Thursday, September 15, 2011

The Season That Never Was

I've been heartbroken more than I'd like to admit. You? It's that viceral kick to the stomach. It's the relationship that you know is going south, but you don't want to acknowlede it because you are blinded by that four letter word: HOPE. Yep, this is how I'm feeling about our 2011 Giants.

It started with Buster Posey. I was at that game, possibly the darkest day of the season. Thank goodness he was okay and able to "walk" off that field, but in that moment, we all knew it wasn't good. Then Freddy Sanchez. Good ol' utility Freddy. Good for a hit just about everytime he walked up to bat. And then, well, you know the rest of the DL story.

The expectations for the 2011 season were massive. Here are the 2010 world champs and they had a lot to live up to, not to mention a Showtime crew constantly at their heels. A lot came with winning a championship since 1954 and I'm not sure the team could handle it all. I mean, we're not the fancy pants Yankees for gods sakes.

Let's face it, last year was magic. I would never want it repeated and I don't think it ever could be. There was an electricity that ran through that team towards the last few months of the 2010 season that was palpable. That magic is not there this year, how could it be with ALL of the injuries the team has endured. It's not all their fault, they're athletes, getting hurt is part of the job, just not the whole team in one season (with the exception of Huff....how in the hell is that guy still healthy?) The upside of this season has been seeing players we may not have been able to see on the regular. Belt, Crawford, Pill, Keppinger, Stewart, Vogelsong, Ford, Burriss and then the aquisition of Beltran (I'm not going to mention Cabrera and you know why.)

The other positive of this challenging season is that the Giants didn't roll over once the majority of the team went down. Bochy did a nice job of playing his healthy players as well as seeing where the rookies could shine. The team has done what they could with what they had and they've kept it interesting. I mean winning five consecutive games in September is saying something. Last year we weren't in it until the very last game of the season, and with 12 left to go, who knows what's in store.  This Giants team is still playing with a ton of heart and soul and that's why I'm still watching (with my fingers crossed.)


GO GIANTS!