As long as I've been a fan of the Giants (first game, 1987, age 6 yr. old) the Giants have loooooved bringing in veteran talent over the offseason, before the trade deadline, post-trade deadline waiver pickups, etc. The Giants have always loooooved the gritty veteran presence in their lineup. Many a veteran has gritted and grinded his way through the twilight of his career in a Giants uniform.
Gary Carter, Terry Kennedy, Dave Righetti, Danny Darwin, Darryl Strawberry, Joe Carter, Andres Galarraga (twice!), Dan Quisenberry, Ryan Klesko, Mike Stanton, Randy Johnson, Rich Aurilia, Jose Guillen (shudder), Steve Finley and on and on andonandonandon.
Sometimes it worked (2003 Galarraga!), sometimes it was Jose Guillen. But the intangibles. The intangibles. That's what these men have brought to the Giants over my lifetime. Sure, they may be slower on the field, sure some of them might not be actually...good...anymore...
But the intangibles are what these elder gentlemen have brought and will continue to bring to the table. That grounder that he didn't run out because he has two bad quads? Well behind closed doors he ran a really organized session of kangaroo court. That double that he legged into a 420 ft. single? Well, later that weekend he had a Nightmare on Elm Street marathon at his apartment and invited all the guys. They watched ALL of them, even the one with all the gay stuff.
Grit, Gumption, Horse Sense, Moxie, Presence, Get-Up-And-Go, they all had it!
Veteran Grittiness. I love the Giants, and I always will. They're in the playoffs right now and I'm tickled pink. Do we have gritty vetz this season? Of course. But we also have a bunch of Poseys and Bumgarners and Romos and Lincecums and Cains and Torreseses (32 yr. old, ahem) that have made me fall in love with them more than I can remember. Yes, there's torturous magic inside, but I've been glued to more Giants games this year than any season of my life.
So I'm going to blog about them. And baseball. And other stuff. I hope you want to read about all of the above.
Oh, and alternate names for the blog:
~Gettin' Cozy with Posey
~Bluster for Buster
~Total Whorres for Torres
~The Right Huff
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