I'm still sick and tired so this will be short and sweet. The San Francisco Giants have won their first ever World Series. The Giants first Series victory since 1954, when they were in New York, came in grand fashion.
They beat the Texas Rangers 3-1 in game five to take the series 4-1. The only thing that would have been better would have been celebrating at home in front of their fans.
Edgar Renteria won MVP. Yes, that is correct, you read that right...
With the game-deciding three-run homer in the seventh, Renteria was 7-19 with six runs, six RBI and two homers in the Series. No one was particularly spectacular for San Fran, which is why they are such a great story. Lincecum was good, Cain was fantastic but only threw one game and there is no one really good on their offense.
Giants win the Series 4-1. Renteria = Series MVP. Crazy world we live in. Until next season.
To start, I just want to say that this Series could be the greatest pitching duel of my generation: Cliff Lee, C.J. Wilson and Colby Lewis vs. Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Jonathan Sanchez
It is basically, old veterans who worked hard to get there vs. young studs taking over...
I'll come out and say it right now, I like to Giants to win the series and it is not because the Yanks lost to Texas.
I think the Giants pitching staff as a whole is a lot better than the Rangers, and I'll take a veteran closer in Brian Wilson over a rookie (Neftali Feliz) any day.
The pitching will probably determine the series because the over/under for the entire thing is probably about 13 because of the pitching. Lee will probably take game one because while Lincecum has been really good, Lee has been unstoppable. The guy had pinpoint control and absolutely wicked movement on his pitches.
Cain and Sanchez, I believe, are better than Wilson and Lewis. The Giants have had timely hitting and somehow have scored enough to win games. Five of the Giants post season wins have come when scoring three runs or less. The Rangers have yet to win a game when scoring that little.
Different players have risen to the top for San Fran, as Cody Ross caught fire against Philly pitching and had a great NLCS. Aubrey Huff is playing like he is in his 20s again, and "small ball" is proving to be a winning style of play.
I don't feel like talking too much about Texas, but I will praise their relentless and aggressive playing style. They run as much as they can, and Josh Hamilton can hit the crap out of the ball. Let it be known, if you walk him, Vlad and Cruz can also kill the ball.
Elvis Andrus will make a name for himself as one of the top young shortstops in the MLB in the World Series. Watch out for this kid.
This is just a quickie to give some respect to MLB. My New York Yankees came back from five runs down last night to beat the Texas Rangers, in Texas, 6-5.
It was an unbelievable win for the Yanks and a crushing loss for the Rangers. C.J. Wilson threw a great game and was taken out when OF Brett Gardner beat out a ground ball to the first baseman. After that, the next six Yankees got basehits, totaling five runs in the eighth inning off of a combined five Texas pitchers.
Mariano Rivera came in, and we all know when he's in the game is as good as over. Game 1: Yankees win. Game 2: Today, should be interesting to see how the Rangers respond to the loss.
The NLCS is what everyone will be paying attention to today though because it is a phenomenal pitching duel. Probable Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay looks to teach a lesson to young phenom Tim Lincecum. Philly is hoping to continue their dominance in the post-season as the favorite to win the NL Pennant.
The Giants typically don't score a ton of runs and will be going against someone who threw a no-hitter in his first career post-season start. If the Giants can steal this one, Philly should get nervous, but I don't see it happening.
The most exciting division in baseball, as opposed to a few years back when they toiled in mediocrity, now all teams are equally viable as top tier clubs.Top to bottom this is a good division, with only the bottom team really missing any truly noticeable pieces.
San Diego Padres:If anyone you know says they had the Padres making the playoffs, they lied.Really, no one saw this coming.As I write this I’m waiting for them to fall out of the top spot.And I still think they will by the end of the year.But that’s how you get the “us against the world” mentality that breeds Cinderella stories like this.Adrian Gonzalez deserves this team.This rotation of journeymen and young guns deserves the success.But the feel good story can’t go on, right?
San Francisco Giants:Matt Cain.Tim Lincecum.Barry Zito being a respectable number three.Aubrey Huff turning it on back like he used to with the Rays.And all this success with Kung Fu Panda slumping.The Giants are doing all they can to keep in this race, and they’ll probably be able to grab a playoff spot, be it in a wildcard showdown with their own division and the folks out east or a final over the hump push to the division crown.
Los Angeles Dodgers:This was a power hitting lineup that short circuited.Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsly need to stay strong to make the necessary run at the playoffs.This powerful outfield has been struggling a tremendous amount, and injuries to Manny Ramirez certainly don’t help that cause.Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, and James Loney are as solid a middle as anywhere in the league.If the pitching can stay strong til Manny gets back, they’ll make a nice playoff run.
ColoradoRockies:Ubaldo Jimenez was all-time good.Like, absolute incredible for-the-ages good.And then the all-star break happened.The early year Dark Horse Cy Young emerged as one of the best pitchers in baseball.But that sort of dominance, with modern day players and scouting reports, isn’t going to last a season.The Rockies are a slightly above average team with a great foundation to remain competitive over many seasons.But with the Dodgers doing so well while struggling and the unbelievable year in San Diego, Colorado looks like tough luck losers.Carlos Gonzalez and Ian Stewart are both young foundation players who will be the envy of the league a few years from now, but just not this season.
Arizona Diamondbacks: This pitching staff has the worst ERA in the bigs, and nowhere near the offense to make up for that.Dontrelle Willis proved he’s still a bust after that one year in Florida, the bullpen blows leads like they’re paid by the earned run, and Dan Haren has had a year to forget.Apart from using for former member of Oakland's "big 3" as trade bait, the desert is out of good story lines until football season.
A look at the good, the bad, and the ugly to this point in the season.
Single: The Athletics are off to a good start in the most up-for-grabs division in baseball.If Ben Sheets keeps his arm the rest of the season they may be able to hang in there for a bit.But that’s asking a lot.
Double: The Minnesota Twins are proving that they don’t need Nathan.But when he does come back around, they’ll be looking to shop a closer.Jon Rauch is a rock in the back of that bullpen right now, and he’ll be worth a hefty price when they go shopping next year.
Triple: The Tampa Bay Rays looked to be third fiddle behind big boys in Boston and New York this year.Apparently, no one told Tampa.Matt Garza looks legit, and this team is flying through a tough early schedule.
Home Run: Jason Heyward is all that and a bag of chips.The slick hitting rookie came into Tuesday tied for the league lead in RBI’s batting in the middle of the order for a team stocked in its rotation.Bobby Cox has to be loving the possibility of another division crown awaiting his sendoff at the end of the season.
Strikin’ them out: All reports of the demise of Tim Lincecum are incredibly premature.The quirky delivery is posting an ERA under 1 thus far in the season, as well as tying for the league lead in wins and leading the strikeouts category.So much for an off year.
Popping up:The Red Sox spent the offseason trying to improve on defense and run prevention.All that’s great, but without a feared middle of the order, there’s not much that’s going to happen.Victor Martinez needs to get his stroke back, and upper management needs to make up their minds on Big Papi.
Caught Looking: The New York Mets are used to being fine on paper and miserable on the field.Well, this year they don’t even have the added bonus of looking good on paper.This team is going nowhere until its roster hops off of the DL.JasonBay isn’t enjoying the big apple, and neither are the fans.
Philadelphia has the best team in the league, hands down.And it’s not even that close.An absolutely lethal head of the rotation with Doc Halladay and Cole Hamels, backed up by a stud lineup.It’s almost unfair.Yet despite this, the division will probably still produce the wild card team, speaking to the strength of…
The Braves starting pitching.A top four in the rotation of Timmy Hudson, Tommy Hanson, Jair Jurrjens, and Derek Lowe is enough to keep them competitive in every game.That, and the fact that Bobby Cox is in the last year of his contract makes them a sympathetic playoff team.Sadly, sympathy won’t get them past the Phillies, and they’re still less pathetic than…
Your New York Mets.This team has everything on paper.Again.But the injury bug hasn’t looked too kindly on this team in awhile.Will David Wright return to David Wright of old?Will Carlos Beltran live up to his potential/ contract?Will Jeff Francoeur remember how to check a swing?Will Johan Santana be able to start 160+ games?The pieces are there, but the results will be puzzling.
The fish look to be in a very similar spot to their same state AL East pals.Decent starting pitching, good young talent, and a division that is nearly impossible to win based on the level of competition surrounding them.Any other division and they compete for the title.Here, they’ll be lucky to finish outside of the basement.
Well, maybe not that lucky.The Nationals aren’t a good team.Young players to build around like Stephen Strasburg make this a fun team to watch, but they won’t contend for a playoff spot.
NL Central
This division is loaded with power hitters to the point where it’s almost not fair.So ranking them based on pure slugging seems the right way to go.And if we’re going to do that, can anyone bet against Albert Pujols?Me thinks not.
Derek Lee comes sliding into second as far as pop at first goes.Last season he put up arguably his best stats since the 2005 year when he threatened for a triple crown until August.The Cubbies aren’t particularly strong, but they’re not lacking much.Which should be enough to finish just above .500 and place in second, just ahead of…
Cincinnati.A healthy Scott Rolen makes this a solid team in the infield.And that Joey Votto kid is an all-star in the making.But there’s not enough on both sides of the ball yet.
Milwaukee will be an entertaining team to watch so long as Prince and Ryan Braun keep the ball moving, but you know your pitching is week when the number one on your roster is Yovani Gallardo.
Houston and Pittsburgh tie here as teams going in opposite directions.Houston is bottoming out, with the careers of Roy Oswalt and Lance Berkman fading away.Meanwhile, Pitt looks to the future with Andrew McCutchen, but that future is at least two or three years out.
NL West
This entire division is up for grabs, with four teams legitimately talented enough to make noise come playoff time.But the one team that would be the most threatening in October baseball?The Giants.Does anyone want to see Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain?That’s what I thought.
The Dodgers offer the most serious threat to the Giants hopes of a division crown, with a very different approach to victory.As good as San Fran is at pitching, the cluster of Andre Ethier, Manny, and this soon to be perennial all-star Matt Kemp are just as good at hitting, if not better.
Colorado has Ubaldo Jiminez, who could quickly become a dark horse Cy Young candidate by the summer.If this lineup stays healthy, they could threaten the division too.
Just as Arizona can.Standing toe to toe with Timmay and Cain in San Fran are Dan Haren and Brandon Webb in the desert.A healthy return for Webb suddenly makes this lackluster team a force.
Sadly, San Diego has no such magic.Apart from Adrian Gonzalez, this team is Triple A with very little hope.
So here’s to another fantastic season of baseball, of sinking line drives, sliders in the dirt, and dominating closers.Cheers.
Okay, I know it's a day late...but better late than never
Week 3:
The Down
Washington Nationals - Grapefruit League
Sure, the first thing you think to yourself has to do with it being spring training and these games being pointless. I couldn't agree more. However, I just wanted to make it known that the Nats have yet to win a spring training game. Yes that is correct; they are currently 0-10. This being in a league before the season starts in which "never-was's" are the primary competitors. Even I hope that they can pull it together and have a decent season. Good luck. The Dirty
San Francisco Giants - Cactus League
By now, it wouldn't surprise me if you stopped reading because this is pretty much a post about spring training baseball. Well, I chose the Giants because they are in first place in the Cactus League, and the National League as well. Don't be surprised if this group of young players pulls together and has a season similar to the Rays a few years back. They certainly have pitching talent with Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum, so we will see if they can compete with the rest of the division come regular season time.
