Beating the Rockies Fairly Handily
The Rockies aren’t very good. When I watch them hit on the road it’s just a revolving door of underwhelming hitter after underwhelming hitter. And they’ve got the exact same record this year on the road as they do at home so I think they are missing a piece or two, intangible or otherwise……
I’ve made no attempt to hide my support for Burriss. He’s gets shit for his defense but he’s playing out of position every single game he starts. I think if he got some consistent time at 3rd or SS he could field adequately enough to provide good value to the team–I just love him near the top of our order. Obviously the Panda is coming back soon and Crawford has SS until he gives it up but line ups have a way of working themselves out. I think Burriss could still be a big piece of the puzzle for us this year…….
How long does the Eli Whiteside Death March go on for? Sabean has got to be on the phones, right? I still think Cervelli would be a great pick up. Give the Yankees one of our lower level left handed prospects (Hinshaw and something else?) and they’d probably do it. He doesn’t give you any power but he can hit better than Whiteside if given consistent at bats. We just can’t keep running this stiff out there………
The Brandon Crawford Story is really getting interesting. When they showed a replay of his mom catching a foul ball, something I’ve failed to do in probably 200+ attended Giants games, I decided that this guy has got *it* and could vie with Voggy for “Feel Good Story of the Year”…….
Not sure if we get this game in today. As I type this I’m looking out the window at a grey December morning. It’s Haiku weather…….
The Flap Fantasy Baseball Standings
(Berra’s Bombers inches ever closer to the unthinkable: 13th place)…….
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
“In no way do I condone the threats to Cousins”–Buster.
He really went out on a limb with that one, didn’t he? And the fact that he uses the statement to AGAIN highlight that he won’t even talk to the guy really just makes him look like a jerk. I have no idea how this has happened, but between Sabean and Buster, Cousins is now starting to look like a sympathetic figure…..Absurd……
I know you’re pissed but sorry…this made me laugh. I guess because it *is* absurd
OK, I just went to the splash (shudder) to read buster’s statement. It is good to hear from the horses mouth where he is coming from. Much ado about nothing, the guy wants to heal. It happened it sucks let’s move on. And please don’t give death threats to another ball player.
It seems obvious to me that there WAS an element of headhunting in that play to the detriment of trying to score. Legal, poorly thought out where if some rule had been in place he would have focused more on scoring and most likely changing the outcome.
And I vote for protection rules, maybe like they have in Rugby where guys after the game are bloodied and bruised with an ear torn off, but it is done with all good sportsmanship.
What did Buster say that was out of line? The part they read on Fox sounded fine to me.
Pisses me off that Bench are Grace are both popping off like Buster sat on the plate Scioscia-style. Obviously neither one of them has taken the time to take a good look at the play.
Douchebags.
He never should have said there was no need to talk to Cousins. Everybody in the fucking english speaking world knows Cousins has been trying to talk to him.Buster was stupid.
Let me translate. This is how Posey’s statement reads to the non-SF world:
” I don’t want to talk to the fuckwad”
Buster got big time bad advice on his statement. He could simply have said: “I’ll talk to Scott when the healing of my leg is a little further along and I’m better able to speak with him. In the meanwhile, I thank him for his sincerity and well wishes for my recovery”. Or, add whatever bullshit you want. It’s a damn press release. It doesn’t mean he would necessarily ever meet or talk with him. This will die down, and Buster could call him or not call him later, nobody will care by then. But, with this, he and the Giants come off looking like arrogant prigs yet again….
You guys need to get a grip on this thing about changing the collision rules. It won’t happen. Torre said he’ll listen to suggestions, but doesn’t think anything needs changing — translation — no way in hell anything changes. The Maier kid’s interference giving the Yankees that home run over the Orioles in the playoffs happened in 1996. The NFL instituted the current system of instant replay review in 1999. So, it took well over a decade after the Maier incident — a notorious umpire screw up in the playoffs — for MLB to institute the most basic of replay review — home runs. And they crowed about it like the moon landing. The MLB office is full of mossbacks and Bud cronies, the Posey injury won’t change anything…
Snarkk, astute observation as usual. People who think there’s gonna be a rule change at the plate are the same jocks who just claimed foul to the stewards that the other horse “drifted in” at the finish.
“After reviewing the tape, the stewards rule there will be NO Whitey change.”
“Pretty obvious that MLB will do nothing.”
I don’t see where anyone thinks they will, just that they should.
Dawg– The main problem I had with the Buster statement was that he was still refusing to field a call from the guy. Why can’t he take a phone call from the dude? It’s not like he’s busy, he’s got the time. Tell him to go fuck himself, say whatever you want. But this “silent treatment” has done nothing but make Cousins look like a sympathetic figure…..
and a rule change would get done by the owners over the Winter, the same way they always handle it. I don’t see Torre making any sweeping decision one way or the other. He doesn’t make and break rules as the Executive VP of Baseball Operations…….
Didn’t Buster’s statement say that he (understandably) was not in the mood to talk to him the night of the collision and that he wasn’t aware of any other attempts Cousins has made to call him?
If that isn’t accurate and he is continually ducking calls from the guy, I agree that is lame.
Buster’s statement says “I have not been back with the team since that night, so I haven’t even been aware of any other messages he’s left for me.” First, what century are we in — does Baer or the PR chief need to contact Buster about the left messages by Pony Express? Second, since he mentions the “other messages” in the press release, he must be aware of them NOW (but, ignoring them anyway and won’t talk with him NOW). Totally lame nonsense. BF is right — just call the guy and tell him to fuck off or sing Kumbaya or whatever, then claim you both had a lovely conversation and move on…
BF was agreeing with my posts on this.
He said “We all need to move on, so it isn’t necessary to have a conversation with him at this point.”
…”at this point” sounds like Nixonian doublespeak from Ron Ziegler. The NBC sportsblog is already questioning why if Buster can issue this statement, why doesn’t he just call the dude back and end it all. The more the Giants beat this, the more they get beat up…
Just for shits and giggles, do we have a catcher NOT named Whiteside or Stewart behind the dish come the Fourth of July? I hope Sabean proves me wrong, but I see a shitload of Dustin Eli Whiteside sitting behind our plate. Bon Appétit.
Part o’ the prob may lie with ill-advised statements by the likes of Posey and Sabean, but the bigger problem is that the press just won’t let this go. Now they got Affeldt releasing his profound opinion on the matter, too? This matters — really? Hey, let’s get a statement from Henry Sosa down in AA ball, too! Maybe a couple o’ ball dudes in Kansas City and Selig’s next door neighbor, while we’re at it. The press really needs to STFU about it.
No, the Giants need to STFU about it. If they keep talking, the media will publish it. At least management stopped Panda from tweeting the internal medical reports. Now, looks like Affeldt is next in line to get rushed under the cone of silence…
No, the press needs to quit asking about it. The press asked for Affeldt’s take on it. And Johnny Bench. And… etc… “I asked Affeldt for his take on the Buster Posey fallout. Here’s what he said…” — John Shea
Memo to Shea, this quit being “newsworthy” oh so 5 minutes ago. Drop it.
Who’s Shea gonna ask next — how ’bout Frandsen?
DoubleBill, you know that players with no skin in the game can always say: “No comment”. Then go off the record, and verballly destroy Cousins as much as they want…
Who could imagine you being wrong after your 1-6 road trip call ?
That was for Doomin’ Denny.
Hey, I wish all you guys were here. I just hit the late PK 4 at Hollywood. It would be my distinct honor and pleasure to buy all you guys dinner. Too late, they’re starting the post parade at Los Alimtos. I Tried.
“Who loves ya, baby?”
-TS
No problem that we’re not there to celebrate, a Western Union money order will due just fine…
nice job, Dennis. What’d it pay?
The press is doing their job. Unfortunately, the Giants released all the dumb shit conmments first. They should let Jeremy speak for all of them.
Too bad this year until lately his speechifying has been way better than his pitchifying…
Maybe a spiritual medium can conjure the ghost of Ty Cobb — I’m sure he, of all people, would surely have an opinion on the matter. 🙂
Most would be encouraged by his recent outings… and say so. But that would’nt be snarkkifying..
It’s “great outing” vs. “about time”…
I think Johnny Bench’s statement today seemed to be channeling Cobb a little bit — certainly didn’t give Buster much luv….
Well, you got Rose, he of the
“I’d blow up Mommy”. Close enough?
What happens to Bench if this guy decides to blow him up? He’s fucking dead.
Stargell?
I thought Buster’s statement was OK. I didn’t see a problem with it. It was his way of saying: let’s all move on from this.
Refusing to talk to Cousins is hardly going to viewed as moving on. Giants have lost the PR battle, so much so that the idiot Morisson is being viewed favorably.
The problem Cousins will always have PR-wise, is the video-clip. It was a vicious hit, and everyone can see what he did.
As for Posey’s quote- he just said there’s no need for them to talk. He doesn’t want some kind of media-contrived “kumbaya” moment. It would just be fake anyway. Cousins doesn’t think he did a darned thing wrong, and Posey’s the guy taking pain-killer medication, and walking on crutches for the next several months.
In fact, I can’t even imagine how that conversation would go.
Cousins: “I’m sorry I smashed into you.”
Posey: “That’s alright.”
Cousins: “I was just trying to knock the ball loose.”
Posey: “I said it’s alright.”
Cousins: “I- uh…….”
Awkward silence.
I think Buster’s pissed off, and Cousins is guilt ridden. Makes perfect sense. At this point, Buster’s complete rehab is anything but certain. A bench warming stiff took out the rookie of the year, the clean up hitter for the world champion Giants. The reason the story won’t die is that deathless; it’s mythic. In the end, it’s likely Cousins will be known for his hit, and only that hit, on Posey, the way Jack Hamilton is known for one pitch, and only one pitch. If Buster returns at full strength and goes on to have the kind of career we know he should have, the two men will probably develop a PR friendship, with Cousins. That’s the best possible outcome. I really don’t want to dwell too much on the other possible outcomes.
fucking typos
The weird thing is- that video clip looks more violent the more times I see it. MLB has to figure something out. A play like that can’t be a “normal” part of the sport. As many have noted- baseball players are bigger and stronger and faster nowadays. Watch video clips of games from the ’80s, and watch those stick-figures playing baseball.
You couldn’t have a better chance to get some kind of rules put in place. The big injury to Posey; and Joe Torre, a former catcher is in a administrative position with MLB to look at this kind of thing.
Joe Torre is a side issue here. People like to talk about him as some sort of judge because everyone knows his name and he’s got a job with MLB. The bottom line is that all (?) rule changes happen over the Winter and the owners vote on them. And THEIR bottom line will be that they can’t have dumb fuck 25th men taking out star players–that kind of shit hits them at the box office and they won’t stand for that. They could give 2 fucks about the player…….
At their meeting, someone should just show the clip, and say: “THAT can’t be part of the game. How do we stop that from happening?”
Johnny Bench, addled from years of taking hits to the head, will say, “Tell Posey to get the fuck out of the way if he doesn’t have the ball in his mitt and his feet under him.”
Fuck Bench, it’s just another opportunity for some old timer completely out of touch with the difference between 1970 and 2011, to sound off on his soap box of “When I played the game, blah blah blah”. Here’s a tip for Bench and Eck and all the others: the world has changed. Blacks used to not be allowed to play baseball (thank you Branch Rickey), women used to not be able to vote, DUI laws used to be different, smoking used to be an acceptable past time, etc…. Adjustments are made in society at all levels on an ongoing basis to keep up with doing what is right and fixing what is wrong………
Ah, Xoot, I didn’t know the Hamilton reference. I didn’t know he was the pitcher that hit Conigliaro. Wikipedia says that Hamilton now lives in Branson, Missouri. Branson? Yikes! Says he has a restaurant there.
I agree, any sane person should be able to see that you shouldn’t be allowed to turn yourself into a human missile and launch into a defenseless human being. But it will always be all about the money and that’s why I think they make a change. It’s been pointed out before, football has made many rule changes in the recent years to protect the health of these very valuable assets. It’s idiotic for baseball to not do the same…….
My point, Z, is that nationally Buster will be a viewed as a petulant child. I have no problem if he doesn’t want to talk to the fuckwad, the problem is that it’s now Posey playing the fuckwad. He shoud have gritted his teeth, talked to him, and issued a joint statement…. then hope he gets the chance to knock the shit into the 5th row someday..
They have to replace Buster’s production. It shouldn’t be all that difficult.
It’s not as if he was on his way to 35/120.
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There are many Met fans who blame the Cain beaning for David Wright’s fall-off. Cain and Wright reconciled soon after in person.
Cain had no intent to hit Wright. He made a mistake, and Wright couldn’t get out of the way. No rule problem, no malice, no guilt. Also, at the time, those two players were both well established stars — Wright more than Cain, then, but still, pretty much equals, dealing with one of the constant dangers of the game. Not surprising they could talk.
As I’ve said before, 19th cenrury catchers had little protection and were commonly knocked unconcious from foul tips, collisions.. it was a sign of their bravery and manhood to finish the game after regaining conciousness. They paid the price with what we know now to be post concussion syndome, insanity, and more. It was part of the game
Man, that was crazy stuff in those days.
They’ll be looking for another catcher. I think they did the right thing, clubhouse-chemistry-wise, in giving Whitey his chance for a few weeks. Sabean is showing the players that he gave a Whitey a shot at it. Then, he’ll try to get someone.
And if anyone is thinking “Oh screw clubhouse chemistry” then they’re missing one of the factors that brought a championship in 2010.
I’m looking forward to seeing Gilaspie. Always had a good feeling about him.
—————-
DMD: Don’t ignore “Our Eli” (6-1 ML )in the 6th @ Belmont Sunday. He’s got a big shot to break his maiden in a non-descript NY Bred Stakes race.
Just read it was 1971 before wearing batting helmets was mandatory.
As for any change, it’s my understanding it would be up to this committee to change any rules on the field.
Playing Rules Committee:
Sandy Alderson, Chair
Brian Gorman
John Schuerholz
Bob Beban
John McHale, Jr.
Jimmie Lee Solomon
Rod Carew
Terry Ryan
Bill Stoneman
The ubiquitous Sandy Alderson. He’s everywhere.
Isn’t that what ubiquitous means?
as I understand it the owners have to ok it. But I don’t understand a lot of shit so I’m willing to go with this list……
Oh, so now you’re saying that I’m redundant. That I repeat myself. That I say the same thing over and over.
I remember when the earflap was revolutionary. Oddest batting helmet I ever saw was one especially made for Ellis Valentine to protect a broken jaw. It had a football type face mask attached to the left flap.
boring.
You’re right e. I forgot to mention that Ellis’ helmet also featured Christmas lights and a neon swastika.
Give us something better, then. We’re not putting on a show for you.
BF, I think that’s for business or off field related issues. This committee handles only ‘on the field’ stuff.
There are just too many red herrings. What Nate did, what Sabean said,…this should now be about one thing-crafting a rule to protect the catcher AND the runner from harm. It looks like it won’t happen so the best we can hope for is that more catchers are instructed not to block the plate and runners don’t want to become the next Cousins-with even more dire results…
I’ll tell you what’s not boring-bedtime with Mickey,Zeke, and tonight- a guest. See ya.
So you finally got that goldfish?
OK, in the last week or so we’ve seen Manny everywhere, from the OF to all around the IF. Anywhere he can stick?
Or he is Jerry Hairston Jr…..career back up utility guy with good speed. Hey, with 30 teams and every one of them needing at least one or two guys like that, he could be around a long time and pocket some nice change, esp if he can keep up the OB and steal some bases. What I saw he made a couple nice plays at 2b.
I hope Manny sticks somewhere with SFG. I really like the guy and he seems to be growing into that Hairston-type role.
Can he hang around being strictly a singles hitter? Think he’s got to drive the ball occasionally.
I think he can. I think he puts a little better swing on the ball than some people give him credit for and he’ll put a few in the gap if given enough AB’s.
Just saw cal whipped Alcorn St. to stay alive in the baseball playoffs….
Alcorn would be the alma mater of what famous GS Warrior?
Hint..his fans used to wear something distinctive to the games in his honor.
Mr. Mean himself
That was about the last time I dug the Warriors.
Run TMC, Manute, and Larry Smith . . .
Yep. They always ran a play for him, cross screen into a post up, first time down the floor. If he missed, you usually heard the PA Callaghan go, “Loose ball foul, on the warriors…number 13…”
Also the home of the late steve mcnair…saw him play college ball on espn there. alcorn color was dark blue and as the “braves” they had a gold helmet like seminoles. Man, what an arm, and he could run too. Sad ending.
I think Mr. Mean is still an assistant coach somewhere…such an imposing presence. Man, could they use someone like that now.
WiilieD—if we ever meet in person, we’re gonna have a great conversation about bay area hoops—preps, usf, warriors etc. Also, you’re gonna have to teach me a simple offense in case I get back into coaching at my school. We’ve got a nice group of 10th graders coming up the ranks.
I must be tired. I had to read your post twice before I realized it *didn’t* say:
“WilllieD–if we ever meet in prison…”
Time for bed. Goodnight, gentlemen. Question mark