90 Wins and Counting
Well, last night they won their 90th, my total number from Opening Day. Hopefully I will not be nailing it cold this year (as I did last year 🙂 ). I usually don’t read any other blog besides this one and Baggs’ but I have been poking around other sites lately and it blows my mind how negative Giants fans are to this team. There are “fire sabean” guys all over the place. The freaking team has the 2nd most wins in the National league and there are still haters out there. Unbelievable.
Baseball is a game that is linked to failure. The best hitters in the game fail around 70% of the time. It’s EASY to find a player to complain about or a manager to second guess. But now? Why now? I don’t have the slightest problem in the world admitting when I am wrong. I’ve posted several mea culpa’s here this year (Torres, Bochy to name two) and I did it early on I didn’t stubbornly hold on to an opinion that was incorrect. I guess that’s why the negativity about the team is still out there– people that want to just inanely hold on to their original perspective despite damning evidence to the contrary….
Having said all that, I am dead set against the pitching change that now has the rotation going Cain-Zito-Sanchez. If Bum takes care of business tonight we only need to win one vs the Padres but if Cain doesn’t do it do we really want to put it in Zito’s hands on Saturday? And then face a do or die must win Sun? Unappealing scenario…..
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
…over on the Splash, there hasn’t been much in the way of anti-Sabean, anti-Bochy bashing ~ oh, the usual suspects have popped up and had their say, over and over and over again as has been their way, but for the most part the blog has been positive. Even I, a non Bochy fan, have given him credit for this marvelous stretch of fantastic baseball. He’s handled the SP/BP well ~ heck, he’s mixed and matched, and yanked, at a near genius clip! But just as importantly, he’s handled the everyday lineup in a way that has shown he definitely knows what he’s doing. Win or lose the pennant, he has to be seriously considered for Manager of the Year.
vrrbrcrrr is a gentleman and a good poster. Thanks.
Well said on the negativity, Flavor. I guess there will always be people like that out there. It’s one thing to be down on the team when they are floundering, but at a time like this, it’s baffling. It’s one reason I tend to avoid the Splash like the plague.
I would love a laugher today. These tight games are grinding on my nerves, and it’d be nice to have BW fresh for the San Diego series.
do we really want to put it in Zito’s hands on Saturday? And then face a do or die must win Sun? Unappealing scenario…..
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…..unless you’re the guy in charge of ticket sales.
And ya gotta love the POTG:
Tim. 2 weeks ago I’d never heard of him, now he’s one of my favorite people in baseball
Now, THAT’S a bandwagon-jumper.
…this sounds like you’re assuming Cain will lose on Friday.
I can see both sides to the Cain going Fri, but I like the idea of nipping this thing in the bud. Get it done. SD wins Friday, they might get a little momentum in their favor and Sat will still feel like a must win.
I’ve only been on the Flap the last several weeks. I did go on ExtraBaggs for the first time in a while the other day, mainly to read Baggs’ post, but I did read a few of the commenters for the heck of it. They’re not the greatest. Although I did read one thing that was memorable. One of the posters referred to Uribe as “Jazz Hands.” Perfect description of his hands after crushing a homerun, and a great nickname for him. Juan “Jazz Hands” Uribe. I like it.
Juan “Jazz Hands” Uribe.
I don’t know. A little too…Fosse
Good final episode of the Ken Burns thing, but it did go a little Yankee/Boston heavy in the last part. But the quotes from Mike Barnicle were pretty much perfect. If you love this game, you understood everything he was talking about.
Ted. Just for the helluvit, Ross for Guillen today…
Pat the Bat and Juan Jazz hands Uribe, thats just doesn’t flow. where as Pat the Bat and Juan “Juanerful” Uribe flows much better.
I am going with a sweep today and a clinch on Friday.
Bumgarner against Enright. Both of the youngsters are 6-6 and are looking to get a winning record for their rookie seasons. Madison has the lower ERA by about half a point. Game is at China Basin. Moderate advantage Giants. Yes, a laugher would be nice ~ particularly with all the high drama lately. Just read today that the Giants are something like 73-28 when they score THREE runs or more. Unreal pitching. So is the hitting, but in a whole nother way.
Let’s get it done this afternoon. That way, even if the Dagos clip the Cubs, the lead is still two games and the Magic Number drops to two. Should Bumgarner win it today, anyone think Matt the Horse is not up to the challenge tomorrow?
Yes BF you have in the past been very wrong about certain issues. Still I admire your mea culpas and basic honesty about things. Apparently winning can be just as tough on people as losing. It stresses them out. They get angry and bitter just the same. They expect failure and when it doesn’t come they lose their “game plan” for complaining about failure. There’s no excuse to be miserable.
You take your best shot to win it as soon as you can…Starting Cain on normal rest, pitching game 1 of a series that will decide it… no way to argue with that.
I have said I think Zito shoudl throw today instead and give Bum as much of a break on his atrm as possible.
They could then go Cain-Sanchez-Lincecum if needed this weekend. But I have said we will clinch Friday night and we will clinch.
Sweep today and win Friday gives me and San Dog a shot at the title with 93 wins…we would just need one Saturday or Sunday!
Feels like whichever game Cain pitches will be the “must win.” Surely Stauffer’s carriage will turn into a pumpkin? Who is HE kidding?
Hey Flavor,
Just a follow up on my post of last night: I ain’t bagging on anybody here for being a doomer, I think you have done a good job putting together a blog that is worth reading. I am aware that this blog has folks that are both knowledgeable and positive about the team. Folks like Micheal and stix are the reason I read this blog. I get myself an edumacation on baseball and good reasons to be optimistic about the team.
As far as my take goes, I am just one of those guys that is into enjoying the good things in life. As far as the negative things go, if it is my job to deal with them, I do; but if it ain’t my job i just ignore or laugh at them. That makes me a ultrapolly as a fan, no doubt about it.
Cheers.
Cubs have done their job already, and then some, in Diego, with an assured split. I wouldn’t count on them to beat Pads tonight…
FWIW, I disagree with your take on Cain. IMO, he is the best shot the Giants have at a clinch game against the Pads. The earlier they clinch the better, being able to rest guys at this point is going to make a difference. I also think that right now the Pads are having trouble with run production because they are pressing. Making them face Cain early is going to put even more pressure on that lineup. I am a firm believer in maximizing the pressure on your opponent.
just win today and does not matter what the Pads do…we clinch Friday with a win if Pads win or lose today.
I like that Brian Wilson comment about being happy to have Becck have the record fro the rest of Giants history…that is an honorable man right there.
Woudl be perfect for him to get the save on Friday as they clinch the division and be tied with Beck…
On a different subject, I have to admit that, for a long time, I just didn’t get Brian Wilson’s act. But the guy, and what he is about is starting to become clear to me, and I am starting to have a bit of respect not only for his game, but the way he goes about his business. This quote, from a Steve Kroner article in todays Chronicle, is pure class and respect, and gives Giant fans even more reason to cheer for Wilson:
“Rod Beck set the Giants’ franchise record for saves with 48 in 1993. Wilson has mixed feelings about possibly tying or breaking Beck’s mark.
‘I’ve thought about getting that record since I joined the Giants,’ Wilson said, ‘but we’re talking about a serious name there. I wouldn’t mind him keeping the record for the rest of the Giants’ history.'”
Giant Head beat me to it, So just ignore the “On a different subject” bit.
First time poster. I did not like Cain starting Friday upon first glance. But when you consider the season like a chess game it would give Cain full rest before a possible Wed start if Lincecum is used Sunday/Monday. Cain would only have one more reg season start anyway so this positions him to get the ball to start the playoffs on full rest and I’m cool with that.
Records are meant to be broken. If Wilson breaks Beck’s save record, that means the Gyros win games and get to the post-season. Beck would be cool with that…
The little runt is back:
Torres CF F. Sanchez 2B Huff 1B Posey C Burrell LF Guillen RF Uribe SS Sandoval 3B Bumgarner P
Personally I could care less who pitches when, I just want the Giants to win the Division. I have seen all of the Giants Pitchers pitch great games and lose! So what I want to see is them win the division regardless of who pitches!! 2002 hurt so BAD that all I want is another chance to see the Giants in the WS!! So just win!!
And R.I.P. to one of my all-time favs, Tony Curtis. Marilyn and Natalie. I’m just a little jealous.
“I wouldn’t be caught dead marrying a woman old enough to be my wife. ”
~Tony Curtis
Sabean sucks. Bochy is a buckethead and a lousy coach, everyone knows Ron Wotus runs the show. Wilson will never be as good as Nen. Torres is a AAAA player not in the same class as Bowker. Uriibe and Huff are both washed up. Pat the limp bat, can’t even be a DH. Posey is a Bust(er), Panda is too fat. Guillen is a cancer. Timmy has lost his fastball and should have been traded for Rios. Freddy the fraud is a pussy. The Giants won’t win the WC this year.
Did I miss anything?
Go Giants
🙂
You forgot that Timmy needs to cut his hair.
Yeah you right. That Timmy is a long haired pot smokin’ freak.
So 3, are going to change your name to 2bagger after we win today?
And Cain is dumb as a post. Hey, wait a minute . . . .
BOO HOO! You’re a meanie!
Just staying thirsty Nipper.
I only read Baggs for his take, while ignoring the posters, and rarely read the Splash at all anymore. Too many fuckwads and dunderheads.
Cain pitching tomorrow is the right move. Flav, you and I called a sweep of the D-backs before the series began. I stand by that and Bum gets his first ATT win today. That means the Giants can clinch tomorrow and who better to have taking the kill shot than Matt Cain. He’s been the most dominating pitcher in the west (and maybe the NL) over his last several starts. Cain puts the most pressure on the Pads in a must win scenario and gives the Giants the most confidence. If Zito pitched tomorrow and the Pads won, they gain momentum which is the last thing we want with two games to play. Not to mention it sets things up nicely for Cain to follow Timmy with the possibility of the two one-game-playoff games or the division series. Doubt those one-game playoff scenarios happen though since after the Giants win today, Cain puts the nail in the Dagos coffin tomorrow.
I thought the Golden Child might have got a blow today. Just 3 for his last 21 (.143) and he’s looked a bit gassed. He is 5 for 9 including 2 doubles off of Enright, so maybe he “reverts to form” today. Best rap this up Friday and “enjoy” seeing Whitey play the weekend.
And Rowand. Has anyone even seen those guys on the bench lately?
Lots of A’s fans around me all day. They’re on edge because they think I should be. “So what’s the magic number, now? Will it go down the wire?” Well, maybe.” “No matter what, it’s gonna be fun.” “So you’re ok with this?” “Well, yes.” Geez. Don’t these people like excitement?
You catch a big one that turns out to be real fast, you just go for it and enjoy. With a little luck, you’ll soon find yourself celebrating. What a great year.
Ahhh, you changed the caption . . .
Yeah, what a crazy-ass year. And it ain’t over yet. I guess I have to give a shout out to Mike. Mainly because he got me to stop with the knee-jerk psychiotic reations when shit went south. Perspective is a GOOD thing. Especially in baseball, there IS a tomorrow, and there’s time to right the ship.
I picked 89, and then 91, but I really had reservations about how the team could sustain things without any hitting. However, Sabes did an excellent job at the deadline. The pitching they got at the break barely registered to anyone but the people who saw them immediately settle a relief corps that was getting tired and creaky. And what more can you say about Burrell? Shit, even Fontenot has been nails with clutch hits and solid ABs. Regardless of what Latos says. One thing Latos doesn’t understand is just how hard it is to GET to the point of being in the race. He may think differently when SD is 9 games out at the break next year, and struggling to score.
I still get a little overzealous about shit regarding my teams (Giants and Niners) but I am getting better . . . Don’t get me started on the Niners. Just look at the angst on my fucking blog . . .
This is by far the best place to post about the Giants, and the best baseball site anywhere.
Kudos, Flav . . .
Anyhow, enough of the lovefest. Lets’s finish this fucking deal . . .
Go Giants!!!
Sucks I can’t watch today’s game. Bumgarner’s first win at home!
Snarkk, Ross for Guillen today…? Eh eh
dennis, a great Tony Curtis line from SOME LIKE IT HOT “He has an empty stomach and it’s gone to his head.”
Giant Head- do you even read the fucking posts? I’ve asked you half a dozen tiimes to Email me a tie breaker ( total team HRs) if you and SanDog hit it. You ignored it. It’s too late now, you are out unless Dog will agree to a different tie breaker- IF he agrees it will be final team ERA. Email that NOW
twinfan1@hotmail.com
It’s quite simple and it goes beyond just Friday-if they win the West the decision to start Cain is forgotten. If they lose it, Bochy will be rembered with the Little Dictator- a guy who panicked at the end… certainly not as dramatic as what Mauch did but if you shuffle your rotatation and it doesn’t work, the second guessing will be immense. But Bochy has never been afraid to take the heat, and face it- he’s out if they lose it now.
Bochy definitely rolling the dice with the Cain thing if things go haywire. Out of his normal by the book BS, but, I’ll hand it to him if it all works out. He seems to be OK playing around with pitchers, but position players, he’s all by the book. Anyway, if they win today, regardless of the Pads result tonite, the Giants would have to freekin implode over the weekend series to not win it. I’m game by game here, but I’d sure rather be the Gyros than the Pads. Go Giants!…
If Cain loses tomorrow night (won’t happen, but if) and Zito loses Sat, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Timmy on Sunday on short rest. But we’ll never know because the clinch tomorrow.
Do Vern and Vera have playoff tickets?
Pay attention, Bagger. What happens today still impacts what they do. For instance- a win by the Giants and a loss by SD means Pads have to sweep just to force a playoff. So if they did win the first two, Tim still doesn’t go Sunday.In fact, I don’t rule out going back to Zits tomorrow if we’re up 3. All of you are too quick to go to Chicken Little mode with Denny.
There’s no way he goes back to Zito tomorrow, even if they’re three up., Like you said, it goes beyond tomorrow and the point of moving Cain up is to kill the Pads in the first game and to set things up for later. Weather the magic numer stays at 3 or is at 1, Boch won’t reshuffle what he’s already shuffled. Book it.
It’s not shuffled until Cain throws the first pitch. Anyway, don’t attempt to recoup your stupid post.
You don’t mind fuck your starting pitchers like that, especially Zito. His head is likely to explode.
In a short series, do you really carve a place for El Presidente? If Posey got hurt, you could use Panda, but he hasn’t caught all year. Seems almost a waste to have the white haired one take a roster spot…
I may be a knucklehead but I like Zito on saturday. I seem to recall a stat from somehere that he pitches better during the day, i think he pitches well at home and he’s more of a bulldog than people give him credit for. Everyone keeps looking at the money but he’s on pace to pitch 200 innings, 150k’s to 80 bb’s, with a 4.0 era, 1.3 whip (slightly higher than lincecum). a lot of teams would love to have him in their rotation (just not at that pay grade, which is understandable).
Plus I need a sweep to get to 94!
Franchez back in. We’ll see soon enough, if he has to turn two, whether that cortisone worked…
Liking it or not liking it is fine-it’s reasonable either way: unlike the dunderheaded fuckwaddian frenzy to start Darren Ford, for example.
“Boch won’t reshuffle what he’s already shuffled.”
From listening to Bochy, it’s not a unilateral decision. He and Sabean are sitting down everyday and discussing these types of moves.
Smoke em if ya got em laddies. Let’s go out and win this fucking thing.
I’m stuck at work today. What happened on that IF hit to Sanchez — did his arm fall off?
Didn’t throw, couldn’t pik it cleanly…
did you hear that hit by Torres? That was a Knock!
Jump on em early
H&R here…
Glad to see that me and the skip are on the same page today. Buster is tired. His bat is slow.
Pat Pat PAT . . .
Buster seems a little off lately. would be nice to see pat get them in here. watching gamecast at work (which sucks)
With that beard, Enright looks like another starter somewhere in the past. Name of Brinn, Brynn, Bernn or something like that. I’m thinkin Expos, but I could be daft. Anybody..?
Brynn Mawry..
Reynolds bunt? Gibson should yank his ass now.
Snarkk, Bryn Smith.
http://tinyurl.com/2fjxplf
Thank YOU! I was close…
Posey does look like he is in the game tired or not.
Pick it up
go Giants
Oh, and wa=hat a joy to see the sunny day at ATT with my team.
Orson!
Panda power!
Wow!!! Bout time . . .
Panda Power
when he hits one it be hit
Panda
What’s our record when we score first?
Dennis?
62-19
i think that opening of the stance seems to be working.
…and the white bat. I noticed the bat change a few games ago.
I didn’t see that. nice.
Panda turns it around! Be nice if he can do more of that. But, he won’t see a pitch in the ATT zip code the rest of this game…
guess that chat on the mound from Posey helped
my take?
MadBum hit Posey’s target
Humm, Baby
Wow, Bum hit Posey’s mitt exactly on that inning ending slider for a called K. Glove didn’t even move. Beauty. The more I see this kid, the more he reminds me of Pettite for the Yanks. I wouldn’t mind a Pettite v. Bum matchup in a WS game…
Excellent recovery job there by Farmer John. Kid has poise. I think it’s poise. Sometimes I think his attitude is oblivious to the entire situation and he’s not even rattled in the first place.
Time for the Panda to come alive…it seems he has been much more relaxed at the plate…
Have you Emailed me that pick? I’ve given you like 7 fucking chances.
hopefully you caught my lower post and the email…sorry, I have not seen much of the blog in the last week…
This team is ripe to have the bats wake up just in time.
bum strikes out six in 3-1/3!
The park looks gorgeous. There’s nothing like a game on a bright, Autumn afternoon. Look at the light. Look at the shadows. The grass seems greener, more alive. The game as it was meant to be played. I detest playoff and WS games at night….
amen. i’m not a huge fan of the folks at augusta national but i love that they tell the tv folks, “we’re having a tunamint, you’re welcome to broadcast some of it and these are the rules”.
all of the major sports need to man-up and have the broadcasts work for the fans, not the sponsers. the sponsers are there because the fans are, not the other way around and it would behoove mlb to remember that.
Twin, I just emailed you…I have not been able to keep up much with the blogs this week because of work during the day and I have been laid up and missed most of the last two games at night and not been on the Flap…
I fucking reminded you when you WERE here posting. Fortunately for you, I’m allowing a fucking idiot to have a chance to win. But Sandog has to agree to your late pick..