Bruce Bochy Changes Our Perceptions of Reality, Giants Win

Erry day I'm hustlin, er-er-er-erry day I'm hustlin.

I don't know how he does it, but somehow Giants manager Bruce Bochy does things with the lineup that make me think he's sipping from the cup of "Grandpa's special apple juice" a little too much. Yet time and time again, that lineup that he throws together does something that makes us shake our heads, scream at our televisions, and sip from the cup of Grandpa's special apple juice some more.

It all started with Aaron Rowand batting leadoff a couple years ago in 2009. There was no leadoff hitter on that team, so Bruce decides to put Rowand there. He subsequently hit .294 out of that spot, and is batting .276 out of the leadoff position so far in 2011, which is better than anyone would have expected and much much better than a disabled Andres Torres.

In 2010, especially during the playoff run, Bochy has seemed like he's either got the greatest "gut feeling" in the world, or actually is a robot specialized in sabremetrics that packs solid state drives of scouting reports into a size 8.5 head. Every move he made down the stretch, whether it was making a pitching change or defensive replacement, seemed to pay off.

Every time Nate Schierholtz came in there was a ball hit to him that the water buffaloes would have had no chance on. Every time Jeremy Affeldt came in he shut down both lefties and righties. Every time Darren Ford pinch-ran in September he ran. Fast.

Edgar Renteria hitting leadoff? Giants win.

Here in 2011, it's happening again. Rowand leadoff again? Makes sense, I guess. Tejada leadoff? Broke the Giants out of a slump. Starting Fontenot, Burriss, and Whiteside? How did we NOT guess that lineup would break out offensively?

Yesterday was the backbreaker. The lineup resembled a Cactus League split-squad B-team.

Rowand, Tejada. Meh. Wait, Fontenot's batting third? Mike FONTENOT? I'm sorry, but remember this picture?

You're telling me the small guy is in the three-hole for the Giants? And that the big guy is only 21? Both are a load of crap.

But it worked. Vogelsong and Burriss each had an RBI single. Schierholtz homered and scored twice. Tejada...was there too. The power-three spot produced a clutch 2-RBI single. Heck, the Mets even walked Fontenot to get to Buster Posey.

And the Giants won the game. Bruce, I don't know how you do it, but keep on keeping on.