Shear The Beard ?

April 25

Nothing says over-reaction like a baseball fan in April. I heard it on the radio hosting the Friday night Giants post-game show on Sportsphone 680, and read it in the comments section of local articles about the Giants.

A summary: Bruce Bochy is mishandling the pitching staff by skipping Barry Zito’s turn in the rotation, the bullpen is overrated, Madison Bumgarner is getting exposed, they should have traded Andres Torres and Aubrey Huff while their value was high, the front office didn’t do enough in the offseason, Miguel Tejada is a fraud, Cody Ross is killing them, and the World Series championship was “fool’s gold.”

I wonder how many of these people were on the parade route last November ?

These kinds of responses are exactly why I did a show in March asking how long the honeymoon would last. People who called Sportsphone 680 at the time insisted that it would last all year because they were just so darn giddy about the championship. More earthbound callers said it would last at least a couple of months. Some of these people were lying.

In fairness, some fans are not panicking, because they actually have calendars, which tell them it is only April. The Giants got swept at home by a good team and they’re 10-11, but they’re just four games back of the Rockies. While they are embarking on a 10-game road trip, they’re facing three mediocre-to-bad clubs.

It’s also true that the calendar tells us it’s 2011, not 2010. The ring ceremonies are over, the flag ceremony is done, and it’s a new season. Each year takes on its own personality, and history has shown it’s very difficult to repeat as National League champions, much less World Series champs.

Baseball is a year-to-year proposition, especially for relief pitchers. Very few relievers are consistently great, outside of Mariano Rivera ( and even he has blown a couple of saves lately ). Sunday, Sergio Romo and Jeremy Affeldt gave up gopher balls and Brian Wilson gave up three runs in the 10th to watch his ERA balloon over 9.00. A bullpen that was so solid in 2010 looks weak so far in 2011.

In fact pitching, a supposed strength, was a liability all weekend. The Giants gave up 18 runs, fueled by 16 walks, over the three games. On top of that, Madison Bumgarner didn’t make it out of the 3rd inning, Tim Lincecum was shaky, and Jonathan Sanchez battled through the flu.

The recent pitching woes provide a reason for concern, not panic. Yet, what is the most common response among fans today ? Shear the Beard, not Fear the Beard. Yeah, that’ll help.

Brian Wilson’s beard might need fumigating, or a more drastic measure: according to some fans, it might need to meet Edward Scissorhands. The black shoe-polish House of David facial growth doesn’t look as threatening when the ERA is threatening double figures.

I was sitting with family and friends watching the game Sunday when Wilson entered in the 9th inning, and a wave of snickering could be heard in the room. The beard looked comical. And that was before he blew up in the 10th. At that point I could swear I heard the beard saying “put me out of my misery.”

Frankly I don’t care what Wilson does with his beard, or his mull-hawk, or his orange shoes, or his tattoos. He can do what he wants with his body. But I also know that baseball is a game of superstition, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Wilson puts the beard out to Follicle Pasture.

Aubrey Huff shed the thong because it was so 2010, Pablo Sandoval shed some pounds … will Wilson shed the fuzz ? Players have been known to make changes simply to fool themselves into thinking they’re making a fresh start. Perhaps if Wilson decides to scale back, he can donate the beard to charity and do Norelco commercials.

Whatever he does, there is a more important fact: Wilson was able to do very little work in Arizona due to injuries. April is his spring training.

I’m pretty sure that Wilson will straighten things out, whether he cleans up or not. I think Bumgarner, with a little work on his arm slot and his mental approach, will become effective again. I’m less certain about other aspects of this team — keeping in mind that my calendar also tells me it’s only April.

Miguel Tejada has looked very old. I don’t know if he can finish the year as the Giants’ shortstop, at least not playing every day at that position. It’s clear the Giants will need to make a deal to get some help, because the farm system won’t offer immediate fixes.

Right-handed power hitters love to see Sergio Romo hang a slider, and Jeremy Affeldt has struggled since the start of 2010 — with the exception of a couple of epic postseason appearances, for which Giants fans will forever appreciate him.
( By the way, Jason Heyward did to him what he’s going to do to many pitchers in the next decade — hit 420-foot bombs. )

The Giants’ setup pitchers are hurting them right now, and given the nature of relievers, there’s reason for concern. But not a reason to jump out a window.

The offense will miss its leadoff hitter, Andres Torres, for the first month of the season. While Aaron Rowand has done a good job taking his place, getting some key hits early, I have a feeling water will seek its own level. His 14-to-2 strikeout-to-walk ratio tells me so.

Last year, the Giants scuffled into mid-summer and had some obvious weaknesses. They made some moves to shore up some of those problems, but even then, got into the postseason by a razor-thin margin and got some breaks in the postseason. To their credit they took advantage of those breaks and were the best team in baseball at the end of the season.

But that was then, and this is now. The bottom line — no time to panic, but don’t expect everything to go exactly as it did last year. Baseball isn’t like that.

The Giants still have enough talent to win the NL West. They’re not playing anything like World Series champions now but if a couple of key players get healthy, a couple of more key players step up their game, and a couple of key moves are made, they will make a run at the division title. Just like last year.

True Greatness, So Far

April 19

On Monday night at Coors Field, humidor or no, Tim Lincecum shut down a hot baseball team, delivering the way he usually does after a Giants loss. He took a no-hitter into the 7th inning and struck out 10 on the way to an 8-1 Giants win over the Rockies.

The Rockies came in with a 12-3 record, four games ahead of the Giants. The Giants came in with World Series rings and made as much of a statement as you can in the middle of April. Of course, that statement will fall on deaf ears if the Giants can’t win two of three, and they get to face Ubaldo Jimenez tonight.

Lincecum tied Christy Mathewson for the most 10-strikeout games in Giants history, and this is a franchise that has been around for nearly 130 years. Lincecum managed the feat in just four-plus seasons.

It is still very early in his career, but Lincecum is already off to a legendary start. Two Cy Young Awards and a World Series ring put him in elite company to begin with, but let’s look a bit deeper:

Combine that with a 58-28 record, a career ERA of 3.00, and three consecutive strikeout titles, and you have something truly special. He compares with Dwight Gooden, Babe Ruth, Roger Clemens, Tom Seaver, Bob Feller and Pete Alexander to start a career.

Ruth won two World Series as a pitcher. Gooden and Seaver pulled off the Rookie of the Year/Cy Young/World Series trifecta. Clemens rang up two Cy Youngs early in his career. Gooden was 91-35 his first five years … Alexander 96-43 … Seaver 75-44 his first four … Ruth 94-46 for his pitching career.

Whitey Ford got off to an unbelievable 80-28 start to his career with three World Series rings. Of course, he did pitch for the Yankees. He would have gotten more rings if he didn’t serve a couple of years in the military.

Obviously, some of these greats couldn’t win the Cy Young, including Cy Young, because the award wasn’t given out until 1956. Before that, pitchers could win the MVP award. Vida Blue won both awards in 1971, got off to a 53-28 start to his career, and won three World Series with the Oakland A’s.

Pitchers who failed to get off to great career starts: Lefty Grove was 43-38 his first three-plus years … Matthewson was 34-37 … Greg Maddux was 60-53 his first four-plus years … Walter Johnson 57-65 … Bob Gibson 34-36 … Randy Johnson 49-48… Sandy Koufax 36-40 his first six years.

What does it mean ? First of all, we know that won-loss records for pitchers can be very deceptive. Beyond that, a tremendous start to a career is no guarantee of the Hall of Fame. Just ask Mark Fidrych or Herb Score. Or Gooden and Blue. On the flip side, a bad start to one’s career won’t shut the doors to Cooperstown, either.

We can say this about Lincecum: in terms of statistics, hardware, and winning, his career is off to one of the finest starts ever. His career is off to a far better start than some of the greatest pitchers of all time. Imagine if he didn’t have that little speed bump last August.

It’s hard to tell what the future holds for Lincecum. Much has been made of his body-type and his delivery, but he has bulked up a bit this year ( with some help from In-n-Out burger ) and has added a slider to his repertoire in the last year.

Add to that the experience of the 2010 postseason run and his competitive fire and you have the complete package. Not to mention he is one of the great clutch pitchers in the game.

Last year, I thought along with many other baseball-watchers that Lincecum 2.0 might not be as dominant but would still be an effective pitcher, taking into account his slight frame, heavy workload and unusual delivery. Instead, he has actually raised the stakes, and so far this year he has struck out 32 in 27 innings, roughly the same rate as the past three seasons.

Predicting the future is risky, but Lincecum has consistently confounded the experts. He has exceeded what any of the scouts thought he would do as a professional, without the prototype big frame for a pitcher.
Who’s to question what he can do in the next few years ?

Panic

April 18

I saw the “Panic Room,” being replayed for the 337th time on cable television over the weekend. In San Jose and Los Angeles, sports fans are hiding in their own “panic room” right now.

The Sharks had a chance to put away the Los Angeles Kings Saturday, and came up with a stunningly-bad performance. So bad, some of their loyal fans boo’d them into submission in a 4-0 loss that evened their playoff series at one game apiece.

In Los Angeles, if there was joy about the Kings’ win, it was washed away by the Lakers’ desultory 109-100 loss to the Hornets in their playoff opener. Chris Paul simply broke one off against the Lakers, who seemed to be a step behind. Maybe they were listening to the analysts who said the Lakers got a “first-round bye.”

In San Jose, the Sharks were slow to the puck, were outworked on the boards and committed silly penalties. They left them vulnerable because penalty killing is one of their weaknesses. They fell behind early and barely made a peep the rest of the night.

In Los Angeles, the Lakers probably had a feeling Sunday was going to be a good day. After all, Will.I.Am of the Black Eyed Peas was courtside. Also, they hadn’t lost to the Hornets all season.

In San Jose, the Sharks were going up against a team missing two of their top players, the injured Anze Kopitar and the suspended Jarret Stoll. It didn’t matter. The Kings compensated for the manpower shortage by working harder.

In Los Angeles, the Lakers were outworked by Paul and the Hornets. Derek Fisher couldn’t stop him. Neither could Ron Artest or Pau Gasol. Losing was the farthest thing from fans’ minds walking into the Staples Center.

Now, there’s much hand-wringing in both cities, but there shouldn’t be — yet. If both teams respond to the wake-up call. It’s hard to believe anybody would need one in the playoffs, but apparently that’s the case.

Brrrrrring.

Sanity

April 11

All the right notes were sounded at A T and T Park Monday night before the Giants and Dodgers met in the opener of their three-game series. Jeremy Affeldt of the Giants and Jamey Carroll of the Dodgers said what needed to be said. There was an appeal for fan sanity following the brutal beating of Giants fan Bryan Stow at the Dodgers’ home opener.

Giants players made sure their former teammate, Juan Uribe, got his World Series ring on the field. Their message was simple: we fight hard to win during the game, but when it’s over the rivalry is set aside … and if the players aren’t at war with each other, fans should not be either.

As I drove home listening to Affeldt and Carroll speak, I just shook my head. It’s hard to believe we need these kinds of speeches to tell us how to act at a game, but it has come to this for a small percentage of fans.

Maybe Monday night’s appeal kept some borderline loon from exacting revenge, but in all likelihood, the people who really needed to hear it were nowhere in sight.

The people who attacked Stow are probably long gone now. They are either hiding among their “colleagues” or are nowhere near Los Angeles. The people who attacked Stow were probably not real fans, but criminals.

However, it’s still worthwhile to talk about fan behavior at a time when emotions are raw. It’s also worthwhile to continue raising money to cover Stow’s medical bills, which will pile up as high as an outfield wall. Fundraisers were held in San Francisco and at Dodger Stadium Monday.

Dodger Stadium is not like it was when I grew up in Los Angeles, when fans were given a hard time for being too genteel. It has become a more dangerous place in the last decade and the team has been slow to react. That created an atmosphere in which hooligans wearing Dodger gear could carry out a wanton attack on innocent strangers.

However, I don’t think these cretins represent all Dodger fans. In fact, hardly any. And this problem is not confined to Chavez Ravine.

Giants fans were generally classy Monday night, and hopefully they will stay that way, but there has been a history of violence both in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Those days should be over. For good. At least they should, if we’ve learned anything as sports fans.

Rivalry ? Keep it going. Smack talk ? Cool. Tossing popcorn ? Infantile but not the worst thing in the world. Laying a hand on your fellow baseball fan ? Verboten.

Feeling unsafe for wearing your team’s jersey in an opposing stadium ? Extremely uncool. That must end, now.

Fans in Los Angeles, San Francisco and elsewhere need to honor Stow and his family by using that filter that tells us not to do something stupid. Then they need to continue funding Stow’s medical costs. Finally, they need to keep praying for Stow, and thank the stars it wasn’t them.

Women > Men

April 6

I’m going to say something I never thought I would say: women’s hoops was more entertaining than men’s hoops this week. In their Final Four, the women gave you the lovely Skylar Diggins, the spirited champions, the Texas A & M Aggies, and games over 70 points. The men gave you … ugly.

I had a great time at the men’s Final Four in Houston … really, the trip of a lifetime, a terrific experience. I just wish the basketball was better. I got a close-up look at the hoops version of “Gangs of New York” : brutal and unsightly. The only thing missing was blood.

They say defense wins championships ? Well, you gotta put the ball in the hoop, too. Butler played terrific defense, holding UConn to 53 points, and 34 percent shooting from the floor.

The only problem was, Butler couldn’t hit the side of Reliant Field. They lose by a peach basket-like score of 53-41. A very poor advertisement for college basketball.

Some observations from around the nation …

Dan Wetzel: “It would be mean to describe last night’s game as ugly. Let’s just say it had a good personality.”

Stephon Johnson: “Tonight’s MVP? The rims. Played great defense tonight.”

Clark Kellogg: “It’s like watching paint dry.” Jim Nance: “That’s not fair to paint.”

I have never seen a game … high school, college, pro … even the Mupu School 3rd graders I coached in Santa Paula in 1980 … where a team shot 18 percent for a game.

My prediction of a Butler win would have looked great if the Bulldogs had even managed to shoot 30 percent from the floor. Too much to ask. If they were trying to hit the rim, they shot 80 percent.

Depth perception seemed to be a problem for everyone at cavernous Reliant, which Facebook friend Shaun Piersol says should be renamed “The Brickhouse.” Even in victory, Most Outstanding Player Kemba Walker went 5-for-19. Also, these were some of the tightest rims I’ve seen … the basketball acted like a superball.

UConn deserves some credit for tough defense: they made Kentucky miss a lot, too. Their length inside definitely bothered Butler. It bothered the Bulldogs to the point that they began missing easy shots, too.

Kemba Walker will be an NBA player but too often, the college game is a clang-fest. The one-and-done rule is a big reason. Too many talented players are gone after a year. Anyone who is any good goes pro.

Players should get the option to enter the NBA out of high school, but if they go to college they should be required to stay more than a year. Let them refine their game and actually try to get an education, and don’t make a mockery of college by having players attend classes for one semester and then check out.

That rule change would not completely solve the problem but I think it would help. Too many talented players also spend a lot of time with AAU teams, where they don’t get the quality coaching they need. We’ve got a lot of great dunkers and drivers, but few good all-around players.

Then, when players get to college, they have to adjust to a very structured game controlled by coaches. The coaches are the big-money guys, and the coaching cult gives them power.

They become control freaks to justify their salaries, and the free-flowing game basketball should be is strangled to death. Players are constantly looking over to the bench for instructions, turning the game into a half-court crawl.

Even John Wooden’s teams at UCLA didn’t take much time putting up a shot. They would employ the full-court press to pick up the pace and demoralize opponents, and back in an era of no three-point shots, they would often score 100 points. Of course, talent helps, as well.

Talent is lacking in college hoops, and the style of play is too stilted. And where are the shooters ?

One of them was standing at center court at Reliant Field during halftime Monday night, introduced as part of the Hall of Fame Class of 2011: Chris Mullin. His era seems like a long time ago.

If nothing else, maybe Monday night’s snoozer was a wake-up call for college ball.

Houston Diary

April 3

Greetings from Houston, not as bad as I thought it would be …

Snapshots from this weekend:

Eating at Don Shula’s inside the Hyatt Friday night, and reading the steak menu on a special football autographed by Shula, commemorating the unbeaten Dolphins. Geez, that page will never be turned. I thought they would bring me some champagne to celebrate.

Seeing a guy dressed as Col. Sanders on Saturday at the Hilton. He even sounded like him. I asked him to say, “no lie, free cherry pie.” He also had free fried chicken. The Colonel is a friend of mine. I didn’t ask him which Final Four team he was rooting for …

Making the eight-block walk to my work hotel and losing ten pounds. And it’s only April. Summers in Houston must be a delight.

Rolling up to the Astrodome/Reliant Field complex for the Final Four Saturday. The Astrodome is big, but it resembles a B cup to Reliant’s triple-D. If you wanted to get lost in Reliant, you could — easily.

Slithering into a courtside seat, although I don’t think I was supposed to be there. Head on a swivel for two games. What a view of the elevated court.

The tremendous spirit of the VCU fans, and that song, “you don’t wanna go to war with the Rams.” It’s still in my head.

The Butler bulldog mascot on court during the introductions. He wouldn’t stop barking. Guess the sound of 75-thousand people was a bit unnverving. Good thing he didn’t take a dump.

The clang-fest that was the first game. Bad shooters’ background in a huge stadium ? Elevated court ? Good defense ? Tight rims ? Nervousness ? I’ll discount the shooters’ background because both VCU and Butler shot in the 30’s from three point range, fairly respectable. There were also many missed layups.

Butler surging ahead in the second half behind Shelvin Mack and Ollie from “Hoosiers.” Zack Hahn is the closest I’ve seen to Ollie, but his eight big points midway through the second half were very un-Ollie-like.

The clang-fest that was the second game, at least for Kentucky in the first half, when they made just 9 of 32 shots. Then the second half comeback before the fade at the end. Brandon Knight didn’t take the shot to tie in the final minute … he was 6 for 23 and was out of gas, having played 40 minutes. Deandre Liggins’ heave hit the front rim, and Kentucky fell short.

( It’s OK, the title would’ve been vacated anyway. )

Watching John Calipari at court level. The word animated does not begin to describe him, and I’m sure it bothers opponents.

Big-time players coming up in big games: Shelvin Mack for Butler, Jamie Skeen for VCU, and Kemba Walker of UConn. But for the Huskies, Shabazz Napier came up with the biggest plays in the final minutes — his only 4 points of the game and a big rebound.

On Sunday, following a red-hot Phil Mickelson at the Houston Open, then escaping an angry crowd waiting for shuttle buses. I walked by them, behind two tournament officials, while riled up Texans yelled at me and a couple of others to “git back in lahn.”

Screw the buses, I’m taking a taxi back into town. If I can outrun the bullets. There would have been an Aubrey Huff chalk outline of me.

Rolling up just in time to see the Rockets keep their slim playoff hopes alive with a comeback win over the Hawks. The Rockets’ PA announcer, John Paul Stevenson, is hilarious. Over-the-top excitement when a Rocket scores, sounding like a funeral director when the Hawks score.

Back to the Hyatt for a nightcap. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar walks in. Everyone’s head turns in the hotel lobby. I dont think I’d like that kind of reaction everywhere I went.

Monday night, the NCAA owns the spotlight.

Conventional wisdom says UConn should own the trophy, in what may be Jim Calhoun’s swan song, for his third national title — putting him in elite company. The name Nate Miles shall not be uttered. However, the Huskies’ Kemba Walker is worn out and Butler coach Brad Stephens is a whiz at breaking down film — Butler will win on the strength of three-pointers, Shelvin Mack, and a good interior defense.