I have not got the first foggiest idea what to write about this morning. My writer's drought seems to have far reaching consequences, so I'm going to just set it on Existential Stream of Consciousness, and see where it takes me.
How about them Giants (baseball)? It's about time! They have come alive again after starting off the season in very bad fashion. In the first half of April they lost eight straight. In May they've won five in a row. Pretty cool!
A lot of it has to do with injuries.
Hunter Pence (right fielder) was hit by a pitch in Spring Training. It broke his arm, badly, and he's been on the Injured Reserve, since. He's back to taking batting practice and then they'll send him out to one of the minor clubs to play a number of games and rebuild his timing and swing. It'll be a couple of more weeks, at least, but it'll be good to see him back out there.
Jake Peavey, one of their starting pitchers, has been out with back spasms. He's coming along and should be available again soon.
Matt Cain who threw a 'perfect game' in 2013 had Tommy John surgery and surgery to remove bone spurs in his throwing arm toward the end of last season. He seemed to be doing well, throwing in Spring Training (even though he was complaining of discomfort). He started one game this season and... out. With a strained forearm. After R&R he's finally starting to throw again, but it has been a long road to recovery. I just hope that they keep a closer eye on him, and that he stops if it starts to hurt. No sense ending your entire career chasing after one or two more starts.
Travis Ishikawa (first base), who hit the last home run that got them into the World Series last year, has had back problems, but he's in rehab and should be available again, soon.
Then, Angel Pagan who missed the end of last season because of back spasms that ended with surgery, had his hand stepped on by a leaping player night before last. He was sliding into second base when the guy leapt for a ball and came down, right on Pagan's finger. In a post-game interview, he said the nail is split. OUCH! My finger hurts, just thinking of that.
Casey McGehee (third base) is the Charlie Brown of baseball. He has been playing so badly, I actually feel sorry for him.
He was an off-season acquisition from the Miami Marlins to replace Pablo Sandoval who signed with the Boston Red Sox. Unfortunately, his greatest ability seems to be hitting into double-plays. He has got the worst luck when it comes to doing that, and it's almost always inning ending because there seems to almost always be one out on the board already.
For weeks he flubbed more plays than he made - missing balls, dropping balls, missing throws. At home plate, with his remarkable ability to consistently hit into double plays, it was really ugly. So ugly I feel sorry for the poor guy. Recently though, in the past few games, he's started to look better. He's fielded more plays than he's flubbed, and he's managed to get some base hits.
At this point, with the injuries resolving and players getting ready to come back, I'm starting to pity Bruce Bochy (team manager)! He is going to have some major headaches once these guys are all fit and ready to go.
Justin Maxwell has been playing great right field all season so far. He has made some spectacular plays, and his been a clutch hitter, but when Hunter Pence is ready to go, what's Bochy going to do with him? Bench him? Send him back to the minors? Trade him? That's going to be a tough call, although it won't have to be made immediately. Pence is going to need time to get all the way back (even though the guy is a gym fanatic so is probably still in fantastic condition except for his arm).
Heston and Hudson, two starting pitchers that have stepped up in the absence of Cain and Peavey will likely be benched. I don't know if there is room on the roster to keep these guys in reserve, or if they'll be sent 'down'. Both of them have been pitching extremely well, going deep into their games and keeping their earned run averages low.
As for Charlie Brown, if McGehee doesn't get his act together, I could definitely see Bochy keeping Matt Duffy available to play third base.
He came up into the minors as a short stop - arguably the toughest position to play since you're all over the place. They've been using him as a utility infielder - putting him at third, at short, at first. He's been doing pretty well there at third, and he's been hitting well, so that might bode well for his future.
Still, the roster is going to be over-full and Bochy is going to have to make some tough decisions. I just hope they're the right decisions and the team can keep putting wins up on the board.
Turning to hockey, it is making things very hard this spring.
I want to watch baseball - the A's are doing about as well as the Giants - right around .500 so far this season. The difference is that the Giants appear to be on a meteoric climb from the cellar (last place in the National League West) into second place (behind the LA Dodgers). With their season turned around, hockey is back to second place but the Stanley Cup playoffs are really fun to watch, too.
Since I don't have control of the remote (my husband insists it is his Right), I'm just a passenger on a wild ride. Giants baseball... click... A's baseball... click... Chicago Blackhawks... click... Calgary Flame... click... baseball...hockey...hockey...baseball. It's almost a relief when the various games end so we can settle in one place!
Last night, the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Minnesota Wild 1-0, so they're up 3-0 in their seven game series. One more, and they're into the final round. The Wild played well and hard, but Chicago just seems to be unstoppable. The best man on their team, though, is their announcer. Mike Emerick. This guy could make grass growing seem exciting - he is great to listen to during the game, never seeming to miss a call and with a genuine love for hockey that exudes from the speakers.
Anaheim and Calgary are 2-1, respectively. Calgary came back last night and won their game - which was impressive because Anaheim is such a strong team. The Anaheim goalie wasn't happy about one of the calls made by the officials - I didn't see the play about, apparently, an Anaheim goal was denied because the officials couldn't determine if the puck had crossed the goal line completely. Since there was doubt, they waved it off. In the end, if it had been scored, Anaheim would have won the game 4-3 in regulation, instead of losing 3-4 in overtime.
Thank God we're not basketball fans, too! The Golden State Warriors are doing well in their playoff series. They lost their first game in the playoffs last night, in round two, against the Memphis Grizzlies. So that series is tied 1-1. I hope they win the next two and advance into the finals, but I really won't be paying attention.
Go Giants!
Have a lovely day (and I promise - no more esoteric American sports! Unless I have another drought and have nothing better to write about).
Best~
Philippa
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