Bobby Thomson, the hero of the 1951 National League Championship and hitter of the shot heard ’round the world, passed away late Monday night at the age of 86 at his home in Savannah, Ga. He had been in failing health for a few years. Bobby Thomson hit his pennant clinching home run against the Brooklyn Dodgers on October 3rd with the giants down 4-2 in the bottom of the ninth with Whitey Lockman on second base and Clint Hartung at third on an 0-1 count. 1951 was an important year for the Giants for another reason. It was the year that Willie May’s joined the Giants which moved Thomson over to third base so Willie could play center. The Giants were behind the Dodgers by 13.5 in the middle of August but went on a 16 game winning streak and then went on a 12-1 streak to end the season.

Here is a transcript of the call by Russ Hodges when Thomson hit his legendary home run. “One out, last of the ninth, Branca pitches. Thomson takes a strike called, on the inside corner . . . Brooklyn leads it 4-2. Hartung down the line at third, not taking any chances. Lockman without too big of a lead at second, but he’ll be running like the win if Thomson hits one. Branca throws, there’s a long drive, it’s gonna be, I believe . . . The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! Bobby Thomson hits it into the lower deck of the left field stands! The Giants win the pennant and they’re going crazy! . . . Oh-ho! I don’t believe it! I don’t believe it! I will not believe it!”

The San Francisco Giants start a crucial three game series against the San Diego Padres tomorrow at 7:15. The Padres (67-46) are 2.5 games ahead of the Giants (66-50) in the National League West Standings. This is one of the three times the Giants play the Padres for the rest of the season. Earlier this week Jonathan Sanchez, who is starting the game for the Giants tomorrow guaranteed a sweep of the Padres and said if they get into first place, which they would if they sweep the Padres, they weren’t looking back. This is a very bold statement from someone like Sanchez but I defiantly think he can back it up.
In other Giants news. The Giants are still on top of the National League wildcard by one game over the Phillies and 1.5 games over the Reds.
The Giants traded minor leaguer Evan Crawford to the Cubs for utility infielder Mike Fontenot yesterday. He went 0-1 with a strikeout against his former team.
The Giants beat the Cubs today 8-7 with a walk-off single by Andres Torres in the bottom of the ninth. Pat Burrell and Pablo Sandoval had back-to-back home runs in the game and Pat Burrell also had a grand slam.

The Giants are going for a three game sweep of the Dodgers tonight. The game time was moved to around 5 o’clock Pacific so it could be broadcasted on ESPN’s Sunday night baseball. The last time the Giants had a chance to sweep the Dodgers in San Francisco was in 2006 and the last time they actually completed the sweep was in 2003. The other significant thing about 2003 is that it was the last time the Giants made the playoffs. It was also the year the Giants won 100 games in the regular season.

The San Francisco Giants aquifer left handed relief pitcher Javier Lopez from the Pirates for Joe Martinez. Lopez has a 2.79 ERA this year and I think this is a good trade for the Giants because they really needed a left handed pitcher. The trade deadline is officially over but news of trades is still coming in so I will write a new post if the Giants make another move.
UPDATE: John Bowker was included in this deal so it was a 2 for 1 trade.

The San Francisco Giants won again tonight putting them 1.5 games ahead of both the Cardinals and the Reds for first place in the National League Wild Card standings and only 2.5 games behind the Padres for first place in the NL West standings. The Giants are 57-44 this season and 10-4 since the all-star break. ESPN predicts that the Giants will come in first place in the National League West at the end of the season. This is now seeming VERY possible. This would be the first time the Giants are in the playoffs since 2003 when they won the National League West. I think that the Giants should make a move to either get a power hitter or a middle reliever at the July 31st trade deadline to help their push toward the post-season. This would be a huge help to the Giants but even of they don’t get either of these I think they will still be serious contenders and make it into the playoffs. Oh, just another thought, how sweet would it feel to sweep the Angels if they both get to the World Series. That may be a bit unlikely for this season but in a few years when the Giants are tearing up the NL West and are a 95 win team then it would feel great to get revenge.
As I mentioned in the title Buster Posey extended his hitting streak to 20 games today. That is tied for the longest hitting streak by anyone this season and is second all time for Giants rookies behind Willie McCovey who hit safely for 22 games in a row. Just a fun fact, if Posey continues this streak he would tie Joe DiMaggio’s streak of 56 on September 5th against the Dodgers. The Giants franchise longest hit streak is held by George Davis who hit safely in 33 straight games with the New York Giants but I have not been able to find the San Francisco Giants all time hit streak holder so if anyone comes across it I would be grateful if they could leave a comment saying what it is.
I will do my best to post more than I have for the past few weeks and I will also post as once as I find out any news about moves the Giants make during the trade deadline. I am also going to try to blog at least weekly about the Giants and what progress they make.
UPDATE: The San Francisco Giants longest hit streak is 26 straight games by Jack Clark.

The Milwaukee Brewers have asked the Giants for either Jonathan Sanchez or Madison Bumgarner in exchange for Corey Hart. The Giants are very understandable hesitant to complete this trade because pitching is a very important part of their game. I think if they were going to trade either of the two they should trade Sanchez because I think Bumgarner will be the better pitcher in the long run. I will update as I get more news on this subject.

Now that the Giants have reached the unofficial halfway point of the season, a.k.a. the all-star break, it is time for me to do what I did last year and write a midseason report reviewing the first half of the 2010 season. I will do this in the same format as I did last year.

The Giants are 47-41 and in fourth place in the National League West. They are four games behind the division leading San Diego Padres and only two games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers and Colorado Rockies. The Giants are also only two games behind the Rockies and Dodgers in the National League wild card.

Club MVP: I think the club MVP has to be Aubrey Huff. Huff is having a great season. He has 90 hits in 305 at bats and he has a .295 batting average. He also has an OPS of .929. The Giants are hoping to resign him for next year but will not talk about possible contract deals until the end of the season.

Call Him “Ace”: I think this has to go to Tim Lincecum even though he has been struggling, by his standards, for the past few starts. Lincecum is 9-4 with a 3.16 ERA and 131 strikeouts. He is not having as great a season as last year (tied for 1st place in the Major leagues for K’s with 149, tied for 4th in wins with 10, and in 3rd for ERA with 2.33 in the first 81 games of the season) but he still is having the best season for a Giants pitcher.

Greatest Strength:I think the greatest strength for the Giants is probably Buster Posey. He is having a great season so far and he is probably going to continue being a huge factor for the Giants.

Biggest Problem: Probably the biggest problem for the Giants is their record against their own division. They are 9-20 against the National League West and that NEEDS to improve if they want to make the playoffs. Just a side note: 38-21 against everyone out of their division.

Biggest Surprise: I think the two biggest surprises have been the Giants trading Bengie Molina and Buster Posey getting off to a very hot start. Just a few weeks ago the Giants Traded Bengie Molina to the Rangers for two right handed relief pitchers.

Team Needs: I think the most important thing the Giants need to do is trade for a power hitter. The trade deadline is on July 31st and I think that before the deadline passes they need to trade for someone who can provide more power in the middle of the line up. Buster Posey has been doing an amazing job and is very hot right now but he shouldn’t have to be asked to carry a major league team this early in his career.

Mark Your Calendar: September 14-16, September 24-26, and October 1-3. The September 14-16 series is the last time the Giants play the Dodgers and if the division stays close, which I bet it will, it could be one of the best chances for the Giants to break ahead of the Dodgers. The September 24-26 series is the last time the Giants play the Rockies in the regular season and, like the Dodgers series, it may be the best opportunity for the Giants to break ahead of the Rockies. The October 1-3 series may be the most important series of the season and very easily could decide who makes it to the playoffs. That series is the last series against the Padres who have had a really good first half and will probably continue playing well. If this would be the last chance for the Giants to either guarantee the giants a spot in the post season or even force a division deciding three game series.

Fearless Second-Half Prediction: I predict that the National League West will continue to be very close and my even need a deciding three game series at the end of the season to come out with a winner. I also think, and hope, that the Giants will end up trading for a power hitter (there have been talks about getting Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder, or Corey Hart) who will provide the extra power the Giants need to come out onto of the division.

I will make this short and simple.
I think Spain will beat the Netherlands 2-1 in the World Cup finals and I think Germany will win the third place game 2-0.

So now that the Bengie Molina trade has sunk in and Buster Posey is 4-7 in the past two games (the first two games without Bengie) and has started at catcher once and will probably catch every other day the question comes up on whether this was really a good trade. The Giants traded Bengie Molina and $2 million to the Rangers for Chris Ray and Michael Main who are both right-handed pitchers. The biggest problem with this trade is that the Giants do not need more pitching they need hitting! The Giants have very good pitching and improving that would be great if the Giants had a better hitters. With inadequate hitters you are asking the pitchers to pitch 0-2 run games each time they pitch. That is way to much to ask from any pitcher. Thankfully the Giants still have a lot of time before the trade-deadline, which is July 31st, to make a few more moves and get better hitting.

I was watching the game today and I realized something, as I have mentioned earlier in this post Posey is 4-7 since Bengie Molina was traded and in the five games before Molina was traded Posey was 1-13. I do not know if this is a coincidence or if his having better plate appearances has anything to do with Molina being gone but what ever it is I hope it continues to effect Posey because once the Giants have the other hitter they need to get at the trade-deadline it could create a very nice 1-2 punch in the lineup.

The Giants recently announced that they have traded everyday catcher Bengie Molina to the Texas Rangers for right handed pitcher Chris Ray and a player to be named later. The Giants will also send an additional $2 million with Molina to cover both his and Chris Ray’s contracts. The trade has not been made completely official yet because it still needs to be reviewed by the commissioner (I have no idea why it needs to be reviewed and if anyone does if they could leave a comment explaining that would be much appreciated).
This trade should open up more time for Buster Posey to play catcher which he has only had the opportunity to play a few times this season. This also opens up the question for who is going to be the starting first-baseman for the Giants. First base is Aubrey Huff’s usual position but he has been playing outfield for the past few week so Posey can play. Another option for first base is Pablo Sandoval who has been playing the positions for the past few games.
This season Chris Ray has played in 35 games, has given up 24 hits, has 12 runs against him (4 of which have been home runs), has given up 16 walks, has struck out 16 batters and has a 3.41 ERA. Even though it will be great to see Posey behind the plate I am going to miss Bengie Molina who caught time Lincecum for most of his two CY Young award winning seasons. I wish Bengie the best of luck with the Rangers and I hope he does very well and has a good rest of his career (and doesn’t beat the Giants).

Another little note about the Giants, All-Star voting closes on July 1 at 11:59 eastern time so if you haven’t voted yet and still want to you have until then. There is a maximum of 25 times for each email account. And remember to Vote Giants!

UPDATE: ESPN has announced that the trade is official. Still no word on who the player to be named it.

UPDATE: It has been announced that the Giants also received Michael Main in this trade.