A team looks flat when it doesn’t hit. It looks lethargic and impotent. Uncaring, even.
When you don’t hit for an entire season, as the Giants have failed to do in 2011, it has a
cumulative effect. It’s slow poison, leeching confidence and belief from the body.
But as the Giants displayed Saturday night at Chase Field, it looks a whole lot worse when you don’t pitch.
The games go from dull to disastrous. Eric Surkamp couldn’t find the plate and he was slow in his attempts to do so, leading to a flurry of walks and stolen bases in the first inning – along with one comical form tackle by Mike Fontenot on a much bigger land-bound mammal in umpire Bruce Dreckman.
It got worse from there. Not only were the Giants officially extinguished with their 15-2 loss, but they self-immolated in excruciatingly slow fashion. The freaky, 28-minute power outage delay wasn’t their fault. But those 13 walks – tying the San Francisco-era franchise record for a nine-inning game – were very preventable.
Several months ago, I asked Bruce Bochy which position player would be first in line as an emergency pitcher. He said Miguel Tejada.
And you thought they took too long to release Tejada! Turns out they could have used him Saturday night.
What does a night like this underscore for me? Well, that the Giants really, really pitched incredibly, unbelievably well to be eliminated in their 158th game. Without the best staff in the league, this could’ve been a 100-loss season. Easily.
After the game there weren’t a whole lot of choices for everyday players to interview for perspective on being officially eliminated. That’s because the Giants have had just one truly “everyday” player all season – and it’s Aubrey Huff, whom the New York Times recently called the least valuable hitter in the league.
This is astounding: Huff is the only player on the roster who has compiled enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title. He’s the only Giant who will finish with more than 500 plate appearances this season.
That is rare. Here’s how rare:
The Giants would become the 14th team since 1920 to have just one player or fewer with 500 plate appearances. (The 1972 Mets and 1957 Kansas City A’s didn’t have anyone reach that mark.)
This is not a good list upon which to find yourself, by the way:
2010 Indians 69-93 (Choo)
2009 Pirates 62-99 (LaRoche)
2007 Cardinals 78-84 (Pujols)
2006 Rays 61-101 (Crawford)
2005 Dodgers 71-91 (Kent)
2003 Reds 69-93 (Casey)
1991 Indians 57-105 (Baerga)
1986 Dodgers 73-89 (Sax)
1972 Mets 83-73 (none)
1961 Phillies 47-107 (Callison)
1957 A’s 59-94 (none)
1954 Orioles 54-100 (Abrams)
1952 Tigers 50-104 (Groth)
As you can see, 12 of those 13 teams had losing records. Ten of them lost 90-plus games. Five of them lost 100. Their aggregate winning percentage was .403.
Makes the Giants’ 84-74 record look downright amazing, huh?
You’ll probably be able to add one more team to this distinguished group. The 2011 Houston Astros have only Carlos Lee above 500 plate appearances, and Clint Barmes probably won’t get there.
Oh yeah, one more detail: The Astros are 55-103.
Just like those ’72 Mets, who had Tom Seaver, Jon Matlack and Jerry Koosman still at or near the height of their powers, it took Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner and Ryan Vogelsong to keep this 2011 Giants season from becoming a total calamity.
–
I looked back at the first page of my scorebook. I’d forgotten Pablo Sandoval was the No.8 hitter on opening day. If only he’d really been the Giants’ eighth best hitter.
Here’s how it went for that lineup:
Andres Torres – DL (twice), 40 games missed
Freddy Sanchez – DL, 94 games missed
Aubrey Huff – COMPLETELY HEALTHY!
Buster Posey – DL, 110 games missed
Pat Burrell – DL, 43 games missed
Miguel Tejada – DL, and released, but only 25 games missed due to injury!
Brandon Belt – DL, 34 games missed, plus two demotions
Pablo Sandoval – DL, 40 games missed.
With the exception of Huff, every player missed at least a quarter of a season.
I used the game story to focus on Bruce Bochy’s answers to some pointed questions about whether he had any regrets or second-guesses. They were valid questions to ask. But given all you’ve just read, it’s obvious that no amount of managerial maneuvering could be expected to salvage this season.
–
Freddy Sanchez is rehabbing here in Arizona, where he lives. We were told he’d be at the ballpark during the Arizona series, cheering on his teammates as they fought to remain alive.
But nobody has laid eyes on him.
Maybe that would sit better with some folks around here if Sanchez were a free agent after the season. But he’s under contract for 2012.
–
The Giants will finish in second place, officially, because the Dodgers lost. Matt Kemp fell behind in the Triple Crown quest, too. His average is at .325. Ryan Braun is at .331 and Jose Reyes is at .330.
–
Tim Lincecum would’ve pitched on short rest Saturday if the Giants had won Friday night. Instead, he’ll make his final regular-season start on Sunday, with something big at stake.
Lincecum’s 2.59 ERA is in between the marks he posted in his two Cy Young seasons. Yet he’ll take the mound hoping he doesn’t finish the year with a sub-.500 record. He’s 13-13. It’s both sad and amazing. Samazing?
–
Instead of Lincecum on short rest, we got Eric Surkamp. I think the rookie will be learning a slide step in spring training. He nibbled and Arizona ate him alive on the basepaths.
The Giants entered 4-0 in Surkamp’s starts, but he’d been walking way too many batters. That surprised me given the way he has pounded the zone all through his minor league career.
He had a 165-44 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 142.1 innings at Double-A Richmond.
In the big leagues, it’s 17 walks, 10 strikeouts in 22 innings.
–
The Diamondbacks drew a sellout crowd – their third of the season.
The Giants have 78 sellouts this season.
If the Giants’ players have any issue getting motivated for these final four games, well, there you go.
“We owe it to our pitchers, our fans and our ownership to go out and play four good games,” Bochy said.
–
Ian Kennedy improved to 21-4 by beating the Giants on Saturday, ensuring he’ll end up on nearly every Cy Young Award ballot. As a voter for the Cy this year, I’m very glad the ballot has expanded from three to five slots. Kennedy deserves recognition, but it’s clear to me he wouldn’t crack a top three of Clayton Kershaw, Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay.
I’d think hard about listing Lincecum ahead of Kennedy, too. Better ERA and more strikeouts.
We all know wins don’t tell the whole story.
–
The Diamondbacks can’t match the Giants’ payroll, but I think they could be a top contender in the NL West for a long time.
Not only have they assembled a good, young rotation, but they have more high-level minor league arms than anyone in the system. Jarrod Parker, a 22-year-old former top-10 pick, will make his major league debut when he starts on Tuesday. Tyler Skaggs, who arrived along with Joe Saunders from Anaheim in the Dan Haren trade, saw his stock soar with a huge minor league season. And Trevor Bauer, the No.3 overall pick in June, has unique, Lincecum-like stuff.
Meanwhile, the Giants’ rotation, while still intact beyond 2011, is getting crazy expensive. And they don’t have much impact pitching left in their system, especially after trading Zack Wheeler for two months of Carlos Beltran. Surkamp was the most promising, and … well, yeah.
–
With the main story mostly pulling back and looking at how Bochy managed the season, I used the notebook space to summarize the particulars of a very ugly game.
In the notes, I mentioned Fontenot’s collision with umpire Bruce Dreckman, who looked like he was made of rubber as the 5-foot-7 Fontenot bounced off him.
Had Fontenot been involved in a play like that?
“Not where I did a form tackle on the umpire,” said Fontenot, who remained stunned on the ground for a minute. “I think he won. He didn’t budge.”
It was a 2-1 game at the time. The collision turned a ground out into a two-run single. You could argue it made a big impact on the final outcome.
But this was elimination day – the ultimate final outcome. And if you’ve followed the Giants this season, you know it too well:
There are only so many “if onlys…” to go around.
Source http://blogs.mercurynews.com/extrabaggs/2011/09/24/postgame-notes-world-champion-giants-extinguish-themselves-in-fiery-wreck-of-a-game-filing-a-missing-persons-report-etc/
When you don’t hit for an entire season, as the Giants have failed to do in 2011, it has a
cumulative effect. It’s slow poison, leeching confidence and belief from the body.But as the Giants displayed Saturday night at Chase Field, it looks a whole lot worse when you don’t pitch.
The games go from dull to disastrous. Eric Surkamp couldn’t find the plate and he was slow in his attempts to do so, leading to a flurry of walks and stolen bases in the first inning – along with one comical form tackle by Mike Fontenot on a much bigger land-bound mammal in umpire Bruce Dreckman.
It got worse from there. Not only were the Giants officially extinguished with their 15-2 loss, but they self-immolated in excruciatingly slow fashion. The freaky, 28-minute power outage delay wasn’t their fault. But those 13 walks – tying the San Francisco-era franchise record for a nine-inning game – were very preventable.
Several months ago, I asked Bruce Bochy which position player would be first in line as an emergency pitcher. He said Miguel Tejada.
And you thought they took too long to release Tejada! Turns out they could have used him Saturday night.
What does a night like this underscore for me? Well, that the Giants really, really pitched incredibly, unbelievably well to be eliminated in their 158th game. Without the best staff in the league, this could’ve been a 100-loss season. Easily.
After the game there weren’t a whole lot of choices for everyday players to interview for perspective on being officially eliminated. That’s because the Giants have had just one truly “everyday” player all season – and it’s Aubrey Huff, whom the New York Times recently called the least valuable hitter in the league.
This is astounding: Huff is the only player on the roster who has compiled enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title. He’s the only Giant who will finish with more than 500 plate appearances this season.
That is rare. Here’s how rare:
The Giants would become the 14th team since 1920 to have just one player or fewer with 500 plate appearances. (The 1972 Mets and 1957 Kansas City A’s didn’t have anyone reach that mark.)
This is not a good list upon which to find yourself, by the way:
2010 Indians 69-93 (Choo)
2009 Pirates 62-99 (LaRoche)
2007 Cardinals 78-84 (Pujols)
2006 Rays 61-101 (Crawford)
2005 Dodgers 71-91 (Kent)
2003 Reds 69-93 (Casey)
1991 Indians 57-105 (Baerga)
1986 Dodgers 73-89 (Sax)
1972 Mets 83-73 (none)
1961 Phillies 47-107 (Callison)
1957 A’s 59-94 (none)
1954 Orioles 54-100 (Abrams)
1952 Tigers 50-104 (Groth)
As you can see, 12 of those 13 teams had losing records. Ten of them lost 90-plus games. Five of them lost 100. Their aggregate winning percentage was .403.
Makes the Giants’ 84-74 record look downright amazing, huh?
You’ll probably be able to add one more team to this distinguished group. The 2011 Houston Astros have only Carlos Lee above 500 plate appearances, and Clint Barmes probably won’t get there.
Oh yeah, one more detail: The Astros are 55-103.
Just like those ’72 Mets, who had Tom Seaver, Jon Matlack and Jerry Koosman still at or near the height of their powers, it took Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner and Ryan Vogelsong to keep this 2011 Giants season from becoming a total calamity.
–
I looked back at the first page of my scorebook. I’d forgotten Pablo Sandoval was the No.8 hitter on opening day. If only he’d really been the Giants’ eighth best hitter.
Here’s how it went for that lineup:
Andres Torres – DL (twice), 40 games missed
Freddy Sanchez – DL, 94 games missed
Aubrey Huff – COMPLETELY HEALTHY!
Buster Posey – DL, 110 games missed
Pat Burrell – DL, 43 games missed
Miguel Tejada – DL, and released, but only 25 games missed due to injury!
Brandon Belt – DL, 34 games missed, plus two demotions
Pablo Sandoval – DL, 40 games missed.
With the exception of Huff, every player missed at least a quarter of a season.
I used the game story to focus on Bruce Bochy’s answers to some pointed questions about whether he had any regrets or second-guesses. They were valid questions to ask. But given all you’ve just read, it’s obvious that no amount of managerial maneuvering could be expected to salvage this season.
–
Freddy Sanchez is rehabbing here in Arizona, where he lives. We were told he’d be at the ballpark during the Arizona series, cheering on his teammates as they fought to remain alive.
But nobody has laid eyes on him.
Maybe that would sit better with some folks around here if Sanchez were a free agent after the season. But he’s under contract for 2012.
–
The Giants will finish in second place, officially, because the Dodgers lost. Matt Kemp fell behind in the Triple Crown quest, too. His average is at .325. Ryan Braun is at .331 and Jose Reyes is at .330.
–
Tim Lincecum would’ve pitched on short rest Saturday if the Giants had won Friday night. Instead, he’ll make his final regular-season start on Sunday, with something big at stake.
Lincecum’s 2.59 ERA is in between the marks he posted in his two Cy Young seasons. Yet he’ll take the mound hoping he doesn’t finish the year with a sub-.500 record. He’s 13-13. It’s both sad and amazing. Samazing?
–
Instead of Lincecum on short rest, we got Eric Surkamp. I think the rookie will be learning a slide step in spring training. He nibbled and Arizona ate him alive on the basepaths.
The Giants entered 4-0 in Surkamp’s starts, but he’d been walking way too many batters. That surprised me given the way he has pounded the zone all through his minor league career.
He had a 165-44 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 142.1 innings at Double-A Richmond.
In the big leagues, it’s 17 walks, 10 strikeouts in 22 innings.
–
The Diamondbacks drew a sellout crowd – their third of the season.
The Giants have 78 sellouts this season.
If the Giants’ players have any issue getting motivated for these final four games, well, there you go.
“We owe it to our pitchers, our fans and our ownership to go out and play four good games,” Bochy said.
–
Ian Kennedy improved to 21-4 by beating the Giants on Saturday, ensuring he’ll end up on nearly every Cy Young Award ballot. As a voter for the Cy this year, I’m very glad the ballot has expanded from three to five slots. Kennedy deserves recognition, but it’s clear to me he wouldn’t crack a top three of Clayton Kershaw, Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay.
I’d think hard about listing Lincecum ahead of Kennedy, too. Better ERA and more strikeouts.
We all know wins don’t tell the whole story.
–
The Diamondbacks can’t match the Giants’ payroll, but I think they could be a top contender in the NL West for a long time.
Not only have they assembled a good, young rotation, but they have more high-level minor league arms than anyone in the system. Jarrod Parker, a 22-year-old former top-10 pick, will make his major league debut when he starts on Tuesday. Tyler Skaggs, who arrived along with Joe Saunders from Anaheim in the Dan Haren trade, saw his stock soar with a huge minor league season. And Trevor Bauer, the No.3 overall pick in June, has unique, Lincecum-like stuff.
Meanwhile, the Giants’ rotation, while still intact beyond 2011, is getting crazy expensive. And they don’t have much impact pitching left in their system, especially after trading Zack Wheeler for two months of Carlos Beltran. Surkamp was the most promising, and … well, yeah.
–
With the main story mostly pulling back and looking at how Bochy managed the season, I used the notebook space to summarize the particulars of a very ugly game.
In the notes, I mentioned Fontenot’s collision with umpire Bruce Dreckman, who looked like he was made of rubber as the 5-foot-7 Fontenot bounced off him.
Had Fontenot been involved in a play like that?
“Not where I did a form tackle on the umpire,” said Fontenot, who remained stunned on the ground for a minute. “I think he won. He didn’t budge.”
It was a 2-1 game at the time. The collision turned a ground out into a two-run single. You could argue it made a big impact on the final outcome.
But this was elimination day – the ultimate final outcome. And if you’ve followed the Giants this season, you know it too well:
There are only so many “if onlys…” to go around.
Source http://blogs.mercurynews.com/extrabaggs/2011/09/24/postgame-notes-world-champion-giants-extinguish-themselves-in-fiery-wreck-of-a-game-filing-a-missing-persons-report-etc/
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