June 18, 2011
URBAN ARCHIVE
GIANTS PAGEGIANTS VIDEO
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Mychael Urban
CSNBayArea.com
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Admit it. Many of you wear paste-gray rubber bracelets that pay tribute to CSNBayArea.com's Senior Insider, Bay Area sports journalism's longtime and legendary Ray of sunshine, bearing the acronym "WWRW?"What Would Ratto Want?As it relates to this weekend's three-game interleague series between the host A's and, let's get real here, the co-host Giants, we already knew what Ratto wanted even before the second installment of this annual home-and-home exercise in trying to glean relevance from whence very little of it generally exists. He wanted to Pachyderms to sweep, and he explained exactly why in one of his typically sardonic, sensible, stab-in-the-stomach salvos.The main reason: big-league ball in the Bay Area is infinitely more interesting when both teams are worth watching, and we haven't been able to say that for a while now. A sweep, reasoned Ray, could serve as a springboard to something of a resurgence.RATTO: Bay Area rooting interest? A's sweep Giants
No argument there. Certainly most A's fans were pleased with the notion -- once the sting of reading that their boys were not currently relevant wore off, that is.And as of late Saturday night, following another Oakland victory in which the Giants appeared to have "Entry of the Gladiators" -- you know, the classic tune you hear as the clowns come running out at the start of every circus -- stuck in their heads for the second consecutive night, all that separated our Ray of sunshine from getting exactly what he wanted was a Trevor Cahill gem in Sunday's matinee finale.Happy Father's Day, Mr. Ratto. Bully!Don't you dare hate on Ratto for this, either, Giants fans. He actually had your best interests at heart here, too.OK, maybe not. As he might very well say himself, his interests outside himself and his family generally have the heart of a serial killer. He's kidding when he says stuff like that, right?But think about it. What happened last year after the Giants were swept out of this lovely tribute to civic harmony and cooperation of a stadium?They got desperate, they got serious, they got off their butts and they got better. A lot better. See: Nov. 1, 2010, Arlington, Tex.Prior to that sweep here last season, the Giants were content to lean on a sublime pitching staff in hopes that it would hold up under the duress of getting a handful of runs at best every game. They'd recently made it clear that there was no interest in picking up local product Pat Burrell, even thought Burrell was available, ready, willing, dirt-cheap and representative of the type of power threat the Giants lacked.The sweep, though, represented such an embarrassment offensively that the club did a quick and wise and desperate 180 on Burrell, who'd been recruited by BFF Aubrey Huff and former Philly teammate Aaron Rowand during a Giants' road trip to Arizona and was brought in not long after the undressing in Oakland.Energized by a return to the National League, Burrell turned back into Pat the Bat, started batting balls over walls, and soon he was joined by other reinforcements as part of an extreme makeover by general manager Brian Sabean.RECAP: Giants Insider gallery: Offensive woes continue
What have the Giants been doing this year thus far? Let's say it together, shall we?They've been leaning on a sublime pitching staff in hopes that it would hold up under the duress of getting a handful of runs at best every game.Is there another Pat the Bat out there right now? Not really. But there is a Bengie Molina, who represents the catching upgrade -- defensively and offensively if he can get himself in shape -- the Giants desperately need, and what on earth would be so wrong with letting bygones be whatever bygones are, signing Molina to a low-risk deal, giving him some time and Hydroxycut and seeing what's what?If what is good, don't stop there. Keep adding. Keep rolling the dice. See if the magic still has juice. Just keep doing stuff and see what sticks.It worked once. Can't hurt to see if it'll work again.And hey, if it does, everybody wins. Even our Ray of sunshine.