Awesome overload at AT&T Park

There will never be a night like this again in San Francisco.

Oh there might be another ring ceremony by China Basin.
And there will no doubt be another "down to the last strike surreal walk off win" for the Giants. So far they have had two in two home games this year.

But there will never be a first ring ceremony again.
Never again will there be a night where Hall of Famers Willie McCovey and Gaylord Perry get their first ever World Series rings. (Willie Mays and Orlando Cepeda got rings, but those were their second rings. Willie won in 1954. Cha Cha with the 1967 Cardinals.)

And to combine that with the surreal ending and Miguel Tejada basically saying "I want a ring too!" and you have a night that will never be replicated.

The great things about the Ring Ceremony is that it gives the previous championship a final exclamation. Everyone who got a ring (including Barry Zito) never has to wonder if they will ever reach the top of the baseball world. So many Hall of Famers played long and wonderful careers and never got that.

I wonder if the Madison Bumgarners and Buster Poseys, who spent part of 2010 in the minor leagues and won as a rookie, really understood what Perry and McCovey's rings meant.

They each played 22 seasons and never won a Series (although if McCovey's line drive eluded Bobby Richardson, then it would have been a different story.)

So 2010 is over. Focus on 2011.
And if the first few games are any indication, it is going to be nuts.

What did YOU do at age 21?

When I was 21 I was finishing up my junior year at NYU, eating too much Chinese food, renting movies at Kim's Video on Bleecker street and sharing a tiny apartment with a guy whose name escapes me right now.

When Madison Bumgarner was 21, he pitched 8 shutout innings in the World Series on the road against an amazing offensive team to put the Giants to within one game of their first World Series title since moving to California.

I am going to make a judgment call and say Madison's 21st year was better than mine.

Can YOU top Madison?

Not a second guess

Note time and date that I am typing this.
With Cliff Lee pitching less than 5 innings in Game 1, Ron Washington HAS to throw him in Game 4.

As it stands right now, if the Rangers split Games 2 and 3, then they will be handing the ball to Tommy Hunter to prevent it from being a 3-1 hole.

Cliff Lee versus Madison Bumgarner is a mismatch and (assuming Texas wins games 2 or 3) would give the Rangers the best shot at a 2-2 series.

They NEED to do this.

The Rangers can't pull what the Yankees did and let A. J. Burnett and not Sabathia save their season.

Note time and date.
This is NOT a second guess

Show of hands, Giants fans...

If I told you at the beginning of the NLCS that the Giants would beat Roy Halladay AND Cole Hamels, raise your hand if your would take it.

That if in Game 4, the Giants would face Joe Blanton, who hasn't pitched in nearly a month, and throw Madison Bumgarner, raise your hand if you'd take that.

Now how about if I told you that if EVERYTHING goes wrong in Game 4... they lose 20-0 and are no hit... they would still be tied 2-2 with Tim Lincecum on the mound at home? Show of hands if you would take it.

I expect to see a LOT of hands in the air.

I thought the Phillies were winning in 5.
They've got to run the table to win in 6.

And tomorrow is the ONE TIME the Giants aren't going to face a former Cy Young winner or NLCS MVP on the mound.

Blanton is a decent pitcher with a big heart.
Bumgarner is a solid pitcher with great stuff.

You'd have to favor the home team in that match up.

Hands up if you'd take that.

I know Giant fans shouldn't get ahead of themselves... but isn't cool to be in a situation where they SHOULDN'T get ahead of themselves?

Win tomorrow... then start getting giddy.
The Giants are half way there.

Hands up if you were expecting THAT?
(Mine would NOT be up.)

Offensive offense

Well, I already made the "Looks Like I Picked The Wrong Week To Quit..." joke from Airplane.

But I can honestly say right now the Giants need Willie Mays... NOW... at age 79...

He could easily hit 6th on this Giants team.

They've gone into Wrigley Field and scored a run.
One.

If Buster Posey's flyball doesn't clear the wall last night they would have been shut out two straight nights.

Want a scary stat?
In the Giants last 13 games they have scored 38 runs.
That's just under 3 runs a game. Not good for a pennant contender.

Want some scarier numbers?

Those 38 runs INCLUDES the 7 run outburst on September 9th, the 6 run game on September 12th, the 10 run game on September 16th and the 9 run game on Sunday the 19th.

So 32 of the 38 runs were scored in those 4 games.

Ready for some scary division?

In 9 critical "can't really afford to drop a game" stretch run games, the Giants scored a total of 6 runs.

Not per game.
All together.

This September they have lost 6 games where they have held the opposition to 3 runs or fewer.

Chew on that as they fall out of the playoff picture for at least a day and head to Colorado after tomorrow's game.

Bumgarner is on the mound. Hopefully the Giants can have one of their fluke offensive outbursts.