Andrew Baggarly-Mercury News
Most major leaguers spend the off-season on the golf course or hunting. Some play winter ball in the Caribbean.
Brian Wilson went to India.
The Giants right-hander spent three days in Mumbai, teaching a cricket-mad nation how to throw a good old American fastball. It's part of a television show that will select one winner as the "Million Dollar Arm," complete with cash prize and a major league tryout.
"There's a billion people there," Wilson said. "Somebody is going to come out of a billion people."
Wilson, who connected with the TV show through his agents, considered it time well spent. And the more he hears about cricket, the more he appreciates being a baseball player. International test matches can stretch four or five days, lasting nine hours each day, counting breaks for luncheon and afternoon tea.
"Oh yeah, tea is huge," said Wilson, who also spent three weeks backpacking in Ireland. "The fan support is totally different. They can be out there all day. I said, 'Congratulations to you.' I couldn't imagine playing the Dodgers for nine hours a day for five days and only getting one win out of it."
Besides, it's hard enough being a closer in the big leagues, knowing one pitch could undo three hours of your teammates' hard labor.
Wilson is ready to assume that role, and with the Giants expecting to win tight games behind their strong rotation, the closer will bear a huge responsibility. Giants Manager Bruce Bochy has said the closer job is Wilson's to lose this spring, with Tyler Walker providing the competition.
"I always felt that anybody can pitch in the ninth inning," Wilson said. "It's just the ability to take failure and shrug it off."
Walker has no doubt Wilson has the stuff to close. The two pitchers were together most of the summer at Triple-A Fresno, where Walker was finishing his rehab work from elbow ligament-replacement surgery.
"I'd say to others, 'Why is he here?' " Walker said. "He's clearly dominating this level. I don't know what they're waiting for.' "
"He thought he'd make the team in the spring, things would fall into place and he'd be the closer. It was a real gut check for him to go back to the minor leagues, but it made him a better person and a better pitcher. Now I think he's arrived at this level and he doesn't have to worry about that process anymore."
But plenty of fans might be worried about the Giants bullpen, which hasn't undergone any changes from last year's underwhelming unit.
Last year, the Giants outscored opponents in the first eight innings (644-634). But from the ninth inning and beyond, they were outscored decisively (86-39). It's not surprising, then, that they had the most extra-inning losses in the major leagues (6-15 record). They had a 4-16 record in games tied after eight innings.
Their lack of power and clutch hitting played a factor - and Barry Bonds often didn't hang around to play all nine innings. But their bruised bullpen played as big a role. Relievers combined for a 20-33 record - the most losses of any bullpen in the National League. And relievers struggled even though they weren't overtaxed. Only Arizona threw fewer relief innings among N.L. teams.
The biggest positives were Walker and Wilson, who dominated big league hitters in late August and September.
"We have an opportunity for a fresh start," Walker said. "The bullpen losses, the ERA, the number of one-run losses, that's all over with. You let that stuff go. Everybody's got a zero ERA now and no blown saves. That's something we'll stress early on.
"We're only as good as our weakest link. We'll stand together and be accountable for what we do."
If that doesn't work, there's always Mumbai.
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