This isn’t a June Swoon, it’s an “Oh gawd, how do we get back to last October?”
It’s a season of Murphy’s Law baseball, with the people who aren’t getting injured unable to get out of slumps.
“It’s going to have to pick up,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “We know it.”
You do? Maybe last year was the aberration. This year is the irritation. There’s nothing to be done about Buster Posey and Freddy Sanchez, except to accept their absence. It doesn’t do any good wishing they were here, because they’re not here.
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“You move on because you have to.”
Bruce Bochy, the philosopher, said that Saturday. And later, when the Giants were smacked around by the Cincinnati Reds 10-2, you sensed the only place they were moving was down.
It was so bad, Bill Hall, who had been waived Friday by the Houston Astros and signed Saturday by San Francisco, was put in the game — and walked.
You wondered if maybe Jeff Kent, in attendance as part of Legends Day, would agree to suit up for the next two weeks. Or two years.
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Major league baseball legend Tommy Lasorda will be joining several San Francisco Giants players for a grilling competition today as part of a campaign to raise awareness and funds for prostate cancer research.Giants team members past and present, including Aaron Rowand, Jeremy Affeldt, J.T. Snow and Shawon Dunston, will be competing to see who can grill the tastiest meal this afternoon as part of the Safeway Homerun Grill Off.Lasorda will help to judge the competition, which organizers hope will raise awareness for a cancer that affects 1 in 6 men.
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Only two players were selected in this year’s baseball draft with San Francisco high school ties.
The first, former Washington High School and Sonoma State star O’Koyea Dickson, was a lock, but the second came from maybe the most unlikely source — Jewish Community High School of the Bay.
The Giants selected Jewish Community senior Benny Sosnick in the 49th round (1,497th overall) on Wednesday, marking one of the most noteworthy moments in the school’s 10-year history.
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A veritable laugher by those offensively challenged Giants. A win with only a few grimaces. A win manager Bruce Bochy said was “important.” A win without anybody in the lineup batting higher than .290. A win because of that old, reliable pitching.
Every day is a party at AT&T Park, where the stands are full — Wednesday was the 27th consecutive sellout of 2011 — the games are torture and the town’s team is almost immune to the consequences.
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Buster Posey is mature beyond his years. Sadly, he is also mature beyond Brian Sabean’s years.
Posey felt it necessary to issue a statement saying he didn’t blame Scott Cousins for his devastating season-ending injury after Sabean had unleashed a virulent tirade on KNBR (680 AM) against Cousins, hinting strongly that there would be reprisals when the Giants next meet the Florida Marlins.
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I’ve read the Giants’ obituaries born of the crash of Buster Posey, and I believe the news of their death is greatly exaggerated.
Oh, they’re going to sputter and have their tough stretches — they’re never going to be an offensive juggernaut — but they were built on pitching and defense, and that is what will carry them the rest of the way in 2011.
Nobody gave them much of a chance last year, and they wound up winning a world championship.
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June has arrived with promise and reminders. June rhymes with moon, spoon, loon and, as those who remember the Giants’ bad old days, swoon. A tradition presumably abandoned.
After a May in which San Francisco lost its star catcher and six games during the final eight days, the new month couldn’t be as troublesome as the past when a quick start became a sudden decline.
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It may be “wait till next year” for Buster Posey, but it doesn’t have to be for the Giants.
However, the worst thing Brian Sabean can do is fail to find an accomplished replacement for his best everyday player. One day after Posey got hurt, Sabean wisely brought up the organization’s top two prospects, first baseman-outfielder Brandon Belt and shortstop Brandon Crawford, to jump-start a sagging offense. Belt, 23, batted .337 in his month-long stay at Triple-A Fresno. Crawford, 24, is a career .270 minor-league hitter while averaging almost a strikeout per game.
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There has been much speculation over whether Buster Posey should shift positions to lengthen his career, and Wednesday night’s catastrophic collision that will likely sideline him for the season provides ammunition for both sides.
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URL: http://www.sfexaminer.com/archive/109/109?page=49&type[story]=story&quicktabs_6=0
