The end of the Giants’ six-game win streak notwithstanding, there’s a bit more spring in our collective steps around here recently. The Giants just finished a brutal stretch, 31 games in 30 days, by winning one more than they lost. Observers predicting a fall into the abyss were disappointed, as were so-called “fans” rooting for losses so the Giants could snag a top-three pick in next year’s amateur draft.
The August run of modest success owes much to players who represent the future, not the past, of this franchise: the energy and disruptive speed of Rajai Davis; the strong bullpen work of Brian Wilson and Brad Hennessey; the starting rotation as a whole; some flashes of ability here and there by Ortmeier and Frandsen. Those names don’t spell “FUTURE” in bright neon in the same marquee typeface as Drew, Upton and Young, or Kemp, Martin and Loney, but to just barely paraphrase Lesley Gore, it’s our future and we’ll delude ourselves if we want to.
So one reason to keep hope alive is a decent showing from the youngsters. Here’s another, in limerick form:
There was a sharp Greek named Pythag
Whose theorem exposed an odd lag.
Check the Giants' won-loss:
Though their season’s been dross
.500 should be in the bag.
After yesterday’s drubbing, their expected win-loss fell a bit under .500, but I take no poetic license: the Giants have scored about as many runs as they’ve surrendered. If Bonds leaves it will be nearly impossible to replace his offense, but counterpoint: the team has also suffered tremendously bad seasons from the entire infield. Gains from better infield production could help make up for the loss of Bonds’s bat.
The final bit of optimism comes from the draft. This guy says the Giants had the best showing in 2007. Those picks, plus the willingness to spend big bucks on a 16–year-old Dominican, shows the team has jettisoned its much-derided “We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Draft Picks” philosophy. The farm system is still paper-thin in high-level bats, but the momentum has shifted. The Matt Morris and Mark Sweeney trades show Brian Sabean still has an eye for interesting young talent.
To be optimistic, first you must accept Pythagoras into your heart and believe this year’s team should be a .500 team, even with a declining Bonds surrounded by flailing veteran bats, and even with a bullpen that until recently was pretty darn stinky.
What follows is the not-unreasonable hope that next year’s version — stocked with a more stable bullpen, a more nimble defense, a couple more young bats that surprise, a rotation with another year of experience, a more Zen-like Barry Zito, and perhaps a hitting star acquired for not too much of the Giants young pitching — will be .500. Or, with some of the luck that didn’t come the team’s way this year, above .500. And these days, as the St. Louis Cardinals proved last year and seem intent on proving again this year, playing just above .500 can sometimes take a team a long, long way.
