The Magic Carpet Ride
There is little doubt that the San Francisco Giants have benefited immensely from a heavy measure of serendipity or just plain ole’ luck. I am not trying to minimize their accomplishments, but the fact that no one picked them to have a record above .500, except Gabe Kapler’s…
There is little doubt that the San Francisco Giants have benefited immensely from a heavy measure of serendipity or just plain ole’ luck. I am not trying to minimize their accomplishments, but the fact that no one picked them to have a record above .500, except Gabe Kapler’s mother should tell you something. Gabe Kapler is the NL Manager of the year and Farhan Zaidi is the Executive of the Year. Their run has been nothing short of phenomenal! If we were picking fantasy baseball teams, how many Giants players would you really take?
Again, I am not trying to trivialize their accomplishments – after all, they won 107 games. That is an incredible feat, but this is a case of where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Gabe Kapler was frequently regarded as a buffoon in Philadelphia, but suddenly he became a genius. Every trade, free-agent signing, and player acquisition by Farhan Zaidi worked. Enjoy the Magic Carpet Ride, because the 2021 season was one for the ages. The Giants could do no wrong in an industry where if 60 to 70% of the moves you make work, you are a freaking genius. EVERYTHING THE GIANTS DID WORKED! EVERYTHING! The stars were always aligned for the Giants. What a run!
… and now the run is over! Don’t get me wrong – I never believed the Giants would win the division… and I still have difficulty understanding how on earth they did it, but they did. They never quit, they never gave in, they almost always prevailed. The 1988 NY Mets owned the Dodgers and had an 11-1 record against them in the regular season, but the Dodgers owned them in the playoffs. The Giants Magic Carpet Ride is about to come to an end… and honestly, if the Dodger beat the Giants (and I believe they will), I will feel for them because they have been so good this year and really deserve a better fate than the Boys in Blue are going to deliver to them.
I write this with my fingers crossed because until now, everything they have done has turned to gold. If they hit a perfect double-play ball, it would find the rock and bounce over the fielder’s head, and even the hitter would score. Most of the season, they could do no wrong. The Giants had over ten players who either had career years or dramatically outperformed previous seasons. It worked… up until now. They can’t keep on doing this… can they?
You can talk about the lack of hitting last night, but there was some incredible pitching on both sides. Doc looked like a genius last night, but in reality, it was just his players executing. I am not a Dave Roberts apologist, he is not my favorite manager, I just find it silly that he always gets blamed for mishandling players when it is up to the players to execute… and execute they did last night!
Max Scherzer struggled for the third game in a row. Three games in a row he has struggled and that certainly has to give us pause. However, Julio and Striker as also capable of carrying this team. The Cardinals had a lot of live arms in the bullpen, but the Dodgers had more. I give more credit to Andrew Friedman for last night’s win than Dave Roberts because Andrew built a “bullet-proof” bullpen. All Dave had to do was give them the high sign to come in! Joe Kelly has been maligned for two years, but with the cyst removed from his shoulder, he has been the guy you bring in with runners on base. He is finally earning his keep!
Kelly and Jansen will likely be back for another two years, but other teams may offer Knebel and others an opportunity to close. When this season is over, Andrew will have to go back to building another bullpen, but right about now, this is the best bullpen in baseball… even better than the Giants and I think we will find out why.
The Giants are not going to just roll over and play dead. The Dodgers are going to have to take anything they want. The Boys in Blue played like Junkyard Dogs last night and they will have to keep doing that. It is too bad that Clayton and Max Muncy are not able to play. I do not see a path for Max to return this post-season and regardless of what Doc says, I would be surprised if Max does not need surgery!
Now, the Dodgers can rest for a day before going into battle in San Francisco on Friday and Saturday and then back to LA on Monday. It should be a battle for the ages, but I think the Giants Magic Carpet Ride is about to end as the Boys in Blue administer a lethal dose of Dodger Reality!
Finally, the two worst hitters on the planet scored the final two runs last night to win the game. They never stopped trying and hustling through it all. CT3 and Belli will be critical to the Dodgers’ success going forward.
(Photo by Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)
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Discussion (59)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Joe West statistically had his best game of the year at 97% accurate. So, it’s not the box being gone. He actually did a better job than his usual 91%. Glad it was better but it doesn’t make it any less ridiculous that he was behind the plate.
Kapler sure but I’m voting for the guy who somehow got Scherzer and Turner at the deadline for executive of the year.
Verdugo’s beard looks stupid. It looks like he has fiery red pubic hair on his face.
Rays beating the Sox so far. White Sox looked overmatched against the Astros. Giants will not only be without Belt, but Tony Watson will be out too. Position by position ratings will be out tomorrow. Also the Dodgers NLDS roster. Webb has 20 straight games without a loss. He is due, Advantage, in my world, 1B Giants. Ruf and Wade have better stats than Beaty. 2B Dodgers, Trea Turner. Nuff said, SS Push. Crawford has had a great year, but Seager has been on fire and has the playoff pedigree. 3B. Dodgers. Turner over the rotation the Giants throw out there. LF, Dodgers. Although the Giants play Bryant there most nights now, Pollock has been solid all season and is better defensively than Bryant. CF. Defensively, the Dodgers have a huge edge with Belli. But the Giants tandem of players have better offensive stats. RF Dodgers. Betts over anyone the Giants run out there. C. Giants. You just cannot beat Posey’s positive affect in his pitching staff. SP, Dodgers. Webb is the Giants best starter and the one who keeps the opposition off the board. All the others are vulnerable lately. BP push. Giants have gotten a lot of mileage out of no name players and the pen is no exception, but the Dodger pen has WAY MORE EXPERIENCE in playoff baseball. Bench. I give the edge there to the Giants. Their retread players have had a knack for heroics. Dodger bench has been a problem most of the year. Prediction, Dodgers in 4. I think LA heads back to LA either 1-1 or 2-0. If they are 2-0, they might sweep with Scherzer pitching game 3. But they do not want agame 5 in SF..