So...Are You Alive?

Sorry for the long delay. I know. If you run a Giants blog, you shouldn't be having long "Freddy Sanchez Hitting a Home Run"-esque droughts in July and August, the heart of the season. But there have been a variety of factors I can't control (e.g. work, no internet access, etc.) that have prevented me from posting. That being said, new REGULAR posts will be coming back starting today. With so many Giants blogs out there, I'm sure you haven't missed out, but I just wanted to give a heads up.

Let's make it two in a row against the Cubbies. Who would've thought three years ago they would be this bad?

Poll Results Recap: Top Prospect, Giants 2010 Predictions and 2009 Giants MVP

By tomorrow, three polls will be removed from the blog and replaced by some new ones. (What are they? How many will there be? You have to find out!) So, in the true spirit of polls, I'm going to list the results and recap some of my feelings about some of the results.

(P.S. Thank you so much for voting!)

Poll No. 1: Who was the San Francisco Giants MVP in 2009?

Pablo Sandoval: 37 votes (64 percent).
Tim Lincecum: 16 votes (28 percent).
Matt Cain: 1 vote (one percent).
Brian Wilson: 0 votes (zero percent...duh!)
Jeremy Affeldt: 3 votes (five percent).
Bengie Molina: 0 votes (zero percent...it should have been lower though).
Somebody else (though you must be high): 0 votes (zero percent...thought somebody would be a smart aleck here).

Reactions: For the most part, I agreed with the poll here. Yes, Lincecum won the Cy Young, but Sandoval was a.) an everyday player and b.) the most dynamic, promising and productive offensive player since Barry Bonds. I was surprised by Wilson getting no votes. Sure, he's no Robb Nen yet, but considering all the criticism I have received for "not believing" (e.g. stating stats) on Wilson, I figured at least one or two guys would vote for him. I was also surprised by Affeldt receiving three votes as well. Two more votes than Matt Cain? Come on. Holds shouldn't matter that much.


Poll No. 2: How Will the San Francisco Giants Do Next Season (2010)?

Improve and Make the Playoffs: 30 votes (61 percent).
Stay Around the Same: 10 votes (20 percent).
Do a Little Worse, but Not Too Bad: 7 votes (14 percent).
Tank Like the 2008 Seattle Mariners: 2 votes (four percent).

Reactions: We have a lot of optimistic Giants fans following this blog and you know what? I like it! I know one of the voters that voted for the latter (and it was a joke) so to only get one person to vote on the last category to me is a promising sign for 2010. (Whether or not that optimism will be a realized reality in 2010 is another question though).


Poll No.3: Which San Francisco Giants Rookie/Prospect are you most looking forward to in 2010?

Buster Posey: 18 votes (30 percent).
Thomas Neal: 10 votes (16 percent).
Madison Bumgarner: 21 votes (35 percent).
Brett Pill: 0 votes (zero percent).
Steve Johnson: 0 votes (zero percent).
Kevin Pucetas: 0 votes (zero percent).
Dan Runzler: 2 votes (three percent).
Waldis Joaquin: 0 votes (zero percent).
Henry Sosa: 0 votes (zero percent).
Conor Gillaspie: 0 votes (zero percent).
Ryan Rohlinger: 0 votes (zero percent).
Darren Ford: 1 votes (one percent).
Francisco Peguero: 0 votes (zero percent).
Brandon Crawford: 2 votes (three percent).
Nick Noonan: 1 vote (one percent).
Roger Kieschnick: 2 votes (three percent).
Angel Villalona (Nah...I'm Just Kidding, I Know Nothing Happening With this Guy After What Happened): 2 votes (three percent).

Reactions: Bumgarner took an early lead in this poll, but after a down Spring Training, he lost a lot of ground to Neal and Posey. If I had given this poll another week or two, I seriously think Posey would have surpassed Bumgarner. A couple of surprises? Crawford, Noonan and Kieschnick getting a combined five votes (all guys are a year or two from seriously contributing at the Major League level) while Dan Runzler, who could be a breakout reliever next season, only got two. I guess people are really looking down the line, huh? My opinion about it? I like Noonan (still young), I'm undecided about Kieschnick (strikes out too much) and I'm not the biggest fan of Crawford (his season in San Jose was probably more flukish than telling).

A new San Francisco Giants blog

Since I have been covering anything and everything on the San Francisco Giants for the past couple of months, I wanted to dedicate a blog to everything and anything concerning this Giants baseball team. Basically, this will try to be a place where you can find things about the Giants, both past, present and future as well as other posts on the sport of baseball in general (yet for the most part, it will be about the Giants).

I will still continue to write for my old blog, the Ex-Call Taker (although not as much) and Bleacher Report. However, the reason I want to write to this blog is because I want to be more free and less rigid in my writing style. The great thing about Bleacher Report is that you get great feedback, and it is a great forum to get exposure to your writing. At the same time, things can get rigid. They emphasize a lot of things that can really tighten you're writing, and I just want to have a place where I don't have to write articles with continuous short paragraphs, and have everything edited to a tee.

So here's a place where you'll find everyday analysis and observations on the Giants throughout the year. A lot of it will be heavily biased, slightly humored, slightly offbeat, but I think it will be a good forum for anybody that loves the sport of baseball, and this San Francisco Giants organization.

(Note: this is technically the first post in the blog. All the other posts are imported from my other one, the Ex-Call Taker, because they are baseball-centric. So if you're confused why this seems to come out of nowhere, you now know).