Ghosts of Giants Past Visiting Game 5 of the NLCS

Heard some cool factoids in the media after the thrilling victory that propelled the Giants into the World Series for the third time in five seasons.  And they involve some old-time Giants helping the Giants of the Present in each home run.


ogc thoughts

First, off, Blanco shared a story on the radio about Panik before the game.  Apparently he wanted to get one up on Wainwright's cutter, so he pulled up on the Giants video system an old video of Mariano Rivera using his amazing cutter, except in this case, he gave up a homerun.  Panik just looped that sequence over and over again, watching Bill Mueller, former Giants but Red Sox in the video, blasting a home run over and over again.   Visualizing what you want to do, in this way, gives you some muscle memory, from what I've read (I think the A's Mitchell Page used to do that all the time, watch videos of him getting hits), and presumably helped Panik hit that two-run homer against Wainwright in Game 5.

Second story is shorter, and it involves Michael Morse.  Of course, he hasn't had a lot of ABs since getting healthy again, and like most players with the long layoff, he was a bit rusty, and so they put him into the instructional league to try to get into playing shape.  Today, Barry Bonds apparently was watching him and gave him some time about his foot, and he used that tip when he went up and hit his game-tying home run in Game 5.

Third story, and I'm cheating here, but Travis Ishikawa is the Ghost of Giants past and part of the Giants Present, saving the day and making up for his error, by hitting the ball to almost the exact place he hit his bases clearing double in the other game, only this time there was no wind and his ball just kept sailing up until it landed in the seats.  What an exciting mad dash for home plate for him (while he didn't need to score for the team to win, and he probably did not think of this either while running, but he would not be credited with a homerun if he didn't finish his run and touch home plate), the happiness washing over him, he must have been thinking about how this season just changed so much for him.

Earlier this season, after getting released by the Pirates so quickly - before the planned platoon had any time to gel, they dumped him after trading for a starting 1B, after like two weeks - he was not sure what he was going to do, he thought about retirement, as he has a wife and family of three waiting for him in San Jose, while he was playing in other parts of the country, unable to afford to fly them in to see him even once in a while.  But then the Giants called and offered him a minor league contract, and he was back in AAA Fresno, playing some 1B but also playing some LF/RF as well.  He had been playing some OF since the 2011 season, so it wasn't as foreign to him as some had made it out to be, but it's not like he accomplished there either.

But with all the injuries, the Giants brought him up for left-handed power off the bench, which he provided some, with 2 homers in 73 AB (roughly 20 homerun rate in a season).  He was basically a bench player for the rest of the season, getting an occasional start until the Giants came up with the idea of having him start in LF - necessity being the mother of invention, they finally realized that Morse wasn't returning to the lineup anytime soon, and they needed a LF.  He was with the Giants for basically two months (roughly $170K prorated min MLB salary), getting into only 47 games and getting only 14 starts.  He now has 9 games starting in LF during the playoffs, driving in 7 critical runs.

Ishikawa is a mixture of patience and aggression.  He can work walks, as he got 3 during these playoffs, but he also strikes out a lot.  But when he connects - BOOM! - it's going out!  I was watching the video of his homer in Game 5, and the way it flew (this is the part about his past), it reminded me of a blast he hit for the San Jose Giants way back when, there is this huge net past the fence, to protect the cars parked behind there from errant home runs, but he launched one so high and deep that it flew over that net and landed in the parking lot.

And it was his old patience and aggression that came together in this one at-bat for Ishi.  Belt, ahead of him, got four straight balls for a walk.  Ishi then got two more balls, for a total of six straight balls.  Most hitters would then wait for the pitcher to throw a strike before they are willing to swing at a pitch.  But Ishi saw one that he liked and he crushed it.

That is what a lot of saber wannabes don't get when they hopped on the OBP bandwagon:  walks are nice, but you need somebody who will aggressively swing at the ball when thrown into their happy zone.  Walks are not a good sign of a good hitter when the batter is not being aggressive in hitting the balls that are good to hit.  Bonds would wait a whole game for the other side's pitchers to make one mistake pitch to him, and then he pounced on it.  Even beyond that, hits are what drives in runs.  You are not going to score a lot of bases loaded walks to get a run, you need to hit the ball, get it into play, if you want to score (as the Giants showed during these playoffs, scoring over half their runs without a hit).  So while walks are good, you don't want a batter who cannot or will not do something when the ball is in his happy zone where he loves to hit the ball and get a single or more.

And now, after pondering retirement after the Pirates dropped him, he's the starting LF of the team headed to the World Series (not sure if that will continue in the World Series, with Morse supposedly ready, though since he hit so well, he'll at least start in the AL park against RHP, as Morse probably DH's in that situation).   In any case, by hitting this homerun he literally gave himself a huge boost in salary, perhaps as much as doubling it, as the money that goes to players on even the losing World Series team is a big jump over the money for the NLCS.