I used to have poor eyesight. Without corrective lenses, I couldn't do anything. Then Kevin Frandsen was called up to the majors. Now I have 20/20 vision.
Exaggerating? Just a little. But a lot of die-hard Giants fans have been waiting for something like Frandsen's arrival, so forgive us if we overreact. The horrors of the Giants farm system have been well documented here. Because I don't like other humans, allow me to present a list of the best position players to be developed by the Giants since the "You've Gotta Like These Kids!" days of 1986:
C - Doug Mirabelli
1B - Damon Minor
2B - Mike Benjamin
SS - Royce Clayton
3B - Bill Mueller
LF - Marvin Benard
CF - Chris Singleton
RF - Armando Rios
Twenty years. That list draws from twenty years of drafting and foreign-born free agents. Twenty years. I think I've even compiled this exact list before, but I'm doing it again because it will never cease to amaze me. Two decades. About a thousand players drafted, and a couple hundred more signed as international free agents. That's the list of the successes.
So now the Giants have a prospect who is:
- A position player who shot through the minors.
- A local kid.
- Constantly compared to San Francisco favorite Robby Thompson.
And we all have stars in our eyes. That's a good thing. I could hardly think of a worse time to be cynical. Frandsen is ready to start right now? Sure, I can believe that. Frandsen is going to be an All-Star next year? Hey, I don't see why not. Frandsen's road to 4,257 hits will be marked with two different 60-game hitting streaks? Makes sense to me. Watching an organizational product go 3-for-4 in his debut will always be a special kind of excitement.
The Giants had a great series against the Diamondbacks, taking two out of three. Frandsen was on base in every game. The organization desperately needs help from the farm to make it through the post-Barry era, and they could use a little help right now. It's a nice time to have a young player to hope for.
An objective analyst might expect an aggressive rookie like Frandsen to struggle in his initial turn with the big club. Maybe that's a logical thing to think. But logic's going to have to go stag for this dance. When the competition is Pedro Feliz and Ray "Hamstrings of Polenta" Durham, it's probably a healthy thing to start up with the irrational wishcasting.
Now don't get hurt like Brian Wilson did, Kevin.