The San Francisco Giants

[Vince]

Ok, a question for all of you non-biased (ie non-Giants fans) baseball fans out there...

Is the Giants start all that remarkable? I understand they've been playing some not so great teams (Milwaukee, San Diego), but it seems to me that they are getting no respect, and those people that do talk about it are completely amazed that it has happened. For instance, in a Yahoo article today...

``It was really tough tonight -- but you've got to put the ball in play, too,'' said first-year San Francisco manager Felipe Alou, who has turned the Giants into an outstanding team in remarkably short order.(link (http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recaps/20030415/housfo.html?prov=ap))

Now, is it just me, or did the Giants make the World Series last year? I know, I know...they lost a former MVP (Kent), one of the best managers in baseball (Baker), and their #1 SP (Russ Ortiz), but that's only three guys. Sure, they're guys that are tough to replace...but is everyone really THAT surprised that the Giants are doing well? I personally don't think that Alou had much to do with turning "the Giants into an outstanding team;" I'm fairly certain we were already there, and he just did a good job of keeping them together after losing a few key pieces.

[astralhaze]

I'm not at all surprised. They lost a lot, but they also made some very good moves in the off-season. Oh yeah, the best player in the game helps too.

[TroyF]

Vince,

I'm not sure why anyone is stunned by the Giants success. They have the best player in the game by far. He makes everyone in that lineup better. Durham is solid 2B who can get on base. (especially in the past few seasons as he's become more patient)

Cruz is playing out of his mind right now, but Alfonso is playing well under what he'll do. Cruz has always been a better hitter with runners on base than with them empty. Well, having Barry on base over 50% of the time ahead of you will help make that a reality.

Their pitching is very underrated. No stoppers, but a bunch of solid guys who know how to pitch.

They also have a solid defense. In all, I'd rank 6 of their 8 regulars above average at their respective positions. (the early statistics bear this out as they are in the bottom 10 in errors committed and the top 10 in range factor and zone rating.)

Add all that with a pretty good manager, why is anyone shocked that they are doing well?

A final note: Looking at the statistics from last year's team to this year's, there is very little difference. (3.54 ERA last year - 3.46 this year) (267, 442, 344 last year - 270, 460, 366 this year)

TroyF

[Anrhydeddu]

Actually, I am a little surprised. I have always thought that Alou was one of the overrated managers but apparently enough is in place for the team to be in cruise control. I had the DBacks and Didgers ahead of them in my predictions.

[Bad-example]

Fuck the Didgers.