What can we expect from the 2021 Giants down the stretch?

On April 9th Fangraphs estimated that the San Francisco Giants had a 3.4 percent chance of making the postseason. Now, as baseball enters its post-All-Star-Game home stretch, the Giants have the best record in baseball. So much for that algorithm.

No one saw this season coming from the Giants. Even the Giants coaches and players who talked a big game in spring training deep-down didn’t expect this. The question now is how far the Giants can take it. Look at those same Fangraphs probabilities now.

Are the 2021 Giants as Good as they look? Yes, they are.

Start with the basics. 47 and 26 (21 games over .500 after the Angels game) - - the best record in MLB. Couple that with the most home runs in baseball and one of the most effective pitching staffs, and that is a recipe for first place, an exciting summer, a run at the playoffs and (fingers crossed) the postseason. The national scribes have a Giants at a 47% chance at the playoffs (they obviously still believe in the Dodgers and the Padres – and rightfully, there is a lot of baseball left to play). However, I would like to point out that the 1927 Yankees were 43 and 17 on June 22, 1927. Just saying.

The Giants run for the roses continued in May. The Orange and Black are slipping in an out of first place against a very talented Padres team, and a very determined Dodgers team. The G-Men are tied with the Dodgers for second place in the NL West with a 31 and 20 record that would have them in first place in any other NL division race. Before the season we were talking about this being a rebuilding year with a young team. More and more the Giants are looking like a contending team in the toughest division in baseball.

The available games, dates and number of tickets will be shown at the end of the blog before the rules. Remember when you email me back to identify the game, the date, and the number of tickets you want. Please whitelist my email so you get the blog posts and ticket offers all season long.

The Giants this year (so far anyway) are playing it safe for the fans with a 25% occupancy limit at the stadium, mandatory covid vaccinations (or negative tests), masks required and isolated seating groups (including a special vaccinated fans section). Charter season ticket holders have priority, so we have four seats for the May home games in our traditional section 118, but our historic two and two seating in rows 25 and 26 is now a four in line in row 27 right behind home plate. We can all live with that. June will be different, how different we will know at the end of May.

For those new to the Czar’s Blog we started sharing our Giants tickets with our friends in 2000 when the new park was built (and we moved from our two tickets at Candlestick to four at PacBell Park – now Oracle). The Czars Blog started soon after to report on the team’s progress throughout the year and distribute our tickets. We have lived the ups and downs that included four world series, three trophies and one crushing Game six in 2002. We saw Barry Bonds hit 762, Travis Ishikawa hit a walk-off to get to the WS, Matt Cain pitch a perfect game, Lincecum throw a no-hitter and Bum walk out of the bullpen for a five inning Game 7 save. It has been magical, and it will be this year. Our regular four seats are 25 rows behind home plate at the most beautiful ballpark in baseball. We do not charge our friends for the tickets and we favor children (of all ages). I am the Czar and I decide who gets the tickets, typically the first one responding with a request after the blog goes out. The rules are below.