But Lincecum had some help from the rest of the Giants’ historic pitching staff. Along with Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez, Madison Bumgarner, and even Barry Zito, the Giants went on an unparalleled run in the last two months of the season. They allowed 2.31 runs per 9 innings. The entire staff. So the bullpen gets some credit, too. But the postseason is where the top four really stepped up. It wasn’t too impressive when they shut down the Braves, but then they shut down the Phillies, and then the Rangers. The Giants rode their horses and managed to get production from the unlikeliest of places. Cody Ross hit two home runs in one game off of Roy Halladay. Edgar Renteria hit two home runs in the World Series. Buster Posey stepped up in every series, making everyone forget who Jason Heyward is.  Hot streaks might not truly have predictive value, but goddamn if the Giants weren’t the hottest team I’ve seen in a long time. Good pitching, timely hitting — that’s the name of the game. You can’t plan for the timely hitting, but the Giants sure planned for the good pitching.

It’s the perfect finale to what was already referred to as The Year of the Pitcher more times than there are atoms in the universe. Maybe there was something to it after all. Or maybe the Yankees are going to come back next year and pummel everyone into oblivion. After making sure to buy Cliff Lee — even if he’s been proven human.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJ6Kuyi9Omg

Tea & Crackers – Rolling Stone article about the absurdity of the Tea Party. Not that you weren’t already aware.

This is a news website article about  a scientific paper – This is pretty damn old, but I appreciate well-done satire, especially when it comes from somewhere other then The Onion. Some of the comments are amusing as well.

Does Your Language Shape How You Think? – Some languages don’t have have words for left, right, front, and behind. Yeah, that would definitely affect how one thinks.

‘Science as the Enemy’: The Traveling Salesman of Climate Skepticism – An old man who sees himself as the last bastion against socialism or communism or something does his best to spread doubt about climate change, pretending there’s not a 97 percent consensus about the science. Apparently, he’s succeeding.

A Not-So-Brief History of Pitching Injuries, Starring Nolan Ryan and the Texas Rangers – The magical solution to fixing arm problems? Long toss. I seriously cannot believe that most teams don’t have their pitchers throw past 120 feet. I really can’t. I’m so shocked that I feel like emailing Jonah Keri about it. EVERYONE does that in high school and college.

Halladay and Lincecum – Joe Posnanski being Joe Posnanski. My Halladay post seems so pointless after reading this. Is there any sportswriter that comes close? Please let me know if there is.

I can’t believe this freakish-looking piece of skinny garbage. He just choked in the fantasy equivalent of Game 7 of the World Series (not to mention the real-life implications). I WAS WINNING ALL WEEK AND YOU BLEW IT. Since the Mets didn’t provide me with a last-day collapse for the third straight year, I guess my fantasy team had to fill in.

I went into the day leading 5-4 in my Head-to-Head league in the matchup for the championship. With extremely modest leads in R, HR, and RBI, I figured I couldn’t count on winning those categories, so I needed to start Scott Baker, even if he hurt my ERA lead. I figured he would give me some strikeouts and possibly a win — the category that was tied going into the day. I wasn’t even concerned about Lincecum. I figured he would give me a bunch of Ks, help my ERA, and also possibly give me a win. The only starter going for my opponent? Ubaldo Jimenez. A decent pitcher, actually, but I didn’t think he’d end up with as many Ks as Baker and Lincecum combined. Or end up with a win while neither of my starters did. HOW THE FUCK DID THAT HAPPEN?!?!

Why did you have to destroy my fantasy life, Timmy? After Baker put up a shitty performance, I still wasn’t worried, since I figured you’d at the very least give me the win for Ks. But no, you had to pitch 4 innings, let up 5 ER, and only notch THREE measly fucking strikeouts. Baker had five! And I didn’t even end up losing the ERA battle by much — 3.69 to 3.81. IF ONLY YOU SUCKED MARGINALLY LESS I HAD THE CHAMPIONSHIP LOCKED UP!! Fuck this shit, give the Cy Young to Adam Wainwright or Chris Carpenter. Just drop it in the Cardinals’ clubhouse and let them have a ping-pong tournament for it or something. Wainwright just had 10 Ks tonight. That’s a Cy Young award winner, asshole. I can’t believe I voted for you in my poll.

And anyone who wants to criticize me for starting Baker: Fuck you. I explained my reasoning, and besides — if I left him on the bench and he had an awesome start, and I had lost one or two of those aforementioned offensive categories resulting in an overall loss, I would’ve been kicking myself right now. It’s much more fun ripping apart Lincecum for the stupidest reason ever. What a fucking loser. HAVE FUN MAKING COMMERCIALS DURING THE PLAYOFFS, DICKWAD.