It was a jolly good day at the ballpark last Sunday.
The Giants finally got to celebrate their first division title in seven years and it only took them three tries to do it.
For those of you who thought a playoff berth would come easy, you’ve just been reminded about what it means to be a Bay Area Sports fan. Exaltation never comes without enduring a little agony.
But we can look back at all the frustrations and mishaps of this season and say it was worth it. The Giants ended up with the second best record in the National League and now they’ll be playing for a shot to erase some of their greatest postseason failures.
There are no remaining players from the 2003 playoff roster. The Giants have left behind the ghosts of a foggy era driven by performance enhancing drugs and federal indictments.
The strength of the team no longer depends on the might of a controversial slugger, but on the sturdy arms of a young group of pitchers believing in an Orange October.
The question that most of us are asking now is: will it all be enough against the Braves?
Let’s find out shall we?
Leadoff: Andres Torres vs. Omar Infante
Andres Torres is the 2010 Willie Mac winner, and possibly the team MVP. He’s a got power and speed, two great qualities in a leadoff hitter and for that matter, any player. Though his regular season BA was only .268, he has a .343 OBP and an .823 OPS.
Infante can hit for average and not much do anything else. He only has 29 walks for the season (compared to 62 strikeouts) and he’s been caught stealing nearly as many times as he’s been successful.
By the way, seven stolen bases is hardly considered successful for someone batting first in the line-up.
Edge: Giants
Second: Jason Heyward vs. Freddy Sanchez
This is an easy one right? Well no, not exactly.
I can’t say Heyward hasn’t had a very good rookie year, but his .277 BA isn’t all that great, especially when you take into consideration that he only had six hits in his last ten games. SIX!
And everyone one thinks he should get the Rookie of the Year award over Buster Posey?
Ugh.
Freddy came on strong during the stretch run and never let up. He flirted with a .300 BA and even put on an impressive display of power (6 homers in his last 52 games and a .940 OPS in his final 35).
Bottom line, Jason’s the reason the Braves are in the playoffs this year but he won’t make the same kind of impact facing the league’s best pitchers.
Edge: Braves
Third: Brian McCann vs. Aubrey Huff
Brian McCann’s the reason the World Series will start at AT&T Park, so hats off to him. He’s hit at least 21 home-runs in his last four seasons and has a .289 career batting average.
Huff did something even more extraordinary. He made Brian Sabean look like a genius. He led the team in homers and batted .306 with runners on base. He’s also a perfect seven for seven in stolen base opportunities.
McCann’s a good athlete, but Aubrey has a better swing and his beard makes him look like more of a badass.
Edge: Giants
Fourth: Buster Posey vs. Derrek Lee
Derrek Lee was a nice pick-up for the Braves down the stretch. He’s a solid defender, a hard working veteran, and he didn’t give his Mom sh-t for spelling his name wrong.
He also drove in 80 runs despite only hitting .260 for the year, which illustrates how good he is in the clutch.
This would all be great if Lee was hitting sixth or seventh in the line-up. Instead he’s batting clean-up.
Posey’s the Rookie of the Year and the real deal. Like Jason Heyward, he slowed down during the final stretch, except there’s one difference. Buster homered in his last at bat to finish the Padres.
Edge: Gigantes
Fifth: Pat Burrell vs. Alex Gonzales
Pat Burrell was rescued from the junkyard by Brian Sabean and along with Buster Posey, helped jump start the Giants’ sputtering offense.
He’s basically the same kind of outfielder as Aaron Rowand except he ‘s better at getting on base, has power, plays harder, hits into fewer double plays, and makes about eleven million less per year.
Other than that, they’re basically the same.
Gonzalez was probably the biggest acquisition the Braves made all season. He set career highs in home-runs (23) and runs batted in (88), and helped fill a gaping hole at shortstop.
So how do we call this? Gonzalez’s been awful with the Braves while Burrell was awful with the Rays.
Plus Burrell has nicer hair.
Edge: Giants
Sixth: Juan Uribe vs. Brooks Conrad
While pitchers walk as many batters as possible to get to Conrad, Uribe’s been tearing it up all year long at the plate. Well OK, batting .248 isn’t exactly “tearing things up, but he is a big overachiever, hitting 24 home-runs en route to becoming the second biggest run producer on the team; plus, there isn’t anyone who’s delivered more in the clutch this season.
He homered twice in one inning against the Cubs and hit a game winning shot off of Jonathan Broxton to beat the loathsome Dodgers at the Chavez Ravine.
Look for Uribe to go long when the Giants need it most. We’ll be equally depending on Conrad to hit routine pop-ups.
Edge: Giants
Seventh: Jose Guillen v. Nate McLouth
The Giants took a chance when they acquired the volatile and often times explosive Jose Guillen from the Kansas City Royals. Surprisingly, the move paid off. Guillen plays a good right field and provides the necessary power at the bottom of the line-up with 19 hrs.
McLouth is further proof that nothing good ever comes out of Pittsburgh.
Edge: Giants
Eighth: Pablo Sandoval vs. Rick Ankiel
Despite his decline from 2009, Sandoval remains a dangerous hitter behind the plate.
He finally established a pattern of consistency when he hit six home-runs in the month of August, and might have contributed more if he wasn’t slowed by a groin injury during the final three weeks of the season. His final line is respectable, batting almost .270 with 13 hrs and 63 RBIs.
Four years ago, Rick Ankiel figured out he wasn’t very good in pitching, and about two weeks ago the Braves discovered he wasn’t better at doing anything else; he has twice as many strikeouts as he has walks, only 9 extra base hits since he joined Atlanta, and a .328 slugging pct. Woof.
You can still see fans wearing Panda hats all around AT&T Park. What the hell are Braves fans going to wear now that Ankiel’s shaved off his porn mustache?
Vaseline?
Edge: Giants
Starting Pitching
The Freak vs. Derek Lowe
Lincecum won 16 games, led the league in strikeouts for a third straight season, and is still considered to be having an off year. He had a great September though, which means he should be ready to pitch in the big games for the first time in his career.
There’s no better way to start gaining experience than pitching against the Braves.
Lowe’s a playoff veteran who’s been outrageously dominant in his last five starts (5-0 with a 1.17 ERA). But opponents are still hitting .273 off him and he’s given up 203 hits. Hardly untouchable wouldn’t you say?
Derek’s always been unpredictable as a pitcher, but you can always rely on him to be a douchebag.
Edge: Giants
Matt Cain vs. Tommy Hanson
Matt Cain was tearing apart the NL until his last start against the Padres, and that’s a concern. If the Giants are going to do deep in the postseason, they need Cain to pitch like he’s been here before.
I’d have some faith. Matt’s been the Giants workhorse leading the team in ERA (3.14), innings pitched (223), and complete games (4). He even came five outs away from pitching a no-hitter in Colorado. That’s a hard thing to do when the opposing team is feeding you juiced balls.
As for Hanson, he stunk as a pop star so he shaved his head and decided to give pitching a try.
Edge: Giants
Jonathen Sanchez v. Tim Hudson
Which Jonathan Sanchez are we going to see on Sunday? That’s the question we’re all asking ourselves. The one who fills the bases with walks, or the one who pitched the best game in Giants history last year against the Padres?
Sanchez has been surprisingly more effective on the road than at home this year, but that’s a wash considering how well the Braves have played at Turner Field.
A solid five inning effort would make Bruce Bochy happy, but Jonathan can toss an eight inning one hitter if he settles into a groove early.
Tim Hudson shut out the Giants (allowing just three hits) in the month of August. That was August.
In September he’s been..what’s a good word to describe it..awful?
Tim’s gone two and four over his last six starts with an ERA over 5.20. He was roughed up by the Phillies in the final game of the season and only got the win because the Braves scored eight runs.
That won’t happen in this series, but I’m still relieved he only gets one start.
Edge: Braves
Closer: Brian Wilson vs. Billy Wagner
What’s not to like about Brian? He lead the league in saves (48), multiple inning saves (9), has a nice pair of shoes (Nikes), and just looks sick in a fugitive’s beard.
Wagner still has electric stuff (104 Ks in 69 innings) but he’s also blown more saves in far fewer opportunities.
Edge: Giants
Middle Relief – Jeremy Affeldt, Sergio Romo, Santiago Casilla, Guillermo Mota, Ramon Ramirez, Javier Lopez, Dan Runzler, (pretty deep isn’t it?) v. Jonny Venters, Peter Moylan, Takashi Saito, Eric O’Flaherty.
The difference between the two bullpens could be seen last Sunday. The Giants relievers came in the sixth inning with no outs and nobody on. The Padres get zilch.
The Braves turned to their bullpen with an 8-4 lead in the eighth inning. It’s suddenly 8-7 and Billy Wager is in for the four out save.
Memo to the Giants: get to the starters early.
Edge: Giants
Defense: Giants vs. Braves
The Braves gave up 60 unearned runs, and the Giants gave up 37.
Pretty simple math wouldn’t you say?
Edge: Giants
Bench: Cody Ross, Eli Whiteside, Nate Schierholz, Mike Fontenot, Aaron Rowand vs. Eric Hinske, Troy Glaus, and two other jokers.
This is too easy. I mean, just look at who the Giants have sitting on the bench.
There's a great utility player in Ross, a 90 lb shortstop in Fontenot, a back-up catcher with a two words in his last name (huh?), and a rich guy in Aaron Rowand.
OK, maybe the Giants reserves aren't that great, but they suck less than the guys on the Atlanta side.
Edge: Giants
Bruce Bochy v. Bobby Cox
The last time these two managers faced each other was in the 1998 NLCS. Bochy won that one in a classic upset.
Cox has five pennants and 15 division titles with Atlanta, but he’s won only one World Series; he’s also failed to get the Braves past the first round the last four tries.
It’s going be five after this one. Enjoy your retirement Bobby!
Edge: Giants
So that’s the breakdown. Should be easy right? Well, given that the Giants love torturing their fans during the postseason, let’s try not to get too confident.
Giants in five.
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