This Is Sharks Playoff Territory

What makes this season different? Another #1 seed, another trip to the playoffs, and yet this team is not a favorite by any means to win the Stanley Cup.

With their playoff track-record, who would pick them to win it all? Year after year, we see this team go into the playoffs and come out with nothing. Last year was a new low, even for a franchise that has had as little success as the Sharks in the playoffs.

But this year will be different, right? At least, that's what we have told ourselves for the last 5 seasons. What makes this year different, then?

For one, the Sharks parted ways with 11 guys from last year's team and replaced them with a nice mix of young players and veterans with experience in the game. Torrey Mitchell, Jamie McGinn, Manny Malhotra, and Scott Nichol will all play key roles in these playoffs to help out the front-line guys.

Two, usually the Sharks are crawling into the playoffs with injuries or end-of-season bad play. This year, there are no injuries to speak of and they went 8-1-1 in their last 10 games. Joe Thornton scared us for awhile with his injury, but I think that was more of a lengthy rest that Coach Todd McLellan used for him. Marc-Edouard Vlasic is one that is key to the success of the defense, but he is back from his injury and back to his normal defensive self.

Three, Evgeni Nabokov usually struggles in the last few games of the season and brings that with him into the playoffs. But this year, some could argue that Nabby is playing his best since before the Olympic break. Nabby is who determines how far the Sharks will go in the playoffs. If he can take his play from the final games of the regular season and use it in the playoffs, the Sharks may have something.

Four, the Sharks offense is usually fire in the regular season, but tends to slow down in the playoffs. The Sharks addressed that to the fullest extent during the offseason, picking up scorer Dany Heatley in a deal. If that won't fix the problem, nothing will. Plus, Joe Pavelski is peaking at just the right time for the Sharks.

So what makes you think the Sharks won't make a run for the Stanley Cup? Nothing. But if you look closer, things have changed in San Jose. The pieces are there for the first time in a long time for the Sharks to win the Stanley Cup. It is just up to the them to put it all together.

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Woods: "Not a Big Deal"

How perfect was "family man" Phil Mickelson winning The Masters over the "less than family man" Tiger Woods on Sunday? It fit, and it was too bad the media didn't realize it until Mickelson started to pull away on the back 9, because that should have been a "What If" story that could have been all over ESPN family of networks in the previous week.

"What if Phil Mickelson, who's mom and wife are both diagnosed with breast cancer, wins The Masters over the the biggest story in the world, Tiger Woods'return after having affairs with Pancake-House waitresses?"

But I'm not going to talk about Mickelson's touching win for his family and the way he torched the competition down the stretch making "big boy" shot after "big boy" shot, while everyone else was missing putts and greens on the back 9.

What irks me as a fan of golf is the criticism that Woods is taking for his less than professional on-course behavior, which he said he would clean up. As the final round of The Masters got more down to business, so did Woods, and so did his attitude. He wasn't chucking clubs by any means, but him shouting after a bad shot and letting go of clubs after a miss-hit has caused him to receive some heat for those actions, which he had previously promised to improve.


"People are making way too much of a big deal of this," Woods said. "I was not feeling good. I hit a big snipe off the first tee and I don't know how people think I should be happy about that. I hit a wedge from 45 yards and basically bladed it over the third green. These are not things I normally do. So I'm not going to be smiling and happy. And I hit one of the worst, low quack-hooks on No. 5. So I'm not going to be walking around with a lot of pep in my step because I hadn't hit a good shot yet."

Perfectly said. The only thing I wish he had not done was tell everyone he was going to clean-up his actions on the golf course previous to The Masters because he obviously didn't mean it, as we see by this quote.

Should he have said that? Probably not in the heat of the moment like he did right after the final round because this came across as too strong. But should people be making a big deal of this? No. Anyone who has ever played golf in their lives knows how aggravating the game can get. Woods just happens to have hundreds of microphones around him mixed with a great passion for the game. The camera is always on him, but it is also on everyone else, adn why aren't they shouting at themselves like he does?

Now, should Woods have been thinking about his pubic appearance while committing this on-course behavior? Yeah, he should of, especially since this was his first week back from his obliterated public image. But if he had thought of his image during his rounds, he would have never been in the position he was in on the leaderboard.

It shouldn't be this big of a deal to the media, of course, Woods can only blame himself for it. The Masters was his chance to clean up his image, and show that he was a changed man. But maybe cleaning up his image and trying to win a golf tournament was too much for him...for anybody.

His public image may be worse now than it was at the start of The Masters because of the comment after the final round because it really sounded like he didn't care about his image and his on-course behavior like everyone thought he did.

Of course, this is probably not the case, but who am I to judge? Woods fate lies in the media's hands, and if they choose to make a big deal of his on-course behavior even more, they will. Then Woods' image may be worse than before.

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G-Men's First Week in Review

How to rank the San Francisco Giants' first week of the season? How about the last team to be undefeated in the Majors? The Giants finished their first week going 5-1, while sweeping the first series of the year from the Houston Astros and taking 2 of 3 from the Atlanta Braves this weekend.

The headline for this first week for the Giants, "Pitching, pitching, pitching." And you can say that at least 4 times, maybe even 5 if you want to get greedy. The Giants first 4 starting pitchers threw lights out games in their first starts of the year. None more impressive, or surprising, as Barry Zito's gem in the 2nd game of the year in Houston. Tim Lincecum was impressive in his first start, and Cain was excellent as well, but you can make an argument that Zito had the most impressive start thus far for the Giants. He threw 6 innings giving up just 3 hits and allowing 0 runs, and here's the kicker: 1 walk, something that Zito has had problems with in the past, but not recently, a great sign for the Giants.

Don't overlook Todd Wellemeyer's first start as a Giant either. Wellemeyer is a pitch-for-contact pitcher, so he relies mostly on his defense for help. In the 2nd game of the Braves series, Wellemeyer didn't get much of that as the Giants made 2 crucial errors that turned into runs that the Giants could have used. Wellemeyer would give up 4 runs in the game, but not a bad first start for him considering that is a very good Braves team.

Another surprising occurence was the Giants' offense. They managed to put up 5 runs against Roy Oswalt in Houston, and then they went crazy (in Giants terms) going for 10 runs against Brett Myers in the series finale. Aubrey Huff and Mark DeRosa have fit in nicely in the 4 and 5 spots in the line-up so far and have started a few rallies for the Giants just in this first week. Whether they are taking pitches and getting walks, or putting the bat on the ball, stuff happens when they are at the plate. Veterans can do that for a team that lacks big hitters.

But the Player of the Week for the Giants was no doubt, Edgar Renteria. He may be in the running for POW for the MLB, as well. Renteria hit .524 with 11 hits and 5 RBI this week and seems to have a presence at the plate that we have not seen since he joined the Giants. His wrist is finally 100% healthy and it seems that the Giants may have the Renteria that they were looking for when they picked him up in 2008 for 2 yrs./$18.5 million. It smells like a break-out season for Renteria who is in the last year of his contract for the Giants.

The Giants are playing well early, which is more than you can say for the rest of the NL West, minus the D-Backs who are off to a 4-2 start and have looked impressive as well in this first week.

Pablo Sandoval is one guy we have not seen or heard much of in this first week, which is unlikely for such a high-impact player on the Giants. Although he had his first breakout game of the season in the finale against the Braves, expect him to step his game up this next week.

The Giants have a three-game set at home against the Pirates starting on Monday, then travel to Los Angeles where the 2010 Giants/Dodgers rivalry begins for a 3-game weekender.

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The Nastiest Pitch in Baseball

How did Tim Lincecum's filthy start against the Astros on Opening Day not get shown until half-way through Sportscenter? When will this kid get some respect for his back-to-back Cy Young Awards?

Lincecum's Opening Day start in Houston revealed one thing about Tim that the public may not know- he is bored with Spring Training. He must be, right? Maybe he likes to watch his fans worry at the thought of him not performing like he has, then watch them take a big sigh of relief as he throws 7 innings of shut-out ball on Opening Day. Either way, "The Freak" is lights out. And these days, it is his one pitch that may be the secret, yet not-so-secret ingredient to his success.

No, it is not his mid-90's fastball, although that may be the 6th or 7th best pitch in baseball. No, it is not his knee-buckling 12-6 curveball, although that is also a top 10 pitch. It is his change-up, and the one that thrives and inherits most of Lincecum's strike-outs because of all the other nasty pitches he delivers. Batters are so worried about looking dopey at the 12-6 curve, or getting gas-faced at the 97 MPH fastball, that they forget about how befuddled they are going to look when Lincecum fires an.....84 MPH change-up that falls off the table like no other.

I think that Lincecum's change-up may be the best pitch in baseball. It was Mariano Rivera's cutter, the one that everyone knows is coming, yet still can't hit. But the way Lincecum uses his change-up in a variety of ways and how crafty he gets with it may be the extra push to get his pitch to the top of the charts.

Here are the 5 nastiest and best pitches in all of baseball, in my opinion.

5. Brandon Webb's Sinker

Not that the pitch is unhittable, but he throws it with such a consistency that he constantly gets people to ground out. The sinker is a pitch where you go into a start and either you have it or you don't for that particular day. Webb has it on a regular basis, and that is what separates his sinker from any others. He throws it about 85% of the time during his start, and he is so accurate with it that once he is on, it is hard to stop. He can throw it where it starts at the plate and dives down to a right-handed hitter, or he can back-door the right-handed batter and have them not think twice. Either way, prepare for a groundout.

4. Roy Halladay's Cutter

Maybe he learned it from Mariano Rivera, or maybe he didn't. One thing is for sure, it is quickly becoming one of the wickedest pitches in all of baseball. He does have other pitches in his arsenal that baffle the hitter, but the cutter may be his best. The pitch comes in on right-handers and tails away from lefties at such a whippy look that it is hard not to get caught up in it. He can throw it anywhere from 88-93 MPH. His name isn't Doc Halladay for nothing. He is constantly sawing off batter's knuckles with his cutter that seems to never find the barrel of the bat. That's good news for Phillies fans.

3. Jonathan Papelbon's Splitter

Jonathan Papelbon's electric excitement after striking out the last batter of the game is usually preceded by a diving splitter in the dirt that has come to be one of the most dirtiest pitches in the game. What sets it up is his 4-seam fastball nearing triple digits that he dares batters to hit, which may take credit for the success of the splitter. No doubt, when he has 2 strikes on a batter, he goes to the splitter that is thrown just a few MPH under the fastball and in the same location, until it dives off the plate and into the dirt, proceeded by the batter being tagged out by catcher Jason Varitek, and then the signature Papelbon pandemonium.

2. Mariano Rivera's Cutter

They know it is coming, yet still can't hit it. That is the motto for Mariano Rivera's cutter that has dared hitters for years. He dares them to hit because he throws it 90% of the time. The ball goes into left-handers and away from right-handers at around 95 MPH with such a, well, late "cut" that the batter simply has no chance of making contact. And if they do, it's not going very far. Rarely is Rivera's cutter struck on the barrel of the bat. Mostly, you will find, for a right-hander at least, the ball connecting off the end of the bat. That may be the only way of connecting with the ball, and that is why Rivera is the greatest closer of all-time.

1. Tim Lincecum's Change-Up

Okay, it's maybe not his change-up alone, more like the way he uses it to make the batter look silly and why he is a 2-time Cy Yound winner at age 25. I already said he sets the pitch up with his mid-90's screaming fastball and 12-6 curveball, but the change-up itself is not bad either, or why would we be talking about it as the best picth in the game today. It dips, it dives, it is much slower than any other pitch he throws, and it dances straight down with a sort of movement that I have heard as can only be described if you are at-bat against him. The best pitch from the best pitcher in the game.

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Opening Day "W"

If there was a game that showed off what the San Francisco Giants could potentially bring to the field this year, it was this game. The Giants defeated the Houston Astros on the Opening Day of baseball today, 5-2, behind the stellar pitching of 2-time Cy Young Award winner, Tim Lincecum.

Lincecum threw straight filth in the game for 7 complete innings. He finished with 7 strikeouts, while surrendering 0 runs on no walks. That seemed about the norm for Lincecum. He struggled for the most part in spring training, but somehow the kid does it when it matters. He was perfect. He really only got into trouble once, in the 6th, but was able to get out of it with a sense of ease. Bottom line, he was in control.

As for that improved line-up we hear so much of, it sure looked like something had changed during that offseason in that 2nd inning when the Giants put up 3 runs, started by the Giants' two offseason pick-ups, Aubrey Huff and Mark DeRosa. Huff led off with a hit, followed by a walk to DeRosa, and then the flood gates opened with a base-hit by Benjie Molina and then a long single off the short porch in left field by John Bowker.

Bowker, who had won the starting job in right field over Nate Shierholtz a couple days ago after having one of the best spring trainings of any player, finished 1-4 with a run scored, but was a presence at the plate.

Edgar Renteria would later have a clutch single in the 7th inning into the left-field gap to score a run, and DeRosa homered in the 8th to give the Giants a total of 5 runs.

Sergio Romo, Brandon Medders, and Brian Wilson finished off the game out of the bullpen, with Medders allowing the only two runs for the Astros.

All in all, it was the right way to start off the season for the Giants. Then again, whenever you have "The Freak" on the mound, your chances are pretty good to win. Another plus, the L.A. Dodgers lost in their first game of the season today, so chalk it up as a 1 game lead on the Dodgers in the NL West.

Tomorrow's game is at 5:05pm, Barry Zito vs. Wandy Rodriguez.

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The Greatness of the Raiders- McNabb a No-Go

It sounds just about right that Donovan McNabb landed with the Washington Redskins and not the Oakland Raiders. The Raiders were the front-runner and were sounding like the only serious team willing to make the deal for him. There was even a bogus trade in the works that would have sent Nnamdi Asomugha to the Eagles in exchange for McNabb.

But this probable mishap in front-office management cannot be blamed on Al Davis or any other personnel, at least not this time. There was no way this was going to happen. There was no chance because there was no way McNabb would go to Oakland...willingly. What was attracting him there?

The media tends to go crazy with the rumors, but this one seemed far fetched even after the "proposed" trade containing Asomugha.

There is one thing that strikes a cord with me though. McNabb could have changed that Raider team around. They would have instantly been a 7 or 8 win team this coming season. It would have made Raider fans forget all about the pathetic and embarassing moves they have made in the past (most recent-Darrius Heyward-Bay drafted #7 overall).

Then why not pull out all the stops for McNabb? He is a franchise changer. Al Davis should have made McNabb an offer he couldn't refuse or promised him things where he felt that this could be a successful franchise.

Turns out, there may have been nothing the Raiders could do to woo McNabb under Center for their team. Reports say if McNabb was traded to the Raiders, he would have retired on the spot and maybe pulled a Brett Favre on them and sign with a different team, sooner or later. Only to the Raiders would that happen.

But Raider fans had hope, even if it was for just a couple weeks. Their team was on the front page of sports, and the attention was on them. But alas, they came out of it with nothing but broken hearts and disappointment, yet again. And instead of dreams of having McNabb leading the Raiders down the field, they'll have Bruce Gradkowski leading them...into a ditch. The same one the Raiders have been in for the last decade.

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SF Giants Season Preview

It has arrived. Opening Day is on Monday and Giants fans cannot be more excited for this year's team. Is it the solid pitching staff getting these fans going? Or is it the so-called upgrade in offense? One thing is for sure, the Giants have a shot to win the NL West for the first time in a long time. Granted, it is just a "shot" at winning the division, but for a franchise that has gone through its ups-n-downs, and a fan-base that has gone with it, this season couldn't look any better.

Several story lines dominate the start of this season. Will Tim Lincecum three-peat as Cy Young winner? Will Madison Bumgarner crack the rotation this season? How will the Giants handle Buster Posey once he is done obliterating the Minor League this season? And will the upgrade in offense pay off for the stretch run? These are the questions that dominate the speculation this season, and I'm sure there are a handfull more.

But let's cover the obvious. The Giants pitching staff, although they lost Brad Penny, is still solid. They might have the best 1-2 in the League, as well as the best 4-5 in the League. What worries me is the #3 pitcher, Barry Zito. We saw glimpses of brilliance during the second-half of last season. How will that carry over into this one. By the looks of Thursday nights game, not so much. Zito is the "if." Zito is the difference.

Todd Wellemeyer and Jonathan Sanchez are going to give you a .500 season, more or less. And Lincecum and Matt Cain are going to get you 15 wins, more or less, depending on the offense. But I have no idea what to expect from Zito. This we will find out soon. My advice, the Giants are one pitcher away from making a run for this division. Whether that pitcher is already in the organization in the form of Bumgarner or a surprise with Wellemeyer, or they have to go pick one up at the trade deadline, we will find out. They may miss Brad Penny.

As for the hitting, I was pleased this offseason to find that for once in long time a Bay Area Sports team, whose name is not the Sharks, went out and upgraded the part of their team that they needed to upgrade. The Giants needed to upgrade the offense, and they brought in Aubrey Huff and Mark DeRosa. These aren't high-profile names by any means, but it is better than what they had last year, right? I'm still trying to convince myself. The Giants will score more runs this season than last, and if they overcome all expectations hitting-wise, then they will win the West, plain and simple.

Their pitching is moderately strong, their bullpen is just about flawless (knock on wood), and the only thing left is their offense. Which they now have, just not a lot of.

They have a good line-up...until you look at the every other line-up in the NL West.

But there is one thing that the Giants have and will need to resist this season if they want any success. Health is the key. With a pitching rotation and line-up that is as fragile as this team's, pray for good health. They have already lost Freddy Sanchez, who is starting the year on the DL, but Juan Uribe can pick up the slack while he's gone. They're lucky.

If the Giants lose someone like Pablo Sandoval, or Cain or Lincecum, during the season, you can start panicking. Because in this division, there is not much room for error. For any team.

I see good things for the Giants this season, maybe somewhere around 85 wins, more or less. Bottom line, the Dodgers will not be as good this season, and the Rockies will be better. That's all you need to know. And if the Giants can fit somewhere in between those two teams, they may find themselves with a Wildcard birth to playoffs.

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