By Jeremy Walsh
San Francisco baseball fans finally exhaled when Giants closer Brian Wilson got the last out in the 2010 World Series. Wilson”s strikeout capped an amazing playoff run for the unheralded, scrappy Giants, whose hard work brought that illusive first title to the Bay.
Celebrations lasted for weeks, spreading across a championship-starved Northern California (you”d have to go back to the early 90s for the last time a Bay Area team won a championship in one of the four major sports).
As the joyous November ended and the weather turned colder, the conversation quickly shifted to the sunny 2011 baseball season and whether the Giants could defend their title.
A slow offseason was followed by a fast start to spring training, and the Giants seemed well on their way toward another championship push.
Then late last week, the injury bug bit San Francisco right where it hurt (Wilson”s oblique) and once confident fans no doubt began nervously biting something of their own. Thankfully for Bay Area fans, Wilson”s oblique strain doesn”t appear to be long-term at this point, but the shock surely hasn”t quite worn off.
Wilson”s preseason injury shows that so many factors impact whether a team will repeat as champions. Here are a few to consider.
History:
Let”s get the bad news out of the way. It may not seem like it was more than a decade ago, but the last team to defend its World Series title(s) was the 2000 New York Yankees.
The drought has been even longer for a National League team. The last repeat NL champions were the 1975-76 Cincinnati Reds. The Giants have a tough battle confronting these historical trends alone.
But with the Giants proven pitching staff, you have to figure that if they make it to the playoffs, few teams have the offensive firepower to compete. There, recent trends are in San Francisco”s favor.
The Philadelphia Phillies made it back to the World Series in 2009, a year after ending that city”s title drought. Even better, the previous three defending champions returned to the playoffs.
A Division Crown:
As discussed, the Giants starting rotation showed last year that it”s built for the postseason. But in order to show off its pitchers again, the team must first make the playoffs.
Each team in the NL West will be gunning for San Francisco (possibly more so now that the Giants have all but dominated Cactus League play). Nevertheless, none of the Giants” rivals seem poised to dethrone the reigning division champs.
This season will be rebuilding years for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres.
Diamondbacks” manager Kirk Gibson is entering his first full season, and the team, which had consistency issues last year, seemingly got younger this offseason. The Dodgers are also working in a new manager, whose first season will be tough with a weak starting pitching staff.
The Padres, who almost stopped the Giants” championship run before it began, will continue the decline that began in the second half of last season – fueled by the offseason loss of its only offensive threat and hometown hero, Adrian Gonzalez.
The Colorado Rockies seem to be the Giants” biggest threat. They have a strong pitching staff, headlined by 19-game winner Ubaldo Jimenez, and an even stronger offense, highlighted by Troy Tulowitzki and 2010 triple-crown candidate Carlos Gonzalez.
The Rockies made only minor improvements during the offseason, after petering out last year and finishing third in the West. Colorado won”t have enough to beat out the Giants over the course of a 162-game season.
A complete team:
The NL West appears to be the Giants” to lose, and what could be costly is if the team can”t produce cohesively like it did at the end of last season.
It”s no secret that the Giants have the pitching to get it done.
The top three starters (Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum and Jonathan Sanchez) pitched consistently last regular season. Fourth starter Madison Bumgarner will be the question mark because he hasn”t yet pitched a full season in the majors. The fifth starter race appears to be Barry Zito”s to lose (my how the mighty have fallen).
The bullpen appears primed for another rock-solid season, if healthy. Wilson”s injury will probably have little effect in the long run, provided it”s a short-term issue. If not, replacing the 2010 saves leader will be tough.
Though the pitching was consistent throughout 2010, the Giants” offense didn”t develop until the second half of the year. And once the batters began to produce, the team meshed like no other San Francisco ballclub.
The Giants need veterans Pat Burrell, Aubrey Huff and Freddy Sanchez to perform like they did late in the year. More importantly, previously unproven hitters like Buster Posey, Cody Ross and Andres Torres must continue producing runs, otherwise the Giants won”t score enough in the end to win games for their dominant starters.
Two key players include recently acquired Miguel Tejada (who replaced World Series MVP Edgar Renteria) and fan-favorite Pablo Sandoval (who could find himself out of work if he can”t recapture his 2009 mojo).
The verdict:
Putting it simply, the pitchers must stay healthy and the offense must produce consistently. If the Giants players can focus on those two things, then their team seems to have the NL West sown up.
With the division championship would come a second consecutive playoff berth, the beginning of a true title defense. If San Francisco makes it to the tournament, NL teams should be afraid (even the incredibly deep Phillies) because the Giants and their fans proved to be an untamable postseason force.
Winning a World Series is an amazing accomplishment, and nobody wants to “hold on to the feelin”” more than the Bay Area baseball community.
Jeremy Walsh is a staff reporter for Lake County Publishing. He can be reached at 263-5636 ext. 37 or jwalsh@record-bee.com.
