Go Watch "The Franchise"

All episodes are up on YouTube. Starting here.

It's hard to claim that watching Showtime's behind-the-scenes docu-series on the San Francisco Giants is a pleasurable experience for Giants fans. The final 4 of the 8-episode series take place post-trade deadline, when the season began spiraling down the drain. Episode 4 ends at what will likely be the high point of the year -- the Giants taking 2 of 3 in Philadelphia, with Carlos Beltran having arrived to take the wheel the rest of the way. After that, each episode will remind viewers of their declining confidence in the team. From "we've got this in the bag" to "well, I guess it won't be THAT easy" to "geez we better be careful here" to "uh-oh, we actually might not win this thing" to "it would take a miracle". The on-field product is pretty depressing, and certainly not what Showtime was hoping for.

But that's not to say it's not good TV. There are good storylines, and fans certainly will learn things they didn't know before. Details on the too-soon deaths of the fathers of both Brian Wilson and Aubrey Huff. Tim Lincecum's inherent shyness to the spotlight. Barry Zito's dream to open a restaurant (gag). Ryan Vogelsong has a smokin' hot wife -- although that's no surprise; that dreamboat doesn't need to play baseball to get the girl. I actually wish they would have focused a bit less on the hokey, family-oriented stories on the hardships of being on the road. My favorite parts were the club-house hijinks and the nuts-and-bolts of actual baseball (true baseball junkies will love watching Beltran tutor Andres Torres in the batting cage). There are a lot of characters on this team, and it's fun to watch them in their natural habitat.

The final game chronicled is a Lincecum victory against the Padres on August 24. I do wish the cameras stuck around for one more week to watch Rowand and Tejada get DFA'd, but you can't have everything. I never thought The Franchise was a good idea for The Giants. After you win a championship, you don't just let world in to see how you did it. Nevertheless, as a Giants fan, it's must-see stuff, as it brings you closer to the team. And that's what we really want as fans, right? We want to feel like we are involved. Like we're friends with these guys. To that point, there should have been more of Sergio Romo. That guy is awesome.