If the Giants look in the mirror today, they just might see the 2006-07 Warriors looking back. Their makeover has been in progress for a while now, but Saturday's 5-2 victory completed the task in a way that only a comeback win against the Dodgers could.
Those "We Believe" signs from the Warriors' exhilarating playoff run should probably stay in storage for a while. But the belief itself can come out of hiding. Pegged as 100-game losers in spring training, the Giants have now moved to within four games of first place in the National League West. They have won 22 of their last 42 games, better than any other team in the division.
Yes, it's a dreadful division, with a leader two games under .500. But the Warriors benefited from playing in a sport that takes eight teams from each conference into the postseason.
They had definitive shortcomings, like the Giants, and they played exasperatingly sloppy basketball in certain stretches, while periodically offering up clues that they had something special in the works.
For the record, this isn't a prediction that the Giants will make the playoffs and pull off a dazzling first-round upset or duplicate the high drama of the Warriors' run. After all, there is no Mark Cuban in the National League.
But, even at 10 games under .500, they are contenders now, and Saturday's win had "turning point" written on it as boldly as a 162-game season will allow. Barry Zito's first home win of the year had some of the reclamation-pro- ect quality that defined the Warriors in their magical season. The former A's ace said he felt like "the guy I remember being," thanks in part to the people who surround him every day in the Giants clubhouse.
"They've had my back the whole time," he said, "and I just can't speak to how much, you know, love I have for these guys in this room, because pretty much everyone else wrote me off. But these guys always believed."
Zito is 4-12 now, after opening the season at 0-8, and his progress matches the team's as a whole - from dreadful to increasingly competent to immensely promising. He may not be the ace of the staff, but he is no write-off, either. It's impossible for someone who is completely washed up to pitch games like the one Zito threw in Cleveland 10 days ago and Saturday's win against the Dodgers.
The Giants' most perplexing statistic, their home record, is most likely to change as the team gets comfortable with itself and its potential. Zito talked about the urge to push too hard in front of the home crowd, echoing what Bengie Molina said about a month ago, when the record in San Francisco first appeared dire.
The Giants were 5-17 over their last 22 home games until Saturday's game, which inspired countless standing ovations from the crowd. Zito's name was cheered at the end, when his win was officially announced.
The most encouraging signs from the Giants has been their record in one-run games. They're two-time winners in that category, going 17-15 and ranking No. 2 in the National League for the number of one-run games played. The Cardinals ranked first, and they have the second-best overall record in the league. Truly hopeless teams don't play that many one-run games, and they certainly don't win the majority of them.
Brian Sabean was mocked earlier this season when he said he thought the Giants could contend in 2007. The general manager may be due a huge round of apologies in September, even though he was quoted slightly of context. He was primarily discussing the what-ifs that stemmed from the team's 1-5 season-opening road trip.
But he wasn't wrong. The National League standings back him up even now, as the Giants sit within striking distance of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Some stronger middle relief, whether by trade or improved health in the current group, and they could easily gain on the reigning division champs - and on the memories of those magical Warriors.
NL West saga
On the morning of May 20, the Giants were riding a six-game losing streak and were 12 games out of first. This morning, the Giants are four games behind Arizona. Here are the standings when play began May 20, what the teams did between May 20 and July 5 and the standings today:
May 20
W L GB
Ariz. 28 16 -
L.A. 23 21 5
Col. 18 27 10 1/2
Giants 17 29 12
S.D. 16 30 13
May 20-July 5
W L GB
Giants 22 20 -
S.D. 19 23 3
L.A. 19 24 3 1/2
Col. 19 24 3 1/2
Ariz. 15 29 8
