Cody Ross: Superstar

Dear Santa,

Forget everything on my previous Christmas list. Please send me a defibrulator.

It was a battle of aces that didn't live up to the hype. Giants fans are just fine with it. Two long balls from an unlikely source, a nice night from the situational lefty, and a typical nail-biter from the closer has the Giants up 1-0 on Philly in the NLCS. Three wins separate the Giants from the World Series.

This was one of those games that everyone anticipated: Tim Lincecum versus Roy Halladay. The winner gets a leg up, the loser has fallen behind AND burned an outing from its ace. Throw in some drama from an umpire with a strike zone the size of a Republican's heart and it was high drama in the battery tossing capital of America.

Both starters were forced to earn everything they got in Game One. To say plate umpire Darrell Cousins had a tight zone is like saying Tiger Woods had a "disagreement" with Elin. Lincecum and Halladay depend on low strikes. They get pounded when they miss up. Accordingly, both were touched for long balls.

If you're a Philly fan, you expect Ruiz to step up in the playoffs and if told Jayson Werth would homer you'd say, "well, duh!" No once expected this from Cody Ross.

Truth be told, he's the guy who should be breaking out. He's spent his career in that division and had 18 career homers at Philly before this outing. Former Phillie Pat Burrell's RBI blast also should come as no surprise. And it shouldn't stun Giants fans that anyone on this team hit Halladay -- they've done it before. But the Ross story is the perfect metaphor for the 2010 Giants. He's an accident -- a waiver gamble that blew up in the Giants' face. They've picked up the dice, tossed again, and rolled a "7".

Credit to Timmy who didn't have his good stuff but got through seven frames and 113 pitches on guts as much as talent. It wasn't pretty, but it got the job done.

This is the Giants, circa 2010. Nothing is easy. They're cardiac arrest personified.

The heart is still beating.

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