Nearly four years ago, Omar Vizquel joined a Giants team coming off eight consecutive winning seasons that included four trips to the playoffs and a World Series. He hardly could imagine that as autumn beckoned in 2008, he would sit in a deadly silent clubhouse discussing the unimaginable.
"I didn't know I was going to be talking to you guys about four losing seasons," Vizquel said.
The Hall of Fame candidate will not taste a winning year in the black and orange. The Giants' 3-1 loss to Arizona on Monday night was their 82nd. The most they can win is 80 after Adam Dunn hit a two-run homer off Brad Hennessey in the eighth inning to bust a 1-1 tie.
"When I came to this organization, (it) had a run of playoffs and the World Series," Vizquel said. "I thought things were going to be a little different. For some reason, things didn't work out."
They did not work out because the Giants got very old in a hurry as they overplayed what had been a successful strategy of building teams around good pitching and Barry Bonds, at the expense of their farm system.
The organization appears to be turning a corner. The Giants are younger and peppier, and anyone who has paid attention the last two months has to maintain some optimism that this run of losing seasons will end soon, if not next year, then in 2010.
Vizquel will be watching from the outside. Emmanuel Burriss is the shortstop-designate for next year. Vizquel, 41, wants to play another year. If he cannot, he will retire without a World Series championship ring, having come within a half inning of getting one with Cleveland in 1997.
He thought he had a shot in San Francisco. He was wrong.
"There's not a regret in any way," he said. "It's the other way around. It's kind of great that I could play in San Francisco. In San Francisco, we don't realize how spoiled we are at times. We play in one of the most beautiful ballparks. ... It's a great place to play. What else can you ask? The rest is up to you, really."
In that vein, Vizquel could have done more to forestall the 82nd loss. The Giants stranded nine runners. He personally stranded five.
Even in defeat, the Giants had to enjoy the eight innings from Hennessey in a complete-game defeat. He did not walk a batter in his second start since his banishment to Fresno ended. For a team that leads the National League in walks, that is a godsend. This marked the sixth time in 150 games the Giants had none.
In 14 innings over two starts against the Diamondbacks, Hennessey has allowed four runs, all on homers. Justin Upton hit a long one in the fourth inning to tie Monday's game. With Chris Young aboard in the eighth inning and two outs, Dunn came to bat 0-for-3. Manager Bruce Bochy had left-hander Jack Taschner warm in the bullpen, with no intention to use him unless the Giants fell behind.
"It was his game," Bochy said, not second-guessing his decision a whit to stay with Hennessey. "He made a mistake there. The way he was throwing, I was going to let him face Dunn.
"It was a great effort. He pitched a great game. Giving up one run going into the eighth inning in this ballpark, he did a terrific job. We just couldn't get a key hit there."
Hennessey said his first pitch to Dunn "leaked back" over the plate. Dunn hit a soaring drive into the right-field seats, leaving Hennessey to say, "It sucks to lose. To lose that way is even worse."
But in defeat, Hennessey lasted eight innings for the first time in the majors. His Giants career appeared dead in the water as he toiled in Fresno for four months. Now, you have to wonder if he is ingratiating himself back into the team's plans.
If nothing else, the Giants could, by bringing back Hennessey in 2009, provide insurance for the rotation in case Noah Lowry hits a roadblock in his recovery or the team trades another starter for a bat.
"I've got two more starts I believe, I hope," Hennessey said. "I can't really think about it until then. It's not up to me. I'm just going to try to prove to them and other teams that I'm more than capable of succeeding at this level."
Even for a team that dreams of winning again.
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