Frontpage Features

BY SCREAMIN' LEEMAN

Oh, yeah.  It was fun while it lasted. But now everyone has gone home, and we're left with the half-empty beer cans with cigarette butts in them.   Not a pretty sight.

The Giants of 2010 are nowhere to be seen.   The magic is gone.   Could this be the baseball Gods exacting payment for their fabulous gifts of last year?   Are we now paying the dues for the rewards we reaped?   Is this our baseball Karma?   What goes around comes around, as we all know, and now it seems like what went around is coming back to bite us hard, right where it hurts.

The single, most important asset the Giants had last year, on their way to the World Series Championship was Team Chemistry.

What signaled the demise of the Giants of 2011?

Well, I'll tell you:  The arrival of Carlos Beltran changed the team chemistry.  Amazing how that works. Oh, it sounded like a good idea at the time, but looking back it was definitely the proverbial monkey wrench in the gearbox.

It isn't Beltran's fault.  After all, his assignment was simple: Rescue the Franchise, and Get Us Back to the World Series.   I'm sure he wasn't feeling any pressure.  Ya think?

Here are the facts:   Right around the time we traded for Beltran, the Giants were 16 games over .500, in first place by four and a half games, and playing exciting ball.   We weren't scoring that many runs, but we were winning, and we were definitely headed for the playoffs.   Now the only way the Giants will see post-season play is to buy a ticket.

When you displace the players who have been there from the beginning it can't help but change the way they feel about themselves and the team.   Nate Schierholtz, for instance, who had mastered the right field position at AT&T and was hitting around .280 was pushed aside in favor of Beltran.  Never mind that Beltran is ten years older, hitting 40 points lower, and doesn't have half Nate's arm.

Then, Scheirholtz is put in left, a position he isn't that comfortable with, replacing Cody Ross.  Now, Cody feels disposable as well.

Next, they bring in 36-year-old Orlando Cabrera, to replace Brandon Crawford, one of the most exciting YOUNGshortstops we've had in years.  All of which sends a message to the rest of the team:  No one is safe, everyone is expendable.  There was a place for everyone, and everyone had their place, but that is no more.

So now we have a few infielders and a few outfielders all feeling like they're nonessential, unneeded. Mind you, these are the guys that helped to win the World Series.

When a player of any stripe feels unwanted or unneeded, it is only natural they would start to press.  And when you're pressing, you're not relaxed, and it results in mistakes in the field, and bad hitting.   When guys are pressing, and the team starts losing, people start to panic, which only exacerbates the situation, and that is what is happening now.

Look, we all know this is a business.  Guys come and go, trades are made, any player can be moved at any time.  That's the way it is.  But every once in a while, the baseball gods smile and put together a team like the Giants of 2010.  I guess we should be happy (I am, I am!).  We lived to see it, we were all part of it, and it was sensational.  The San Francisco Giants are, and always will be, the 2010 World Series Champions.  That can never be taken away.  As I've said before, for that reason, we can all die happy.

But all good things must come to an end, and the fabulous chemistry that was the Giants, sadly, is gone.

Right now, the waters are swirling, the team is spinning and there is no life jacket in sight...

Here is a short list of differences between this years' team and last years':

LAST YEAR:   Every game was exciting, we couldn't wait for the next one.

THIS YEAR:    Every game is boring, we can't wait for it to be over so we can do something interesting.

LAST YEAR:  A different player would come through for us almost every day.

THIS YEAR:   A different player goes on the disabled list almost every day.

LAST YEAR:  With Huff, Torres, and Ross it was BOOM! CRUSH! and SLAM!

THIS YEAR:   With Huff, Torres, and Ross It is DING, POP, and WHIFF.

LAST YEAR:  Every batter in the lineup had a chance to hit one out.

THIS YEAR:   Every batter in the lineup has a chance to make an out, and they usually do.

LAST YEAR: On any given day, they could beat any pitcher and any team.

THIS YEAR:  On any given day, they make mediocre pitchers seem like Cy Young, and they can lose to any team.

LAST YEAR: People were jumping onto the bandwagon in droves.

THIS YEAR:  The bandwagon sits abandoned, like a rusted out '59 Edsel.

LAST YEAR: They won the World Series!

THIS YEAR:   Stick a fork in them, they're done...