During spring training, he began power walking for 12 minutes on the treadmill with an incline and now he's up to 20 or 25 minutes.

TWELVE minutes!!! Jesus Christ... WALKING??? I could power walk for 12 minutes in my sleep, and I'm in the worst shape of my life.

What an amazing athlete.

On the other hand, it is nice to see that he actually is losing weight and actually is getting stronger, and actually because of effort. We'll see how it goes. So far, meh ummm, kinda, well, not bad...

"Armando Benitez strolled through the clubhouse one day last week with humongous headphones over his ears and wearing the shiny black workout shirt he credits for helping him burn fat fast.

As in 25 pounds since the start of spring training."

So it seems he didn't report in tip-top shape like alot of Benitez apologists were telling us during Spring Training.  Why not show up in shape and work from there?  He only had a full-offseason to lose the weight, and he decided that he'd rather lose the 25 pounds in a little over two months.  Really f'ing smart buddy....

"The next day, he bounced around the room grinning as he ordered teammates to pay their fines into a cardboard box where he stores the cash for safekeeping."

Was said cardboard box filled with doughnuts?

"Gone are the signs of anxiety surrounding San Francisco's closer, and the days when he got booed in his own ballpark almost from the moment he began warming up in the bullpen -- then even nastier chants once he headed to the mound."

Um....not really.  I have spent all weekend trying to get my voice back from booing this pile of shite during the game on Friday night.  Furthermore, I would assume it was a 30/70 split for people who were booing him and those that weren't.  

"Gone are the extra pounds he carried on his 6-foot-4 frame, and gone are the aches in his arthritic knees and tender hamstrings that made it difficult to do the workouts necessary to improve his fitness level. His right knee was so bad last year he could barely put pressure on it."

Mighty interesting comment considering he's in the final year of a contract.  

"The Giants can count on Benitez coming through in the ninth again. That's after they tried to get rid of him this winter only to learn there weren't many interested teams."

Really?!?  Nobody was interested?!?  What was the deal with Seattle and Florida then?  Something tells me that if Brian Wilson impresses in the spring, he'd be our closer, and Mando would be a problem for some other poor team.

"Benitez assured manager Bruce Bochy he could go out again Sunday if needed when Matt Cain got into some trouble in the ninth before finishing a three-hitter in a 2-1 win, the Giants' season-best fifth in a row."  

I'm sure he let Bochy know he was good to go as well.  Good on him for not letting Mando soil Matty's excellent performance yesterday.  Isn't Mando the same guy who sent himself to the bullpen during more than a few games last year?!?

"Early in spring training, he was a little different," said catcher Bengie Molina, in his first season working with the pitcher. "But when he started pitching, I saw the same guy. He told us he was ready to ready to go and he wanted to prove to everybody he could pitch. He's doing really well."

This is the same catcher who after Friday's game went to the media and said how he must work especially hard to reign in Mando when he's in the game...to keep him focused.  

"It looks like his velocity to an extent is back," Arizona manager Bob Melvin said. "It's not 99 where it used to be, but when you see 94-95, the bravado's back. For closers, there's a lot of psychology that plays into it. For him, I'm sure he likes to see his velocity back."

94-95?!? Uh huh...just keep telling yourself he was throwing that kind of gas.

"While the fans have been mostly supportive so far, they might be only one blown save from turning on him."

You can sure as hell bet we're one blown save away from laying into him.  

"While it makes sense for Benitez to be back in form considering he's in a contract year, he also was on a mission to show everyone that he can still be a reliable ninth-inning option and that the biggest difference for him now is just being healthy again."  

Who are you trying to kid?  We all the the only reason he's "working hard" is because it is a contract year, and there's not many out there that are willing to pay him what we have for the past few years.

"During spring training, he began power walking for 12 minutes on the treadmill with an incline and now he's up to 20 or 25 minutes. The Giants' training staff is preaching the importance of sticking to his routine and smart diet."

Wow...12 minutes WALKING on a treadmill.  And this guy is a professional athlete earning more than 7 Million a year?  I reckon I could do that too...so where's my money?

"The manager knows what he has," Benitez said. "He has confidence in me. Everybody in the room believes in what I can do. (Bochy) has given me an opportunity, and I don't want to disappoint anybody. ... Papi's back."

Stop calling yourself Papi!  You lack originality and there's a Mr. Ortiz on the phone who would like to issue you a challenge.  The winner shall get an exclusive and lucritive deal to trademark "Papi".

Is there such a thing as "trim 250 pounds"?  He'd have to be pure muscle.

No more hotpocket/krispy kreme snacks for fatmando, he's the Giants' version of Subway's Jared.

I guess since he hasn't blown a save yet, we can't really complain.  but until he is capable of having a 1-2-3 ninth inning, he can't be considered reliable.

Keep doing your job of racking up the wins for the Giants Benitez.

Did anybody hear Molina's take on Mando on KNBR last Friday after the "save" or as I like to call it the "only semi-shitting the bed appearance?"

Molina said that it is tough with Mando and that you have to be constantly on him every single pitch to keep his head on what he is doing.

WTF!!!

We pay this guy bags of cash and he can't keep his head on what he is doing?

Doctor to family: Well we did everything we could but your son has passed.

Family: But you were just removing his tonsils.

Doctor: yeah but I was having a hard time concentrating and I slipped a couple of times. I really need the nurses to watch me and make sure I keep paying attention.