Its opening day spring is in the air, and this is the time of year for optimism for all baseball fans with new prospects coming up and all the dreams and hopes for the upcoming season still alive. Well this is true for every one but Giants fans.
Giants Owner peter McGowan promised bay area reporters a “younger, faster, more energetic ballclub” He obviously wasn’t referring to the staffs “ACE” Barry Zito’s fastball witch since he signed a ridiculous 126 million dollar contract last offseason to move across the bay from Oakland has been neither faster nor more energetic and has looked little more than pedestrian. Zito never topped the gun over 84 M.P.H. opening day against the dodgers which is a huge concern for a pitcher who relies on his changeup and curveball to be effective. The dodgers never respected he subpar fastball which led to few batters being fooled by Zito’s curveball or changeup which means a lot of balls in play for an aging defense.
Couple this with our less than imposing lineup highlighted by the heart of the order consisting of bengie Molina hitting 4th ray Durham hitting 5th and Aaron rowand hitting 6th which produced only five singles, no extra base hits and no balls that traveled as far as the warning track., leaves this writer weary about the “beginning of a new area in Giants baseball” as McGowan describes, being one of rebuilding and cellar-dwelling.
