On to the 2nd half…..
So who had “Bumgarner, Posey and Ishikawa” in the pre-season pool as the 3 guys who would be leading the way for us at the break? Obviously you can throw Huff, Torres and Uribe in there too. But without those first 3 guys we’d probably be stuck at .500 or less right now……
Henry tweeted out something about personal issues for The Panda. I’m not going to spend a second wondering about what they are or how they are affecting him since his *issues* aren’t my business. Everyone has *life* to deal with. What I’m wondering about is, if these issues are so substantial that they have ruined him at the plate, why is Bochy running him out there every day? Christ, put him on leave or something. Get him into therapy. And maybe this is happening already and we don’t know it….
But at some point something needs to be done FOR Pablo and ABOUT Pablo. Either that or he will be nothing but a liability for us for the rest of the year……
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
Do we have an new Chris Brown on our hands? My guess is no, but you’re right, Pablo needs to get right. I’m OK with Uribe at third for awhile.
I’d leave Pablo alone. If there are personal issues, I’d think baseball would be the place he treasures to forget about them and hang out with his buddies. Giving him a day off vs. tough LHP once in a while, OK. He’s still a dangerous hitter from the other side, can provide rbis from there, and plays a good 3B. Sit Pablo and that means more time for Rent at SS, and he’s sunk way farther down than Pablo.
I hope Ishi can continue to hang; considering how well he did on the road trip vs. last year numbers. That makes OF rotation Torres Huff Pat Nate Rowand, so if Ishi can put up better numbers than those last two, SF is way ahead.
Rox allowed SD to score 9 runs yesterday, 6 in final 3 by the pen to win it after they were down by 3. Betancourt gave up an HR to the SS Cabrera, his first of the year, and the guy raised his avg. to .199. All of the teams ahead of Giants have just enough flaws to be vulnerable, imo. I still say team with the best pitching wins it….Romo and Ray need to stay strong.
Where We At? Sometimes a little statistical tour can be pretty revealing. For the first half (or so) the Giants started out fair offensively, started slumping in May and are now putting together a good offensive ballclub. Presence of Posey and the maturation of Ishikawa as a hitter are huge factors in the resurrection.
Giants are fifth in the league in BA at .261, but only 9th in OBP at only .326. This means they were doing a lot of hacking and were not drawing enough bases on balls. The relatively low-mediocre on base percentage is reflected in an even lower position in runs scored with 391 tallies and 10th in a 16 team league. situational hitting is also a bit of a factor here.
Basehits, the team is 6th in the league with 780. This breaks down into extra bases with 82 Home Runs putting them right in the middle of the league in 8th. Their ability to crack out the long flies is a huge improvement over last season with Huff, Uribe and Posey leading the charge. A bit weak in doubles, though, but hardly the fault of doubles-machine Andres Torres, the team stands in 10th position with 151. However, this category is pretty tight with other teams and a few more per game and the Giants will rise rapidly in the positioning. Triples, they rank fairly highly at 7th with 18. The fact that SF is only 15th in stolen bases with 34 indicates that part of the reason for the higher standing in three baggers is not so much a speed as a park factor. A great indicator of the improving hitting is Slugging Percentage where the Giants are an accelerating 7th with a .406 mark.
As the season progresses team ERAs keep rising. Currently, San Diego leads the league, with St. Louis in second place in that important category. With an earned run average at an even 3.50, the Giants are in third and now with Bumgarner added to the rotation may tend to lower it a bit rather than slip much more. It would not be surprising to see some reversion to form among the starters, resulting in somewhat improved ERA stats in the second half. With the addition of Chris Ray and the resurrection of Sergio Romo, the Bullpen is solidifying. It would not surprise me a bit to see the Giants close the gap fairly quickly on St. Louis. If the Dagos young starters wear down a bit during the Dog Days the Giants may creep up on the current league ERA leaders.
In the other pitching categories the Giants are a study in contrasts. They have given up only two more base hits than the Padres at 706 compared to 704. But San Francisco is embarrassingly DEAD LAST in bases on balls allowed with a whopping 362 free passes. In contrast to this is their BEST IN BASEBALL strikeout total of 712. Talk about mood swings. Giants pitchers, led by All-Star Brian Wilson, also are best in the league and tied with the DeRangers for first in baseball in saves with a total of 28. Again, reflecting those horrid BB stats, the Giants are a most mediocre 9th in the league with a 1.35 WHIP.
With the team’s hitting surging as a result of the return of Sanchez, the acquisition of Burrell, the maturation of Ishikawa and the call-up of Posey; the Giants are likely to keep on raking in the second half. A return to grace of Pablo Sandoval would turn this bunch into a monster at the plate. The call-up of Madison Bumgarner means the team has potentially the best 5-man rotation in baseball. After a bit of a funk, team ace Tim Lincecum appears to have reverted to something again approaching his Cy Young form. Uncertain performances by Zito, Cain and Sanchez recently are a cause for concern, but hardly for panic. With a jelling bullpen behind them, they should be getting it back together. Improved hitting support should also serve to buck up the Rotation.
All in all the outlook appears quite positive for the Giants in the second half. They have proven now that they can win on the road. To date their biggest albatross has been their so-far inability to win against division rivals. The improved hitting should tend to reverse their 9-20 record against NLW opponents. First test will be in a week’s time against the LaBumbos. That will follow four home games against a tough NY Mets team. Those seven games should tell us whether or not Sabean feels compelled to sail into the Trade Winds.
Which players are retrogressing?
Excellent breakdown, stix!
Nice summary, Stix. The nice little roady (7-4) translated into shaving a few games off the deficit. 4 back in the West, and 2 back in the WC. Problem with the WC is a couple of those NL West nemisi are the ones they are chasing in the WC. Bottom line, the team must improve against their NL West opponents.
I think your run down and synopsis is pretty accurate, Stix. I do think it important for Pablo to get back on track, and soon.
I’m all for helping out Pablo in any which way, form or matter, but not at the expense of the teams needs. And as much as he’s struggled at the plate this first half, replacing him at third with any of our current options would be a detriment. Uribe? Have you seen his splits this year when he plays 3B? They make Johnnie LeMaster look like the third coming. Not to mention third has always been his worst position defensively. No dice. Fresno options? Fuggedaboutit. So unless the 28-year-old version of Matt Williams magically reappears, Pablo stays at third, all things considered.
In regards to the All-Star Game. Is anyone else openly rooting for Timmy NOT to pitch in the game? Looks like if he doesn’t pitch, he’ll start the second half Thursday vs the Mets with his next start coming down in LA vs the Bums. If does throw a inning tomorrow, plans are to bump him back to Saturday (Cain-Zito-Timmy) which would have him miss the Dodgers and instead have Matty go in the series. As much as I love The Horse, for whatever reason, he CAN’T beat the fucking Dodgers. Something like 0-8 in 14 career starts. Sorry, I don’t like those odds.
So you have to ask yourself the question. Would you rather see Timmy pitch an inning in a complete meaningless sham of a game OR watch Timmy shut down the goddamn Dodgers in a very important and meaningful game? Seems like an easy answer to me.
Good wish, but I don’t see the reigning NL Cy Young winner not pitching in the ASG.
I share your sentiments Del Mar, but like JBat…I don’t see it happening. I will be VERY surprised if Timmy does not pitch in the ASG.
I’ve been a supporter of Ishikawa for a while but I am not sold on him having arrived quite yet. Hopefully Bochy gives him more run. If so, let’s see how he does over a month or more.
I agree, Reno. But we will never know unless he gets “consistent opportunities.” I’d like to see him get a majority of the starts over the next several months to get a really good read on him. He only has 65 ABs this year. I think a team/manager needs a solid 150-200 to get a good read (same shit as I said last year). So, give the kid most of the starts over the next couple of months and let’s see if he truly has what it takes.
Of course we don’t want him to pitch, Dennis. Maybe he can drink himself into oblivion again.
But I don’t think Charlie Manuel gives a shit about how you feel about Timmy pitching or not, Dennis. He may use him for 3 innings.
Funny, on the MLB network last night, they showed the 1965 ASG at the met in Minn. Even some of the ads. Crazy. Pete Rose, Vic Davalillo, Cookie Rojas. Marichal pitched the 1st 3 innings and was MVP. Mays homered in the 1st, and nearly screwed himself into the ground swinging at pitches. Killibrew hit a 2 run bomb in the 5th to tie the game.
Garagiola and Jack Buck announcing. It was cool to hear so much less inane banter between pitches. Kruk and Kuip are fine, but guys like McCarver and Joe Buck are enough to make me pull my fingernails out listening to them.
One of the quotes, “Pete Rose has a very colorful nickname. the guys call him Charley Hustle.”
McCarver, Buck, O’Brian and the insipid, miserable to listen to Sutcliffe are in the same category. They suck ass and make watching the game a chore.
I’ll be watching the game…but listening to the radio feed. Hopefully the radio feed had different broadcasters, but I haven’t found anything on that, yet.
Hey, if Ishi reborns himself, that would be greatr. Huff is good enough (better than Burrell) defensively, and Torres hopefully comes back fine from his strain.
Panda is scuffling, but since there are few options (except for moving Uribe there occasionally), for once I agree with letting him play though it. With everyone else going so well, he will likely get moved down in the order (6, 7) again.
Jimenez and Price named as the ASG starters.
I’m down with Ishikawa stepping up. He can be that left handed bat that Sabean is saying he is looking for. I don’t get that anyway. SF has Torres and Sandoval who both hit well from the left side. Huff is an established starter. If Ishikawa keeps hitting there are 4 starters from the left side. Where is the need for a LH bat? Off the bench, okay but Sabean is talking a bit of nonsense here. Either that or developing on of his infatuations.
Yeah, I don’t really get that either. Especially becuase if you are the usual gap to gap LH hitter, Pac Bell is death for you. The HR hitting contest here proved that.
Unless you can consistenly drive the ball down the line or opposite field, you don’t get any cheapies from the left side.
Didn’t someone of the NL side bail out due to injury?
Is there an empty spot to fill?
I don’t think Huff will get a nod after his latest pontification on the AS Game. Can’t say that I disagree with him though. I remember actually making a poing of watching the game at one time. Now? Not so much.
Yeah, when it meant something to the players, it meant something as a game. Now? Not at all . . .
Whether it’s player movement, the money, or whatever, the animosity that used to exist between the leagues is but a distant memory. The umps used to be exclusively Al or NL even. It’s like team rivalries in general. They only exist in the fans minds.
cool, unca, where are the players and fans in today’s all star?
consumers is the word I would use.
Shit, now you get 40 man rosters, and 10 guys don’t even get to play.
Yeah, the AS game has pretty much devolved into a bunch of hooey. No wonder the Dink Hitter rule league has been winning in recent years. Multiple fan voting= totally stupid. Player votes: Fine by me. They should know. The likes of Charlie Manuel picking and choosing. Nooooo. The ASG winner determining homefield advantage in the WS: Crazy.
Just so I am on record for like the MILLIONTH time…FUCK THE DESIGNATED HITTER!
That shit is NOT real baseball!
The home field advantage thing bugs me the most. That is utter bullshit. Team performance has to dictate that. Not an exhibition.
I agree 100% dirt. It’s a fucking joke and the dumbest thing in a long line of dumbass things Bud Selig has done. What a tool.
Utter bullshit is right. Another farce employed by Bud into trying to trick the fans into thinking the game has meaning. If my team won 100 games during the year yet had to concede home field advantage in the World Series to a 85-win team just because their league won the ASG. I’m so outraged by the notion I can’t even finish my train of thought.
Selig has done some good things. Managenent of the AS game is not one of them. Where was that game that they cut short or were going to cut short? Was that in AZ? I can’t remember. I DO remember Selig looking like a total Ass-Clown.
Yes, Selig has done some good things. One of the things I was initially down with was Interleague play. I am beginning to slip back to my previous thoughts (going back to non-Interleague play). But, it won’t happen.
The ‘old’ way wasn’t any better, alternating as it did from year to year.
I agree. It should be determined by the best regular season record. I guess that’s too simple for the baseball “elite” to grasp.
Lol. Please list the good things.
The guy is a damn politician with vested interests. What baseball needs is a baseball man in that position, who puts the best interests of the game at the fore of all his decisions. Making an exhibition game the determining factor for home field advantage in the World Series is embarrassing and a blight on Selig’s legacy as commissioner.
He is squarely in the middle of a class of the worst commissioners of all time.
Tremendous finish to the roadie. Can’t stand what the All Star Game has become . . .
Denny, can you post the HR Derby contest odds from sportsbook.com? My work blocks me from that site. Get your pick in, you only get one……
Cabrera 5/2
Ortiz 3-1
Holliday 3-1
Hart 5-1
Swisher 5-1
Wells 6.5-1
Ramirez 8-1
Young 12-1
I’ll be rooting for Corey since there’s still a chance he’ll wind up in a Giants uniform this year. But I’ll take Big Papi at 3-1 to be your winner tonight.
Now that I think about it, since I don’t actually want Hart to be a Giant, I’m gonna hope he takes an 0 fer tonight. The HR Derby is probably the first split Sabean uses when determining a trade prospect. 😀
Even the sportswriters can get in a rut, with preconceived notions. The Giants are the second best hitting team in the NL-on the road. And 13th at home. Almost a total reversal from last year. Right now, despite the worries about Panda, whether Huff can keep up the pace, Torres after the groin, yada yada… their troubles can be summed up in 3 words, uh, names: Cain, Zito, Sanchez. July ERAs: Cain 6.59
Zito 7.20 Sanchez 5.59 .Those guys need to “revert to form” or, as Clubber hilariously mismashed, the Giants are “Dead Toast Walking”…
Off to Philo as soon as Bea and Pilar get here… get me ideas for the contest I spoke of in the last thread. It’s a doozy.
I like the basics…how deep they go.
For tie-breaks, some suggestions:
Total W-L record for regular season.
Road / Home W-L.
Total HRs.
I think I’ll go with Hart. No one from that list strikes me as too powerful. The HR Derby seems to have deflated itself along with all those dudes who aren’t on steroids anymore….
That list is certainly uninspiring. I’ll take Ortiz just for his gay ass goat/foocho beard lip fungus.
Hell, when anybody can win, take the 12-1…
I have to go with the the unknown, can he hit tonight, I love Cabrera.
For the old guy NOT in the contest VLAD!! all the way….
BTW AL wins 6-4 and that would be the over.
A.L. -120 O/U of 8 1/2. Remember we were 15-1 to win the division just a week ago? We currently stand at 5-1. Funny how a trip through Milwaukee and the nation’s capital will do wonders for your chances. Rocks and Bums co-favored at 8/5. SD is 9/4.
I’m guilty of knocking down that 15/1 price at Sbook Dennis…
Twin, the idea of adding to the contest prize the deeper they go, if they go, is great. Also, have to echo Dennis’ thoughts. The reward for picking them to go 1 and out shouldn’t be as great as the “whole shebang”…
WTF – I grew up a Cards fan (began following the Giants in ’77 when I moved here). So, I’ll take Holliday to win the HR Derby.
Damn, Chi. Fired up bro…I agree with you on interleague though. It is just to hard to balance it. Expanding the playoffs with the WC was a good move. Consolidating the umpires was good too. Now if someone could get the high strike to be called regularly…..
“The reward for picking them to go 1 and out shouldn’t be as great as the “whole shebang”…
It wouldn’t. I’m waiting for you guys to chip in with ideas here but it would go:
1.Desktop PC
2.Desktop PLUS HTPC
3.Desktop, HTPC, PLUS Netbook.
Number 3 would only be awarded if the team makes it to the WS. They don’t even have to win. We’ll do something else for the WS itself. The #3 winner will have picked that:
1. The team make the post season
2. They win the NLDS
3. They win the NLCS
STILL waiting for Bea and Pilar. They were coming up from SF, her cell phone is not on so I don’t know where the hell they are. Punctuality is not Bea’s strong point but they were due here almost 5 hours ago…
The reward for picking them to “lose” in any round shouldn’t be as great as the one for picking them to win, (and they do) in that round either!
Of course, that may mean there are 6 actual prizes to win…I don’t know.
I can’t remember a less-inspiring line up for the Derby. Why the Hell isn’t jose Bautista here? This would be his 15 mins of fame……
twin I’ve been gone for 3 days, what’s this new contest you’re putting together?
Frankly, I’d prefer the month-to month thing . . . But July is out. Or just call it from the break to the end of uly.
maybe July/Aug/Sept/playoffs-WS?
There are going to be a LOT of people in the running for all or some of the computers. Might as well give us more chances to win?
hey, that’s just me, though. Tell me to fuck off (again) if you don’t want to. . . . Anyone else out there with me?
Hyuk . . .
MLB Trade Rumors has four outfielders being considered a fit for the Giants, that is, if Sabean, Bowtie & Co. feel the need to go that rout. “Contenders” include the much mentioned Corey Hart of the Brewers; Jose Bautista of the Jays; David DeJesus of the Royals and Josh Willingham of the Nationals. All four are right around 30. Hart and Bautista pack the most punch. DeJesus has the highest BA and Bautista the lowest. Hart would likely be the priciest in terms of who the Giants would have to give up to get him.
For my two cents worth the pick would be Willingham. He seems to be pretty steady across the board. Moderate to okay power (20-25 HRs/ year predictable). Big point is his batting eye. Beeeutiful BB-K ratio. Soaring OBP. The getting on base factor is what decides me because it addresses the team’s primary offensive deficits, drawing walks and getting on base, pretty much the same thing in many ways.
Potential LU including Willingham:
Torres: CF
Willingham LF
Posey: C
Huff: RF
Ishikawa 1B
Uribe SS
Sandoval 3B
Sanchez 2B
Personally, i don’t really give a fat, furry, flying fuck about the LR mix. What turns me on about this lineup is that it begins with speed and OB ability, transits into overall batting excellence and pitch selection ability as well as some power, drops into je ne sais quoi and culminates with pesky, pestiferous possibility. There would be men getting on base followed by guys likely to drive them in.
Nats are in a selling mood on Willingham right now. He might go for Henry Sosa, David Mixon and Nate Schierholtz.
I just don’t like the idea that someone who predicts “no playoffs” could be the winner. I think the contest should force everyone to vote for the Market St. parade ending. Anything less is a fucking jinxing the Giants.
I’d go Willingham too, if I HAD to go with one of the 4. 3 HR’s between the first two guys? Snoozefest. I dropped a few bucks on Hart just for the hell of it…..
Yeah, very lame thus far. And what the hell happened to the “Hit it here and win a $ Million sign?”
Cheap bastards.
Flavor, I want to do one that is from now to the end of the season, whenever that is. Three prizes: a dual core Desktop, an HTPC, and a Netbook. I want all 3 to go to the person who picks
A. Their final record
B. Their playoff record
I’m looking for feedback on how to do it. The general idea is that the prize gets better as they advance. The grand prize is all 3 for getting to the WS, in effect a full family set up- and I will include the extra display that will be needed ( I’m presuming the winner has one monitor at least).
Ideas? Need ’em fast!
Berman: “the man from Bowling Green Kentucky is *bowling* them outta here!”
Idiotic. Berman is just a buffoon…….
I was just thinking the same thing.
So we all have to have them going to the playoffs, right? Otherwise, how could you come up with a playoff record unless you go “0-0”.
Damn, Corey Hart was on fire. I sure hope Sabean wasn’t watching. He might offer up Dirty, Neal and Belt to pry away Hart from the Brewers.
I don’t like “no playoffs’ either.
Gentlemen, I am back from the grave….well at least from an exhausting vacation in Turkey, in which I managed to miss my flight on Friday to get home by the start of Friday’s game against the Nats.
So I landed instead about 7 pm on Saturday, made it to the ballpark by 9 pm and the top of the 6th and the start of the Giants comeback. So I obviously delivered the good luck.
It looks like the Giants have been on a roller coaster since I have been gone for 10 days or so. But at least it looks like the ship has been righted without Bengie being traded. If they only had listened to us to start the season. And where has this power come from all of a sudden from our Savior?
If you remember, I had the idea of doing an all-time greatest player draft the first night of the all-star break. Unfortunately, I thought that would be next week. So I have not not had the time today to get this organized. Let’s see if we can do it on Wednesday night instead. Let me know if you are interested. Looking for 12 of us for the draft.
he needs to ditch the “baclk back back” bullshit. it’s SOOO played out. Come up with something new. No one does an HR call better than Kruk…….
It’s sounding too complicated. And if it’s complicated for me, poor Chuckles will never figger it out.
If I’m Big Papi, I save some for the last round. that dude isn’t built for stamina……
Ok, here’s what I’m going to do. I’ll work out the details for stage 2 later. First step: pick their final record and a :”yes” or “no” that they get in the playoffs. If there are no playoffs, the contest is over and the prize is the desktop PC ( specs later). So get your picks to Flavor or me (twinfan1@hotmail.com) . Your pick will look like this:
“87-75 Yes”
or “81-81 No”
Deadline is Thursday at 5:00
Twin, do we have to submit the same picks that we predicted at the beginning of the season? Flavor has all of our initial picks from before the first game this season.
Or, are we allowed to revise our initial picks?
Actually, Berman is just right for this kind of contrived event.
You may now revise them, Blade. One note: those picking “no playoffs” obviously have an edge ( for the desktop)if they don’t make the postseason but will be out for the grand przes.
Will Ferrell was bad but listening to these jokers fake laugh at his dumb jokes was excruciating. baseball isn’t really *funny*. keep the funny guys out of it…..
Reminds me of when ABC tried Bob Uecker and Bob Prince ( “The Gunner” of the Pirates) in the booth with the tacit demand: “be funny”. It wasn’t…. it has to just happen.
Seinfeld was in the Mets booth for a few innings a couple weeks ago and was pretty funny. And he definitely knew his baseball.
“Boomer’s” shtick is better suited for his NFL gig. Fits more along the lines of Madden’s “booms,” “whaps,” and “doinks.”
Thank you for the clarification Twin . . . I need to think about this . . . Ethically, I’m thinking it would feel hypocritical (personally . . . not talking about anyone else) to revise my predictions from the beginning of the season, using info (half the season) I have available now. Again, thanks . . .
knowing your baseball is probably a big key to being funny about it. Ferrell didn’t say anything that indicated he knew shit about baseball. And Morgan and Burman with their forced “har har’s” probably made it sound worse than it was…….
I’d love to see a Papi/Hart finals. Papi’s gotta be gassed….
On this one, everyone is eligible, including past winners. Keep this in mind: the grand prize is going to be the desktop, HTPC, 22″ monitor, and Netbook, a full family set up, including wireless router. So get your picks in. The Grand Prixze will only be available if they make the playoffs.
besides the GP, what are the other prizes. I need to know so I can do a post on it….
BF: the Desktop will be the prize for Stage 1: picking their final W/L record. It is a Pentium Dual Core 2.93 per core, 2 GB RAM, 160 GB 7200 HD PLUS 1 TB external drive, DVDRW, 512MB Hd4600 Graphics card, Windows 7 Home Premium, In-Win Case.
my desktop is something my buddy built for me about 5 years ago. I need an upgrade. I keep trying my best on these contests but I keep sucking on all of them……
Keep on sucking, Flav. You can suck it too, Mike.
But, thanks for offering up all this equipment. Most appreciated.
I gots to win ONE of these mofos . . .
I’m with you, blade. I picked 89. so I’m sticking with it.
Stage 2, if they make the play offs : the desktop remains and an HTPC is added along with a 22″ monitor. The HTPC is in a mini-ITX case, dual core Atom processor, 2 GB RAM, DVDRW, 500 GB 7200 RPM SATA II Hdrive.. those who picked them to go to the playioffs can win at this stage. These become the prizes if they win the NLDS, but the prizes “ride” into Stage 3: the NLCS. If they lose n the NLDS, the prize is the desktop. Details later, it doesn’t matter yet. Now we’re in the NLCS and if they lose the NLCS, the prizes are as above: desktop, HTPC, and 22″ monitor. If they win, the Asus 10.1″ Atom Netbook is added with the wireless router. Again, details on how you win will be later.
For NOW, the deal is simple: get your W/L record and a “yes” or “No” for the playoffs in. Once they make the postseason, the prizes ride until there is one winner for everything.
Flavor: don’t worry, you’ll get taken care of…
(key spooky background music)
42-37 is pretty damn reasonable down the stretch here.
Good for the WC? The West? Who knows? Based on the fact that there are 3 teams in front of us in the West, and 4 teams in the WC race, it’s going to be close . . .
87 wins just might not be enough.
So, maybe I don’t stick with 89.
I’ll stick with my number too. 90? I have to go back and check, I think that was it….
Hart’s a big pussy…..
42-37 down the stretch? Gonna be hard to do with only 74 games left, Chuck.
You were right, TF. It is too complicated for Chuckles.
My pick of Big Papi is looking pretty good. Han-Ram needs to dog it like he did a few months ago and then blame his manager.