The Giants won the championship last fall.
I am going to say that again, because I have waited two seasons to say it, and I am going to keep saying it until someone tells me I cannot, and even then I will find a way to work it in.
The Giants won the championship last fall.
Third seed. The league had us third. Nobody said we couldn't win. But third seed, single elimination, against the second-seeded Mets in the first round -- the kind of game where one bad bounce sends you home early -- and the Giants won that game. Then the Blue Jays, who had just done something nobody expected by knocking out the first-seeded White Sox, stood between us and the title. The Giants won that game too. In the championship. On a Sunday morning. At a public park. Just like Honus Kildermacher's great-great-nephew plays ball every week, not for the money -- there is no money -- but because the game is worth playing right.
I have covered a lot of men's league baseball. A lot. I started writing these notes before most of this roster was born, metaphorically speaking. I have watched teams with better talent fall apart because they stopped caring in the third inning. I have watched teams with less talent keep going when the smart money said lay down.
The Giants kept going.
The roster has changed some. Erik Holmen pitched for this team last couple years. His ERA was not what you'd call good, but he was out there every week, and when you are out there every week, you learn things. He moved on to the Mets. I wish him fair weather. I mean that.
What the Giants kept is what matters. Keith Johnson does not admire the ball. He puts his head down and runs. That is who this team is. Eddie Flores Jr. will score from third when a lesser baserunner holds up. Sey Shindler will do the same. They read situations. They go. I do not need Max's spreadsheet to tell me what that is worth. That is the Giants.
Jimi Franklin doubles and drives in runs. He does not need a launch angle coach. He needs the run. He drives in the run.
Max is going to write something about exit velocities and chaos scores. He is welcome to it. I know what I watched last fall. Hustle. Grit. Fundamentals. A team that competes for 27 outs every single game.
Defending champions. I wrote that by hand, on paper, in ink, with intention. Teddy is typing it up. If it comes out differently, I will know exactly what happened.
-- Gus
Senior Columnist | Giants Beat | Replacement Level Media