Last night was an atrocity.  It was like watching a bumbling Giants team at Candlestick playing out the end of a season.  The dropped pop-up.  Tomko's inevitable melt down when an error is made behind him (it really is almost comical to watch, as someone else pointed out).  This team does nothing right better than any team I have ever seen.  How are they only 15 games under .500?  I want a youth movement, from the ground up.  Free agents to be used to supplement, not build a roster.  

Though I am still researching it, I believe the key to the Giants season is the three run homer.  In three out of their last four wins, they have hit a three run homer.  In the other win, a three run double was hit.  Its simple really, in order to win more games the Giants need to hit more three run homers.  The economy with which pitchers produce outs generally defeats the three run job, however.  

I have to vent.  There is just too much hype around all of the major sports' All Star Games.  Fucking Home Run Derby.  The embarassment that is the celebrity softball game, yikes.  I didn't see it but Tolbert just said that Piazza and Johnny Damon were prancing around and singing on stage together.  Fucking A, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner and Ted Williams are intentionally rolling over in their graves trying to get a leg above ground to kick those guys asses right now.  (Well, Ted figuratively anyway, I am not actually sure what they did to his walking sticks.)

Everything has to be so overhyped, and it gets worse every year.  From what I hear I am really glad I did not see the NBA Finals pregame shows.  Jesus, it makes me long for the days when even the Super Bowl had a one hour pre-game, which seemed ridiculous back then.  There is so much whoring going on here... I need a shower.

Ellison CF
Vizquel SS
Niekro  1B
Alou    RF
Feliz   LF
Durham or Cruz (Really Don't Care) 2B
Dallimore 3B
The Clutch God Alien that is inhabitting Matheney C
Schmidt

Please, I know Feliz has not been playing the outfield much, but I really need not to watch Tucker or Sanchez in the field anymore, especially when a tough lefty is pitching.  Please, Felipe, spare me the pain of watching Tucker break down in his swing on a slider in the dirt.  Don't make me do the Sanchez cringe whenever he is at bat or fielding or running the bases.  The Sanchez cringe may be the physical incarnation of the Earnest Ragging, only the result can be either worse than you might predict or better than you expect.  Usually, something novel occurs that you have never seen before.  Just spare me that delight, just for today, well actually could you make that forever.  

I have suffered through many lean Giants years, most of the seventies, 1983-1985, 1995 and 1996, literally years where the teams were not ever in contention, but you kind of understood that going into the season.  You knew, that if everything broke right, they might be able to flirt with .500.  This was before Bonds and before the revitalization of the franchise brought by Magowan's ownership and Pac Bell Park.  It was difficult to really blame those teams for their lackluster play.  This team is harder to watch than many of those awful collections, simply because you would expect them to play much better.  This team literally does nothing well, or even to average big league levels, and it finds a way to lose, either due to a starter getting blown out, poor fielding, poor situational hitting,  a bullpen blowout, baserunning mistakes, you name it.  The worst thing is, this is a boring team to watch play because they just don't do anything well, where you can watch a team as a whole and appreciate fine defense, pitching or a slugging tema.  This team is boring.    

I was sitting in the View Reserve last night, explaining some basic baseball rules to a nice guy with an accent of undetermined origin, when Chad Tracy came to the plate.  I explained to him that with a runner on third and one out, and a kind of dangerous hitter at the plate in Tracy, they might want to walk Tracy, and pitch to Cruz, Jr. who is feeble from the left side.  Righetti comes to the mound, and I tell the guy, I hope he is telling him to just walk him.  Instead of just throwing four wide ones, like they would do with a younger or less experienced pitcher on the mound, Righetti apparently tells him to be careful with Tracy.  I guess that means see if you can get him to swing at a bad pitch and make an out.  Tomko misses badly with the first two.  Why not just give him the IBB, I ask of nobody in particular and everyone in earshot.   The next pitch disgusted me to the point that I wanted to ask the scalper for a refund.  Way, Way Out.  

I am tired of Tomko's act and his awful body language out there.  I am ready for him to get a change of scenery.  The problem is, he has still been the Giants' best pitcher this year, and that sort of sums it up right there.  

I hate to be overly negative, but this team just may not be meant to win.  Sisyphus comes to mind after tonight's game.  The ball off the glove for a homer, the Feliz bonehead play in the rundown, the Durham error, the solid effort by the pitchers, only to be foiled by not one but two doinks into the outfield. Minnesota got flat lucky tonight, like it seems good  teams do.  And it seems like the home nine has not caught a single break in weeks.  

Without question, the Nathan, Boof Bonser and Francisco Liriano trade could be Brian Sabean's undoing.  The Giants have nothing in their organization that came back in that trade.  Mohr and Pierzynski left without even bringing the Giants a draft pick.  Meanwhile, Minnesota has a closer, a 23 year old Bonser pitching well at AAA and a 21 year old AA left handed Liriano, also pitching well.  Both prospects are putting up good strikeout ratios.  If either of those two picks pan out and produce even a middle of the rotation starter, the glaring discrepancy in that trade alone may cost Sabean his job in another year or so, once the passage of time exposes how much prospect talent was sent.  Add to that, the possible resurrection of Jerome Williams or development of Aardsma, and it will take some pretty miraculous moves to counter the loss of confidence of the fans, and possibly, the ownership.