Ruminations on the San Francisco Giants and the game of baseball, written by someone who knows both
22 July 2010
95 down. 67 to go.
And then, there was a dud. For all the resilience the 2010 team has shown in peeling themselves off the mat following heartbreaking losses — particularly Monday night in L.A. — they sure seem to lack the killer instinct of a championship-caliber club. Five out of 11 times this season, the Giants have failed to complete a series sweep. And while you can flip the script and say they've been successful in more than 50% of those situations — twice against the lowly Astros — those five failures could loom large on October 3rd, especially because many of them were winnable contests against low-end starters. That's not to say that Chad Billingsley isn't worth his salt — indeed, he also shut out the G-Men back in July of '08 — but the Doyers as a team were reeling, the Giants were rolling, and this was a perfect time to put a foot on their throat and step down hard. Instead, yours truly and the rest of Giants Nation wasted two and a half hours watching a re-run we can't seem to escape, and even a resurgent Pablo Sandoval couldn't save the day this time. Of course, we could chalk it up to the Curse of the Unicorn since The Other Barry is not exactly a magnet for run support. Me? I'm putting on a lack of focus. It's always been apparent with individual players like Dirty Sanchez and Panda, but now it seems to be affecting the whole team. Hence, a roller coaster season of streaks. If this team wants to compete in October, they need to iron out the inconsistencies and start bringing their A mentality — if not their A game — on a daily basis. That is all.
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