I'm back

I've returned from what I hope is a rare break for the tax rush. First things first: a few notes on our Giants and their start.

The Giants beat the Rockies today to move their record to 6-5. All this proves so far is that without Bonds and Alou they can beat the Rockies and can’t beat the Dodgers. We can only hope the Giants can hang around .500 without those guys.

Obviously the offense is completely different with Bonds in the lineup because it makes everyone hitting around he more dangerous. He’s disappeared from the news in the first two weeks of the season, presumably because baseball beat writers finally have something else worthy of print.

Meanwhile, it’s still early, but the starting pitching does not look like it stinks. Discount Lowry’s start in Denver – even Schmidt got roughed up there yesterday. Tomko does not look quite in synch, but he’s throwing hard and I think he’s almost there. Jerome Williams may be the key, though he’s still a question mark. He had a great outing, but missed start #2 because there were too many off days this week. We’ll see him again in a couple of days, and it could be a sign of where this staff is headed.

Down on the farm, Brad Hennessey, Jesse Foppert and Matt Cain have all gotten off to good starts in Fresno. Hennessey and Foppert are not lighting it up there (too many walks) but their strikeout totals are high and their ERA’s are low. Cain has one start, 6 innings for the win giving up 3 hits one walk and no runs while striking out 7. Who knows, he could be up this year, particularly if Woody doesn’t start winning games.

One note about those Dodgers: Jeff Kent is a player. He looks to have singlehandedly changed the attitude of that team, or maybe just of the press about them. With the changes they've made since July of last season, they had become a laughingstock, but at 9-2 look who's laughing now. I've come to thinking that Jeff Kent is a lock HOF'er. He is probably the best offensive 2nd baseman since Jackie Robinson, and possibly Rogers Hornsby. And I think he's doing some role modelling for volatile Milton Bradley who looks like the real thing all of a sudden. These guys are going to be in the race.