Vintage Suck

On a night where the Giants adorned their garb of yesteryear, Omar Vizquel decided to go throwback, too, flying all over the field and collecting the Giants' first straight steal of home in 25 years.

Unfortunately, the rest of the team played like it actually was the late 1970s (the G-Men wore the orange pullover from '78-'82) - they couldn't run, swing a bat, and seemed generally distracted by bright colors when they weren't soiling themselves in key situations.

And, in one of the most oft-repeated phrases in Bay Area baseball history, the A's beat the Giants.

From now on, as far as I'm concerned, as long as Barry Zito (who won the race for the fastest to double-digit losses in the NL) doesn't completely implode, I put all of his losses on the offense.

(Real world example warning.)

Barry's like the guy in your department who has his job as a favor to a higher-up - a guy who, in spite of his repeated gaffes, will never get canned. If your department continues to fail and he's the guy screwing it up, it doesn't make a lick of difference. If an exec eventually demands someone be held accountable, who do you think is going to pay?

I'll give you a hint: it's not going to be John Q. Moneydummy.

I'll give you another hint: it's going to be you.

So that's why I blame the offense. You're going to have to bring at least 5 runs when Zito pitches. It's just a reality you accept if you're a member of the Giants offense over the course of the next five and a half years. (Sigh.)

Bear in mind, my sympathies for their plight is limited: they only have to score a run, two tops really, thanks to the consistent dominance of Tim Lincecum on days he pitches. Even Stevens.

The top two culprits on the offense these days? Big Money (batting .190 in the past week) and Aaron Rowand (.227 in June).

Hope our 4 and 5 hitters right the ship in short order. The lineup simply isn't built to pick up our two best hitters.

Cainer versus Harden tonight.

Unifun: Check out this prototype for the Giants jersey redesign in 1993. Had no idea that it got so close to production.

My gut reaction is that it's kind of an abomination, but it has a certain ugly charm to it. Some veteran Giants fans may remember that a similar inverted coloring scheme was employed in the seasons between '73-'76.