Series 6-Pack: Giants Mid-Series Series Preview

Yeah it happened again.

Melissa Felkins of Frisco Fastball and I team up for a 1-2 (3-4-5-6) punch of Giants-centric questions that appear to grow increasingly snide as they go along.

1.  Rich Walcoff the San Francisco Examiner recently deduced that Barry Zito deserves Giants fans’ respect because Edgar Renteria was the 2010 World Series MVP.  Is there anything left beyond flawed logic that can defend Zito from his very correct critics?

No. The difference is that, while one player can make a difference in a game, win or lose, poor pitching such as Zito has exhibited the majority of time he’s worn a Giants uniform, is a bigger deal. Pitching can lose a game. One person hitting or play the field poorly has less of a chance to impact the entire game. The pitcher that night is generally either “on” or “off.” When it comes to hitting a home run in the World Series when you’ve had a crappy season, it’s difference. You get a new chance at every at-bat for the pitcher to make a mistake.

Oh and the Giants didn’t let the fact that he was the World Series MVP impact how much more money they are willing to give him. If Zito was making $1 million a year, he’d be gone. Period. He’d be wearing a Reds uniform along with Renteria.

2.  What does Bruce Bochy think is going to happen if he continues to play Aubrey Huff over Brandon Belt?  Something?  Anything?

I think he’s hoping for experience in Huff. I think Huff plays a big part in the chemistry of the team and keeping them together, even when he’s been in a season long slump. I like Belt, but he needs at-bats and confidence. If it keeps up, Belt will be back and in at 1st base. I’m not terribly against the idea of keeping Huff in at this point. And, I’ve learned that when I doubt Bochy and Sabean, I remind myself that they won a World Series last year when everyone was calling for their head on a platter all season.

3.  Will you be participating in this thing Virgin America is doing where fans hunt down flight attendants hidden in AT&T Park during the game?  Also, doesn’t this sound like it will end in disaster?

I won’t be there to participate (missed it by a day), but it sounds fun actually. It has the potential to end in disaster, but we’re not too much of a ruthless bunch. The Giants and AT&T Park generally organize things pretty well. Though, when you add Philly fans into the mix, who knows what will happen [EDITOR’S NOTE: Just because I have already tracked down the personal information of several flight attendants in order to blackmail them into revealing their locations does not mean that all Phillies fans are ruthless you know what forget it.]

4.  Charlie Manuel was recently talking out loud about how the Giants starters are good, but haven’t been around long enough to be considered truly “great.”  Tim Lincecum immediately retorted something about knocking the Phillies out of the NLCS.  Can we expect some sort of Pedro Martinez/Don Zimmer thing?  Keep in mind Charlie Manuel keeps a knife in his cleat that, once drawn, cannot be returned to its sheath until it has spilled blood.

I’m not sure Lincecum will engage it anymore. I mean, I get Manuel’s point, but at the same time, in that moment, right after the Giants won the series against the Phillies, it came off as a bitter ex-girlfriend. It was the wrong time and place for those comments, and probably the wrong person to say them. I don’t expect much more from it.

5.  So, momentum.  We’re coming off two sweeps and you’re suddenly in danger of dropping out of first place.  Does this matter at all?  Or should we remember that this is baseball, and dumb crap happens whenever it wants to, making things like “momentum” and “talent” at times meaningless?

Momentum does matter, but there are still a lot of game to be played. This time last year, Giants pitchers couldn’t get a win to save their lives and look where they ended up. It is baseball, dumb crap happens, but as long as you play well enough to be in contention come September, I think that is all that really matters.

6.  I read this highly unbiased review of “The Franchise” and boy, it really got panned.  I was sorry to hear that.

Far from unbiased. I mean, the writer states at the beginning they hate the Giants. As a Giants fan, I’m enjoying it. If it was about the Phillies, I’d probably hate it too. There are no unbiased writers when it comes to baseball fans.