The Notepad
Noah Lowry hits the limelight with the NL Player of the Week award.
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Giants Seeing Double
Just when it seemed inconceivable that the Giants could be any more generous, they took their collective charity to a new level on Wednesday night. Losing to Pittsburgh four times in nine innings was bad enough. This time, they prolonged the pain for eleven instead.
Neifi Perez, for his part, has a game plan. If all else fails, as indeed he and the team have been, he uses a different strategy. He lies. When quizzed on his exemplary demonstration of double-play hitting in the top of the 11th -- with the bases loaded -- he reasoned:
"That happens when the team is struggling. When the team is hot, that ball gets through or hits the mound."
Once it is accepted that a team must earn a post-season berth -- and isn't simply entitled to one because the second best player of all-time is part of it -- perhaps we will hear less of this pathetic tripe. Neifi. though, isn't the only guilty party. The clubhouse appears to thrive on spewing this narcissitic nonsense. Matt Herges has succeeded, even if the teams hasn't, by adding the conviction he brings to the mound to that of his MLB.com diary. On Tuesday, it read:
"It's a big point of our season right now. This road trip will tell a lot. ... I don't want to say anything like we have to go 4-2 or 5-1. But I just know that we need to play our best ball on this road trip."
Thankyou, Matthew. You have helped birth the reality check that has been long in order for this franchise. If watching the team isn't enough evidence already, then let the number-bods have their say. Either way, the Giants' shortcoming are crystal clear, and ever crystallizing in loss after loss. The reason Neifi hit into a double-play isn't because the team is struggling. It is because, quite simply, he is likely to do it. Option A: Watch his swing. Option B: See he has done it on 16 other occasions this season.
The Giants lead the National League in errors, have left the third most men on base and have hit into 116 double-plays -- the most in the majors. Their defense is in fact so sloppy that the defensive replacements are actually worse than the men they replace. The offense is more clutching at straws than clutch, hitting just .242 with runners in scoring position. How about combining the two with a pinch-hit GIDP? You got it. Five members of the roster have hit into more twin-killings then they have drawn walks: Marquis Grissom, Neifi Perez, Pedro Feliz, A.J.Pierzynski and, needless to say, Cody Ransom.
The loss of the versatile Felix Rodriguez has, at least, allowed the scum in the bullpen to surface. The Giants' reliever are, sadly, as overworked as they are unable. For the purposes of persuasion, the same rules apply. Option A: Take a look at the stuff of Herges, Eyre, Christiansen, et al. See how many pitches find themselves over the plate, or see how often the count goes to 2-0. Option B: See how few hitter this motley crew strike out, how many hits they yield, or best of all, their shameful 5.86 ERA.
Contender or pretender? Neither, mate.
