Saturday, August 27, 2005

Giants lose, but I'm happy...well, almost

Kevin Correia. Wow. Nice game.

I wrote just two days ago about Correia, and how his control and tendency to give up home runs were roadblocks to him being good enough to be given a starting spot next season, but how his strikeout ability meant that if he did overcome those roadblocks, he'd have a chance to be pretty good.

Enter the New York Mets on August 26th.

He did give up a home run, and it turned out to be the winning run, too, but I don't see Correia giving up a solo home run and nothing else as being something to get down about.

I've been waiting for a game like this from Correia, because when doing a comparison between him and one of the other young Giants hopeful, Brad Hennessey, it was a bit difficult to sell people on Correia having a higher ceiling as a pitcher. Hennessey has had a few games where he's been able to show what he can do when he's on, but Correia hadn't been able to put it all together before last night. Neat.

On another note, I am getting very impatient with the Giants' inability to see that the season is over. Last night was the 4th game in the last five where Todd Linden has not started, and honestly, it's pissing me off. There is absolutely no reason, other than stupidity, to not play Linden at this point. One of two things are obvious:

  1. The Giants don't think they're out of this race, despite still having the same three teams in front of them, and despite not having made up any ground whatsoever in a month's time.
  2. The "Brain" Sabean obviously has no intentions of considering whether or not Linden is actually capable of being his 4th outfielder next year -- his starting outfield is set for next year with a man who hasn't played in a year in Barry Bonds, his new pickup Randy Winn, and a 39-going-on-40 Moises Alou. Hey Sabes, don't you think it'd be a good idea to find out if Linden is capable of starting if say, one of your 40 year-old corner outfielder gets too old or goes down with injury next year? Nah, that's too farfetched, isn't it? I'm going to predict Sabean goes out and overpays for some 4th outfielder out on the free agent market, and Linden and Jason Ellison will be fighting for the 5th outfield/pinch runner role next season.

As I finished typing that 2nd point above, the Royals blow another big 9th inning lead, this time to the Yankees, and lose. Up 7-3 in the 9th at Yankees Stadium, they can't find a way to win.

What a lovely year -- I'm the fan of two of the worst teams in baseball. Can't wait for football season, where I'm the fan of the last year's worst team in the NFL, the San Francisco 49ers. Oh, and basketball season, where my favorite team, the Golden State Warriors, haven't had a winning season in a decade (although there is quite a bit of hope this year, I'll admit).

I'm such a lucky guy.

No comments: