back soon, as well.

There are other factors which have not helped the Giants– a general slump in hitting on the team. Aubrey Huff, Pat Burrell, Buster Posey and Miguel Tejada are all not hitting up to their usual batting averages. Several other hitters have picked up the slack– Aaron Rowand and Mike Fontenot are doing well but not well enough to cover for the whole team.

Of course, now there are rumors starting to spread that the Giants are looking at trading for Jose Reyes of the Mets. He is in the last year of a huge contract, and is available. While he is also a very talented and versatile player, the question then becomes how much do they have to give up to get him? Jose Reyes does also have a history of injuries. All of these issues must factor into whether or not the Giants are going to pursue Reyes.

I think that the Giants players might be feeling stressed because of the success of last season. I do think that they’ll relax and re-find the success that they had last year. This will come from being a veteran ball club, along with having some young talented players as well. It will also come from having the injured players go through rehab and come back healthy to help the team win some games.

The Giants have not completely collapsed and they are not too far back in the standings to make up the ground. In fact, everyone in the NL West is pretty much bunched together. I think that the Giants and everyone else in the NL West may be fighting it out until the end of the season. Right now, it looks like the Rockies may have the early advantage. It remains to be seen if their pitching will hold up over the course of a long season.

One of my personal highlights of the season, aside from Opening Day and the World Series flag-raising ceremony, was the presentation of the World Series rings. I had, of course, never seen that ceremony before in San Francisco. It was spectacular to watch the Giants players come on the field in their gold-lettered uniforms by their uniform numbers. The ovations for each player called to the podium were fantastic with the loudest cheers being for Tim Lincecum and Buster Posey. However, to me, the highlight of the whole ceremony was when the Giants brought out four of the six living Hall of Famers, Willie McCovey, Orlando Cepeda, Gaylord Perry, and the great Willie Mays for them to receive their World Series rings. The only ones not present were Juan Marichal and Monte Irvin. That, to me, was such a profoundly beautiful moment that it almost defies description.

The game that night early in the season versus the Cardinals was a great game too. It truly did resemble the torture of the games of last year. It came down to the Giants losing, 2-1, in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Giants mounted a two-out rally, and had runners at first and second base. Miguel Tejada was the batter, and the pitcher went to a full 3-2 count on him which started the runners going with the pitch. Tejada hit a drive to left center field which was knocked down by the wind. The Cards’ center fielder, Colby Rasmus, got a glove on the ball as he attempted to make a basket catch deep in left center field on the warning track. The ball popped out of the centerfielder’s glove and landed on the warning track. Both runners scored, and the Giants snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. It was a spectacular victory!!

While this game was at the beginning of April, and at the start of the baseball season, it certainly felt like a kind of continuation of last year’s season. And, now, it is time to move past the celebration of 2010 and into the 2011 season. I do kind of find it hard to believe that we are one month into the new season. There is not much more that I can say other than I hope that this season exhibits all of the excitement and only a limited amount of the torture from last season. Go Giants!!

Ah, Opening Day. To me, there is nothing more special than Opening Day. I just love the smells of the ball park: the freshly cut grass, the hot dogs and the fraternity of fans who are banded by their love of baseball now coming together for another new season. It is, like seeing friends that you haven’t seen for a awhile and you get reacquainted with them.
However, Opening Day 2011 was even more special than any opening day that I had ever been to before and ever will be. However, I will get more into that later on…

Opening Day 2011, for me, actually started the night before the game. There was a book reading in San Francisco at Books, Inc. on Chestnut Street. The book reading was for a wonderful book called, “Candlestick Park” by Ted Atlas, a Bay Area native. The book is not just about Candlestick Park as a baseball ball park, but also as a football stadium, a concert venue which hosted the last live Beatles Concert  and where Pope John Paul II once performed mass. I will always hold Candlestick Park fondly in my memories as the place that fortified me to become a baseball fan and to support the team that I love through thick and thin over the course of many years. It was also a place that I had gone with both sets of grandparents who, in their own way, taught me the enjoyment of baseball, along with my childhood friends.

While at the book reading, I met a man who is working on a baseball project, writing a book on the 1971 Giants. He lived in upstate New York when he was a kid, and got a book on Giants legend Willie Mays. The 1971 Giants won the division on the last day of the season, and they did so without a twenty-game winner or a .300 hitter, a very difficult accomplishment. I, too, have a project. I have a 1979 SF Giants Media Guide which I am trying to get signed by every player in it and I am down to only needing five more players. I chose the 1979 Media Guide, because I picked it up when I was a child, and it has the 1978 Giants team, which I originally fell in love with. The most notable players that I am missing are reliever Randy Moffitt and back-up outfielder, Hector Cruz, along with Vic Harris, Greg Johnston and minor leaguer Mike Glinatsis. It is my hope to one day have these remaining autographs in my Media Guide.

While I was at the book store, I saw an orange pamphlet book entitled “O, Gigantic Victory! Baseball Poems: The 2010 Championship Season” by Steve Hermanos. As I flipped through it, I just fell in love with it. It is one of those things that I believe one can only find in San Francisco. I’m a firm believer in karma: I just think that too many things happen in life to be coincidental. It is how people fall in love through a chance encounter and how things happen for a reason; like fate or destiny. At the end of the book, in the book of poetry, the man wrote that he had chemotherapy and survived cancer in 2010. I could not help but think that the Giants’ 2010 season somehow helped this man fight and survive cancer. This book of poems will have significance later on…

After going to Books, Inc., I went home after stopping at Lefty O’Doul’s Bar & Restaurant in San Francisco for a beer and to socialize with out-of-towners and those visiting San Francisco. My love of the Giants grew out of my love of San Francisco. What can I say?! It’s a spectacularly beautiful city and I am truly blessed to have been born and raised here. It’s also, in part, hereditary as well, since my father was head of the San Francisco Historical Society and he has written several books on San Francisco history and architecture.

I got up very early the next morning to go to Opening Day at AT & T Park. Two local sports dj’s on the Giants radio station, KNBR, “Mac” and “Murph” were broadcasting from the Public House, a bar located next to AT & T Park and I knew that it would be a fun event. I won a trivia contest, although I knew the answer before the question was even completed and got a free copy of Brian Murphy’s new book, “Worth the Wait”. It is an utterly beautiful book, which chronicles in photos and words, the 2010 Giants Championship season. I gave this book to my neighbor and one of my baseball buddies, Diane. She is no longer able to go to Giants games nor get around easily due to health reasons, but we still share a deep love of the Giants.

Finally, the doors opened for the ball park and the huge assortment of people, of which I was one, entered the cathedral otherwise known as AT & T Park.  I do recognize that for a lot of people, other than ballplayers, that it is the place where they work: the vendors, the ticket takers, the security people, the writers and the ushers; they are all part of what makes the ball park experience so special. I was standing around near the press box, waiting for Andy Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News. He had written a book called “A Band of MiSFits: Tales of the 2010 San Francisco Giants”. As I was waiting, I chatted with one of the ushers and asked her how she enjoyed the post-season. She replied that she stopped working in August to have triplets, and proudly showed a photo of them on her camera phone. We joked that she named them Felipe, Matty and Jesus, a reference to the brothers who were Giants outfielders of the 1960’s. Andy Baggarly finally got there and signed his book for me. I commented how much I loved the ending, the Giants winning the World Series. He thanked me and graciously signed the book.

After this, I went to the outfield promenade. I wanted to be close to where the Giants were going to raise the 2010 Championship flag. Streamers were fired off and two banners dropped down on both sides of the score board, proclaiming the Giants as the 2010 World Series Champions. As I stood out there and waited for the ceremony, I chatted with another usher. A man came up to me, said that he was writing an article and he asked me what the Championship meant to me. I actually started to cry. All those years of going to Candlestick Park and AT & T Park with my friends and my grandparents just meant so much to me and it was now, finally being rewarded. The man handed me his card – it was an orange card and the name on it was Steve Hermanos, the same person who wrote the wonderful book of Giants poetry! I told him how much that book of poetry meant to me and how glad I was that he beat cancer. He gave me a free copy of his book of poetry, and inscribed it to me, “To Charles, A Man who bleeds orange. Let’s win it in ‘11. Great meeting you, Steve Hermanos.” This is exactly what I meant about karma!

I waited out in the bleachers, and enjoyed the pre-game ceremony. They announced the Cardinals players, their manager and the starting line-up. Then, it was time for the World Champs! Cheers went up for the medical staff, the coaching staff, the manager and finally…the players. The championship flag was passed down the line until it ended up in the hands of the closer who finished off the Texas Rangers along with the 2010 baseball season, Brian Wilson. Wilson is the quintessential closer– slightly nuts and brilliant with ice water in his veins and the ability to close out ball games, albeit with some drama at times.
He ran out to center field with the championship flag and he was hoisted up into the center field stands. He gave high five’s to fans as he went up the bleacher stairs and around the cable car in centerfield to the podium there, where the flag pole was located. I watched with tremendous pride as the 2010 World Series Champions flag went up the flag pole. It was just great!!

In 2010, the brand of baseball that the Giants played was literally torture for most, if not all, Giants fans, except when it got to the playoffs. And Opening Day in 2011, was no different. The Giants had a slim lead throughout most of the game. The Giants kept leaving runners on base unable to score them throughout the whole game. Brian Wilson came into the ninth inning with a 3-2 lead. He got the first two Cardinals’ hitters out and walked the next hitter, catcher Yadier Molina, brother of former Giants catcher, Bengie Molina. The next hitter, Steve Descalso, a local guy from Redwood City, hit a ground ball to the right of second base. It should have been fielded by Freddy Sanchez who could have flipped to shortstop Miguel Tejada for the out. Tejada came over, passed second base and tried to make the play, and threw to first base too late. The batter was safe at first and Molina was safe at second. The next batter, Jon Jay, was hit by a pitch to load the bases. After a long battle between Brian Wilson and Cards’ shortstop Ryan Theriot, it (the battle) was won by Theriot, who singled in two runs to give the Cards a 4-3 lead, going into the bottom of the ninth inning.

With two outs and nobody on in the bottom of the ninth inning, Aaron Rowand came up and hit a single up the middle. Rowand went to second base on a wild pitch and Buster Posey worked Cards’ reliever Ryan Franklin for a walk, but not before hitting a loud foul ball down the left field line that created excitement for the crowd. Up to the plate came Pablo Sandoval. He had a great year in 2009 and a bad year in 2010  due to weight issues. He had lost range at third base and his hitting suffered. In 2011, Sandoval looks slim and trim and he had been having a good game. Sandoval hit a single into right field to tie up the game, but they still couldn’t win it in the bottom of the ninth.

And, the torture continued… In the eleventh inning, Giants center fielder Andres Torres lead off with a triple. Torres, the possible winning run, stood at third base with nobody out. The Cards’ moved their left fielder in to play third base, which meant that the Cards only had two outfielders. Freddy Sanchez struck out and Aaron Rowand hit a ball down the third base line which was speared by the left fielder, playing out of his normal position, who got Torres in a run down and Rowand advanced to second base. However, they still couldn’t score!

The Cardinals kept putting runners on base and they were not able to score their runners either. Finally, in the bottom of the twelfth inning with one out, Miguel Tejada hit a single and was forced at second base by Nate Schierholtz. Torres reached first base on an Albert Pujols error with Schierholtz going to third base. Freddy Sanchez was intentionally walked bringing up Aaron Rowand, coincidentally who got an infield single in extra innings of the Opening Day game of 2010. Rowand heroically hit a single off the left-center field wall to send everyone home happy!

It was a spectacular game, full of drama and torture. Same as last year and I will never forget it! Let’s go Giants in 2011!!

Photo taken from Google Images c/o The Examiner

 



So, what did I do in the winter aftermath of the 2010 Giants winning the World Series? I enjoyed the victory parade down Market Street. I got to see the World Series Trophy at City Hall in San Francisco. I went to the Giants Fanfest, which was packed with an enormous turnout. And I just basked in the afterglow of ultimate victory.

I also spent part of my time watching the three highlight DVDs of the Giants’ 2010 season. One, was narrated by Giants announcer Duane Kuiper, another one was narrated by comedian Rob Schneider, and another one was the actual five games of the World Series, along with Games 4 and 6 of the NLCS vs the Phillies. I watched them with great pride. I also thought of those people, living and dead, who helped foster my love of the Giants from when I was a youngster until now. I am so thankful to them and the contributions that they made to my life, and to my enjoyment of the game of baseball. I also appreciate those people who are in my life now, who still foster my love of the game.
I did have the great pleasure recently of spending a recent afternoon with my neighbor and friend, Diane. We spent the afternoon watching the World Series parade on her DVR. It truly was a spectacular event!! There is just no way to comprehend the enormity of the number of people while you are standing there among them.

I am already looking forward to Opening Day on April 8th vs the St. Louis Cardinals, when the Giants will raise the World Series Championship banner. On April 9th, the Giants players will get their World Series rings. These two days should be as special as ever. I ask you “What could be more special?” This 2010 Giants were the first Giants team to ever win a World Series in San Francisco, and it is their first World Series Championship since 1954 as a franchise, when the Giants were in New York with the great Willie Mays in center field.
I am relieved that there was very little turn over in Giants personnel from 2010 to 2011. The Giants did lose Juan Uribe, Edgar Renteria, Chris Ray, and Eugenio Velez. The Giants kept the nucleus of the team together, along with their great pitching staff. Former AL MVP Miguel Tejada should ably replace Edgar Renteria and Juan Uribe.
Do I think that the Giants will repeat as World Series Champions? Yes, of course, I do for several reasons. The first reason is that the offense of the Giants will be together for the whole season; this means that Buster Posey, Cody Ross, and Pat Burrell will be together all season long. Those players who slumped last year– Aaron Rowand, Pablo Sandoval, and Barry Zito– have something to prove and I assume they’ll want to have bigger parts of the party in 2011. I think that those players will come back stronger and have much better years in 2011 than they did in 2010.  This can also be said for those players who are coming back from injury, most notably Mark De Rosa, who should be a bigger contributor in 2011. The other reason I think that the Giants will repeat is that the Giants will have Madison Bumgardner in the rotation for the whole season, too.
What do the Giants’ starting pitchers have left to prove? Lincecum has won two Cy Young Awards, three NL Strikeout titles and has been an All-Star. Matt Cain is an All-Star. Jonathan Sanchez has thrown a no-hitter. I do like that they have a healthy competition against each other and try to outdo each other. I think that the next set of goals for the pitchers should be to try to win 20 games AND win the Cy Young Award. Winning 20 games is a very difficult goal to achieve. It does require some luck, but also doing well and being consistent. I do believe that there are multiple starting pitchers on the Giants who should definitely aspire to this goal. One of my fond memories of my youth was when current Giants announcer Mike Krukow won 20 games in 1986, one of the signature events of his career and a goal that he does take pride in. I am sure that Lincecum, Cain, Sanchez, Zito and Bumgardner think that they are legitimate contenders for the Cy Young Award, as well, along with closer Brian Wilson, as well.
I do realize that there are many good pitchers in the National League, who may prevent the Giants pitchers from winning the coveted Cy Young Award. However, this should not prevent the Giants pitchers from wanting to, and attempting to achieve the goal of winning 20 games. Of course, I do also realize that winning 20 games does require some luck, as well– good run support, solid defense, and good bullpen work. In life as well as in sports, it’s always important to have goals and to strive to achieve those goals.

Aside from the Giants Highlight DVDs which have already come out, there are two pending books which should be coming out in time for the beginning of the new baseball season. One is by San Jose Mercury sports writer, Andy Baggerly and the other is a coffee table book by KNBR Radio personality, Brian Murphy. I think that both of these books should be great, and will definitely complement each other very well. They should also bring back the splendid memories for Giants fans of the wonderful 2010 season, too.
I do love this time of year as the Spring Training season grows shorter, and the start of the regular season comes into view on the calendar. Whatever happens during the course of the season, the Giants will, for the whole 2011 baseball season, be the defending World Series Champions. The 2010 season will be a season that every Giants fan will take great pride in, and no Giants fan will ever forget that magical season…myself included.

Go To This Link to Buy this Print - http://www.idrawpeople.com/detail.asp?prodid=1263

A few weeks ago, one of my dear friends e-mailed me to ask what had happened to my enthusiasm for the Baseball Winter Meetings. I think that my feelings for the Winter Meetings changed when it went from being an opportunity for teams to trade players to try to shore up their weaknesses to being an economic “cattle call,” where it’s about where high priced free agents are going to sign, for how many years and for how much money. I have always been more excited with trades than with free agent signings. I have never liked the economic side of baseball, much preferring what I actually see on the grassy fields of AT & T Park, along with the World Series trophy, which now resides in San Francisco. I know that it’s been two months since the Giants won the World Series, but I am still trying to adjust to this reality.
So, what did the Giants do in the off season? The Giants pitching, their strength was largely left untouched with perhaps one minor player signing elsewhere. The Giants did reward Aubrey Huff with a three year contract after another team had aggressively pursued him. This is a good signing. Huff is a good player, a chemistry guy who put up good numbers. The Giants also re-signed Pat Burrell, a veteran spark, who definitely helped the Giants into the post season for a bargain price; it is also indicative of how much Burrell wanted to remain in the Bay Area with his hometown team. Would another team have paid him more? Possibly, but he really wanted to stay with the Giants.
As with all teams you are always going to get players moving from one team to another from one year to another. The Giants lost Juan Uribe to the hated L.A. Dodgers, because they offered more money for more years more quickly than the Giants. I do appreciate Uribe for his clutch play– hitting and defense, his NLCS-winning home run versus the Phillies, and the fact that his second cousin, the late Jose Uribe, one of my favorite Giants of the 1980’s, who I know is smiling down from Heaven on the Giants’ World Championship. Generally, I do boo former Giants players who go to the Dodgers, but I feel that Uribe’s contributions to the Giants will over shadow this feeling. While I won’t boo him, I will not cheer for him either– heck, he’s a Dodger.
To replace Juan Uribe, the Giants signed Miguel Tejada, who started his career with the Oakland A’s a few years ago, and spent last year with the Houston Astros and the San Diego Padres. Tejada is projected as the starting shortstop with the end of World Series’ MVP Edgar Renteria’s expensive contract. The Giants are negotiating to bring back Renteria, but they are currently having a problem with the amount of money, and the gap is fairly wide. I also think that the Giants are viewing Renteria as a utility player, and I don’t think that Renteria views himself in that role. I think that Renteria should have retired with a pretty good career, book-ended as a World Series MVP in 1997 and in 2010.
What do I see for the 2011 San Francisco Giants? I am tired of the Phillies, who signed ace Cliff Lee, already projecting themselves as the 2011 World Champs. The season hasn’t even started yet, and who knows what will happen during the course of the long baseball season. I think that the Giants’ pitching will keep them highly competitive in the NL West, and in the National League, altogether. I am thrilled to see what Madison Bumgarner and Jonathan Sanchez will do over the course of next season, along with Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum, and Barry Zito. I do think that all of these pitchers are capable of winning twenty games this year. Yes, even Barry Zito, who has done it before.
And what about the hitters? Freddy Sanchez should be healthy and with the Giants all season, along with Pat Burrell and Cody Ross, so I am hoping that there will be less of the Giants’ offensive “torture” that was indicative of 2010. I am also hoping and praying that the Giants will get a better offensive year from Aaron Rowand, a true professional, who never publicly complained about being relegated to bench duty. Which Pablo Sandoval will show up? The offensive Sandoval, from 2009 with a .330 batting average and 25 home runs, or the one who struggled in 2010 and was benched for parts of the year? Will Andres Torres continue to be the offensive and defensive force that he was 2010? This speculation is part of what makes baseball so much fun, not knowing what will happen in the future. Of course, it is a markedly different feeling coming off a World Series Championship. Surreal, unbelievable and different. I do not have to think “Wait until next year” or that next year could be the Giants’ year because 2010 was The Year!!
I have also seen the World Series Trophy, which is something of a Holy Grail. It is bright, gleaming and beautiful and was surrounded by security. I was able to see it at San Francisco City Hall. I will get the pictures posted later on. I may have the opportunity to see it again, and I will every time. While it is a reminder of the 2010 World Championship Giants, it is, to me, the mark of perseverance of being a San Francisco Giants fan. I knew that one day my faith and devotion to this team and this City would pay off. I am already looking forward to Opening Day 2011.
I do wish all my readers out there a wonderful Holiday season, and the hope for an even better year in 2011.  And hopefully, maybe the Giants will repeat…

Parade photo provided by the author

The Giants’ World Series victory was spectacular!! I had spent the previous day working at the Polling Booth, starting at 6 am until 9 pm. I was utterly exhausted, but I wasn’t going to miss the parade. I kept waking up in the middle of the night trying to avoid my worst nightmare of oversleeping the parade. I would awaken hourly, and look at the clock in horror.

Finally, when I could deal with this no more. I got up, showered and got dressed. It was 6 am, and the BART (subway) trains into San Francisco were already packed with people wearing orange and black. These are my comrades, the people who I suffered with during the long seasons, the seasons of futility and frustration. Yes, I did know that some of these people were “fair weather” fans, and I didn’t care. I was just overjoyed that the team that I had fallen in love with when I was thirteen years old in 1978 had finally won a World Series.

This was one of the most unlikeliest of teams, but they were truly a team, a team that had come together during a very long season. This was a team that the city of San Francisco had fallen in love with, and this was a team that had given us, the fans, the ultimate gift. Whatever, happens in the future at least for 2010 the Giants are the World Series Champions and no one can ever take that away from us. It is also something that the specific players on that team can carry with them not just for the rest of their professional baseball careers, but also for the rest of their lives.

There were two speeches that I absolutely loved. The first one was Duane Kuiper, one of the Giants announcers who said that the Padres, Braves, Phillies, and Rangers were “out of here.” The other speech that I loved was from the Giants announcer Mike Krukow, which was truly special. I do think that he has the ability to keep things in perspective. Krukow told us to think of those people who couldn’t be there. I thought of both sets of my grandparents, and how I would go to Giants games with them, or I would listen to the Giants on the radio or watch them on television at paternal grandparents’ home in San Mateo. I also thought of my friends and those friendships that had been forged over the course of the years made so much better by a shared common love of the Giants.

I was also totally and utterly exhausted! By the time the parade ended at San Francisco City Hall, I had been standing for about six hours. My feet ached in a way that they hadn’t hurt so badly since I had bunion surgery eight years previously (One of my dear friends still calls me Charles Bunion, which cracks me up). It was just a sea of “orange and black” humanity. And, it was very special!!

Occasionally, chants would break out, and there would be a chorus of voices out of the crowd singing “Thank You Giants,” or “Let’s Go, Giants” and it would ripple throughout the crowd. Every once in a while, I would see someone crying, including myself. The tears would flow that one of my lifelong dreams had actually been realized with one of the most unlikely teams. I am sure that this was the case with these other people, as well.

Photo of Charles with proof that this was not a dream!

In the aftermath of the drama of the playoffs and the celebration of the Giants’ World Series victory, it took me a few days to realize that I could let go of the pain and anguish of past years’ disappointments and embrace the joy of 2010. I do know that the composure of next years’ team will be different. Teams do change year-to-year, one of the realities of baseball as a business, but the year of 2010 will always be special for me, and for other Giants fans.

Congratulations to the Giants who have now won World Series Championships in both New York and San Francisco! From the perspective of a non-Giants fan, someone who hasn’t had the priveledge to see them play very often if at all, I’d have to say that I was impressed by the pitching in general on this team. I was especially impressed with Lincecum, now I know why we won 2 consecutive Cy Yong Awards! I was also impressed with rookie Madison Burmgardner and the bullpen. As far as position players go, I love to watch young Posey both behind, in front of (how he handles the pitchers) and at the plate. I was also surprised by the play of Uribe on both sides of the ball and the bat of playoff hero Cody Ross (why the Marlins cut him loose is beyond my comprehension).

For those of you not in town for the parade, here’s a video of the event courtesy of Fox Sports…

For those San Francisco Giants fans who would like a piece of Giants history, the people over at AllPosters.com have put together this collection of 2010 World Series prints that can be framed and purchased. I have picked a few of my favorites below. Clicking on them will bring you to the allposters.com page where you can place your order for the selected print.

San Francisco Giants 2010 World Series Champions Composite

Photo

8 in. x 10 in.

Buy at AllPosters.com

Texas Rangers v. San Francisco Giants, Game 5: Pitcher Tim Lincecum

Photographic Print

Petersen,…

12 in. x 9 in.

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Framed Mounted

Lincecum w/trophy

Texas Rangers v. San Francisco Giants, Game 5: Tim Lincecum

Photographic Print

., Pool

9 in. x 12 in.

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Framed Mounted

Texas Rangers v. San Francisco Giants, Game 5: (L-R) Brian Wilson #28 and Tim Lincecum #55

Photographic Print

., Pool

12 in. x 9 in.

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Framed Mounted

Texas Rangers v. San Francisco Giants, Game 5: Brian Wilson

Photographic Print

Pensinger, Doug

12 in. x 9 in.

Buy at AllPosters.com

Framed Mounted

Texas Rangers v. San Francisco Giants, Game 5: Brian Wilson

Photographic Print

Petersen,…

9 in. x 12 in.

Buy at AllPosters.com

Framed Mounted

Texas Rangers v. San Francisco Giants, Game 5: Buster Posey

Photographic Print

Martinez, Ronald

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Texas Rangers v. San Francisco Giants, Game 5: Cody Ross

Photographic Print

Martinez, Ronald

9 in. x 12 in.

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Framed Mounted

Texas Rangers v. San Francisco Giants, Game 5: World Series MVP Edgar Renteria

Photographic Print

., Elsa

12 in. x 9 in.

Buy at AllPosters.com

Framed Mounted