This was something I did a couple of years ago but didn't have time for last year. I know this comes late, but I think it's still worth doing.

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All rise in the courtroom.  The honorable judge Frisbee presiding. Up next on the docket is The People vs. Bruce Bochy.

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Dear Baseball Gods

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Baseball is sometimes ordinary.  Baseball is sometimes mundane.  Baseball is sometimes...yes, boring.  

But there are times when baseball transcends simple sport.  There are times that baseball is pure poetry

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This is baseball's post-season.  In baseball's post-season, there are more cliches, adages, chestnuts, bromides, slogans, sayings, banalities, platitudes, and generalities uttered than in any other time ever in the history of everything. We see Big Moments from post-seasons past every year until they are replaced by more recent Big Moments.  Bill Mazeroski was replaced by Carlton Fisk was replaced by Bill Bucknor was replaced by Kirk Gibson was replaced by Kirby Puckett was replaced by Joe Carter was replaced by Luis Gonzalez was replaced by Scott Spiezio, etc.  With the possible exception of Mazeroski, each and every one of those players is famous for his exploits in the post-season.  It is beaten into our heads.  This is October!

I realize that this topic has kind of been beaten to death here.  But that's what we do during baseball's post-season.  

I learned early why one should never look at a playoff series as a foregone conclusion.  I became a true fan of baseball at the age of 8 during the 1988 season.  

I had the good fortune of following a fantastic team in the 1988 Oakland A's.  They had good pitching: 111 team ERA+.  One of the best closers of all time.  Decent rest of the bullpen. Dave Stewart was merely good, but he had been good for 275 innings.  

They also had good hitting: 109 team OPS+.  The 1988 MVP.  

What happened in the world series, against a very mediocre Dodger team, was my first taste of post-season disappointment.  The Dodgers shouldn't have even been in the World Series to begin with.  The Mets, whom the Dodgers beat in 7, were also a better team.  Yet, this team with a 90 OPS+ and 114 ERA+ not only took the series but they did it in 5 games, with only a Mark McGwire game-winning homerun preventing a sweep.  

The A's were a juggernaut (as our Giants discovered the very next year).  They were heavily favored.  It didn't matter.  Orel Hershiser and Kirk Gibson happened.  

Two years later, the 1990 A's were one of the best teams I've ever seen play.  Ricky Henderson's best season.  Bash brothers. Dave Stewart's and Bob Welch's best seasons.  One of the best bullpens ever, including what may be the best season by a closer ever (.61 WHIP, 610 ERA+, and my personal favorite: 18.25 K/BB ratio)

They were heavily favored.  It didn't matter.  Jose Rijo and the Reds happened.  The team that was a heavily favored juggernaut was swept.  

Sometimes, crazy stuff happens in the playoffs.  One year before I started following baseball a team with 85 wins won the world series.  In 2006 a team with 83 wins won the world series.  In 2001 a team with 116 wins didn't get to the world series.

But sometimes the predictable happens.  Sometimes the team with 114 wins becomes the world champs.  Sometimes the Red Sox sweep the Rockies.  Sometimes the two aces dominate everybody.  

The point is that tomorrow it's time to shut up and play.  It matters not one bit that most give the Giants no shot.  Baseball isn't played with words.  It isn't play on paper.  It's time to cowboy up.  It's time to enjoy some fantastic baseball.  

We have a real shot at making the playoffs this year.  But it’s going to be hard.  At the moment, there are three teams full of studs above us.  And that’s just in our division!  If we can’t beat those guys, then we’ll have to get wild to party in October.  That’s one good thing about the playoffs in modern baseball.  There’s two ways to get in! 

Frankly, it’s making me excited just thinking about the possibilities.  It’s been a long time since we’ve had a shot like this.  The guys on the mound are studs, so we’re looking good there.  But our swingers, while stronger this year, need some help.  What we really need is a hard hitting stud.  Somebody who can really whack ‘em good.  Somebody with a quick and strong bat.  Maybe even a lefty who can get ‘em wet on a regular basis.  The point is, we want the balls to be flying all over the place more often.  We really need to score more often.

Besides scoring, we need to do better at making it to second and third base.  Those double plays are really getting tiring. 

We want the trophy come October.  We have to be more efficient if we want to be holding it up for the world to see.  

Dear Diary,

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I tend to avoid off-season discussion because discussing non-baseball isn't as fun as discussing baseball.  

I tend not to get too high or too low over off-season moves.  

This off-season, however, I have gradually been pulled into a state of quiet despair.  I'm sure most of you had no idea that I was feeling this way; hence the "quiet" in quiet despair.  

I don't even blame Sabean really.  Quite frankly, he would have had to have had a spectacular off-season to make this offense adequate.  (Yes, he's to blame for the state of the offense heading into the off-season, but that's neither here nor there for this discussion)  

But see, I figured that I would ooze through this off-season armed with apathy based upon the knowledge that the Giants offense would suck in 2010.  I thought I would be protected from the lows of Sabeanomics.  

I was wrong.  

And then there was the "OMG why are u guyz so negative and elite and nerby all the time?"  I dismissed the viewpoint like most.  Except that it's kind of true.  Not that the negativity isn't deserved.  And we aren't even really negative.  But what makes this off-season appear to be so negative is lack of positive messages.  There hasn't been much to be positive about, really, so it makes sense.  

But I would like to change that; at least for a while; so that we (or just I) can keep our sanity intact.

So here's the request:  Post at least one thing that you think is awesome or good or heart-warming about Giants Baseball of the past, Giants baseball of the present, Brian Sabean, non-baseball related topics.

GIANTS BASEBALL OF THE PAST

It's awesome that the Giants have two of the five best players ever.  As in the history of the game.  And they're godfather and godson to boot!

Jonathan Sanchez.  His dad.  An Aaron Rowand catch.  

An OBP over .600!

GIANTS BASEBALL OF THE PRESENT

There's gonna be a lot of Timmy and Matty and Panda talk here so I'll just say there's something about home-grown closers that makes me irrationally happy.  Even if Brian Wilson is a weird goof.

BRIAN SABEAN

1 and 2 year contracts are better than some things.

I appreciate what the Kent, Nen, Burks and Schmidt trades did for the organization.

NON-BASEBALL RELATED

The universe.  Seriously.  Whether you believe it was created by some super-being or whether you think it just burst into being, the universe is amazing.  It's huge.  Like, mind-blowingly huge.  And it's getting bigger at an incredible speed!  

Love.  

Truth.  Truth is awesome.  Truth is beautiful.  Even when it is difficult to face.  Perhaps especially when it is difficult to face.  Too bad we couldn't experience it more often.

...

Hmm.  Yeah, I think this worked.  I feel better.  How about you?

It's a little early for this, but I decided that, since I already got a real one in the mail and since I am on Thanksgiving break and therefore have more time, that it would be appropriate. 

This post is intended to be a collection of Christmas Card style life updates.  I figured that since the community at the MCC is so friendly, personal and close-knit, as far as internet communities go, that we should have our own Christmas Cards.   I'll start.  The only problem is that my family hasn't taken Christmas photos, yet. 

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I was waiting to post this for when Brian Sabean was not retained.  However, it then occured to me that regardless of whether he was kept or let go it was a good time to try and sort out Brian Sabean's legacy here in San Francisco. 

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Dear Baseball Gods,

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Dear Diary,

I've been thinking this one over for a little bit.  I just knew there had to be something I was missing.  It just shouldn't make sense.  It's never gonna happen; because it shouldn't make sense.  But it seems to.  At least to me....

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Dear Diary,

We discuss a lot of baseball here.  We also snark a lot; photoshops (I've seen quite a few in my time), lolcats, jokes, memes...if it's silly or goofy we do it.  I join in just as much as anybody (I might not be as funny as most, but I have just as much enthusiasm as anybody).  The status quo here is to try to be lolier than thou. 

But this post is quite serious.  It is also not about baseball.

Today is Mother's Day.  And, even though we should acknowledge our mothers every day, it is important to have a day set aside just for them. 

So do something nice for your mom.  Even if you hate her.  Seriously.  I know that not every mother/child relationship is great.  But even if the only thing your mother ever did for you was to bring you into this world, that's still something.  Regardless of how little talent it takes for conception and regardless of whether it was responsible or not to conceive you, she gave you a chance.  And that is a lot.

I know some mothers don't have any relationship at all with their child.  I may not be a mother, but I am a parent.  And I know the unique attachment that a parent and a child has with each other.  Even if it lies dormant, it is there within your mother.  It is the single most important aspect of our humanity.  So do something nice for her, if you can.  There is no guarenteed fairy tale ending.  But it will make the world a better place.

Happy mother's day to all you MCC moms (wait, nevermind.  There are no women on the internet).

P.S.  It is two in the morning and this post might not be as eloquent as Mother's Day deserves.  I just wanted to express my belief in the importance of this day (or, at least, the concept behind the day).

Dear Diary,

The temptation has been there pretty much since Spring Training.  But I have kept it at bay by repeating the mantra "It's too early" over and over again.  Small sample sizes and spring training performances are no reason to get too high or too low. 

But this Giants team doesn't evoke the melancholy that last year's team did.  I have quite a love/hate relationship with this team.  Sure, there are parts of this Giants team that evoke a "meh."  But, mostly this is a strong emotion relationship. 

Take Aaron Rowand, for instance.  I really hate this guy.  His stupid batting stance.  His throws to the infield (though, they haven't been egregious so far this year).  His playing time (whenever I grind my teeth at Schierholtz lack of playing time, the tooth dust falls on the floor and spells Rowand's name).  His contract.  His lack of production. 

All things I hate. 

Yet, there's also Timmy, Matt, Dirty, the Big Unit, Sandeeval (for some reason I've taken to saying his name like a little kid might), Ishikawa (yes, I love him.  And I'm not ashamed), Molina, FLew, Winn and Schierholtz. 

Well, it's May and I can not keep the temptation at bay any longer.  This fanpost might look ridiculous very soon.  It might even look ridiculous now.  But I must pass judgment.  Both good and bad.  So here goes:

THE GOOD

Sandoval:  We were all thinking it.  But he proved us all wrong.  He's a hitter.  There's nothing more to say.  Oh, except maybe "passable defense!"

Lewis:  Yeah, the strikeouts.  Yeah, the defensive blunders.  But this guy has arrived.  If he can figure out a couple of things (e.g. how to keep his discipline from leading to excessive strikeouts) then this guy might just have himself a breakout. 

Affeldt:  Affeldt this might happen.  He's pretty darn good.  And the puns!

Wilson:  The blow up and the 3-2 counts aside, he's looked good this year.  I say he still continues to prove delorean wrong.

Barry Zito?:  Somebody told us he was back.  His stuff is looking better.  He's actually pitching well right now.  Will it continue?  I expect no.  I hope yes. 

THE BAD

Aaron Rowand:  I touched on this guy before.  Remember that month last year?  I really wish that Rowand showed up more often.  He's a frickin' offensive drain.  That's not good coming from the highest paid offensive player.

Burriss:  I think Grant covered him just fine.

Bochy:  Everything relevant has been said about him ten times over.

Howry:  He hasn't exactly looked great so far.  And he keeps going out there almost every game.  I'm not expecting good things from him. 

THE REALLY GOOD

Lincecum: Yeah

Cain:  I've said this a couple of times already.  His secondary stuff looks better than I've ever seen it.  He still needs to work on his control (it haunted him in his game today).  But I think it's time we got real and admit that Cain might be it.

Johnson:  Besides the outing before last, he's looked really good.  The only question for me is his durability.

Sanchez:  I'm one of the biggest fanboys around, so you know he has to be in this category. 

THE UNDECIDED

Renteria:  He's looked bad.  He's looked good.  Which is the true Renteria?  Hell if I know. 

Winn:  He's looked bad, mostly.  Except in the field.  Classy, there.  I don't know if age has caught with him or if it is just a slow start.  I am reserving judgment for now.

Ishikawa:  This guy confuses me.

THE VERDICT

That's a lot of sentence fragments.  Also, more positive than negative!  I think the Giants could actually be above .500 this year.  I really do.  I could see the starting pitching continue to dominate all year.  I think we've seen what the Giants offense will do.  And it's been enough. 

After that horrible six game stretch, the Giants have gone 9-4.  And two of those games, the Giants really should have won.  I think 85 wins isn't out of the question.  There are still a lot of things that have to go right.  But I am much more optimistic about this season than I have been for a Giants season in four years.

Dear Diary,

It is now officially Spring.  The equinox has come and gone.  The clocks have been changed.  I am on Spring break for the next two weeks.  Blossoms are on the trees.  The weather is getting warmer.  Spring training is here. 

And I am itching for baseball.  I am ready for games that mean something. 

This year has been kind of tough.  Being a first year teacher is tough.  The school district I am in is pretty messed up.  The kids, the administrations, the district office, all of it.  And then there is the uncertainty of where I will be working next school year.

And so, with two weeks off I am ready to watch Lincecum and Cain and Sanchez throw again.  I am ready to see Randy Johnson in a Giants uniform.  I am ready to see Sandoval hit again.  I am ready to see Ishikawa and Bowker and Frandsen and Lewis try and make something of themselves.  I am ready to see Rowand miss the cutoff man.  I am ready to bitch about Bochy's stupid veteran fetish.  I am ready to marvel at Molina's incredible sloth-like baserunning. 

I am ready for the stream of non-sense of gameday threads. 

But I will not get real baseball during spring break.  For some stupid reason, the baseball season does not start until April 5th this year.  The Giants do not play until April freakin' 7th (or the second day back from Spring break).  Whose genius idea was this?  The playoffs already darn near go into November as it is.  Now they are probably going into mid-November. 

I feel I am pretty safe to say that I speak for pretty much all baseball fans when I say "We don't need to wait an extra freakin' week for baseball.  Go back to the way it was.  Baseball is supposed to start at the beginning of April.  Whoever was responsible for this (probably Bud), you have just made all of our lives that much bleaker for one more week.  Thanks."*

*  The preceding rant was purely self-indulgent and meaningless.  Of course, if the season starts a week later, it just means that the season will go a week longer at the end.  So this is simply thehavenot expressing his bitter, bitter disappointment at not being able to participate in gameday threads and watching real baseball for a whole extra week, at which point he will be working again.

Dear Diary,

16 games left in the 2008 season and what we have to look forward to is watching Sandoval, Lincecum, Ishikawa and a couple others give us individual performances.  When watching a bad baseball team (the 08 Giants are even bad at getting good draft position), it sometimes helps to escape into non-reality.  We often do that here so I decided that it would be kind of interesting to look back at some of the hypotheticals from this past season that ended up not coming about. 

Every move that was either rumored or wished for that I can remember will be examined.  I have no idea if I am remembering all of them but that's why there are other people in the world; to do my dirty work. 

Pat Burrell

Was the rumor really Benitez for Burrell?  Could you have imagined that going down?  I realize that it was last season that this one was from, but still.  That trade would have been an unbelievable steal.  This makes me think it was never really realistic. 

Also, while Burrell>>>>>>>>>>>>Benitez, it's worth noting that Burrell is only hitting 252/369/509 with a 124 OPS+ in a hitter's paradise.  It's still way better than what we put out there at first all year, but it's nothing great. Also, Ishikawa would have gotten even less time here in September.

Carlos Gomez

Could you imagine the gnashing of teeth and wailing that would have gone on here in May and June had Sabean traded Sanchez for this guy like it was rumored?  Yikes.  Nothing like trading someone who finally showed signs of putting it all together for somebody with a 72 OPS+.

Lastings Milledge

Regardless of how he's done this year, I still wish the Giants had been able to get him.  I don't really know what it would have taken to get him but if it was comparable to what the Mets gave up, it probably would have been okay with me.  He's still just 23 with a bunch of talent.  I wouldn't have traded Sanchez for him but several lesser  pieces would have been fine with me.  Probably not with the Mets, though.  So the point is moot.

Elijah Dukes

I doubt the Giants were ever interested.  I didn't even really hear any rumors about this guy.  But he was somebody who I thought the Giants should go after.  He's kind of a creep and all but he was had very cheaply and in his first 417 at bats in the majors he's put up 237/353/451 with 21 homers and 69 walks.  And he's been getting better lately.  I would take him on our team in a second.

Nick Johnson

He got hurt again.  He's the Rich Harden of first basemen.  Of course, in his short time playing he put up a .415 OBP...

Wily Mo Pena

I feel ashamed that I thought the Giants should try and get this guy...

Alex Rodriguez

Dude's putting up 308/388/598 line with a 158 OPS+!!!!  At a position of need for our team!!!!!  I can't believe nobody around here said we should try and get this guy!  We really dropped the ball on that one.

Dear Diary,

Giants' baseball hasn't been that fun, lately.  I mean, I still really like baseball and I still really like the Giants, but I don't like Giants' baseball.  Oh there's some aspects of Giants' baseball that I like.  Lincecum, for some reason.  Matt Cain and Jonathan Sanchez too.  Wilson, Hinshaw, Romo and Matos.  Bowker and Lewis (even with Bowker's horrible July).  Those guys represent various shades of flash that briefly illuminate the darkness. 

But overall, it hasn't been fun.  We haven't had cable for a while and usually I would be going crazy if I missed this many games.  I love watching baseball.  But this season, I have been able to handle it.  I think it has to do with the enormous suck of the Giants.

So, I just thought it'd be nice to escape into alternate realities that will likely never come to pass. 

Predictions are fun.  It is fun to go back and see the ridiculousness that is flung around.  Good examples of this are the community projections of various Giants' players.  So here, any and all predictions are fair game. 

How many losses for the Giants in '08?  '09?  '37?  Will Barry ever play again?  When will Bumgarner be up?  How many Cy Youngs for Lincecum? 

They don't even have to be baseball related.  Obama or McCain?  Third party darkhorse?  Who wins the gold in fencing?  How many mutations for the Olympic rowing teams from Beijing waters?

Since I started this thread, I should give some predictions myself.  So.

-Bowker will hit more than 20 homeruns this year (risky, this one, what with his recent struggles)

-Freddie Lewis will never hit more than 20 homeruns (not so risky, this one)

-Freddie Lewis will have one season with an OBP over .400

-Bumgarner up in 2010, which is the same year the Giants finally have a good manager (I'm not up to predicting who)

-The next good Giants team in 2010.

-Villalona up in 2012.

-Fairley never makes it to the majors :(

-The Red Sox win the world series again this year  :(

-The Rays win the world series next year

-Giants get the 3rd pick in the draft next year.

-Sandoval becomes a regular next year and wins rookie of the year (my bold pick)

-Molina ends up falling off a cliff, production-wise, and gets a bad attitude to boot, putting him squarely in Sabean's dog-house.  This leads to a dump-him move ala Livan, Benitez, Morris, Pierzynski, etc.

-Matt Cain wins more than 10 games next year.

-Sanchez gets roughed up the next couple of starts and the Giants finally shut him down for the year.

-Correia finishes the year making gradual strides and then has a good year next year.

-Henry Sosa has a healthy season next year.

-thehavenot makes way too many predictions and most people don't bother to try and scroll down to the reply buttons, so no one replies.

So those are mine.  They are all mostly serious.  I probably could come up with some more.  But I should save some for later.  Plus less reading of mine means more predicting by you!  Let's see what your inner eight-ball says about the future!

-

Dear Diary,

It appears that trade speculation season has officially opened.  There's about a month and a half left until the deadline but it's always fun to talk about possible trades.  I usually don't put my two cents into the ring (crossed metaphors FTW), mostly because I feel it's futile.  99% of all trade speculation ends up not coming to fruition and 90% is no where near the ballpark and 75% is simply rediculous.  Not that that stops us. 

However, I participate despite the fact that I don't contribute.  I usually read the various rumors and then let my imagination run wild.  It's fun; much funner than the off-season simply because of the fact that the speculation is condensed into about a month or so. 

This is all just a long-winded lead-up to my first ever contribution to trade speculation. 

Here it is.  The Giants should make a trade with the Texas Rangers.  The Rangers need pitching.  Badly.  The Giants need young position players who are either in the Majors or close to the Majors.  Badly. 

I have no idea if the Rangers consider themselves contenders or buyers or whatnot.  But here's the beauty of the situation.  It doesn't matter.  We can give them a pitcher that can help them not only this year but also in years to come.  And they can return the favor in the form of a hitter. 

So I propose a trade centered around Matt Cain and Chris Davis.  It's looking like Chris Davis will be up in the majors this year.  He's done nothing but hit at every level.  He's probably a first baseman now, but, hey, we need one of those.  Matt Cain, of course, is extremely valuable.  Probably more valuable than Davis (though, I am not very good at determining the trade value of players).  So the Giants could probably ask for something else too.  But Davis would be the centerpiece. 

So, how'd I do?  I've never done this before.  Does that make sense?  Are you scoffing at the notion just because you love Matt Cain?  Well, I love Matt Cain too.  But we need us some impact bats for cheap and Cain/Lincecum/maybe Sanchez is really the only way to get that in the next couple of years.  And one thing we have is pitching.

Dear Natto,

I have, as has many here at the MCC, been using Ray Durham as the butt of some of our many jokes and quips.  It's the nature of the MCC.  Someone sucks, even for a short period, and we turn on him.  We constantly remind everyone else that we hate the player in question when they get into the dog house. 

So when a player sucks for an entire season, such as Ray, he's got no chance.  Even when he is doing well, we can not stop the abuse.  It has been ingrained into us. 

I usually resist such things when they are unwarranted (such as for Tyler Walker and Vinnie Chulk).  But Ray was bad for so long that I couldn't help myself. 

Well, now I must man up and face the music.  Ray Durham does not suck any more.  I don't know how it happened but Ray Durham is hitting again.  He's got nearly a .300 batting average and nearly a .400 OBP in June. 

I am quite happy to say sorry for ragging on your boy.  However it happened, it's definitely a good thing.  If they trade him.  If they decide to keep him because of his production I will be annoyed. 

I consider crow to be a delicacy in this case.  I have indeed sucked it.  But I am no longer a Durham-hater.

Dear Diary,

I have many different thoughts bouncing around my head.  None of them warrant a diary (yes, diary.  You heard me SB Nation!) by themselves (with the possible exception of the first one).  So this diary is me having diarrhea of the brain.

-This year, the Giants have been very aggressive in regards to promoting prospects.  The thing is, it's been selective.  Nate, for instance, is still in AAA because of his option.  Meanwhile, Bowker and Burriss are up in the show when they could still use some time in the minors.  Then there's Sadler and Hinshaw.  Bocock was up and when he went back down, it was to AAA.  Denker was quickly promoted to AAA and Sandoval will likely skip AA.  The thing is, there seems to be a legitimate and sound reason for every move, excepting Bocock.  Yes, you can criticize management for creating the situation which has necessitated this (particularly Bocock and Burriss), but the treatment of the prospects has been fairly encouraging.  It points to a true focus on development from within.

-Speaking of prospects, I love John Bowker.  He looks good.  I wish he would take some more walks.  His strikeout to walk ratio is horrible.  But he looks like a hitter up there.  He's even battled through a slump.  He's up in my pantheon of favorite prospects with Denker, Schierholtz, Sandoval and Bond.

-Apparently Jason Giambi wears a gold thong as a slump breaker.  But that's not all.  He apparently has shared it with Johnny Damon and Derek Jeter.  Gah

-Why is nobody in the mainstream media talking about our boy Lincecum?  Is it just because the Giants are officially the last team in major league baseball.  Post-Bonds, horrible awesome, bad record.  They are very forgettable.  Aside from us, nobody cares about the Giants at all.  In most quarters, the Giants are a joke.  But why would that mean everybody in the mainstream media ignore such a phenomenal talent just because of the team he is on?

-F.P. Santangelo is an idiot and I wish he would stop being part of KNBR broadcasts. 

-Is it just me or is 70 million over 6 years very reasonable for Hanley Ramirez?

-New Jonathan again last night.  Stick around buddy.

-Petey's announcement makes me think about how much I hate the commissioner of baseball.  Gary Radnich was talking about how Bud was thinking about community service for the owners of the Giants and some others.  That guy....words fail me.  He continues to deflect blame everywhere except for himself.  It also seems obvious that the Giants are a target not just because of Barry Bonds but also because they built their own ballpark.  Bud hated this.  The owner's representative wanted publicly funded ballparks everywhere and with the privately funded phone park, there was precedent for another means for new ballparks. 

-Is it arrogant of me to think that some random thoughts of mine deserve their own diary?  Or does the fact that I think no one will care cancel that out?

-

Dear Diary,

As I'm sure no one noticed, I was not around here for a week.  The reason is this.  I got into a minor motorcycle accident.  Well, it was minor for my bike and for the car.  It was not so minor for my left big toe.  My left foot smacked into the bumper of a car and as soon as it did I knew something was broken.  I thought it was my whole foot but it turns out that it was just my big toe.  Here's the problem, and the reason I stayed nearly a week in the hospital, the big toe has four blood vessels in it and I severed three of them in the crash.  I also got this huge laceration on my foot.  So now my toe is a couple shades of dark purple and there's a big open gash in my foot.  And, of course, totally useless.  It's hindering, actually. 

Now my toe wasn't always useless.  In fact, my toe used to be quite useful.  It was very helpful in my walking and stuff.  Unfortunately, it will never return to its former useful self.  Therefore, even though I am very invested in my left big toe, I feel that it is better if it is removed.  Or, at least, this is how the doctors feel.  I tend to agree. 

I actually have a picture of my toe in all of its useless glory.  Some might not appreciate it, so this couldn't be a visual metaphor.  However, imagine my perfectly good, useful toe in complete health.  This is Rich Aurilia circa 1999-200.....let's say 06.  Then imagine my toe purpled, a little crooked and a big open gash under the toes on the right side.  This would be Rich Aurilia 07-08. 

Now, of course, the right choice is to cut off the toe.  It will never be the same.  Yes, I have a decent investment in it but it is useless now.  Of course, if Brian Sabean was my doctor we would get what my foot looks like right now.  That is, still untouched, still broken, still with an open gash but wrapped with bandages to make it look presentable.  Heck, when my sock was first removed from my foot my toe was sort of hiding behind the other toes and the doctor had to move back to where a big toe belongs.  If Sabes was my doctor he would have immediately proclaimed my big toe as a super-utility toe and left it where it was.

My toe will eventually be amputated (unless a miracle occurs).  However, Rich Aurilia will still use up at bats.  Just like my foot in its current state forces me to hobble around on crutches, so does Aurilia similarly hobble the Giants organization. 

The question is, when will the amputation be?  Not soon enough, certainly.

Dear Diary,

I was thinking about Brian Sabean's tenure with the Giants and was trying to think of a short and compact way of summing it up.  

Well, voila.  Brian Sabean: He put all of his eggs in a handbasket to hell.  (By the way, that's the name of a song I'm writing [not about Brian Sabean but about us as a species])

Sabes's tenure consists of two parts.  The first is he put all of his eggs in one basket.  The Giants were obviously focusing all of their attention on the time they had with Barry Bonds.  Thus the farm system and the draft went by the wayside.

The second part is, the basket was the handbasket part in the saying "going to hell in a handbasket."  Brian Sabean didn't do a particularly good job of putting all of his eggs in a basket.  They never went all out to actually maximize the time they had with a dominant Barry Bonds.  The decision to not go after Vlad Guerrero being exhibit A.  It's worth noting that the Giants had the single most dominant player in the game (by a mile) and only went to one world series.  It's also worth noting that in 2003 and 2004, the Giants not only had the single most dominant offensive force in the game but also had one of the top five pitchers in the game.  It's criminal that the Giants weren't able to win multiple world series.

Anyways, I know it's not particularly relevant to anything at the moment.  But anything to not focus on the upcoming season....

Dear Diary,

I went out on a limb a while back and predicted a positive off-season.  While I'm still on it, I've been hearing ominous cracks recently.  

It's mostly due to the schizophrenic nature of everything I've been hearing from the Giants front office.  Sabean says he's not interested in Rolen or Glaus but then we hear he might trade Lowry or Sanchez for Hideki Matsui.  He turns down Delmon Young for Lincecum and then starts to seriously consider Alex Rios.  What is happening here?  

I think I know.  It's the same thing that has happened the last decade or so.  Giants ownership is happening.  I heard a report on KNBR yesterday that Giants ownership wants to try and "compete" next season.  I believe that, despite all of our hopes, the owners are meddling in the rebuilding process.  

I still think Sabean is trying to rebuild.  But he's got bosses.  

I'm not abandoning my former prediction.  But it is certainly looking a lot more tenuous now.  At least I was right about them not completely committing to a rebuild.

Dear Diary,

I really should be coming up with a rubric for the assignment I'm handing out today, but I've always been a procrastinator so I am typing this diary out, which is also a work of procrastination, instead.

I've been meaning to write this one for a while.  But the limb that I am going out on didn't look very stable so I chickened out.  It is getting gradually more and more stable, so I am committing myself.  Here I go.

I think this off-season and, by extension, the moves made during the season will be a net positive.  There are several reasons for this.  Let me this them.

1. Barry is gone.  This is not a good thing.  But it finally frees the Giants from the WIN NOW!!! at all costs (except for paying more than our pre-assigned budget) philosphy that led to things such as the Pierzynski trade and the Michael Tucker signing.  Giants management knew that they had a closing window with Barry so their philosophy was to sacrifice the future to win now.  It was just too bad that they were too cheap and too veteran happy to actually commit to winning then.
2. We are a bad team again.  When was the last time Sabean did something daring?  Why it was in between the 96 and 97 seasons.  The Giants were coming off a horrible season in 96.  This was before the Giants got into their "we must WIN NOW, just don't spend too much" approach.  They were in a "we are bad, we must improve" approach.  The latter approach seems very helpful right now.  In fact, I think that is the approach we are in again.  
3.  I think (and I am speculating here, based off of the previous two reasons and based off comments from Sabean) that Giants management is committed to rebuilding.  Unfortunately, I think it is likely that they are committed to rebuilding like they were committed to WINNING NOW.  That is to say, not all the way, but just enough to make their strategy not completely effective.
4.  The lack of anything happening quick is a good thing.  (That Vizquel signing kind of threw a wrench into all of this and was one of the reasons why I delayed writing this diary.  But I throw that one into the pile of evidence that management is not going to completely commit to rebuilding.)  Still, Sabean is not panicking.  He's not looking like a man who has to prove himself.  Even though he actually does have to prove himself.  That's a good thing.  It means he will only make trades and/or free-agent signings (hopefully not very many of these, if at all) that will work to improve the club for the long-term.  
5. Sabean does not believe completely in speed and defense.  All those Cabrera rumors show that.  The Andruw Jones rumors as well.  Sabean understands that a team full of Winn's and Rajai Davis's and Fred Lewis's and Omar Vizquel's is not going to score any runs (and would score negative runs if that were allowed).  That's why he's going after at least some power.  

But those are enough to show why I think this off-season should be a positive one.  Will all of Sabean's moves be guarenteed good ones?  Probably not.  The Vizquel signing is already not very good.  But this is why I am going out on a limb instead of making a bold proclimation.  

The main thing is that Sabean is viewing this as a rebuilding off-season and is planning for the future for a change.  This an important change in mind-set.  And it is why I am willing to see what he does.  

I'm expecting positive things Brian.  This is your last chance.  (Hopefully)

Dear Diary,

After watching Joba Chamberlain pitch against the Indians today, it reminded me of the controversial topic of the Indians as a team name.  After all, here was a guy whose cultural identity was represented as the mascot of the team he was facing.  This is a sore spot with many people who consider themselves Native American.  Yet, there are a plethora of teams out there with some sort of Native American themed mascot/team name.

To me, I don't really think having a team named the Indians or the Braves or the Seminoles or the Chiefs is that big of a deal.  Even though the Chief is an important religious symbol to many Native American tribes, it should be deemed acceptable so long as there are teams named the  Angels or the Saints or the Padres.  However, if we are going to keep team names such as the Indians or Braves or Seminoles then we should be more inclusive.  How about changing the name of the Athletics to the African-Americans?  What is an Athletic anyway?  Instead of the Marlins, they can be the Florida Cubans.  The New York Football Giants?  It would be much better if they were the New York Puerto Ricans.  

But we would have to drop the Redskins.  That is clearly racist and needs to go.  

Team names are one thing.  And an argument can be made to keep them around (except the Redskins).  

But I wonder what it is that Joba Chamberlain (or any Native American watching on t.v.) must feel when he sees the goofy-grinning red skinned guy on every single Cleveland Indian cap.  This image is worse than the name of Washington's football team.  There's no way Black-Face would be tolerated in any public setting, much less as the mascot of a professional sports team.  So why do we tolerate such racist charicatures?  

Oh, yeah, that's right.  It's racist towards Native Americans.  The forgotten minority.  You know, we only took most of their land.  And their lives.  Wiped out their cultures.  

Since there are so few of them left and they are in such bad shape, nobody sticks up for them.  And they need it more than any other group of people in this country.  But that's how it will probably stay so long as Indians are just people out of Westerns and history books and the mascots of sports teams.

Dear Diary,

So Brian Sabean's been talking about improving the bullpen a lot lately.  It seems like it is his number one priority.  This has been exasperating because the weakest link on the Giants is the offense.  

However, I have been trying to think about this as if I am Brian Sabean.  Sabean's not stupid enough to think that the offense isn't a major concern.  I know many of you are perfectly willing to think just that, and it might be true, but I don't think so.  So how do we arrive at his comments?:  "pitching, speed and defense" and "established arms in the bullpen."  The same way many of us have arrived at the conclusion that the Giants won't be competitive next season.  

There's not a whole lot of options out there to improve the offense.  We've been over that one.  There are also guys who are going to be taking up roster spots and/or money that will be really hard to get rid of.  Maybe the Giants can trade Durham and Winn and Roberts and Aurilia but can they trade all of them and how much will they have to take back and even if they can trade them who will they get to play the newly vacant positions?  I can see Sabean understanding this concept.

It's quite possible that Sabean learned a lesson from last off-season.  This offseason, like last offseason, there is a lot of work to be done on the offense.  Maybe he understands now that throwing a bunch of mediocre (or worse) guys together probably won't make a good offense.  

So what does Sabean do?  He looks at what he can put together.  And that happens to be speed and defense.  He also knows that that isn't going to score a lot of runs.  So he looks at what else he has and can work with.  Pitching.  The Giants have some of the best starting pitching in baseball.  And bullpens are relatively easy to improve.  

This could very well be why Sabean is targeting the bullpen as the number one need in the off-season.  Maybe he actually realizes that fixing the offense isn't very plausable and is therefore putting all of his resources into things he can improve.

I realize that some will see this as a post from a Sabean apologist.  Just know this.  I blame Sabean for the state of the Giants, with some help from Magowen.  Sabean wouldn't need to improve the bullpen had he not made the two worst trades in recent Giants history.  Imagine Wilson, Accardo and Nathan pitching the seventh, eighth and ninth innings.  Imagine a 2008 rotation with Lincecum, Cain, Liriano and two of Lowry, Correia, Bonser, Sanchez and Misch (Zito is conspicuously absent).  Plus the money saved on Benitez and Zito.  

I said that I believe Sabean learns from his mistakes.  The problems are he (and Magowen) doesn't learn the right lessons.  After Worrell performed well as closer in 2003, Sabean learned that you don't need a proven, expensive guy as closer.  The problem is, he thought that you could just throw anyone into that role.  That was part of the reason he traded Nathan, I believe.  

Now, I think Sabean learned that the offense is really too far gone to fix quickly.  The problem is, he's not willing to do what needs to be done.  He's not willing to commit to rebuilding.  And so we will get the 2008 Half-Ass Giants.  Built on speed, pitching and defense.  Will they compete?  Who knows.  It really depends on how good he makes the bullpen, if the rotation is as good or better than this year, and if the offense isn't historically bad.  The smart money's on NO.

Well, that' my theory.  I'm sure there's holes in it (I'm too tired to care right now) but I think at least some of it is right.  

Dear Diary,

So I thought that right after an outing where Sanchez throws 80 pitches in three innings is the perfect time for me to make a possibly out-there comparison.  Bad timing?  Maybe.  But here goes.

Jonathan Sanchez could be Randy Johnson.

<crickets>

I'm serious.  Jonathan Sanchez, our Jonathan Sanchez, ol' number 53 himself, potentially has it in him to be Randy Johnson.  Well, when I say he could be Randy Johnson I mean he could put up similar numbers, not that he could be a 6'10" white guy with a mustache and a mullet.  

What's that?  You think the latter is the better bet going forward?  

Come on, have a little faith.  Here I'll show you why I think what I think.  Sanchez is 24 years old.  In 48 innings in the majors this year he has a better than 9 K/9 ratio to go along with his 4.5 BB/9 ratio.  

Randy Johnson made his major league debut at the age of 24 and pitched 26 innings.  He then pitched 160 innings and had a BB/9 of 5.4  Even more interesting, Johnson only put up a K/9 of 7.3.  Over the next three seasons, until his breakout 1993 season, he posted BB/9 of 4.9, 6.8(!) and 6.4, with K/9 of 8, 10.22 and 10.33.

You'll notice that Sanchez has both a better BB/9 and better K/9 ratios than Johnson did (Granted in a small sample size).  

Here's the thing, I realize that Sanchez doesn't throw as hard as Johnson but the delivery is very similar to Johnson's delivery and the results are very similar to Johnson's early career.  Will Jonathan make the breakthrough that Johnson did (at the age of 29!)?  Who knows.  But the potential is there.  

This is why Sanchez should be in the Giants rotation next year.  And this is why we should not be trading him.

Dear Diary,

So.  School started recently.  I am now a graduate student.  I am trying to get my teaching credential.  So, as such, I have been pretty busy the last week or so.  And then today I went to the beach with the wife and kids and some friends and didn't get home until close to ten.  It is now September 1st.  So I log onto the internet to see how the kids did.  Schierholtz was back with the team.  How did the lineup look with him and Rajai and Frandsen all in it.  Plus Jonathan Sanchez!  I was really looking forward to looking at the box score.  Well, you know how this story ends.  Sanchez pitches great but gets the loss and two of his earned runs scored when Scott "that's a 'prospect' Bochy CAN sit" Atchison came in to "relieve."  And we had the AARP lineup.  And they got two hits.  And to add insult, one of the hits was a pinch hit by Nate Schierholtz.  

You know, I'm a pretty lenient guy.  I give the benefit of the doubt quite often.  I am also an optimist.  So to make me this disgusted is quite an accomplishment.  I want to throw something.  I want it to be Bochy.  Off the Bay Bridge.  It's closed so no one would see him go into the water.  No chance of him being saved.  Maybe I can tie him to Sabean and they can go down together.  

Seriously.  Aurilia AND Durham AND Vizquel AND Roberts?  All in the same lineup?  Together?  It's not an old timers game?  The roster expanded?  There's no more excuses for them to be playing?  Yet here they are?  

I'm confused and hurt and tired.  Is it football season yet?