It’s great to have baseball back. More to the point, it’s great to have Giants baseball back.

Isn’t it?

SETTING THE ROSTER

After a one-season break, the real Pablo Sandoval seems to be back—most of him, anyway. No longer taking his team name literally (he’s shed about 40 pounds), the Panda’s offensive performance this spring has done nothing but inspire confidence. It was no shock that he fell from grace last year; Sandoval is not the first young player to get caught up in his own hype, and to forgo good work habits once achieving fast and easy success.

Now that his divorce is behind him, he should have a clearer head atop his slimmer body this year—a potential nightmare for opposing pitchers.

Travis Ishikawa has spent this spring in limbo; his entire future in SF depended on how strong Brandon Belt came on. Ishikawa has not played too well; he K’d in 3 of his first 5 AB, put up 2 hits against the Brewers, and K’d 3 more times against Seattle. But it appears his job as reserve 1B/PH is safe—Belt has shown a little more AAA seasoning is needed. He’s hitless in his last 3 games, although he’s solved Milwaukee pitching (5-for-9;  2-for-19 against everyone else). Promise—no one is down on “The Kid”. He’ll be back. Remember, none other than Will Clark touted Belt as being better than he was, and that’s all I need to hear.

Pat Burrell, cold at the outset, is 4-for-his-last-4, including a very impressive 2-run oppo homer against Texas. A productive Pat Burrell is vital to this club, in case you weren’t watching in 2010.

Barry Zito had one bad start, as all major leaguers do, and the Chronicle basically had him packing his bags that night for parts unknown. He’s since thrown two decent games in a row—one earned run over 8 IP—and suddenly, things get quiet. They should stay that way—in case you haven’t heard, Zito’s dad is ill. If there were ever a time to cut the guy slack, this is it. There are more important things in life than locating an off-speed pitch. Jeff Suppan continues to hold steady in his fight for a spot. He surrendered back-to-back home runs in the 9^th inning of the 3/9 win against the White Sox, but had not been touched all spring (8 IP) before that.

INJURIES

Brian Wilson finally debuted on 3/6, his cranky back healed (we do know he’s been spending time with the troubled actor Charlie Sheen; if he was hurt carrying Sheen into his home in a stupor, we don’t know.) Matt Cain, battling a sore elbow, is structurally sound and due to return to the mound soon. (WHEW). Mark DeRosa is showing NO ill effects from his surgically-repaired wrist; he’s been stinging the ball. Watching him against Texas on CSN—it was clear this edition of DeRosa was never available to the 2010 Giants. Between he and the resurgent Panda, the 2011 team seems to have improved its’ infield without having to spend a single extra cent.

LEGAL

He should have never touched that stuff, and now it’s going to cost him a year in jail.

Cainan Schierholtz, that is.

Nate’s little bro, as you may recall, liquored up and went on a joyride in Danville (home to Duane Kuiper) last August. He took out a biker and a pedestrian, then hit two signs and two cars. It took being trapped by another driver to end the carnage.

Reminder: For the dozen or so fans who are still interested, Barry Bonds’ trial begins Monday 3/21. Apparently, venerable clubhouse attendant Mike Murphy will be called to the stand for testimony regarding Bonds’ increasing hat and shoe sizes over the years. I can barely contain my excite…m…zzzz.

SCHEDULE & TV

Spring Training TV: NBC Bay Area (Channel 3) will air Giants/Padres at 6:05 Friday, 3/11. MLB Network will tape-delay air the weekend day games against the Dodgers and Rangers.

The regular season begins Friday 3/31 at Dodger Stadium; Game 3 of that series will be nationally televised on ESPN—with Jon Miller out of the ESPN booth and in the KNBR booth where he belongs! The home opener is Friday 4/8 vs. St. Louis, a 1:35 start.

SF has 12 interleague games in 2011—3 apiece at Oakland and Detroit, 3 apiece hosting Cleveland and Minnesota. They will exclusively face the N.L. West in September, but do not face the rival Phillies until July 26-28 (in Philly). JD

What is it going to take for the Giants to get a little respect? Another championship, apparently.

All over the radio, in the papers, on blogs, TV—you name the forum, there are folks who treat the San Francisco Giants’ championship as an aberration, a fluke, a mistake. They don’t use those words, but they don’t have to. The percentage of people betting on the Giants’ repeating is dismally low, largely because the Phils managed to bring back Cliff Lee to give themselves 4 starters who’d be #1’s on most teams in baseball.

That said…if yours truly hears one more drip prattle on about the superiority of the Phillies’ pitching staff guaranteeing a return to the 2011 World Series, I just may go back to Citizens Bank Park and ram my head against the wall a la Aaron Rowand, just to make it stop.

Philadelphia does have 4 of the top starters in all of baseball. I’m granting you that. (And their #5 is no slouch; he could slide into any rotation in the major leagues and hold his own.)

However, those 4 starters (on two separate teams) failed to beat the Giants in 6 of 7 tries last October. Roy Halladay—beaten in NLCS Game 1, just like he was beaten badly in the regular season. “Oh, the Giants—they’re not gonna repeat. They’re gonna have to get through Halladay blah blah blah blah.” But they got through him before. Why is the idea of SF beating Halladay again impossible to entertain? This is like telling President Obama he has no shot at re-election because he’d have to beat John McCain.

“Then you have Lee, and Oswalt, and Hamels—-“ So the (bleep) what?

Am I the only person who saw the Giants beat Cliff Lee not once, but twice in the WORLD SERIES? Didn’t that prove he is not invincible? Listen—especially Phillie fans—I’ve been watching Lee since his early Cleveland days (boy, did the Indians fleece Montreal in that deal). He can deal. He is as great a lefty as there is in the game today. He deserves all the props he gets. But in the World Series, he was beaten. Twice. How can anyone honestly use “The Phillies have Cliff Lee” as support for an argument that the Giants won’t repeat as NL Champions? Is anyone saying that American Idol, the highest-rated show in the country this year, won’t do the same in 2012 because Simon Cowell isn’t there anymore? How asinine a remark would that be?

Cliff Lee could well kick the Giants’ butts. But they’ve proven they can kick his, too.

Roy Oswalt—great pitcher, among the three best Houston’s ever had. Outside shot at the Hall of Fame if he can put together a couple of huge years in Philly. Feared by the Giants? Uh, no. As I recall vividly, those same Giants tagged him for a loss on Opening Day, and that was a Giant lineup not yet bolstered by Pat Burrell, Cody Ross, Andres Torres (still a reserve) or even Buster Posey! Overall, he’d go 2-4 vs. SF in 2010, including postseason. And he’s part of the reason folks are picking the Phillies? I know low run support played a role in those losses, but that’s how the Giants win games! It don’t matter that they beat Oswalt in close, low-scoring games. They found ways to beat him 4 times last season. Like Halladay and Lee, Oswalt—for all his accolades—is far from a Giant killer.

We Giants fans don’t want to hear about Brooks Conrad basically handing us the NLDS. Nobody on our side told Bobby Cox to put the guy out there. Errors are part of baseball, and teams win because of opponents’ shoddy fielding just about every day. Do you hear anybody invalidate the 1986 Mets’ victory because of Buckner? Or the 2006 Cardinals victory over error-prone Detroit? No. So stop doing it to the Giants, America. That was one game, and not even the clinching game, thank you! We don’t want to hear about their “meager” 92 wins. The aforementioned Cardinals won just 83. The 2000 Yankees won 87. Oh, and I remember those same Phillies winning 92 on their way to the 2008 World Championship. 92 is 92—don’t dis the Giants’ 92 because it wasn’t as exciting or sexy as the 2008 Phillies’ 92.

Finally—even if you don’t want to give the G-Men credit for their recent success against the four Philly aces, and you still want to “blame” their win on Conrad—you have got to stop downplaying their victory because it didn’t come against the Yankees or Red Sox. Uh…the Yankees or Red Sox did not get to the World Series. That must mean they were not the best A.L. team, right? I mean, isn’t that why they HAVE postseasons? The Phillies didn’t beat the Yankees or Red Sox in 2008—is their title genuine? Or the ‘90 Reds? Or the ’88 Dodgers? Does Atlanta’s 1995 Championship need an asterisk for coming against Cleveland? Texas won their division by 9 games, then beat the Yankees—a team with double their payroll and playoff experience—fair and square. They had 6 of the game’s best players, including the league MVP and Rookie of the Year!

The Yankees didn’t even win their division and the Red Sox didn’t make the playoffs. What some folks are basically arguing: “Okay, the Giants won, but they didn’t do it against a 3^rd-place team or the ALCS loser.”

I’m going to say it one last time, America:

“The Yankees and Red Sox are not—not—honorary superpowers just because they spend the most money and have the most fans. World Series victories do not go through New York and Boston every year; if so, there’d be two American League teams instead of 14.”

Okay, I think I’m finished.

Am I saying they should be the favorites in 2011? Well…why not? They are the defending champions, aren’t they? Or did I imagine their 11-4 postseason run?

As long as the Giants stay healthy, don’t dismiss them as if they won the World Series by mistake, please. JD

Organizational depth. What does it mean?
It means if a key player has his hand broken by a pitch, or shreds a hamstring, or falls down the stairs carrying a slab of meat (Clint Barmes), are there capable replacements available for summons in-house?

Obviously, if anything were to happen to Matt Cain or any other key players, any substitutes would be a step down. But somebody would have to make his starts.

This offseason, like every other team, the Giants brought in a number of veterans with major league experience as non-roster invitees. With the possible exception of Jeff Suppan, who seems to have a shot to make the team as a long reliever or even Barry Zito’s replacement (if you believe some reports), we don’t want to see any of these men in Giants uniforms at any time this year—because if they are, it’s because one of the main 25 has been injured. You can ask the A’s—injuries suck. San Fran was very fortunate last season in terms of health, but that was last season.

Below are the Giants MLB-experienced non-roster invitees. Some will stay in the organization as insurance; others will be released—by request, even. As I said, with continued fortuity, one or less of them will break camp with the team.

Jeff Suppan, age 36, SP (138-143, 4.69 in 442 MLB games, 411 starts, 1995-2010)

“Soup” has been around a long time. In the mid-1990’s, he was in line to replace Roger Clemens as Boston’s ace—that never panned out, and it wasn’t until the early 2000’s that Suppan established himself as a reliable starter with Kansas City. (I would point out he was their ace for a time, but does that really serve as an endorsement?) Eventually, Suppan hopped on I-70 destined for Tony LaRussa’s Cardinals; there, like so many before him, he enjoyed his best years (44-26 from 2004-2006) and even was named NLCS MVP in 2006, the year St. Louis won it all. Milwaukee, feeling frisky, signed Suppan to a 4-year deal worth…a lot. He was not the same pitcher, eventually losing his rotation spot in 2010 and being cut.

If one of the Giants’ starters should go down, there are far worse options to employ than the battle-tested Suppan. He’s going to put the ball in play—not once in his career has he allowed fewer hits than innings and 128 is his career high in K—but he’ll have a quality defense behind him and a nice, big home ballpark to swallow up mistakes. Thru 3/5, he’s had separate 3 IP/0 ER outings—one start, one in relief.

Marc Kroon, 38, RP (7.43 in 26 MLB games from 1995-1998, 2004)

KNBR fans may have “met” Kroon already; he was on with Marty Lurie over the weekend discussing his transition back to American baseball after 6 years in Japan. Kroon was a Mets draft pick back in 1992 but made his MLB debut with the Padres in 1995. He’d pass through Cincinnati, lose 5 seasons with arm woes, and cameo in ’04 with Colorado before saving nearly 200 games in the Japan League—and firing a record-101 MPH fastball! Now the likable vet is back, and enjoying the opportunity to pitch for a defending World Series champion—even if it’s almost definitely for March only.        

Chris Stewart, 29, C (9-for-48, 0 HR in 26 MLB games 2006-2008, 2010)

Don’t know a lot about Stewart, sadly. I remember him from his brief White Sox days; they drafted him in 2001 #12, and he’s also kicked around Texas, San Diego and one game back in ’08 with the Yankees. His career high in minor league homers: 11, even though he’s a fairly big guy. He’d only be called up to fill in for Eli Whiteside, should Eli get banged up.

Brian Lawrence, 34, SP (50-63, 4.19 in 168 games/152 starts, 2001-2005, 2007)

Next to Suppan, Lawrence is the most accomplished big leaguer in the Giants camp. Once upon a time, during the waning years of Qualcomm Stadium, Lawrence was the ace of the Padres, eventually pushed aside by Jake Peavy and a bevy of injuries. He won 37 games from 2002-2004, and led San Diego in innings each year. But in ’05 he fell to 7-15, underwent surgery, and besides 6 starts for the 2007 Mets, he hasn’t been in the majors since.

Having been released multiple times in the last three seasons, odds are slim that this righty will suddenly wow Giants management, especially at almost 35. Stranger things have happened—although Lawrence has not pitched in any of the team’s first 10 games.

Shane Loux, 31, P (3-7, 6.14 in 39 MLB games/13 starts, 2002-2003; 2008-2009)

Loux (pronounced Lew) first sniffed the bigs way back in 2002-2003 with the then-awful Detroit Tigers, for whom he was a 1997 2^nd-rounder. He then spent the next 5 years working his way back to the bigs; the Angels finally rescued him. Loux is big and burly, a right-hander who’s started and relieved in the majors, but he isn’t going to make the Giants’ roster barring a mumps outbreak in the clubhouse.

Brad Eldred, 30, 1B (.204, 15, 33 in 85 MLB games, 2005, 2007, 2010)

Not long ago, the gargantuan Eldred—no relation to Cal—seemed to have a good shot at the Pirates’ first base job. He once enjoyed a 38-HR, 137-RBI minor league season, so he’s either got power or incredible influence over statisticians, but he strikes out about every 3 at-bats and in two stints with the Pirates (2005-2007), he was punched out 93 times in 236 AB’s.  In 2010, when he wasn’t smashing 30 home runs in AAA, he was notching 24 at-bats with Colorado—and whiffing in 10 of them. Eldred, a RHH, wouldn’t be a bad short-term (15-day) fill-in, but fans would tire of him for much longer than that. (Note: just as I type that, I read he’s struck out once in 13 spring at-bats, naturally)

Ryan Vogelsong, 33, RP (10-22, 5.86 in 120 MLB games/33 starts, 2000-2006)

Longtime Giants fans recall this name—in the early 2000’s, Vogelsong was among the team’s top pitching prospects, but was sacrificed to the Pirates in the Jason Schmidt deal (no criticizing Sabean for that one). He got long auditions with the Bucs as a starter and in relief, ultimately lasting off-and-on into the 2006 campaign but never making an extended impact in either role. Since then Vogelsong has pitched in the Japan League, but at 33 he’s back for one more (unlikely) shot at MLB success.

Terry Evans, 29, OF (.158, 1, 3 in 19 MLB games, 2007-2010)

Evans has played very briefly with the Angels and O’s in recent years (19 games). There IS no book on him, only a short memo. Already, he’s beaten long odds to get this far, as a former 47^th-round pick.

Casey Daigle, 29, SP (3-4, 7.16 in 33 MLB games/10 starts, 2004, 2006, 2010)

His biggest claim to fame is wedding the softball legend Jennie Finch, not any particular feats on the baseball diamond. Daigle got 10 starts with the 2004 D’backs, 10 relief appearances with the 2006 club, then was out of the bigs until last season in Houston, when he coughed up 25 hits in 10 innings, accompanied by a 11.32 ERA. Ouch. With that unimpressive resume, the big righty will not be in the majors this year unless there is an injury epidemic.

Josh Banks, 28, SP (4-8, 5.66 in 27 MLB games/19 starts, 2007-2010)

He was a Padre in 2008-2009, memorably firing a complete game vs. SF in which he allowed just an unearned run on six hits. The big righty has also worked briefly for Toronto and Houston, but hasn’t stuck anywhere. He’d make decent injury insurance, with his past N.L. West experience.

Edgar Gonzalez, IF/Elmer Dessens, RP (both voided)

Both Gonzalez—Adrian’s little bro who held a reserve role with the Pads for two years until a horrific beaning at the hands of Rockie Jason Hammel, and the veteran reliever Dessens who’s been with pretty much all 29 other teams, failed physicals.

Most of the names responsible for securing the 2010 Giants championship are stitched on the back of Giants uniforms this spring. That’s good. But as hard as it may be to grasp, a couple of those names could well be removed come late March.

You see, Brandon Belt is on the horizon. He’s a 2009 5^th-round pick, and he skyrocketed through all 3 levels of the minors in 2010—an impressive feat for a position player in his first pro season. Most recently, he had his way with opposing pitchers in the Arizona Fall League, and plenty of those pitchers are major leaguers, not dudes stuck in their 4^th year of A ball. Bruce Bochy himself is very high on the 22-year-old, and everyone who’s been a witness and testified says his glove is ready—the only question is his bat. Comparisons to Buster Posey run rampant.

My impression of him? He’s very humble and grounded, in the Travis Ishikawa mold. That’s high praise, as Ishi ranks among my most respected and liked Giants.

Or soon-to-be-ex-Giants, as the case may be…

Although Brian Sabean remains closer to skeptical than not, Belt has a decent enough shot at making the team. If he does, it won’t be to sit—he’ll be given a shot at the full-time first base role. Which means Aubrey Huff will have to play a corner outfield spot, preferably left given the snarls of AT&T Park. Cody Ross will have to play right. Pat Burrell and Mark DeRosa will be reserves, along with Aaron Rowand if Sabean can’t pull another Alfonzo/Finley out of his hat.

That potentially leaves Nate Schierholtz out of a job.

Ishikawa, of course, was the late inning defensive replacement for Huff at 1^st and occasional lefty bat off the bench. If Belt, a lefty hitter with an excellent glove of his own, is the starter—there is no need for Ishikawa, period. It would be like “upgrading” to Libya from Egypt.

Ishikawa and Schierholtz are out of options. They don’t make the team, they won’t be AAA insurance (no pun intended). They’ll be elsewhere, but they’ll never be forgotten.

Q: Why would the Giants even dream of letting go of the players who got them their trophy?

A: Ideally, they wouldn’t. Why would you mess with a proven recipe for success? Only because

• Other teams are gunning for them now. Remain stagnant and get stampeded. We might love Nate and Travis, but if there is a better player available, as Belt allegedly is, and he won’t cost anything—that better player needs to be playing. If there were some way to start Belt, and keep the rest of the roster intact and happy, they’d do it. Maybe they can petition for 10 defensive positions rather than 9, or 30-man rosters like in the early part of 1995.
• You can’t hold down a major-league ready prospect. Just not right. What if the team refused to move Bengie Molina last season so that Buster Posey could play?

Personally, I hope Belt doesn’t make the team—yet. He has one year of pro ball under his…yeah. Time is on his side. He’s not even on the 40-man roster! Let’s allow Ishikawa and Schierholtz the chance to claim their rings while wearing Orange and Black; it’ll be the highlight of their careers. Then, when June comes around, if Ishikawa is still whiffing 60% of the time as he has this spring, and Belt is tearing it up at AAA, by all means make the switch.

THE PITCHING STAFF

Obviously, the rotation is set (with Jon Sanchez the #2 starter and Barry Zito #4, at least to open 2011) Bochy, and Brian Sabean, have said that Madison Bumgarner’s spot will not be skipped on off-days, as many #5 spots are throughout baseball. The bullpen is more or less set; it’s just a matter of how many arms Bochy wants in it. Brian Wilson, Sergio Romo, Javier Lopez (who is a GREAT interview; he’s a guy who just GETS it), Ramon Ramirez (whose arm has looked quite live thus far) and Jeremy Affeldt have security, and Santiago Casilla probably has a job to lose—leaving one potential spot for Dan Runzler and a host of non-roster invitees which includes the returning Guillermo Mota. (I’ll detail the new Giants in my next column.)

It’s going to be an interesting Spring Training; I’ll be monitoring it closely for you. JD

Tell me I am not the only Giants fan who, upon being reminded that pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training February 14^th, thought to him/herself: “THIS is the year we finally break that 50-some odd year World Series drought.”

When in actuality, the Giants will be seeking to break a 50-some odd week title drought in October 2011.

In a lot of ways, for me, it still hasn’t quite sunk in. When ESPN or whichever outlet runs down the list of longest active championship droughts in baseball, I still fully expect to hear “Giants” after the obligatory Cubs and Indians. But they no longer carry the 3^rd-longest streak without capturing a World Series. They won it in 2010. They’re the defending champions. They rule the neighborhood. Passage runs through the corner of 3^rd and King in downtown San Francisco and the Giants will not grant easy entry.

And at last, they’re back in action.

In spite of what you’re seeing and hearing, they are preparing to play 2011 baseball.

Don’t get me wrong when I say what I’m about to say next. It is great to have such a band of misfits and castoffs on the roster, delighting us with their personalities and interviews as much as they do throwing a ball or swinging a bat. To a man, most if not all of the 2011 Giants are great guys as well as damn good players. And I am fully aware the general interest in any team/athlete who is on top rises about ten-fold—this is why folks in Vallejo, CA flipped out when Manny Pacquiao put on a concert a few months back and understayed his welcome.

That said…just because Aubrey Huff now has a championship ring doesn’t mean his retirement of the “rally thong” deserves its’ own news report. And it doesn’t mean a whole story must be done on Tim Lincecum’s ponytail and/or mustache. It definitely shouldn’t warrant a crawl reading “Sergio Romo to trim beard during season”. And don’t get me started on the upcoming Showtime series, which about 4 people will watch if the Giants are lower than 3^rd place come midseason, when the untitled series is set to air.

Nobody cared about the Giants’ off-field lives or eccentrics before they won, and no one will care about them should the team go 78-84 this season. The same crew who just can’t get enough B-Weezy when he’s on top of the world (“Oh, that Wilson. He’s such a character! Fear The Beard!”) will turn on him likethat should he blow 3 saves in a row (“Wilson is focusing too much on his hair and not enough on baseball.”).

I don’t blame the players for milking the ride for all its’ worth. Who knows if they’ll ever even go to the World Series again, let alone win it? Surely, when Willie Mays helped clinch the ’54 trophy in his 4^th big-league season, he never thought it would be his only winning World Series (losing in 1962 with SF and 1973 as a Met).

All I’m saying is—can we prioritize a little? Lincecum’s fastball is more vital to the club than his hairdo, and too much of any good thing is just that. If we aren’t careful, the whole team could end up with Barry Bonds heads.

• Jeff Kent is in camp as a “special instructor”. Not quite on the level of Ted Williams’ return to Boston in 1999, but remember just how bad of terms Kent left the team on, and that he finished his career with 4 years in Dodger blue. But this is a new era: the Giants are champs, hard feelings are gone, and all that matters now are the six Hall-of-Fame seasons Kent spent in orange and black.
• The infamous recording of Greg Anderson sharing Bonds’ steroid use with a third party will be admissible in federal court—his trial starts 3/21—but 6 of 11 felony charges brought against him were dropped. YAWN; I’m already as sick of this as you are.
• First official spring game is Friday, 2/25 against the D’backs. In all the team will play 35 times, which includes 3 split-squad affairs. Their first telecast will be 3/7 on CSN against the slightly-retooled Texas Rangers. Cliff Lee and Vlad Guerrero, who helped the Giants more than the Rangers in the World Series, are no longer with the team.

Today Joe went to the 18th annual KNBR/San Francisco Giants FanFest at AT&T Park. He went with hope, and anticipation, and specific goals in mind.

Unfortunately, Joe came away with absolutely nothing except a crispy nape.

“What do you mean, Joe?”

Joe was determined to get his long-sought photo with the Giants broadcast team. He came oh so close in 2009—if only those dang team officials hadn’t forced Kruk and Kuip off the platform in place of Daves Righetti and Roberts ten spots in line before Joe’s. Joe had nothing against the Daves, but they weren’t Kruk and Kuip.

Joe did not get his photo with Kruk and Kuip. Or with any other Giants. Or with any other human beings at all.

Joe wanted a picture with the 2010 World Series trophy, like almost everyone else in the Bay Area (and New York) seems to have. He wouldn’t have touched it or even breathed on it.

Joe did not get his photo with the trophy. Or even a glimpse of it. For Joe, it is equally as elusive as his target weight of 250 lbs.

Joe wanted free stuff. In the past, Joe has received free shirts, free gym bags, free keychains, and more at FanFest. (Not that I’m here to talk about the past.)

Joe got no free stuff, unless you count the views of the water and the Bay Bridge. You shouldn’t count that because last I checked they charged people to drive on the bridge, not to look at it.

Joe wanted to hear (and see) Gary Radnich, Fitz & Brooks, and the rest of the KNBR team interview his favorite Giants up close.

Joe saw none of his favorite Giants up close, or otherwise. Nor did he see any KNBR personalities. All he heard was a distant, staticy, drowned-out interview of Jeremy Affeldt by Radnich: “Jeremy, fans would the 18, no more cheese to be bounced?” “Well, Gary, sure shot like Greece, if only cancer will ballparks here.”

Joe wanted to ask the Giants’ personnel some very good questions during the Q&A portions.

Joe asked no one any questions except himself. “Why is that dude waiting for change after paying for four $5 hot dogs with a $20?” “How did that slob score a hottie like that?” “A tank top, jean shorts…and black tights?” “Did that chick reallytry to sell us raffle tickets when we don’t know if we’re even getting inside the stupid ballpark?”

Why didn’t Joe’s wishes come to fruition?

Because the Giants won the World Series. About 50,000 folks washed up in McCovey Cove on their tidal wave of success—10 times the norm. Because the fire department cut off entry at 50K, Joe had to wait in line with about 1,000 other exiles for those inside to lose interest and split.

Mind you, this was at the back gate, the one nearest the McCovey statue. The front two gates near the Mays/Cepeda statues restricted about 3 times that many…EACH.

After 45 minutes of little progress, Joe’s back and legs began to ache, his neck slowly broiling under the mean sun. Fed up, Joe tapped out. No autographs, no photos, no Q&A’s, no free stuff, no proof Joe was ever even there except for his CalTrain day pass. (Good thing Joe used CalTrain and wasted only $20 as opposed to the $35 driving woulda cost.)

Forget the NFL—this lockout will go down as the year’s most disappointing.

Being a fan of major league baseball in the 21^st century means one routinely has to bite one’s tongue to keep fully sane. A skill that, through (necessary) practice, I’ve mastered at expert level.

I’d hoped the 2000-2001 offseason—an out-of-control sweepstakes for anyone who could play at all (and several who couldn’t)—would be the last time I’d ever have to revisit the business (a.k.a. boring) side of MLB.  For many years, it was, as baseball seemed to be reverting back to generally sensible spending. When I say “sensible”, I don’t necessarily mean “responsible”. Teams still overspent as much as ever, but by-and-large they would overspend on—what do you call ‘em—oh, yeah. Good players with good resumes. No player is worth $17 million IMHO, but at least the Carlos Lees and Mark Teixeiras of the game were the beneficiaries, rather than the next tier of dudes like Orlando Hudson or unestablished dudes like Jair Jurrjens (so there’s no confusion, neither of them make $17M. They’re just examples).

You can thank the Houston Astros for my relapse to the dark side…

The first to cash-in during this eventful offseason was LA’s Hiroki Kuroda on November 15. He got a 1-year, $12 million (1/$12M) deal to stay a Dodger. I thought “Okay…$12M for a 35-year-old guy whose career high in wins is 11, has never thrown 200 innings, is below .500 in his career, and is certainly no Hideo Nomo in terms of fan attraction.” I let it go. It’s just a one-year deal, and it is the Dodgers, after all. But there would be more head-scratching windfalls to come. Carlos Pena, the one-time MVP candidate with the Rays whose .196 average in 2010 didn’t sway the Cubs from giving him $10M on December 8. Kevin Correia’s 2/$8M from Pittsburgh after a 10-10, 5.40 season—I know it’s different ownership, but surely someone filled in the Bucs’ front office on “Operation Shutdown” from the spring of 2002? Brad Penny is rewarded for a 9-start, 13-WHIP injury-halted season with 1/$3M from the Tigers. Jake Westbrook, a 4.22, 10-game winner, will make $16M over the next two years from St. Louis.

A load of millions for a load of mediocrity. I kept my lips firmly pressed together.

Until January 25^th, when into the lap of Astros lefty Wandy Rodriguez dropped $35 million for 3 years.

And he wasn’t even a free agent. Rodriguez is in his final year of arbitration and wouldn’t have been free until after 2011. He was 11-12, and while I know as well as anyone that W/L records cannot ALWAYS accurately measure a pitcher’s performance—see 2010 A.L. Cy Young winner Felix Hernandez—Rodriguez is cashing in after a season in which he did not crack the NL’s top ten in any significant category besides hit batsmen, and a 62-64, 4.18 career. For the record, Roy Oswalt never made more than $14M from the Astros in any season.

Meanwhile, Pat Burrell—coming off a magnificent 2/3 of a season with the Giants in which he batted .266 with 18 HR in only 289 AB—will make $1M in 2011. Cody Ross, his teammate, batted .269 with 14 HR in 525 AB but will be paid $6.3M, again because the Giants wished to avoid arbitration. WHAT? We all get the reason you’d want to avoid the feelings of, say, Tim Lincecum in an arbitration hearing. If he were to get down on the Giants as a result and leave as a free agent, the Giants would be devastated to their core—on the field, with the fans, you name it. But Cody Ross? Who CARES if he’s insulted in an arbitration hearing? Yes, he’s a postseason hero, and he deserves compensation for coming up so big in the 2010 playoffs. But without Burrell, the Giants don’t even get to the postseason. I mean, if you’re rewarding postseason feats, why is the “insulted” Edgar Renteria with the Cincinnati Reds right now?

In closing, the Steroids Era has concluded, but we’re now in another lamentable era in baseball—the Scareoids Era. Just the threat of arbitration and free agency is forcing teams to overpay rather than risk losing average players. There has never been a better time to be half-decent in baseball. Just ask Colorado’s Jorge De La Rosa, who made 20 starts in 2010, won 8, and recorded a 4.22 ERA—but was granted a 2/$21.5 extension to avoid the ol’ arbiter. When Jon Sanchez reaches free agency after 2012, he will likely get $90 million from somebody so long as he makes 30 starts, throws 180 innings, and can manage an acceptable era in each of the upcoming two seasons. Who can say what anyone is worth, and what “value” is, in a world where Todd Coffey and Chris Capuano are going to earn more 2011 dollars than Pat Burrell?

While one Giants legend, Willie Mays, accompanied the San Francisco Giants’ World Series trophy during its’ celebratory voyage to New York City (the team’s original home), another Giants legend prepares to fight for his freedom in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco. A fight he is likely, but hardly guaranteed, to win.

It has been three long years since Barry Bonds’ original indictment on perjury charges, but it seems like 23, doesn’t it?

After he passed Babe Ruth on the all-time home run list in early 2006—a leap that took nearly two calendar years due to Bonds’ knee problems—he was quoted as saying, “I’m glad it’s over.” The same can be said about the government’s efforts to bring the home run king to apparent justice. One way or the other, it just needs to end. Think about all that has happened in and out of the sports world during the time Bonds was originally indicted (November 2007) through today (January 2011). The NBA’s Lakers won two championships, and the Celtics one. There have been two more Harry Potter follow-up films, and a third just wrapped production. The company I work for, now 1,000+ customers strong, did not exist when Bonds was first brought up on perjury charges.

By most expert accounts, Bonds isn’t going to jail unless Greg Anderson suddenly does an about-face and testifies that he A) shot Bonds up with juice, or B) the urine samples seized from his home were indeed Bonds’. You may recall a mid-2010 news story outlining prosecutorial evidence deemed inadmissible in Bonds’ trial by a judge; those samples were the evidence but without Anderson’s testimony, they’re worthless against Bonds. And Anderson, betrayed by the government in his eyes, will never testify. You’ll see Bonds on the Giants’ active roster again before Anderson ever gives him up.

This writer hopes those experts are correct.

Not because I don’t think Bonds is guilty.

He’s guilty. He intentionally took steroids and he tried to cover it up. Before you say “Then he deserves to be punished!”, know that he has been punished. His career ended prematurely. His body and his reputation are shot and he might not get into the Hall of Fame. People he trusted turned on him, some by choice. Lawyers have sapped up much of his finances. His marriage is over and his son has legal problems of his own. Bonds earned a record 688 free passes as a player; beating these charges will hardly count as #689. At this point, jail might be therapeutic for him.

The reason this writer hopes that Bonds can “whup they ass” in court: so the whole charade will be over. The original grand jury testimony occurred in late 2003. Over seven years ago, and who knows how many dollars ago. Seven years of Bonds walking in and out of courthouses in suits. Seven years of the greatest (San Francisco) Giant ever remaining in the news for his abuse of PED’s, rather than his abuse of 449 different pitchers who involuntarily collaborated to make him the Home Run King.

If Bonds goes to jail, we’ll be subjected to news coverage of his sentencing, transport to jail, any trouble that goes down while he’s there, and of course, a daily countdown leading up to his release. It will be Michael Vick to the 10^th power, even though the only violence involved in Bonds’ case was Bonds shooting himself in the foot by failing to be forthright from the start.

After April of this year, when the trial is expected to end, the following words/names/terms are no longer welcome baseball lexicon:

• The Cream
• The Clear
• BALCO
• Greg Anderson
• Mark Geragos
• Flaxseed oil
• Seized documents
• Urine samples
• Personal trainer
• Grand jury
• Leaked
• Knowingly
• Victor Conte
• Marion Jones
• Trevor Graham
• Armando Rios/Marvin Benard/Bobby Estallela/Benito Santiago in any non-historical context
• Testify
• Perjury
• Performance-enhancing drugs

Let’s not associate any of those items with Major League Baseball ever again. They’re about as interesting as the now-dormant barrybonds.com and they need to be forced out of baseball just like Bonds himself was.

So, to all involved in this case—get it over with. FAST. The DEFENDING WORLD CHAMPION Giants will be winding down Spring Training when the trial starts and into the regular season by the time it ends, and we fans want to focus on that and that only. Sure, there was a very long time when Barry Bonds headlines in April were very good things.

That time has passed.

Edgar’s now a Redgar. Signed by Cincy for $3 million.

He is just the 4^th reigning WS MVP since 1990 to change teams the following season (Jack Morris, ’91 Twins to Blue Jays; John Wetteland, ’96 Yankees to Rangers; Hideki Matsui, ’09 Yankees to Angels).

Good for him.

Can you remember the last time an aging utility infielder (to-be) generated this much press? Probably when Manny Alexander’s boy got caught with steroids a decade ago.

Renteria’s whole story is confounding. I’ve discussed said story with a number of fans—on the street, via message boards, you name it—and reached this conclusion: we’re not at all bitter that he left.

We’re bitter that he left on his own terms.

But we shouldn’t be.

The consensus feeling from Giants fans (prior to the 2010 World Series) was that Redgar essentially stole money during his forgettable two-season stay. His contract couldn’t expire fast enough, and if TMZ caught him fornicating with a streetwalker a la Denny Neagle, all the more better.

Then, the improbable happened—Renteria dipped into the fountain of youth, not to mention the hot tub of health, and hit two of the biggest home runs in the 52 years of the San Francisco Giants. Just like that, all the oh-fers and groundouts and pulls and strains emblematic of Edgar’s tenure up to that point—it was like they never happened. NOW we knew what Brian Sabean was thinking when he locked Renteria up! He wasn’t high! Renteria can deliver!

Honestly, given Redgar’s resume—5 All-Star appearances, a career .287 average even after his two down Giants years, two Gold Gloves, three Silver Sluggers, and the WS MVP—it’s not hard to understand his antipathy toward a $1 million deal. It’s also not hard to understand why he was offered such a deal; if he hadn’t hit those two bombs, the Giants might not have offered him anything. How bad would it look for a team in need of a shortstop to completely ignore the shortstop who brought home the World Championship? It would be like John Crece being replaced as little Pita’s bodyguard after being shot 4 times in Man On Fire.

As I said about Juan Uribe, at this point in his career Redgar owes it to himself to get paid every cent he can while he can. Somebody still wanted him and was willing to pay handsomely for his services. Just like he had to take the Giants’ $18 million, he had to take the Reds $3 million. It’s funny that in spite of Renteria’s heroics, it still kind of feels like he owes the Giants, and that somehow playing for a “measly” million could have made everything right. It’s almost like we needed to avenge the bad signing by getting rid of Renteria at our convenience—not the other way around. We’re a tad scorned.

But we’re going to have to get over it.

(In case you CAN’T get over it, the Reds make their lone 2011 visit to San Francisco June 9-12. Will you boo or cheer Redgar?)

(sorry for the long delay in getting Part 3 to you readers…sometimes life makes plans FOR us regardless of our own wishes)

#47 Chris Ray, Reliever

The return from Texas in the Bengie Molina deal, Ray—a once-promising closer for the other Orange-and-Black (Baltimore) who was in his second season after 2008 arm surgery—did a very good job in middle relief that unfortunately may be lost in the great work turned in by several other Giants relievers, especially since Ray was left off the entire postseason roster. Ray, just 28, did not lose a game or blow a save; his one converted save came against the Dodgers in the infamous 9^th inning that took 4 pitchers—including Jon Sanchez—to wrap. Ray’s lone dreadful game came against Philly in a game the Giants were going to lose anyway; toss out his 4 ER in 0 IP that day, and he turned in a 2.62 ERA in his other 27 Giant outings.

#16 Edgar Renteria, Shortstop

Do I even need to mention Renteria’s role in making the Giants World Champs? I guess so. Renteria got money for nothing in 2009—not sure about his chicks for free—as a .250 hitter at $9 million who never got hot (although he was king for a day upon belting a big grand slam against Colorado). Edgar, 34, tore up the N.L. early in the season (11-for-his-first-16) and was over .300 in April before tailing off and landing on the disabled list thrice. The veteran would be nothing but a spot starter at short from then on, but come October he made THE MOST of his opportunities. The home run in WS Game 2 off C.J. Wilson came in what ended up a blowout, but at the point of impact the Giants’ ability to score even one run lay in doubt. And I’m willing to bet I’m not the only one who still gets chills every time I see his high, dramatic, wall-scraping, crowd-stunning 3-run jack off Cliff Lee in Game 5. Best $18+ million (including buyout) the Giants ever spent.

#19 Dave Righetti, Coach

Righetti pitched 15 seasons in MLB, including three with the Giants and a decade with the Yankees under George Steinbrenner, and has been pitching coach in SF since the late ‘90’s. Not coincidentally: since then the Giants consistently rank among the league leaders in key pitching categories. Rags is low-key—If you look up low-key in the dictionary, you’ll see Rags’ photo—but he knows his pitching; rarely do his troops fall apart after one of his calming mound visits. San Francisco’s staff avoided major injuries and made just a small handful of D.L. trips. You can thank Rags’ routines, attentiveness and trust from his charges for that.

#29 Ryan Rohlinger, Third Base

Rohlinger has been waiting in the wings for an extended shot at the Giants 3B job, continuing to excel at AAA-Fresno in the interim. In 2010 he was repeatedly shuttled back and forth from Fresno—his final option year—and got in a dozen games. The Giants went 3-0 in his 3 starts and he didn’t commit an error. He aided the Giants’ cause by not doing anything to screw it up, which is good enough for me.

#13 Cody Ross, Outfielder

One of the Giants’ many “castoffs”, Ross: drove in the only run of SF’s 1-0 victory in NLDS #1, hit the winning 2-run single in NLDS #4, cracked two solo jacks vs. Hall-of-Famer-in-waiting Roy Halladay in NLCS #1, took Roy Oswalt deep in NLCS #2, hit RBI single to break 0-0 tie in NLCS #3, and either drove in or scored a run in 8 other postseason games. Need I say more?

#54 Sergio Romo, Reliever

Without Romo’s steady diet of Frisbee sliders causing even the best right-handed hitters in the NL to flail haplessly during the regular season, Brian Wilson is probably called upon for a DOZEN 4+ out saves rather than the 5 he actually was. The third-year slinger’s WHIP measured under 1, and he K’d 70 in 62 innings. He had a rough NLDS and blew the save in Game 4 of the NLCS, but rather than implode, Romo calmly set down the next 3 Phillies in order—leaving SF in position to eventually win. His cheerful spirit might not have meshed during the last years of the Bonds’ era, but is ideal for the “new” Giants. FEAR THE BEARD.

#33 Aaron Rowand, Outfielder

Rowand deserves commendation for what he did not give the 2010 Giants—attitude. It could not have been easy for a proud veteran and former All-Star who was once the Giants’ 2^nd-highest paid player to lose his job to an unknown journeyman. Yet, rather than announce the 2^nd-coming of “Operation: Shutdown”, Rowand continued to work hard and prepare himself for when his number was called—such as in NLCS Game #3 when he led off the 5^th with a double and soon scored a huge insurance run. Or the next night when his perfect throw home from CF nailed Carlos Ruiz in an eventual one-run victory. Examples like Rowand’s do not go unnoticed by up-and-coming players.

#45 Dan Runzler, Reliever

Runzler lost a good portion of the summer to the D.L., and like Ray, his contributions tend to get lost amidst the deep Giants’ bullpen. But he was a valuable regular-season arm to the team, especially during the period after Jeremy Affeldt’s first injury and before Javier Lopez’ acquisition—a coup which may not have occurred had Runzler stayed healthy himself. The big southpaw allowed but one ER from June 1 to season’s end (granted, two months of that time period Runzler was on the disabled list).

#21 Freddy Sanchez, Second Base

Almost a year after his acquisition from Pittsburgh, we Giants loyalists STILL didn’t know what we had in Sanchez. We feared we had irreparably damaged goods thanks to a leftover shoulder injury that needed surgery. Stellar afield, Sanchez caught fire offensively in mid-August, boosting his average from a low of .257 up to the .292 that will decorate his 2011 baseball cards. He went 9-for-11 over 3 August games vs. the Reds, and twice homered in back-to-back games in September—a month he opened with one of the great catches of 2010 to wrap a tight win vs. the Rockies. Oh, and as if you need a reminder, the candid Freddy opened the World Series with 3 consecutive doubles—the first to ever do so—and made a number of impressive defensive plays.