A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball

I thought we played a pretty good game last night. After the 2nd inning they got ONE run off us. Our bullpen was amazing. We hit the same number of bombs that they did, the difference in the game is that they had 2 guys on for one of them. We kept coming at them all night, with a run in the 7th and the 8th. It just wasn’t quite enough. Big deal.

Pat Burrell has 8 strikeouts in 9 World Series at bats. That has to be a record, right? He’s fairly balanced in most of those swing throughs so it’s not like he’s being fooled. He’s re-incarnated the ghost of Rajai Davis sans the speed. But the fact is, and we know this, Burrell is going to keep playing because that’s what Bochy does and it’s not like he has a sure-fire alternative to replace him. Hopefully though, we’ve seen the last of Panda. I think we might see Ishikawa at first with Huff DH’ing (although even that seems like a stretch since Bochy sees Ishi as invaluable as our most important PH).  So I don’t know what today looks like, maybe the same LU……..

Texas CANNOT win 2 straight in our park. Win one of the next two, we are all good………

Sorry about all those videos, I think when the main thread is too far down it’s hard for people to find. 3:57 start time. I’ve got some free Halloween candy for whoever posts the LU first….

I’m gonna go out and pretend to run errands or something. Me and Katie are getting our hair cut. Maybe a trip to IKEA (not to buy anything, she likes to play in the “Kid Land” thing they have there). Lunch. Buy some accessories for the hamster cage. Then hope we’re almost at game time………

taken last February at the SF Zoo….Sorry, I’ll stop posting these, I found them in my youtube.com account and thought some of them were funny.

my friend Jason, interviewing me….

Texas finally gets to flee the un-friendly confines of ATT and head back to “The Ballpark In Wherever The Hell Arlington” is. I’ve got news for them, that alone won’t be enough. But let’s look at what will be different for them by going back home:

1) crowd noise. that park can get sickeningly loud. That could help them, maybe most so by disturbing the Giants concentration.

2) Hamilton was sick last week. If he’s over his flu that will help them a little

3) they should finally be able to get their closer in the game. Whether they have a “classic closing” situation or not, Washington can’t wait any longer. Feliz is their best reliever by a mile, it’s a joke he hasn’t made it into a game yet. But who knows, maybe Wash is planning on throwing Holland out there again for 30 or 40 more balls……

4) right field. It’s a wind tunnel out there and they know how to use it. The exact opposite of where they played the first two games of the series.

5) Vlad gets back in the line up. We are countering with Sandoval at DH. I am cautiously optimistic that getting defense OFF Pablo’s mind might help him enough so that he can be productive in the DH role—especially against a pitcher who is hardly dominant……

Texas definitely plays well at home. Most good teams do. I think they’ll get a bit of a bounce from the points listed above, but it won’t matter because their bullpen is in such shockingly bad shape. Psychologically, I think that bullpen is screwed and a trip home isn’t going to fix it– they need like a team of Vienna’s finest working with those guys……

So who had the Giants scoring 20 runs in the first two games? The computer contest is likely over, I just don’t know who had the highest number. I am the worst computer contest contestant of all time, I think I went with 18 runs or something like that……

Is THIS the best the AL has to offer? Their pitching is atrocious. Maybe things turn around for them when they get back to wherever the Hell Arlington is but they’ve been soundly beaten in every facet of the game so far. Psychologically, I think they HAVE to be questioning themselves.

As Bee-Weeeezy said the other day, “Around here, we’re all about the beard.” That sums up the season nicely, doesn’t it? I’m not down with jinxes but I’m *down with the sickness* so I care one whit about typing these words: This series is over, we win……..

Nice to see some old friends show up on the blog last night. Don’t be strangers, this is OUR time right now……..

before all the magic unfolded……

There’s very little I can add to what I was part of last night. I’ve never been to anything like it. Sorry for the late post, I got home very late and had to wake up very early. I put 2 videos up below. Here’s a picture of me and Pawlie who i met before the game. Great guy.

I’ve said this several times, I couldn’t be having more fun with all of this. I love what this has done to my community—everyone has come together in their own unique way but for a common reason. I never lived in a small town but it’s felt like a small town the last few weeks…….

But believe me, I get it,  there is a huge difference between me and 98% of the rest of these *giants fans*. I’m not hating on them or anything, it’s just a fact. There is the *band wagon jumper* who comprises about 75% of this current fan base. Then there’s a group of 23% who make up the real Giant fan base. Then there’s 2% of me. And all of you people……

I haven’t allowed myself to think about the outcome of this World Series for even one second. And it’s got nothing to do with fearing a loss. I’m a Giants fan, I can do torturous losing with the best of them. Bring it on, 24/7.  I can tolerate losing while standing on my head. While eating a sandolicious sando from The Cheese House. It doesn’t phase me in the slightest….

What I fear is winning this thing. I simply have no idea how I’m going to react or what I’ll do when the final out is secured. So I don’t think about what might happen. I think about the moment I’m in right now and the moment that’s coming right after it. And so on and so on….

All I know for certain is that I will stop to appreciate the moments I have today. They’ll be with me forever. I’ve been very good in my life at stopping time to appreciate something that is happening……. right……….then.

I remember with great detail all of my greatest moments of being a Giants fan. I remember the first game my dad took me to, the Ed Haliki no hitter, not really understanding what all the fuss was about when the crowd went crazy after the final out…..I remember the white specks of paint on Mr Lovell’s radio that broadcasted the giants games while we played a million hours of ping pong through most of the ’80’s in the Lovell’s backyard…..I remember the tie-dye tank top I wore to the Dave Dravecky comeback game…..I remember falling to the ground so hard when Scotty Garrelts came within one out of a no hitter, that my knees were bruised for weeks…..I remember that sign they had out in right field at Candlestick that would count down the days till Pac Bell Park opened and being so bummed one day when it said “937”. “Why couldn’t that sign say *37*,” I thought to myself…..I remember heading through a tunnel so clean you could eat off it, up a stairwell and into the brilliant sunlight of Pac Bell Park, stopping at the top and saying out loud to no one in particular “No fucking way!”–the older, female usher leaned close to me and said “I feel the same way, now let me show you to your seats.”….I remember every single rush of adrenaline that Barry Bonds *gifted* me each time he would send one of his lasers down the right field line into the water…… I remember every word of the 5 minute conversation I had with my friend Chris last week as he proudly told me “The Cody Ross Story”…….And I will never forget my daughter’s giggle as she helped me dye this absurd beard last night…..

I woke up this morning to the blue light of my alarm clock that indicated 2:33am. Never was able to go back to sleep after that so it’s going to be a long day. But one thing is for certain. I will stop and appreciate ever moment of this day: The stains on my train seat. The first words Pawlie says to me when I meet him for the first time later this afternoon. The color of the finger nails of the woman selling me my hot dog. The roar from the crowd after Timmy throws his first strike. Everything.

Appreciating the moments that will stay with you forever. THAT is what life is all about, my friends. I’m 10 years old right now…..

This has been hacked around pretty good already but I thought we could kill off another meaningless day with a discussion about the DH. To me, this is a CLEAR CUT advantage: The Giants. When we play in Texas, Burrell should be our DH with Nate playing RF and Ross (or Torres playing left field). This allows Burrell to get 4 (or more) at bats a game versus his usual 3 when Bochy pulls him for defensive purposes late in the game. Our offense gets BETTER this way as does our defense by getting him off the field and getting Nate ON it. We also get faster with Nate’s legs in the LU and, hopefully, on the base paths….

What do the Rangers do with their DH when they play in San Francisco?  Well, if their plan is to trot Guerrero out to Right Field….good luck with ALLLLLL that! Automatic massive downgrade defensively and their offense doesn’t get better, it just stays the same. And if they choose to sit him at ATT, hey I can dig that, too…..

I’m still sorting out what my day is going to look like on Wednesday. At first, I was just going to take the end of the day off work and try to make it up there by 4pm. Then, I decided it would be better to catch the 2pm train. Now, thanks to a fortuitous meeting with Katie’s teacher at 10am Wednesday I have decided to make it up to the park by around noon and just wander around for 4 or 5 hours. By this afternoon it’s entirely possible that I will have hatched a plan to camp against the bricks at ATT tonight…….

OK, I’ll call the WS prize a “mid-level gamer”, get your picks in, I want 20 minimum. :
Thermaltake V3 Black Midtower, 500W PSU
2.6 GHZ AMD Quad Core Processor (that’s 4 cores at 2.6 per core)
Asus AM3 DDR3 Motherboarsd
4 GB DDR3 Memory
I TB SATA II Hard Drive
(2) 22X DVD-RW ( burns and reads DVDs and CDs)- with two you can burn disk to disk
All-in-One Card Reader
Sapphire Radeon HD5670 Ultimate 1GB DDR5 DVI/HDMI/DisplayPort PCI-Express Video Card
Logitech Speakers and USB Keyboard/Mouse
USB Wireless Adapter
Windows 7 Ultimate
twinfan1@hotmail.com

twinfan1@hotmail.com

For the series, pick the total number of runs scored by the Giants. Then total # of HR’s by the Giants (this is the first tie breaker) and then total # of hits by Posey (this is the final tie breaker)…….

It’s only Monday, still almost 3 days away from GAME ONE, but I have heard quite enough about Cliff Lee. We’ve beaten Ubaldo, Halladay, Oswalt, Wainwright….the list is long if you’re listing off all the stud pitchers the Giants have beaten this year. Lee’s stuff is good, I wouldn’t call it outstanding. Ubaldo Jimenez, for example, has more electric stuff. The problem with facing Lee is that he’s probably the smartest pitcher in the league. Krukow will be beside himself trying to describe how good a pitcher Lee is. If you watched the Tex/TB game (specifically the 2nd one) there was a shot of Lee walking off the mound in the 8th inning where he was laughing and shaking his head. He just couldn’t believe how easy it was to fool the young Tampa hitters and how simple it was to get them to chase his pitches. We could definitely have a problem with that if we take our usual “HR or Bust” attitude to the plate……

But after Lee, they’ve got nothing in the starting rotation. As we know, the #4 guy can often shut us down the same way the #1 guy can do it. But, the good thing about our hitters is you usually get the same type of production out of them game in, game out. It always feels like we’ve got about 2 hits by the 7th inning then someone, somehow, hits a solo bomb to put us ahead or we scratch out a run off an opponent mistake. We’ll get our 2 or 3 runs a game in the World Series. Will that be enough?

Most people would say “Hell no, Texas has too good of an offense”. But here’s the deal: Texas hasn’t EVER faced a pitching staff like this: top to bottom, from the first inning to Bee-Weeezy, there is no break whatsoever. I’m counting on our pitchers shutting down the Rangers the same way we shut down the *other* team that was supposed to be SOOOOO strong offensively (Ryan Howard, are you gonna keep that bat on your shoulder all Winter?).

The other argument against us is that the AL is much stronger than the NL. We’ll see. I don’t buy that. Again, the AL has their flashy bats to be sure. But none of them have faced a staff like this. So I like our chances. Our bats will do what they always do—just enough. Their bats will be WORSE than they usually are thanks to our neutralizing pitching staff. I think that’s the difference and that’s what’s going to get us our first crown here in San Francisco. I can’t wait to watch the hero’s emerge……..

The plan was to run down to the end of the street…..

After Uribe hit that bomb and I hit my daughter in the eye with an errant high five (fixed with an ice cream sandwich), I decided that we needed to dial this down a bit and an end-of-the-game celebration needed to be choreographed. I was thinking quickly but not skillfully, so if the Giants won the Pennant, THE PLAN was: Tear ass out of the house and run down to the end of the street. We took off our socks since only a fool would run in the rain with their socks on…..

Despite the two walks, I felt like the first two outs came rather easily…..

Ryan Howand……

I watched the game at a friend’s house–great guy but he’s not really a baseball fan. As Howard came to the plate and the homerless stat came up he commented, “Why worry about this guy?  He hasn’t hit a home run in 54 at bats.” I didn’t have time to explain to Dave the actual concern that Howard presented. So there we stood, three sockless chumps, praying for one more precious out. I don’t remember how many pitches it took, it’s all kind of a blank moment. But I do remember the most perfect pitch I’ve ever seen leave Bee-wheeezy’s hand….head toward the batter…..bend dramatically near the finish….and end up in Posey’s glove……

I didn’t see a second of what happened after that, I bolted out of Dave’s house, my daughter trailing  behind me, running in bare feet through the rain down to the end of the street. I’ll never forget that moment, it was a release I’ve never felt before. I can’t even describe what it felt like. It was like I was experiencing every moment of the 2010 season with each stride I took. I was re-living every hit, ever win, every loss, just….everything.

As I held Katie’s hand on the way back to Dave’s house (Dave broke our fellowship and didn’t join us in successful execution of  *THE PLAN*) I was thinking about Keith Law. If you’ve never read KLAW or listened to his live chats you should give it a whirl some time. He’s unbelievably smart, knows every stat imaginable, and translates the game brilliantly to the common fan. He’s also completely full of shit. He hates the Giants and has spent the last 2 years telling the world how bad they are and what a horrible GM Brian Sabean is. So as we walked back to Dave’s, I was wondering what KLAW was doing at that moment. I was fairly certain he wasn’t running through a nighttime storm in his bare feet. Has he finally accepted how wrong he was about this team? KLAW and all his national cronies have piled on the Giants and Sabean RELENTLESSLY for years now. Yet here we are, going to the World Series. There has never been a greater feeling of satisfaction than I had last night, celebrating my team’s victory in the rain with my daughter and knowing that the “KLAW’s” of the world had nothing but boring, dry feet to walk with……

We did it, my friends, we got here. Here we are. We are here. Don’t forget how you felt in the moment last night. When life sucks, people are pissing you off, nothing is going right…. take yourself back to that moment. No matter what happens next week we will always have that moment. It’s attached to my soul. There aren’t words invented that can explain how proud I am to be a San Francisco Giants fan this morning…..

My friend Shannon took this photo after the game

Or apparently that’s what it will feel like to some of you if we lose today based off the posts yesterday and some emails that I got. I guess I’m with the minority, I just am not gonna be devastated if they don’t make it to the World Series. And it won’t be a choke-job, either. Philly is a very good team, if they can beat Lincecum/Dirrrrrty/Cain successively, more power to them. I am still just too busy enjoying the Hell out of post season baseball to sweat “what if?”

But I will tell you that despite hating them with a passion, I started growing a beard last Saturday. It’s just about grown full in and I WILL be dying it black if/when we make it to the World Series. Flavor doesn’t roll with the phony beard look…….

And if we don’t make it? I just shave this bad boy off and look back on one of the top three baseball seasons I have ever had the pleasure of watching as a Giants fan. Don’t *player hate*, my friends, *dominate* and if that doesn’t work for ya, or you don’t get it, then just go back to worrying about the sky caving in on you later tonight. If there’s a Game 7, instead of worrying about a loss, focus on the rare electricity and the feeling of finality that you get to experience for about 3 hours. You know what? I hope it does go 7……..

It would have been great to close it out in front of the hometown crowd but it just wasn’t going to happen. Philly played great, Madson was especially sickening in the 8th.

If Philly can beat Lincecum and Dirrrrty and Cain in three consecutive games, my hat is off to them and good luck in the World Series. But I don’t think for a second that that’s going to happen……

Last night I just kept thinking how COOL post season baseball is. I’m living and dying on every pitch, every hit. As I watched the game at my friend’s sportsbar last night it was great to feel the camaraderie in the room. Of course there were tons of jersey’s worn but there were guys with fake freaking black beards on. In a bar. 40 miles away from the park….Everywhere I go, almost everyone I pass on the street is all about the Giants right now. Bandwagon jumpers? Of course. But a  community has come together and that’s the best part of all this…..

So I wasn’t sweating last night’s loss for a second. The totality of all of this is just too delicious to not enjoy. I’m loving every single second of it, before the games, during the games, after the games. It’s all good right now…….

ROY with 4 hits……….Rowand’s throw……Posey’s catch…..Panda double…..A lead……A lost lead……A lead…..A lost lead……Uribe….it doesn’t sound so hot when I write it like that but my God, what a game. And Pablo at 2nd base, clapping so hard I thought his hands might shatter, had me fighting back tears as I thought about the season he’s endured. As far as I’m concerned, that single at bat shed him of his burdensome nickname, “Pablo Strands’em-all”…..

There’s a perfect symmetry to the date “10/20/10”. And from the beginning to the end, that’s what this game felt like. For every perfect thing that happened last night there was an imperfect thing that happened. But the end result was this: I don’t need to ever watch that game again. Every play is burned into my brain. My memory. My soul. It was the absolute blend of glory and destiny. I can’t stop shaking me head and smiling…….

We lead 2 games to one (how’s that Philly in 5 pick coming along, Mitch?) and who isn’t looking for us to go up 3 games to one? Big Fat Joe Blanton hasn’t lost since July 22nd? Another example of why wins and loses are nearly meaningless stats to analyze a pitcher. His ERA on the road was 5.47 and opponents hit .292 off him. In his 3 career ATT starts he’s got a “Tyler Walker–esque WHIP of 1.58 with the Giants hitting at a .318 clip. Blanton is the kind of guy your struggling hitters get healthy on. He’s an innings eater but looking at his physique that’s hardly all  he eats…..Meanwhile, we’ve got our stud lefty going against a team that can’t hit lefties……3 and 1 never looked so good…….

Many of you guys have seen some posts from “bird dog”–he’s one of my few friends, maybe my only 3-D friend, who posts on the blog more than once a year. Anyway, ‘Bird lives in Portland and decided last night to take his son, who’s a huge Giants fan, to the game today—a few clicks at stubhub and some frequent flier miles later, they are sitting in the arcade for today’s game.

‘Bird, I hope someday Clayton understands what a kick ass dad you are…..

Anyway, the 6th inning is about to start, Ross is warming up and as he’s setting up to throw the ball into the stands he makes eye contact with ‘Bird who points to his son, Ross nods reassuringly, and throws the ball to Clayton. The ball is flying through the air, Clayton holds his glove up the same way he’s done a thousand times in Little League, a fantastic moment is about to unfold! One problem: Ross throws the ball about 4 feet over Clayton’s head into the hands of a fortunate fan who ran off into the afternoon sun with his found prize…..

buzkill……..

Inning starts, Polanco grounds out to 2nd. Howard grounds out to 2nd…Werth flies out to ROSS in right…..Inning over but Ross, still cognizant of his gaffe, turns to ‘Bird and makes eye contact with him and nods his head a few times finally tossing the ball to Clayton (for a second attempt). ‘Bird doesn’t wait for it to happen this time, he jumps up and snags the ball from Ross immediately handing it to his son who beamed with a smile that stretched from the SF  to Portland…….

Cody Ross is one cool fucking dude……..

The last out ended and ‘Bird made a bee-line to a stand that sold Cody Ross jerseys. No luck, there weren’t any. I’m positive that right now as I type this he’s sitting in the Oakland airport trying to buy one online……..

I’m quite bummed this morning. Not only have I been receiving daily texts or calls from friends celebrating the tickets they got for today’s game, but I have to endure the indignity of not even being able to watch the game. I’ll have it on the radio in my office but it won’t be the same and I have so many things to do today I might not even get to HEAR most of it. And I can’t dvr it because too many people would end up blowing it for me with texts like “OMG!” “PANDA!” “Fucking umpire!”….Oh well, you guys will just have to will this game home for me. That’s what I really think is going to happen. Matt Cain WILL *will* this game home for us today. 2-0, 3-1, something like that. Ok, just get him1 run. At least.

I’m loosely confident that our offense will get back on track at ATT. Actually, that’s not true, it’s fake confidence. This must be how Zito feels every time he throws a pitch……

So go get ’em Cainer. I couldn’t have more faith in you. And at the end of the day, faith in yourself and those who believe equally in you is all that matters. It’s just a game, don’t forget that guys. Sometimes there are more important things in life to consider….2 flaps up from Flapper Nation……

Going to Philly and taking one was the major goal and that’s been accomplished. We are in prime position to snatch back the  momentum with Cain going tomorrow. But there are some concerns:

1) Andres Torres. 12 k’s in 25 playoff at bats (4 last night). That’s not going to fly at the top of the order. He is swinging a 35 inch 37 ounce bat– a bat that got HEAVIER as the season went along (he went up 2 ounces near the end of the year). I’m sorry, but that’s just stupid. Either take more adderall or start swinging a lighter bat.

2) third base. If this is what Fontenot is going to give us I’d rather trot Kung Fu Panda out there. He can’t be worse defensively and there’s at least a ray of hope that Pablo will run into one now and again……

3) Huff. He has to start hitting. Having your 1 and 3 hitters giving you absolutely nothing is the main reason it feels like we can’t score runs right now….

4) Move Ross up in the line up until he cools off…….

There’s a very decent chance that we sort ourselves out just with the return to ATT. But watching Huff and Torres flail away last night, it just doesn’t feel like that’s gonna be enough…….

Have some problems with this morning’s post so I started a new thread. We could easily go 2-0 here, I almost think we’re a favorite tonight (despite being +153)

Sportsbook.com has a prop bet where you can bet on who the first player to hit a home run will be. Cody Ross was 25-1 yesterday (as he is today)–the only 2 players worse than Ross are the pitchers at 30-1. Hilarious. Cody’s story continues to amaze– languishing away in the losing confines of Florida….fast forward a couple of months…..now he’s Jeffrey Freaking Leonard reincarnated in the playoffs with an entire National spotlight cast upon him. Really, it’s an amazing story…..

I go back and forth on how Dirrrrrty is gonna do today. He’s been so lights out lately and Philly has trouble with lefties. But he can also be prone to emotions getting the best of him. I guess it will all come down to how he manages that adrenaline.  What I DO know is that Philly got punched in the mouth by a team that was supposed to enter their park last night and promptly drop the soap. NONE of last night surprised any of us here. Why was it so confounding to the National media guys?

Random side bar: I know this is a bit hypocritical coming from the guy with dyed black hair, but are their two lamer looking heads of hair than Mitch Williams and Eric Karros? They look utterly ridiculous……

I’m sorry but that was just too many days without baseball. And there’s not much we can debate or analyze since that’s all been done ad nauseam. But from a completely general, no numbers analyzed perspective, this is how I see these two teams matching up.

Starting pitching: This area starts and ends with the Giants. We have the best starting 4 in baseball…..Edge: Giants

Relief pitching: again, the edge goes to us. Atlanta had a significantly better BP than the Phillies. Edge: Giants

Closer: Wilson > Lidge. Lidge had a good season but he’s not the dominant guy he was in 2008 and he’s only pitched once in the last 2 weeks. He can turn bad quicker than one of Huff’s game worn thongs….. Edge: Giants

Experience: Obvious Edge: Phillies

Hitting: the fact is, our offense is a million miles away from the “De Rosa/Rowand/Bowker” opener. Top to bottom our guys can hit a bomb or a critical hit at any given point in the game. And our hitters get better when we go to their park, there’s get arguably worse when they come to ours. Edge: Even

team speed: big edge to the Phillies (108 sb’s  > 55 sb’s). I’m counting on Posey showing off that cannon early in the series to gun down some base runners and hopefully make them think twice about running wild on us…..Edge: Phillies

defense: I haven’t watched enough Phillies games this year to have a feel of how their team defense is but we are near the top of the NL in fewest team errors with 73.  The Phillies are behind us with 83. Edge: Giants

So there ya go. I don’t think you could argue too much of what I’ve posted above. Then how is it that the Phillies are considered such huge favorites by the National media? Answer: Ignorance and hubris.  Guys like Keith Law and his band of cronies, who write stuff just to get noticed, were wrong about this team all year. They were wrong about them last year. WE are the experts of this team, not them. And this doesn’t have anything to do with being a blind fan, I pretty much nailed my win predictions in 2007 and 2008 when they sucked.

I don’t have a prediction on this series. It could go either way. A clutch hit here. A huge mistake there. But my friends, what I do know is that *glory and destiny* are but 8 wins away…….

I really haven’t read much on this series, a little of what you guys post here and some ESPN “analysis”– it’s pointless, the national media guys don’t know anything about this team. They act like they do, they wear snappy suits and talk with great affection in their voice. Hell, they’re on tv, they’re supposed to know what they’re talkin’ bout, right?

Idiots…..

Filly may indeed win this series and it might not go the distance. But all the games are going to be competitive, each game could easily come down to a single hit or one mistake by the other team. If that’s the case then how the hell does that make Filly this guaranteed, bet-both-lungs-and-the-mortgage LOCK? If you knew in advance that the horse race you were betting on was coming down to a head bob at the wire you certainly wouldn’t dump your $ on the 1-5 favorite (unless you’re Dennis 🙂 )

The Giants couldn’t be in a better spot— very little pressure on this team the rest of the way. They’re SUPPOSED to lose, right? But what happens when they don’t? Play loose, play TOGETHER, and good things will happen this series….

In case any of you have missed it, Michael is offering up another prize by way of the contest that you can read about directly to the right of this page……

“He’s just a man! He’s just a man!”. That quote from Rocky 3 keeps popping into my head when I think about Saturday’s match up. Roy Halladay is getting propped up by the national media as this unstoppable force, impossible to beat. Hogwash. Yes, he threw a perfect game in the regular season and everyone saw  his no hitter vs The Reds, but he’s had plenty of games where he gave up 3 or 4 runs in 7 innings or so. In fact, pre-post season no hitter he’d gone 6 straight starts  of giving up either 3 or 4 runs a game. Those are all wins for us, baby. Not to mention the fact that we hammered his ass back in April for his first loss of the year….

The fact that we are the only team in baseball to beat all 3 of their aces in 2010 has got to be a psychological edge for us. And their offense is hardly much better than ours, in fact I’d say the offenses are about even. They hit 3 percentages points higher than we did (.260 > .257). They hit 4 more bombs han we did (166 > 162) and their slugging % was barely better (.413 > .408). Plus they play in a much more hitter friendly park/division. And if our team had been together all year we would have steamrolled past them in all three of those categories. They dominate us on speed and that accounts for their run differential edge  (772 > 697) but Posey will make them think twice about stealing after his shows off that rocket launcher a few times…..

Throw in a Brad Lidge implosion or two (which could happen at any time) and I am just not that worried about The Phillies……

We all know Bochy doesn’t like change, especially if things are going good–they don’t get much *gooder* than storming into the NLCS for the first time in 8 years. I HAVE to believe that Guillen burned his ticket to Philly when he declined to come support the team in person against Atlanta–plus, Ross is simply a better hitter than he is right now. Better defender. Better teammate. It would be inconceivable to me that we see Guillen on the roster….

Zito? For who? For what? Bochy can’t want to endure a start from Zito on the road against a solid hitting team in a smallish ballpark. So, unless they are seeing signs that Bumgarner is wearing down, I can’t see Zits making the roster (but props to him for staying focused on his regular schedule and staying with the team for the Atlanta series)…..

The problem against Atlanta was a lack of speed off the bench late in the game. Ishikawa ran the bases brilliantly when he scored on Sun but if Bochy had Velez on the bench he would have pinch run for him. I could definitely see Rowand missing the cut and Velez replacing him for his speed alone…….

Outside of the roster decisions, this is looking like a slow week. Saturday seems a long way away right now……

at about the 2:36 mark the dude does a pretty sweet Will the Thrill Swing impersonation– it’s super quick so pay attention

Is anyone else trippin’ out on Cody Ross? He’s probably trippin’ harder than any of us. This was “the bat flip” guy– the guy who was treading water in an utterly forgettable season in Florida. Now he’s getting interviewed by the National media and beaming with pride about “our pitching staff” and spraying champagne all over Tim Lincecum. Seriously, this guy has to be thinking he’s in a dream right now. We’ve seen Jose Guillen take his last at bat as a Giant……

How badly does Jayson Werth wish he was a Giant? He’d go to TOWN dying up that bad boy……

Stat of the year: Our starting pitchers went 29 innings and gave up 3 earned runs…..

Along with the rest of you, I’m bummed we have to bottle all this up until Saturday but it’s probably best for our team– rest for Buster, our young arms and our old legs is just what we need night now…….

Anyone know what the weather is usually like in Philly in the middle of Autumn?

Finally, a HUGE congrats to KEVIN who won Twinfan’s computer-give-away contest. How many computers have you given away twin, 5? We don’t say it enough, but it really is an unbelievably good-vibe thing for the blog and the team to have you offering up these great prizes throughout the year. And you guys should know that he came to me with the idea of contests, I never asked him to do it.  He spends his time and money building these systems and gets nothing from me for doing it. There’s a word beyond generous for that, I just can’t think of it right now 🙂

Torture doesn’t end before it’s time, right? Ending this in four games would be….well, I’m not going to say anything about it being easy, that got me in trouble last time. It would be an “ironic surprise”. How about that? I’ve got no idea what happens tonight. The smart money would say the Braves are emotionally crippled after last night’s game and to bet the Giants hard on the win. But the smart money doesn’t know torture the way we know torture…. Anyway, it looks like a low scoring game so I took the over (7) cause the under looked too, well, *easy*.

I left the last  thread up instead of deleting a bunch of posts but please don’t bring that onto this thread……..

No disrespect to Eric Hinske, but his HR was about a 7 on the Clutch Scale…….Anyone can run into one—the ball was right there to be whacked. And it wasn’t like he had the pressure of being the *final out* or anything. Franchez and Huff? their singles were a 10 on the Clutch Scale. I still have no idea how freddy made contact with that pitch. His previous swings weren’t even close, he was doing a “skinny Panda” impersonation up there. But somehow, someway, he hits a ball that bounces it’s way along a path of destiny. And then The Long Thong does something equally clutch with his muscle job into right field. I listened to that entire game on the radio and it was easily more dramatic listening to Miller’s call.

And Brooks Conrad, Goddamn, how can you not feel for that guy. The Atlanta fans had to direct their frustration somewhere but booing that dude as mercilessly as they did showed me no class at all. He’s over there totally out of position filling in for Prado doing the best he could in a position he isn’t used to. For me, he’s probably my favorite non-Giant right now, maybe second to Mike Quade…….

So here we are, somehow, someway, leading this series 2-1. I guess Bum is going today and I think that’s the right call as opposed to Lincecum. I don’t know if he’ll get it done I just know that when the dust settles in this series SOMEONE will have gotten it done. This is a team of glory or destiny, take your pick…….

“STIX” posted this last night (see below).  I thought it was too good for the POTD so I am putting it here. I read it several times. It reminded me of why I love this team so much. The history, the players—over all these years they’ve helped form indelible moments in my memory. Stix was out here in ’89, I was up in Portland, Oregon going to school. Our passions for this team were rock solid then as they are now. Now he’s living a million miles away and I’m back in the bay Area–still with a passion for this team that couldn’t be extinguished with any known element. His post made me wonder where all of you were in ’89. And here it is, 2010, and we’ve found a space to share our passion for our team with something other than the walls of the room we watch the games in….

The players from ’89 are gone, and as he suggested, Will Clark et al ain’t coming into that clubhouse to save them. And who would want them to? THESE our the guys who created this magical year– The Bat, Dirrrrrty, Panda, Timmy, Cain, Bee-Weeezy, Long-thong (I just made that up), Torres, Rent, Uribe, etc–THIS is your team. And you always support your team (unless you’re Jose Guillen). I really have no idea or feeling of what’s going to happen with the rest of this series. But I’m not going to spend a second ‘doomin it up or second guessing what Bochy might have done or what the unknown outcome of that fantasy move would have been. I’m enjoying every second of this and when it’s all over, win or lose, the bond and connection I have to this team and it’s history will be at it’s peak……..

Let’s go back 21 years. Twenty-one is legal for most anything, isn’t it? I was still out there in and outta the System doing antiques road shows, mostly at shopping malls, sometimes lahdedah paid admission shows where i usually wore a camelhair sportjacket, suitable headwear and a late 50′s Zuni turquoise, silver and bearclaw bolo. Last Giants game i took in personally was on a mid-summer chilly, leatherjacket evening at the Stick. In a couple days i’d be set up at an exhibition at the Cow Palace.

1989. Watched the Giants lose to the Phillies and Terry Mulholland. Mid September somewhere. Stuck in the craw a bit as Philadelphia had got him via a trade with SF, recently enough that bodies were still warm. Can’t honestly remember who took the mound for the hometeam that night. But i do think the final was something like 4-2. Giants recovered from that setback and featuring pitchers like Big Daddy Rick Reuschel and Caveman Don along with Will the Thrill and a pretty decent supporting cast; remained Best in the West, went on to cop the Pennant and headed into the World Series.

By then i was down the road, doing a spate of shows in SoCal and then heading back to the Northwoods of Minnesota, where my connexion to the game was by way of radio.

Earthquake.

Imagine that tomorrow night at the ChopShop accessed by the busiest air terminal in the country, Reuschel or Robinson or perhaps Livan Hernandez of 8 years ago was on the mound for the Giants facing Tim Hudson……or maybe even a certain former rotation-mate from their days across the Bay would have had the call against Atlanta’s starter. Not a very pretty prospect in my estimation ~~ unless the Giants lineup contained some of the guys from the ’89 and ’02 squads who had magically walked into a time machine back in the day and emerged at #24 Willie Mays Plaza in uniform and ready to have at their 93-model tormentors.

Well, that ain’t gonna happen. It’s a fantasy. What is real is more a matter of who is real. Scheduled starter for San Francisco has earned himself the nickname of “Dirrrty”. There is some argument over the number of “r”s in the appellation, but general agreement around the league is that the snappy loogie has gone from a great stuff prospect with a ways to go, to an emerging ace who gives up fewer base hits per inning than any other hurler in The Show. Name is Sanchez. Jonathan Sanchez. Sanchez of the Padres bulletin board. The pitcher who won the wild, wild West.

This is almost too easy”

Reply

As I do every morning, I was listening to KNBR on the way into work the other day. Murph and Idiot were talking to Kuip (I swear to God I don’t know how Kruk and Kuip make it through an interview with those 2) and they were reeling off all of Lowe’s numbers against the Giants, in September, at ATT etc….Anyway, Kuip ends the discussion by saying “and you know how you deal with all of that? You beat ’em 1-0.” That cue’d the requisite guffaw from the 2 stooges and verbal backslaps ensued all the way around. But he nailed it, didn’t he? Not too much to say about last night. Timmy was…. no words, you guys all saw it…..

Hmmmm…I’m kinda excited for the game tonight. Not really sure how I’m gonna burn the time off before first pitch—I have to go to work and, obviously, take care of my daughter’s basic needs, although by game time I’m not sure how high up we’re gonna go on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs pyramid:

http://tinyurl.com/32l6mha

maybe I’ll hit the gym, too…..

But other than all that, I don’t know how I’m going to be able to tolerate the seconds that are ticking off my life even as I type this. I’m sitting here with my dyed black head and my best Giants jersey hanging neatly pressed nearby and all I’m doing is waiting. Just waiting. Still waiting……..

I guess we can bide our time by marveling at the playoff roster at 10am. Then you guys get to fight it out for who can post the line up here first. That’s always fun. Beers will probably be getting popped open by many of you before the customary whistle blow at 5pm. And then we’re just about there, right?

Let’s just throw this out there: Our playoff history sucks. SF has never won a crown. We’ve ultimately lost every series we’ve played in– some were dramatic losses (the 2002 WS), others I barely remember (the 1997 series v Florida) and others were just plain weird (the ’89 Earthquake series). But in the end, they were all losses. But there have been amazing, wonderful playoff memories that I’ll never forget. My favorite playoff moment was the Will Clark grand slam bomb that he launched deep into the Chicago night sky. I was watching the game with some friends in my dorm room at Lewis and Clark and got so excited about that hit that I jumped out our 2nd story window, saved from major injury by one of Mother Nature’s trees. That’s the feeling i want to have to have tonight. And luckily, we live in a one level house so I’m good to go as far as that goes…….

Three days without any giants baseball? THIS is freaking torture! At least when the regular season ends and we’re out of it I can psychologically ease my way into a Winter of pain and regret. But this waiting three days thing is almost worse……

Well, at least there is some baseball today so I’ll give you my “Can’t-lose-bet-both-lungs-and-the-mortgage” bets o’ the day. here they are:

The Yankees to beat the Twins. I hate to take the -145 on the Yanks but I’ve been taking all year about Liriano’s innings catching up with him (in 2007 he went 76 inn, in 2008 he went 136.2 inn and this year he’s up to 191.2) and his last 3 appearances were pretty dismal. So, I’m taking the Yanks to win but I’m taking the adjusted run line (-1.5 runs) since it’s at +110. Liriano had a good year for sure. But he’s on fumes right now. Yanks 6 Minnesota 2….

Next lock…..actually that’s my only lock. I’m putting a few bucks on Cincy to beat Philly since I don’t think Philly is that good and +190 looks real, REAL nice especially if I need that win to make up for my Yankee loss (should I be wrong about Liriano fading here down the stretch)……..

Texas vs Tampa: tiny bet. Maybe a little on the under (7)……

Baggs has a thread about the possibility of the Giants leaving their 3 highest paid players off the post season roster (Zito, Rowand and Renteria). There’s no way that goes down, especially with Bochy’s love affair with “track record”—The only way Renteria is left off is if he physically can’t play. Edgar is one of the most celebrated clutch hitters in the history of the post season—if he can play, he will….

Zito would go as the 4 in Atlanta, if it got that far. There’s no way, right? He’s HORRENDOUS on the road. And his confidence is shot if his body language from his last pathetic start is any indication. He can’t relieve in any important circumstance. I suppose they could use him as a long reliever if any of the Big 3 get rocked early and we’re down like 5-0 in the 3rd inning. Otherwise, why would you ever play him?…”track record”. Don’t say I didn’t warn you…..

Rowand. Goddamn, what do you do with Rowand. If it were me I would put him on the roster and leave Guillen off. I might even give him a start in one of the first 2 games considering his numbers against the Lowe and Hudson. Guillen’s numbers suck against them plus he’s 1 for his last 21. And he’s slow. And his defense sucks. And, frankly, his attitude is surly at best and disruptive at worst. Rowand brings you better defense, a significantly better clubhouse presence and attitude and he’s got as much if not more power than Guillen does right now. Guillen was brought in to give our line up some pop. That didn’t happen. He played 42 games for us and he homered in 3 of them. Thanks, but no thanks. We’ve got several guys that can give you that or better (Ross, Rowand, Nate) and those same guys give you a lot more in the outfield and in the clubhouse. This decision seems like a no-brainer to me……..

After not being here since 2003, this is just all about kicking back and enjoying the moment–there”s some second guessing going on, but that’s mostly about the black dye job i did to my head about a half hour after that incredible game. Mental note: the next time I decide to dye my hair in an attempt to peripherally involve myself in something I’m not actually involved with, wait a day and then make the call…….

A few “congrats” to get out of the way:

Congrats to MacDog for winning the season end contest, sponsored by TWINFAN– and Twin, your generosity throughout the year was appreciated by all who participated though a little bit more by the 4 guys who won– off the top of my head that would be James, Stix, SAN DIGGITY DAWG, and Macdog. Did I leave anyone out? Seriously Michael, I appreciate you for everything you do.

Congrats to BLADE who won The Flap Fantasy Baseball league. He led for most of the year, withstood a run in Sept from me and GH (as well as a weird, 4 pt jump from TIZZLE who somehow took 2nd place yesterday) but ultimately took home the coveted first place broken Rich Aurilia bobblehead doll. Blade, I’ll hook up with you later this month to get a mailing address–Twin is much more diligent and responsible when it comes to shipping prizes so be patient…….

Congrats to ME for not shutting this place down. I’m an emotional person prone to impulsive decisions (see: my head) and while I don’t always enjoy getting up at 5am to load up all the bells and whistles that hypnotize you on a daily basis, the fact is I really love this place and look forward to interacting with all of you every day–  you regulars are the best Giants fans in the virtual world……

And finally, congrats to all the *weird beards* who made all this happen. I can’t remember a season that gave us so many exciting games, interesting personalities and intriguing side stories. I am just so goddamn happy for guys like Aubry Huff who finally got to take part in all this. Buster Posey jumping up from the dish with a totally awkward completely genuine celebration–I think I looked the same way when my Little League team won the city World Series. Scrap heapers like Uribe and Burrell who have tasted a World Series win before but who might have thought deep down that they would never have a chance to taste it again. Finally getting his shot at 32 and turning himself into the team MVP–Andres Torres. How often does that happen? It’s a first. And then there’s Bochy– After the YEARS of crap and second guessing he’s taken from so many giants fans, I almost got tears in my eyes watching him come out of the dugout yesterday with his arms raised and that big goofy smile on his face–just as he doesn’t argue with the umps very well he could also work on his celebrations. But that was a moment of rare genuine happiness that the public got to see—-one we should all consider ourselves lucky to have gotten to share. And getting to do it against his former team, the one that basically showed him the door years ago, must have been equally satisfying. Bochy deserves our honor and respect for what he’s done with this team in 2010…….

Of course I want this World Series win. Who wouldn’t? But whatever goes down in the post season, whether it’s 3 and out or an ultimate win, the magic of this season will live with me forever. The 2010 Giants. Just as I typed that I got the chills…..

As we discussed last night, if Atlanta loses today we are in and there will be no 1-game playoff to decide the NL West winner/WC winner–today would be that game. But I don’t think Atlanta is going to lose with Hudson pitching and Charlie Dumbass resting all his players and pitchers. I think Hamels is slated to go 2 innings today.

So, back to our game today…..And who better to have going than the guy who guaranteed it all way back when. Dirrrrty Sanchez. Back in August he guaranteed a sweep of the Padres and a division crown. That prediction didn’t work out then but he’s in a position to make good on the long term prediction of the division title if he can shut the Pads down (and we scratch out a few runs for him). If you think about it, this is the perfect way to end the season—a victory in the final game of the season that locks up the division pitched by the guy who guaranteed all of this for us 6 weeks ago…….

So make it so, young Dirrrrty. Do whatever it takes to fulfill your promise to us. I have an unwavering belief in your foresight and your intuition. But, just in case,  I hope to God you’ve flown your dad in for this game…….

Well, that didn’t work. Bochy and the Giants had everything aligned last night but the stars. And now we turn to….HIM. You guys already know about fake hustle. Ever heard of fake confidence? That’s what I’m rollin’ with today.  I found one stat that can fuel my fake confidence, at least for a day: Zito in October for his career: 4 starts, 2-0, 2.70 ERA, .212 batting average against…….

I’m really more worried about the hitting than Zit(uh)0 They were tighter than a drum last night. Franchez looked like he was on 10 tabs of adderall when he stepped to the plate. These guys have GOT to chill out and manage their adrenaline better. Baseball is a game played with squashed emotion, not unbridled emotion. I think he’s a chump but Stauffer has been very good lately. We could be headed for another 1-0, 2-1 deal and all that’s going to do is continue to build up tension, edginess and anxiety— not too easy to hit when that’s happening either…….

Going into last night this was just way too easy, wasn’t it? You don’t base your entire season on torture and then just saunter into the post season with a few games to spare– this could get much uglier before it gets better. The next few days could feel like a lifetime……..

Those are the pitching staff numbers for September–and that includes the 10-run Zits game in Colorado. Truly amazing and probably the best month of pitching by a staff ever (Elias?)…..

After the Yankees clinched a playoff spot, my daughter’s grandpa, a diehard Yankee fan, barely cleared his throat in celebration. “They’re playing horrible, we’ll win nothing this year,” he grumbled. After I told him that if the Giants make the playoffs I was going to die my hair black and party like it’s 1999, he just stared at me with a confused look on his face…..

I cannot fathom the depth of the depression I will sink into if we lose 4 straight to the Padres right now…….