Gut Check Time
I’m really looking forward to how the team does today in Milwaukee. After the longest extra inning game in Col history and leaving everything they had on the field, they have to fly to Milwaukee and play today. I can’t imagine too many of our guys have their legs under them right now. Brewers are “only” -115 to beat us tonight. Wow…..
Everyone is harping on the Bochy decision to replace Posey with Whitey and it’s a valid thing to be upset about but that’s just one of many decisions that managers make every game that didn’t happen to work out. Dumb? Well, the decision is something that would have never even entered my mind. But the reality is, we lost when we sent tired vet after tired vet up to hit and fail. Rowand, Uribe and Renteria don’t look like they can hit anything out of the infield these days. I love Uribe but he needs a rest. The problem is that Renteria needs a longer one. True, he still clings to a .300+ batting average but look at the hits he’s getting. Of his 39 hits on the year he’s got 7 extra base hits. That’s pathetic. It’s July 5th, you can’t have only 7 extra base hits…. Enough with Renteria. I’d freaking rather see Emmanuel Burriss out there, at least he’d bring some speed and electricity to this sagging offense…..
We are in a very tough situation right now and while it would be nice to never see Whitey play, he’s not the reason this offense sucks right now. The majority of the position players can look at themselves and own that responsibility….
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
Twin’s lineup from end of the thread is fine. I’ve thought this year was the “figure it out” season for a lot of guys….we’ll see what the final grades are for how much PT the likes of Rent, Rowand and others see rest of the season.
Curious thing about yesterday was to watch the younger guys get taken out as the game progressed—-Sando, Posey and Ishi came out while Rent and Rowand stayed in, and of course the awful ABs by Whitey. One of those pitches he fouled off appeared to bounce (with Huff at 3B). If he’d laid off it might have been a WP.
But there is no way Fowler should have had that kind of series. This guy didn’t hurt us much last year and a week ago was in the minors because he hadn’t hit. As I recall he could not handle a breaking ball, either way down and in or down and away. Instead he was always ahead in the count and got pitches to hit he could handle, mostly low or belt high out over the plate.
Don’t know what was in the most recent scouting report on Fowler, but…with all the computer/video evidence available today, Gibson in the book with reggie (good read pawlie) throws most of the info out the window. His point is it only shows how others get a guy out and how he throws and what type of pitches he uses is different. Each of the SF starters is pretty unique—how Lincecum gets a guy out is way different from Cain, and the LHPs are quite distinct as well. It has to be in your head over past experience on the mound what works and what doesn’t, not on a printout.
willieD– I’ve often thought the same thing about scouting reports. I feel the same way about 10 at bat stats. For example, if ROwand is 6 for 10 against a pitcher, does that mean he “owns” him or might he have just gotten to face that pitcher during one of his hot streaks where he was hitting everybody?
As the SF Gate points out (and what was reiterated by others and I yesterday), Sandoval, Posey and Ishi originally batted behind Huff and combined for four hits, but Bochy took them all out. OK, let’s give him a pass on Whiteside being faster than Buster (even though I don’t buy it . . . sheesh, we’re talking catchers here), however, what was the strategy in removing Ishi? I thought he was the defensive late inning replacement? Couple that with the fact, he already had two hits that day (and his grand slam the day before), what was Botch thinking? Also, Flav’s point about old fucks in our lineup looking they can’t “. . . hit anything out of the infield these days.”
Which brings me back to Sandoval, Posey, and Ishi – they have “youth” on their side and aren’t these the guys you want playing late inning games? If I’m missing something here, please let me know . . . I’m confused as hell about what went on yesterday.
I think it’s a pivotal series for Franchez. His hot dog act has gotten a bit stale, and I swear if Blake DeWitt ends the season with a higher batting average, then it’s just about full proof the cosmos favor the Dodgers over the Giants.
Willied, it didn’t “bounce.” Whiteside actually hit it before it touched the ground. However, your point is ABSOLUTELY CORRECT, because it would have bounced and possibly been a wild pitch, whereby Huff could have scored. Good observation (so much shit happening yesterday, I almost forgot that one).
Also not noted, but it was pointed out by George Frazier (the Colorado announcer) that the Giants outfield was playing Carlos Gonzales (I think he was at bat) like a “relief pitcher during a bases loaded situation, with two outs . . . he criticized Wotus and Bochy (whomever is responsible for positioning the outfield) for not repositioning the outfield at their normal depth (for Gonzales) after the Giants had gotten two outs.
At least Posey and Ishi should be fresh today since they played about half the game Sunday.
What good is having Posey and Ishi fresh today, they both can’t play 1B at the same time.
Whitey’s behind the dish today. Did we fire anyone yet?
Damn, forgot about that, although it’s way past time to shelve Eli doing the personal catcher thing since Sanchez has been the model of inconsistency for a while now.
exactly, what is the point of the personal catcher thing? If it was to rest Benjie once a week I could dig that but he’s gone. There’s nothing SPECIAL that Whitey and Dirrrrty are making together. He’s been average at best for at least a half a dozen starts in a row….
The personal catcher thing needs to be done. Bochy needs to trashcan that concept now.
Maybe Bochy did not do a BAD job of management yesterday. It was simply poor. Time for RentMan to get ‘injured’. Uribe needs to sit for at least 3 games. Anybody catch the comparative walk totals yesterday? 15-3. Game’s on. Today is the best opportunity Dave Bush has ever had vs the Giants. As worn out as they are, he might have less success vs a littleleague team. Game time already.
Well if we trade J Sanchez,we could include the personal catcher in the deal.Problem with that.Bonehead would fall in love with Steve Holm and play him as much as Posey.
Oops. Read that schedule wrong. Seems like i’m worn-out too. How can the schedulers do a day game the day after the Fourth? Different if they were in the same town. But they play a full timezone away.
Seven more games to go on the Trek. While neither Milwaukee nor Washington are particularly strong teams this season, they will have that home-field advantage. Can the Giants take 3 of the seven?
As bad as he’s been at times, right now i’d prefer to give Nate one last good shot, playing say 5 of the 7. Rowand is a mess. Renteria and Uribe are worse, presently. After a decent Saturday, Sanchez fell off again yesterday. My take is that its time to bring up one or two of the Fresno IFs. But if there is a single tired-assed vet around, it wouldn’t do any good to bring a kid up cause he ain’t gonna get much more than a new accumulation of pine-splinters.
If Whitey starts today, Bochy is one stubborn SOB.
If more than one of Whitey, Rowand and RentMan starts today i will shift my affiliation from the Bochy should go column to the Bochy MUST go one. Isn’t it obvious to everyone on this board that Renteria is injured and needs to go on the DL stat?
testing…testing
Eli Whiteside is not the reason the Giants suck ass right now. This team is in serious trouble and they’d better find a way out of it or they’re going to get buried.
No, I havent been boycotting the new blog, though I don’t see how this one is an improvement over the original…My laptop crashed in mid May and I haven’t had the patience to browse on my seven year old desktop…I cant get the blog at work, so I have just been lurking from time to time…Been real busy at work trying to recruit a gorgeous 28 year old from Midland, which requires lots of afterhours schmoozing…Tough job, I know.
Anyway, I am heading out to SF tomorrow with the wife and baby to visit family…Thought I might check in…We will be staying at the Clift Hotel on Geary Street Wed thru Sat…Let me know if any of you near the city want to meet to grab a beer.
Look what the cat dragged in . . . Welcome back Wilcojoe . . . Umm, does this mean you are going to pay attention to your Flap fantasy league team (grin)?
How are my Bums doing?
I probably check my personal email about once a week…I still manage to follow the Giants religiously on the extra innnings package and read the box scores every morning…Other than that, I have been completely shut off of all things internet related since the laptop crashed…The DT’s lasted about two weeks, but I still get the shakes every now and again.
No, Whitey isn’t the biggest problem, but the Giants fans want a scalp! Throw us the gray scalp of Whitey!
Eli sits!
CF Torres
2B F. Sanchez
RF Huff
LF Burrell
3B Sandoval
SS Uribe
C Posey
1B Ishikawa
P J. Sanchez
fucking FINALLY……
Wow! Looks like Bochy’s trying to save his job. I’d commented that at least two of the three desperadoes should sit today or i’d join the Bochy MUST go bunch. All three of the prime suspects sit today. Can’t be the Manager reads this blog. So i must have picked up on the vibe.
Thanx for the info MacD. With this lineup the Giants have no worse than a 45% chance of winning today. Milwaukee does not have the kinda BP the Rox do. My prediction is that Giants win if Drrrty can go seven. Fat chance of that, but maybe he likes the idea of being showcased today.
They’re not doing so good Wilco – 11th place out of 12 teams.
In a span of 10 days, we went from 8/5 to 15-1 to win the division. That’s fucking magic alright.
Are best chance of winning is if Bochy get’s ejected again.Last 9 games Bochy 0-8,Ron Wotus 1-0.
I guess the “glass is half-full” perspective is that we can reverse those odds in 10 days too. Seriously, I have no evidence to support that, but I would like to think that it is possible. Maybe the All-Star break will provide a modicum of rest for our weary veterans, where they will be re-charged for the second half. One can hope . . .
Quit dissing Bochy. The man is everything most of you guys are not.
Fans are unreasonalble at times. Knee-jerk ideas come to mind. Lets change everything if the team is having problems is wrong. The lousy teams do just that.
Whiteside was a huge part of why they lost yesterday, or rather, playing him was. And with all the absolute crap criticizing Bochy for decisions that every manager makes, I can’t believe the pass he gets for a huge tactical error. He said Whiteside had more speed to score on a “gapper”. That’s a fucking joke. If Posey had been the lead run it would have some merit. If he had been on second base and the lead run it had definite merit. On FIRST BASE and not the lead run? Fucking preposterous decision that did cost the game, having also pulled everybody else, including the other catcher.
On a specific play sure the manager should be questioned but he’s making decisions in real time with real players. He’s not sitting at home on a sofa or up in the press box.
“He never initiates a conversation with the weather, not even in a typhoon.”
Don’t forget the ice.
Most of the complaints about Bochy involve decisions that were solid but the result backfired: for instance, a relief pitcher fails to perform or a pinch hitter strikes out. Bullshit second guessing based on 20/20 hindsight. No manager gets in trouble with the front office for those calls, the FO is smarter than the blogosphere. But the only sane reaction from Neukom to yesterday’s call to run for Posey: “Huh?” Then he has to hope Bochy says Posey strained a calf or fribbled a frabble, SOMETHING.. but “we pick up a half a step on a gapper”…sorry, my friend…
Nipper, whether or not you ARE Soph, you are very Soph-like. The same vague repetitive troll-like behavior, showing little real baseball knowledge. READ something for goodness sake. IMPROVE for once. You and Soph behave like you’re trapped in some kind of weird glass jar, saying the same weird things over and over.
Zum, Barryforever IS Soph. That’s become patently obvious in the past few months. At least to me anyways.
Very interesting words, thanks guys.
It seems this blog, the ESPN stats page, MLB news and the alternative blog McCovey Chronicles (or Baggs) are my main feed into the thing I loved and left behind: SF Giants baseball.
So involved at work am I that I really can’t afford to listen to a game that starts at 9pm local time and goes 15 innings. Oh, how I wish for the slow days when we weren’t improving and hiring and I could miss sleep to listen/watch a full game.
At least the Nathan’s hot dog eating contest was broadcast at dinner time here.
Didn’t watch that either. I WAS EATING DINNER.
The cold reality of my greatest fears have unfolded. Flaming 500 ball. Sabean built the team, Botchy manages it and the players get sucked into that whirlpool of shoulda – coulda – woulda and team spirit becomes: what the fuck?
fantasy #1:
I know these guys, I manage the team, I see them everyday and yet I don’t know if Uribe needs a rest or not; so I play him again. . . and again. (maybe nightmare #1?)
I actually think 15-1 the Gs don’t win this division is a good bet. But then they are my team and I cannot believe that what we have been seeing is what we (as fans) have got. We are luckier in SF.
So I take another pull off the jug and yell: Let’s Go Giants.
I bemaon many things – even the AS break will not be a rest for my team (or a break) I knew we would be here; had hoped for better; believe in more. At least from my experience when players have a day off they have many things on their minds, not of which are conducive to rest. But we begin again after the ASG.
Words:
Showcased (honest and positive)
Can we stay 500 (hard to believe we would be asking that)
the cosmos favor the Dodgers (I doubt it, but the cosmos is still mad about the move from NY)
Sabermetrics: perfect for fantasy bean-counters and longer views; nothing to do with todays game; I’ll take an insider’s take on how sweet that flower smells.
retort: yes, I am a math major and the stats do tell a story; so let me tell mine.
and finally:
streaks: all teams/players have them; it is the one’s after the AS break that give us glory.
go you orange and black; management be damned?
I happened to be driving last night, and heard Urban call it Bochy’s worst managerial blunder since he’s been the Giants manager, because the blunder kept biting the team in the a## for inning after inning, as the extra-innings dragged on.
I heard a little bit of the bland Lurie’s show. He made a point that the Giants just cannot sit around waiting for stuff to happen on offense. The steal attempts from Torres was a good sign. But also hit and run more with Franchez.
I’m just feeling lately like we’re a bunch of diehard Cubs fans. Loyal but delusional. I’ll speak for myself. The shoe fits. Haiku anyone?
As I said yesterday, in different words, Torres plays like he means it, like his life depends on it. And he enjoys it. Could use more of that elan.
Thank goodness for the Cubs. Their century of futility makes all other sports franchises pale in comparison.
Well, bochys decision got significantly worse as the gm dragged on. What I’m hoping is that he’s finally woken up to the reality that is el presidente.
Baggs seems to think Bochy might be trying to make amends for pinch running Whitey for Buster yesterday. Are we to presume that if he hadn’t, Whitey would still be catching Sanchez? What the hell kind of logic is that?
Did anyone else see Baggs or whoever said it that Huff was totally gassed for a couple of minutes after running out his triple? Seriously, should a professional athlete in his thirties be “gassed” after running the bases hard? Don’t get me wrong, I totally dig the Huffster, and all he’s done this season. Baggs’ use of the word “gassed” just struck me for some reason. I mean, I’m 49, not a professional athlete, and I guarantee you I could sprint from first to third without getting gassed. I do some walking everyday, and jog once in a while, and ride a bike once in a while.
Does anyone know if the game is on nationally (e.g., Fox, MLB, ESPN, etc.)?
Seventeen Syllables for our team
live or die
And always our Giants
Assuming that
1. The pitching has leveled out at a 3.5 ERA
2. Huff and Torres maintain their respective paces
3. Uribe hovers close to an 800 OPS
are givens, then, based on the current roster, the keys to getting back into the mix are a big second half turnaround from Sandoval, a better than 750 OPS from Posey and some big numbers from Ishikawa and/or Burrell. Nate and Franchez are unlikely to be positive contributors.
I’m sure him being gassed had to do with the altitude and he probably just had trouble catching his breath. I run 3 or 4 days a week but when I go to sun valley the first day or two is brutal on my lungs.
Ah, good point, BF. I wasn’t thinking of the altitude. Definitely know what you’re talking about with the little bit of mountain hiking I’ve done once in a while.
is it true that a free agent like fielder is likely to think: a five year contract at 18mill takes me where I want to be. And plays out his days.
Or does he think 6 more years in my 30s is a bunch of much more money
Or is he competitive, wants to play his best all the way through?
Baggs also wrote “There’s an oxygen bottle just down the dugout stairs. Torres probably made liberal use of it.”
Highly coincidental that El Presidente not in there today as personal catcher after the debacle that was Bonehead’s managing yesterday. Putting Posey in at quells the fires I’m hearing on the radio talk. The random fandom is definitely PO’d with Bochy. This 4-12 losing stretch is making me nervous. It will make it all the more probable that Sabes will make one or two serious player moves, and that ain’t good given his track record. Ishi’s been starting, he’s being shopped. And Dirrrty better not siign any long term leases in the Bay Area in the next couple of weeks. Rent and Rohand just need to stay on the Pine and review their bank accounts, they were horrible yesterday…
I knew he was struggling but …Uribe just .115 in the last 14 games?
Totally agree on the ill advised move by Bochy. Perhaps from PR for Bengie so many times??
Zum, ditto on what Flav said, I run 3 miles a day (under 10 minute miles) at a gym in Denver. No problem. However, when I run near my house (in the mountains at 8300 feet, I feel it). Conversely, when I visit family in the SF bay area, I feel like a frickin’ Olympic marathon runner . . . Yeah, Huff was “huffing” for a good reason 🙂
Dirrty could be auditioning today for a starting spot with the Brewers….
Just finished reading “1921.” Still my favorite quote in the book: “When sober, Phil Douglas was one of the best pitchers in baseball.”
Anybody read Schulman’s defense today of Bonehead’s PR for Posey? Holy smokes. One of the best ass kissing and access-to-the manager guaranteeing pieces I’ve seen in a while. The entire Giant fandom is 100% panning this move (even Oracle, for Kreissakes), so maybe he’s just being a contrarian and keeping good manager access at the same time. The article almost makes sense, until you realize there were two outs at the time. Along with all the other negatives of the move we know, with this lame hitting squad you just don’t make that move with two outs expecting a long gapper with the next hitter, and the possibility of an extra inning game coming up down to one catcher (I’m pretty sure Panda was outta the game already), and a lousy hitter at that…
Second half of the schedule starts with two sub-.500 teams. Maybe a little Bush on the road will help cure their hitting woes and get them kick-started.
Check that. Panda was still in the game at the time. But, he hasn’t played at C all year…
Zumie, I’m not big on baseball biographies or histories, but one I did enjoy is Tom Clark’s short, well written account of Phil Douglas’s that I’ve plugged a coupla times already. Well worth seeking out. More by Clark
http://www.alibris.com/search/books/qwork/4613104/used/Neil%20Young
Nine minutes to gametime. Milwaukee is lakeside. Low altitude. If they don’t hit Dave Bush, even in their worn-out condition, this could be one very long trek.
Phil Douglas’s railroading, that is.
Thanks, James. Those two books are right in my wheelhouse. Baseball and Neil Young!
Man, Franchez is sucking. First pitch-swinging, out of the strikezone.
Anyone outside the SF bay area have an internet feed link to the game today?
God help me. I posted on the Splash a riposte to Schulman’s shameless bootlicking of Bochy. I’d been sober for quite a while, but just couldn’t help it…
I tried to respond myself, but every other word contained four letters. I gave up.
Total ass-kiss job indeed. I hope Henry got reciprocated in kind.
Uribe adjusts to the pitch
tired
Uribe needs to return Rowand’s bat back to its rightful owner. Brutal.
How can we blame Pablo’s .399 slg% on Whiteside and Bochy? C’mon.
http://www.justin.tv/kostaz003
He’s on pace for .269/12/64 Time to take off those silly hats.
So Bochy and Bam Bam are just giving up on Pablo.Just fucking hack away at any pitch.As Pablo swings at another neck high pitch for strike 3 and asked the ump was that a strike?For most players no,but for you Panda………
That could have been a lot worse.
It really is frustrating to watch teams just take close pitch after close pitch against Sanchez once he starts displaying any lack of command.
Come on Sanchez, pick it up. How are we gonna get Fielder unless you shine?!
I’ve been sleeping on this stat: Giants’ staff MLB worst in BB allowed.