Baseball Update

Congratulations to the San Francisco Giants who won their division with yet another victory on Saturday. 

While my hometown team the Pittsburgh Pirates pretty much collapsed in August and September, they are far enough away from the North Coast that I didn't have to watch it all happening.  On the other hand I could see the Giants every game.  In contrast to their World Championship year of 2010, the Giants this year--and especially for the last month or so--have been fun to watch.

The 2010 team was nicknamed "Torture" because of all the low scoring close games. The tension was too high to be fun. This year's pitching has been almost as good but this team hits, runs, fields and generally plays solid and entertaining baseball.  Plus they seem to being having fun doing it, and the fans in San Francisco are having a great time, too.  Saturday for example was Panda Gnome day--fans got a little garden gnome of Pablo Sandoval (the Panda), blowing bubble gum.  They not only got to see him make a spectacular foul ball catch while tumbling head over heels--and blowing a bubble--but several fans held up three homemade signs which together spelled Panda-Gnome-ium.

(There were even some away games this month where Giants fans outnumbered the local fans, especially towards the end of a game the Giants were winning.  That's something I've seen the Steelers experience but not so much another team.)

This particular Giants team really began to jell in just the past few weeks.  They started the season having lost their closer for the year, and led the league in errors for awhile.  Then after his All Start MVP, their leading hitter, Melky Cabrera, was suddenly suspended for failing a drug test.

Then Magic Johnson and friends bought their closest rival, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and immediately brought several high profile and very expensive players to LA, making a statement that they wanted it all, now.  The Giants made a few seemingly modest trades before the deadline.  But while the Dodgers faded out of contention (beginning with a 3 game series they lost to the Giants), the Giants jelled.  It took Hunter Pence awhile to start hitting but he's been a solid presence in the lineup from August.  But the sparkplug has really been Marco Scutaro, with clutch hitting and his clubhouse leadership.  Angel Pagan (pictured above), acquired last year, has also emerged as a vital piece of the puzzle in the past month or so.

Last year the team couldn't recover from the season-long absense of Buster Posey, and his presence this year has made all the difference.  He's got to be a leading contender for league MVP.  His hitting (for average mostly, but also timely power) and his game management as catcher have led the team.  Manager Bruce Bochy acts like he finally has the pieces he can work with.  The spark for all this may have been Matt Cain's perfect game.  After that, the Giants started to look like a winner.  They've been winning a lot lately, and they've been a joy to watch.

Meanwhile my Maryland cousins must be pretty pleased with the Orioles, and fans in Washington actually have a winner.  For awhile it looked like the Pirates had the same combination of hitting and pitching as the Giants, but while the Giants jelled, the Pirates fell apart.  Still, Andrew McCutcheon could win the batting title, and for awhile was a strong contender for MVP. 

Anyway, baseball has been fun to watch this year, and there's a lot more to come.