SAN FRANCISCO -- Sure, it's fun seeing Troy Glaus jackhammer home runs into the concession stands.

	Jarrod Washburn never figured out how to stop the Giants, giving up six runs, six hits and five walks in four innings.

Yes, it's great entertainment watching the Angels scamper around the bases like Elmer Fudd chasing Bugs Bunny.

And it's amazing when Barry Bonds crushes another one into San Francisco Bay.

What hasn't been so spectacular in this World Series, however, has been the pitching, which has bordered on awful, unbearable and oftentimes painful.

A Frozen Moment from Game 5: How about Jarrod Washburn walking Jeff Kent in the first inning -- after getting ahead with two strikes and Bonds due up next? Or Washburn walking J.T. Snow on five pitches -- immediately after intentionally walking Reggie Sanders to get to Snow? Or Washburn then walking David Bell on five pitches -- with the bases loaded? Freeze-frame Angels catcher Bengie Molina reaching for ball four and you have your moment.

That first inning trapped the Angels in a hole big enough that even Bugs wouldn't have been able to manufacture an escape plan.

Washburn threw 34 pitches in the inning, just 13 for strikes, and the Giants led 3-0.

"I can tell you one thing about Jarrod, he wasn't nervous," said Angels manager Mike Scioscia. "This guy is as cool as they come. He's an incredible competitor. Those guys put some real good at-bats on him and laid off some pitches. He wasn't able to get the ball in the zones he wanted. You pay a price for it."

By the end of the second inning, the Giants had scored three more runs and Washburn had scuffled through 60 pitches, an incredible 33 of them wide of the strike zone.

Double trouble

How starting pitchers have fared in each game of the World Series: Game 1 Jason Schmidt, S.F.: 5.2 IP, 9 H, 3 R Jarrod Washburn, Ana.: 5.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R Game 2 Russ Ortiz, S.F.: 1.2 IP, 9 H, 7 R Kevin Appier, Ana.: 2 IP, 5 H, 5 R Game 3 Ramon Ortiz, Ana.: 5 IP, 5 H, 4 R Livan Hernandez, S.F.: 3.2 H, 5 H, 6 R Game 4 John Lackey, Ana.: 5 IP, 9 H, 3 R Kirk Rueter, S.F.: 6 IP, 9 H, 3 R Game 5 Washburn: 4 IP, 6 H, 6 R Schmidt: 4.2 IP, 7 H, 3 R

And it could have been worse. If not for center fielder Darin Erstad's two highlight-reel catches on smoked line drives from Rich Aurilia, it could have been 8-0 instead of 6-0 heading to the third inning.

Washburn walked off the mound at the end of the second inning, unblinking, a confused look of anguish and frustration on his blond-bearded face.

And Washburn's start wasn't even the worst of the Series. The combined line for World Series starters through Game 5: 42 2/3 innings pitched, 44 runs allowed, 70 hits allowed and a collective 9.07 ERA. Kirk Rueter's Game 4 start for the Giants -- six innings, three runs -- has been the longest and best of the Series.

The starters have been so bad that Nolan Ryan is thinking of coming out of retirement to go for an eighth no-hitter.

The last time we've seen World Series pitching this bad was 1993, when the Blue Jays pounded the Mitch Williams-led Phillies for 45 runs in six games. The Phillies had a 7.57 ERA in the Series (the Jays didn't exactly pitch like Sandy Koufax themselves with a 5.77 ERA). And it's a far cry from last year, when the Yankees and Diamondbacks' starters combined for a 2.81 ERA (and that's including Andy Pettitte's awful outing in Game 6).

Scioscia knows his rotation has been on the skids.

"I think this time of year, any rotation in the game obviously is not going to be as crisp as they were in August or any time during the season," he said prior to Game 5. "I think that the same thing can be said for the guys on the other side, for the Giants. That's why the end of the season, to get to this level, is such a test. We have enough gas in our tank."

Molina had another way to describe one of the games (it doesn't really matter which game he was describing): "We were missing right down the middle with the ball and the didn't miss many hits."

And Washburn may not even have been the most disgusted pitcher of Thursday night.

Giants starter Jason Schmidt, staked to that huge cushion, couldn't even last long enough to get the win. He was cruising through four innings -- no runs, three hits, seven strikeouts -- when he, too, fell victim to the pitching horrors of the 2002 World Series, getting roughed up for four hits and three runs in the fifth and leaving one out shy of a victory.

As Schmidt walked off the mound, he looked like he wanted to pull all the hairs out of his goatee.

He could surely join Jarrod Washburn in that department.

David Schoenfield is the baseball editor for ESPN.com.