The Road Trip
I’m not even going to trip on Cinny yet, that series is not going to be a good match up for us. First up is Pittsburgh where we need to take at least 2 or 3. I’m giving us tonight’s game and then giving them the “Welly” game since it’s a road game and he loses his mind on the road—-And the Giants would NEVER throw Bum out there for his first start of the year, they’d run him out at ATT–I actually agree with that philosophy. It still has me doing a slow burn that we are giving a road game away in Pittsburgh. Anyway, then Timmy takes Game 3 just because he’s Tim Freaking Lincecum and he beats the Pirates with up to 5 blisters on his pitching hand…….
Keep McCutchen off the base paths and hope that Garrett Jones strikes out a lot. Their pitching sucks. I’d also like to see Franchez hit about .600 in this series and Pat the Bat come up to club a big bomb or two for us just to remind everyone on the team that it’s ok to lose them over the fence now and again….
I agree with Pawlie on the last thread, their ballpark is amazing. I wish I could take a trip there some day…..
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
Dang Flav, I finally get in on the Joyce topic and you change threads on me. Oh well, coulda, woulda, shoulda.
pop your comment over here, Clown, we do what we like at Flap 2.0
Franchez should be fired up and I agree I hope he just goes off in Pitt. Cincy will be a little tougher. For some reason teams that Dusty manages seem to get a little more fired up playing the Giants.
This will be a trip for the hot weather hitters to come alive. I’m hoping Rowand, Molina, Huff and Uribe just go nuts.
OK Flav, it wasn’t much but here goes.
I feel really sorry for Joyce. I mean think about it, if he had one more eye, just one more eye, he could be a cyclops.
Sorry, an old Ump heckle (I think it got me on ESPN at a Zephyrs game in NOLA during the 94 strike).
Much more polite than the old chestnut, Blue, get on your knees if you’re going to blow the call.
I heard this morning that Bowker had been optioned to Fresno, and according to MLB Trade Rumors, it’s true. They’re trying to sort you a spot for him on the 40 man roster. I guess he is in Pittsburgh by tomorrow.
Here’s the link:
http://tinyurl.com/33bq5w8
Wouldn’t be great to see Sabean be as acontrite as Joyce was on how he has bothced this team up for the last few years…he should be on his knees beging forgiveness ala Jim Joyce:) That is for you Twin…
PNC Park is my favorite new stadium outside of ATT of course…great field…
That should be “sort out a spot for him on the 40…”
I hate this no delete, no edit bullshit…
Go back to look at one of my late April posts and I said by the trade deadline Freddie Sanchez will be hitting .320….hope he has a big weekend…
Okay…it’s early…when I was saying they were trying to sort out a spot for “him” I meant Pat the Bat.
FYI– I added 2 other to the contest after they showed me the emails they sent that I had missed. They were both low so it alters the contest a bit. Check it out…..
The reason Cinny isn’t going to go well is clear to me: We can’t bomb with them in that park and that’s really what you have to do to beat them. Plus, they are a pretty good team this year. Getting swept is a distinct possibility……
“One point I haven’t heard much at all is that if Galaragga was late covering the bag he should have been charged with an error.”
Which raises a good question. How can the batter be awarded a hit for hitting what was basically a routine grounder towards the secondbaseman?
Maybe give the error to Cabrera for going ridiculously out of position?
GH, sorry I just disagree. We all thought Bowker won OF job in ST, now he is in minors where he probably belongs. Then Nate took over, hot start and has faded…now torres has come to the forefront, as leadoff hitter and good defensive OF. Sabean kept his SPs intact in the off season, re-signed Wilson. FS looks like a player so far, I’m sure some of this will wear off. Huff was a good pick up, MDR unable to regain health. Wells has won some games for us and been great at home as #5 guy.
Win some, lose some. Lot of big name hitters are not producing like normal or living up to contracts. Posey is up here, Sf continues to be tough at home. STL and Philly have struggled mightily, and didn’t SF handle ATL when they came through here? I think they can hang with anyone, great starters, bullpen my biggest area of concern.
absolutely fantastic question ZOOM– the only thing I can think of (in terms of why that place was even so close in the first place) was that the 2nd baseman went as slowly and methodically as possible to make sure he didn’t fuck it up. It was a routine grounder to 2nd…..
And my thoughts on replay are this: don’t do it. The reasons FOR doing it are obvious but one thing baseball does not do well and that is “exist in a timely manner”. baseball would screw it up, the replays would last forever, the game would get bogged down worse than it already. I simply don’t trust them to put together a quick replay system. And with time obviously of the essence in that situation, the costs would outweigh the benefits…..
Zum, Very good point and the official scorer can change his ruling after the fact. Kid won’t get the perfecto but would get a no-no.
Flav, I’d be really surprised SF takes a dive in Cincy. ATL swept Pirates with pitching and Glaus and Prado getting hot. I think SF takes 2 in Pit and splits at the least in Cincy. SF pitching is better than anything they have faced or that they have, tho they did handle STL. But those weren’t 9-8 slugfests more like close low scoring games we play a lot, and I don’t see slugfest losses happening to SF in either venue.
DeRosa 3-4 last night in Fresno with a double and K.
Burrell – 0-2.
Hacker – 5.0 IP, 9 H, 6 ER, 6 2 Ks, 3 BB, 1 HR, 4.42 ERA.
Regarding replay. It is going to happen…you can almost guarantee it…whether you like it or not (I don’t want it, either). But, if they are going to do it, I like Twin’s idea from yesterday. Each team gets 1 challenge per game. The 9th and extra innings are reviewed/decided by a replay box (much like football does for overtime, etc.). If they do it…I hope it is something along these lines.
Pawlie – forgot to mention…great article yesterday from “syracuse.com.” Thanks for sharing.
Replay should be handled like hockey. Every play is looked at and replayed by the booth or commissioner’s office. No challenges. That way there is only an overturned call/game interuption if officials watching replays deem it necessary. If they don’t see any reason to overturn a call before the next pitch is in play, then it doesn’t get overturned.
I don’t want to see challenge flags like football. That system takes too much time in the NFL and would be even worse in baseball. Ed Montague was on Chronicle Live last night and suggested a 5th ump travels with every crew and joins the rotation. The ump that is not on the field that day is in a replay booth and can look at every play and signal to the field umps when a call needs to be overturned.
Gotta agree with the Hockey idea. Those guys do it right; quick, simple, painless. Just like a beheading. Kind of depressing article from Baggs on Timmy. Much like this morning’s weather. 58 fastballs in his last start vs Colorado and not a single swing and miss. We need to get our ace back on top if we have any intentions of postseason play. Need to start hitting some homers on this trip. As much as Huff likes to give the “Darrell Evans Gumby Shoulders” at AT&T when he gets robbed, he’s yet to homer on the road. No time like the present. Franchez’s return to Pittsburgh should help. Maybe his inspired effort since his return will go up even another notch. Hope John Bowker is keeping his dauber up. Tough shit, Johnny. You had your chance and whiffed. Counting the minutes until Whitey’s first at-bat. Go Whitey!
Yeah, the scary thing is, last 2 starts:
Timmy, 0-2, 10.1 IP, 10 BBs, 10 runs against.
Wellemeyer, 2-0, 12.2 IP, 4 BB, 4 runs against.
Fuck replay.
My opinion only. Increase replay with each manager getting two challenges per game. They get two because if they screw up one and use it early they get another for the end of the game. It sure would ease tensions in the dugouts.
And lets get the DH going in the NL. The superior league has had it for years. The sky hasn’t fallen.
Yeah, 2 outta 3 from the Pirates is looking like a must. And I don’t wanna hear all the, “they play us tough, they’re good at home, blah, blah…” horseshit. The Pirates are -128 in runs scored differential. How the hell they won 22 games thus far is beyond me. Beat these sorry fucks down starting tonight. No excuses!
John Shea tweets Pat the Bat in Pittsburgh tonight.
So, what do you guys think about Bowker going down (most likely to open a spot for Burrell)?
Test – can you guys see my posts? I posted earlier that Bowker was sent down, and that another move (to clear a spot on the 40 man) was in the works…all to bring up Burrell…
Yeah i can see your posts Chi.Burrell on his way to Pittsburgh like Dennis said, via John Shea’s tweet.Hey we need the punch from the right side off the bench.Let’s hope Pat the Bat provides it.
Haha, yes wee can see them. Bowker going down doesn’t concern me in the least. The entire Bowker Gang could set sail on a boat of no return and we would all be just fine….
FYI– I’m messing around with some colors and fonts right now. I THINK that will just be visible on the backend but if the blog starts looking screwy please email me asap.
Wonder who they move from the 40 man? Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. And kat, I agree…we need the RH bat.
What the Bowker gang has to understand is that Giants fan are weary of guys coming up from AAA who can’t seize the moment. And then the Braves pull 20 year old Heyward out of their a## and reload their team. It’s frustrating.
Fortunately we’ve developed some great pitching. Some dingers from Posey and/or Sandoval and/or Huff on this road trip would be encouraging.
On changing to an error-worse idea than overturning it and the score keeper hqas already said he won ;t do it. It’s worse for one simple fucking reason: itb wasn’t an error…
Replay: again, it will happen. There is zero doubt, The only q
On changing to an error-worse idea than overturning it and the score keeper hqas already said he won ;t do it. It’s worse for one simple fucking reason: itb wasn’t an error…
Replay: again, it will happen. There is zero doubt, The only question is the format and the breadth of it. As I said yesterday-if we can look at it, they’re going to have to allow the officials to utilize it. If for no other reason, they are inviting *real* tragedy…
Cincinnatti is no “mismatch”. They are no better than us alll around and the Giants do have a few guys who can slug now. Bizarre that Huff has none on the road, that’s way overdue to change. I’d look for Huff, Rowand, Uribe, and Panda to all have good “power trips”. Buster should get his first, Bengie is due- 37 runs for the 7 games. 4-3… remermber-I nailed April and after slumping with Panda, came back and bullseyed the homestand…
Burrell looks hungry ~ to judge from his stats at Fresno, anyway. At Pittsburgh he’s along for the ride and should contribute. At the Riverside bandbox he becomes out and out essential. Still going with my earlier take as to taking 2 of 3 against the Pirates and splitting with the Reds. Lineup projection:
Torres
Sanchez
Sandoval
Burrell
Huff
Molina
Posey
Rowand
Both Molina and Rowand hit well against the Pirates back in April. Each of them had a bit of a recovery in game three against the Rox. Just looking at Burrell’s name in the cleanup spot tends to make me drool a bit over the lineup. It just looks totally different. I’m expecting Drrrty to hold em tonight and for the Giants to score around 5 against Duke and company. One way or t’other they should do a split of the Wellemeyer and Lincecum games. WP may well be a member of the pen.
Biggest concern is for Timmy to get back on his game. Pirates are last in the league in runs scored, so an ideal target for his recovery. Command and control. He doesn’t need to pitch fine against most of these guys, just bring it. If he can go 7 innings in game 3 with no more than two or three walks Giants could sweep in Pittsburgh.
Z. there ios no comparison to be made with Heyward and the Bowker Gang. The failure of our idiot fans and some blogsters to sere that is fucking absurd, It’s what leads to this bullshit about Bowker or Nate not getting the same opportunity to fuck up as Rowand gets. Bowker ain’t Heyward. Posey is Heyward. Buster will never see the minors again. Guaranteed. Anybody thinks Bochy wouldn’t play Heyward every motherfucking day is hopelessly stoooooooooooooooooooopid…
June 15th against Baltimore at China Basin. Scheduled as a Wellemeyer start. If Todd does get bombed at the bandbox by the Ohio, my expectation is that MadBum gets the call for that mid-June date. Baltimore is not a bad hitting team, but may be slightly handicapped w.o. the dink-hitter rule in the NL park. It should be good timing to showcase the kid from Carolina.
Leave it to the Giants to snag a monotone player like Burrell and consider him an upgrade on Bowker. Burrell might outrun Bengie by a coupla steps to get the frig door open, plus the only leather he sports are Cole-Hahns. If he hits a few dingers, well, fine. Is he any kinda difference maker? Non, just another furniture re-arrangement courtesy of Monsieur Sabes…
They are not going to bench Uribe for Burrell. I’d guess he gets one or two starts ion the road trip, as many as three: one for each OFer…
Heard report from CSN Bayarea that Burrell might even start tonight.He’s been assigned uniform #9.Matt Williams old number.Hope it’s a good omen.If he does start i would assume LF with Huff back at 1B. OF of Burrell LF Rowand CF and Torres RF.
They’re getting Burrell for the 8 or 10 times he doesn’t have to run.
It’s a lefty so sure he could. But whither Posey? He should never sit again unless he’s inthe squaaaaaaaaaaaaat…
stix – who is playing what positions in your proposed LU? I agree with Twin – Burrell won’t start over Uribe. Uribe is the only guy on the roster currently with significant experience at SS. Downs has very limited experience there.
If Burrell lasts past the trade deadline or doesn’t get hurt before then, it’ll be a shocker. Giants 3-4 on this trip, at best. They’d suck against the Pirates even if they played with hockey sticks at the Igloo. And a 2-2 in Cincy would be a good thing. With that dynamite Cincy offense, Dusty will pull out the stops to try for at least a 3-1 series beat down on SF…
Agree, Twin. You put Huff at 1st, then Molina sits, and Buster is behind the dish.
As Chi suggested yesterday, take a look at Burrell’s splits in Cinn. Could be interesting. I think they go 4-3 on this trip.
“On changing to an error-worse idea than overturning it and the score keeper has already said he won ‘t do it. It’s worse for one simple fucking reason: it wasn’t an error…”
If the runner had actually been safe, then an error should have been charged to the pitcher, for either bobbling the throw, or failing to get over to first in time. Last time I checked, the pitcher’s mound is a lot closer to first than the batter’s box.
I’m fine with this. Galarraga may have been denied his rightful place in the record books but baseball fans have already made the correction, and in the hall of fame they keep in their minds, he’s in one of the premiere locations, the Bizarre Occurences Showcase, on the top shelf, next to Harvey Haddix. Meanwhile Joyce is out back in the Steve Bartman Pavillion.
Back after a trip to Texas, I’m trying to figure out this new blog. I missed the big Posey debut, looks like he’s doing OK. He’ll probably sit now that Burrell is up… And I heard on the radio yesterday that Bengjie was something like 2 for 45 or 52, with Rowand draggin not too far away from that neighborohood. Nice to know some things haven’t changed while I was gone…
Pat won’t start tonight, not with Whitey catching. That would put Buster on the bench. Maybe tomorrow, and sit Huff or Bengie.
Here’s my projected LU
Torres RF
Sanchez 2B
Sandoval 3B
Huff 1B
Burrell LF
Posey C
Uribe SS
Rowand CF
P
There’s a bit of bad news concerning Pittsburgh. They’ve called up a couple of the prospects they’ve been stockpiling. Alvarez is pretty much a sure thing and they’ve moved this guy Walker over to second. That guy was terrible up until this season, where he raked in AAA, then hit the ground running with 4 doubles and a HR in eight games. Their hitting has improved dramatically, literally overnight Their pitching does stink, so the Giants have to take advantage.
On the Joyce thing, everybody’s patting the guy on the back for fessin up to the mistake. Big deal. What’s he going to say, “I was right”? He flat blew it, then the crew blew it by not huddling and correcting the mistake before the next batter. Both benches were telling the umps the replay showed he was out. The umps could have just huddled and changed the call after conferring amongst themselves, and made up something that the home plate ump had a better look, etc. But no, they’d rather stick to a blown call and screw a kid outta the record books. That’s why the replay is needed and will be coming…
Burrell to pinch hit tonight. Nothing more.
I’d take back every good thing I ever saiod about Bochy if Uribe got benched ( other than a one game breather) for Burrell. Stix-hasn’t it thawed back there yet? God, man. And I just don’t see Huff and Burrell both in the OF. Two of Rowand, Torres, and Sheerhose have to be out there always. If Burrell does come up smokin’ they really have to go with my “rotation” which is going to put Molina on the pine 3 days a week or so-and so be it.
The pitcher did not bobble it and he wasn’t slow to first. The only fuck up was Cabrera fielding it in the first place and that’s not an error. But it’s mothefucking moot for the reason I said: the scorekeeper already said he wasn’t changng it and he’s right-it was not a goddamn error, period.
Hey, who turned off the lights?
Oops: Somehow i overlooked Uribe. Looking at 8 places caused that, i guess. I’d be down with Posey catching or Burrell replacing Rowand, moving Torres to center. My thinking here was probably more attuned to the Cincinnati series than the Pgh one, though. Uribe would bat 6th if replacing Molina were that the LU scenario.
Don’t see Burrell as a regular, except in situations like against the Reds where the stadium is a bandbox and often necessitates slugfests. Other starts would be in idealized B-P matchups.
Absolutely guaranteed that Snarkkfuck would agtree with GringoFuck. Both assholes who have zero empathy for the “human condition”. Yes, I said “empathy”. Figger it out….
That was not a call that gets the “huddle” thing because it was not a case where another ump had a better view. And what EVERYONE is ignoring, now that the replays are better than the original videos, the play is actually way closer than thought. Gallaraga’s foot was over, not on, the bag until it really was a near tie. No, Joyce simply made a mistake and the only one whio could have honestly made it right is the coward Selig. NOT Joyce..
hey dudes– I changed some of the colors around, refresh your browser if you can’t see them.
and for some unknown reasons my posts are in while, everyone else’s has a grey background. Or is that for all of you, too?
Now we have two Whitey’s, Eli and Flav. Just you.
TF, I agree that the endless whining fans do about Bowker and Schierholtz gets old. Much more so on the Splash and ExtraBaggs. If Burrell can help, get him in there, definitely.
I guess the bottom line is Bochy has to pull the string on Benjie, because we need Posey to catch sometimes to make sure he’s getting enough ABs. This is the crucial moment of the season where Bochy needs to pull Molina into the office and lay down the scenario.
Not baseball-related…but, any of you been watching the series “Justified” on FX? Seems like one of the best new series to come along lately.
Not sure this is thread-worthy….but what TV shows do y’all watch? I don’t watch a lot of episodic TV, other than “Justified.” Once baseball season gets going, there’s a game just about every day.
I’ve been watching the “The Wire” on NetFlix DVD. That’s a good series.
Admittedly, I watch a lot of animated series. I think it’s kind of a golden era of cartoons. Family Guy, Futurama, and a few others. They’re quite funny.
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelpha and The League, both FX shows, are straight up hilarious if you can stand absolutely vile humor.
I’ll make some other changes later, I just wanted to get rid of all that white back ground. Any other ideas you guys have, let me know but I probably can’t get it done before Mon.
I like the new color scheme. It would be really cool if you could use a font that’s similar to the Giants’ logo. Maybe frame the masthead with a silhouette of J.Leonard’s signature HR trot, Craig’s name as publisher, and a motto. How about “Keep Your Head Up And One Flap Down”…or maybe “Fuck The Dodgers, Fuck ‘Em In Their Big Fat Stupid Mouths!”
Last night I noticed that once it hits 50 the previous 50 are not available for viewing. At least pour moi.
they are available, you just have to click the box that says “older comments” which is right above the “Leave a Reply” thing in the box you type in.
I just made the font of the comments slightly bigger too, easier to read….
Stum– I like it. “keep your dauber up and one flap down”— I’ll do something with it next week, the dude helping me has bounced…….
Snarkk wrote: “Leave it to the Giants to snag a monotone player like Burrell and consider him an upgrade on Bowker.”
Basically were discussing a RH bat off the bench. Bowker just hasn’t gotten it done in that regards, and with Burrell’s history (and minimal cost)…WTF…roll the dice. I think it was a good gamble that even if it doesn’t pan-out, costs the Giants very little.
OK, missed that. Weird.
There are many different ways Joyce could have handled his mea culpa. The press conference route. The “Yeah, I missed it, BUT…” route. Several. The reason he’s getting respect is the same reason Snarkk and Gringo don’t get it: he was genuine, straightforward, human, and he did it man to man. The people who don’t get that are people who distrust honesty.
Flavor – to answer your earlier question, yes…our comments are in gray, yours are in white. I like the color scheme too, and also Stum’s idea on using a font similar to the Giant’s logo. I like the “Keep Your Dauber Up, and One Flap Down” too!
With the “dauber talk” ya have to throw in a “Humm Baby,” too!
The umpires huddle.
“Jimbo, what’s up, guy. He had a perfect game goin.”
“The crowd noise was too loud. I couldn’t hear the ball hit the mitt, but I saw the ball and the foot.”
“He was safe?”
“That’s what I saw.”
“It was close. We can change the call and get outta here.”
The crowd’s booing subsides as the ump huddle continues. Fans are starting to suspect that the umps may overturn the call.
“That what you want, Jiim?”
The men fall silent for a moment. Individual fan voices are now discernible amid the vaguely waning booing sound.
“Hey, blue, get on your knees if you wanna blow a call, OK? What’re you guys doing, trying to remember which one of you is the designated driver? Hey, blue, how many middle fingers am I holding up? Fuck this one up blue, and you’ll go back to the hotel in an amublance! I’m gonna break your cane and kill your dog, blue. Hey, I’m gonna kill YOU, blue, if you don’t make this right! Yeah, blue, you and your family are fucking toast if you don’t make this right! I’ll come after you, too, blue, you blind bastard.”
The men look at each other and walk away from the huddle without another word. The umpire in chief signals to the managers that the safe call stands and moves back into position behind the catcher. “Play!”
Ed Montague’s idea would probably be the easiest to pass in a vote from the two unions.
Twin – If the official scorer said he wouldn’t change the play to an error (because it wasn’t an error) how does he/she justify it as a hit (after Joyce said he blew the call)?
Selig won’t change the call (although I think he should), so the idea sounded like it would allow Joyce to save face and the kid to have a no-no. It’s just my opinion, but it seems like the best compromise.