I hate to kick a guy when he’s down – but I’ve been kicking Brian Wilson the entire season.  If the Giants’ PR / marketing folks weren’t always touting the guy as an elite closer, I probably wouldn’t be so passionate about exposing him for the pretender that he is.

Last night as Wilson came in, I watched the theatrics on the scoreboard showing him repeatedly flashing the “X” gesture and looking “intense.”  Raaaar …

Wilson would really have us believe that this ostentatious display is a gesture towards God?  I think it’s more directed towards creating this little persona that he’s working on.  Let me break something to you, Wilson – Zito can act Hollywood (despite his horrible struggles in recent years) because he has a Cy Young.  All you have is an ERA that’s unbecoming to closers, and a knack for getting hit extremely hard when a game is on the line.

One inning, a walk, three hits (two of them were *crushed*) and three earned runs.  Sabean – again, I implore you to unload this freak while he still has a little bit of trade value, use Affeldt as the closer, and try to get a real firstbaseman.

You especially hate to lose one that you led virtually the entire game.

And that’s how it *almost* went tonight for the Giants.  Cain surrendered a late home run that tainted an otherwise nice start, and then the Giants bullpen did its best to create a really disappointing loss.

Most disappointing in this near-loss was Howry.  Man… he is not turning out to be much of an asset in the bullpen.  With a one-run lead he walks a guy in the top of the eighth, and then leaves one fat out over the plate to Willingham (who *just* misses hitting it out to left).  Then he gives up a base hit and puts the tying run in scoring position.  Then he bounces a slider that Molina makes an outstanding stop on (to prevent the runners advancing to second and third).  And then leaves one over the plate to Belliard for a basehit that ties the game, before Affeldt is brought in and gives up TWO hard-luck infield singles that net three runs for the Nats.  So far with the Giants, Howry is a guy who tends to be lights-out when the game is already well in hand, but who gets into a lot of trouble and / or blows it when the game is on the line.  While his numbers are respectable, I’m very concered about this guy.  The combo of him and Wilson together is volatile, to say the least.

Medders sure looks good!  Only one run allowed in 12 innings…

But in a game where you’re down by one, and the best bats you can bring in during the bottom of the ninth are Juan Uribe and Rich Aurilia?  Weak sauce…

I was getting ready to rip into the various Giants’ weaknesses in this post… but then all of a sudden, a couple baserunners and then Pablo Sandoval goes yard for a three run, walk off homer!  What a win!

I haven’t really made much of a secret about my feelings for Brian Wilson as a closer.  I think the guy has an incredible arm, and an incredibly feeble psyche.  He is not closer material, and his mock “intensity” is better suited for the UFC, WWE, or some other arena sport.

I am ecstatic that the Giants took two out of three against the reeling Dodgers.  I find it sort of puzzling how the Bay Area media and fans have come to the aid of Brian Wilson for this apparently insulting gesture that Casey Blake made to ridicule Wilson for blowing another save.  I despise the Dodgers as much as the next Giants’ fan, but I have absolutely no problem with Casey Blake’s insult to Wilson.

Brian Wilson’s gesture has nothing to do with baseball. In fact, calling attention to yourself after not blowing a save is the antethesis of baseball or being a closer.

This bit about the gesture being to honor his late father and God?  Give me a break.  The gesture that Brian Wilson makes is about Brian Wilson.  God has nothing to do with baseball.  And baseball has nothing to do with honoring loved ones.

When you create these little “moves” to draw attention to yourself, you deserve to have it thrown in your face when you fail.  Brian Wilson is not an elite closer.  He’s not even a b-tier closer.  Instead of talking about the Giants playing good baseball and having a glimmer of hope at competing in the West, we’re seeing this soap opera type of dialogue about Casey Blake’s alleged insult of Brian Wilson.

Casey Blake insulted Brian Wilson on the field all right – with his bat.  Brian Wilson insults himself and the Giants on the baseball field with his little pretty boy / bad boy antics.  If you’re going to act like a badass, Brian, then back it up.  And don’t cry when someone exposes you for a second rate talent.  Blake mocked my post game “move” … wah-wah-wah.

How did the Dodgers bounce-back after losing estrogen-fueled Mammary Ramirez?  By dropping one to the lowly Nat’s to break a 13 home game winning streak.  You think yesterday’s news brought the team down just a little bit?

I’ll tell you what – the Giants MUST win at least two out of three in this series.  Anything less and they’re really letting the Dodgers off the hook.

Right now the storyline is that the Dodgers are reeling, despite their incredible start to the season.  All the pressure is on that lineup to prove it can overcome the distraction and loss of Manny’s bat.  If the Giants sh*t the bed in this series this weekend, it will be inexcusable.  They have to find a way to win this first game tonight and keep that pressure on the Dodgers.  Because then it’s two losses in a row … and if they can get it to three, it’s suddenly a legit losing *streak* and all that doom and gloom that Giants fans have been experiencing for the last five years will officially be motoring down 5 South.

Uh-oh, Dodgers fans.  Turns out Manny was not that good after all.

So the first question is – without the injection of Man-Roid into this offense, how are the Dodgers going to pack their fairweather fans into the seats?  Maybe some creative beach ball giveaways? The Dodgers’ PR folks better get on that, because something tells me that without Man’s Roids, there just isn’t very much to be excited about with this team.  This isn’t the Giants – LA fans don’t go to games when their teams are out of contention (just ask Clippers fans … or Angels fans from the 80s and 90s).

Just how much will the Dodgers’ offensive production wilt without Man-Roid’s presence?  I’m guessing quite a bit.

Will the Dodgers still be over .500 when Man-jection gets back?  I’m guessing they will be hovering right around that mark.  I don’t see the Dodgers playing any better than .400 ball without Manny.  If they go 20-30 while he’s out, they’ll be right around .500.

As bad as this is for baseball, I’m thrilled that it’s Manny.  It puts a big asterix on the Red Sox’s recent success, and it means the Dodgers paid $45-mil for an incredible distraction and headache.

Btw:  you gotta wonder now whether the Red Sox unloaded Manny precisely because they knew that he was all roided up.  Those kinds of secrets are tough to keep, and I find it hard to believe they wouldn’t know.

The Giants are back on the plus side of .500 after another great start by Zito.

Zito’s ERA is now down to 3.99, and it’s amazing to say it – but based on his stuff of late, it doesn’t seem that big of a stretch to imagine him having a winning season.  He only gave up one walk today – and I think that’s the real key for him.  When he starts walking batters and falling behind the count, he just doesn’t have nasty enough stuff to challenge batters with fastballs.  But he looked great today, giving up only 2 hits and one walk in seven innings.

Wilson came in and was scary, as usual – walking two in a 0-0 ballgame.  How can you be a closer and walk multiple batters in a scoreless game?  That would’ve made a lot of Giants fans sick today to see him blow that game.  The guy is a train wreck waiting to happen, every time out there.

Medders ended up getting the win, and he’s looked good lately.

How about old man Rich Aurilia driving in the winning run?  This team’s anemic offense is scary – but hell, a win’s a win.  After their start to the season, to be back over .500 and have a little momentum, it’s a beautiful thing.

And taking this series from the Rockies was especially important, given the Giants’ upcoming 7-game road trip to Chicago, Colorado and L.A.  Now if they can just take at least 3 out of those 7 … they’ll be coming back home to face the lowly Nationals for three games.

Boy, last night was a frustrating game to watch.  The Giants repeatedly got Billingsly in trouble, only to leave runners stranded.  Howry was terrible in his inning of work (and got the loss, giving up 2 runs on three hits and a walk).  And Ishikawa blew it on the basepaths – getting doubled up at third on a line drive out to an infielder with the bases loaded late in the game.

But you gotta just look at the personnel coming up to the plate in key situations with runners on scoring positions and doing nothing.  The Giants have guys like Rich Aurilia (whose career was on the decline three years ago), Burriss (hitting .161), and Uribe (.227).  It’s such a young season, and it’s entirely possible that one or more of these guys will turn it around and go on to put up decent numbers.  Last night that trio went 1-7 and left a lot of runners on base in key situations.

And when the upside on three of your players is “decent” that’s pretty weak.  I look back a few months ago at when Sabean failed to land Orlando Hudson, and what a huge whiff that was.  Can you imagine how much better this Giants team would be with just that one legit bat at the top of the lineup, replacing Burris?

This team is basically a closer and one bat short of being a threat to the Dodgers in the NL West.  Tonight is a must-win.

Ok, just a few other comments about Brian Wilson and then I promise I’ll stop (until he blows the next save).

You know- Brian has the hair style and barbed wire tatts that just exude class – so I’m a bit puzzled by something.  And that is – what the hell is this “x” gesture that he makes after he doesn’t blow a save?

I’m a little confused.  I mean, it’s a more demonstrative gesture than anything we ever saw from guys like Robb Nen or Mariano Rivera.  And aren’t they both a couple of orders of manitude better than Brian Wilson?

Wilson may have the rooster hairdoo, but this strutting after not blowing a save needs to stop.  That’s what you’re supposed to do as a closer, Brian.  It’s cool to celebrate, but do it with a high five to your teammate or a Tiger-style fistpump.  What’s not cool is inventing some gay new pose, because it makes it look like you’ve never been there before.  And it makes it look like it’s all about you, when it’s about the team victory.

And by the way, you had an ERA in the high 4’s last season, you walked in the winning run a week ago, and you just got shelled in Arizona on Sunday and cost the team a huge winning streak.  So how about dialing down the poses a bit and just trying to play the role of a closer earning his paycheck and helping his team, and not turning this into some WWF Wrestlemania- style flexing contest every time you manage not to walk the leadoff batter or surrender devestating homeruns in the bottom of the ninth.

Aside from a two run shot late in the game that cost him the decision, Zito kept the Giants close enough to hold off the Dodgers in what should have been (were it not for Brian Wilson) seven in a row last night.

I’d like to take a moment to acknowledge that jerkoff fans aren’t always wearing blue and white.  For about two straight innings a Giants fan with huge fake diamond earrings & a gold and diamond necklace spelling his name in cursive (true class) was talking on his cellphone, repeatedly asking his friend “can you see me?” … “can you seeeee me?” while waving spastically towards the bleachers (presumably where his friend was sitting).  As if it weren’t enough that this 275 lb beauty was already spilling past his allotted seat into mine… just goes to prove that there are indeed just as many idiot fans in Norcal as there are in Socal.  I guess the only difference with this dude was that he showed up in the first inning and stayed the entire game…

Last night was a great game though.  Awesome to see the Dodgers shoot themselves in the late innings with a couple of huge mental mistakes and a bullpen collapse.

Brian Wilson even came in and got the save, despite falling behind 3-0 to one batter.  Man – this guy *always* finds a way to compromise the save.  Today a Yahoo! blog discussed why Wilson is no longer Twittering.  They incorrectly identify Wilson as a “closer” in that article.  I think a better way to describe Wilson is as a hard-throwing train wreck who is too fragile for the closer role, and a huge liability to what could be the first decent Giants season in some time.

The Giants have a real shot at being competitive in the West this year.  They need to unload him for a quality second baseman (and make Affeldt the closer).  It’s an obvious move that is probably lost on Sabean.  Wilson has trade value and the Giants are one bat away from being competitive.  Affeldt can get it done.  It’s a no-brainer.

I don’t care what Wilson’s ERA was going into today’s game.  This guy is not a competitor.

For the Giants to gut out a 4-1 lead and be on their way to 6 in a row – things were looking sweet.  Then Wilson comes in, bottom of the ninth.  He can’t find the plate.  When he does, he gets hit hard because he gets behind in the count to every guy he faces.  He blows what would have been an awesome win for Cain and what would have been an above- .500 record for the Giants.  A crushing loss…

The guy is just not a good closer.  He’s not mentally tough.  He doesn’t know how to grind.

I’d like to see the Giants trade Wilson for a bat and then just use Affeldt as the closer for the rest of the yar.  Wilson is not a guy you can count on to show up in the big situations.  He’s going to get a lot of k’s, and he’s going to get a lot of saves because the Giants are in so many close games.

But he’s not a winner.  Period.  Get rid of him.