Final Four

MLB has its Final Four. Since the top four seeds advanced, did we really need the preliminary rounds?

The #6 Phillies lost to the #3 Braves. The Braves finished ahead of the Phils in the NL East. The #4 Padres beat the #5 Cubs. The Pads won more games in the regular season than did the Cubbies. The #2 seed Dodgers beat the Braves and the #1 seed Brewers beat the Padres. The two best teams in the NL will meet in the NLCS.

In the AL, #1 seed Tampa Bay had to beat the #4 seed Yankees, a team they had already topped over 162 games. The Yanks got there by beating a team they finished ahead of in the AL East, the #5 Red Sox. The lowest-rated team, the #6 seed Wild Card White Sox provided the only excitement by beating the #3 Astros. Houston won the AL West with an impressive 81-81 record! The Pale Hose lost to the #2 Guardians but only after throwing them a scare.

I don't really have a problem with the top seeds making it to the semifinals but I think it is stupid when first-place teams have to play the second-place finisher again. Didn't we just spend six months determining who was the better team? And seeding a team ahead of a team with a worse record is also dumb.

In the meantime we'll see if the high-flying Brew Crew have the stuff to beat LA. I'd certainly like to see that. The last time the Brewers were in the World Series was 1982, losing to the Cardinals in seven games. The Rays have never won it all in their 29-year history but have two pennants (2008 and 2020). The Guardians were the Indians in 1948 when they last won it all. That franchise has four pennants since then (1954, 1995, 1997, and 2016).

So, who is your non-LA rooting interest? I'm an amateur brewer so it is easy to pick Los Cerveceros. But a Rays win would be fine, too. They seem to have super-smart people there who consistently build winning clubs without big payrolls. I really like Kevin Cash--he's the longest-tenured manager in MLB (12 years). Of course Cleveland fans may be baseball's longest-suffering. They really should have beat the damn Cubs in 2016, and they just missed out in 1997 against the Marlins. Long-time Giants fans know how it feels to be the bridesmaid and not the bride!

--M.C. 

A bright spot

Let's take a look at Player1 and Player2:

 

 

            G    PA    R    H    2B    3B    HR    RBI    BB    SO

Player1    111  458   66   117   27     2    11    41     34    76

Player2    107  448   50   104   23     0    17    57     59   119

 

Player1 was 22 in March of that season. Player2 turns 22 this October.

 

                  BA/OBA/SLG%        OPS+       wOBA      wRC+

Player1        .287/.343/.444        121       .341       117

Player2        .269/.364/.461        133       .361       131

 

                BB%    SO%      ISO    TB 

Player1         7.4    16.6    .157    181

Player2        13.2    26.6    .192    178

 

Player1 is Will Clark and it is his 1986 season (rated 2.2 bWAR and 1.8 fWAR). It was his debut.

Player2 is Bryce Eldridge. He played in 10 games last year so I'm skipping that. His season is rated 2.1 bWAR and 1.8 fWAR.

Comparisons are invidious, I know that. It's unfair to label any player "the next _______". Players should be celebrated for their uniqueness.

That being said, it is exciting to see a young ballplayer with some serious UPSIDE!!  

--M.C.

9th inning: 6-12

1st inning: 6-12

2nd inning: 8-10

3rd inning: 8-10

4th inning: 7-11 

5th inning: 9-9 

6th inning: 8-10 

7th inning: 6-12 

8th inning: 7-11

9th inning: 6-12

If you add up the butcher's bill it comes to 65-97 and that's a .401 win percentage. The best way to think about that is .401 means (1.000 - .401 = 0.599) a .599 loss percentage.

The Giants lost 59.9% of their games this year. For all intents and purposes that's 60% and that is god-awful.

The Giants saved their best for last as they had their worst month (8-16 for September) and lost 8 of their final 9 games (and 12 of their final 15). Sure, they had to play the Dodgers six times but 0-6 is hardly excusable as they certainly could have won at least one of the games in each of the three-game sets. Today was about as stupid of a loss as the Giants have managed all season.

The 2026 season is over and all I can think to say is "thank god." This summer was agony. This was as bad a team as I have ever watched as a lifetime Giants fan. I remember 1985 when the Giants lost 100 games and I attended 25 to the tune of a 7-18 (.280) record! That was a bad team. This team is right up there in the Pantheon of Pathetic.

The Giants used a record 71 players this season. I have hoped for some time that the team would do a full "re-build" and stop pretending to be competitive. This year that was forced upon them. They did not want to tear everything down but the lousy results forced them to do it. Perhaps it will pay off sooner rather than later.

I've a lot of thoughts on baseball and sports to share in the coming off-season as well as much to say (of course) about the Giants. Thanks for being a part of things. Stick around and we'll see how things shake out for 2027.

--M.C.

Final week

SF 5  MIN 2

It was a nice, crisp win featuring a cool debut from Bo Davidson but marred by an injury to starter Blade Tidwell. Davidson, once known as "The JUCO Barry Bonds" got a hit in his first plate appearance, stole second, and scored on a Brett Harris single. The 23-year old from North Carolina was killing it in the minors (.290/.361./.527) with 55 XBH in 125 G.

Tidwell, acquired in the Tyler Rogers trade, has shown some real promise as a starter for next season. Let's hope his arm injury in not serious. Tristan Beck came up big with 2-2/3 scoreless after Tidwell exited.

The big bat belonged to Drew Gilbert. The former first-rounder came in the same Rogers trade and is looking more and more like a full-time outfielder.

Five more games to go, all at home. Tonight's at 6:45 Pacific.

Go Giants!

--M.C.