In a media interview shortly after the Giants’ 1-0 win against the Cubs on Tuesday, to start a three game set in Chicago, twenty-three year old rookie catcher Buster Posey corrected the post-game television reporter on a critical point. When asked about the importance of winning the first game of a series, Posey looked at the reporter and said that, with less than two weeks to go in the season, it’s about winning each game each day. There is no series, no game two or game three; every game is now game one.

Just when you think Buster Posey has provided ample examples of how focused and mature he has been since he played his first 2010 game on May 29th, the kid puts another one on the table. Posey had just finished catching a two-hit shut-out by Matt Cain and three relievers, throwing out a base stealer at second, and hitting the game winning home run.

From now until the final game of the season (against San Diego on Sunday October 3, 2010) every game, every inning, and each at bat is an unfolding series of huge moments that will ultimately lead to the playoffs and greater stories, or to unspeakable bitter disappointment.

Giants pre-game/post-game radio broadcaster Marty Lurie put it best last weekend when he described the Giants’ final two weeks as a “Fifteen game World Series”. And that’s what this amazing game can give us that nothing else possibly can; real, live drama that depends on personal and team performance at the highest levels. And, right now, it’s all in front of us.

The numbers can run chills up your spine. Eleven games to go; San Francisco in first by a half game over the Padres; Colorado’s momentum stumbling the last two games, but they’re still 6-4 over the last ten and only 2½ out; and the Atlanta Braves (86-66) remain one game ahead of the Giants (85-66) in the win column should the NL Wild Card become a critical factor. And scoreboard watching, once something we pretended was unimportant, now becomes as mandatory as filing tax returns and having milk with chocolate chip cookies.

From this point on, a wild ride will be the daily commute for all San Francisco Giants fans.
                                                                         
The last eleven games: 2 at Chicago Cubs, 3 at Colorado, 3 at home with Arizona, 3 at home with San Diego to finish the season.

When it finally happened, when after a long, tough 2010 season the Giants finally clawed and fought their way into first place in the National League West, there was a brief clubhouse celebration. Then it was back to business. The beach had been taken, now it was time to move inland and secure the objectives that will win the war: a first place finish in the West, the National League Pennant, and on to the 2010 World Series.

Absolutely nothing has been handed to this gritty team all year. As the season started, the team survived a haunting lack of offense reminiscent of the past five losing seasons; they survived several high paid starters who crashed and burned along the way; the front office was literally forced to trade their starting catcher and grudgingly bring up a rookie to handle perhaps the best starting rotation in baseball; and after losing the only two lefties in their bullpen to month-long injuries at mid-season, the worst news of the year hit last week when they lost their star lead-off hitter and center fielder.

But Manager Bruce Bochy's crafty player juggling, the front office going out and picking up several bats and a left handed reliever, and the amazing offensive performances of Aubrey Huff, Buster Posey, Juan Uribe, and Andres Torres have brought this team to the top of a very large mountain.

The September 16, 2010 10-2 win over the appropriately loathed Los Angeles Dodgers was a moment to savor in the maelstrom still to come. LA starter Ted Lilly, a rare beam of light in the nightmare of the Dodgers' catastrophic 2010 campaign, lost for only the third time in nine LA starts. It was also Lilly's shortest outing of the season: he only lasted 3 1/3 innings, coughing up six earned runs. Giants first baseman Aubrey Huff and catcher Buster Posey went back to back HRs in the third inning, the 7th time Giant hitters have doubled up home runs in 2010.

But with the Giants, as always, it all comes back to pitching. A brilliant start for Jonathan Sanchez, who gave up one earned run in seven innings and hit double-digit strikeouts for the seventh time in his short career and the fourth time this season. SF relievers Santiago Casilla and Chris Ray mopped up the final two innings without allowing a hit, walk or run.

And we can't close this great moment without mention of the end of days currently being experienced by the San Diego Padres.

The San Diegos initially surprised me by dominating the National League for most of the year, and they surprised me again when they hit a brick wall that looked suspiciously like a ten game losing streak. But the tough times continue for the Friars at St. Louis' Busch Stadium, where yesterday the Pads chalked up their 10th straight defeat in St. Louis, going back to 2007.

Thursday's game was also the third shutout tossed against San Diego in the last 18 games, a frustrating follow-up to their three game series with Colorado earlier this week, in which Padre hitters put up 19 runs and 34 hits. Manager Bud Black now has his hands full righting his team and, amazingly, chasing the San Francisco Giants.

And doesn't that sound sweet.

If anyone doubts that Giants lead-off batter and center fielder Andres Torres' recent season-ending inflamed appendix might also be season-ending for the San Francisco Giants, they should consider Manager Bruce Bochy's reaction. Bochy is a man who lives with veteran players and would prefer to die with veteran players. Just last Christmas, he wrote to the North Pole asking Santa for a veteran player, and he recently joined  Facebook's I-like-Veteran-Baseball-Players Group.

For validation of this assertion, just ask the range-deficient, anti-run-producing, AARP-ready Edgar Renteria, who, during his two year $19 million contract with the Giants, received 691 more at-bats than he should have (and, yes, Renteria has 691 Giant at bats to date). But Bochy loves the veterans. Just check with $12 million a year Giant Aaron Rowand, who had one great year with Philadelphia in 2007 (his free agency year), but who has been garden compost ever since. But Bochy dotes on the veterans: the grizzled manager batted Rowand lead-off most of last year, and into June of this year before grudgingly admitting Rowand's .229 batting average and .282 OBP was absolutely killing the team.

(And Giants fans, remember to keep purchasing those season tickets, garlic fries, and $10 beers-- the team owes Rowand $12 million in 2011, and another $12 million in 2012. So drink up.)

But the veteran-addicted Bruce Bochy recently did something remarkable in response to Aaron Rowand's predictable 0-5 debut as Torres' replacement in the leadoff spot Sunday September 12th, and veteran Cody Ross' 1-4 effort  in the same role on Tuesday September 14th: the next day he actually started rookie Triple A outfielder Eugenio Velez in left field (Ross played center) and batted Velez lead-off. Velez went 0 for 3 with a walk, but the Giants downed the Dodgers 2-1 and moved to a half game out of first place in the NL West.

Now don't go selling your GM stock for Eugenio Velez baseball cards and memorabilia. Bochy made himself drive that psychedelic bus around the block once, and absent Velez going 5 for 5 with three runs scored and two stolen bases, expect to see the Rowand-Ross show from now until October 3rd. But the appearance of Velez at lead-off and Ross in center means the Giants skipper is willing to roll the dice to shake things up at a time when the Giants are not only driving for the NL West title, they are so close they can taste it.

This is also an opportunity to run the Cody Ross mobile around the block and see how it performs; Ross could very well be a starting outfielder on the 2011 Giants. As for Velez, he has been a confusing conundrum of contradictions the past two years: a speedy runner with a rocket throwing arm, clumsy on the bases at all the wrong times and known to flat out drop baseballs that badly want to land in his glove.

The configuration of Cody Ross in center field and Velez leading off is the best possible solution to the Torres problem, but a very smart baseball mind is currently running all SF Giant field operations. We'll defer to Mr. Bochy's wisdom as we sit back, ingest excessive adult beverages and, in the words of Pete Townshend, get on our knees and pray we don't get fooled again...

After taking two out of three from the Los Angeles Dodgers this past weekend, the San Francisco Giants rollercoasting road show hit Phoenix, Arizona to take on the D-Snakes Monday September 6th. The Giants' twenty-one year old rookie starter Madison Bumgarner went 7.1 innings, giving up five hits, one walk, no runs, and striking out seven batters.

Usually enough to win, but not today. It took six additional pitchers from the Giants' bullpen to throw another 3.2 innings of no hit baseball before Giant right fielder Nate Schierholtz ended the cliff dweller by tripling to right center field with two outs and two on. Closer Brian Wilson got his 41st save in the bottom of the eleventh inning to seal the 2-0 win.

Giants pitchers allowed a total of five hits and four walks in eleven innings, with 14 strikeouts.

Later that night, the National League West leading San Diego Padres finally broke their historic ten game losing streak at home against the looking-more-hapless-every-day Los Angeles Dodgers, taking the game 4-2 in regulation play.

The Giants, who are seemingly on a mission to run the Padres to ground in the NL West, have gone 6-4 in their last ten games despite hitting slumps by RBI leader Aubrey Huff (77) and lead-off ace Andres Torres (79 runs scored). Injuries, and a slump by Padre starters Wade LeBlanc (8-12) Kevin Correia (10-10), contributed to that team's recent 10 game skid.

When the Giants travel San Diego this weekend for a critical four game series, Padre pitchers will see a revamped Giants offense, and Padre hitters will face San Francisco's four best starters (Matt Cain on Thursday, Jonathan Sanchez on Friday, Madison Bumgarner on Saturday, and Tim Lincecum on Sunday). It should be incredible September baseball. 

And to add some spice to an already intense 2010 National League West race, the Colorado Rockies have won seven of their last ten games and are only four games out of first place.

 Baseball headlines from newspapers around the Nation:
  

FORMER MLB PITCHER ROB DIBBLE TELLS ACTOR MICHAEL DOUGLAS TO "MAN UP" OVER RECENT CANCER DIAGNOSIS
Dibble Also Demands Toys Be Removed From Local Children’s Hospital Ward

NEW TEXAS RANGERS OWNER NOLAN RYAN SAYS MINOR LEAGUE STARTERS WILL BE ON STRICT PITCHING COUNTS
“Once They Throw 200 Pitches in a Game, They’re Out”, Stated the Former Big League Fireballer

PITTSBURGH PIRATES PURCHASED BY JAPANESE INTERNATIONAL BANKING GROUP
Team to be Renamed “Hello Kitty Pirates”, Manager(s) Required to Commit Suicide After Each Loss

WASHINGTON NATIONALS OUTFIELDER NYJER MORGAN THREATENS TO BREAK EVEN MORE RULES
Morgan Stated He Will Initially Focus on the Golden Rule, Then “Bitch Slap All Seven of Those Ten Commandments”

SPORTS DIGEST: PITTSBURGH PIRATES MANAGER JOHN RUSSELL ABRUPTLY RESIGNS
Bucs’ Skipper Plans to Immediately Start a Family, Then Announce His Intention to Spend More Time With Them

There is a 2010 echo in Joshua Prager’s brilliant book “The Echoing Green”, which details the amazing history of the New York Giants' 1951 season and Manager Leo Durocher’s outrageous decision to steal the opposition's pitching signs. No, the San Francisco Giants have not set up a Wollensak telescope in the center field wall at AT&T Park to relay the visiting catchers’ signs to Giants hitters. At least, not yet.

The resonance 2010 shares with 1951 are the odds both Giant teams faced at about mid-season. On July 5, 1951, Durocher’s New York Giants were 7 games behind the first place Brooklyn Dodgers in the race for the National League pennant, with a 42-35 record; on July 5, 2010, Bruce Bochy’s San Francisco Giants were 7 games behind the San Diego Padres, in 4th place with a 42-40 record.

After July 5th in their respective seasons, the two Giants teams took very different paths to turn their fortunes around. On July 20, 1951, the NY Giants installed an elaborate system at the Polo Grounds to steal the visiting catchers' signs to their pitchers with a telescope and electronic buzzer system; by the end of July 2010, the SF Giants had picked up a number of players discarded by other teams to beef up their inadequate offense and injury-riddled bullpen.

One team made it to the World Series, and one team is still riding an inside out rollercoaster and fighting for all it’s worth to make the National League playoffs.

Going into a three game home set last weekend against National League West shoe scrapers the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Giants were expected, expected, to take all three games. Instead, they were outscored 24-12 and only managed to salvage a win in Sunday’s finale. Monday was the start of a three game home series with the Colorado Rockies, who appeared to be doing that Rockies late season surging thing they’ve been doing the last several years.

Game one against the Rockies on Monday August 30, 2010, will likely go down in San Francisco Giants history as the most brutal loss of 2010. The base-on-balls-addicted Jonathan Sanchez threw a beautiful game, going into the top of the 9th inning with a 1-0 lead after giving up only two walks. Champagne was being unpacked and plans for a parade down Market Street were being worked out when Manager Bochy took Sanchez out of the game with a runner on first and no outs. Closer Brian Wilson came in and the next Colorado batter hit a triple, with an errant relay throw going into a camera well, and it was 2-1 Rockies. At the end of the 9th inning, it was also 2-1 Rockies.

In what has already become a legendary replay, newly minted Giants right fielder Cody Ross heard Carlos Gonzalez’s bat split apart when it met a Wilson 96 MPH fastball, and instinctively took two steps in to catch what he knew would be a limp fly ball just over the infield. But Gonzalez managed to put good wood on the pitch before it turned into split wood, and the ball sailed over Ross’ head and went to the wall. Pitcher Brian Wilson did not get himself into position to back the play up, so after a desperate throw by relay man Freddie Sanchez to get Gonzalez at third hit the runner in the back, it rolled into the dugout.

Throughout the Bay Area, grown men shook their heads in disbelief and uncharacteristically ordered a third glass of chardonnay, small children threw their teddy bears against the wall and wailed, and stay-at-home moms made the decision to flirt with the UPS man to try and bring some meaning to their lives. Thank you Cody Ross and Brian Wilson.

Oh by the way, the Giants took the next two games from the Rockies, including Tim Lincecum’s gem on Wednesday September 1st: 8 innings pitched, 1 run, 1 walk, 9 strikeouts. Thanks to San Diego doing what I said they would not do (lose six or eight in a row), the relentless San Francisco Giants are now 74-60, in second place a mere three games behind the Padres, and a really mere 1½ games behind the Phillies in the Wild Card.

What about the rest of September? In the words of the great Yogi Berra, attending a recent dog show at Madison Square Garden, “Bring it on bitches…”.

Were there enough pop culture cross references to catch your eye? Good, now let’s tear off a thick slice of double bubble, sit down on a raw pine plank, and talk some Tim Lincecum.

In the past month, dozens of baseball broadcasters have been struggling to explain why the two-time Cy Young award winner can no longer automatically be called an “ace”. Hundreds of sports writers are trying to figure out what happened to Tim Lincecum’s fast ball. Thousands of sports talk radio callers have offered loud theories to explain why Lincecum is 11-8 with a 3.72 ERA.

And one baseball player on the San Francisco Giants Baseball team is struggling with an elusive demon that has robbed him of his confidence and his ability to throw a baseball ninety-six miles per hour.

What, do I have some dramatic insightful theory, some magical answer, the truth behind the lies behind the truth? Well, actually, yes I do. But first, let’s take a clinical look at Tim Lincecum’s 2010 month by month and cumulative pitching records to date:

April 2010: 4-0  1.27        4-0  1.27

May 2010: 1-2  4.95         5-2  3.14

June 2010: 3-1  3.09       8-3  3.13

July 2010:  3-1  3.02       11-4  3.10

August 2010: 0-4  8.38  11-8  3.72

As Andy Williams put it so succinctly during his 1973 Christmas Special, do you see what I see? Despite legions of professional and amateur observers who claim that “Tim hasn’t been right ever since Spring Training”, as of July 30th he was 11-4 with a 3.10 ERA. Those are definitely the numbers of a two time Cy Young Award winning pitcher.

In fact, this is what the first four months of Lincecum’s season would have projected out to for the entire 2010 season compared to his 2009 record:

2010:  17-6  3.10  228 SO (proj.)
2009:  15-7  2.48  261 SO

Sure, the ERA is higher, but still outstanding; and, two more wins and one less loss compared to his 2009 Cy Young season. And, to date, Lincecum is 3rd in the National League with 173 strikeouts.

But then there’s the ugly 0-4 August, and we’re back to “what’s going on with Tim?”

During a June 16, 2010, inter-league game with the Baltimore Orioles, Miguel Tejada scorched a liner up the middle that hit off the back of Lincecum’s right shoulder, i.e., his pitching arm. He stayed in the game, and got the win, but something changed that day. Lincecum was not injured and did not miss a start, but in watching his subsequent starts I noticed he would increasingly flinch after throwing his pitches— at first only when a batter connected with a pitch, but more and more it happened whenever any batter took a swing, and now it’s virtually every time he throws a pitch.

I think it took a number of starts for the subtle physical and mental stresses of that line drive to begin to seriously erode Lincecum’s pitching mechanics, but it appears the cumulative effects all came together in the month of August.

If these observations are correct, how long will it last, and what can Lincecum do? I have no freaking idea— the professional coaches who know their craft, and the player who knows his mind and body, are the only ones who can work that out.

We know that Major League and Minor League careers have been derailed, and even ended, when a batter is hit by a pitch, or a pitcher is hit with a line drive. That's why it takes courage to stand in a Major League batter's box and stare down a 92 mile per hour fastball scorching to the plate in .45 seconds, or to have even less reaction time on the pitching mound when a 98 mile an hour line drive is headed directly back at you.

And those hard facts call for one further observation: if there was ever a player in the game who has the determination and courage to work through this and come out the other side as good as ever, it’s Giants ace Tim Lincecum.

Godot is free to catch the next flight out of San Diego, and we'll wait for something else; the San Diego Padres will not be going on an eight game losing streak and finally cough up their season-long lead in the National League West.

It’s not the Padres amazing 73-47 record, best in the National League and third best in the Majors (after the Yankees and Tampa), that will keep them upright and moving forward. And it’s not that the calendar has somehow reached August 20th, and the Pads have a mere 41 games left to play.

No, what will keep San Diego from slipping on the long-awaited 2010 banana peel are the remaining teams they play to finish up the season, and the location at which those games will be played. These two intriguing items will almost guarantee the Pads a first place finish (if there is such a thing in life).

Of their remaining forty-one games, the Padres play 13 (almost a third) against sub-.475 teams (Cubs, Arizona, and Milwaukee). Another 12 are against middling .500 teams (Dodgers and Colorado), and only 10 are against winning teams (St. Louis, Philadelphia, and Cincinnati).

Oh, and seven of San Diego's remaining games are against the San Francisco Giants— a winning team for sure, but against whom the Padres have a 9-2 record so far this season. Even a 4-3 split of those games produces a damaging 13-5 win/loss record against San Francisco this year.

Add one more delicious ingredient to the NL pennant stew: between now and the playoffs, the Padres will play 22 games at PETCO Park and 19 games away-- a serious plus for a team that has won 62% of their 2010 home games.

The 2010 reality check for the San Francisco Giants is that they have been tested at various critical times this season, and would likely get about a C+ on those various tests at the local community college. The recent Philadelphia series was typical: the Giants scored a mere ten runs in three games in the best hitters' ballpark in the National League. Their starting pitching and bullpen were scorched for 19 runs, as they squandered a chance to put distance between themselves and the Phillies in the NL Wild Card race.

Here's the deal. If all the Giants have left in their ammo pouch is claiming the Marlins' Cody Ross on waivers to block another team from getting him, we are in a world of more bovine excretion material than anyone ever imagined.

October 3, 1951 is a date that defines the irrepressible reach of Major League baseball into the American soul and psyche. In the history of professional sports, no date, no event, no moment matches it or can ever match it.

In the 1950s, American baseball was dominated by New York City's three Major League teams: the American League Yankees and the National League Giants and Dodgers. On August 11, 1951, the Brooklyn Dodgers led the New York Giants by 13 1/2 games in the race for the National League Pennant. Amazingly, on August 12th the Giants proceded to unexpectedly rip off 16 straight wins and finished the regular season going 37-7.

Which was just enough to tie the Dodgers and force a three game playoff for the National League pennant and a trip to the World Series to face the Yankees.

After splitting the first two games, October 3, 1951 arrived for the deciding game at the Giants' home park, the Polo Grounds. When the 9th inning started, the Dodgers were leading the Giants 4-1. The Giants scored one run, but with two runners on base, one out, and outfielder Bobby Thompson at the plate, it appeared Giants Manager Leo Durocher was just about out of miracles. After a first pitch strike, Thompson sent the second pitch on a low line drive that seemed to clear the left field stands in slow motion, and the Giants won 5-4.

Up in the radio booth, Hall of Fame broadcaster Russ Hodges matched the moment with a call for the ages, his famous "The Giants win the pennant, the Giants win the pennant" chant. Russ finished his frantic call by yelling into his microphone, "I don't believe it. I do not believe it!", over and over again.

Forty-six years later, novelist Don DeLillo described Bobby Thompson's celebrated "shot heard 'round the world" in exquisite detail in his book Underworld. "This is the people's history," DeLillo wrote, "and it has flesh and breath that quicken to the force of this old safe game of ours. "

On Monday night, August 16, 2010, eighty-six year old Bobby Thompson died at his home in Savannah, Georgia. If souls are what we keep inside, Bobby Thompson's soul soared unerringly toward uptown Manhattan last night, and found the left field stands at a place where a miracle once happened.

Follow-up (see main article on list in right margin):

MLB teams have until 9:00PM Monday August 16, 2010 to sign their picks from the 2010 first year player draft. We should see a flurry of signings today.

August 16, 2010-- Jim Callis of Baseball America reports the Giants signed their number two overall pick, outfielder Jarrett Parker of Virginia, for $700,000. In 2009, Parker batted .355 with 16 home runs for the Virginia Cavaliers, and is considered a potential five tool player. Plays center field and has blinding speed on the bases and in the field. Power potential makes him a possible first baseman.  

August 16, 2010-- Yahoo Sports reports the Giants signed first round pick Gary Brown out of Cal State Fullerton for a reported $1.3 million. Brown has tremendous potential as a fast tracked lead-off hitter and centerfielder.

June 19, 2010-- SF Chronicle sports writer Henry Schulman reported the Giants signed third round pick Carter Jurica and fourth round pick Seth Rosin.

The San Francisco Giants report they have come to terms with 33 players from this year's draft, including all of their first 14 selections, and 18 of their top 20 picks.