Giants Face Elimination in the NLDS

2010 reminded us why the playoffs are so fun. Win after win after excitement after win after more excitement after win after Aubrey Huff pulls a thong out of his pants in front of 3 million people. That’s what the playoffs are about. The failure of the early 2000’s are a distant memory. The feeling of 2010 is the freshest playoff memory Giants fans have. It’s unfair to say that I was expecting 2010, but it is fair to say most of us were expecting nor were we ready for something like this.  This being Guillermo Mota pitching in the most important innings of the season. Annnnnd that’s another double.

I came back from college to watch attend these two games, and haha what a fool I am. That all sounds worse than it is because Davis is an hour away from the Bay Area, but still. I came back because playoffs games are fun, and playoff games at AT&T Park are bundles of it. I prepared myself by rewatching 2010 highlights on loop. The atmosphere was unparalleled. That's what I was looking forward to. Young people are stupid.

The first game was tolerable. Disapointing but tolerable. The Giants had good at bats the entire game and it was a close competitive game, that the fans were into. It was loud. There were MVP chants, Mat Latos booes, a Buster Posey home run and 9^th inning drama. It was the playoffs. Joaquin Arias got a hit off Aroldis Chapman! Haha no really. It was, for the most part, a well played game that, even though didn’t go the Giants way, bred hope into the idea that the series would be a close competitive matchup. Also the Giants got more than 2 hits. That’s always a nice plus. 

Tonight, was a crapfest of the most epic proportions. You don’t need me to tell you that. A 9-0 home playoff loss is just about the worst thing in the world next to Emmanuel Burriss. swinging a baseball bat. Even this post is a crapfest, just going back to the same cheap Emmanuel Burriss joke. Just throw out all the easy jokes! Haha the Astros are very bad! Lololol!

There isn’t much worse than watching a playoff crowd leave a game early. It’s just about the saddest thing. By the 9th inning, the park was about half full, which isn't an exaggeration. Something about Drew Stubbs tripling against Guillermo Mota to make the score 9-0 just didn’t appeal to fans. And it’s not like the game was exciting for a while until the Reds poured it on. It was quiet throughout because nobody was going to cheer for 4-3 Aubrey Huff like groundouts up and down the order. And I mean pencil drop quiet. Like a regular season tuesday night game against the Marlins. Here are the order of events that got the loudest cheers:

1. Tim Lincecum pitching 2 innings of relief

2.  Edgar Renteria throwing out the first pitch

3. Gangnam Style

4. “Crazy Legs”, the kettle corn guy, dancing

5. The 49ers game highlights on the jumbotron

6. Seagulls flying, pooping.

The playoffs! You literally could not script a worse playoff game. The Giants were flailing and hacking like they Austin Powers’d their way back to the groovy times of 2008. Yesterday night there were good at bats and line drives. Tonight, there were short at bats and 567 ground balls right at infielders. But at least this was against Johnny Cueto, a Cy Young caliber pitcher! Wait…

Of course it was Bronson Arroyo. If someone was cooking a “terrible playoff game” on the stove and were looking for that one last ingredient, it would be to just add Bronson Arroyo. He’s the Barry Zito of the Reds. Barry Zito threw a one hitter against the Giants and had a perfect game into the 5^th inning. This was an offense that looked like closest thing since the early 2000 Giants. Tonight, they tapped into their inner Jose Castillo. Put it this way: yesterday the Giants got 1 hit and 2 walks in one inning against Aroldis Chapman. In 7 innings against Bronson Arroyo, the Giants got 1 hit and 1 walk. Yeah.

Of course, there was also the Giants pitching. Madison Bumgarner was not good, and caught too much of the plate far too many times. He wasn’t what caused the blowout however. I for one, was completely shocked that the Jose Mijeras, Guillermo Mota duo didn’t pan out in the end. Yep. There have been times this season where I’ve appreciated Bruce Bochy. This is not one of those times. Sergio Romo, Santiago Casilla, Javier Lopez, Jeremy Affeldt. When Bochy had a problem and he needed friend down the stretch, he leaned on those 4 guys countlessly. Not tonight though, in the biggest game of the season. Nope, instead it was "where’s the guy that was suspended 60% of the season and is 75 years old" Also I’m bitter.

In the end those decisions were trivial in the big picture, mainly because the Giants had 1 hit in 8 innings. Usually not the best recipe. And of course, the most frustrating thing of all is this is the playoffs. These aren’t the Giants we watched for 162 games this year. In the regular season, this would be your typical “it’s just 2 games” couple of losses. These aren’t who the Giants are and eventually they’ll snap out of it. But of course, they don’t have 162 games to play to their ability. They have one more game, and then one more if they win that one and then one more if they win that one. But that’s all they have to do! That’s just the playoffs though and what they’re all about. What teams have done before doesn’t matter. Anything can happen and small sample sizes are freaky maniacal time chambers of whackiness. Case study: Bronson Arroyo.

And that makes for a nice transition to this paragraph! The Giants are still alive. On a breathing machine, but they still have a pulse. It’s the playoffs and that means everything and anything can occur. So as we approach the acceptance and hoping stage of grief, let's save the obituary for when the Giants are actually eliminated. Ryan Vogelsong can shut a team down. Matt Cain on 3 days rest can shut a team down. Great American ballpark is slighty bigger than a college dorm room. It’s not impossible for a comeback to happen.

When the Giants are shut down by Homer Bailey, then we can really be depressed. But for now, while there are still pitches to be thrown and bats to be swung, lets still hold on to that last strand of hope. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some CD’s to burn.