Taming the Dirrrrrrty Snakes
So I really nailed that Pablo prediction, didn’t I? He was fabulous. He doesn’t look like he’s put on any weight at all. And that 10 pitch at bat was incredibly welcomed. In fact, I was surprised at how patient the entire team was. Of course, Nate didn’t get it going till his hit in the 7th inning but that’s nothing out of the ordinary. Pablo hit the ground running and the team played inspired by his return. It’s nice that the offense finally got some good news for once….
I was unimpressed with the AZ starting pitcher that Murph and Mac were drooling over. He throws WAY too many change ups and made it easy for our guys to drop high pitch count at bats on him……
And I don’t think Cain pitched as badly as everyone is saying. He had that one dumb pitch to Montero but otherwise I thought he threw the ball really well……
The Flap Fantasy Baseball League Standings
(Crazy Diamonds continues their charge while Dirt Bags tries to locate inner peace and ultimate knowledge….)
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
Jeff Passan has an interesting take on the upcoming free agent class . . . He consulted with a player’s agent to get his estimate on what Fielder, Bell, Reyes, Rollins, Sabathia (opt out year), Beltran, Papelbon, Pujols, etc., will get this year. Bottom line? Similar to the Pandora IPO that occurred today (intraday high of $26 a share with IPO opening of $16 per share), there are an unlimited number of idiot lemmings (read owners) willing to jump off a cliff to overpay to sign one of these free agents. Like the Pandora investors – who will discover that after market trading will make their shares worth a fraction of what they purchased for them – owners for the most part will have buyers remorse in the year(s) following a signing of one of these free agents (See Crawford, Bay, Zito, etc., etc.).
Article is located at . . . http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=jp-passan_10_degrees_prince_fielder_free_agent_spending_061411
Pablo’s D was cool, too. Quick, good hands, accurate arm. He has stayed sharp. And light.
As to Nate, he didn’t get anything going until the SP came out. The second-rate stuff fooled him. (I’m still waiting for my Cult of Nate membership card to arrive in the mail; until then, he’s a dunce far as I’m concerned.)
Must he stand in a corner?
No pain is great news. I thought he did look heavier but nothing to be alarmed about.
Heavy thoughts!
Panda looked like he may even have lost some weight…..we kill in AZ. One bad pitch from Matty, he could have easily kept them to two runs….
steven drew AB is the worst part of the cult of the pitch count mentality among today’s hitters, imo. He’s hitting clean up, with the game on the line, and taking a pitch with two strikes? WTF? I don’t understand not taking a whack at a hittable pitch, esp a fastball, at any point in the count, unless it’s 3-0, or you are a lead off guy. What do most guys hit with 2 strikes? And why give the ump a chance to send you to the dugout ?
In one of his more lucid moments, Joe Morgan said old school hitters would ask you if you took a first pitch fastball, “What are you waiting for, the breaking ball?”
Ferretball…….what is it? Where is it? How can it be?
Nipper, don’t you have empty cans to stack?
hitless relief from the pen last night, in two and a third. How many times have they shut the door and silenced the bats on the other team in late innings to allow SF to either hold a lead or come back from behind to win a game?
Please, don’t trade any of them, including casilla or mota.
FYI, not such good times for another local C, either. Kurt Suzuki is 14 for his last 76, and has thrown out only 4 of last 34 steal attempts.
Ohmm.
Masterful work by the pen and their puppetmaster.And as noted last night, the Giants are actually scoring well on the road. I was wrong, they’re tied for third most runs in the league on the road. With their pitching at home the best in the NL, that’s not a bad combo.
“I was unimpressed with the AZ starting pitcher that Murph and Mac were drooling over” Murpy and Mac’s take is less impressive than the guy’s numbers going in. Nobody else had hit him. Flavor is criticizing Collmenter more than praising our guys.
And, BTW, what’s the deal with Murph and Mac? Why would anyone give a fuck about their opinions? They have no sports cred whatsoever. It might as well be Nip and Doomin’ Denny…why listen?
Feh. Shows what you know, twin. I happen to have it under written authority that Brian Murphy was on his high school baseball team. So stick that in your pipe and smoke it.
“Nip & DD from noon to three right here on KNBR 680. THE Sports Leader.”
Sounds about right!
I bet Twin would listen. And his dog too. Arf!
” . . . Live from the back of Nip’s van down by the river . . .”
Only fifteen entries to read over at this time of the day. Had the Giants lost yesterday evening there probably would have been somewhere in the neighborhood of 35-50 comments. Guess there’s no noose like bad news.
Carping and complaining is the life blood of the sports blog.
And then there’s you, Nippy.
Try the Splash . . . .
After his daily reading of the Splash, Chuck lets out a loud “bleep!” Such a relief!
If they had lost, the blogosphere would have erupted over the apparent theory that Bochy left Cain in too long.
Bochy usually sides with the starter, given the situation. I was getting antsy when Moreno was up, but thought the bigger problem was trying to pitch him inside. You miss away, and it’s a ball. You miss inside, boom boom, see ya later.
Hard to disagree with the results, though.
Murph only mention that he coaches 13 and 14 year olds twice this morning. He’s improving…….
Brian Murphy hasn’t responded to my email yet. Did you hear back from him again?
no
It was probably the “dipshit” part that he’s still pondering
You know, if I were in his spot, I think I’d hit “reply” on the little league dad’s email and say, hey, I was out of line responding to that original email the way I did. The game you described was a hearbreaker for us, but in the end your kid’s team deserved to win. I wish them success representing the league in the Tournament of Champions.
But then again, I’m not a drive-time radio hack obligated to kiss Ralph Barbieri’s butt every day. I’m just a little league dad, fully authorized to umpire any regular season 13-14 year old game that piques my interest. . . .
Sounds like one of the many coaches on the Splash. Like Snarkkles, they’re all smarter than Bonehead and figure the Giants win despite Botchy’s bungling.
Somehow the Giants hitters have to keep it going tonight, if for no other reason than Bumgarner no way deserves his current W-L record. A win for the Undertaker tonight and his record would look nasty-nasty but not quite utterly obscene. On the other hand his ERA, WHIP and BB-K ratio are excellent and can be considered utterly superb for so young a starting pitcher. Arizona pitches a loogy, but one who has been eminently hittable. Curious to discover how Bochy sets his L.U. for this confrontation.
Bochy stated Bill Hall (2B) and Miggy (SS) would be starting, that much we know
Flav: You come up with some really good cover art for the blog. Today’s Kung Fu Panda illustration is yet another winner. Thanx for all the efforts.
thanks
Starting pitchers aren’t “loogys” (Lefty One-Out Guy)..
thanks, I never knew what the fuck that meant. Nice to get in the loop 2 years after you guys started using the word
Exciting game last night. I’m starting to believe the D-Backs just might be pretty good.
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K&K called a really good game as usual, but I was surprised when Kuip missed the call on Ross scoring while the rundown was going on between first and second. Kuip is so….smooth, as Kruk calls him, that it was actually surprising to see him blow a call.
And what the heck were the D-Backs doing on that play? They turned into a highschool team on that play. Someone has to be aware of the runner at third on that play.
It looked like they were being coached by Brian Murphy
(really beating this one to death)
I catch a little bit of Murph and Mac accidentally. I check in on the morning drive once in a while to see if they’re interviewing anyone I’m interested in. Kruk and Kuip are sometimes more candid in their Murph and Mac interviews than they would be on the game broadcasts. And Miller, too.
But other than the interviews, the Murph and Mac show is pretty lame.
Drive time radio is by and for idiots.
Slow day here at work with the school year winding down. Had my TA help me put together some quality start stats for the Giants rotation. I know this stat gets a lot of flack, but it’s one my favorites. Here are the unofficial QS ratios we came up with for SFG:
Tim 8/14
Johnny 7/14
Cain 10/14
Bum 9/13 (9 quality starts in a row after starting the season oh for 4!!!)
Vogey 6/9
I doubt that there’s ever been an all-star game manager without a position player from his own team on the roster. I bet Bochy takes Sandoval with him along with BW, Romo, and either Cain, Vogelsong or possibly both. If Romo really flounders in the next few weeks, Lopez or Ramirez could go in his place. If Tim turns it back around he could go, too. Torre used to take 8 Yankees.
Here are the Gag Me Starts ( more than 3 Earned runs )
Timmy 4/14
Dirty 1/14
Cain 4/14
MadBum 2/13
Vogelsong 1/9
Good stuff Twin. Is there an easy way to pull up quality start info? We had to go through every guys game log and count them up manually. I was thinking at the time that you probably know a place to access this info right away.
That’s a little misleading seeing as Dirrty usually doesn’t last as long as the other starters.
A LITTLE . . .
T, M, and V average 6.2 innings per start
Bummie = 6
Drrrty 5.2 innings
Cut it anyway you like. Sanbchez, Cain, Bumgarner,Lincecum have been about equal in effectiveness.This head case crap needs to be retired.
You said it, not me. All I’m saying is Drrrty rarely gets to the 7th or beyond.
Whatever. He and Wilson like dancing on the edge I guess.
What I said was accurate, not misleading.
San, funny about the TA tasking on quality starts. I have been wonering lately about opposing team stats after they face The Giants. Often clubs come into an SF series hot and leave stone cold due to SF superior pitching. Can you get your TA on that?
Zum, I got the sense from Kuip that he just off last night and not as into the game as he always is. I’m sure he’ll rebound from it. .
Yeah- a broadcaster gets tired or ill, too, so who knows. I’m a big Kuiper fan.
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I know a lot of folks here don’t like Harrelson that does the White Sox games. I like him. On the baseball TV package, Harrelson would be in my top 5.
Okay, more fun stats. Games and earned runs:
Vogelsong 11/12
Bumgarner 13/33
Cain 14/37
Lincecum 14/35
Sanchez 14/31
I am a big Kruk and Kuip fan too. I can appreciate them after all the mlb.com coverage I have to endure. I don’t like K/K nearly as much when the team is losing as they are impossible to listen to during a bad season as they make excuse after excuse for the players. But they do a good job of running a game and most of Kruk’s comments are dead-on regarding pitching mechanics…
Well, of course, Kruk is awesome — goes without saying. His baseball nickname was, you know … “The Polish Prince”!
Sports talk radio, just like the Splash, the hosts have to say stupid shit so people will call in an give there take. I listen to The Herd on ESPN in the morning, Colin says some funny stuff sometimes.
That dude is a clown sometimes. He doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about, a bit more sedate version of Skip Bayless, just saying stuff to make some noise. The other day he said in politico speak, red states were liberal and blue states were conservative. His producer tried to correct him, but he wasn’t buying it. Huh? Is he looking at the old cold war maps of the USSR and “Red” China? Doofus…
Extra snarky!
I watched the Arizona feed last night. I thought the play by play guy was solid and Grace didn’t bug me nearly as much as when he did the Fox game the other day. He made a big deal out of how nice a play that was when Cain got that bunt down with 2 strikes and pointed out a couple of times when Cain put together a great sequence of pitches to blow guys away—one of them was Upton.
Trevor Bauer was in the stands and they sent some guy to do an interview with him during the game that was surprisingly very well done. There’s a teacher here who has worked some with the UCLA baseball program and has long been telling me what a stud Bauer is. Flav has also touted him as a future stud as well. I was very impressed with the way he came across last night and they showed some highlights of him throwing pitches with Mike Scott/whiffle ball type movement.
Anyone remember that game when Mike Scott no-hit us? I’ve never seen a ball move like his was moving that day. Of course it came out later that he was sanding or greasing the ball or something like that during his incredible run.
yeah and he was one of those pitchers who as the game wore on the Strike zone expanded!! hitters needed a 10′ bat!!
Greg Maddux was the beneficiary of a vastly expanded zone as well. 8″ low and outside was a strike a looooooootof times.
Yeah, I think it was their division clincher in ’86, back when Houston was in the NL West. Still, a great turnaround season for SF…
I also noticed that Grace seems to have toned it down this season, Dawg. It’s a blessing. I couldn’t stand him in prior years.
Whether he’s good or bad in other ways, a giuy who sounds like a fucking moron has no business on the air.
Rowand CF, Tejada SS, Sandoval 3B, Ross RF, Huff 1B, Burrell LF, Hall 2B, Whiteside C, Bumgarner P
vs. Joe Saunders:
Miguel Tejada: .500 12AB 2HR 4RBI
Aubrey Huff: .444 18AB 0HR 0HR
Pat Burrell: .333 3AB 0HR 0RBI
Bill Hall: .250 4AB 1HR 2RBI
We might get a few hits tonight.
I’m having nurse remove sharp objects from Doomin’ Denny’s room..
If I told ya that I actually like tonight’s lineup, would you think;
A) I’m full of shit
B) I’m really full of shit
C) The nurse showed up too late
It would tell me that you are an imposter.
Rowand leads the NL with a .380 average against lefties. Saunders is a lefty. That Bochy is one smart cookie.
Where the fuck is my nurse?
You really are an imposter. The real DD paid no attention to facts.
Noticed where something like four teams have DFAed catchers in the last few days. Spose the Giants front office is looking over the scrap-heap with a fine-tooth comb. Sometime over the next six weeks a move will be made. Is there a possibility of a Flap contest as to who ultimately joins the Champs?
Not a huge surprise that Rowand is hitting lefties well but LEADING the NL? Sample size is probably low. Anyway, as long as he isn’t facing a righty who throws him sliders I don’t have the biggest problem with letting him get a spot start here and there….
He’s 19 for 50 with 7 doubles, 1 HR, 3 RBI, .987 OPS
If a guy is on the roster, he’ll play. That’s how it’s supposed to work. Bochy’s handling of the roster is a big reason they’re the champs.
Was that the Giants lineup for tonite or a list of the Chase Field grounds crew?…
Some of that grounds crew looks like they can hit a little.
Due up; Hall, Whiteside and Bumgarner. At least it’s setup right if the first two get HBP.
Huffie returns to his hot-on-the-road ways
He hit it for Axl…
Must be frustrating for a much put-upon pitcher like Bumgarner to strike a guy out and then have him reach on a passed ball.
Imagine how Hugh Casey felt…
Bill Hall is now a bona fide Giant. Swings at a crap third strike with a man at third and less than two outs. Welcome!….
He’s fidgety as a coke addict up there. Looks out of shape compared to a few years ago. Not optimistic.
Leave it to Eli. I was wanting to p.h. for him at that juncture. Might have bruised his ego, though. Oh well, Tejada did the same damned thing in the first. But at least Hall was feeling his oats, giving the Giants the lead again.
Well, he did drive in a run. And then promptly forget to slide into 2nd . . .
I’m listening to the radio – just how ‘illegal’ was Hall’s trip into second?
Do you have the game on?
Silly Loo…never change! 😀
Hall looked like he was greeting a long-lost friend.
LaBumbos would love to have Bumgarner. He was quite the Artful dodger getting outta the sixth. K. K.
Nate & Bumgarner never smile.
Gamer with the knock. Then picked off.
Nets out to the usual. Your $12M at work….
Bumgarner has brown teeth, Nate has Cro-Magnon teeth.
Hahahaha! Good one, Twinnie! (Ewww, you are joking, right?)
That older chick in that Subaru commercial is..is..I gotta go
I think the contracts of Zito & Rowand are at the point where they could be jettisoned for nothing this coming offseason. Why are trades for matching bad contracts so rare? There’s plenty of ’em out there…
Dead meat!!!
Woooooffffff. Gunned down at the plate. Saved by the D. once again. Right about now a sweet little insurance policy would help me relax.
Fucking Sabean and his vet-love. What was he thinking, signing Rowand and Tejada? They’re done. They can barely move, hardly throw. Damn those vets.
Good play for the Gamer. Yeah, very well worth the $60M contract….
Good thing he was there, playing the unfamiliar territory of the LF corner, instead of Burrell. He may not have earned $60M with that great play, but he sure as hell earned some respect, asshole.
Did he lose respect getting picked off at first?….
Christ. And now Hall, with the warning track power. Damn.
Hail to the chief!!!
First Burrell, now Eli. Who needs Reyes!
You guys owe me. I just called Hall’s double, and Whitey’s HR–I mean it was long enough!
And now, as Soph would say, “my Whitey”..
Anybody else understand Kruk when he says “surfin the Wedge down in Laguna?” he’s talking body surfing, by the jetty.
http://tinyurl.com/3g245o8
Thot he was reminiscing about an old girlfriend…
Eli might have to change his name to Oates. He sure made a haul with that three-bagger. Oh, and the insurance policy IS nice.
Not sure I’d want a closer named Putz — he pitched like one.
Hail to the Chief!…
Agee would’ve had it…
POTG: Bum, he finally gets some runs.
POTG2: The rest of the grounds crew — you get 5 runs, that’s an accomplishment for this squad.
POGT3: As usual, the Pen….
They came into this game tied for 3rd in runs scoted .on the road. It’s not that unsual.
Bum can’t get POTG going 6 anymore than Dirty can. It’s Rowand for the defensive play alone…Second to Hall. Bum 3..
Yes, still some Torture 2011, but Miller put it all in perspective: ‘Giants have taken two in a row from the red-hot D-Backs in their home park.’
Had someone been told that the starting lineup would get TWO triples tonight and been asked the identities of the guys who hit them, what percentage of Giants fans would have named Burrell and Whiteside? A water buffalo and a squatter. Amazing. Another odd thing: Do you suppose that nobody has ever explained it to Wilson that in order to get a save the tying run has to be at the on-deck circle? He seems to feel the guy must be at the plate. Can you imagine how tantalizing it must be for the players ~and fans~ for the other team to see those ducks on the pond and then it all goes down the Big Swirly. Sooner or later the tightrope act will result in a tumble, but in the meantime the Drama Queen must be racking up some kinda record for most runners stranded in the 9th by any closer in MLB history. Maybe he has a deal going with one of the pharmaceutical companies which produces antacid pills ~ or with a huge national booze distributor.
Woo-Hoo!!!
what she said
“Do you suppose that nobody has ever explained it to Wilson that in order to get a save the tying run has to be at the on-deck circle” Not true. With a 3 run lead it’s a save if he finishes the game and does not surrender the lead.
Pay attention, to get a save:
1.He is the finishing pitcher in a game won by his team;
2.He is not the winning pitcher;
3.He is credited with at least ⅓ of an inning pitched; and
4.He satisfies *one* of the following conditions:
1.He enters the game with a lead of no more than three runs and pitches for at least one inning
2.He enters the game, regardless of the count, with the potential tying run either on base, at bat or on deck
3.He pitches for at least three innings
Your scenario is ONE of the requisites. It doesn’t apply her
I stand corrected. How do you remember all this? Or do you cheat and keep a rule book by your puter? Drama Queen or not, Wilson became the first closer to reach the 20 save level in MLB. Giants have the team high at 23. Team pitching also leads in fewest hits allowed and in strikeouts. ERA is still only 4th after Atlanta, Philly and Dago.
Kudos also once more to Bochy for a great mix and match lineup selection and bullpen utilization. With only Wilson amongst the league leaders in anything and their B.A. leader out for the season (unless Panda currently has sufficient ABs to qualify) the Giants now have the fourth best record in MLB with half the team already having been on the D.L. Their defense has gone all tightwad while the BP keeps shining like gold and their starters pitch well enough for long enough to not overwork the pen. No wonder those national commentators and prognosticators are so frustrated with this team. How the hell can they explain their success to the average 13 Y.O. mindset?
I know everything. Truth.
Snarkk’s posts:
The Giants suck, they suck, they suck. Yay, the Giants won!
Wow, it took you long enough to figure that out….
As I said above, in response to snarkk’s comment about Rowand not earning his $60M with one good play, he did earn some respect, asshole.
Exceptional play by Rowand, excellent play by Tejada. Whiteside must’ve been thinking, holy shit, it’s perfect, we’ve got the fucker nailed, it’s just the way it’s supposed to be.
Always in such a bad mood, tut tut. It was a good play.
He got credit for that. Next…