Good ol' Grant from McCovey Chronicles came through. Nothing terribly insightful, but he likes us! He really likes us! Well, the A's anyway.
67M: I see that your avatar is Charlie Brown. I can't help but notice the irony in that. But to be fair, I'll allow you this: if the A's were a Peanuts character, who would they be, and why?
Grant: Violet. Nobody cares or pays attention to her, but for some reason she's a total jerk to Charlie Brown.
{Ouch. Funny, but ouch.}
67M: Are Giants fans as tired of hearing about 1989 as A's fans are of 1988?
Grant: Eh. The better team won that year. When you go through a shoulda woulda coulda loss like 2002, you forget about the ones you were doomed to lose in the first place.
67M: One thing I've always appreciated about your team is that it recognizes its history. Do you see that as something the fans enjoy or is it an overrated aspect?
Grant: I love the history part, even if it's a little hard to feel the connection to the New York team. Yeah, the championship thing is a drag, but it's pretty special to have two of the top ten players of all-time.
67M: Well enough about the, um, past. The Giants this morning sit atop the National League wild-card standings. September has a way of separating the contenders from the pretenders. Do you see the Giants sticking around for awhile?
Grant: Yes, as I can't see any of the other NL teams really running away with it. Everyone's flawed. The thing that the Giants have going for them is that their flaws are obvious to everybody. They're not waiting and hoping on a guy like Geovany Soto to turn thins around. Their bad hitters aren't really surprising anyone.
67M: What have been some of the surprises thus far?
Grant: I thought Pablo Sandoval would be a fine hitter, but I thought he'd go through some extended struggles. I thought Randy Johnson would be much better.
67M: A month or so away from the trading deadline, what do you see them doing, and what would you like to see them do (within reason, of course)?
Grant: I could see them adding a second baseman, a first baseman, and a corner outfielder five minutes before the deadline. I could also see them doing nothing except adding a utility infielder. What would like to see them do, though? I go back and forth. If the Giants could trade for Dan Uggla, Nick Johnson, and Matt Holliday without giving up any of the big four (Posey, Alderson, Bumgarner, and Villalona), it'd be worth the hit to the rebuilding plan. That's about as likely as them claiming A-Rod on waivers, though, so maybe I should shut up.
67M: One thing we toss around here on AN is the importance of intangibles, like a veteran presence. Your personal thoughts on what Randy Johnson has meant to guys like Lincecum and Cain?
Grant: From here, it doesn't look like a whole heck of a lot. I was hoping Johnson would sprinkle his magic control dust on Jonathan Sanchez, but that sure as heck hasn't happened yet.
67M: The AN girls seem to be split on the "hawtness" of Lincecum. How about over at MC, or are you all above such speak? (I kid)
Grant: Lincecum? Really? I guess if your favorite Cinemax movies are set in a school cafeteria, maybe he's the type to WD40 your hinges, but I don't see it.
{I'm still laughing.}
67M: If my Dad knew of this interview, he'd surely disown me. To show that Giants fans aren't all that bad, how about some kind words for A's fans? {Pause} Anything, whatever comes to your mind. {Silence} A word, just one word, man.
Grant: I freaking like the A's. When they aren't playing the Giants, I root for them. I'll never understand the hatred from the A's and Giants fans that are so into hating each other. Kirk Gibson: soulless jackal from the depths of hell. See? There's something we can agree on.
{In-deed.}
LA has its late arrivals, Chicago its loveable losers, Boston, well, you know. What's the one perception of Giants fans that you'd like to clear up here and now?
That we all talk on our cell phones while drinking wine and eating cheese. We're drinking pinot noir and eating chevre...you can't just call those delicacies by their guttural names.
{So tonight I will be eating chevre-Its.}
Thanks for your time, Grant. I'd wish you guys luck, but my family is kind of important to me.
Tonight it's Trevor Cahill opposite Jonathan Sanchez, and right there below are the lineups that they will be facing.
