MLB Showdown Obsession

 The Giants franchise was one of the most dominating teams at the start of the World Series era. That was all in New York though, and mostly before the emergence of the Yankees. In 1958, the Giants moved west and set themselves up in San Francisco. While they did win a pennant within five years, they were ultimately overshadowed and never quite were able to create a sustained run of winning like they did in the 1920's. By 2010 the Giants had achieved just 3 pennants and no titles yet, but they had bult themselves a team ready to challenge. Their ace, Tim "The Freak" Lincecum, was coming off back-to-back Cy Young seasons; and on the offensive side, early in the year they would call up rookie Catcher Buster Posey who would immediately get started leading the team to greatness. Manager Bruce Bochy was guiding the team for the 4th season, the previous three had seen him trending the team upwards, finishing 5th, then 4th and finally 3rd heading into this year. The season saw ...

 Opening Day is a wonderful time of year. Barring any issues from Spring Training, it's the best chance for a team to put their best foot forward for their lineup before things like "scheduled off days" or general wear and tear make Managers shake things up from time to time. Teams will be able to debut a new acquisition or rookie at a position or remind fans of the superstar they have holding down their spot. It stands to reason that there will be some year to year turnover at a position when a team has to move on from a long standing superstar, but when the yearly change approaches almost 20 years of a new face every season, it becomes quite noticeable, such as it became when the Giants had to replace Barry Bonds. 2007 was the final season of the...notable career of one Barry Bonds. He didn't retire, but the Giants opted to let him become a free agent. While the Giants weren't interested in an aging Bonds in the field, they didn't exactly have a backup at th...