I saw the Joe Posnanski quote (Solidarity's tagline) on Tim's pitching performance in Game 1 of the NLDS versus the Braves and it got me itching to see the 14 K highlight.  Jumped onto sfgiants.com and watched the highlights.

If you watch the final strikeout on Lee seen in the following video, and pause at 4-5 seconds, you will witness Lee just starting to identify the pitch as a fastball.  And Lee seeing that it is a strike and starting his swing.  Then he realizes he is effed and the ball is already in Posey's mit so he just pulls back, checks his swing, and hopes for the miss call.

Kwipaah, bwahaha

The Giants are in good shape barring the idea that veteran's are untouchable.  The track record from last year suggests that the GM and coach are on the same page: winning. 

The front end of the season has revealed the two glaring hole for the repeat.  Those two issues are defense and pitching.  The first is rather obvious but pitching?  How can a team that shut down the the top two offenses in the MLB during the playoffs be worried about pitching?  Two reasons, Madison Bumgarner and Barry Zito.

Barry Zito.  I have always had a soft heart for him because he gave us the 8-0 start that sent us to the 2010 World Series.  Remember, we started off terrible in 2009 and did not reach the playoffs.  However, with Zito out and lacking any early season credentials based upon his few starts, we may see a Vogelsong as our 5th starter.  I like what I see first hand from Vogelsong; however, his fastball is too flat and this changeup is identifiable - he will get beat with the longball.  We need those 5th start gems.

Second: defense.  I loved Migi as an A's, but as a Giants... no.  Huff can catch but he can't track.  Fly balls that fall behind the back are harder to follow than you think.  With Cody in Right and Huff at first, we can continue with what worked.  Belt is good.  He needs to be more aggressive.  He reminds me of Bonds but without the swing speed to send an inside fast-ball out for a  pulled home run.

Here is my optimal line-up:

1) Torres, CF

2) Freddy, 2B

3) Ross, LF

4)Posey, C

5)Huff, 1B

6) Sandoval, 3B

7) DeRosa,SS

8) Schierholtz, RF

9) Pitcher

I can't tell you when I started following the Giants.  I can't tell you the the team roster in 1998, 1999, nor in 2000.  I can't say I know much about the New York Giants.  What I can tell you is that I broke my twin size Scandinavian Design bed frame when jumping up and down to a radio call for a Barry Bonds home run.

I was probably around 11, 12, or maybe 13 then.  I don't know why I started listening.  I was the last child in a single mother household.  No one to show me the ropes of a complex sport; nonetheless, baseball became my sport.  And, what I can tell you is that Barry Bonds gave me some of the most joyous moments of my child years, teenage years, and adult life.

My brother and I shared a bedroom growing up and some of the fondest times were huddling around our Sony radio.  We had a bamboo stick rigged into the volume + hole because the plastic button had fallen off.  For each Barry Bonds at bat we would click that bamboo stick.  Volume 5, dropped down on our knees, we would listen, anticipate, hope, and believe.

Swing and there's a high drive, deep!  Out of here!  I was hooked.

I never had cable so on the rare occasions of network broadcasts, I would watch with complete devotion.  I learned the game.  I watched the footwork of the infielders, the routes of the outfielders, the sequences of the pitcher.  I remember screaming at the television scream for Felix Rodriguez to throw the high cheddar, Rob Nen to drop the split, Kirk Rueter to get the double play.  I remember watching J.T. Snow adjust to cut off the line, Aurilia snarling after blasting a double when squaring up for a bunt one pitch prior, Benito Santiago throwing out runners from the knees, Vizquel fielding completing the double play from his ass.  I was there for Rob Nen's 300th save, I watched him blow his should out for the World Series.  I saw Jason Schmidt pitch countless scoreless innings, Woody raking through innings like a magician, Livo hitting and fielding with the best of them, Jerome Williams throwing his pookah shells into the stand, Noah Lowry showing off his change-up,  And yes, I do recall the likes of Ray Durharm, Marcus Grissum, David Bell, Alfonzo whatever he dropped a pop-out, Kenny Lofton, etc.,.  Dave Roberts, AJ Pryzinksy, etc.,. don't count.

The entire previous paragraph plus the countless memories of Giants great moments were made possible by the Giants' greatest: Barry Bonds.

How do you explain Barry Bonds to the countless 2010 fans?  How do you explain Bonds to the "he's a cheater" crowd?  For what it's worth, I witnessed the greatest hitter and one of the top fielders and base stealers of all-time.  There was a time when Eric Gagne was unhittable, Barry nailed him.  There was a time when walking a batter with the bases loaded was a bad thing - Barry was given an IBB.  There was a time when Ray King was a lefty specialist - Barry placed a ball in McCovey Cove.  There was a time when Barry squeaked an opposite field, broken bat home run pass the 410 ft marker at Pac Bell.  There was a time when they used to reset the Splash Ball counter.  There was a time when the best in baseball respected the greatest in baseball.

Barry Bonds was the best.  Is he my friend, no.  If I met him in public would he be my friend, who knows.  What I do know is that Barry Bonds gave me the Giants.  Gave me the 2001 WS run and gave the 2010 WS Championship.  With that I leave you the MLB profile of Barry Bonds:

Awards and Honors

apparently we pay the most for beer.

LINK: http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/sports/Giants-Have-Most-Expensive-Beer-in-Baseball-52387597.html

so what do we do to change this?  i for one would love to be able to afford more than one or two beers on a college budget.  30 rack seems like it would be worth the after game wait as i get hundreds fl oz worth of beer for $15, but then im no longer in the stands cheering my giants on.  what a predicament.

"Fenway Park came in third with a $7.25 beer -- but that $7.25 only buys you a 12-ounce beer."

hahaha, 12 oz beers.  losers.