Thank you, 2009 Giants

I've always considered myself to be an intelligent fan. One who understands just how hard it is to win a championship—and how much harder it is to win it again. I believe this understanding is due in large part to the fact that I chose my teams at an early age and have never remotely considered switching allegiances. I'm a person whose opinion of “bandwagon” fans has ranged from curiosity to outright vehemence. Back in the day, I even co-wrote a song called “Pseudofans” that was meant to include a Jim Carrey sample proclaiming said fans were “pathetic losers.”

But for me, the biggest reason to stay loyal to your teams is because of the journey. If one switches their rooting interests around based on who's good at that particular moment, they miss the joy of seeing the maturation of their team from also-rans to champions. Victory after repeated defeat is magnified ten-fold. It is for this reason that this post is dedicated to the 2009 San Francisco Giants. They won't win the World Series this year—and they might not ever win it. But they've given me something great nonetheless. Hope. Hope that someday my Giants will rise up and break the 3rd longest (and least recognized) drought in World Series history. The 2002 team almost made up for the 1989 team's humiliation, and perhaps someday another team will come along to erase both of their failures. Until that time, I will enjoy the growth of the San Francisco Giants. I will celebrate them not for their mediocrity; a championship is still the only thing that counts. But I will carefully track their progress and applaud excellence when I see it.

To that end: Thank you, Dave Righetti, for all the work you've done with the pitching staff. The team jumped from 17th to 2nd in ERA, led all of MLB in Shut-Outs with 18 (5 more than the next team) and Complete Games with 11. They also gave up 90 less runs in '09 versus '08. The team had increase in wins of 16, but only managed to score 17 more runs. Thank you, staff, for carrying the team.

Individual Thanks to:

Tim Lincecum—in his follow-up to last year's Cy Young winning campaign, he arguably had a better year, again leading the league in strikeouts and tying with teammate Matt Cain for the league lead in CG (4).

Speaking of Cain, the game's active leader in lowest run support finally had some things fall his way as he made the All-Star team for the first time and combined with Lincecum to form one of the best pitching duos in the game.

Randy Johnson—his 2009 season was looked upon by many as a last-ditch attempt to reach 300 wins. In actuality, Johnson was very competitive—amassing 8 wins before the All-Star break and the injury that cut deeply into his season. But even while hurt, Johnson took on a mentor role for the young pitching staff and did much to dispel the notion that he was nothing more than a self-serving a-hole.

Jonathan Sanchez—one of Johnson's pet projects started slow, but quickly developed into yet another fine young Giants pitcher. But for me, he'll always be best known for throwing the first Giants no-no in a generation during the one game this year I got to watch with my dad and my brother (cue Field of Dreams music now).

Barry Zito—his second half started to remind us that he actually was a great pitcher at one time. Still relatively young, Zito might actually start to make his contract look a little less absurd.

Brian Wilson—he won't make anyone forget Robb Nen with 7 blown saves, but the 38 he cashed in were impressive nonetheless.

Brad Penny—released by Boston after the trade deadline, Penny signed with Giants and paid immediate dividends. In 6 games, he was 4-1 with a 2.59 ERA and the only reason that ERA was so high was because in that one loss, Penny gave up 7 ER in 2-2/3 innings. In short, he was a huge pickup for the Giants' playoff push.

Joe Martinez, Madison Bumgarner, and Ryan Sadowski—the Giants pitching staff looks to be getting only stronger.

On the offensive side:

Thanks to Eugenio Velez—in August, he gave the Giants a sparkplug at the top of the order and played stellar defense. It's no coincidence that when his average dropped 33 points for the month of September, the Giants' offense sputtered and the losses came a little more frequently.

Aaron Rowand—he played every game like it was his last and continues to be a great leader in the clubhouse.

Bengie Molina—not your proto-typical clean-up hitter, but a good RBI man nonetheless.

Freddy Sanchez—the trade deadline deal paid immediate dividends, but a nagging injury prevented the former All-Star from having the desired impact.

Juan Uribe—despite being a part-time player, Uribe hit 16 homeruns (one of only 4 Giants in double digits). He played so well, Bochy was forced to find room for him. Unfortunately, Ryan Garko's lack of production made that decision all too easy.

Pablo “Kung Fu Panda” Sandoval—in only his first full season, Pandoval was 2nd in the league in BA (.330) with 25 HR and 90 RBI. Just think what he'll do when he learns how to hit (he only walked 52 times). But what's most impressive is that Panda has arguably already become the most beloved Giant since Mays. As great as Bonds was (and we did see him do some frickin' ridiculous things), he was never embraced—mostly by his own doing—like Sandoval has been. Panda masks are everywhere in the City, and if he continues to develop, MLB would be very foolish indeed not to cash in on the incredible good will this ambidextrous, overweight, free-swinging anomaly seems to effortlessly generate.


Management:

Brian Sabean—the architect of this team built a formidable pitching staff from top to bottom. For the first time in recent memory, the Giants' pitching could be considered the best in the league—and for a while they actually were. The onus is on him now to bring in the bats to complement what's already there without disrupting team chemistry. Not an easy task for sure, but the man who once traded Matt Williams for Jeff Kent and other crucial pieces of the '97 playoff run seems up to the task.

Bruce Bochy—I was not a fan of the hire initially, but this year the biggest (literally, not figuratively) head in the game proved to contain some shrewd managerial skills. Now, if he can just have some more bats to plug into the order...

Kruk and Kuip:

I love these guys and miss them calling the game. Both incredibly knowledgable and personable, each has their own quirks. Krukow is always talking to the “kids at home” to point out how to do something and has the goofiest laugh I've ever heard. Kuiper is usually the straight man, but his homerun call (“He hits it high. He hit it deep. It is OUTTA HERE!!!”) always gives me chills. But most impressively, both Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper walk the fine line between blatant homerism and myopian foolishness. No one has any doubt who these guys are rooting for as they're calling the game, but neither hesitates in the slightest to give either praise or criticism to any player, be he Giant or not.

Final Word:

The Winter Meetings are coming. Like many of my fellow Giants fans, I appreciate all the hard work the team has done to this point. But now the real work begins. Expectations will only be higher for 2010.