The Waiting Game
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)……
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
Ok, get ready for the Official “Fucking Idiot” Betting Special…
Giant Head has a way of pulling shit off in the playoffs…my official prediction before the season started was Rangers over the Phillies for a World Series. So at least on the Rangers side I am sticking with it.
Rangers over Rays in 4: I think if they dont win today, they will get a split in Tampa but I would not be surprised to see Texas win both games in Tampa. Cliff Lee is simply a big ass game pitcher and can they catch the Rays flat today? Game 2, I like how CJ Wilson has been pitching. But they close it out with Lee at Game 4.
Twins over Yankees in 5: I think the smart bet is Sabathia today, but Twins will pull out a Game 2 and I am convinced they will split in NY. Taking it to a Game 5 and probably 30 degree weathernext Tuesday night. I think this is the years the Twins conquer the Yankees.
Phillies over the Reds in 4: I am not sold on the Reds starters being playoff ready. Reds will get Game 3 at home, but go down in 4.
Giants over the Braves in 4: I would not be surprised with a sweep, but Lowe going game 1 makes me a litle nervous with his playoff experience and pitching much better in September this season. But too much Giants bullpen and starters and far more offense.
So book your bets boys…
One * Bet of the Day: Rays -130
Three * Bet of the Day: Rays +170 on the Run Line
Five * Bet of the Day: Giants -165 to win the series. I’m calling for a sweep.
Ten * Bet of the Day: I will ask my doctor to up my medication later this morning (she better.)
One Hundred * Bet of the Year: Barry Zito will NOT start Game 4.
Have I mentioned lately that our lineup sucks and I don’t want NO Whitey.
Dennis, a lunch wager one the Rangers/Rays day game today?
No need, a free Grand Slam at Denny’s is yours any time.
hah..sounds good…we will have a gentlemanly bet then…
Flav, props for winning your bet vs. your Athletic supporter buddy. How many Ws are you up now after 2 years? I hope he enjoys watching Ron Washington run the AL West Champ Rangers. This is a highly respected and much loved coach by all in Oaktown who was passed over for the mgr. job so Beane could hire the best man at his wedding, Bob Geren.
Slusser the Fluffer wrote an article on the A’s (it’s on SFGate) where Beane is quoted as blaming health issues as number one reason for .500 finish, and she talks about their need for offense to complement great team speed, pitching and D. Check out majority of the comments by their fans, who aren’t buying any of it, nor the idea they get a power bat/FA.
SF is in such a better place, from the yard to mgmnt. to talent up and down the lineup and PS.
I’ll go Giants in 5 (they just don’t do easy) , Philly in 4, Yanks in 4, and Rays in 5.
Aside from the Giants, I’m rooting like hell for the Twins. Hopefully the move to the great outdoors will change their luck vs. the Evil Empire. And please don’t call them Twinkies:
http://www.yeproc.com/artist_info.php?artistId=12539
Yup, Flav, this is a weird interval. All the intensity and pressure of the 162 game grind is gone. Giants don’t play till tomorrow evening.
Braves are not to be overlooked, but they are hurting and did kinda back into the W.C. They have those 3 decent starters and about 4 good relievers. Oddly, for that team, they lack pop, though sport an excellent OBP with a great ability to draw walks. Their defense is ragged. Their reserves are limited. Were this a 7 game series i’d have virtually no doubt about a Giants victory as we would simply wear them down.
Fortunately, the first two games are at McCovey Cove. It could be quite the pitchers’ duel and very likely to be a couple low-scoring affairs. Lowe has unaccountably had a great September and so did Hanson. Main challenge for Timmy and Matt will be to keep their guys from getting on base, particularly doing so cheaply via BBs. Lowe and Hanson will likewise have to be wary about the possibility of singleshot Dingers by a Giants lineup with a lot of guys who may go yard. Against Lowe it might have to be golf shots as he is big on sinkers.
Personally, i’m not too concerned about the other matchups at this point, though as a Minnesotan i’d love to see the Twinks sink the Evil Empire and do have some slight chance with the H.F. advantage starting out. Giants vs Braves? We win in four.
I caught Schilling (didn’t even recognize him, he looked like a fat, bald insurance salesman) on ESPN last night, and he said the umping crew for the Giants/Atl series were all very tight in calling pitches.
That doesn’t really give the Giants hitters an advantage, as Atl seems to be more patient, but it is something to think about . . .
who is the umporing crew?
He also predicted Atlanta wins in 3, according to KNBR. Yet another reason to call this guy a turd…
Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy . . . Still amazed his “right wing schtick” goes over so well in liberal leaning Mass. and particularly Boston. In short, I can’t stand this guy’s politics and big mouth.
Umm . . . good pitcher in his day though. Ha.
Yeah, the Giants playing the Twins would be great. The Giants would play games somewhere colder than SF.
A world series with the Twins would most certainly put night games into the freezer. The average low temp for Minneapolis for the first week of Nov is around 30F degrees, meaning night games would be played in the mid to low thirties. Add any wind chill, and it will be crazy cold to play ball…
I heard on KNBR a Zits quote from yesterday. Responding to something about the PS roster, he said (paraphrasing) that well, he’s the only starter with playoff experience. True enough. But, if he was posturing in the media to pressure the Giants to put him on the roster, and it sounded like he was, then he’s even more of a putz than I thought…
I said somewhere earlier that the twins are the ones to fear. They historically have been very good at finding a way to win in the ps. the yankees are going to show their age at some point and i’m thinking it’s this year. i don’t envy them the task of replacing jeter and riveria.
I hate it that we should even care one whit about who the umpires will be for the series. All these guys should be professional, and should have similar strike zones, and abilities to tolerate allegedly being “shown up”, so that it shouldn’t matter who the umps are. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Hopefully, at least Cuzzi is on vacation….
I think deep down Zito wants to be left off the PS roster. He’s a mess right now. Imagine the anxiety he would take out to the mound if he got a start in Atlanta. He’d never admit it, but he’s going to exhale a huge sigh of relief when he gets left off…..
He wants to play his guitar.
Everybody knows the truth of the Zits thing. If his name were Barry Lyndon, were making $2 mill as a #5, there’s no question he’s off the playoff roster. He wouldn’t even get a sniff. It’s the contract that drives the entire issue — leaving him off will be “embarrassing” to somebody, or somebodies. But, if the organization is true to its word of wanting to win a championship, embarrassment is irrelevant, being smart is relevant. It hasta field its best 25 players against the opposition presented — and Barry Lyndon would not be on that list…
GH, This is the umpiring crew:
Giants/Braves- Dana DeMuth,Paul Nauvert,Paul Emmel,Mike Winters,Jerry Layne,Ed Hickok
Thank God all teams in the postseason are spared from the likes of Phil Cuzzi,Joe West,Bob Davidson,CB Bucknor,and Angel Hernandez.
danke kat…
No balkin’ Bob???
Amen to that . . .
“I said somewhere earlier that the twins are the ones to fear” Yeah, if they get past the Yanks, who have owned them. Of course, last year, Nathan and a historically bad call did them in…
And of course the” historically bad call” was courtesy of no other then PHIL FUCKING CUZZI!!!!
Gardenhire is so good, it would be fun to see Bochy v. Gardenhire — more fun than Plessy v. Ferguson (I was much younger for that).
Bengie Molina RBI single for the Rangers in the first. I’m pulling for the Rays, but I’d be glad to see Molina have a good series.
Giants could pick their roster using the alphabet method,and the 26th letter is Z…hmmm.
Have a day, Big Titty.
4-0 Texas in the Top 4, over the Rays
On a Molina HR in the 4th. Nice work, Bengie!
Take the Giants quiz from today’s Chronicle. Full discosure, I only got 15 right:
Are you a genuine Giants fan or did you jump on the bandwagon? Take this quiz to see . Answer 17 to 20 questions correctly and you’re a real fan, someone with a hat covered in Croix de Candlestick pins. You still can’t speak of Game 6 in the 2002 World Series.
Get at least 10 correct answers and consider yourself a gamer who has Dodgers-Giants games marked on the calendar.
Correct on fewer than 10? Don’t worry. There’s plenty of room on the bandwagon. Jump aboard.
1. What is the slogan on the Croix de Candlestick?
A. Veni, Vidi, Vici: “I came, I saw, I conquered.”
B. Veni, Vidi, Vixi: “I came, I saw, I survived.”
C. Veni, Vidi, Bibi: “I came, I saw, I drank.”
D. Veni, Vidi, Zito: “I came, I saw, I threw a curve.”
2. How much do garlic fries and a 20-ounce draft beer cost at AT&T Park?
A. $14
B. $16
C. $18
D. Priceless
3. Which of the following is not true about Bruce Bochy?
A. He’s the manager with the most wins in Padres history.
B. As a player, he wore a custom helmet to fit his huge head.
C. His players call him “Thunder Thighs.”
D. He was born in France.
4. When do the water cannons go off at AT&T Park?
A. After every Giants home run.
B. After a Giants splash hit.
C. When the Giants take the lead.
D. When the lights go down in the city.
5. What is Brian Wilson’s entrance song?
A. “Back in Black” by AC/DC
B. “Smoke on the Water” by Deep Purple
C. “Jump Around” by House of Pain
D. “Surfer Girl” by the Beach Boys
6. How long did Crazy Crab last as the Giants’ mascot?
A. One season
B. Two seasons
C. Five seasons
D. Way too long
7. When was Buster Posey born?
A. 1985
B. 1986
C. 1987
D. 0 A.D.
8. Who took the home-run trot with “one flap down?”
A. Jeffrey Leonard
B. Chili Davis
C. Candy Maldonado
D. Goose Gossage
9. How far is the right-center field wall from home plate, otherwise known as Triples Alley?
A. 366 feet
B. 400 feet
C. 421 feet
D. Halfway to Oakland
10. Who scored the winning run in 2002 to send the Giants to the World Series?
A. Kenny Lofton
B. David Bell
C. Barry Bonds
D. It’s too soon to talk about the 2002 Series.
Match the nickname with the player (one point each)
11. Kirk Rueter
12. Willie Mays
13. Rod Beck
14. Will Clark
15. Darrell Evans
16. Don Robinson
17. Tim Lincecum
18. Dave Righetti
19. Orlando Cepeda
20. Pablo Sandoval
A. Shooter
B. Rags
C. The Baby Bull
D. The Freak
E. Woody
F. The Say Hey Kid
G. Panda
H. Doody
I. The Thrill
J. The Caveman
Answers: 1. B; 2. B; 3. C; 4. A; 5. C; 6. A; 7. C; 8. A.; 9. C; 10. B.; 11. E; 12. F; 13. A; 14 I; 15. H; 16. J; 17. D 18. B; 19 C; 20. G
I took it reading SFGate. On number 5, it had to be A or C, and I don’t even know whoinhell “House of Pain” is, so I guessed A and missed. Got the rest. Do we get a free $9 beer if over 15?…
I missed #’s 2, 5, 6, 9 and 10. I completely went blank on 10 and the other 4 I never really paid any attention to.
I also got a 15. Missed 2, 9, 10, 15 and 16.
I disagree on the answer to #10, though. It’s actually D.
16…but I am calling bullshit on us fans that are no where near the Bay Area and have not seen a game since ’93 at ATT, pre-Brian Wilson and the apparent price of garlic fries and beer and water cannons…
Missed #10, that was the only one I feel bad about.
I missed #2 . . .
cake on the rest.
I may not know shit about baseball, but I knows my Giants . . .
Got ’em all except #5. I went with the Brian Wilson/Beach Boys correlation. And I thought “Jump Around” was a Black Eyed Peas song. WTF do I know. What little music trivia I have is limited to the Rat Pack. Bring back Dino Crocetti!
I didn’t get the Wilson music either. I suppose I just ignore it. I guessed on the garlic fries. I stopped eating those things years ago. On the other hand, I do have a pretty good sense of the beer, wine and liquor costs at the park. . . .
What a story it would be — Giants v. Rangers. Yuk…
“Gardenhire is so good..”
Well, it would be “Botchy” versus “Tardy” or “Retardenhire”. This is what the Bochy haters don’t get: every manager is the dumbest manager in baseball. There are Fire Gardy sites, bloggers question every move, he’s an idiot a dunderhead and SURPRISE: he doesn’t know how to do the line ups!
” He is completely incapable of assembling a batting order that maximizes his offense…”
Of course, someone really is the dumbest manager. Maybe it’s the guy who’s often called the smartest. Rocco Baldelli? Kelly Shoppach? Shields instead of Garza in Game 2?
Baggarly tweets that we most likely won’t wear our orange jerseys for Friday.
Good. After starting off 9-0 in those things, we lost our last 4 dressing up like a pumpkin.
Our lineup sucks more than any other playoff team and they all have NO Whitey.
See above, Dennis
Shoppy .196
Baldie .208
Pena .196
Zobby .238
Sometime in my life time the WS is going to be Snowed out!! I am going to laugh my ass off. Bud Selig is an idiot. Baseball should be over October 31 at the latest. MLB will lose Millions when that happens along with TV!! They should either shorten the season or go back to the shortend playoff structure. It is all about the money!!
The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed — for lack of a better word — is good.
Greed is right.
Greed works.
Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.
Greed, in all of its forms — greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge — has marked the upward surge of mankind.
Bud and MLB are talking about adding a SECOND wild card team for each league. Mainly due to the AL East being a Sox and Yankees playground, and they don’t want either one left out of the TV ratings. This would spread the playoffs out even longer. Nonsense unless you start the season in mid March, and shave two weeks from ST. Then, you’d have tons of early rainouts and snowouts that would have to be made up with double headers. I don’t see how it makes much sense….
Way to make my day GH and Snarkk. Selig and the owners at thier greediest best!! Oh it could happen where there is a week long snow storm system!! Now that would make my day. I know that players get paid millions, but isn’t baseball taking a chance a player doesn’t get hurt in those sub 30 degree weather?? A guy who already has a tender hammy say??
Kevin, just wait till they add another round to the playoffs and either have an extra wild card or a play-in game…I hope it does snow. They should force every game in Minnesota to be a day game…
Very happy for Bengie..great game for him.
All they need to do is add back 3 or 4 double headers. And NOT the 3 hour break DHs. True ‘Let’s play 2’ DHs.
And start 4/1. Get rid of the 3 days off between reg season and playoffs. Too much time off between playoff series.
Playing baseball in November is ludicrous. More teams means Nid-November. Which means off-site WS games. Or domes mandated by the league.
I like the 162 game season..it is now tradition. Could they shave a week or so off and go with 154 season and lose revenue for 4 home games and have the playoffs start on Oct 1 instead of Oct. 6?
I would guess that may be somewhere around $4 million in lost revenue just for the Giants and that does not account for food, parking, etc. I dont see the Giants or others agreeing to that.
They just need to go to the Giant Head Plan!
4 divisions of 4 teams. Each division winner advances. Add two teams to the AL. If you have to have a wild card, you could go with two and have a three game playoff and the two best division records get a bye. (would give a reason to win as many games as possible). But I sort of like the purity of one division winner advancing and that is it. But when it coems to money, they are going to go for the wild card.
Any talk of a one-game play-in playoff is absolute horse-rubbish….Kevin, wait till the NFL expands to 18 games and someone like Adrian Peterson or Tom Brady breaks a leg in Game 17…
My expansion plans are based on getting rid of the DL in the AL…
The idea of adding a second WC for each league would be a 2 of 3 play in type of series first. I suppose the 2 WCs would play for the privilege of moving on, not each WC play a division winner in 2 of 3. Just the idea of an established 2 of 3 series that has meaningful consequences seems idiotic to me. It’s a stunt. How much money is enough before tinkering with the game turns into disrespectful?…
Or the NBA . . .
The national stage is in no way ready for this club to take the post season by storm.
The Freak, Cain, Dirty, Buster, Panda, The Beard of Zues, The Mole, The Thong, The Bat, Uuuuu-Riiiibe….The list goes on.
Giants in 3.
Bengie!! 3-4, dinger 2 ribbies . . .
Would Bengie get a ring from the Giants if they winit all?
Would he get 2 if the Giants beat Texas in the WS?
Looks like Tampa fans didn’t even sellout, or left early. What a joke that ballpark is. I don’t know Texas much, but that Feliz dude was throwin gas. And Bengielena did a good job calming him down. Professional catching, there…
Posey calmed down Sanchez in the game against the Rocks!
On Herd ESPN, he ranted that outdoor baseball in high humidity cities does not work due to the weather. who wants to sit in a outdoor stadium where it is 85 degrees with humidity around 90%?? He said it was a terrible idea to put baseball in Floriday
Attendance was officially more than 35K but the park was 98.5% full, according to the box score. That’s sad. You could walk up and purchase tickets in the first inning.
Standing room only tickets for the Giants game were going for $90 on stubhub, last I checked. Gotta love Giants’ fans enthusiasm!
Giant players could vote him a share for their WS earnings…
Frank Zappa is the Rangers pitching coach???
OK, did I win anyone some money on the Rangers???
At least I won a grand slam breakfast from Dennis…
Nothing here. In addition to losing a Denny’s Grand Slam to you, my one and three * bets went kaput.
However, my 10 * bet came home. Not only did my doc up my meds, she added a new one as well.
That’s a Grand Slam in my book. Color me 8) from here on out.
Season should start the first of April and end on the last day of September. Period.
Snowzone teams should not be hosting home games until the third week of April. I would include Minnesota (homestate); Milwaukee; Chicago; Cleveland; Toronto and possibly Boston and Denver in that category. As somewhat cooler venues, they would make up for it in the Dog Days of Summer where places like St. Louis, Cincinnati; Washington; Atlanta and Houston are horrendless scenes of high levels of heat and humiliated relatives.
One maybe should add Arlington and Phoenix to that list.
It’s only common sense. So i do not envision this happening on Bud Selig’s watch. He’s possibly leading the pack in the race for worst commissioner ever.
Leading the Pack? he is the only one on the list!!
That was a quick 1-0 lead for Philly. Victorino stealing the bag in the first makes me happy that we’ve got Posey behind the plate. It was so infuriating last year watching teams run at will on Bengie. Victorino will have to pick his spots very carefully against Posey if they face the Giants.
Come on Cincy, put up a fight! I’m not saying that the Giants are going to move to the second round, but a 4 or 5 game CIN/PHI series decreases the likelihood of seeing Halladay in Game one of the NLCS if they do.
Halliday helps the cause. 2 out base hit drives in a run.
I’m not watching it. Is Volquez melting down or what?
Man, the more I look at Atlanta’s starting three and their dominance of the Giants this year, the more this thing looks like it’s going to be a dogfight.
4-0 Phils . . .
Swick, Vol got 2 outs. Walk, if hit, Halliday single and ribbie, walk, Victorino single for 2 runs.
Dinks and dunks . . . but Volquez was up to 56 pitches in 1.2 innings.
Christ, Halliday is DEALING. He’s throwing a perfect game after 4 . . .
43 pitches, 35 strikes . . .
They look tough, but I’m not worried about Philly, now anyway. Let’s get through Atlanta first. After that, Philly could be ripe for the pickin’…
Considering that Philly is playing right now and the Giants are not, I don’t consider it all that presumptive to discuss matchups with them or the Reds.
Like somebody said, i”d rather face this guy in the 3rd game rather than the 1st . . .
You have to be kidding me that Cuzzi is the guy who blew that call in the Minnesota game last year. There he was, staring right at the play, everyone in the universe could see the play clearly, and the ump standing right there blows it.
Still a no-no for Halliday through 7 . . .
6 Ks
When do they announce the fuckin’ roster?
At the last fuckin’ possible moment
Tomorrow morning, DJ . . .
Halliday no-no through 8 . . .
Can the Reds return from getting no-hit in the first game of the playoffs?
Halliday with a no-no . . . !
2 in the playoffs? One a perfect game?
Unreal. . .
Halladay just threw a no-NO Whitey.
You’ve been dying to post that one, haven’t you?
Ho hum…..I think 1-hitters have become rarer than no-hitters…
And 1-hit losses are the rarest of gems! In your face, Roy! We’ve got our own ROY.
Well, Roy, you got that out of your system. It ain’t like you’re gonna do it twice. Phils can only go downhill from here.
Ahh, check that.
2 no-nos in one year . . .
I bet Cincy on the day they get no hit for the second time in post season history. That’s gold, baby……..
OK, Chuck. So he pitches a perfect game and then a no-hitter in the postseason. I’m figuring lightning doesn’t strike thrice.
I’ll take a one-hitter loss from him .. .
Bengie goes 3-4 with a HR. Good for him. No SBs though.
Baggs tweets Rowand is on, likely Zits is OFF.
And tweety baggs
Molina had a less than stellar season but what the hell. He got to the playoffs. Good for him
Liriano pitched through 3 innings of Yankees. Some baserunners, but no runs. Meanwhile Michael Cuddyer plated a pair with a long fly. It would be so totally wonderful and so absolutely good for baseball to see the Evil Empire go down in the Divisional. I may hate the LaBumbos, but that’s nothing for the absolute hatred i have for the Yankees. It’s all money and greed with that bunch. Their players include the best paid bunch of mercenaries around.
One way or another there should be a salary cap, both high end and low end. So the parasite owners like Lurie of the Marlins would also have to spend some of that money he rakes in from the higher-spending teams.
I think you mean “Loria”, Stix
I just read thru the sfgate.com story on sf giant playoff history. Even though I knew it….buzkill.
The section in the Chron had pictures going all the way back to Willie Mac and Cepeda…. including the ignominious JT flat on his face after Pudge tags his ass out and holds the ball up.
I bet on the yanks and the reds today. So far, no runs for either in 13 innings. But it’s cool. I’m used to this. Got a lot of experience in my team getting shut out. I can do this for a week beatches, you’ve got no idea who you’re dealing with!!!!
Right, Michael. It felt a bit off when i was writing it, but couldn’t focus on the one different letter. He’s a greedy asshole in any event. Liriano, Giants gift to the Twins in that A.J. fiasco, has held the E. Empire through five. The Yanks just do not inspire the fear they used to back even two-three years ago. Aging team. Not much for pitching. Big Carsten is good, but top twenty good, not top ten.
Yeah, my top 3 priorities in baseball:
1. Giants win
2. Dodgers lose
3. Yankees lose
Man, that purple suit is painful that Craig what’s-his-name is wearing on TBS.
Guess what?
Went too long with Liriano.
Gardenhire does not have quite the bullpen that Bochy enjoys, but he should have taken the struggling Liriano out in the sixth before Granderson tripled and put the Evil ones up 4-3. IMHO Bochy would have yanked him.