(By e.Chang)

The Week That Was:
Won 2, lost 1 against the Padres.
Won 1, lost 3 against the Marlins.

38-37 for the season; 2nd place in the NL West.

The Week That Will Be:
Mon: at Los Angeles against the Dodgers
Tue: at Los Angeles against the Dodgers
Wed: at Los Angeles against the Dodgers
Thu: OFF
Fri: at Colorado against the Rockies
Sat: at Colorado against the Rockies
Sun: at Colorado against the Rockies

Last Thursday night, the Miami Heat beat the San Antonio Spurs in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. Tens of thousands of people, along with all four Miami Heat fans, stormed the streets and celebrated in South Beach. 3100 miles away in San Francisco, as another Miami team played in another South Beach, the final score of the basketball game was announced and 40,000 boos rained down from the stands at PacBell Park. The Marlins then went on to beat the Giants.

Winning baseball games is hard. Winning four straight against the same team is almost asking too much. But if it must be done, it should be done against the Marlins. They're garbage. That's not biased opinion — it's science. They rank at or near the bottom of every meaningful offensive category. They draw the fewest fans of all 30 teams, and for good reason — their win/loss record is 25-50, the worst in all of baseball. And their owner? The Worst!

These were the Marlins, damnit! From Miami! At least win three of them? Split it 2-2? No? Just one? God, I hate Miami.

Winning baseballs games is hard. Winning three straight on the road is almost asking too much. But if it must be done, please let it be against the Dodgers. The Dodgers may not be garbage, but they're stinking it up something awful, which, to my nose, smells like a bouquet of perfumed roses. You may remember that the story going into this baseball season was the resurrection of the Dodgers franchise. After years of neglect and mismanagement by a derelict owner, the Dodgers got fancy new owners who flashed fancy new cash and the Dodgers were once again very, very LA. That's what the story was, anyway. The reality, it turns out, is so much happier. They've been keeping last place warm the entire season. Their manager is about two innings away from getting fired. Their stock has fallen and it really is quite nice.

But before we get too smug, let's remember the Giants have won exactly one game more than they have lost. The Giants are tied with the Rockies for 2nd place, with the Padres 0.5 games behind. Even the last place Dodgers are only 5.5 games behind the Giants. The standings of the NL West can be figuratively flipped on its head in one week's time. The Giants know this. Six road games against two division rivals — it's time to make a stand.

Bartender, the Giants will have the Dodgers on the Rocks, please. Let's drink.

Et cetera: to my nephew, welcome to the world, kid! Being a Giants fan is gonna be a helluva thing.