The Bay Area blues: The Warriors can’t catch a break. The A’s can’t catch on. The Giants can’t catch a ground ball — or if they do, can’t throw it properly to first base.
Dare we mention the Sharks, who until proven differently, remain the only major league franchise in the region yet to win their sport’s championship?
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The greatest pitcher in San Francisco Giants history never won a Cy Young Award or a World Series. His sure-fire election to the Hall of Fame was delayed for four years because the Baseball Writers Association of America was still incensed over his role in an ugly brawl with the Dodgers.
Nonetheless, Juan Marichal harbors no resentment or bitterness in discussing his career and new book, “The Greatest Game Ever Pitched: Juan Marichal, Warren Spahn and the Pitching Duel of the Century.”
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It may be ninth-inning stud Brian Wilson telling kids that “It gets better” or power hitter Panda, but regardless, the San Francisco Giants are the first professional sports team filming a video for a popular LGBT youth project.
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The 2011 Giants have changed right before our eyes.
It was obvious coming out of spring training that Bruce Bochy and Brian Sabean believed the Giants needed to score as many runs as possible for the club to have its best chance at successfully defending its World Series crown.
It was offense, offense, offense when they went with Aubrey Huff in the outfield, and Miguel Tejada at shortstop.
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Fans have always been convinced they know exactly how to improve their teams, and they express their views in emails and blogs.
Right now, I’m being besieged by A’s fans who bemoan their team’s lack of hitting. One suggested they should pick up Milton Bradley, just released by the Seattle Mariners.
I don’t think so. The A’s had Bradley once, and he helped them in the 2006 postseason. But the team also had Frank Thomas, who could talk to Bradley, and Ken Macha, a manager he respected. They have neither of those components now.
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He’s as cool as an evening at AT&T Park, as reliable as the Pacific tide. Bruce Bochy is a motivator, a moderator, and it should be apparent, one of the finest managers in baseball. He is someone with a relentless confidence in his players and a deep understanding of baseball.
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The great thing about the baseball season is the surprises, and the wonderful surprise that is Ryan Vogelsong has helped catapult the Giants back into the NL West race.
When Barry Zito, the $126 million mistake, went on the disabled list, the Giants called up Vogelsong to take his spot in the rotation.
Little was expected of him. Vogelsong was drafted by the Giants in the fifth round in 1998, but his greatest contribution had been as part of a trade to the Pittsburgh Pirates that brought Jason Schmidt to the Giants.
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Willie Mays, who turns 80 today, was a great natural athlete, but as I learned in an interview 15 years ago, much more thinking went into his play than was generally realized.
When the Giants played in New York, he was a pull hitter because the foul lines were short. When he had 30 homers by the All-Star break in 1954, pitchers started pitching him low and away, so he learned to hit the ball to right field.
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At least A’s manager Bob Geren hasn’t felt the need to say of his team, “We’re awful,” which is specifically what Giants manager Bruce Bochy said of his team’s offense of late, even though they are not.
What they are is disappointing. So are the A’s.
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Look up the word “sputtering” in the dictionary, and you’ll find a team picture of the 2011 Giants.
Over the first 24 games of .500 baseball, the Giants scored two runs or less eight times, and lost all eight games.
Runs have not been easy to come by, even by last year’s standard of torture.
Two dozen games into 2011, the Giants ranked among the bottom four teams in runs scored — along with Washington, Pittsburgh and San Diego, a trio of teams no franchise expecting to contend wants to be associated with.
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