I will say that all the injuries that occurred to this giants team, this year, may skew one's view of what has transpired with this teams offense.   People were hoping to get a healthy Sandoval back, with a full season of Posey, and a repeat of a 2010 Huff, along with the sparkplugs of Freddie Sanchez, and Andres Torres at the top of the lineup.  We also had Mr. Clutch Ross is Boss for a full season, and Brandon Belt waiting in the wings to be the next Posey, and then some.   For 2 years we had Jesus Guzman in Fresno, a player whom the the giants always said could hit, but were worried that his fielding made him better suited to be a DH.   The Padres picked up Guzman.  They had a prospect first baseman in Rizzo, after trading away A-Gon.  But Rizzo's struggles has made Brandon Belt look like Ted Williams. In the interim, Guzman has been called up and so far, has been the second most productive hitter in the NL since the allstar break.  Sabes decided to keep the left handed hitting Huff who had a nice year in 2010 by awarding him with a two year 22 million dollar contract.  All the while he had Belt, and Guzman ready to go.  Lets look at the stats of the most productive hitter in the NL post allstar break,  Troy Tulo,  the second most productive hitter,  Jesus Guzman,  and  Aubrey Huff.  Huff has not been that bad since the allstar break but his stats compare unfavorably to Guzman.

                                               AB     R     H    2B    3B    HR   RBI    SB    CS    BB   SO    AVG   OBP     SLG   OPS

Tulo                                      100    15   41   13     0      5      23        2       1      13    21     410    470      690    1160

Guzman                                 78    16   30     8     0      4      25        4        0       6     13     385    429      641    1070

Huff                                         78     7    24     3     0      3        7         2        1       8     10     308    364      462      826

Of course the sample size is small, but Tulo has been known to have good second halfs.  Also if one takes into effect that many of Tulo's games are played in Denver, while half of Guzman's games are played in San Diego, possibly a worse hitters park than SF,  Guzman's numbers are impressive.   Tulo is a premium fielder, and obviously neither Huff nor Guzman are.   Just how bad is Guzman in the field?   Let us see how the rest of the year plays out.    Since he has  been inserted in the lineup, the run production for the Pads has gone up.   Huff seems to be keeping the status quo offense with the giants as they are scoring less runs per game than Tiger does the deed each day, and that is after rehab.   

The poll should have the word knew instead of new.   The poll should have the term paper bag, instead of paper box.

I guess the giants could assign him to Winter League ball as he missed part of this season because of injury, and see if he has the ability to start.  His stuff is good, he is 25 years old, and a big strong kid who could probably toss a bunch of innings.  We currently have a strong 5 man rotation with Timmy, Matt, Jonathan, Madison, and Barry Zito.  But what if one of these guys goes down?  What is our drop off?  Who in the minors would be ready to take the jump into the rotation?   Also if we have both Affeldt and Lopez as bullpen lefties, than we should prepare Runzler to at least be our long reliever and possibly a starter if one of our 4 aces and a trey goes down. 

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If this teams upper management expects its current talent to get into the playoffs it must replace Bochy at this time to spark the team.  Bochy seems like a nice enough guy, and the clubhouse seems by all accounts to be one with decent chemistry, but this year the team is simply playing below their talent level.  They don't make a lot of statistical mistakes, but they make a lot of little mistakes, like not holding on runners, letting too many runners advance, having a poor record in stopping the stolen base, and giving up way too many base on balls while not taking their due share.

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If you were to ask me before the season, "should the giants trade 10 year veteran Barry Zito who is due $18,500,000 this year for Johan Santana who is due $20,144,707 this year?  The answer would have been a resounding yes!  The last two years it has been " while Zito stumbles, the giants burn."  But Zito who is 4 inches taller, weighs 7 pounds more,  and is exactly 10 months older, looks to be comparable if not better than Santana so far this season.   Of course not even half the season is over, but history tells us that both are second half pitchers.   Most would have said before the year started that Santana is a power pitcher while Zito is a finesse meister.  Lets take a look and see if we can differentiate the two this year.  

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I am going a little contrary to the usual statistical analysis in this group, but I am going to use plain ordinary traditional statistics to show that walks make a big difference in run production. Doubleplays be dammed as well.

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Seems as if the faster you are, the less likely you are to make this teams starting lineup.

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I'm not talking about Pujols, Mauer,  and Utley, although they would be nice.

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Yup! Under Bochy's cool calm and collected approach, he cannot get the team up at times when they really need to get hot. In Spring training, the giants hitters had a decent approach and were among the league leaders in dingers.  Bochy declared: "This year the team really needs to get off to a good start", the jinx was on, another crappy first week for the giants.  After a semi-hot streak before the allstar break, which was partially diminished and almost  quashed in the last game prior, as Zito was socked around by the lowly Pads like a saggy piece of meet in the mouth of a pit bull.   Bochy declared: "The team needs to get off to a good start in the second half.". Again, another miserable week.  Minus those two weeks the giants would be right in this thing.  Nevertheless, after showing some spunk in the last series vs the Rockies, the giants have essentially collapsed.   Could they still win the wildcard?  Probably less than a 5% chance.  So its time to post some diversionary topics.  Because the Divisions play a lopsided schedule with each division playing a large portion of games against their own division, I thought it might be a good idea for newspapers, and sports sites to post the league leaders by division.

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Dusty Baker is to Russ Ortiz as Bruce Bochy is to Brandon Medders!

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We all know that the giants did try to re-sign Pedro Feliz 2 years ago, but he thought we low-balled him with dollars and years, so he misjudged the market and signed with the Phillies for less money, and the same number of years. In the meantime the Giants went ahead and signed the tough-nosed centerfielder from the Phillies, coming off of a career year, to a multiple year megabuck contract. 

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I know he is gone, a pirate farmhand, but the break is sudden and he must be followed.   Followed more favorably  than in a Tyler Walker kind of way. Tyler came in to pitch to Hanley Ramirez tonight with the bases loaded.  Ramirez, possibly one of the best hitters in baseball faced  Good old overweight Walker, who  struck him out.   Phillies still lost.  But Alderson, the hope of many who envisioned a Lincy, Cain, Bumgarner, Alderson and (Sanchez/Zito)rotation in 2011is still too emotionally bound to giants fans, that many have just not yet gotten over his departure. .

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Has Ishikawa been demoted to just the defensive back-up dude?

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Ok so it seems like I'm Captain obvious to those who already follow the stats, and being Gramps was a submarine Captain for the U.S. Navy in WWII, maybe I take the term Captain obvious as a compliment. Stop calling me an idiot now, and read on just a few paragraphs more before you make your decision.  God did I give all the would be, and real comedians a major opening.  I will show some stats that fly in the face of AT&T park being a pitchers park, and wonder along with you, why the giants hit so well at home, and so poorly on the road.  Is there a homefield advantage imparted by umpire favoritism?  How does one explain such stark differences in the home/road hitting stats for the giants, while they pitch better at home than on the road.    For comparison of the giants home/road hitting stats I will also show the bums home/road hitting stats.  The conclusion here seems that the giants need to trade for a hitter for road games, but should stand pat for home games.  Is there a great hitter out there who likes to travel, but has an aversion to the BAY area? Or maybe, like the 1951 giants, they are cheating at home, giving them an unfair advantage not related to steroids.  I hear they have above state of the art video equipment. 

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In 1999, Pujols was a late round (13th) draft choice. He was not heavily pursued.  His minor league career was not long, but his numbers were not spectacular.  He came up when he was 21.  He has not stopped hitting since. Pablo Sandoval was undrafted, but at 16, the giants signed him as an undrafted signee.  He was young, so it is hard to say that his numbers reflected little power, (they reflected little power) but as time elapsed he improved and in 2008, when he started the year at 21 years old, he started hitting and never stopped.  He also plays first, and third, as Pujols has done. Pablo who also catches, had the advantage of being ambidextrous, and is a switch hitter.  Both make great and consistent contact at the plate.  Albert so far seems more amenable to taking a walk, but Pablo still has his learning curve and appears willing to take in some wisdom, albeit slowly.

Albert is built like and adonis, while Pablo is built, well, can you say like a slightly bigger Bengie Molina? Unlike Bengie however, Pablo can run a bit.  Both Pablo and Albert are very hard workers.  Both show us that it isn't always the first round draft pick prospect that turns out to be the superstud. Pablo has not stopped hitting since last year.  He raked in Winterball down in Venezuela.  He also won their homerun derby.  He continued to tear it up in Spring training with the highest average for any player with 80 AB's or more.  And, after a slow start he is turning it up, and is among the league leaders in batting. Pujols is the face of the Cards and has been for quite some time. Even though the giants place much emphasis on pitching, it could just be that Pablo will become the face of the giants, with no disrespect meant to "the Freak" or to Matt Cain.  They should be a great tandem for years to come, and if healthy, the giants should do everything they can to keep them through their formidable pitching years.  If they can sign Zito for Bill Gates Dollars,  certainly they should have enough to keep this duo along with Bumgarner, Alderson, Posey, Villalona and  Neal.  Giants also seem to have some additional serious pitching talent in single and double A.

Pujols was a rare find, and many teams passed on him, including our beloved giants. Finally it seems, we have found our luck, crafting this diamond in the rough (BLOB) into the next unlikely hall of famer. Pablo has already become a fan favorite.  Is it too early to say:  Pablo we love you?

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Bochy announced prior to the start of the season "it is important that we get off to a fast start."   Sabean reiterated the same sentiments while being interviewed on the radio.   This is 2009.  This year things will be done the "Giants way".  We are getting a great bullpen in Howry and Affeltd.  These guys wont blow games.  The new youth injected line-up will be invigorating and the team will score more runs.   "The guys really feel like they are true contenders this year."  We got rid of the guys who can't get the ball over the plate.  We will walk a lot less guys this year. Zito will get off to a fast start.  At least Zito will not start the opening game.   Lincecum always wins after a loss.   The line-up this year will be more patient at the plate.  Seems as if almost all of the above is false.  I will still give Affeltd the benefit of the doubt.  But using Howry against lefties, is like using Walker against lefties; its doomed to failure. Is Bochy just dumb, or stupid, or just thick headed?  Ok, its only 8 games.  But wow, are we any better so far then last year?  Do we have the best pitching staff in the league?   The acquistion of Randy Johnson will have a stabilizing effect on the pitching rotation.  Crap, so far except for Matt Cain, the rest of the staff is pitching wore than Kevin Correia.   So I ask you, the Holy McCoven, which is the worst?

Were anabolic steroids banned from baseball in the early 2000's?  You know,  the years that Bonds and ARod supposedly  took anabolic steroids.Were they  banned like the moral indignity called "gambling on baseball games that one manages" ala a certain potential hall of famer?  Getting away somewhat from baseball rules,  anabolic steroids, at least some of them, were/are hormones, available as drugs that were/are legally prescribed by physicians for certain medical indications.   What if some of the players who tested positive in 2003 were prescribed anabolic steroids by their physician as a legit therapy to aid in the healing of a skeletal muscle injury? Would we not hate them so much?   OK, ARod's cousin was/is not a licensed physician, at least not in this country.  It seems that in  the reality described by Jose Conseco,  he somewhat downplays the legit steroid prescription as the preferred method that players obtained these federally controlled performance enhancers.  

We all know that labs like Balco have been accused of making new improved, and probably not legally approved substances which essentially  were/are anabolic steroids.  New drugs must undergo years of research to prove that they are safe and effective before the FDA allows them on the market.  But we still need to know why these substances are banned.

I think there are a few reason's besides the fact that they are usually obtained by less than optimal and legally legit methods.   The drugs have been demonized, righty or wrongly as having terrible side-effects.  Some of those proferred include premature heart attacks,  "Roid rage" ,  cancer,  benign growths in the liver, infertility, scrotal shrinkage, head enlargement, weight gain,  obnoxious behavior, premature death, just to name a few.  Lyle Alzado blamed his disease and his then impending premature demise on anabolic steroids.   Recently, it has been reported that several monstorously large pro-wresters have had some of the worst of these bad effects. 

But how many baseball players so far, have had these horrible effects?  Is one of the bad effects lying to Congress?  These substances have been around for a long time.  Just ask California's  Governor.  Could be some players from as far back as the 1960's or 1970's could have been indulging.  

Maybe its the massive amounts some players take that makes it unsafe.  You know, like taking 2 tylenol can help your fever, or maybe your pain, but taking a bottle full of them can kill you.   Maybe its taking street drugs, because they are so hard to get otherwise that makes them so unsafe.  Are all these baseball players going to be dropping dead soon from these anabolic steroids?  Or have these substances been not as dangerous as we have been led to believe?  I don't know the answer to that, but maybe some folks hanging out in the Cove have some real scientific facts.

One must wonder, if a surgery can enhance your performance, (a legal surgery), why shouldn't a legal drug be able to enhance your performance?  Obviously people aren't getting black market surgeries, but the black market becomes the method of distribution for anabolic steroids precisely because they are banned.  Are surgeons more ethical than pharmacologists?  Ok stupid question, but I get to write pharmacologist.    If normal doses of anabolic steroids are relatively safe: At least as safe as surgery, and may even help a player heal from surgery, why should they be illegal or banned from major league players who are given a true risk assessment and then prescribed the drug by their physician?

Ok, so far I haven't even convinced myself of the above arguments, but they are certainly offered as legit arguments.  Then comes the one argument that says, "What about the kids?"  These players are role models, and kids, (those under 18) might take these substances to basicly cheat, and clearly we do not know the long term effects of these drugs when given to teens or preteens.  We sometimes assume that the pressure on these kids to perform, and be better then the next kid, would make them succumb to taking these anabolic steroids.  This becomes an even greater risk if their MLB baseball hero is also taking steroids.  So baseball bans these drugs as a responsible business to protect the kids. 

So, dangerous side effects, cheating, unfair competitive advantage, black market distribution, and sending a bad message to kids, are all among the reasons baseball bans these substances.  Maybe we also do not like the idea that a little magic pill, or injection can make a baseball player better and cause the resultant player to break records which supposedly otherwise would not have been broken. 

I am very unclear on whether these substances should be banned from baseball if they are legitimately prescibed by a licensed physician for an appropriate medical indication.   On the other hand, if the drugs are obtained on the black market, and are being solely used for the purpose of a competitive advantage, without any otherwise legitimate medical indication for their use,  I would probably go along with the ban.  

Three players, all of whom at one time or another donned the giants uniform, played different positions, have interesting comparisons by the numbers, and yet only one, perhaps the least talented of the three, has a chance to live on for eternity in Cooperstown. A fourth player, had he been a shortstop would also have a chance for Cooperstown, but as a thirdbaseman he has no chance.

Player      Yrs.  G.     AB.    R.       H.      2B    3B  HR    RBI   BB    SO    SB   CS  

Clark        15 1976 7173 1186   2176  440  47  284 1205  937 1190   67  48

Alou          16 1942 7037 1109   2134  421  39  332 1287  737  894   106 37

Kent          16 2298 8498 1320  2461   560  47  377 1518  801 1522   94  60

Williams  17 1866  7000  997   1878   338  35  378 1218  469  1363  53 35

                  AVG      OBP      SLG    OPS

Clark       303       384       497      880

Alou        303       369       516       885

Kent        290       356       500       855

Williams 268       317       489      805

Kent has 4 things going for him, he has played second base, he won an MVP, he remained healthy enough to obtain more AB's than the others, and has 1518 RBI.

Nuschler is already out.  Probably had the best swing of them all, and amassed a 303 lifetime average.  He was a fan favorite and had one of the best playoff series of all time.  He retired after having a very good season.  But his numbers for a first baseman just were not sensational.  Yet his intensity inspired an enormous and endearing fan following.  None of these qualities matter for Hall of Fame voting. Clark did not get enough votes on his first ballot to remain on future ballots. 

Moises played the outfield.  He certainly had fever K's than the other comparative batters, more stolen bases, and he was still a good hitter late in his career.  Injuries probably cost him at least 1500 AB's and possibly numbers that could have made him a better candidate for the Hall.  Had he been a second baseman he probably would be a shoe-in.  As an outfielder, and a feared hitter, he probably has not come close to the threshold needed to be a serious contender. 

Williams numbers are not as comparable to the other 3 players, yet he had more power than the others.   He may also have lost his best year to a strike shortened season.  But he too lost many AB's to injury.  Compared to Kent, he was a much more supple fielder.  Had he been able to remain a shortstop, he would be a possible hall candidate  especially during the era in which he played.  Today his numbers would be a tad less impressive.  As a thirdbaseman he has nary a chance.   

Kent's relative better health, and his position have made him a serious candidate for the Hall.   I would certainly not mind seeing another Giant's uniform being honored in Cooperstown.   I'm just not sure he is any better than the other 3 players who also wore the giants uniform in recent years.

We shall see in the upcoming years, if writers show positional bias, and whether it is well deserved, because our anticipation is already carved in stone, and such bias  is expected.     

I would have been just as happy to see an outfield of Lewis in left, Winn in center, and Schierholtz in right, having never wasted 60 million for the warrior, yet free swinging and free diving Aaron Rowand.  Since we have Rowand we will probably never know for sure what Schierholtz can do as a full time starter.   Lets see what Sandoval can do at third and Ishikawa can do at first.  One can play for too long in the minors and pass a critical time where they stop getting better but at a certain age they probably would continue to improve in the majors.   Phelps,  can platoon with Ishikawa, or if we re-sign Aurillia, he can platoon at first and also pick up some games at third.  I would also have liked to see Bowker develop in the majors.  But if he does not make the team I would like him to play a full year at Fresno.   Perhaps if Guzman is a real prospect he could change around some of the players, but all information so far has him as a butcher in the field.   Maybe we can get a good look at him in Spring Training.  I was not overly impressed by Tyler Walker, but I thought he could get out Righties.  I guess thats why Bochy kept putting him in vs. Lefties. Well Taschner, who by all accounts is a great guy, couldn't get anybody out the second half of the season, nor could he throw strikes.   Getting back to Walker, I am not sure that Howry is going to be any better.  We shall see.   The rotation looks good, and if Lowry comes back he can either be trade bait, or he could send Sanchez to the pen for one more year.  One never knows with Sabean, but the time April starts the Roster could be much different.