Idiots Write About Sports

I haven’t written about the Giants a lot lately. One reason is that I was gone for two weeks; another is that work is insanely busy; a third is that I’ve spent the last two days in HDTV mania.

But the real reason is that this year’s Giants team just isn’t fun to watch. It’s not just games like tonight’s travesty — blowing a 4-0 lead to lose 11-5. Even the last few games of the team’s 10-game winning streak were not particularly interesting. I keep finding myself blowing through the games on my TiVo in 10 minutes, not just because I’m busy but because there are only so many times you can watch Neifi Perez make an out or Edgardo Alfonzo hit into a double play or the parade of one-batter relief pitchers slow the game to the crawl.

Last year’s Giants were more fun to watch, and I’ll admit that winning 100 games was a big reason why. But this year’s Giants, even though they are now bobbing around .500, aren’t fun. Even if they lost a bunch, I’d take it if they were fun. But they’re drab and dull. Three interchangeable right fielders, a host of disappointing infielders, a collection of weak starters and shaky relievers.

You know how people like to make plays on the old phrase, “Spahn and Sain and pray for rain?” I think I’ve got this year’s Giants iteration on the slogan: “Bonds and Schmidt and, damn, that’s it.”