NEW OLD BLOOD

When you bring new blood into your team, there's an expectation that something significant will happen as a consequence. More batting power, greater defensive thickness, superior agility, pitching diversity, you name it.

When the Giants acquired Omar Vizquel from the American League, fans met the news with excitement. Last year, the Giants couldn't get their shortstop act together, vacillating between Neifi Perez, who didn't perform for us, and Deivi Cruz, whom some consider an infield Golem, incapable of Barry Allen speediness and Baryshnikov virtuosity—something a major league shortstop must command. See David Eckstein.

Because the Giants have had good luck with, um, elder players, it made sense that 37-year-old Vizquel, who has the agility, if not the complete athletic prowess, of a man 10 years younger, would do wonders for the team. He's yielded defensive wonders, but contributes almost nothing to the offense.

Last night, on an 0-2 count, with two men on base, Omar smacked his 2nd home run of the season, a play that ultimately allowed us to beat the Dodgers. Comfortably.

That made my day. Of the three big acquisitions the Giants made this year—Alou, Metheny, and Vizquel—Omar excited me the most. I got to watch him pirouette like a Martha Graham prodigy at Scottsdale stadium during spring training. I had a feeling he would make the team more stable, although I recognized he was less likely to bring home the batting bacon.

Last night, he helped set the tone for the 2nd half of the season, and single-handedly got me all excited about Giants baseball again.