The Road Trip Recap

hunter pence.

The Giants just played two series against two baseball teams that are utter disasters. The Astros are forced to make up players to fill their 25 man roster. The Cubs are building towards 2015, which shouldn’t be confused with 2012 because by then I will have a robot dog which eats batteries.

I like to quote myself because it makes me feel important. People quote George Washington just like people quote me, where by people I mean myself. George Washington and I would have a lot to talk about because we have so much in common. What happened to this paragraph? That’s what watching the Astros and Cubs will do to you.

This is what I wrote before the road trip started.

 4-2 would be acceptable, but 5-1 is almost expected. 6-0 would be great, but not surprising.

The Giants went 5-1 on the roadtrip. And while it wasn’t pretty, the results were what we expected. The Giants did what was expected of them. That is something. Even though I expected it to happen, I didn’t actually expect it to happen. This is a lot of expecting for someone that is not pregnant. But when I clicked ‘submit’ on the aforementioned post prior to the road trip, I wasn’t confident in my convictions. The whole you can’t predict baseball is one. That’s always one. Forever and ever baseball will do the stupidest things that you just have to sit back and tip your cap to. Though it is odd imagining someone tipping their cap to the game of baseball, an inaminate activity.

Secondly, and most importantly to Giants fans, is the fact that these are the Giants. They are trained to be professional condescending bafoons. The Giants have made the playoffs 1 out of the last 8 seasons. And thank all that is good for that one time. But it’s 2012, and me and seemingly much of the fan base are still in the same cynical state as the byproduct of Orlando Cabrera-like transactions. This probably is going to come off as whiny because of 2010, but for the 7 other years surrounding it the Giants haven’t played past the normal 162. 1 out of 8 is enough to where disappointment is still a fresh feeling despite the World Championship. These are the Giants. Right as you’re ready to believe this is a team to believe in they hack themselves out of the playoffs. And thus, pessimistic, annoying and whiny baseball fans.

This was probably the weakest and most uneventful 6 game stretch of the season. I gurantee you 10 years from now, you will not remember a single thing about this series. I don’t even remember who the Astros are. Something about a Bogusevic. For now though, it’s sweet. This was a stretch I plainly admitted should be 5-1. You probably looked at the schedule and wondered if the Giants could win 10 of the 6 games on the roadtrip. Legitimate beliefs. The Giants did it. They did exactly what they were supposed to do. Throughout the season, as the Giants have faced losing teams, the theme throughout those has been doing what you’re supposed to do. We’ve been over this. There's something to be said for it. In this stretch, we said it before the games actually started. That is how terrible the Cubs and Astros are. The Giants did what everyone thought they should. Beat them down. These are the series the Giants usually lose. Perhaps it just seems that way because as a fan, you notice that kind of stuff more than when things go accordingly because it's just human nature. For now however, this series was beautiful because before the series it was supposed to be beautiful. Feels good man, feels good. 

These were the last 2 series the Giants will play out of division in the regular season in 2012. September is here and will surely be nerve wracking. The Giants have a 4.5 game lead in the division, but still have 6 game left against the Dodgers. The Giants play the Dodgers for the last time at AT&T on Friday. There will be yelling, and booing and yell booing and it's a series being talked about right now even though it's still far away. However, the Giants play the Diamondbacks before the Giants play the Dodgers. Here is a series against a fading team, with the slimmest of slim hopes of making the playoffs. Nobody is looking forward to the series against the Diamondbacks. The Giants aren't looking forward to it. These are the series that turn into duds. The Giants could easily look past these snake people and towards the Dodger series, the biggest rivalry series between the two since 2004. The Diamondback series is going to be overlooked by fans. The Giants should win the series. 

I'm scared. Hello pennant race.