GIANTS HUGE MISTAKE WILL BE BRAVES' CY YOUNG GAIN

Eight outs from a World Series victory, a four-hitter, and the season hanging in the balance, the pitcher wipes sweat from his brow and reflects upon his accomplishments. The triumphs, averaging 16 wins per season over a four year span... impressively winning game 1 and game 5 on the road, against hostile Atlanta, helping the Giants push to the playoffs by going 11-6 with an astonishing ERA in August and September.

The sky is the limit, "let it rip"... but the next pitch would never be thrown. Manager Dusty Baker strolled out of the dugout and took the ball. Russ Ortiz' next pitch was to be hurled from the "Mecca of mounds", and the primary benefactor the Atlanta Braves.

The Braves are a winning organization; winning organizations, simply, correct their mistakes from the previous year. Not having Russ Ortiz on their roster was the only mistake the Braves made; the reason they didn't advance to the second round of the playoffs was their two losses to Mr. Ortiz in game 1 and game 5 of the playoffs. The Braves basically traded for the exact cause of their untimely demise.

Some might say Russ has control problems - and they would be correct - but with the benefit of Atlanta's _wide_ strike zone, chances are Ortiz' walks will dramatically decrease with a coinciding rise in strikeouts. Because, in a wide strike zone, pitches normally called balls are strikes. The Braves received a pitcher primed and ready to assume his position as the next Cy Young winner. Under the tutelage of pitching coach Leo Mazzoni, Ortiz will shock his former team and the NL.

His former team, the Giants, made a huge mistake and ultimately traded away any hope of a championship season. The loss of Russ' 16 wins per season and stellar performances in the playoff pushes, will ultimately doom the Giants to the land of mediocrity. I'll be surprised if the Giants' record is one game over 85-77 and unfortunately that's not good enough to make the playoffs. Theirs was an issue of money, and in today's game there's always an issue of money. But the bottom line is, with Russ Ortiz the Giants had an irreplaceable piece to the championship puzzle and this trade will most certainly come back to haunt SF.

The Giants made an epic mistake trading the man who got them to the World Series. His wins, his ability to keep his team in every game, and his big game success will be sorely missed. One team's loss is another team's gain, and that's what Atlanta got, a pitcher who will bring home a Cy Young Award and World Series ring.