Yes, I'll take credit, thanks...

Ray Durham is coming out of his slump, and it's all thanks to me.

Yep. You heard it here first. Me. Slump-buster.

It's so obvious, I wonder why no one has noticed it yet. I told all of y'all here how I manipulated my Ma into buying me a Ray Durham jersey and Giants hat by getting her a cellphone and coffee, and helping her to find a good refrigerator and washer/dryer set.

Well, let's tally up the results so far, shall we?

The jersey (which, by the way, you can see partially pictured a couple of posts down) was purchased on 4/12, and first worn on 4/13. Up until that point, Durham was hitting .105 with an OPS of .397...and since then?

.417/.500/.583, with his OPS going from .397 to .649 in three games. It's all 'bout the mojo, baby.

What, me superstitious? I'm going to try and find a way to track this phenomenon on the sidebar, but with my limited computer savvy, don't expect the world.

Bulletizing points of interest in the Giants weekend series vs. the Rockies:

• While Michael Tucker is hitting game-deciding grand slams, I want Jason Ellison to not play right field. Tucker is generally known for having moderate pop, but I don't know if there are as many guys his size that can hit no-doubt home runs like Tucker can...when, for some reason again, he's given a fastball down the pipe when he's looking for it. Tucker + bases loaded + fastball down the pipe = not a very smart thing to do.
  
• Jason Schmidt couldn't just keep pitching gem after gem, could he? Okay, so his one poor start for the season is out of the way, now, so onto Cy Young goodness the rest of the year. I did tell y'all that this Rockies series would be tougher than the last, but I sure wish the Rockies didn't have to go and win a game just to prove me right.
  
• Is it just me, or are you guys starting to expect Edgardo Alfonzo to have a multiple-hit game every time out? I'm finding myself becoming mildy irritated when he doesn't make great contact and/or doesn't get on base.
  
• Hey, Mr. Armando Benitez, you don't really have to give up runs just because you can afford to, you know. Hopefully, Benitez is just getting all his bad outings out early so he'll be nails when it counts late in the season. Yeah, that's it, that's the ticket.
  
• The bullpen may be settling down a bit (note: this comment is not to reflect the Blog Overlord's normal position in Reality).
  
• Pedro Feliz, J.T. Snow, Mike Matheny, Marquis Grissom -- all still hitting well. Feliz is drawing walks, something I simply have to give him loads of credit for doing. Peronsally, I think he's building enough of a reputation for himself that pitchers are starting to want to avoid coming to the plate too often. Snow is hitting for high average and drawing walks, but it'd be nice if he could get an extra base hit. 11 hits, 11 singles for Snow. Matheny is hitting for average and power, and I don't know why, but I don't care. I'll eat all my words for eternity if he keeps hitting like this (fat chance).
  

The San Diego Padres await now, with the D-Backs right behind. I'll say it again; I think these two series can tell us a lot about our Giants. I'm thinking splitting each series would be just fine, but I'm thinking three out of four is very possible, what with the Padres not doing so well against the Dodgers, either, and the D-Backs getting smacked around by the Nationals.

Of course, beware of the false confidence that beating a terrible team 2 of 3 can bring.