Sanchez's No-No Tells The Story Of The Giants' Season

By now, you’ve probably heard that Jonathan Sanchez of the San Francisco Giants threw a no-hitter on Friday night. And could anything be a more fitting tribute to the first half of the Giants’ season?

Let’s look at the facts.

Sanchez was absolutely electric against the San Diego Padres. But for an error by third baseman Juan Uribe, he would have had a perfect game.

Yet, Sanchez’s no-no has been met by fans and media with a casual golf-clap instead of a standing ovation. Sure, he made Friday night’s highlight reel, but really didn’t generate nearly the sort of attention that he deserved.

Yes, I know that Sanchez hasn’t been very good this year. As a matter of fact, he has been pretty awful at times. Sure, he was facing a very weak Padres lineup, but facts are facts.

He came closer to throwing a perfect game than anybody else since teammate Randy Johnson did so in 2004.

And what does he hear?

“Nice game, but it was the Padres.”

However, Sanchez should feel right at home with the rest of his Giants teammates. They’ve all been flying under the radar, unnoticed and under-appreciated. Not that they have let it affect them.

While the rest of the world seems to think that the Dodgers are the only team in the NL West, the G-Men are comfortably cruising along in second place, not only in the division, but in the National League.

That’s right.

In any other division in the NL, the Giants would be in first place.

Alright, alright I can already hear the objection. They play in a weak division. So what? Before you go ahead and bash them for that, consider the numbers. The Giants winning percentage against the supposedly good NL East is .600. Against the Central, that number falls to .556, but is still pretty good. Those numbers are nothing to laugh at especially since they are better than the .515 winning percentage they have within their own division.

Remember, numbers don’t lie.

Which brings me to the one weakness that the Giants have exhibited this year, playing on the road. As good as the Giants have been at home with a record of 30-14, they are really struggling on the road at only 18-24.

Given the fact that its chances of winning the division are pretty bleak, San Francisco has to be worried about its poor play away from home. Should they hold on and make the playoffs, they will almost surely be playing on the road, probably in LA.

However, I don’t think that the Giants are worried about that right now. See, nobody expected them to be in this position halfway through the season. They came out of nowhere. And the baseball world still hasn’t really noticed them yet.

In a way, it’s fitting that Sanchez threw a no-hitter.

Of all of the Giants starters, he is the least likely to put up performances like the one on Friday night. If Tim Lincecum managed to pull off his no-hit bid earlier in the week, he may well have swung baseball’s microscope directly over his team. Matt Cain would have had a similar effect. And if Big Unit or Barry Zito had found new life and pitched a game like that, it would have been a media circus.

It wasn’t a big-name Giants’ pitcher who played the game of his life. It was one of the unknown workhorses who played over his head like the team has done all year.

It was Jonathan Sanchez.

As a result, the baseball world has merely slowed down to take a glance at the unknown pitcher before speeding on its way. Maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe the Mets will grow hands and actually catch the ball. Maybe the Cubbies will learn how to swing a bat. Maybe the Giants will remember who they are and start working their way to the bottom of the standings. Why don’t we all pay attention in the second half and find out.

If Friday night showed us anything, it could be an exciting ride.