News
Giants to be featured on TWIB
Pitching depth, outfielder Lewis among highlights
By Rhett Bollinger / MLB.com
05/28/09 9:05 PM ET
There's no question that the starting rotation is the strength of the San Francisco Giants. The rotation is bolstered by three former Cy Young Award winners -- Tim Lincecum, Randy Johnson and Barry Zito -- and two capable young arms in Matt Cain and Jonathan Sanchez. Together, the five starters have combined to form one of the best rotations in baseball, and they have helped pick up the slack for an offense that has struggled his season. The Giants and their amazing starting pitching depth will be the focus of FOX's This Week in Baseball this Saturday at 3 p.m. ET. "They have a nice blend of youth and experience with an interesting style of play," said Matt Anderton, TWIB's lead producer. "They scrap together runs any way that they can." So far, runs have been hard to come by for the Giants but they still have veterans such as Bengie Molina, Aaron Rowand, Randy Winn and Edgar Renteria combined with young talents such as Pablo Sandoval and Fred Lewis. Lewis will be featured by TWIB in a segment where he makes a visit to an Ed Hardy clothing store in San Francisco. It's sure to be a fun feature that shows the style of the 28-year-old outfielder. Next, TWIB will focus on a "Fresh Face," which in this case is Lincecum, who became a household name when he won the 2008 Cy Young Award. But Lincecum is still just 25 years old, and so in a sense he still qualifies as a fresh face in baseball. "Even though he won the Cy Young and everyone knows who he is, he's still a fresh face because he's so young," Anderton said. "We covered him when he was at the University of Washington, so we have some footage of him as a fresh-faced pitcher there too." Then, TWIB focuses on Giants Hall of Famer Carl Hubbell in the All-Star Moments segment of the show. It specifically focuses on Hubbell's performance in the 1934 Midsummer Classic when he struck out five Hall of Famers in a row -- Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons and Joe Cronin. Then, it contrasts the performance with fellow screwball thrower Fernando Valenzuela, who matched Hubbell's record by striking out five batters in a row in the 1985 All-Star Game. "It's interesting because it happened again with another screwball pitcher," Anderton said. TWIB can be seen on video board in stadiums, as well as internationally in Australia, Canada, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Japan, Latin America, Middle East, The Netherlands, Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama and Taiwan. Viewers can e-mail the show at twib@mlb.com. There will also be a re-airing of the show on MLB Network at 12:30 p.m. ET on Sunday. Here are some of the other segments TWIB will feature in its half-hour show this Saturday: The "Call of the Week" focuses on the Indians coming back from a 10-0 deficit against the Rays on Monday. Holiday Inn "Win on the Road" focuses on Tigers right-hander Justin Verlander, who has allowed just two earned runs in his last three road starts for a 0.81 ERA. "How 'Bout That" will show the top plays and bloopers from the previous week set to the song "My Apocalypse" by Metallica.Rhett Bollinger is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
