One last thing. More interesting than anyone could’ve predicted? Who could’ve predicted the Gigantes would be this bad? The surprise is on the fans…at just how bad the Gigantes play at home. Surprising that Walker is still being used as set-up. Surprising that 30,000 still show up. Suprising they still make money with this product.

I agree that Baseball will always surprise you…just not the 2008 Gigantes. All out…all the time…true gamers.

No one’s anonymous on OBM that posts on a regular basis. I support all who post on this site….agree or disagree. Good call on Vizquel. Last of a dying breed. But, still need to get Burriss more ab’s.

As for interesting…maybe the league in general…but, not the Gigantes. There is still no direction. I truly believe upper mgmt believes they can win the Division. I like Winn…but, he’s eating ab’s….and has no future with the team. .280-.290 hitter with little power. Castillo is taking ab’s from Velez,Burriss, or Ohoa. I could go on, but mgmt still feels the flag is to be had. Play the kids…and show conviction….and stick with a plan.

The Gigantes have a below .300 winning % against teams above .500. Pathetic. Which shows they really aren’t competitive. They have a better shot at winning the NL Worst…than getting to .475. Sad, but this is the reality of the situation. This is why this year should’ve been designated to playing the kids. Period. Everyone would understand…and be more supportive. Shierholz going off to the Oly’s instead of playing daily in the bigs is flat out criminal. What is going on here. Roberts is another person eating up a roster spot. I work at times in the Tampa Bay area and have been following the Rays growth the past four years. The Gigantes should take the same approach to this team.

I’ve been on a boycott this year because of what they did to Bonds. Our family has been season ticket holders for decades…no more. Turn your back on the one who got you there. No downtown stadium w/o Bonds. Complete travesty. Magawon and Buddy boy got together…cut a deal…and washed their hands of the situation.

Watching Bonds bat…was worth the price of admission…just like you say of Vizquel fielding.

Whatever happens from here on out, this has been a more interesting season than most anyone predicted. Baseball will always surprise you.

I’m with Marc re Omar. He’s had a flurry of hits lately, which if it continues will make everyone feel better about him, but for my money it’s worth going to the ballpark just to watch him. As spectacular as some of his defensive plays are, there are things he does between innings and at other times that don’t get on TV that are a joy to see. Whether he’s hitting or not, he’s a remarkable presence, and I think an asset to the franchise. I’d love to have him stick around as a coach, manager, broadcaster, or whatever when he’s done playing. Dig him while he’s here.

I’m not much of a fan of the “veterans are good because you know what you’re getting” theory…I think in this day and age, one can tell what that adds up to, which is kind of boring. If one buys into “replacement value”, then what are the Giants really gaining by having, say, Randy Winn? Nothing against him personally at all, but if he, or Castillo, say, give you an “average”, with no real prospect of being better, there’s not much risk in giving your best prospects playing time.

And, I agree with the fan part – I like the idea that maybe Fred Lewis is a future All-Star, I like Velez (if he could learn to get on base more) having blazing speed. I’d much rather have potential upside and/or a player with eccentric talents than a guaranteed result.

That said, give poor Omar a break – he’s a Hall of Famer, he still fields great, I figure he retires after this year. It’s not like Honus Wagner is stuck in AAA.

For myself, I have to question the investment of my time and money to watch/cheer for what I know to be a sub-standard hopeless product being run by incompetent management. Of course down years are to be expected and real fans don’t pull the plug, but we are talking about that on a whole other level here – this franchise appears to be almost intentionally mismanaged into being years from realistically competitive – because ownership knew there would still be a certain number of “fans” in the seats and it probably wouldn’t really matter.

Of course there’s no guarantee that a “young” team will be better than an “old” team. I think most people’s point is that the “old” guys are known entities. We know what kind of year Aurillia, Durham, Roberts, etc. will probably have. Well, I guess no one saw how far Omar could fall. And we know that next year will be no significantly better for those guys. People want to see the “young” because those guys represent hope. Hope that one or more of them will become much better than “projected”, and help return this team to respectability sooner rather than later. Let’s start that process now, not wait until Omar finishes playing out the string.