Revenge: A Game Two Can Play

Revenge: A Game Two Can Play

Well all right.  We got opening weekend in Arizona out of the way.  Now we can get on with the regular season.  I’m going to tell you right here and now, and not keep you in suspense:  Getting swept is the best possible thing that could have happened to the Giants.  It tells them first off, and first hand, that the Snakes are back, and that they are still capable of packing quite a bit of punch in those fangs.  

I have been saying it since he became their full-time manager, Kirk Gibson is a worthy opponent.  He leads by example, and his example is superior.  Well, we have a pretty dandy leader ourselves in Bruce Bochey.  We have the same pitching staff as 2010, from top to bottom, with two differences, and we have a core of regulars back from the championship season.

Would I prefer to be 3-0 at this time?  No doubt.  But then the Giants might get the idea that the D-backs are dead and buried, or at least de-fanged.  They might have carried a false sense of arrogance, that they were the champs again, when that is not the case.  The D-Backs are the current champs of the NL West, and the Giants will have to wait for the end of the season, to wrestle that crown away.  There are many more games to be played between these two teams, to make too much of the opening series.  Besides, the Giants will get to host the D-Backs in their own yard, sometime in the not-too-distant-future, so it will be the appropriate time for San Fran to extract revenge.  It’s a game two can play.

So I listened to the three games on the radio, having given up the Dish, in a cost-saving measure, and I have a few opinions.  My gut feeling is that the starting pitching is our strength, and they must be allowed to get the jitters out, and the adrenaline under control.  I do not worry about our starting pitching.  

Without box scores in front of me, my impression is that we are situated well for the upcoming season.  We lost three, one-run games, which featured some solid offense, and some brilliant relief pitching.  I was not happy about the three errors in one of the games, but I feel that was an aberration.  Frankly, I am more worried about Pablo’s arm than anything else.  I remember Steve Sax of the Dodgers, back in 1983, suddenly developing a case of errant arm, and as a second baseman, he kept throwing the ball into the stands.  He committed thirty errors that season, but went on to be very successful afterwards, for a number of different teams.  Pablo is struggling with his throws, and has been all spring.

So it’s like this.  Cabrera is smoking the ball;  Buster is coming back strong, despite leaving runners on base in the ninth in two of the three first games, and Crawford is other-worldly.  Pill made a stinging appearance, and the team just needs to relax and play their game.  The bottom line is those three games were separated by a total of three runs, and the Giants could just have easily have come out on top.  Don’t panic folks; remember last year we started out lost 3 of 4 to the Dodgers, including an excellent effort by Timmy against Clayton.  

There are 162 games in the season, and no one will remember or care that we lost the opening series.  Just so long as the D-backs don’t think they can pull that off all year.  It ain’t going to happen.  Take it from me, because we’re going to take it from them.  I’ll put my money on four of our starting horses any day of the week.  I would not give any of the four up at any price.  For Barry, I would take a 1963 Sandy Koufax mint condition Tops baseball card, or a comparable one of Willie.  Otherwise, we have the team we want, and we have the management that we want.

This is not some baseball “keep it posititve” drivel.  This is the truth.  And look, I realize that Barry is facing the Rockets-er, Rockies, today, and the result will be sad, but this too shall pass.  Keep this opening weekend in perspective and your seat belt fastened.  We’re going on a wild ride, and we’ve no place to go but up.  Just as I did not believe that we were going to win 162 games, I also do not believe that we are going to lose 162 games.  

Go Giants!