Friday BP, 8/30/19

Good morning, McCoven!

For certain stretches of this season, it has felt as though the 2019 Giants might break the mold set over the last two seasons of mediocre baseball. At first, it seemed like they were going to be exceptionally bad! Which, while not fun to watch, would at least set our expectations accordingly.

But then they had to go and be ridiculously good in July and screw it all up in terms of setting expectations. All of a sudden it was Wild Card wishes and Even Year dreams. I think for most of us those dreams, if we had them even momentarily, have been laid to rest. And it turns out that this year’s team is just aggressively mediocre. Just like the last three before them, but in new and (sometimes) exciting ways. The boost in home runs has been fun, at least.

So it’s time to establish some new goals:

• Get Bruce Bochy his 2,000th managerial win, dammit. Much like the Giants over the last few years, Bochy’s win/loss record is sitting roughly below .500, but I think the Giants can win eight more games for their skip.
• See at least two players hit 20 home runs. How weird is it that this feels like one of least lofty goals?
• Finish above .500. Admittedly, that goal is looking loftier each day. To finish above .500, they would have to win 17 of their last 29 games and I don’t know if they’ve got that in them.
• Throw an epic three day party for Bruce Bochy during the final series that just never stops. Sure, the players may come and go to sleep between games. But the party at Oracle should just keep going. Bochy can break out all that alcohol he’s been receiving throughout the season, shout “YOLO!” and dive headlong into the slip & slide along the foul lines between games. Or during games, they won’t matter. And sure, the Dodgers will be in town, but at least they can’t clinch on our field again.