Patient Pessoptomism

Nothing is more frustrating than getting swept by a team under 500, for it only reflects a weakness on Giants’ behalf, not strength on behalf of their opponents. In the upcoming series—and more so the upcoming weeks—Bruce Bochy will have to get creative. Although the Giants were in the same boat last season, getting swept by the A’s right around this time, there isn’t, as Mercury News reporter Andrew Baggarly put it, “[a] Posey panacea waiting in the minor leagues.” But we’ve no need to fret—even if the Giants don’t turn it around. A younger team, with infinite potential, is a-brewin’.

As fans, expecting the Giants to reach the post-season, let alone the World Series, is naive. By doing so, we will only grow more critical, frustrated, and even angry toward a very different--yet extremely special--team than last year. Torres and Huff, two huge influences in the Giants ball club, rode their career years (which were surely powered by the Giants' momentum) to the top. Posey offered gravity to the other decent hitters in the lineup. And the whole pitching staff-- especially Lincecum, Cain and Wilson--fell into a groove that inspired and eventually spear-headed what many deemed the "Year of the Pitcher." The Giants were 2010's perfect storm.

Rather than expect the Giants to reach the post-season, we should recognize, excite ourselves over this new team's organic quality--the potential that Crawford, Belt, and Burriss offer to the future Giants ball club. Huff, Burrell, and Torres will soon take their final bows, leaving it up to the kids to backup what we hope to be a pitching staff less concerned with maintaining their Champion mystique.

Thinking so far into the future may be absurd at this point, but we, as fans, often revert into seasonal myopia to satisfy the sensation of winning "twice in a row" (or some garbage), all the while glossing over the beauty of a sensational team currently in development. Bottom line: we should forget this defending champions crap and just watch some Giants baseball. If they go far (which they just might), spectacular! If they don't: look forward to a very bright future.