Spring Training and Fantasy Pre-Talk
Pretty typical Spring training game yesterday: Belt showed off lots of skillz prompting calls from the blog world for his coronation. I’m done with my “Spring Performances Don’t Matter” rants…..I think. There’s certainly no harm in the fans getting excited about a new young player. As long as Sabean doesn’t fall into the trap, I’m cool with it. Belt is going to start in Fresno regardless of what he does here. But getting off to a great start certainly is nice to see……
For the same reason, I can’t get too down on Zito (although it would be harder to get *downer* on him than I already am). Pitchers are just trying to find their way to proper mechanics during the Spring, especially the first start. Walking 5 of 13? Whatever, that only matters if he does it in April…..
I’m bumping the Flap Fantasy League to 16 teams. It means we will have less great players to stock our rosters with but it’s the same playing field for everyone so it doesn’t really matter. If you want to play and are a vet-Flapper, shoot me an email. We’ve already got new faces registered and I’ve got invites out to a few others who expressed interest. I also have some requests from bloggers I don’t know but I’m really more inclined to invite people who hit the Flap with some degree of regularity. I’d even be fine with some of few lost souls at The Splash who might want to play. Anyway, I probably won’t close out the league for another week or so. Send me an email if you want to play. bigflavor77@gmail.com . Ten bucks to play, just to keep you interested, top 3 pay out. You can paypal me or check/money order me. And you don’t need to know how to play, BLADEinCOLORADO won it all last year and it was the first time he’d ever played………
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
BLADEinCOLORADO won it all last year and it was the first time he’d ever played………
Yeah I had football pool every week during the season one year and a woman mad her picks by whether she liked the color of the teams uniform, She won that week!! First time in a Football pool!!
I don’t see it as a given that Belt starts in Fresno.In fact, BP has him out performing Huff this year( by OPS). I’ve been skeptial but unbiased reports say he’s the real deal. A Burrell/Huff/Belt triumvirate in LF/1B is our best at those positions…
BTW, Baseball Prospectus picks us to win the West with 92 wins again, with the Bums 3 back, Colorado 6. Players with OPS projected over .800 include Posey, Sandoval, Belt ( in limited time). This just for Flavor: they project 11 HR for Tejada.
Nice BB but tough to top yesterday’s BB. Maybe a poll for BB of the offseason will be in order this year, what do you think Flav?
I think Spring Training is a good time to go over the edge for a player. I went bonkers on Darren Ford last year. But this year is a bit different, for me anyway. Not a whole lot of room for anyone new, Belt included, to break camp this year. So no long shots to get excited about. And, I’m OK with that.
Zito, Zito, Zito. Why he didn’t hire his guy Rick Peterson the minute the Brewers let him go, I’ll never know. He can afford it, he did well under the guy. Do something different, anything. If all he did was play long toss with the canyon in his backyard, he’ll probably just be an inning eater just good enough to lose again this year.
sportsbook.com has set the O/U for the Giants win total at 87.5 this year….
I think Belt is the real deal, I just don’t believe they will start him in SF. We’re good to go at the 1-bag. We only need Belt if there’s an injury or a huge hole develops in LF or somewhere else. And if he’s raking in Fresno AND we don’t need him up here, then just let him keep raking and building his confidence…….
I think they will follow the same strategy with Belt that they did with Posey.
On merit, he deserves to be on the team, but they want him playing everyday. And I think they want to deflect the attention a bit, let him relax and get some additional seasoning. The strategy worked well last yr.
From Uribe/Rent, G’s got a combined .262/27/107/728. Not completely fair since Edgar was injured, but Sandoval/Tejada should surpass that.
If Belt does break camp with the team, I’d guess Ishi would be the one to be traded. That would also make DeRosa primarily an infield backup. So would they package Font as well? I’m still not sure what Fontenot’s role is going to be. My guess is that he was signed only for DeRosa/Franchez/Panda health insurance anyway.
Fontenot gets a lot of crap for a guy who offensively is as good or better than Fruckie against RHers. He had some rough times in the field in the postseason but he is a very good utility player.
Fontenot gets a lot of crap? I think we must have different definitions of “crap”. He’s hardly ever even referred to…
Same thing…
You are being awfully snarky with me these days. It’s pissing me off.The Tejada BS in particular- I stated a fucking opiniion. My player analysis has been pretty good, I don’t need the shit.
For some in the Flap demographic, BF really hit the jackpot with today’s BB. Vanessa Rousso, aka Lady Maverick, 28, may be the.best.BB.yet. If you wanna play strip poker with her, forget it, you’ll be wearing your skivvies while she takes off nothing but your cash — she’s a professional poker player, having played poker since age 5. She’s been on the pro circuit since about 2005, so far winning over $3.4 million, which is in the top 5 women all time. Appeared in the 2009 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue (http://tinyurl.com/4s5gur6), and is a GoDaddy spokeschick. This babe is no airhead supermodel, she can bring it. Fluent in Spanish and French. High school valedictorian, graduated from Duke with an econ degree in 2 1/2 years. Then went to U of Miami law school — was on the Law Review and was top 5% while playing poker tournaments until she got bored, got smart, and left early for the poker world full time. Splits time between Vegas and Miami. Has testified to Congress on liberalizing online gambling laws. Dual French and US citizenship. Runs occasional poker boot camps for you stalker types. What’s not to like about this chick? Her website vanessarousso.com is kinda annoying, and she’s sorta got a slight lisp, but maybe that’s just endearing. Oh, and she’s married to fellow pro poker player Chad Brown. Ugh, he’s 49 — at least that gives some of you degenerates hope. No word if she can bunt. But, boy howdy she can bluff, and definitely has a winning pair…
She gave me the Queen
She gave me the King
She was wheelin’ and dealin’
Just doin’ her thing
She was holdin’ a pair
But I had to try
Her Deuce was wild
But my Ace was high
But how was I to know
That she’d been dealt with before
Said she’d never had a Full House
But I should have known
From the tattoo on her left leg
And the garter on her right
She’d have the card to bring me down
If she played it right
She’s got the jack
excellent work, Snarkk. I knew you wouldn’t let me down. You are the fucking RainMan of BB’s…
Twin, I’m doing what I always do, agree on posts, disagree on posts, I’m not trying to intentionally irritate you. I just don’t see Fontenot get “a lot of crap” from bloggers. No one even notices him most of the time……
Wow, I’m impressed. Titsapedia by Snarrk.
Yeah, if I really knew all these chicks by photo, I’d be even more of a degenerate than I actually am…
I AM an excellent driver…
BTW, the savant that was the inspiration behind RainMan, a guy named Kim Peek, died in late 2009 of a heart attack at age 58. He had 12,000 books committed to memory. Yet, an IQ of just 73. Probably coulda been a great Flapper…
Most of these guys here are 50+, here’s their babe of the day:
best…BB…ever
That’s hilarious.
Make that best…BBW…ever…
best…BBW…ever
Smokin’ BBW
Absolutely hilarious. And almost perfect.
However. That hair’s just a bit too lustrous, ain’t it?
All that and an excellent homemaker to boot. She won’t be in market for long.
Well, maybe the supermarket…
TWIN!?!?!?!?! That picture was just for you, not to splash all over the inter webs!
Kidding! No, really, that’s not me…honest!
Funny. But you would have been the last person I would have thought of, ferret.
With Sanchez and DeRosa fully healthy, I guess they keep Fontenot primarily to backup Tejada. I recall he was often a spark off the bench, but lacks a strong throwing arm.
For a WS champion, G’s had their share of guys getting ripped last yr. FreddySanchez took an awful lot of heat for starting on the DL, and especially when he struggled offensively in July. Pretty frucking good 2nd half numbers though .298/.337/.762. One of keys this yr is having him 100% and putting up those numbers all yr.
RT: Coming from the same perspective you are regarding Belt. Unless he absolutely tears it up this Spring (could happen) he’ll get the Posey dip to Fresno. Ownership circle probably wants to drop the arb qualification from setting in earlier than their comfort zone. Team also wants to see what it’s got with its vets.
Giants are now looking at an embarrassment of riches, personnel-wise. Somebody is likely to get traded for a quality backup catcher or for prospects~ probably low minor league types. This is an incredible change from 3-4 years ago when the G’s were more or less bottom feeders. This team now shines in scouting and player development. Also, Sabean has made some wise picks in trades and from the castoff pool.
SF has become a beautifully engineered and well-oiled and maintained machine. Anyone predicting only 87 victories has not been paying attention.
Should that trio of Panda, DeRosa and Belt carry their early Spring feats into the season, to say nothing of Posey, Torres, Huff and all; we may be looking at a powerhouse steamroller.
I guess I’ve mentioned Fontenot the most and I did say something last year about him looking lost and looking like a Cub. So I guess I’ve talked the most crap about him. I wasn’t trying to start any shit with him today, I just don’t see his role if DeRosa is healthy. If he can handle backing up SS, fine. If not, I don’t get it, that’s all I’m saying.
Fontenot had some key hits for them- including the hit that led to one of the pivotal wins of the year- the “Ford”game. Ford ran for him after his basehit…
I just read a SJ Mercury article regarding Belt’s chances to open the season with the big club versus his likely Fresno destination . . . Apparently, Sabes would like him to begin the season at Fresno, but isn’t unequivocally ruling out Brandon being with the Giants on opening day (especially if he does his “Shock and Awe” act as he did Monday throughout spring training . . . or, Huff is injured).
You guys have excellent access to all the Giant media outlets (e.g., aforementioned Mercury, Gate, Comcast, and local tv sports media . . . In short, the “pulse” of what is likely to happen.
So, enquiring minds want to know what percentage chance does Belt have of opening the season at Phone Park?
He’s barely played yet. But for now I’d give it 3:1 against him leaving ST with the Big Club…
Snarkk, 25% is fairly optimistic (hope it happens).
That’s 33%
3:1 odds against means 75% probability he stays…
Today’s game has some action. 2 doubles from Pablo (one off of our old friend Wellemeyer); three goose egg innings from Lincecum, although his control wasn’t great. Wonder if Pablo’s wearing the contact lenses?
Good question about the contacts. Schulman will let us know. By mid-May…
Font’s a pesky little fuck. A poor man’s Eckstein. Decent D. He’s not going to drive anything anywhere, but can get the clutch base hit in the bottom of the 8th when you really need it . . .
Without any injuries, Belt is a near-lock to be in the minors. Unless his numkbers are ungodly high . . .
Chuck, I like the german version of your post.
ha ha ha.
Ya, ya, itzen dummkopff
Without any injuries, Belt is a near-lock to be in the minors. Unless his numbers are ungodly high . . .
WTF?
Looks like Greg Anderson is going back to jail when the dumb-ass trial starts on March 23rd.
Ah, bleep the numkbers!
Not to be critical of the MLB network, because I do appreciate all the Spring Training games this week- but….no Giants game the first week, but lots of Yankees, Angels, and Dodgers?
A pretty entertaining Spring Training game the other night when the Rockies scored 5 runs in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game and send it into extra-innings. Some dude I’ve never heard of hit a three-run homer in the ninth.
The Rockies narrowly avoided disaster early in the game when Tulo, Gonzalez, and somebody else all collided going after a foul pop up down the leftfield line. That could have ended the Rockies’ season right about there.
Nice of Comcast to rebroadcast the “Donny Two-times” game last night. I like how when the Giants were down 5-1, Krukow was still talking about how the Giants could come back in the game. He seemed to be not confident that Kershaw would slam the door on the Giants. There’s a lot of fight in the Giants. They keep battling. It’s an element that doesn’t always reflect in stastics- the sheer will to compete, and to keep competing, no matter what.
“statistics,” I was trying to spell.
Yep. The difference between the dodgers and the Giants in that game was stunning. The bums made serious mistakes, some because they got pissed off, some because the crazy events of the game just distracted them. The Giants, however, never flinched, they kept on coming at the bums. Bochy’s great moment in the 9th — calling Don M. on his two-trip slip-up — was perfectly in sync with the team’s total focus and fight. The screaming double Torres then sent to the LCF wall seemed in evitable. Nothing was going to stop the Giants.
That was a key moment for Bochy. Made many of those who were convinced he was asleep at the wheel take notice.
Yeah- a turning point in the fans’ appreciation of Bochy, and set the tone for the rest of the season. And now Bochy is forever a legend in SF Giants history. It’s a great story in hindsight, how he never got negative during the three-year journey through tough times to championship glory. He stayed positive on his radio show, and never threw any of the players under the bus.
Well, the one thing that we were right about regarding him, is that he is one of the worst arguer’s of all time. Don’t even come out of the dugout if you’re just going to stammer and mumble, without eye contact, before huffin’ and puffin’ back to the dugout.
That was actually one of the reasons i thought he didn’t know what the fuck he was doing. That, and he played Rowand for too long. But whatever, I was wrong. He put on a clinic in the WS, he made Washington look like a fool.
Bochy turned out to be a bright, humorous, engaging guy during the interviews he gave after each series was put away in the post season. Who knew?
Hi all,
Bochy / mattingly thing will remain in Giants lore forever!
Srnakk..As a poker player / watcher, I’m familiar with Vanessa Russo. Has a poker stars commercial too. That doesn’t look like her. You sure?
yeah, there’s something going on with this Rousso photo deal. Check this one out — sure looks photo-shopped to me: http://tinyurl.com/4z96fam
Compare the bikinis and bods — identical (except for the little photo of Penn Jillette over the pudena in the tinyurl). But the women have different faces.
Snarkk, I think S-Dude is right. That doesn’t look like Vanessa Russo. Wither Snarkk?
it’s not. If you do a search of “vanessa Rousso bikini” and then click images there’s a pic of her head airbrushed on to the current BB’s body. That’s probably how Snarkk slipped up.
http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQgcAg82LcQMUGTYTJYx4OvvfCjK6KQqzO_CP79p_mQXCjsm9_c
buzzkill…………
None of us so much as suspect that we’re wasting time running this issue to ground, do we? ah, well.
I think it’s fairly important to not misrepresent this goddess’ true identity, don’t you?
As crazy as Charlie Sheen is, I couldn’t help but LQTM when he said “I’m not bi-polar, I’m bi-winning”. He’s so over the top it’s teetering towards more funny and less sad……….
The Undertaker giving up several hits and three runs, losing to Wellemeyer: Now that’s one for the books. Not real likely we’ll see a repeat of that during the season, though. Holes in the Giants’ bats today, save for the Panda. Looks like he’s on the road to recovering the nickname. Ross was collared with three special K’s against a medley of Cubbies pitchers. Evidently he hasn’t found his timing-light yet.
What else to say except that in the five games to date, four have been one-run affairs ~kinda strange, it being ST and all. Maybe they’re getting it out of their system now rather than the pattern early last season where there were long strings of one-run affairs, including too many division contests which they lost, perhaps Drrrrty’s one-hit losing effort being the archetype.
Still kinda chilly for baseball in the desert. Teams there are lucky though. We’re expecting 18 below zero tonight up here in the northwoods as March blew in with a bitter NW wind. Looking forward to the lamb at the end of the month, as well as Lincecum’s first victory of the season down in LaLaLand.
I couldn’t help myself. Had to check it out. Heck, I think I prefer the real Vanessa Russo.
Stix, After reading your posts I always vow I’ll never complain about the weather (now a dreary 54) again.
according to a friend Sheen was drug tested by the studio after his original ‘maggot’ comments. I assume so they could fuch him.
He tested CLEAN for drugs and booze. or so I am told.
pretty amazing that, because the way he was ranting sounded a lot like a coke high.
or so I am told.
glad to see Brandon Webb starting a comeback.
OH! about the BB, those do not look like the tits of an intelligencer profreakin’ poker player to me
I dunno, tits go a long way at the poker table. You can’t read ’em. And you don’t want to be mean to them. But good God do you want to *felt them*…….
If there wasn’t any luck involved Phil Hellmuth would win every time. Or so he claims…
Flav, you’ll be happy to know that over at the TVG Community poll “Let it Ride” is leading with over 33% of the vote as everyone’s favorite horse racing movie.
Phil Hellmuth could be walking around lucky and not even know it.
Denny, that movie is one of my favorite movies of all time. And the buddies I watched it with in college who could give a fuck about horse racing STILL reference it with one-liner quotes in casual convo when it applies. I’ve seen it 50 times at least so I’m always ready for a good “Let it Ride” retort…….
Only spring training questions in my mind this year are Zito and Tejada and I am less worried about Tejada.
Zito dealt with the emasculation of being left of the playoff roster well but from reports I have seen his father was also dealing with some health issues. Having lost his Mother recently and then having his Father sick I wouldn’t be surprised if he truly did not care and baseball was not at the forefront of his mind. Everyone rags on the dude’s salary but I could give a shit about the dough. I’m just holding on to the tiny of sliver of hope despite everything I have seen from him over the past years in SF and want to see Zito have a good year.
The offense is going to be better. A lot better I think. The pitching staff is already top shelf. If Zito could get it together it could be a monster and rampage through the NL en route to another “ship”.
Shit Reno, we all want him to be better, wanted him to be better the past 3 seasons. Yeah the salary’s a given irritant. But at some point, regardless if he were making league minimum, it’s beyond tiring to hear him say post-game crap like “I gotta throw more strikes” after he walks 5 outta 13. Just DO it…
I hear that. For as lousy as Zito was last year there was a stretch of games where he was getting shit for run support but so was the whole staff and I don’t want to get into making excuses for the guy.. The improved offense will help him and the staff as a whole.
Hey, how dare you guys question my extensive, multi-sourced BB identification algorithms? Whatever, looks like her to me. I’m no photoshop expert. Check her website if you want, there’s lots of other shots there, and my prior post linked to the SI shot with sharks. At this point in my life, BB blonds look a lot alike. Here are some more shots of her. I’m stickin with it, but suit yourself. Whoever she is, I’d ante up with her…
http://tinyurl.com/6jjfxk5
http://tinyurl.com/2ed2xru
click on this link: someone has obviously photo-shopped the head of Ruosso onto the body of this goddess. Look at this link and then look at the pic in the BB section:
http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQgcAg82LcQMUGTYTJYx4OvvfCjK6KQqzO_CP79p_mQXCjsm9_c
I dunno, that one really looks photoshopped — I’m not sure that face looks any more like Rousso than the one you have up on the site, BF. Maybe the next time one of you multitude of Flappers that are gamblers are in Vegas, you can meet up with her and resolve the question up close and personal — if her husband is busy at the other table. Meanwhile, whoever it is, including “Lady Maverick”, I wouldn’t kick her out for eating crackers…
oh shit, what do i know. Now I think it’s her. She’s smiling in the link that I have above, no smile in the BB photo. I now have no opinion……
Bingo. Look at the link I just posted. There’s some stupid ass pic of a guy’s head in her crotch. And yet the crotch of the BB is crystal clean—or so one would hope……
As I pointed out in the link I posted, that’s clearly a picture of Penn Jillette on the pudenda, there.
I’d take 10-1 that Zito leads the Jints in wins.
Add two zeros to 10, that should be about right…
OK…….10+00=10
Nice. Higher math, that. Or, ” high” math? Which reminds me, time for a tumbler. All this BB confusion is very upsetting…
Charlie Sheen on Winning . . .
Speaking of the Zitman, have you guys read the article by Jenkins that came out this afternoon? Wow. It’s worth reading. http://tinyurl.com/4p4g3dj Here’s a quote:
“A source close to the team indicated Tuesday that there is “exasperation” with Zito, that his status as the No. 5 starter is “definitely not safe,” and that the team would even consider buying out his expensive contract before Opening Day if that’s what it takes to say farewell.”
That is pretty heady stuff. Apparently they think he did not keep up his physical conditioning in the offseason this time. Giants still owe Zito $64.5 MILLION total for the next four years, including the 2014 buyout at $7 million. Gawd that is a ton of money, and a long time with potential piss poor pitching…
That’s the worst piece I’ve ever read by Jenkins. I like Jenkins. But he sounds like Ratto on a mild dose of steroids in that Zito hatchet job.
It’s not Jenkins. Somebody on the Giants decided to send Zito a message via Jenkins, not the beat guys…
I have a thread about Zito/buyout tomorrow. Did any of you read the thread I did a while back this Winter?
https://oneflapdown77.com/2010/12/12/barry-zito-is-in-las-vegas/
that is rock-solid fact. I know, I know, who ISN’T shit-faced in Vegas? But still……
BTW BLADE—great video. I didn’t and don’t follow Sheen’s Story that closely so I got sucked in to the bi-polar/bi-winning thing—didn’t know *winning* was the next thing he was selling……
I clicked on that video of Charlie Sheen, aka Carlos Estevez. BWeez really, really, seriously needs to stay away from that dude…
Yeah, I linked to it and I DO remember that thread, BF. Pretty funny. Maybe the blond Zito was with in the elevator was the now (in)famous Vanessa Rousso. We should ask Zito to confirm if the pic is her…
Talked to him after the text, my buddy was unimpressed with her in comparison to who she was with—126 mil/famous/good looking buys you some pretty good tail…..
or at least it should…….
Here’s the Zitman with a blond, could be his latest GF Ari Brugh? Or maybe the chick in the elevator? Or maybe the Photog’s chick? Or all of the above? HellifIknow. But, I do know the Zitman’s gotta be baggin some serious tail, especially during the offseason. If he’s not with the gold he’s got, something is radically wrong…
http://tinyurl.com/4ol7cmq
I’m starting to miss the God Squad…
Lavelle was a good pitcher, had a good career and later helped Toronto get a playoff berth. He and his fellow God Squaders were good people. But, they never won a WS title. I’ll take the rally thong over the prayer circles…
My biggest memory of Zito so far is that game against Kansas City a few years ago. He walked a bunch of guys and hit two guys in one inning. That half-inning took literally about half an hour to complete. I kept going in and out of the house to do some stuff, and I couldn’t believe the inning was still going.
To Snarkk’s list of cool baseball names, I’d add a few of the old-timers, such as Frankie Frisch. I always liked that name for some reason. And Rogers Hornsby. The plural on “Rogers” always fascinated me. Kind of like that town in the Sierras, called Murphys. Not “Murphy’s” or “Murphys’, but “Murphys.” Like it’s plural. Named after a bunch of Murphys.
If they get rid of Zito, we can name a town after him. Zitos. We keep tallking here about ways to shed Zito, but I’ve read published reports that he has a full no trade clause. He’d have to OK a deal somewhere. He probably would nix a deal to the Yankees; too much pressure…
REVRET!!!!!