The Milwaukee Brewers remind me of the 1997 Giants in some ways. Most noticeably, they started out hot, and they ended August with blood coming out of their collective ears. For the '97 Giants, it was the Montreal Expos that killed them, as guys like Mike Lansing and Mark Grudzielanek are still hitting doubles somewhere at this very moment off of Osvaldo Fernandez. For the Brewers, it was the 2007 Giants -- a team that had a lineup so bad, that Pedro Feliz hitting cleanup probably was the best option. I kind of feel bad. If the analogy follows suit, though, the Brewers will win their division. If the analogy really follows suit, the Brewers will lose one of the playoff games when Dave Krynzel's throw from centerfield hits the pitching mound.

So the Giants are winning again. That's...something. Because Ricky Watters can never be quoted enough in a situation like this: For whom? For what? Why should any of us be excited about this 10-game bowl of scraps tossed over the kennel fence? When a team is out of a playoff race, wouldn't it make sense to hope for a better draft pick?

A winning streak like this will always give hope for the future, regardless on how fleeting that might be. The young pitchers are improving noticeably. Barry Zito has only been a waste of money over his past few starts, and not a waste of a uniform. Dan Ortmeier and Kevin Frandsen aren't embarrassing themselves. Brian Wilson and Brad Hennessey are doing well. Kevin Correia looks as if he could contribute to an organization as a starter, which makes him much more valuable. I like to watch the Giants win. Winning streaks are, like, super cool and stuff. Playoffs or no playoffs, that's as simple as it gets.

The only time draft position should even be mentioned as a positive is after a loss. That kind of talk makes sense only as a consolation prize. As in, dang, that loss kind of ripped my soul from me, did the Charleston on my soul, and then started tinkling on my soul, but, hey, there's always the draft picks!3-2!!!5x.2!!! Because there's nothing worse than a weenie who is actively rooting for their team to lose for better draft standing. If the Giants had the #1 pick in '85 instead of #2, they might have taken B.J. Surhoff instead of Will Clark. If the Giants had the fourth pick in the 2006 draft, maybe we'd be more concerned about Brad Lincoln's elbow instead of Tim Lincecum's workload. During the past NBA season, there was a very vocal contingent of Warriors fans that was looking for the team to tank the rest of the season in order to try for Greg Oden or Kevin Durant. They ended up looking like moron non-fans. It's even worse when the uncertanties of a baseball draft are taken into account.

My point is this: I'm pretty confident this Giants team could beat the Mavericks in a best-of-five Division Series. And it's good to see the Giants winning, even if there is no particular goal for which to work.

Comment starter: Is there a particular thing you're happy about over this stretch of improved play?