On May 24, 2009, the Giants lost to the Seattle Mariners and fell to 20-23. After that they won four in a row and were never worse than .500 the rest of the way and finished 88-74. In 2008, the Giants lost their first game and were below .500 for the entire season. Since the advent of division play in 1969 (44 seasons not including this one) the Giants have had 19 below-.500 teams. The longest stretch of above-.500 seasons was 14, from 1958, the inaugural year in San Francisco (the 1957 NY Giants were a sub.500 team), to 1971, when they won the Western Division. The next longest was from 1997-2004 (8 seasons). The longest stretch of sub-.500 teams was four seasons, from 1974-1977 and again from 2005-2008. The best player on the 2005 Giants was Noah Lowry, the team's number one pick (#30 overall) in the 2001 draft. They drafted Matt Cain number one (#25 overall) the very next year. The Giants have also had two three-year sub-.500 stretches: 1983-1985 and 1994-1996. Throw in 1972, 1979, 1980, 1991, and 1992 and that's 19. Of course that means there's been 25 winning seasons since 1969 (and 36 since 1958).
The Giants are 3-1/2 games from first place and 3-1/2 games from last place. The defending champs are fighting it out with the most expensive team in baseball history for the bottom of the division. Raise your hand if you saw that coming.
GO GIANTS!
--M.C.
8 comments:
Yet another game last night that could have been won, or at the very least, should have been tied and sent into extra innings. Bad luck? Bad karma? Or just a bad stretch of play? It does seem like we score just enough not to win and pitch just well enough to lose.
Lincecum pitching like he used to I think at this time is a pipe dream. I think I am going to go with the group that thinks his future is going to be in the pen. This time the two stolen bases were more off of Sanchez than Lincecum. I think Bochy has to rethink Sanchez as a catcher for Lincecum. Although the last wild pitch could not have been blocked by Yadier Molina. Lincecum just does not seem to be able to come up with the big pitch when he needs it.
Just like when this team is going good, they find ways to win games out of thin air, right now they are finding new and creative ways to give a way games. Although catches by Venable and Kemp could have robbed them of two wins this past week, but they have to not allow the games to get that close. A few giants blow out wins will go a long way to establish Bochy's credibility.
Balls just aren't falling. And then comedy is ensuing with a bunch of sleepwalkers. Bad combo.
The West is winnable. Don't forget it, don't forget it. The West is winnable.
Losing to the Bums right now sucks bad. Here comes the ninth!
Scutaro single. Posey single. Hmmm...
Pence and Sandoval strike out on balls a foot above the strike zone. At least Pablo gave it a battle.
And my late night blog posting did not give bring good mojo. Sorry RMC. I hate Hanley Ramirez. He annoys the hell out of me.
Thanks for the effort! I wish it would have worked, then you would be commenting all the time!
Post a Comment