And I am smarter for it

So the Giants finally beat the Dodgers yesterday. Their first in eight games. A few things I learned yesterday:

Watching the game on MLB.tv, I got to listen to Vin Scully. Never a bad thing, but Scully knows way too much about Matt Morris. He told a story about how he met his wife, what his dad did for a living, where his sisters work and what sports they used to play. Kind of creepy.

Scully also read almost word for word Harry Schulman's article on Armando Benitez
from earlier in the week. Still better to listen to than 99 percent of the other guys out there. And we all know where that top one percent lives.

Speaking of Benitez, he is the scarriest closer I have ever had to watch on a consistent basis. Watching him try and save a game is like watching someone pump gas into the street. You know it should be doing something great for you and all you can do is watch the dollars roll by and hope no one lights a match.

Does Bengie Molina know about run expectancy charts? With no outs and runners on first and third Molina took off for home when a short grounder was hit to short. Scully instantly said he was trying to save the double play. With runners on first and second and one out, teams are expected to score 0.80389 runs. I'm assuming Molina scores if they go for the double play, in which case his decision was bad. But if Molina assumed he wouldn't make it and the case would have been runner onthrid with two outs, he made the right decision (0.42331 runs). This is a pointless discussion though, as Morris would walk (1.61778), Roberts would get out (0.81787) and thenVizquel would get out (0.00000).

Best, brightest

David Halberstam died yesterday.

I first read Halberstam my freshman year of college, when I got October 1964 as a Christmas present. I was completely drawn into the season, the stories of the players and the teams and every word on the page.

After that I went to the school library and devoured everything of his I could, including the 792-page "The Powers that Be." He knew how to interview, how to find information that no one else could to tell a story like no one else could.

David Halberstam is one of the reasons I feel proud to call myself a journalist and I'm sorry to see him go.

Just to remind you

If the Giants lose today at Pittsburgh, it will equal the worst 10-game start in the San Francisco era. That lovely feat was accomplished by the 1983 team, which featured an OPS+ of 76 by Johnnie Lemaster and an ERA+ of 84 by wins leader Bill Laskey.

Speaking of OPS+, currently Omar Vizquel sits at 24, while Randy Winn has an astronomical 29. Good times.

Back to Fresno

The Mark Sweeney Situation has been resolve. Thank God. For weeks Friday has been looking in our national consciousness, a day to be remembered not only for its challenges but the heroism of those that rose to face them.

Well, that happened or Sabean decided to send Kevin Frandsen back to Fresno to make room for Sweeney. So far Frandsen is 0-1 in three games, so its not as if they're sending down someone who was tearing it up in the bigs or anything Still, I feel this is just a way to buy more time to shuttle Sweeney off somewhere else, or at least give him a chance to build up some value. Even if everyone stays healthy, I expect Frandsen back by the All-Star break at least.

Not that he doesn't have anything to prove in Fresno, but in 298 AB last year he hit .304/.358/.440 out there. I hope he gets something out of playing everyday, but I think he needs more time against major league pitching to really improve.

Of proof and pudding

Matt Morris is the best pitcher on the Giants.

There, I said it.

Don't believe me? Look at the win column. That's right, that's a two. As in more than one. I thought you'd be impressed.

Now just because his WHIP is 1.59 or the fact he walked more people than he struck out Tuesday doesn't mean he's not the best pitcher on the Giants. See, he's a stopper. The guy that comes in and gets things done.

It's inconsequential that Matt Cain, Noah Lowry and Russ Ortiz have all thrown games that they would have won as well with six runs of support. They didn't pitch to the situation, which is their own fault.

But as much as I love Morris, the real reason the Giants won last night was me. For the second time this season I wore my lone Giants shirt to work, and for the second time this season the Giants won. So the record right now is Shirt 2-0, Giants 0-6. With great power comes great responsibility.

Things are looking up

Sorry for the misdirection in the title. I was scrolling through my feeds and kept reading things such as "Bonds, Giants not ready to panic," "Way to early to say it's over, but ... ," and the like. So here's one, that if even for the briefest of time, might give you hope.

Reasons for Fear
Hitting: The offense is a mess. Right now the Giants are last in the National League in runs (16), XBH (15) and OPS (.615). Last night they wasted a great performance from Matt Cain, losing 1-0 to the Padres. So far five starters -- Bonds, Roberts, Winn, Feliz and Vizquel -- are hitting .208 or below.

Pitching: The team is 13th in ERA (4.35) and K/BB (1.54). The bullpen has an ERA of 4.95, with 1.44 K/BB. So far Barry Zito is 0-2 with a 8.18 ERA.

All Together Now: The team has been outscored 32-14 in seven games. No good can come of that.

Reasons for Hope
Common Opponents: The Giants have faced the two toughest teams in the NL West early in April. Having a bad offensive weak against two of the better staffs in the league does not constitute a crisis.

The Real Aces: Matt Cain and Noah Lowry have pitched well so far in limited innings. Cain has a 2.77 ERA with 0.92 WHIP.

Hitting: These guys have to regress to something resembling their career averages. Right?

Conclusion
As bad as it looks, there is still time for this to be proven an aberration, a tough couple of series against a couple of good teams. Remember, as I said before the Giants have faced TWO teams so far, out of the 16 the NL has to offer. For all the 2-1, 1-0 games against the Dodgers and Padres there will be some exciting 12-10 games against the Rockies and Diamondbacks. Give it time.

Someone at work asked me what the Giants have to do to win. My answer was basically to look at my shoes and mumble a little (I'm surrounded by Dodger fans, in freaking Oregon). What I came up with was that the team will not score a lot of runs but the staff is good enough that they don't have too. This isn't a team that can go out and score three a night and win, but something just below league average could still keep them in the hunt.

The offense has to start being more patient. Last night the team was unable to score after three doubles. The real problem I'm seeing is that no one is on first for those doubles. The key to scoring runs is getting people on base, and that hasn't been happening. The team has an OBP of .294, which is unacceptable for Neifi Perez, let alone an entire major league team.

I think the possibility is there for at least an average team. The start may look horrible. Records may fall, empires may crumble. But in the end I think this is still at least a 75-win team. Though that's not any kind of accomplishment, it keeps the Giants out of last place. Well, last place in the NL at least (Go Nationals!).

Finally it comes

The Giants finally got in the win column last night, beating the Padres 5-3, the opposite of the night before.

You knew it was going to be a good night when Jon Miller opened the broadcast with, "Pedro Feliz gets a night off." Instead, Klesko got first and Aurilia slid over to third.

This is the lineup the Giants need to be using. Though eight hits (and only one XBH) is not what you'd like I still think this is a better option for the rest of the season.

Today I was reading through the MLB.com notes column, now presided over by Chris Haft. I've been hoping for good things from Haft after the Rich Draper Incident, but I'm curious why he added this graph to his piece:

Bochy moved first baseman Rich Aurilia to third base and inserted the left-handed-batting Klesko at first against San Diego right-hander Clay Hensley. Aurilia, 4-for-6 off Hensley entering the game, was a better choice to keep in the lineup instead of third baseman Pedro Feliz, who took his 1-for-7 career effort against Hensley to the bench.

I think that some pitchers can defintely have a batter's number, but six and seven at bats a piece do not tell you that. The reason Feliz was probably out of the lineup is that Hensley is a sinker-ball pitcher, and I hear Feliz doesn't handle those too well.

Now, not a Murray Chass sort of statement, I'll be following his work a little more closely to try and spot some tendencies. Not that I wont read someone if I don't agree with how they look at the game, but it's nice to know what sort of slant I'll be getting.

Either way, I hope him the best. At least for another two years or so, when better job will open up somewhere for him, so I can move in and take his current assignment.

Day Two: Victory Nears

So, the second game of the Giants season wasn't quite as bad as the first. We'll take things in steps this year.

Still a loss, but not a turn the children's heads away from the screen kind of loss. 5-3 is how decent teams lose games. Couple of quick notes:

• Barry Bonds is good. Barry Bonds is old: In his first at bat the octogenarian took Chris Young deep, which is what should happen when center fielders pitch for the wrong team. H was off balance, looked terrible, but was able to poke it to the opposite field and jut sneak it over. He also made a great shoestring catch, running almost to the bag at third. Unfortunately he came up slowly, looking every bit the 83 year-old ex-drug addict he may or may not be. And it showed the rest of the game, culminating in a terrible at bat against Cla Meredith, striking out on what was a very good breaking pitch in the dirt.
• Matt Cain is good. Matt Cain is young: Matt Cain is not a stopper sort of pitcher -- meaning basically he can't be counted on to win the large majority of his starts yet -- but I'm going to enjoy seeing him come around the rotation. Cain was sharp for around four innings, consistently hitting 93-94 on his fastball and putting it where it needed to be. But in the fifth things didn't work so well. Kruko said he was overthrowing. Either way, he left two pitches over the plate and that lost it right there. It seems like those things can be fixed though, as Cain came back and had a good sixth, finishing 6.0/3/1/6/2 (IP, R, BB, K, HR). How Barry Zito has a lower ERA right now ...
• Bengie: I am not enjoying this Bengie Molina character. Batting sixth Wednesday he was 1-4 with five left on base. It appears we got the oldest, slowest, fattest Molina brother, who has lost any semblance of hitting ability. May I be proven wrong. But at this point I'm hoping he scores some free Great America tickets and takes the weekend off. I'm trying to imagine some scenario where NotGardo makes it back in the lineup without harm coming to Bengie. Not that type of guy. Haven't found one yet, but I'll keep at it.
• W3BMLB: Pedro Feliz. Angry yet? OK, I'll continue. Petey had one shinning moment, driving in a run in the sixth to tie it. Unfortunately beyond that he continued hacking, laying off only one pitch in the dirt that I saw (He followed that up by striking out on the exact same pitch. You think other teams know?). I can't imagine that Kleskrilia couldn't put up better numbers with almost the same defense. Someday maybe, but not today. Sigh.
• I saw it!: Last night was the first time I've used MLBtv, and it was fun. I was able to switch back and forth between the Dodger and Red Sox games while I was waiting for the Giants to come online, and the picture wasn't terrible at full screen. It's weird though, since the majority of video I watch online is highlights, the whole time I felt like the game was happening in the past. I'm sure I'll get over it. Though I do have a strange need to play pong ...

The tyranny of opening day

Now Giants faithful, you may hear reports today of some "game" that allegedly "happened." I say pay no attention.

Today is what many call "Opening Day." I find that ludicrous. Opening day was Sunday. Didn't you see, two teams played? First day of baseball, Opening Day.

Now, yes, the Giants lost 7-0 to the San Diego Padres. That did occur. But since today is "Opening Day" you're going to here people dredge up terrible statistics, comparing this to past "Opening Days." One example, from the Associated Press' JANIE McCAULEY:
San Francisco was shut out on opening day for the first time since a 6-0 defeat against Bob Gibson and the St. Louis Cardinals in 1967. The Giants haven't lost by more than seven runs in an opener since falling 13-5 to the Philadelphia Phillies in 1932.

Now, if this was August 3 would the press dig up the last time the Giants lost by 7 on that day? No, no they wouldn't. So now, because of some archaic ritual of time keeping, the loyal fans of the San Francisco Giants are berated with remembrances of some of the worst games in years.

I say to you, do not listen. Sure, Barry Zito gave up three runs in five innings and the bullpen leaked like it had a cold, but these are everyday occurances. The Giants lost by seven or more runs 12 times last year in the first half alone.

So I put the terrible feeling I have in my stomach squarely on the press. Not Ryan Klesko's one GIDP, Pedro Feliz's two strikeouts or Jonathan Sanchez's 27.00 ERA. If they don't give equal coverage to the Giants next seven run victory -- with a complete history of every time its happened since Taft -- I will use that as evidence of a vast Dodger-centric media bias.

So you have your task, JANIE McCAULEY. Choose wisely.

And we are rewarded

Finally, the Giants' opening day is here.

I've never been a fan of the three-part Opening Day. Everyone should play on the same day. It just gives fans so much more to talk about and brings more people into the conversation, making it more of an event.

Either way, the Giants kick it off against the Padres at 1:05 p.m. Like most I will be at work. Unlike most, my computer at the office isn't fast enough to follow online in any sort of way. Such is life.

One thing from the first day of action:

IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	Season ERA
F. Hernandez (W, 1-0)	8.0	3	0	0	2	12	0	0.00

IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	Season ERA
Z. Duke	7.0	8	2	2	1	0	1	2.57

One of the things I love about baseball; there is no one way to do things. You can strike out 12 or 0, and still put your team in a position to win.