They live in the National League West, baseball's slacker neighborhood filled largely with underachievers and reprobates.
They see what you see, a big, gaping hole with the potential for a serious power outage in the middle of the Los Angeles Dodgers lineup.
Yet 12 games into Manny Ramirez's suspension, the biggest move the San Francisco Giants have made is not in the standings, but in the leadoff spot in their beleaguered lineup.
"We've nicknamed it 'The Cooler' spot," manager Bruce Bochy jokes wanly of the slot that is reducing potential leadoff hitters into little more than ice sculptures by the Bay. "We've been trying different guys. We think Emmanuel Burriss can do it."
The Giants have 50 games to out-flank the Dodgers while Manny can't come outside to play.
Fifty games to take advantage of what, to them, can be an incredible gift.
They know this.
"It certainly creates a sense of urgency to take some games from them," closer Brian Wilson says. "I think we can still compete with them whether he's on the team or not, but there's an opportunity now."
"They may not get that big home run," starter Matt Cain says. "They may not get that big inning that maybe he can spark."
When Ramirez was silenced on May 7, the Giants were second in the NL West, trailing the Dodgers by 6½ games.
Since then, while the Dodgers have gone 7-5, the Giants have gone ... 6-6.
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| The Giants hope Emmanuel Burriss blossoms into an effective leadoff hitter. (Getty Images) |
Tick, tick, tick ... 38 games left to seize the moment while the Dodgers are minus Manny.
"If we can win series, things will fall into place," Wilson says. "We can't focus on another team unless we can win series."
Though they are running in place in the divisional race, the Giants lately have been winning those series. Of their past 10, they are 7-1-2.
The biggest challenge right now, offensively, is to find someone to click in the leadoff spot. Burriss, 24, might be their best option, but it's clear he's going to need time to grow into the role. In five games in the No. 1 spot last week, he batted .148 (4-for-27). Overall, he's hitting .252 with a .324 on-base percentage.
Outfielder Fred Lewis has made the most appearances in the leadoff slot (16) but is hitting just .197 there. In 14 appearances atop the order, Randy Winn is hitting .236.
Bochy prefers Winn batting fifth, behind cleanup hitter Bengie Molina, largely because it lends what little beef the Giants have to the middle of their order.
Scoring runs always was going to be the challenge for these Giants, who hit the fewest homers in the majors last summer and are on pace to do the same in 2009. Their 20 homers into Tuesday night's games also was the fewest in the majors, behind 29th-place Oakland's 23 (that Bay Area air must be especially heavy this spring). With Travis Ishikawa getting most of the starts at first base, the Giants remain the only team in the majors without a home run from that position.
The Giants ranked 14th in the NL with 150 runs scored, ranking just ahead of San Diego (145) and Arizona (144).
When they squeeze out four or more runs in a game, they're 12-5.
"Our goal should be to score three or four runs a game and let the pitchers do their job," veteran infielder Rich Aurilia says.
Then there's this: The Giants, in one of the game's oddest numbers, are 15-0 when they score first. (The last team to start a season so well when scoring first was the 1992 Mets, who were 18-0).
"We'll have to play small ball in the first inning," Aurilia says, grinning.
They'll have to do something to push runs across the plate if they don't want to blow this opportunity. They've done a nice job recovering from a painfully slow start, going 17-10 since April 17 after a 2-7 start. They've won seven games when scoring three or fewer runs (most in the majors). Their pitchers have combined for five shutouts, tied for second most in the majors.
But barring some freak injury or development, the Dodgers will never be more vulnerable this summer than they are right now. And the Giants are treading water.
"The only thing we can control here is us playing, and what we do," Bochy says. "They're a good ballclub without Manny. ... I don't think that needs to be talked about.
"Our concern is winning ballgames. If you have that attitude, at the end of the year, you'll be OK."
Besides, there is one other little ingredient at work here. ...
"If we can stop Juan Pierre from being so hot," Cain jokes.
Since stepping in for Ramirez, Pierre, into Tuesday night's game, was hitting .429 (21-for-49) with seven doubles, nine RBI, six steals and 13 runs scored.
"They're putting in a pretty good player," Bochy says. "I didn't think he was going to hit .500.
"He's been a one-man wrecking crew."
Fifty games, Giants.
Use your time wisely.
