The San Francisco Giants are not a championship team
– not so far.
By Lowell Cohn – The Press Democrat
The San Francisco Giants are not a championship team – not so far.
If you want to be honest about this – it’s difficult to be honest in the lingering World Series afterglow – the current Giants are a middle-of-the-road team capable of some gritty victories but also capable of flopping against the weakest team in the National League.
Sure, they may win the NL West or go to the postseason as a wild-card team. But they are not a guarantee. No way. And what’s happening now makes us understand how lucky the Giants were last season. Luck is the operative word.
Last year, everything broke right. Pat Burrell comes to the Giants and he hits home runs. Cody Ross comes to the team and he’s an instant hero. Buster Posey is the cat’s meow and Edgar Renteria, who sits most of the season with assorted aches, becomes the World Series hero. It was season as fairytale.
Note: This is not a blame column. This column blames nobody for what’s currently happening, not Bruce Bochy, not Brian Sabean. No one.
But something is different and what’s different is the change in the luck factor, or the good-fortune factor, whatever you want to call it. What went right last season is going wrong now.
Here are some examples. Last year, Aaron Rowand was inadequate as the leadoff hitter. The Giants didn’t even have a leadoff hitter because Andres Torres was languishing as the fifth outfielder. But Rowand got hit in the head by a pitch and Bochy put Torres in center and, voila, Torres could play the position, and more important, he was one heck of a leadoff hitter.
This season, Torres got hurt almost immediately, which means the Giants have no leadoff hitter. And who knows how good Torres will be when he returns?
The Giants did not have Pablo Sandoval last year in any meaningful sense. He was too tubby to be helpful. But they didn’t need him because they had the Juan Uribe/Renteria combo and it did the job.
This season, the Giants lost Uribe/Renteria. It didn’t matter because Sandoval was doing just great – squaring up on the ball, hitting with power, fielding well. Then the poor guy broke a bone in his hand, and now the Giants are weakened; neither Miguel Tejada nor Mike Fontenot brings what Sandoval brings.
Mark DeRosa was hurt last year, but this year he was supposed to be the super substitute, playing all over the place. He could have filled in for Sandoval at third, except his wrist is hurt yet again, the surgically repaired wrist that never seems to get repaired. The Giants say he will return soon. How confident are you he will return able in body?
Barry Zito is hurt – it’s unclear if that’s bad or good.
And now we come to the Aubrey Huff conundrum. Before last season, hardly anyone out here knew anything about Huff – about his beautiful batting stroke, about his whimsical personality, about his outspoken leadership in the clubhouse. Huff turned out to be the spirit of the Giants. He wasn’t the only reason San Francisco won the World Series, but he was an essential reason.
This year, he can’t hit worth anything. He batted third for a long time – clearly, Bochy should have batted Sandoval third. But with Sandoval’s injury, it’s a moot point. So, Huff strangely has transformed himself from a weapon into a dud, although he can find himself again. But honestly, no one expected him to become a dud, temporary or otherwise.
With their pitching, the Giants will be dangerous. But this season has a different feel from last season. I feel it and you do, too.
