Bridge Ball

Almost Even
Through just one month of the season, the Giants have been a freaking disaster. Starting pitching has looked shaky or downright awful, outside of Bonds the offense appears to be dead on arrival and new acquisitions have been deservedly ripped for their attitude. But despite all these things the Giants face the start of play tonight with a 12-14 record after besting the Beasts of the East, the Braves and Marlins. Let the record show that the A's are 12-13. Both are 4 games out of first. Although I'd be a fool to say that the Giants are anywhere near as good of a team as the A's, I'll say that the Giants seem like a more veteran group that knows how to close out the few opportunities they get to win a game.

More importantly, the Giants chances for a post-season appearance might be better than the A's right now. The NL West is a ridiculously weak division. The Dodgers currently lead with a 15-9 mark, but look more like a .500 squad. San Diego isn't much better. The D'backs are right there with them and the Rockies's pitching looks better than in recent years. It's possible that every team in the NL West could end up 81-81. This could be the year that a team makes the playoffs with a .500 record, and while the Giants don't quite look like a .500 team, they could get there. Meanwhile the A's have a 500 lbs. gorilla of the Angels in their division to deal with, let alone the Rangers, who are off to a best-in-the-majors start and have the best offensive team in the AL.