Just Wait 'Til Last Year

Repeating as a champion in a professional sports league is difficult, especially in the age of salary caps and parity. The Giants hardly entered the year as favorites, but they have been battling all year, despite meager offensive production. Now, though, things are beginning to fade at the wrong time.

My natural tendency is to be a pessimist, so I will fight that and not yet write off the season. But there are enough factors to make me think it is almost time to say "Just Wait 'Til Last Year"--by which I mean time to watch the souvenir DVD from last season. And then look forward to spring, and spring training, and the chance to start over.

For one thing, come the spring, we won't be as decimated by injuries. Seriously, all the injuries we avoided last year seem to be coming this year on top of the normal allotment. First Buster Posey is lost for the season, and then Freddy Sanchez. Barry Zito and Jonathan Sanchez both struggle with injuries which may have impacted their performances. Pablo Sandoval started off on a tear, and then got hurt for a month. We trade a top prospect for Carlos Beltran, essentially a two month rental, and now he is hurt and may be going on the DL. Sergio Romo, our setup man, also may be headed for the DL. And Pablo left today's game after fouling a ball off his foot.

As a side note, I had my hesitations about trading a top pitching prospect for a rental, especially since we won last year. I didn't feel as desperate a need to win now. But I can see why Brian Sabean made the deal; you do want to take every chance to win and excite the loyal fan base--that's a crucial confluence of the business side and the passion side of baseball. So even though Beltran is injured at perhaps the most critical stage of the pennant race, when we are struggling to keep up with Arizona in the division and Atlanta in the playoff race, I don't blame him for the trade, even though no one expects Beltran to play in SF next season.

The nagging feeling I can't escape, though, is that the reality TV show on Showtime, "The Franchise," was a bit of a mistake. I have to wonder if it is not a distraction for the team. But that could just be a matter of my own bias. I HATE reality TV, which in general I find sleazy and stupid.

It would be one thing if it was talent-based, like So You Think You Can Dance or Project Runway. You know, make it So You Think You Can Pitch or Project Basepath. If only there was something like that for the Giants.

Oh, that's right, there is. It's called Major League Baseball, and what's the Giants are playing every day.

Maybe the injuries and the slumps are karma for being on reality TV.

Oh well. I still love us. And by us, I mean the Giants. We aren't the Yankees. Or the Red Sox. Or the Phillies.