Nirvana

In the grand scheme of things a championship in sports means nothing, and the life of one person is also rendered insignificant when placed in the context of the world. But I gotta tell you, in this corner of the sphere that we all inhabit, there have been few things that can rival what has occurred over the last 24 hours.

I’ve never been married or ever welcomed a child into this world, so I don’t have that frame of reference to draw upon, but I can tell you this – in the pantheon of events that have shaped my life, this event ranks near the top of the list.

Willie May, Willie McCovey, Orlando Cepeda, Juan Marichal, Barry Bonds – some of the greatest players ever to done a uniform – were never able to bring a World Championship to San Francisco. In more recent years players such as Jeff Leonard, Will Clark, Kevin Mitchell, John Burkett, John Beck and Jeff Kent were also unable to bring the World Series trophy home to San Francisco.

On Monday night, November 1st, 2010, that all changed.

The names will likely be forgotten in a few years if you aren’t a Giants fan. Honestly, some of the players might not even be at the forefront of your mind right now (Sergio Romo, Travis Ishikawa, Javier Lopez, Jeremy Affeldt, Mike Fontenot, Nate Schierholtz), but isn’t that the wonder of baseball? The sport is more than one great player leading a team to victory through sheer will and determination. The grind of six months of a regular season an another month for the playoffs offers the chance for numerous players to make history or to step to the fore at a moments notice. Cody Ross? I mean seriously, unless you were a Marlins’ fan or a fantasy baseball addict, did you even know who he was prior to the postseason? Edgar Renteria? Wasn’t he washed up and heading off into retirement after the worst season of his career (.276-3-22)? My goodness, he didn’t even start the first five games of the playoffs for the Giants. But that was the beauty of the 2010 Giants. They may not have been a team filled with “names,” but they had timely hitting, excellent work behind the bench by Bruce Bochy, and some of the best pitching the game has seen in this century.

As for me, the day after is surreal. For every year of my life that I have consciously been aware of the game of baseball, I have lived and died with the Giants. I’ve lost sleep worrying about games, I’ve skipped out on dates with pretty ladies to watch games, and I’ve nearly given myself an ulcer with each gut wrenching failure I have endured along with the club. So when Brian Wilson threw that final strike last night, what was my response? Did I jump up and down? Did I scream at the top of my lungs? Did I get plowed to the point that I forgot my own name? The truth is I didn’t do any of those things. Instead, I looked over to my parents, both of whom who have been there right with me nearly every step of the way, and simply smiled and said “wow.”

It may not have been a celebration for the ages in the Flowers’ household, but I can tell you this – other than those major life events, like my parents wedding, my brother and I being born, my brother having two wonderful children of his own, it was one of the happiest moments of our lives.

Thank you San Francisco Giants. It was a long time in coming, but as I’ve written before, it was all worth it as I can now walk down the street, #1 finger held high in the air, with a huge smile on my face. We, and yes I’m including myself and all the Giants’ fans in the world, WE are World Champions.

By Ray Flowers

Around the Horn: NLCS Preview

Ray Flowers breaks down the National League Championship Series with a position by position breakdown of the Phillies and the Giants. Here is a link to the ALCS Preview in case you missed it.

By Ray Flowers

Around the Horn: August 30, 2010

(1) Aroldis Chapman to be called up on Tuesday.

(2) Manny Ramirez officially a White Sox player.

(3) Colby Rasmus (calf) back in the lineup.

(4) Nelson Cruz (hamstring) back from DL.

(5) Freddy Sanchez super hot at dish.

(6) Jose Tabata impressing with Pirates.

(7) Carlos Lee finally hitting his stride.

(8) Daniel Hudson a star for D’backs.

By Ray Flowers

Around the Horn: August 11, 2010

(1) Giants trade for Mike Fontenot.

(2) Curtis Granderson to revamp swing.

(3) Ryan Braun (wrist) takes swings in the cage.

(4) Gordon Beckham (groin) back in lineup.

(5) Placido Polanco will try to play through elbow injury.

(6) Astros have trouble in the 9th inning.

(7) Matt Kemp out of the Lineup Again. Should you be concerned?

By Ray Flowers

What is My Value? – Pt.II

I’m always fascinated by how people evaluate player worth on a weekly basis. Therefore, I’m always interested to see the weekly recaps of free agent bidding in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship, or the NFBC. These leagues are made up of 15 teams with 30 person rosters, so there is always a lot of prospecting going on each week as people are basically forced to pick up players, in most cases, that they hope will be able to help them in the future because very, very few full time players are on waivers at one time (therefore, anytime someone has a big week, you can almost be certain they will be a hot property). Here is a review of some of the players that were rostered off waivers this past weekend. Listed are the range of dollar figures for each guy based on a season long budget of $1000.

Note: I did this same thing about a month ago, and you can give that review a look by clicking on the link to What is My Value?

John Bowker – $1 to $54
People are hoping that Bowker continues to hit like he was in Triple-A (.347-17-63 in 285 ABs). That work hasn’t remotely carried over as he is hitting just .190 with seven Ks in 21 ABs with the G-men. Could be some wasted dollars here.

Mike Fontenot – $7 to $35
Qualifies at second and third, and he has been hot in July hitting .333 with a .837 OPS in 45 ABs. Still hitting only .239 overall and he has seen his BB/K mark has dipped from 0.67 last year down to 0.44 this season.

Ben Francisco – $1 To $42
Though he is hitting .302 the past three weeks, he is just 4-for-27 of late (.148) making me questions the logic of those that picked him up.

Ryan Hanigan – $1 To $67
Ramon Hernandez will miss at least four weeks with knee surgery, so Hanigan should be in the lineup pretty much every day. In his 251 at-bat career Ryan has hit .303 with a strong .395 OBP along with a 0.83 BB/K mark. Still he has no pop with only three home runs and has just 19 RBI.

Troy Glaus – $1 to $22
Shoulder may not allow him to play third, so the club has been working him out in the outfield. If he shows he can make the throws, he could be activated next week and be in the lineup on a semi-regular basis with the way that Tony La Russa manages his club.

Jonny Gomes – $$12 to $42
Hitting .304 with six home runs in 102 at-bats. Since playing more regularly of late he is just seven for 32 (.219).

Gio Gonzalez – $1 to $25
I pray that those that picked up Gio didn’t have him active for his start as he was bombed, and that is being kind, as he was flambéed for 10 hits, three walks and 11 runs while recording just eight outs.

Jim Johnson – $1 to $15
Save speculation. With George Sherrill possibly on his way out of town and Chris Ray still working his way back from injury, Johnson would likely become the ninth inning ace thanks to his 3.05 ERA and 1.26 WHIP. Danys Baez could also be in the mix if he isn’t traded.

Mat Latos – $11 to $179
Decent first appearance allowing two runs in four innings as he walked one and struck out four. Padres will likely be very careful with his innings pitched count so even if successful he may not pitch deep into September.

Jason Schmidt – $1 to $105
One his first start since 2007. Schmidt struggled to hit 87 mph with his fastball, certainly not a positive sign pointing toward future success.

Seth Smith – $17 to $91
Rockies say they won’t trade him because of his locker room presence. He has 12 hits in his last 30 ABs (.400) but likely will not get enough playing time to be of much use in mixed leagues.

Tim Stauffer – $5 to $49
Continually injured, he is healthy now and has been quite effective in his two starts posting a 2.08 ERA and a 0.77 WHIP with 11 Ks and only two walks. The quintessential “flier” pickup.

By Ray Flowers

Injuries and Diagnosis

Tuesday has been yet another day of injury reports, sprinkled with a bit of info about player performance. In what follows, my analysis will fall along those lines as well.

Jose Contreras has hurled 15 scoreless innings at Triple-A since he was sent down to work on things. Just goes to show you how large the gap is between the majors and the minors cause I really don’t think he has turned back the clock 10 years in a mere two weeks.

Mike Fontenot is 1-for-29 of late to drop his average down to .204. So much for him building on a 2008 that included a .304 average, nine home runs and 40 RBI in just 243 ABs. In fact, Fontenot has been out-produced by lightweight Ryan Theriot who has gone deep as many times as Fontenot, five, while producing one more RBI (18) while hitting .294. That’s why they play the game folks, and the bottom line is that even when you have all your ducks in a row, it doesn’t always work out like you would expect it to (Theriot entered the year with seven home runs in 1,264 at-bats).

Vladimir Guerrero is hopeful of returning from his injured pectoral muscle soon, perhaps as early as next Monday. When he returns he will likely be limited to the DH spot, that is if his rehab work goes well this weekend. As for the team’s pitching staff who recently got back John Lackey and Ervin Santana, there is potentially more good news on the way as Kelvim Escobar(shoulder) is nearing his first rehab appearance of the year next week. He hopes to be able to throw upwards of 60 pitches in the outing. He is hoping to return as a starter, but even if the club eventually decides to slot him as a reliever, his return would not only provide an emotional lift to the club, his right arm could also present favorable returns if he can return to unleashing the filthy stuff that has been his calling card.

Noah Lowry will have another surgery, this one ending his 2009 season. Apparently he will have a rib removed in the same type of procedure that Jeremy Bonderman underwent last season (thoracic outlet syndrome). According to Lowry’s agent this condition has essentially gone undiagnosed for about two years, and this procedure should finally fix what ails the lefty hurler after years of failed attempts including other medical procedures. I wish him all the luck in the world, but it remains to be seen if we will ever see him on the field in the majors ever again, the same situation that may have befallen A’s third baseman Eric Chavez who might have to end his career because of a herniated disc in his back as there is concern that any further baseball related damage could hinder his quality off life moving forward.

Carlos Quentin missed a third straight game because of his heel injury on Tuesday. With Brian Anderson back off the DL, could Quentin be headed to it soon?

Joakim Soria threw on Tuesday for the first time since hitting the DL on May 7th. Obviously that means he will not be ready to go when eligible on Saturday as he only threw off of flat ground. Reports are positive and this news still means that he will likely be back by next week, but continue to look for Juan Cruz to be the man they turn to in the ninth inning for the rest of the week. Speaking of Cruz, his 13 to 10 K/BB ratio is awful and well below his normal 1.99 K/BB rate. Why? The main reason is that his K-rate has plummeted from over 12 per nine the past two years to 6.27 this season. He is still throwing as hard as ever (94.1 mph is his average fastball speed), so expect his K-rate to rise no matter what role he fills moving forward.

I said it on the podcast his morning, and I’m feeling even more secure in the statement I made. Joey Votto’s dizziness continues on without an explanation, and it’s looking more and more like a DL stint is coming. He might avoid it, he last played on May 16th, but even if he doesn’t end up on the DL it looks like this week is pretty much shot, not to mention it remains to be seen how he will fair once he returns because it’s not like you can hit a baseball when you are even slightly dizzy.