FIRST PLACE
I find it doubly satisfying that the game SF wins to put me in the $ on the *over* for the season win total is also the win that bumps us into first place for the first time….all season? I think that’s right. There was a post about Bochy winning MOTY and I think that’s hard to argue when you look at what he’s done with the bullpen this year and how he’s mixing and matching the LU at the most critical time of the year. How many other managers in the league in September have to pencil in a new leadoff hitter every day? Renteria? I’ll mark that one down as a successful string pulled……
I made my peace with Bochy a couple of weeks ago with a mea culpa post about him. He’s not a flashy guy and he’s never going to argue with an umpire the way I’d like, but when it comes to running a team for the long haul and making a ton of decisions with a lot of different moving parts, it’s impossible to argue with his results this year……..
Milwaukee series coming up. This is OUR time, I’ve been talking about these Padre/Rockies road trips for weeks. I’d like to be greedy and say let’s take all 3 from the Brewers, a team that is doing nothing other than trying to pad their individual stats at this point. Sweeping them is totally doable…….
Quick housekeeping note: The esteemed Matriarch of the blog, Lady FerretHead, somehow ended up in my spam filter with some perfectly legitimate posts that shouldn’t have been zapped. 1000 apologies. Sometimes the filter zaps royalty when it should be zapping rubbish……
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
Flav, when did you move into first? Congrats. I am coming for you now.
I always save the best for last in FB, GH. I’ve got a slight issue with total innings pitched to deal with but otherwise I think you’re all fighting it out for 2nd place. 🙂
Is it a coincidence that the Giants and I both ascended to the top of our leagues on the same day? You decide……
First time in first since May 6th. Go Gigantes!! Sweep the Brew Crew!
I’m sure glad we didn’t trade Sanchez for Corey Hart at the deadline. Pretty sure we wouldn’t be celebrating our rightful spot atop the NL West on September 17 had we discarded Jonathon. Sanchez is a huge reason why we are where we are. And where are we?
First place, baby!
I have a doctor thing today, so I thought it best to miss the game and go to bed early. Something about getting a check-up after a few hours sleep and more tequila than blood in you system, always gets me a lecture.
I watched the condensed game this morning on MLB. Don’t know if you watched one of the condensed game, but I found it funny as hell. You don’t get any announcer feed but you hear the crowd noise, making it sound like a video game. Well, the Giants looked like they were playing a video game, congrats G-men, it’s all yours to control now. Just keep winning every series baby.
Glad to see FH is back from the banned list. Those Woo-Hoo!!! comments were getting kinda steamy.
Go Giants
condensed games are excellent, you get every out and every big play a game in 10 minutes. Been a staple of mine all season. Last night I got up at 4am just in time to see the end of the 4 run third. needless to say I stayed up for the rest of the game.
Go Giants!
12 K’s and no walks from Sanchez: That’s downright scarrrrrry. And two straight games now without a walk from a Giants pitcher. When’s the last time that happened? This is some phenomenal pitching we’re seeing in September.
I have to eat Crow this morning cause I trashed Bochy for batting Renteria Lead off. He did an outstanding job. and like the commercial said “It is Magic inside”. That is the only way to describe the way Bochy has had to put together lineups each game.
Dennis beat me to it on JS for Corey Hart proposal. What about Cain for Fielder, remember those arguments that went back to ST?
Getting superior work out of the pen with wilson and set up guys (two gems in trades, Ray not bad either) plus dominant SPs augmented by Bum while getting just enough offense to win (or not sometimes) has put SF where they are. With all the sticks they have, Brewers are going nowhere.
Torres Huff Burrell and Posey is a solid core. Hope the water buffaloes can hold down the fort til our speed guy gets healthy.
It has been a great season so far and I have appreciated sharing it with you of the blog. As my treat I want to host a NLDS first game steak bbq with open bar at poolside of my house in Sacramento. Come one, come all, just come on in.
Opps, I lost that house in the divorce.
fuckit, I am sure my ex will approve; half of our 4 kinds are rabid Giants fans.
Open bar invite to a bunch of people you don’t really know, AT the ex wife’s place – priceless.
You have 4 kinds iof kids?
I thought there was only 2 kinds . . .
I musta been thinking hinds when I typed, the daughter is a no sports nut.
And without any further adieu, a little rubbish from Ted.
Chuck, you’re mistaken. I have three kids. One of each.
So do I! And they are all Giants fans.
Daughter #2 went to the game last night with a bunch of her new school friends. Who juuuust happened to be Diodger fans. She had a blast . . .
Don’t know if you guys have talked about this already. If you did, then just disregard. Watching the game last night, I kept thinking about all the pitchers that Torre trotted out on the mound. Last year, the mantra of Giants fans was that Torre overpitched his pen and that those problems would come home to roost. Lots of Giants fans also pointed out that the entire Dodger staff pitched way over their heads. Dodger fans sputtered and argued and ultimately pointed to the 2009 final standings and said “nyah nyah”.
But sure enough, last night, there’s Troncoso with a 4.76 ERA (last year: 2.72). Then out comes Weaver with a 5.02 (last year: 3.65). Then Sherrill and his gaudy 6.42 (last year as a Dodger: 0.65). Then Belisario and a tidy 5.29 (last year: 2.04)
Throw in the absolute dump that Broxton has taken down the stretch and it looks like a pattern to me. Torre seems to have screwed that staff up royally.
By contrast, Sabean has pulled all the right strings by bringing in Lopez, Ramirez and Ray during the season when the bullpen looked really shaky. Bochy has made some stinker moves but generally has managed the bullpen quite well. I’m loving the contrast and trying to enjoy whatever happens with these Giants this year.
Yeah, yeah, blah, blah blah, big yawn, total rehash, old news…..
just kidding swickman. Those are interesting facts
I’ve been pretty scarce here lately thanks to a job change that has me busier than normal during weekdays. I usually don’t post during night games because I DVR them and watch after kids are in bed – so I don’t want to know the outcome in advance. So, I figured it was possible this ground had already been covered by somebody here – stixwiz would be the likely culprit…
I did mention that I thought it was funny that, down 8-2 in the 7th inning, Torre was burning through all the guys in his bullpen one last time before he rides off into the sunset in a couple weeks . . .
Yeah, Chuck, what was that? He was managing the game like it was 2-1. It was cracking me up, too.
ED, I am a Sacto resident, give me the address I will go find out from your ex if you can hold the party there!!
Ahh, you’ve seen the pictures of her then, you dog.
Sacto is a great town.
Torre’s famous for that as any Yank fan will tell you.
On the whole, I’ve got a lotta respect for Torre. He was a very good player, even won an MVP once, I think. He was pretty average at managing until the Yanks, but he won what, 4 titles with them? Or 5? He was paid well and surely had good players, but to do that in the pressure cooker of the Yankees with Steiny looking over your shoulder every minute was huge. And he got LA into the playoffs. Plus, reportedly a pretty nice guy. A commendabkle baseball man and helluva career in the game. He’ll go into the HOF easily…
I don’t disagree with anything you said above. But that still doesn’t erase the fact that he has mismanaged the Dodgers’ pen.
And you forgot that he was raised a Giants fan.
I just looked up Torre’s stats. Yeah, he had a helluva MVP year ’71. 230 hits, .363 BA, 137 RBIs, etc. etc. Not too shabby. And despite mis-managing the Dodgers pen, his tenure in LA was more impressive to me than in New York. I guess it’s just, true or not and probably not, managing the Yankees always looks like something anyone can do with their roster year after year.
He did a nice job dealing with Manny in the two previous years. You have to give him credit for getting the most out of him and dealing with his 50 game absence.
Swick: Hey, me, culprit? Wha? Last night was a ball. Maybe my best party ever ~ virtual in this case. Kept saying right through the blog that the planets were all in alignment, written in the stars and all that. Looks like Flav agrees on the timing factor. MLB dominant pitching for the first half of September, with an 11-4 team record. I don’t quite expect the Gigantes to repeat that feat for the rest of the month and those three in October, but if they do my January prediction of 94-68 would hold. It’s more likely they win 92 or 93, even. Hell, to win 90 they only need win seven while losing 8. Ain’t gonna happen that way. All baseball knows by now that SF is a better team than that.
BF: You may be right about a possible sweep of the Brewskis. They do swing some heavy sticks, but their pitching, except for Gallardo, who gets to face some skinny, long-haired hippy looking dude, basically sux. After RentMan’s performance last night, with able backup from Huff the Magic Dragon, BusterOpen Posey, Guillen and the Runt; Giants hitters are charged up, champing at the bit and charging for the oats bin. A galloping finish to the regular season? Why not? We have had to endure some mighty lean years.
Could Central Casting possibly have come up with a more Hollywood scenario than SF making Dog-meat outta their biggest rivals, the LaBumbos, in the process of taking sole possession of first place as best in the West? In a little side-note, the Giants are now at 31-30 in the Division. It was not so long ago when their in-house record was so deep in the dungeon that even getting close to .500 in the West looked like an insurmountable impossibility.
Note to Gloating Rooster: Who’s crowing now?
I meant culprit in a good way. I dig your summaries.
Torre was just saying, “hey, Jim and Bud, I’m still managing”.. Joe’s fine, no better or worse than Bochy or a dozen other solid managers. Baseball isn’t like football where the old chestnut “he can beat your ‘uns with his ‘uns and his ‘uns with your ‘uns” rings true. The best baseball managers just keep the children from hurting each other and getting too giddy or too mopey. Strategy? They all read and use the same book. That book, poor fucks, is a good thing.
I think this is the “book” to which you are referring.
http://tinyurl.com/2g8d968
Don’t push it. You are fortunate that I did not turn your vitals over to the FBI, your hard drive would probably get you 15-20 if not a firing squad.
Still and all, it was a little bit oberkill.
In the race? Sure. But out of the race, and down by 6, just have yer guy get 3 outs.
I mean, Bochy did it a while ago, and it bit him in the ass when the team came back from that 9 run deficit. That being said, it was the right thing to do at the time. The Giants were in the race, and you just want to even out the load after pulling yer starter in the 4th inning. . .
His team out of the race is not relevant, ChuckleWad. Look, and pay attention: it was their last game against us, Pads and Rocks ARE in the race. It was a show for Bud and Jim, if it was “oberkil”,so fucking what, idiot? It was a small courtesy and good for him…
VERY small, and very meaningless. But if it warms your heart, buly.
I sure hope Dennis is feeling better today. This pennant drive has stressed him out good.
Thanks for your concern, Nipper. I am feeling better today. I think being in 1st place helps to calm down the nerves a tad. I was pretty stressed out, but not as stressed as Mike Singletary was yesterday. If he hears the word “yahoo” one more time, he’s gonna need a straight jacket.
Twin schooling Chuck. Nice touch. Bleep!
Interminable
Better be careful in Chicago next week. Top notch nightclubs, restaurants and whores await the team when they make their annual visit. Does Bochy do bed checks?
Just read the piece on Torre and his remembrance of the stick. what a shithole of a ballpark to love. And I am sure most of us have loved it.
Favorites as of this morning for the prize: if you’re at about 90-93 wins and 700-712 or so in runs, you’re in the running. So Mac, 3Bagger, FatHead, Swick, SanDog, Craig, Chucklefuck, and Ed are all squarely in it. A few others need a major collapse or a few more 10+ games.
I believe the current projected total is 92/703.
Torre to announce tonight he will be stepping down. Donny Baseball, enjoy your trips to the mound.
“I believe the current projected total is 92/703.”
Which is why those I listed are the current favorites, shitfuck. Just shut up, traitor.
They’re still running around the same pace for runs scored as they were running when you started the contest, Twin. I’m banking on another series with an NL Central team to boost their run total to be more in line with my prediction of 710. Damn you, Yovani, get out of the way!
still flying high!!! gmen can totally sweet the brewers! 1st place is quite the thing! it was great to see the changing of the flags with the giants atop:)
Casey Blake- Zero for eleven…..seven strikeouts in the series,Light up the cigars if you got em boys.Because that was most satisfying to watch.
One thing over the last 3 days,the baseball gods laughed last at Casey Blake.Because when Blake’s boss juggled his rotation to salvage what he could from an otherwise shitty season,and a lamer transient by the way of Cleveland comes up empty by looking more pathetic at the plate then Aaron Rowand,payback has been accomplished. And it wasn’t just one AB.It was seven of them.It was seven “get back in the dugout asshole’s” not one.It was seven times Blake got lynched over a 3 night span.Seven fucking times Blake got the “Shut the fuck up and sit the fuck down” from Giant pitchers.Zito twice,Lopez once,Cain once,Sanchez twice,Ray once.And he was 0-4 in his other pathetic attempts to not look like a bush leaguer chump which he is.
Found this while looking for something else:
Snarkk wrote: “Leave it to the Giants to snag a monotone player like Burrell and consider him an upgrade on Bowker.”
Look, we all have our hits and misses, but only the Snarkklefucks go on to pretend they were “right all along”…
What are you talking about? Of course I said Burrell looked to be a nothing add when they annouced it, including I said he had bad D. Me and the rest of the universe. You’ve been saying I’m not happy (1) he turned out hitting better than expected, and that (2) Sabes got one right. And that, is bulldust…
With those numbers projected for the prize, I only need one +10 game to be in it. And who’s FatHead?
GiantHead
Oh. Of course. Ted’s head’s dead
Blade 83 671
SportDude: 89 719
Kristen: 93 687
Kevin: 91 743
Pawlie: 90 737
Michael: 90 715
Zumie 90 715
IH1978 90 667
Macdog 92 705
Ted 92 714
3Bagger 92 708
Giant Head 93 702
Swick 92 710
SanDog 93 702
Craig 91 711
Dennis 93 722
dirt 86 730
Max 90 720
Bozo 93 728
WSW 93 727
Chuckles 91 697
Ed 90 696
Dang, I was thinking I guessed 91 wins. 92 works, too, I suppose.
Torre’s officially out as of the end of the season and Mattingly is the replacement, per ESPN. This calls for two trips to the mound for a beer in celebration!
Looking at the schedule, even up to 720 or so could be in play.
Blade, you optimist you!!
638 runs as of now . . .
That works out to average 703 . . .
That’s nice. Having them go 8-7 sux though. SanDog looks like the front runner.
Swick, I think yer 92 is better than 91 . . .
No surprise.
Renteria SS, Sanchez 2B, Huff 1B, Posey C, Burrell LF, Uribe 3B, Guillen RF, Ross CF, Bumgarner P
So Jeter says he felt compelled to sell the HBP act the other day because he didn’t want to show up the ump, who’d already called it. Interesting theory. Sure beats the alternative: “Uh, no, blue. Never touched me. I got out of the way and it hit my bat, right here, and rolled fair, I guess. You fucked up big time calling it dead. Now what you gonna do?” Bottom line: current video technology is showing how fallible the umps really are.
The number of blown first base calls this year, just in Giants’ games, has been eye opening. I say that at minimum, first base calls should be reviewable. They are often fairly obvious to overturn. Tags at second are judgment, no protest available there. One protest per game. If the protest results in overturn, that protest is deemed “good”, and can be used again subsequently in the game. If the protest is denied, it’s done, and no more such protests for that team in the rest of the game. If the game goes extra innings, each team gets a reset on its one protest, if it has already burned it in the first 9 frames…
Hiring Donny Baseball should be great news for Giant fans.He has ZERO managing skills,Never coached a minor league team.He was just riding Torre’s coattails the last 3 years.Their best choice would have been Tim Wallach there AAA minor league manager.IMO
He has ZERO managing skills,Never coached a minor league team.He was just riding Torre’s coattails the last 3 years
——————————————————–
Yes but he’s a terrific little dancer
I used to be quite the dancer . . .
I don’t have a problem with Jeter’s acting.The only interesting thing is how people respond to the same act by different people.If ARod did this,I’m sure the response would be different…just like if Jeter ran across Braden’s mound.I’m sure know one would have known about it because Braden wouldn’t have responded at all.People seem to look for reasons to dislike ARod,because he’s already unlikeable,thereby,validating their opinion.For similar reasons people make excuses for Jeter because he’s likable.
Jeter’s act seemed pretty bush-league to me. I’m not a Jeter fan. He’s a really good ballplayer, but he’s always been surrounded by a lot of talent. He’s never had to carry a team like a lot of other superstar players have had to do.
I am a minor Jeter fan, not impressed except he has stood the test of time with a few awards along the way and you can’t be a Yankees SS for 15 years on looks alone.
People on the other hand can be influenced by ‘who knows what’ alone. And once influenced they persist like perpetual motion.
Chuck, San Dog is the front runner??? I have the same numbers….no respect I tell you. Once I beat Flav in the league and tie san dog for this…I will get the last laugh!!!
Ahh, come on, you are LQTM already! *grins*
I didn’t pay much attention earlier today when I saw the first stories about Joe Torre’s retirement. But every website I pass by seems to note the announcement. It’s a big deal to a lot of people, and the bums must’ve known it would be. I think the timing is strange. Torre’s fairly dysfunctional team gets the shit kicked out of them by their triumphantly rising division rivals and he heads home and immediatley calls it quits. I would like to think the subject of the announcement was what so bothered Tommy L. last night when the cameras showed him jawing into the cell phone. “Why’s he gotta do it now? Can’t he wait until the end of this next homestand? McCourt said what to him? Sonofabitch. No wonder’s he’s pissed. So he’s just gonna tell us to fuck off, too, but in public? Christ. I gotta go. I need some garlic fries and wine.”
There’s NO DOUBT Lasorda had some garlic fries.
Lasorda *IS* a garlic fry
I am sure if Torre wanted to throw the baby out with the bathwater it had to do with the baby.
Heyward with a 3 run shot tonite for the Braves. I think he’s going to take the ROY, not necessarily due to merit, though he’s got some good stats. The East Coast media barely knows Posey exists…
I don’t know. Before Heywards game today: Posey’s BA .325, Heyward .287, Poseys HR 14, Heywards 17, Poseys’ RBIs 61, Heyward’s 68, Posey, SLG .516, Heyward’s .477. Heyward does have a better OBP (403 to 370) but to me this is the clincher. Heywards played in 127 games. Posey? 93.
Torrre. The Human Raccoon.
Is it an overstatement to say that when we decimated the Brewers to smithereens in Milwaukee it was a seasonal turning point? I would not take this series lightly; they’re not gonna roll over. That said, I like our momentum, the whole deal.
Heyward would deserve it. Still think it’s too close to call.
Heyward is looking a winner not like Hayward. But, hey, ROY voting always leaves room for the other deserving rookies.
Jaime Garcia will get a lot of ROY votes; Gaby Sanchez will get a few too.
Both Heyward and Posey have made important contributions to their teams’ quest for the playoffs. Which would you take RIGHT NOW, given the choice? I’d take Posey. I don’t like the holes in Heyward’s swing. He’s always going to be a big strikeout guy, but could have some 40 homerun seasons, too. Posey’s the more complete hitter. They are both impact players on defense, too.
Didn’t that Jeter guy win a ROY?
It *is* too close to call. I just think it’s pretty extraordinary comparing their numbers and realizing they’re seperated by 34 games. I’m off to the ballpark. See ya, lads
Ross in the 8. I like it.
Go Giants!
Latos rocked again. Room A told Denny and the Dumbelettes that the Pad pitching would never hold up.
I’m jealous, Ted. Or envious. Anyway, enjoy the game.
Yadier Molina just added a couple more on Latoast. Cards up 7-2 in the bottom of the second. Latos vs. Kyle Lohse looked like a mismatch going into the game. The Pads ace may have a bright future ahead of him ~ but as for the rest of this season…
Incredibly stupid that SF & LA come to NY just once a year…
Loo,
I’m still waiting to meet you under the Roosevelt Avenue el, the no. 7 line. I’m wearing a Giants hat. Easy to spot. Gray goatee. Surrounded by hot chicks. [Actually, in 1979 on the train I met a Giants fan, Nick Harrigan, RIP, who had seen every Giants game in New York since the Thirties. Worked at the Post Office by MSG. He introduced me to these baseball freaks who attended every single game, Yanks or Mets.]]
Maybe next year, Pawlie. First week of May…
first week of May is always tough; how ’bout Philly?
Bring whoever you want…
and they say nothing cool happens in NYC
Break up the O’s! [which would make a great headline in Cosmopolitan magazine; I know, I know, a tad obscure]
I am obscure on the meaning
O’s?
orgasms?
so there are three groups:
fans in the stands
imaginary managers and
MLB professionals
if you do the venn diagram there is lots of overlaps
I love this game
Shit, BOTH of my daghters are going tonight.
I may have to go tomorrow . . .
Cf for the Brew Crew—– GOMEZ!
this is one long advert break holy shit I am spoilt by BBC tv
get your garlic fries – here we go – – Gigantes
damn HD TV is better
I understand women don’t like HD
now THAT’s obscure to me
where you watching it Eddddd? Justin? I should go to bed; been sick all week; just getting better. But Moderatione ain’t my middle name.
women don’t like hd because the offerings are mostly sports and action movies.
watching via the MBL feed, I busted for the package. My laptop feeds my lcd tv
Maybe cause guys are uglier and sweatier in HD. Women’s makeup can be too obvious. Ruins the Hollywood effect
Sooo, if you’re a Prates fan, today your team was 49/98. I’m not saying our management is the best in the world, BUT you have to think Franchez and Lopez the Loogy are pretty happy right now.
Velez would’ve caught up with that single that had Burrell throwing his hands up in the air helplessly. Of course, Velez might miss a liner hit right at him, too.
Krukow probably has lifetime tenure with the Giants. Too bad. He gets worse every game. “That would’ve been a foul ball back in Milwaukee.” Idiotic, even if you could figure out what he tried to say.
Xoot, I think he said fowl. A reference to the Chicken dance, I’m guessing.
He also has a frat boy attitude towards alcohol which he should have outgrown by now…
And the Baltimores have a couple of all league players; stuck I suppose.
and tonight we see the classic: team 1 doing it all with their star rookie itching; team 2 ready for a win, any win. even the fans look blasé from yesterday’s celebration?
Bozo, I think I’d take that Walker kid over FS and save about $5.5 mil. But their pitching sucks, so I don’t see how they could dump Capps and Lopez too out of the pen. Really sad to see what goes on over there.
btw, what is the Bum total innings pitched for the year count coming into tonite?
Yeah Willie, but if FS was making 5.5 mil. less, the Pirates wouldn’t have traded him.
Just saying I’m loving being a Giants fan with our record, instead of a Pirates fan with theirs.
Uribe must be dragging. Three errors, in what is it, five games. Maybe a couple days of rest would help. Hope its helping Pablo.
So far, this HP ump is a putz. Bum has to throw three over to get one of ’em called a strike…
Whew, that had disaster written all over it
http://tinyurl.com/2equdho
Alright, alright … it’s Randy Wolf … a hit per inning, at least, is all we ask. I guess there is some other Wolf that K&K keep talking about who is really good?
Bums tied the Rocks 2-2 bottom 2
Man this ump blows!! Definitely caught the outside corner.Then of course the basehit.After strike 3!!!!!!
Bum was not running-inexcusable, Tim does that as well.