San Francisco Giants slugger Brandon Belt who has had a great deal with the home run ball during the Giants trip in Milwaukee is seen here hitting one out in the 11th inning for a two run homer on Sat Aug 7, 2021 against the Milwaukee Brewers (AP News photo)

2021 Giants: Is it something in the Fog?

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

Al Michaels, this year’s winner of the Ford C. Frick Award by the National Baseball Hall of Fame, for excellence in broadcasting, was the play by play announcer of the San Francisco Giants in 1974. Al Michael owns one of the greatest calls in the history of American sports with his famous “Do you believe in miracles?” when the USA Olympic Hockey team beat the powerful USSR in the 1980 Olympics.

Could Al Michaels apply that same line to the current San Francisco Giants? You will be hard pressed to find anybody that picked the Giants to do anything this year, but trying to stay away from the doldrums of the NL West with the Rockies and Diamondbacks.

The Giants are enjoying one of the best seasons ever, since they moved from New York to San Francisco in 1958. In the 1960’s the Giants had players like Gaylord Perry, Orlando Cepeda, Juan Marichal, Willie Mays and Willie McCovey, all in the Hall of Fame, yet they never won a World Series.

Decades later came Barry Bonds an All Star player who ended his career (2007) with a history-leading 762 home runs and a group of very good players, yet they never won a World Series, until 2010, when they won the first of three in 6 years.

The cry from Giants fans over the years since they moved to their current park; PacBell Park, SBC Park, AT&T Park, and Oracle Park was, it was not a home run park. In 2021 the Giants are leading all of Major League Baseball in home runs. For the 2020 season the team moved the fences. The left-center field from 404 to 399, center field is 391 now, eight feet shorter than before and Triples-alley is now 415 feet not 421 feet. I’ll bet you Barry Bonds is salivating today, thinking “Hey I could have hit 900 home runs if I played a little bit longer”.

For the trio of veterans that played during those three World Series titles, Buster Posey, Brandon Crawford and Brandon Belt, for them this 2021 marks the last year of their contracts. Unless the Giants re-sign them, they all will be Free Agents after the season. Third-baseman Evan Longoria who will be on his last year of a five-year contract, will be making $19.6 million in 2022.

Longoria has not produced what the Giants had envisioned when they signed him coming from Tampa Bay, and had not played much this season, out with injury. However, for Buster Posey, especially if the Giants can go all the way and win the World Series, will make this year the crowning for a possible induction into the Hall of Fame, he is the leader of this 2021 team.

By-the-way, if Giants are lucky enough to win the World Series this year, Posey will have four (4) World Series title rings. Not many players that have worn a SF Giants uniform can claim that. Posey, Crawford and Belt have been strongly supported by many players that came over to the Giants from other places; all courtesy of their President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi (should be the Executive of the Year in the National League).

It has been the “perfect storm” for the Giants with guys like Wilmer Flores, Tommy LaEstella, Donovan Solano, Darin Ruf, LaMonte Wade Jr. Kevin Gausman (contender for the Cy Young Award) Alex Wood, Logan Webb, Jake McGee and others in a solid pitching department, that have all contributed to this sensational story in baseball so far this 2021.

Rest of schedule favors the Giants. They will play 13 games against lowly Rockies and Diamondbacks. Giants will play the Colorado Rockies four games this month of August. In September will play the LA Dodgers three games, Colorado Rockies six games, Arizona Diamondbacks three games, San Diego Padres for seven games and the LA Dodgers for three games. Dodgers and Padres are well positioned to classify as wild card teams in postseason. A Bay Area thing: The Giants will visit the Oakland Athletics at the Coliseum the weekend of the 20, 21 and 22 of August.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish radio voice for the Oakland A’s on flagship station 1010 KIQI LeGrande San Francisco and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com