There is a sense of panic in San Francisco, and it's not just because the Giants have started the 2017 season 6-13 and are already seven games back of the Colorado Rockies in the National League West.
It's because Madison Bumgarner, Major League Baseball's version of Paul Bunyan, won't be chopping down opposing hitters or giving opposing pitchers the axe with his bat for a while.
Bumgarner's season hit a speed bump Thursday when his dirt bike crashed in Colorado and he was placed on the disabled list, indefinitely, with bruised ribs and a sprained left shoulder.
"He was just having some fun that day and hit a slippery spot and went down." Giants Manager Bruce Bochy told the media.
And just like that, last rights are being written about the Giants' golden era (three World Series titles in seven season).
Tim Kawakami, columnist for the Mercury News, is fueling the fire, especially when it comes to Bumgarner.
No matter how quickly Bumgarner comes back, no matter how well he pitches upon his return, Kawakami is saying things will never be the same for the Giants and Bumgarner.
"He will have his pre-accident career, when he seemed like somebody walking or galloping out of a tall tale, riding horses in banner-raising ceremonies and hitting home runs whenever he wanted to, just because he could...
"Then his post-accident career, which will be much more human and maybe fragile. ... And those two sections will be viewed very differently."
Kawakami breaks into two eras:
There is IMB (Invincible Mad Bum): 218 starts, 100 regular-season victories, career 2.99 ERA, and 3 World Series titles before April 20, 2017...
And there is BAA (Bumgarner after accident): Yet to be determined.
"Whatever comes next, maybe some great things, but it won't be the same thing," Kawakami writes. "The Giants will never have another pitcher like Bumgarner, another player they could count on like they counted on Bumgarner.
"And it feels like that is over now, wiped out by a slippery patch, a dirt bike, and everything scrambled and bruised that will happen from there."
Mumbo jumbo
The NBA has fined injured Chicago Bulls point guard Rajon Rondo $25,000 for attempting to trip Boston Celtics forward Jae Crowder Friday during Game 3 of of the Bulls-Celtics first-round series in Chicago.
Attempting to trip another player might not be considered a finable offense if it occurred during an on-court scramble, but Rondo was on the bench, in street clothes, when he stuck his right leg out as Crowder loped toward the Bulls' bench after sinking a jumper.
"When you tear an ACL, your leg gets stiff on you once in a while," Rondo said afterward. "I stretched my leg out."
Problem is, Rondo's knee is not reason he is out for the remainder of the first-round series.
Rondo, a former member of the Boston Celtics, suffered a fractured right thumb in the second game of the series.
As for the knee, Rondo underwent surgery for a torn ACL in 2013.
Sports on 04/24/2017