My Giants Are But A Shadow of Their Storied Past

“Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?” asked Simon and Garfunkel in their famous song, Mrs. Robinson, written in the year my elder son was born. Back then, in 1968, the Giants finished second behind the Cards, who coasted to the National League title but then lost to Detroit in the World Series.

In those days Willie Mays was still good enough to hit .289 while patrolling centerfield and gobbling up everything in sight; Willie McCovey bashed 36 home runs – the long, high and arching variety (that’s his 1970 Topps baseball card pictured); and high-kicking Juan Marichal won a career-high 26 games while Gaylord Perry had 16 “greasy” wins – if you get my drift.

But that wasn’t even in their “hay-days” of the early 60’s when Mays, McCovey and Cepeda anchored their murderous line-up that also included Felipe Alou, Ed Bailey, Harvey Kuenn, Jim Davenport, and Tom Haller. Opposing players had to face starting pitchers Marichal, Billy Pierce, Jack Sanford, Mike McCormick and Billy O’Dell. With these guys they got to the World Series in ’62 but lost to the Yanks in the seventh game on Bobby Richardson’s famous diving catch of McCovey’s line drive bid for a series-winning base hit.

Those were the days. But where have you gone, Willies and Juan? You're fast becoming fading memories.

One of my sons pointed out that I was pretty tough on the current Mariners in my last post, and that he thought I tended to give the Giants a “pass”. He’s probably correct on those points, but if I indulge the Orange and Black, it’s because these old memories are hard to outlive. At the same time, I desperately want the M’s to provide some more of these kinds of memories now, and it’s frustrating when it doesn’t happen when you think it should. If you love baseball the way I do, great teams become part of your DNA – like the Giants of 1962 and the Mariners of 2001.

But now is now, and I have to be honest and say that “my” Giants are going nowhere fast. The magical era of Brian Sabean is history and now managing owner Peter McGowan is leaving after this season. Couple all that with the fact that ever since they re-signed Bonds to that last contract so he could break the HR record as a Giant, the remaining dollars only allowed a make-shift line-up of aging, albeit veteran, players.

As an indicator of how bad their lineup now is, they have the older, slow-afoot catcher Bengie Molina hitting clean-up. Yikes. He’s doing ok, but in key situations it’s very easy to pitch around him. Other aging vets joining Molina on this year’s team are Ray Durham, Rich Aurilia and Omar Vizquel, who, by-the-way, just set the major league record for games started at shortstop. They did pick-up good-hitting centerfielder Aaron Rowand and have a journeyman, Randy Winn, in right. But it’s first or second year players beyond that. They are said to have the weakest hitting lineup in all of baseball. It’s a crushing, but accurate, assessment, and with ownership/management the way it is, don't look for much improvement soon.

The only bright spots are the young pitchers who are beginning to make a name for themselves. Tim Lincecum is 6-1, and along with Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez and Kevin Correia, could provide decent pitching, especially when Noah Lowry returns from the DL. But the woeful hitting is going to haunt them for at least the rest of this year and for who knows how long to come.

I’ll still watch them on my “Extra Innings” cable package, but they’re being slowly shoved, I’m afraid, toward the back burner. My hope now is that the local Mariners will soon find themselves, begin playing up to their potential and provide some late Summer and early Fall excitement for the game I love.

YES! The Mariners just beat the Red Sox 4-3, on a 2-out, 2-strike base hit by Jose Lopez in the home half of the 9th. Maybe the worm has turned.