A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball

There are an awful lot of Cabrera’s out there and this one is probably my least favorite. Forget his stats, they are underwhelming across the board. And besides his magical run with the Red Sox in 2004,  his post season stats are better left unspoken as well….

My question about this suspect pick up is rooted squarely in superstition. As many of you know, he and Edgar Renteria despise each other. When you read the verbal attacks it’s actually difficult to see who is telling the truth and who is lying–could be a mixture of both. But the fact is, our great World Series hero Edgar Renteria loathes this guy and that alone should be enough for the Karma Alarm to be going off loudly. You guys can google the Renteria/Cabrera feud, it’s long standing and easy to find on google……

I don’t care about what we gave up. Neal isn’t going to do anything at this level. But I DO care about acquiring a guy who makes Tejada, Crawford and Fontenot all look like better alternatives.

Bad trade. Dumb trade. And if Sabean was trying to rattle the cage of the post season God’s, he has done so……..

And if Sabean has one more deal left in him can it please be for a catcher? I can live with Torres the rest of the year in CF but we can’t go into the post season with “Stew-Side” behind the dish……

Well, that almost never happens. Our stud MVP bullpen went another 6 straight before finally giving in. Fontenot was abominable last night. Beltran is 1-9 since joining us. I enjoy seeing D-Train back in the league and surviving, if not dominating.

Vote time. Let’s get another POTVP in the books. Take a look to the widget to the right. Click on it. If you’ve mastered this 2-step direction you should be reading 6 *posts of the day*. One of them is more brilliant than the rest.

We have absolutely gotten inside the collective Philly dome. Can’t you just envision what last night’s food spread looked like? “It’s ok guys! We, uh, we got the first game! Yeah! We beat the hell out of ’em in Game 1! No problema! Uh, yeah, we beat Barry Zito…..long pause……And then we…..”

Reverted to form……..

What’s funny is that they might think this is psychological but as I noted before the first game, the Phillies are not exactly spring chickens anymore. Their hitters don’t inspire the same fear they once did. It’s nice to take 2 of 3 from them but the main thing I wanted to see was the character of the team and how it would hold up against the bombast of the Phillie fans, the glare of the east coast media and the overall aura of the team with the best record in the National League. Well, we started off with a Zito pearl and ended with our newest pick up doing his best Aubrey Huff 2011 impression. And yet we still took 2 of 3 from them in their yard……

The Beltran trade has meant everything. I’ve gone from envisioning this team losing in the first round of the playoffs to picking out who we are going to face in the World Series (Boston). Beltran is going to transform this offense all by himself. Besides stepping up and being the run producer we so sorely lack this year, he is going to make every hitter better by relieving the pressure each has felt to be THE GUY in this otherwise impotent line up…..

The only thing I question is Krukow’s claim on his show yesterday when he said “Beltran is a certain hall of famer.”  Huh? I don’t see how you look at Beltran’s career numbers and call him a *certain hall of famer*………

This trade is epic in the history of the SF era. Ellis Burks? Negative. Burks got a little better when he got to SF, at least that season. He was a bronze or a silver medal when he was acquired. Beltran is a gold medal. He was the main offensive player available on the current market. And Sabean went out and got him, sending Atlanta, Texas and Philly scurrying for whatever might be lurking in Room B. And he basically got him for free, only having to pay 2 million or so on the rest of the deal. I don’t sweat the cost for a second. Wheeler is a guy who *might* be our 4^th or 5^th starter in 2013. He’s no Alderson but he’s not guaranteed to be a Bumgarner either….

If people haven’t figured it out yet, the Giants are a level below the Red Sox and the Yankees in terms of the money they can spend. They’re above everyone else. The World Series win has taken the financial handcuffs off. If they have to buy an expensive #3 or #4 in 2013 they will do it without blinking. Meanwhile, we have just taken dead aim on defending our crown…….

This pick up will have direct, positive implication on several batters. Torres idolizes this dude. Huff and Sandoval no longer have to feel like they have to be THE GUY—a much better role for both of them. Not to mention the effect it will have on Beltran. Dude, you just went from a me-first clubhouse to the best player clubhouse in all of baseball. He’s going to thrive, we’re going to thrive, and if I had a hat on I would doff it with great deference to Brian Sabean for pulling off a deal I didn’t think he had in him………

Kruk’s KNBR Show hits the airwaves in a little less than an hour (usually around 7:30). He’ll be in full Zito-Defense Mode. Here are my guesses for some of the sh!t he’s gonna throw against the wall:

1) Zito was pitching well out of the wind up, it was only when he went into the stretch that he had a problem

2) His WHIP was actually quite good, only giving up 6 hits and 2 walks in 7 innings

3) He only found out he was pitching 90 minutes before the game. We should be honoring his *gamership*, not condemning the results

4) The wind was blowing out

5) The Phillies LU is outstanding, they hit everybody

Well, those are my top 5 guesses. His analysis will probably include these 5 as well as 20-30 more. The real fact is this: Zito is poison to this team. He always puts our guys on their heels by giving up a 4 or 5 spot early on. This deflates the bats and gives the opposing pitcher a ton of free confidence to go after a LU that really needs all the help it can get to begin with…..

I hope Timmy feels better today…….

I’m excited for this game tonight. Mostly, I want to see if that bat is still attached to Ryan Howard’s shoulder. I don’t watch Phillie games because I don’t have a single position player of theirs on any of my four fantasy teams. So, literally the last time I saw Howard live was when I was streaking out of my friend’s house, into the rain and down the end of the cul-de-sac with my daughter trailing behind….

This series is about one thing: pitching. The Giants and Phillies are 1/2 in ERA in all of baseball. Who’s going to blink first? I believe the Philly line up to be getting a little long in the tooth, in both age and production. Guys like Howard, Utley and Rollins, eh, they just don’t inspire the same fear they once did. And yet, the Phillies have the best record in the National League. You can’t take anything away from a 3 game series. Three games is nothing over the course of 162. I’m mostly interested in seeing how the Giants carry themselves during this trip. We are The World Champions, a fact that was magnified for every member of the organization during their trip to the White House yesterday. And now we walk into a hostile stadium to play arguably the best team in the league with the full glare of the collective east coast media. How will it turn out? Really, the anticipation is the great drama. That, and wondering if that goddamn bat is still stuck on Howard’s shoulder……..

Kidding, but I didn’t see either of the weekend games so I’m not qualified to comment on them. The box scores suggest our usual blue print for victory. After all the back and forth talk about who our team MVP is I think it’s not a single person. And no, I’m not going with the *team* nomination. It really is our bullpen. There isn’t another team in either league that comes close to the quality our bullpen. Atlanta? Sure, Venters and Kimbrel are great. That’s 2 guys. We have SEVEN (7!) arms that get called on and they almost always perform. And I credit Bochy, Raggs and Gardner for a lot of it. There are definitely some castoffs on that staff. But Bochy is as master and using them and whatever Raggs and Gardner are selling, they are buying…….

I just read Kawakami’s blog about Sabean saying “this LU needs a lot of help” and how we would likely lose to the Phillies in the playoffs. That was encouraging to see his correct take on the reality of this team. But when he says that we have “3 or 4 prospects” that he will not trade, he’s closing the door a little on getting a deal done. He could stack the LU full of “Keppinger’s”, that ain’t gonna get it done……

Sorry I was out for a few days, I’ll keep the blog running a little better from here on out……..

The Flap Fantasy Baseball Standings

(Pawlie free falls, No Talent takes the reigns at the top, and BB’s learns there’s more to just waiving Aubrey Huff if you want to dance with the big boys)

Working with some substandard equipment here so this will be quick. I caught the game from a poker table last night. The Kepp Era has started off slowly, yet predictably. I declare Milwaukee to be better than us, as we are currently constructed. I didn’t sweat the Morgan thing the way the rest of you seemed to. He’s crazy, everyone knows that.

The NL Central is a hodge podge mess right now. There are 4 teams who could win that bad boy. My guess is that The Brewers will be the team to win it in the end. Marcum is a stud but he’s dealt with a myriad of minor physical issues this year. If he’s not feeling ouchy tonight he could be tough…..

The question I have for all of you is this: We’re more than half way through the year and we’ve got some guys who have passed *scuffling* and entered *bad year* zone. Torres, Huff and Tejada are all off from last year. I would include Ross but he’s not that far off from 2010. Of these three guys, who is most likely to rise above the dregs of their sh!t year and start leading this team so desperate for offensive output.

Man, I thought I had seen a gruesome replay when I saw the Posey injury. Then I saw Stephen Drew’s injury at the plate last night. Wow, that was significantly worse. And the sick bastard that I am, I think I watched it about 10 times slowing it down frame by frame. I also watched the 2 girls/1 cup thing. That one I actually regret watching…..

I was never worried about AZ for a second, I figured they’d come in at or around .500 this year. With the loss of Drew, who actually has been hitting like crap for a while, my feelings on the D-backs haven’t really changed— at or around .500 by the end of the year…

The Dodgers are done, the Padres were done as soon as they traded A-Gon and the D-backs were never a threat. That leaves the Rockies and the only way they make a game of this is if they go on one of their 2nd half runs. Does anyone see that coming? Well, we didn’t see it coming when they did it before so I guess it’s possible……

I appreciated Sabean’s honesty yesterday when he said, basically, that this team is lucky to be where they are, that the offense sucks and he’s looking to upgrade any position whenever he can. Now THAT is a GM who isn’t content to sit back on last year’s laurels and who realizes we have little to no chance this post season if we go into it with the offense we have now. Keppinger is a start, though a slow one. Baggs mentioned Cuddyer but I am not that big of a fan. Again, he’s better than what we have and maybe that’s all we need, but I am leery of guys switching leagues mid season—that can always go either way and I don’t think he’s ever played in the NL. Regardless, he’s on the phone and he’s totally clued in to the upgrades that are mandatory if we are to get through the first round of the playoffs and beyond…..

While it’s nice to see him working a deal, he’s going to have to catch up to the fact that he can’t trade the Henry Sosa’s of the system and get anything more than the “Keppinger’s” of the world. I know he doesn’t want to trade Wheeler but he needs to consider it. At the very least send a *Neal* or two somewhere. As long as we bump the quality of this offense up a little more we will have a realistic shot at repeating. And who wouldn’t trade Wheeler if it meant another run like last year?

As I noted early on, Vogelsong is nothing if not gritty and gutty. You can see it on his face and in the way he pitches. He’s been a revelation this year, there are no more words to describe him. We wouldn’t be in first place without him…..

With the rumor that the Rockies are going to become sellers, I think we can safely wrap up the western division right now. Arizona is a paper tiger. Sabean can concentrate on adding a middle infielder or a catcher at the break. Or later. I’ve crossed outfielder off our list of needs since Nate has solidified his role as clean up hitter and obvious team MVP. And Ross is doing enough to hold down the other corner spot. Torres and Huff continue to fail but they aren’t going anywhere so just buckle up and get used to it……..

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(Dirt makes a big 4.5 point move and at 12:29am The Aubrey Huff Era ended for BB’s. He hit the waiver wire. You think he cares about contracts? Baha. You produce on that man’s team or you stand in the freaking corner with your head down!)

Coaxing walks, stealing bases, bunting….Yesterday’s game had it all. For a team that rarely does any of those things, well or otherwise, yesterday’s game was a pleasure to watch. They played a side of the game they usually ignore and I hope we see them do it more often…..

Yesterday’s game was loaded with *moments* and it’s the reason this team keeps on winning more than they lose:

If you think about it, Zito’s Law unfolded perfectly last night. After 3 promising starts off the DL he must have made believers out of at least some fans. In one of my fantasy leagues, where he has languished on the waiver wire for the better part of the last 3 years, he was one of the most picked up players last week from the waiver wire. So he tricked a few lost souls into believing in him and he broke their hearts last night. It happens…….

We can’t do anything about Zito except take our medicine. Dirrrrrty will be out at least 10 more days–wow, can you imagine the chaos Zito could inflict on those 2 box scores?

Here’s the thing I really want to know about Zito: Did last night’s implosion cause him to lose all of or part of the faux-confidence he took from those first 3 starts off the DL? It’s a tough thing to gauge since no one has the faintest clue of what baseline is for Zito’s psyche…….

I like the move to bring Sanchez up. Even though he isn’t hitting for power in Fresno he’s got to be a better offensive threat than either of the guys we trot out there these days. Sabean is taking a look at this kid NOW, maybe it’s one less piece he has to go get before the trade deadline. No harm in seeing what’s in-house. I’m a little worried about his game calling ability but we’ve got a vet staff that SHOULD know how to call their own game anyway…..

Nice to see Ross get going a bit. He’s been hitting the ball much better lately, though he has only the one HR in his last 7 at bats. I think Bochy sees that Ross might be entering one of his hot streaks and will play him more over the next week. Rowand will start today in place of Torres. His average has come down a bit vs lefties this year but he’s still hitting .350 against them with an OPS near .900–that train gets ridden until it runs out of coal……..

The Flap Fantasy Baseball Standings

(things have gotten awfully bunchy in the 5–9 spots. Berra’s B’s continue to impress and surprise…)

What can you say about last night’s win? After Tejada and Torres failed miserably with the bases loaded and nobody out, our ol’ fallback (the other team making a mistake) came to the rescue yet again. Thank God for Gregerson, he actually should have been player of the game……

Timmy going tonight. I don’t know much at all about Moseley. His 2-8 record is offset by a 3.21 ERA so apparently he’s got a little “Bumgarner” luck in him….

Short and sweet today, see you guys……..

I was surprised to see only 7 games scheduled for today. Luckily, we are one of them. I can’t wait, it feels like a month since the last game……

Tim Kawakami actually wrote a decent piece today in his blog. Because of the $ still owed to Beltran this year there aren’t that many teams willing to trade for him. And Kawakami is right, this deal shouldn’t take Wheeler or Belt. The *Neal/Culberson* range is more like it. Throw in Hinshaw just cause lefties are always valued and I’m tired of seeing him wear that stupid, over-sized hat.

But here is the deal: Sabean is a little out of his league when it comes to adding a high profile rental. I don’t think he has any idea what to offer or how to negotiate this. I’d say the last deal he did like this was probably picking Winn up, but Winn didn’t have the resume that Beltran has. You could argue that he hasn’t pulled off a big mid season trade since the ’97 deal for Alvarez, Darwin and Hernandez. But those were all pitchers—that’s his thing. Trading for a stud hitter mid season? He’s never done it before…….

And we absolutely need to do a deal for another hitter. I would agree that this division is probably won with no moves made but don’t kid yourself, this offense is significantly worse than last year’s playoff team. It’s not even close, actually. If we started a playoff game today we would be missing Posey, Freddy Sanchez, Juan Uribe and Edgar Renteria. And we would essentially be missing Burrell,  Ross, Huff and Torres as well since those guys are shells of what they were last year. Replacing all those guys with Tejada and Whiteside and Fontenot and Jesus Christ  I can’t even type another name! It’s hideous. This team would hit .150 against the Philly pitchers in the playoffs. With no home runs…….

Our playoff batting average wasn’t too hot last year. I don’t have the number, I think Twin cited .235 but I don’t remember if that was WS or total playoff average. But what our hitters did last year, really from Sept 1st onward, is come up with the big home runs and timely hits that this crew just doesn’t have in them. We don’t have a hitter on the team with a double digit home run total. That is a staggering stat and an embarrassing one at that……..

So go get Beltran. And while you are at it go get a catcher and a 2nd baseman. And a shortstop. Succeeding in the playoffs this year demands aggressive moves for the offense BEFORE the trade deadline………

This break is interminable…..

It was great to see so many Giants taking up spots in the dugout. Seeing Bochy running that show of all stars really hit home for me that we are the center of the baseball world this year. And for once, our players actually performed well and contributed. Pablo hit an impossible pitch for a double and Bee-Wheezy stepped back on to the national stage without breaking stride. Bochy outmanaged  Washington (again) and the final score really wasn’t as close as it looked…

I missed probably about a third of the game and unfortunately I missed Wilson’s line up read as well as Heath Bell’s slide into the game. Both sounded classic. After Wilson’s comments about Beltran in the LU Read I think the writing is on the wall: Beltran is going to be a Giant……

That’s what the all-star game has become. I’ll probably watch the game but I’m not building it into the schedule or anything. If it’s on, it’s on. The all star game has sucked for many years now and it isn’t because of all the low scoring games. And it won’t be because of all the stars who sat home this year (go take a look at those line ups, there are studs up and down each league’s line up). What the all star game has missed (and will probably miss this year)  is some spontaneous fun. The last all star game moment I remember off hand is the 1993 game when John Kruk faced Randy Johnson. Both of those guys were just having fun with the moment and everyone watching it, fans, players, etc, just kind of fed of it. And that’s how all star game moments are born, that’s how the game becomes interesting. Lasorda dodging the bat was another great moment. Obviously you can’t plan for things like that–there’s no way to “vote a priceless moment” into the game.

The players need take the field with the idea of having some fun out there–maybe even have a few scripted things prepared like TO’s sharpie game (how classic would it be if Fielder hit a bomb and then knelt down and signed home plate? Bobby V could auction it off for Tsunami relief). If moments like that unfold, I think the game tonight will have a chance to be quite entertaining. Baseball is a lot of things but *funny* isn’t one of them. So when something funny does happen you notice it, you enjoy it. I’m not saying they should go out there and turn the field into a Rooster T-Feathers stage. They need to try to win for the WS home field advantage thing. But take the field with a mindset of having fun and good things will unfold and this game will actually end up being entertaining. Do I think this is going to happen? Unlikely…….

I actually found the HR Derby contest to be quite entertaining and not just because I picked the longshot Cano to win the whole thing. As I sat there marveling at the 450-480 feet home runs that each player blasted out consistently it hit me that they were using juiced balls for the game. In fact, I thought it was obvious, especially with A-Gon and Cano still hammering them to the moon in Round 3. Then I check the internet this morning and there’s no article even questioning the balls. I still think they were juiced. Selig needed to get some interest pumped back into this event and what better way to do that than use balls that fly a million miles?

I’m not feeling too hot today so I’m gonna let you guys take this one.

UPDATE**********

It’s 4pm. Get your Derby picks in before they start. You get to choose 2 guys……..

How great will it be when the Panda makes the all star game later today? Supposedly, if Polanco doesn’t play today then he won’t play in the all star game. He shouldn’t play regardless. He’s got a bulging disc, why wouldn’t he take the all star break and use it to rest? If I’m a Philly fan I wouldn’t want it any other way.

And how great will it be to see Timmy and Pablo side by side, two of the great characters in all of baseball, representing us at the all star game? And Pablo would be the perfect pick to stir up the national uproar you get every year about someone *undeserving* making the team. Screw that. The all star game is all about entertainment. If it were only about stats then just let a computer pick the team. But that’s not how it’s done, the fans pick the majority of the players. they don’t want to see a stat sheet they want to see an entertaining game.

Who’s more entertaining? The Panda or Polanco? There’s no question about it: Panda should be at the 2011 all star game…….

I know it should just be about impossible to be upset about being in first place but I’m having no problem whatsoever getting there. Aubrey Huff needs to sit down for at least a week. He’s got 2 RBI’s in his last 11 games—and both of those were in that 15-3 laugher when they weren’t even needed. He hasn’t hit a home run since June 2nd. He has ONE extra base hit since June 23rd. That’s almost impossible to to believe and he’s making me miss Molina’s dry spells as the clean up hitter…..

Marty Lurie has been talking about picking up Beltran, non-stop, for about 2 months now. I want Sabean to acquire him for no other reason than I can’t listen to Lurie talk about it anymore. But seriously, I am totally on board with a Beltran trade. I suspect you wouldn’t have to give up as much as you think since he’s an unbelievably expensive rental–you lose him at the end of the year plus he’s still owed 9 million for the rest of this year. Not a lot of clubs are looking to take on 9 million more for a rental. You wouldn’t have to give up Dirrrrrty or Belt. It’s not gonna get done with Burriss, Gillespe etc either. Maybe Nate and a B-room pitcher………

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(Pawlie continues to dominate like “mall tits on a hot Summer afternoon”. Kevin reaches for the gas mask with a 5.5 point drop and picking up my cast off Matt Capps ain’t gonna help you much.  He’s the Dr. Kevorkian of closers)

While I am of course happy the Giants won last night I’m not going to starting singing Zito’s praises. He deserves some credit for pitching 3 good games in a row. But I am sticking to the facts: the first one was against the Cubs who swung at everything he threw up there, the next game was that weird rain delay game, and last night he handled the Padres, a team that might have a worse offense than we do. So I am not a believer of any of this. He still sucks.

I will give him credit for pitching in the strike zone better than I’ve ever seen him do it. There’s nothing more infuriating than watching Zito pitch and be deathly afraid of contact….

While I’m happy he’s not imploding, I will never trust him before one of his starts. I might be the last one shaking my head *no* but I will never believe in Barry Zito. Call it *hating* or whatever, but I just don’t believe in any of this right now…….

Yes, I did stay up till the end. I have a friend in town and he would have called me a huge pussy if I had gone to bed before that one ended. I would argue that was one of Kuip’s worst home run calls ever. Not sure if he was watching that one on tv when he called it but he didn’t really get into it till it clanged into the stands…….

What a great game for Torres. Of course he had the hits but his catch (can’t remember the inning) was fantastic—every bit as good as the overrated Willie Mays catch. It was a game that perfectly gave 2 middle fingers to Chad Qualls and his gay bounced ball……..

Panda’s game tying hit was one of the sweetest swings on a tough pitch that I’ve ever seen. Not that it matters much who is hitting clean up but I don’t understand why it’s Huff and not The Panda. Huff has absolutely nailed down and patented the 3 hopper to 1st or 2nd base–not sure why that qualifies him to bat clean up…….

I gave Panda POTG for 2 reasons: 1) there is no extra innings without him and 2) it was an impossible pitch that he hammered. The bullpen did a great job but striking out a bunch of Padres is what everyone does. NOT everyone can hit that Adams pitch the way Panda did…….

With nearly 3000 team at bats in the books, it’s pretty hard to argue that we have some “slow starters” on the team right now. This is who they are this year. A team that is hitting .242  collectively, with a .671 OPS. We are missing a few pieces from last year (Uribe, Posey and Sanchez), but is this a result of the subtraction of those guys or something else?

I had an “ah ha” moment during the game last night when the camera panned to Burrell and Ross chewing seeds on the bench. I know they are hurt but they looked quite content–like they could do that the rest of the year. And when you think about it, they already have something that they didn’t have last year—a World Series ring. That was a magical run they went on last year. It was partially fueled by something most of them didn’t have–a ring.

Now, I’m not saying any of them are dogging it or mailing in their at bats. But they simply can’t be fueled by the same fire they had last year. I think it would be normal to expect a decline in motivation this year. Or maybe I’m talking about passion. I don’t know.

What I do know is that we are past half way through the season and no one (except Pablo) is stepping up. I have a new appreciation for Miggy, mostly because I feel like he’s the only one busting his ass on every play. He’s also the only one without a ring. Obviously, his stats aren’t reflective of the effort he’s putting in on the field. But he’s driven by the same desire that the rest of the guys were driven by last year. If he could somehow share that with the rest of the guys we might be on to something. But he can’t, they already used it last year…….

The bottom line is that we didn’t have any margin for error last year. It took every single guy performing at their peak in critical moments to make 2010 happen. Any drop off, and we lose that edge. And that’s what I think is lacking this season. Short of a trade or 4, I don’t see this offense doing enough to get back to the playoffs this year…….

I don’t know why we can’t hit Richard. He was lucky last year and he’s been imminently hittable this year. THis guy has a WHIP nearing Tyler Walker Territory. Whatever, it was just a bad game, I guess. Maybe we had a bit of a hangover from the road trip….

Timmy sucked again. In fact, the entire team (except Pablo) looked flat. I hope we don’t fall into a rut against the Padres again, we play 20% of our remaining games against them this year……

Anna is offering up her July 7th tickets. There are two of them. It’s a 7:15pm game. Email me if you want them. They’re free as usual and as usual ANNA RULES……

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(Haven’t posted them in a while. Not much has changed. Pawlie still rules our world. Blade is making a little noise. BB’s has settled nicely into the mid 40’s)

Hey Flappers— July 4th, my favorite day of the year, for many reasons. I hope you guys eat, drink and do whatever it is you do to celebrate this great day. Here’s hoping Timmy goes out there and pulls a “Righetti” today v the Padres……..

Ugly. Hot and Ugly. Around the 7th hole I thought I was gonna lose San Dog and had no idea how I was gonna break it to the blog that he died from heat stroke during a round of golf. But he bounced back and we had a kickass time. Looks like the Flappers nailed it…….

15 runs? 5+ hour game? Just another typical W for this team. Offensive contributions from unlikely offensive sources. But really, when you look at this line up, who among them strikes you as a *likely* source of offensive production? That’s actually one of the things that is hindering Sabean making a move—there are so many positions he could fill with a trade but each game one of the current guys pops up with production that makes him go “hmmm, maybe he’s turning it around.” But, it’s never real and they slip right back into a prolonged slump. But really, Sabean could trade for an OF, a 2nd baseman, a shortstop, a 1st baseman and/or a catcher and on paper it would be an instant upgrade……..

TedSpe has won the contest. He didn’t even need today’s stats for the win. Truth be told I was kinda rooting for San Dog a little bit. He and I are playing golf today and I thought it would be pretty amazing to also had him over tickets to a game. But it was not to be, Ted stole that from me. Goddamn you Ted….Ha.

And now to a new contest that really is just a poll, you will get nothing from me for winning. To handicap it for you, I haven’t played golf in nearly 3 years (though used to be able to shoot in the 80’s consistently) and  the round is at my dad’s club (home course knowledge). I’ve got no idea if San Dog has game but I’ve met him before and he looks like a player…….

After Burriss bungled that ball I was preparing myself for this loss. In a weird, dysfunctional way, I was almost asking for it just to be pissed off. And when Bosch (not interested in how to spell his name) hit that liner I was certain the game was over. And then *poof* we win. Crazy.

Here are the players for the tix. I know it was short notice and if you win and can’t go I’ll give em away.

Giants Runs                                      Tigers runs                             total sbs

Me                                      7                        13               5

MacDog                             10                      12              3

BillBill                              10                        7                3

Kevin                                 9                         4                2

Chuck                                 8                         7               3

San Dog                            13                        7               4

Dennis                              10                       11              3

BirdDog                            9                         14             5

BigSarge                           8                           7              2

Kokonuts                         11                         7              4

Ted                                       14                       9              4

Sorry about the formatting, I could have *snipped* it or done some word doc, this was easier but it looks like the columns aren’t lining up. I’m not sweating it………

Quick contest but it will keep our misery away from certain painful realities. That could be baseball or life, you pick………

Again, thank you ANNA for offering up your tix for this game. She gave 2 to a buddy of mine last week and they had a great time. One thing about this blog that I will never get over, the generosity of everyone is something to appreciate. It’s human nature unfolding before our eyes; often it’s the human nature that is the exact opposite of your usual anonymous angry blogging sports fan……….

Hi–So it’s not going to be a contest for one of Twin’s kickass units. But one of our bloggers (Mailorderbride) wants to give her tickets away for the July 6th game v the Padres. The 2 seats are right behind homeplate in the view box section of the park. Even if you can’t go, enter the contest, you can give the tickets away if you win and can’t go.

Here’s the contest: How many runs will the Giants score in their 3 game series v the Tigers? First tie breaker is how many runs the Tigers will score. Second tie breaker is how many combined stolen bases the 2 teams have. So, submit 3 numbers to me at bigflavor77@gmail.com

I realize the game is starting in 3 hours so we might not have too many contestants but let’s see what we can get and have some fun. Thank you, in advance, Mailorderbride for this generous offer……

Pitching match ups:

Bum v Penny

Zito v Sherzer

Voggy v Porcello

they’re both pretty slow, Giants are 21st in league in SB’s, Tigers near the bottom at 27th…..

Can you imagine if a guy like Carlos Zambrano was on out pitching staff? His head might literally explode after a while of pitching with this offense behind him. Guys like that don’t fit on this team. I believe that our starting 5 thrive off the badge of honor they wear out to the mound every time one of them takes the hill. They’re probably almost embarrassed if they get more than 2 runs scored for them. I fully believe that they are all better pitchers because they accept the inevitable, that this offense is never going to get them a lot of runs on a consistent basis. And I bet they would each be a worse pitcher if they pitched for another team…….

I didn’t see the game, so it didn’t crush me like the rest of you. There’s something about looking at a box score that doesn’t sting as much as watching the horror unfold with your eyes.  I think it’s time for Rowand get some starts against righties. Either that or let Torres bat against some lefties. Andres is lost right now and trotting him out there at bat after at bat isn’t working. He is the gas that fuels this bus. Without him producing, that Badge of Honor our Starting 5 wear is only going to get bigger and shinier. And probably more meaningful to each of them……..