That Was Too Easy
Sweeping the first place team? How are they in first place? Like half their starting line up is hitting a buck eighty. Looming question: If Voggy keeps tossing starts out there like yesterday’s what do we do with him when Zit-Rod comes back in a couple of weeks?
Short and sweet today, not a lot of time for a thoughtful blog thread. You guys do all of it anyways……..
The Flap Fantasy Baseball Standings
(Denny explodes with a double digit green tsunami, The Clown tumbles and Berra’s Bombers stays the course with a solid 17)
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
Wow, looks like I missed all the fun. Down in LA, no games on TV. I forogt to tape them. Cain looked like he did goood. Great comeback. Bummie denied a win yet again. Looks like of his own doing with the throwing error and subsequent double.
Vogie had a no-no? Hurt himself swinging? Did that get him removed from the game? I didn’t quite get what happened there.
Sweeping the Rox is great. 20 seconds of highlights is all I see of all the games? Not so great.
The best part about being in LA was the hand-wringing around the Lakers and the end of their dynasty. Talk about die-nasty. Gasol disappeared as usual in the playoffs. Ron Ron became his usual enigmatic self. The squishy interior of LA’s interior of Bynam and Odom was exposed badly, and they were out worked and outhustled. Phil Jackson lost that team down the stretch somewhere, and the team turned into punks and cheap-shotters in the end.
Nice how both Odom and Ron Ron go after the smallest white guy out there. Dallas did very well not to retaliate. Although they knew they would have lost guys for their upcoming games. LA? Not so much.
BLEEP LA!
Good one, Soph . . .
Even though it is not Baseball related, great post Chuck, totally agree. next year Kobe plays for Kobe. takes 40 shots a game. Beefs up his stats cause he knows he is not going to be around for the next great LA team. Have to say though, that early in his carreer Dirk was MIA during the playoffs.
Flav, I can’t come up with predictions that are guaranteed “locks” or be correct when I tell somebody to “book it!” very often. But after my comments last night I knew it was a backup the truck [ beep, beep, beep] lead pipe lock cinch that you would use DENNY in your thread this morning.
You went yard in your first at-bat today. That’s one more homer than Chuck’s hit since he dropped Alfonso Soriano.
Zum, not sure if you’ve seen today’s Chron, but huge article on Kap, which might be on the Gate in a day or so. Seems like everybody’s dream kid, great student, 3 sport star.
Tulo was a pretty good HS b-ball player too at my old alma mater. It’s nice to come home, but neither he nor the Rox can have enjoyed the weekend much. It’s got to grate on these guys to get humbled repeatedly at ATT, esp when SF is not hitting and missing Panda and Torres.
Willied, psychologically – the Rockies have a few hurdles to overcome, including the one you mentioned. Specifically, their historic road record since they came into the league against ALL the NL West teams sucks (except San Diego, where they are just about even I believe). For example, the Rockies had a 31-51 record on the road last year while, hitting .226 AVG.
In April 1994, the Colorado Rockies unveiled their team mascot — appropriately named Dinger, after the most prominent characteristic of the mile-high franchise. The Rockies have always been built to bury their opponents with power and take advantage of the Colorado’s thin air; as a result, the team’s short history is replete with awesome offensive displays and battle-scarred pitchers.
The single factor most responsible for the power surge in Colorado is the extreme altitude of Coors Field and its predecessor, Mile High Stadium. (It certainly isn’t due to any stability in the coaching, since the Rockies went through five hitting coaches in their first five years.) The very thin air in Denver (5,280 feet above sea level) affects the game in two ways: batted balls travel further, and curveballs tend to flatten out. This results in more hittable pitches, more double-digit scores, and more long days for pitchers.
Even with the humidor, the game day results may be more palatable/normal, but the extreme altitude still effects the players when they go on the road. The ripple effect of this phenomenon is profound. The team has so far done worse on the road, since the hitters cannot sustain the level of high-octane performance away from Denver. (A notable exception was Larry Walker’s 1997 season, when his home/away splits were fairly even. He actually showed more power away from Coors Field, which makes his MVP campaign all the more remarkable.).
I’ll look for that article. Thanks.
I didn’t see the cap-tip by Voggy yesterday but I heard the KNBR morning show describe it—sounded like quite a moment. What that dude has persevered through is the automatic reason you go with him instead of Zito. Voggy is all about the love of the game and the love from the crowd. That’s just good times, baby. Zito has a cloud of negativity following him. To me, it’s an easy choice of who your 5 is when Zito’s foot is finally healed. Both pitchers will probably pitch about the same—but one has rope with the fans and one doesn’t–actually, Zito has rope from the fans too, the only difference is that they want him to tie it in the shape of a noose and make good with it……
But what can they do with Zito?
What’s wrong w/ Fresno?
The NBA should suspend those two Lakers for the start of the regular season next year, right? They can’t let those two guys get away with those cheap shots with just fines.
Magic Johnson said it well: “I’m a Laker, and they embarrassed me. They shamed the Lakers.”
I’m sure they were bursting with pride during his AIDS announcement.
Later, they were, for his bravery and honesty in dealing with it.
It was an all-time cap-tip by Vogelsong. You could really tell that the crowd appreciated that he did doff his cap. Like Kruk said, you never know when they will stop cheering for you. Best to enjoy the moment(s) while you can.
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/portlet/article/html/render_gallery.jsp?articleId=18021819&siteId=6&startImage=2
what a great cap tip. If Zito throws the same game do you think he gets the same ovation? The crowd might refrain from throwing batteries at him. that’s it.
I think there’s some “crowd fatigue” in always trying to pump Zito up when he pitches decently on the rare occasion. The Giants fans have been very supportive of Zito overall, all things considered; but they’re just tired of it.
I was already tired of Zito when he was still with the A’s
I tire of hearing that the Rockies are a good ball club. They’re not. They’re the worst team in the division…
Saw a graphic about the Lakers and their perfomance when they go out- it seems that 30 points losses are the norm. Quitters….I’m surprised that Barnes didn’t join in the mayhem yesterday- one of the all-time cheap shot artists..
Two wins and lose ground in the league???? Official investigation!
WOW, what a series with virtually little offense….Go Giants! Typical Sharks to choke a close-out game at home…mother….
If “Cargo” doesn’t start hitting for the Rockies, they’re toast this season.
Vogelsong keeps pitching until he starts looking like Zito….Zito gets an extended Rock N’ Roll Fantasy Camp pass paid for by the Giants…
Occasion for a bit of reflection after the weekend resurrection. A fifth of the season is in the books and the league is tending to sort itself out between the contenders and the pretenders. Situation overall does not look all that different from last season around the league except that San Diego has fallen off as was expected and that St. Louis has again displaced Cincinnati as the dominant squad in the Central. Otherwise, contention for Beast of the East once again boils down to the Phillies and Braves, while the Giants stride once again towards being best of the West.
That the Giants are now only a game out of first in the West despite having barely scored more runs than lowest scoring San Diego is a tribute to what some of us have been calling the best overall pitching staff in baseball. One Giants fan, commenting on yesterday’s game over Yahoo MLB coverage, noted that SF is 16-4 when they score three or more runs. Read that again.
A significant uptick in plate performance is pretty likely as Torres, DeRosa and later, Sandoval return to the squad. Totally demolishing AAA pitching at Fresno with a .444 average, Brandon Belt may get the call at most any time. Complicating factor in all of this is how to readjust the roster. Callup of Casilla may not be all that difficult as Dan Runzler has been pressing in most of his appearances and has been only sparsely used lately.
So all indications are that the Giants are a team on the rise. Their roadtripping shakedown cruise is history now and they survived. Snakes are in town for three days and then its another venture into hostile territory with 3 vs the Cubbies in Chi town and then a pair each in Denver and LaLaLand. Next homestand begins with Oakland crossing the Bay in what could be one of the lowest scoring series ever between those two teams.
Generally, the schedule for the remainder of May is moderately tough with some nasty Eastern teams later in the month. If SF finishes May with a bulge of two or three games over .500 i will not be disappointed or particularly surprised. June should be different. Looking at the schedule, Giants should come into tune in June. In July the Panda is due to return. By then Belt should have had his second coming.
In a wrap, then, we are looking at an offense that will not struggle as much and as the returnees get accustomed to the grind; the bats may begin to balance the pitching. That happens and we could be looking at another championship run.
okay, I am wondering why they just don’t cut Barry and be done with it. The Raiders did it with Russell. What is the difference. I mean seriously, the Giants know what they have in Zito. Vogelsong appears to be very happy to be here and is trying to show he belongs. Barry on the other hand appears to just go through the paces.
Something tells me you guys don’t appreciate Zito……..sniff!
It’s a little early to be crowning Vogelsong- he just beat a team that historically can’t hit anybody on the road. Hope he’s for real but I’m not sold quite yet..
Quite true, but Zito is a known quantity. I guess the question is how long do you stay with Vogelsong. Bochy appears to give the vets a lot of rope during the regular season.
Carl Steward on Baggarly’s blog does a good job breaking down the Rockies, BTW.They have like 2 1/2 guys to worry about..
Mike, do you have a link to that Steward post?
no, I said that I think you’d get about the same from Voggy as you would from Zito, over the course of the year. With one difference: Voggy’s good vibrations, Zito is shit-negative vibrations……
As I’m sure you’re well aware of, “Let it Ride” was based on the Jay Cronley book, “Good Vibes.”
Can neither confirm nor deny they he also penned NYT Bestseller, “Shit Negative Vibrations.” The Barry Zito Story.
shit-negative vibrations, the anti-Beach Boy
Maybe Vogelsong can be the Aaron Small of 2005:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/smallaa01.shtml
Good one, Loo.
Good vibes come and go with performance. One day they are the walking off to a standing ovation, a fews weeks later they are on a plane to join Pittsburgh’s AAA team.
Isn’t the story for a #5 starter. you get what you get and don’t throw a fit??
Kind of like the 49ers having a #5 starter as a QB for the last six years.
Why are folks even commenting on DeRosa’s return? I know the Giants are hoping against hope, but seriously, what are they going to get? 14 ABs, a couple late scratches, and another DL stint. They should just name him assistant bench coach and be done with it.
No, Kevin. It’s Ya git what’cha git, and ya don’t throw a fit . . .
Speaking of Vogie, did he come out of the game yesterday due to injury? The quick highlight I saw showed him hurt something after swinging at a pitch, give up a hit in the top of the inning, and then leave the game.
Bochy simply wanted Lopez facing Giambi with 2 runners on.
Giants were dis-respected by a Denver Post Columnist, Jim Armstrong . . .
http://www.denverpost.com/armstrong/ci_18023340
I just combined a bit of my message above and added a few choice words for Mr. Armstrong (my post is also on the link above):
“I didn’t know there was a bigger tool then Woody Paige, but you’re it Mr. Armstrong. You obviously don’t know baseball and moreover, you definitely don’t know the history of the Rockies. Before writing any more columns about them, how about prefacing each by saying the following;
The Rockies have a few more hurdles to overcome before they can even think about World Series Championships, much less even a division crown. Specifically, their historic road record since they came into the league against ALL the NL West teams sucks. For example, the Rockies had a 31-51 record on the road last year while, hitting .226 AVG.
Also, show a bit more respect for the Giants – they are the defending champions and treated the Rockies like the Religious Order of the Sisters of Mercy. As Kenneth M. said below, the Giants have been struggling offensively, but they have better starting pitching and a better bullpen, as well as the best closer in baseball, not named Mariano Rivera.
Oh, about that hitting . . . The G-Men will have Pablo Sandoval back in a month, and their phenom, Brandon Belt is tearing it up in Triple A as we speak, and will be back with the Giants soon.”
Heh heh. Had to join in on the fun over there, Blade.
ha ha ha
The Rockies aren’t hitting right now, everyone knows that. They won’t hit .237 for the yr. But every gm counts the same and we swept their asses this week. That’s all that matters today as we continue our quest to repeat as NL West champs.
Colorado had a VERY favorable bunch of April games, seeing Pittsburgh 2x, AZ, the Mets and the Cubs. They beat up on them pretty well. As their competition stiffens, so will they wilt . . .
Chuck I should have asked my kids they would have got it right for me. LOL
The Rockies are going to go one way or the other based on their starting pitching. if Ubaldo gets it together and Chacin stays *real deal*, De La Rosa is basically Dirrrrty Sanchez….they will hit and they’ll compete if they can pitch consistently through the year. If they can’t, they’ll finish well under .500……..
They’ll hit at home. They hit .226 on the road last year. On a “neutral” field the Giants are a far better hitting and picthing team. Away we were better offensively in every category. They’ll have to win about 55 games at home to have a chance..
Armstrong certainly has some “analytical challenges”. To whit:
“In the end, the National League West may prove to be so thoroughly mediocre that the Rockies can’t help but win the division.”
“If the Rockies were just at .250, they would have a five- or six- game lead in the division, maybe more.”
His fantasy seems to forget the G’s actual pitching power reality.
Bill2— I thought that was a funny line. What formula is he using to argue that hitting .250 would equate to a 5 or 6 game lead in the division? Is he aware that not all hits lead to runs and wins? Dude is an idiot. He deserves to write for some hick-town paper like they have in Denver…..
Milton Bradley DFA’ed … … again.
Shocking
Chuck, I didn’t see your post at first in the Denver paper . . . However, I see it now. Good job! Thinking if we get enough Giants fans posting at the Denver paper, we can have a bizarro world Splash there and discombobulate the Rockies fans . . . 😉
I didn’t want to be blatantly obvious about being a Giants fan, but the dud is a moron . . . . . . and it DOES look like he raided Woody Paige’s hamper for that shirt. Hyuk . . .
Shit, we COULD stage a coup d’etat and take the joint over . . .
With the paucity of Rockies fans posts, yeah, that would be easier than Reagan defeating Grenada.
Yeah, but we’re not made of the stuff that makes one a Splashlike troll. It would be fun for about a week and then we’d get bored.
Agree Ted
Speaking of newspapers….this is kinda cool- it’s a newspaper front page after the Giants won their first World Series….in 1905:
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030193/1905-10-14/ed-1/seq-1/
Tiptoe (7-1) won the 3rd race Closing Day at Belmont in 1905. They listed the closing odds to place and show as well. As Johnny Carson used to say, “I did not know that.”
Ah, should have known you would key in on that article. (grin)
Time of game – 1:30.
Zito’s lucky if he completes three full in 1:30. It’s even more enjoyable bashing him when he’s on the DL. It’s like getting two punches in for the price of one.
To the throat, that is . . .
Urban claims to have called the WS before the season started, but virtually all the local writers were giving them no chance. And they’re worse than the Spash doomers- they think we don’t remember and don’t care even if we do. Eating crow is an alien concept to a sportwriter. Hence Ratto’s position- “who knew?”
I wonder if the sportswriters of yore were trashing the 1906 Giants . . .
Unrelated to baseball – Osama Bin Laden might be alive today if he had lived here . . .
http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Home-sweet-safe-house/ss/events/wl/050911safehouse
2 things.
1. The house was built by Polish archtects.
2. There’s no front door.
No front door? Like I said Chuck, Osama would have loved it there.
Ha.
Damn Mets can’t beat the Rox.
Damn. Mets can’t beat the Mudville Hens!
Stranger than fiction – The surging Pirates moved above .500 in mid-May for the first time in seven years.
Quite noteworthy when you consider their three young studs, McCutchen (.228BA), Tabata (.212BA), and Alvarez (.212BA) haven’t played to their potential . . . yet.
Can’t wait to meet them in the NLCS!!!!
If Torres and DeRosa are back tomorrow as expected, what do *you* do? Who goes down is easy now: Ford and Rohlinger.
I think you play Andres in center, platoon Ross and Nate in right, Rowand plays left, Pat comes off the bench. Uh, for now…
As far as Miggy, I just don’t see then bailing yet. He goes back to SS but on a semi-regular basis. Font spells him and Fruckie, DeRosa gets most of the third base starts. I think they’ll give Tejada until Panda gets back…
There are so many possibilities.
Provided DeRosa lasts more than a week.