Baseball’s Halfway Questions/FeedCrossing.com

By Max Frankel, Sean Morash

This time, I thought we would have a little fun since today is the official half-way point of the year for 15-out-of-30 teams (the Giants being one of them). Here is another Feed Crossing article from two writers who made some insightful midyear predictions.

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It’s the unofficial halfway point of the MLB season.   How many of you knew that after tonight 15 of the league’s 30 teams will have played at least their 81st game, remember that 81 is half of 162?  That means its time for the typical midseason questions (surprises etc).


Most Surprising Team? 

Sean:  For me this has to be the Twins.  I know we think about surprises as generally positive things but I’m most surprised by the total ineptitude of the Twins thus far this year.  If you had told me at the beginning of the year that the Twins would be in fourth place, and have a 34-45 record at the halfway point, I would have called you an idiot.  They have to win 11 straight games just to pull within a half game of the slightly less surprising Pirates!


Max: It’s got to be the Pittsburgh Pirates. They’re a game over .500 and only three out in the NL Central. That’s pretty good for a team that hasn’t had a winning season since the Hoover Administration. Charlie Morton has 5 more wins than he did all of last season, Jeff Karstens’ ERA is below three, and Kevin Corriea has 10 wins. That’s surprising. (Honorable Mention: Seattle Mariners)



Most Surprising Player?

Sean:  Lance Berkman.  Berkman looked old, fat, and washed up at times last year when



he hit .248 with a career low 14 homers. This year? He’s been one of the best hitters in the game. On pace for 36 homers, and a .295 batting average, .404 OBP, and he’s playing a serviceable outfield.

Max: David Ortiz. I know it’s strange that we both picked resurgent veterans but I’m truly surprised by Ortiz. I honestly thought he was washed up. After the starts he’s had to the last two seasons and the the general mediocrity of last year as a whole, I though this year would be obvious evidence of a decline. Instead, Ortiz looks rejuvenated. His swing is back and pitchers just can’t get him out. He’s batting .307 with 17 HRs and even has his first stolen base since 2008.

Most Suprising Move:


Sean:  Cardinals release Opening Day closer Ryan Franklin.  Franklin played his way out of the closer’s role and then out of total usage for St Louis. He had an 8.36 ERA over his past 10 appearances (spanning 48 days) and really was bad, but to completely release a guy who was an All-Star closer in the past and has racked up some 92 saves over the past three years seems like the wrong roster move.

Max: The San Francisco Giants sending Brandon Belt Back to the minor leagues. It’s not surprising that they did it, it’s surprising that they had to. A lot of people thought Belt would be an impact player for San Francisco this season and really bolster the team. The Giants believed that so much they forced their top power hitter to change positions. Belt will be back, but early this season just wasn’t the right time for him.

Most Surprising Surprise?

Sean: The Year of the Dominant Pitcher.   We knew offense was down last year and we knew that was a trend we may see going forward, but the difference has been astounding.  Run scoring is down over a half a run per game from last year and over a run per game from 2009.

Max: I don’t know what to say. I don’t even understand the question.

Most Awesome Thing?

Sean:  Logan Morrison calling out Brian Sabean for Scott Cousins.  Part of the quote:  “It’s ignorant, it’s inappropriate and he has no idea what the hell he’s talking about.”  LoMo silenced most of the criticism and baseball nonsense that surrounded Cousins’ hard-nosed play that unfortunately ended in the Posey injury.  We had no-no’s and three home run games, but we have that every year.  Not every year do we have scandal like this.

Max: On June 20, Tim Hudson of the Atlanta Braves pitched 8 innings of shutout, two-hit baseball and whacked a two-run home run in route to a 2-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. For some reason, that reminds me of the story about Sandy Koufax waving in his outfielders and then infielders before striking a batter out to end an inning. Awesome.

Favorite Stat: 

Sean:   Cliff Lee had more RBI (2)  in June than runs allowed (1) and he had 42.0 IP.

Max: The Yankees are 2.5 games up in the AL East (Yeah!! Woooo!)

Lamest Thing

Sean:  The Phillies are in first.  Count me among those who root against the Phillies.  I make no bones about it and I was kinda hoping that the Phillies would get the Miami Heat treatment this year but they’re treated like
 everyone else and still have the best record in baseball.

Max: Josh Hamilton, Josh Johnson, Buster Posey, Albert Pujols, Shin Soo Choo, Derek Jeter, and Carl Crawford, have missed or are missing extended time this season. Those guys are so much fun to watch that baseball is slightly worse without them in it. Get well soon guys, if not, for your teams than for the fans.

Be sure to visit Off The Bench for more great baseball articles.

Link:  http://maxfrankel.com/?p=1229

The Wacky World of Giants Baseball: Giants' sweet torture continues in extra-inning affair

Aaron Rowand hits game-winning single in the bottom of the 12th inning and goes 2-for-3 in Giants' 5-4 win.

Looks like things have not changed much since last year.

The San Francisco Giants continued their victorious but torturous ways, as a sellout crowd at AT&T Park witnessed one of the greatest, yet weirdest games baseball fans will ever see.

The game featured two dramatic ninth-inning rallies with two outs and nobody on, a strike zone the size of a golf ball at one time and an SUV at another, an unlikely hero two home openers in a row, and an extra-inning dogfight where the Giants stranded a runner at third with nobody out in the bottom of the 11th inning. If you thought that was weird, the St. Louis Cardinals moved their left fielder and put five men in the infield in that bottom of the 11th inning -- and it worked when Aaron Rowand lined a smash right to third base, which was manned by left fielder Allen Craig.

The Giants achieved their 5-4 victory and broke the 4-4 tie in the bottom of the 12th inning when Rowand roped a game-winning single off the left-center-field wall with the bases loaded. Coincidentally, it was just last year on the Giants' 2010 home opener when Rowand hit an RBI infield hit in the 13th inning to beat the Braves also 5-4.

"This one was a lot easier than the last one trying to leg it out," Rowand said.

The 12th inning rally began off Cardinals lefty Brian Tallet (0-1) when Miguel Tejada hit a one-out single to left. With two outs, Andres Torres reached on a catching error by first baseman Albert Pujols.

Cardinals manger Tony La Russa elected to walk Freddy Sanchez to load the bases for an unlikely hero. Rowand promptly silenced the naysayers by coming through in the clutch for the second home opener in a row.

"It was a lefty in that situation, so I hope they got to me," Rowand said.

The ecstasy at AT&T Park by the end of the 12th inning was nothing of the sort back in the top of the ninth inning. With the Giants up 3-2 and Brian Wilson looking for his first save of the year, Wilson lost the 12-pitch marathon battle with Ryan Theriot, as he singled in the tying and lead runs with the bases loaded. The inning started with two quick outs.

Wilson was angry, as he walked off the mound in the top of the ninth inning. He seemed to disagree with home plate umpire Bruce Dreckman's strike zone and began shouting at him while he was leaving the field.

"I was a little pissed," Wilson said. "Emotions are flying. It's opening day. Ow well, that's what happens."

It appeared that the Giants' opening day party, which included their championship flag being hoisted and set atop a pole forever at AT&T Park, was ruined by the Cardinals' ninth-inning rally. However, the Giants returned the favor and started a two-out rally of their own, which concluded with a game-tying single to right by Pablo Sandoval.

It appeared the first baseman Pujols was out of position when Sandoval hit his hard ground ball to the right side, as he broke toward the bag as the pitch was being thrown by closer Ryan Franklin. Nonetheless, the Giants enjoyed every minute of it.

"The game was an emotional roller coaster, a great game," said Bruce Bochy, Giants manager. "These guys fought hard. It was quite a ball game for a home opener."

Lost in all the hoopla was a fine starting pitching performance by Giants starter Jonathan Sanchez. Although he threw a lot of pitches early, he battled through a first-inning jam and allowed just one run, while striking out seven, in five innings of work.

The Cardinals scored first on a Tyler Greene single in the top of the second inning. The Giants would tie the game on a third-inning home run by Miguel Tejada, his first as a Giant.

The Giants grabbed the lead on a Freddy Sanchez double in the second inning. They would tack on another run in the sixth inning on Pat Burrell's third home run of the year, making the score 3-1.

For the most part, the Giants kept Pujols in check. The Cardinals' slugger went just 1-for-6, with an RBI single in the eighth inning that cut the Giants' lead to 3-2. Pujols' average fell to .179 for the year.

Dan Runzler (1-0) pitched a perfect 12th inning to earn the win in relief. He was one of eight pitchers used by the Giants in the game.

Although the torture called Giants baseball continued, like last year, torture still never felt so good.

My Thoughts

This was just a great baseball game.

The Giants did something that all good teams need to do to be successful. That is to not quit, even when all seems lost.

When the Giants blew their 3-2 lead in the ninth inning, many teams might have felt so deflated and just rolled over -- not the Giants. They roared back with a two-out rally. Rowand (2-for-3) got things started with a two-out single, and would eventually come in to score on Sandoval's game-tying single.

Another instance where the Giants showed resiliency was after the bottom of the 11th inning. After Torres doubled and advanced on a wild pitch with nobody out, the Giants suffered a crushing blow. Victory was within reach, but the Giants stumbled.

Freddy Sanchez struck out, and then, Aaron Rowand hit a hard, low liner that the left fielder dove for and trapped at third base. Tony La Russa moved the left fielder to third base, and it actually worked, as Torres was nailed in a rundown on the play. Mark DeRosa then struck out on some questionable pitches for the third out of the inning.

Again, the Giants could have rolled over and let the failure get into their heads. Fortunately for the Giants, this did not happen, as Runzler came out and pitched a scoreless top of the 12th, setting up the Giants' walk-off win at the bottom of the inning.

Another thing to note. Bruce Dreckman's strike zone was awful today. The one thing players ask for in a home plate umpire is consistency, no matter if his strike zone is high, low, or wide. It seemed that early in the game, Dreckman's zone was very tight when Sanchez was on the mound. Later on in the game, his strike zone widened, especially during DeRosa's 11th-inning at bat.

If the Giants are going to do this torture bit on their fans again, it should be another fun season in the wacky world of San Francisco Giants baseball.

Tidbits

The Giants are now 3-4 and have won three home openers in a row. With home runs from Burrell and Tejada, they now lead the National League in home runs with 9 (tied with the Reds and Brewers). Rowand got his second-straight, walk-off hit in a Giants home opener. Cardinals' outfielder Matt Holliday says he may play this weekend after having his appendix removed just five days ago. Pujols has hit into five double plays in seven games so far this year. Tomorrow, Matt Cain will look for his second win of the year against the Cardinals' Jaime Garcia. The game will start at 7:05 p.m. to accommodate the Giants' ring ceremony.

	1 2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	R	H	E
STL	0 1	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	0	0	0	4	8	3
SF	0 0	2	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	5	15	1

W: D. Runzler (1-1)
L: B. Tallet (0-1)

Vinnie Cestone is a Baseball/San Francisco Giants Featured Columnist for The Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained first-hand or from official interview materials from Comcast SportsNet Bay Area.

Stats and other information came from ESPN.com and MLB.com. 

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Questions or comments? E-mail my blog mailbag at vc4re@yahoo.com. Your questions may be answered on my blog.