What Have We Learned From These Two Games? Plenty.
For starters, we are blowing past last year’s 3.7 runs a game like “Arazi ran past….” ok, time to put that analogy to bed. But the added offense is impossible to miss. Take away the 2 run bombs from Melky and Pill and you are left with what we were force fed last year: Pablo and little else. Though it’s early in the year, it certainly *feels* as though we won’t have to win too many 3.7-1.0 games in 2012. Maybe we actually win a few “4.0-1.0” games? It’s possible the team might want to score 4.5 to 5.6 runs on Monday with Zit-man going in Colorado. Probably a good time to trot out the *Zito stat*. What is it? If he gets 4+ runs of supports he’s 112-9? I never understood that stat totally. Is that *more than 4 runs* or *4 or more runs*? Either way, it’s a dumb stat and just about the last vestige of hope that any Zito Apologist can grasp on to. Has anyone noticed that stat getting worse over the last 2 years? It used to be 106-2. It will continue to get worse starting on Monday…….
Even though we are 0-2 I feel like *so far so good*. I don’t think anyone questions our starting pitching and that has been the single main problem with these first two games. The bullpen has been great and the offense has been as advertised: improved…..
Unfortunately we are facing that dukey-soft-tossing-fuck Collmenter today. But he’s not going to get to feast on last year’s punchless group. There’s a good chance we see The White Shark today and maybe Burriss….
I feel confident about this game. We should score 3.7 runs by the 6th inning, ultimately winning 5.6-4.0. Then take a few deep breaths and gear up for Monday’s shellacking. It will NOT be a good thing if Bochy has to eat into his bullpen today……..
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
I am not worried, but you have to wonder if teams are watching the Giants, wondering if this offense is for real. Let’s face it last year these last two games probably would have end with a score of 1-5, 2-5. And in some cases 0-5. Coming back and almost winning has to make other teams wonder, cause the other teams know that the Giants pitching staff are not going to give up 4- 5 runs per game. So as long as runs are being scored the Giants will be fine, first win today!!
It is sad when I open up the sports page and I see head lines about the winning horse at Santa Anita calleld “I’ll have Another” and I immediately think of Dennis. Dennis do you own that horse?? 🐎🐎🐎
Dennis is probably sleeping another one off.
Even I don’t think about myself when I read the sports page. Rough start to your Easter Sunday morning.
I’ve never understood the whole score four runs for Zito and he’s a world beater. I did a quick search on historical ERA but couldn’t find the stat across more than certain time periods. Something under 4.00 is considered “good” in the modern game so 4 or more runs should get you a win in most cases. Translation = Zito is and has been no better than average. But we all know that.
Zito ain’t a world beater. That’s etched in a stone tablet somewhere. Still he did win a Cy Young once. How did that happen?
That is going down in the history books as the 9th wonder of the World
Last year when the Giants fell behind 2-0 in any game, you could hear the air coming out of the balloon of a possible ‘come back’.. The odds were bad.
It’s only 2 games and the type of loses are not a cause for alarm…. 2 loses of 4-0 or 5-1 would be something to think about… but again it’s only 2 games into the season.
I’ll focus on the positive highlights and just watch as this team comes together…
Anyone who think there is something to be concerned about at this point needs to take up another sport to cheer about….
Unless major injuries present themselves, you can bet the Giants will be at the top in October.
They are hungry to prove 2010 was no fluke (which you as well as I know many have thought and said that)
and there are still many on this team from that year who are still wearing the black and orange to prove it.
Some pros and cons about statistics . . .
An unsophisticated forecaster uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts – for support rather than for illumination.
Andrew Lang
They read their sports pages, know their statistics and either root like hell or boo our butts off. I love it. Give me vocal fans, pro or con, over the tourist types who show up in Houston or Montreal and just sit there.
Mike Schmidt
Do we need to have 280 brands of breakfast cereal? No, probably not. But we have them for a reason – because some people like them. It’s the same with baseball statistics.
Bill James
Facts are stubborn, but statistics are more pliable.
Mark Twain
Nice story by Jon Miller’s daughter in the NYT: http://tinyurl.com/7g6sf6c
Happy Easter.
As I have pointed out to those who dismiss statistics ( usually because the numbers have proven them wrongo ), often they may be used to comfirm what you knew all along, or to refute a mistaken perception. Baseball is a game of statitics, where trouble sets in is when a fan doesn’t *understand* the stat. And sabremetrics has brought us a bunch of stats to not understand.Unfortunately, the reaction from too many people is not to understand them but to dismiss them with the old chestnut abouts lies and statistics. We were well into the 21st century before the Giants began to take advantage of some of these advances to aid them in the draft. Which is in large part why we got Boof Bonser in the 2000 first round ( The Dark Ages) and Tim Lincecum in 2006 ( The Age of Enlightenment)..
Ah Easter. Perfect time for the Giants to rise and shine.
Good one Stix 🙂
Still waiting for a team to score 3.7 runs in a game. Maybe today……
Well, that 1/2 point in football wagering has led many a man down the road we all dread- the fabled Road to Ruin.
Dukey-fuck soft tossers have always given the Giants fits.Guys like Collmenter and Moyer.Funny it doesn’t have the reverse effect for other teams when Zito pitches.
Collmenter and Moyer know where the ball is going (although yesterday, Moyer’s balls were going towards the outfield at a great rate of speed. Zito in Colorado is just an impossible notion to consider on Monday. They could soak the balls in melted plutonium and he’d still give up a few bombs tomorrow….
Humidors only “hydrate” the balls . . . However, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to ask.
I know what they do, dude. soaking them in melted plutonium was a joke.
How about Bobby V in Boston? Not going so hot and he is predictably overreacting by shaking up his LU after 2 games. He also went too quick to Aceves the other day and that back fired on him. Boston is going to have a rough year….
I should have put a smiley face . . . I WAS JOKING TOO.
🙂
I flunked Twin’s Joke 101 course . . . and that is saying something. 😉
However, I did get an A+ in his Nickname Advanced Studies course.
So did he.
Zits has actually pitched pretty well at Coors, but I imagine that was when he was destroying at the guns at 85+.
Blanco CF, Cabrera RF, Sandoval 3B, Posey C, Huff LF, Belt 1B, Crawford SS, Burriss 2B, (Cain P)
kinda surprised to see BOTH Huff and Belt in there. I could have seen one of them sitting and the other playing first base. Pagan has been pretty awful at leadoff. I think he’s seen like 25 pitches in 9 at bats. Terrible. Maybe Bochy feels like he’s forcing it, trying to hard. Twin, if you have a second, what’s Bochy’s thinking regarding sitting Pagan today? Any info would be greatly appreciated. 🙂 🙂 🙂
First, Belt and Huff- Huff was squaring the ball up yesterday, had the bloop double but also two lasers to CF. Belt- way early to be fucking with his head, and this is a RHer he *should* handle.
Blanco- Bochy has been hinting for sometime now that Blanco could be a regular-sooner rather than later. But he may just be giving Gregor a start, not pipping Angel. Way early for that, too…unless there are issues beyond Pagan’s play..
sounds reasonable.
“I flunked Twin’s Joke 101 course “…well, you did now.
Glad to see Blanco and Burriss in their today.Would like to see those 2, 1-2 with Melky at 5 for more RBI’S slot.
My LU today….Blanco,Burriss,Sandoval,Posey,Melky,Belt,Huff,Crawford,Cain…
My LU today…screwdriver, mimosa, omelet, mimosa, screwdriver, shrimp cocktail, screwdriver, mimosa, roast beef carving station
looking forward to your cogent opinions about closers after all that. 🙂
Did you see my trade proposal or are you doing a Chuckster?
I responded this morning when I first received it. Did you not get my reply?
I said Boesch is “my boy” and I’m sticking with him in all my leagues.
No, I didn’t get it, but apparently not your fault . . . ESPN fucked up – The “Pending Trade” has disappeared, but they never forwarded your reply. Regardless, thank you.
Isn’t the accepted spelling “Dookie”?
that’s hilarious, I spelled that 3 different ways this morning before I said “fuck it, no one knows or cares”.
you gotta think Cain is going to be expected to go at least 7 today. Bochy is looking ahead to Monday and wondering just how many relievers he’s going to need to cover Zito’s ass. True, Zito hasn’t been horrible at COors field (7 career starts, 3.92 ERA) but I think that, impossibly, we will see Zito find a new floor this season in terms of overall failure. Don’t blink or you could miss it. He might have 2 or 3 starts this year before the Giants officially wave the white flag on this dude….
With his 80 mph “fastballs” it won’t take him long to hit the “DL” again.
Flactoid Medialus strain
Interesting day all around yesterday….40 HRs hit, couple aces less than stellar, assorted pen meltdowns/late game heroics and comebacks…jays and tribe have played 28 innings in two games. And the A’s are off on the first sunday? wtf?
Baggs said vogs back soon, runzler by end of month (doing what/where I wonder). FS played 6 innings and supposed to have rehab games next week, so more roster moves imminent. good column with barr on FG about SF scouting. So glad ST is over and real deal has begun!
I think the last two days, as far as Tim and Bum is concerned, was a case of the starting jitters. We saw how Tim settled down after he gave up those bombs on Friday. I don’t see Cain giving up those big hits today and, best of all, we have big time run support now. Look for a big Giants win today.
Did I say the word “big” enough?
Sounds like you might be trying to overcompensate for something that might be “small.” 😀
He “settled down” until he gave 2 more in the 6th and Mota saved him two *more”. With an average sub-90 fastball, there was nothing encouraging at all about his outing. As I have said, no reason to panic, but plenty of reason for concern..
To even things out for you Gomez haters- Dirty had a quintessential Dirty inning- walk, wild pitch, strike out, throwing error… 3-1 KC after 1
Dirrrty’s first inning was still tons better than Phil’s 4th hole today. Ouch.
Sometimes those titties get in the way of a proper backswing..
I’ll add to TF’s anti-“fuck the numbers” post above by saying that, while there are a lot of complicated stats, the most important ones are not hard to grasp at all. Combined with a little common sense and some basic math, you can dispense with a lot of bullshit by looking at the fundamental Sabrmetrics stats. The beauty of OPS is that it is as close to an absolute measure of offensive value as we’re going to get. It’s the reason why I am skeptical about Gregor Blanco’s value as a hitter, despite his high OBP. He needs a 400 slugging percentage to be a slightly better than average hitter. The fact that he leads off once a game is only marginally relevant.
I like the new “SF” design on these road unis. Great job by Matty to hold ’em scoreless in the first.
A scoreless 1st, that alone might be worth the contract.
great job by cain, that’s gotta fire everybody up, in your face k’s to middle of order.
There early start on defense with all their errors has to be a red flag right now.
Maybe Bochy should bat the Crawdaddy 7th all the time. Big hit.
Now The Horse has a 3 length lead. I like his chances to hit the wire first. Wire to wire baby!
White Shark……..
already at 6 runs, I think it’s safe to assume they don’t score the 5.6 I predicted they would score today. Oh well, maybe another day……
There are your runs 5 and 6 Flav…crushed that mothertrucker….
Catcher power. Wow!
6 runs for Cain? Holy Moly!
We don’t need any more runs for today. Save ’em for tomorrow when we’re really going to need ’em.
Oh yee of little faith in Zito.
Good to see Buster drive the ball…and what a great AB from Pablo…
it was a fantastic at bat. Chasing all over the place and completely of balance in the final pitch, he still figured out a way to dump it into left field.
No need to give Posey a dayoff,he’s”Locked In”
Boch has already said Sanchez takes the CRAPO’S start in Colorado which is fine,but I bet for sure Posey will be at 1st.
What???? Johnny LeMaster hit a homer in his first at bat in the bigs??? wow
Blade, I’m beginning to wish you hadn’t of gone to the gym that day. Aceves has yet to retire a batter this yr and has allowed 4H (1 HR), 3R and hit a guy. Bailey isn’t going to be back before the ASB. The Sox best trade for a closer now if they want to stay close…
i told you he sucked….
They show Will Clark’s but not Johnny’?? No respect!
Nice grab
White Shark…….
crawford deserves some credit too for that first AB. He hadn’t had a hit yet, looked bad on the first pitch, then shoots rbi double down the LF line, takes third on the dumb throw and is heads up enough to break right away and score on the dribbler. 7-8 had been looking pretty weak up to then, and still might, but if he can do anything with the bat it’s a definite plus. Didn’t see any of yesterday game but reports were he was great in the field.
The plays Craw made yesterday kept the Giants in the game
Unfuckingbelievable . . . Flav, related to your comments about Bobby V. – Boston took the lead at the top of the 11th, 12-10, then this transpired (below). Detroit wins a wild one 13-12. LOL.
A Avila homered to right, P Fielder scored.
D Young hit sacrifice fly to center, M Cabrera scored.
M Cabrera to third on wild pitch by M Melancon.
P Fielder singled to left, M Cabrera to second.
M Cabrera singled to right.
B Boesch grounded out to first.
M Melancon relieved F Morales.
I know. I waived Melancon YESTERDAY because I didn’t want to be at the mercy of Valentine’s decisions. Looks like Boston has some major problems this year. I bet V misses Japan right now…..
Damn. That was a bomb.
which one?
A or B James. Grin.
Just wondering . . . How much was that contract for? How many years? Quick . . . Where is Loo when ya need him. 🙂
Belt and Huff combining to smoke copious amounts of pole to start this year off……
Bummer they couldn’t get Cain through 7. Heading into Colorado with Zito kicking off Game 1 is just….yikes.
Bochy didn’t look happy after Huff’s AB.
Only good news is that they faced Norris today (who struck out 8 Rockies) . . . Now, they have to switch gears with a whiffle ball pitcher. Maybe Zits will keep them off balance with his junk. I know, I know. Wishful thinking.
Lincecum, Bumgarner and Cain have yielded 14 ER in 15 1/3 IP this series.
No problem. We have Zito going tomorrow.
Good to see Huff taking over for Rowand as the designated DP guy. Matty Gave up a nice fat lead as well.
If by the grace of the risen Jesus H. Christ we cough up this 6-0 lead, we’re 0-4.
Enjoy your Easter chocolate.
Huff is down to 3′ of rope. The G’s will be hard-pressed to win this one.
Fuck AZ.
Watching our pitchers struggle sucks. Not panicking. Just no fun to watch. 5 errors and only one unearned run???
Who said “We don’t need any more runs for today?” hope you’re right…
I went outside to talk to my neighbor when it was 6-2. She was telling me about her lovely church service this morning, and I reminded her that I have some candy for her grandkids. Lo and behold I walk back through my door to see this mess.
And Crawford needs the Larry David Christ Nail right about now. WTF?
Nice play there . . . Dangerous but nice Only play I guess, seeing the replay
Typ[ical of me, I turn on the game and it’s 6-0. All i see is wasted oppos and the DBs coming back.
whioooooooooooooooooooooooo
working my way through my Sunday NY Times while I watch this implosion in Arizona— Jon Miller’s daughter wrote a riveting essay on page 10. Check it out if you can find it online.
I mentioned that and left the link at 9:26 this morning.
Thanks for reading my comments. Hopefully you were doing something more productive like reading the DRF. 😀
We just got fucked and that call at the plate. Buster’s foot was still on the dish.
got it. Nice post then. I missed it.
Using Casilla as a closer messed him up. He can only pitch effectively in one inning save situations now.
After that error by Crawford, I’d say that’s about as hot as I’ve ever seen Bochy…….
With Montrero running they probably have the DP.
Bench Huff!
Easter bunnies killed my mother, raped my father, and blew my Giants’ lead.
It was the worst day of my life. For Easter bunnies? It’ll be Tuesday!
Cue the Bill Walton’s voice: That call was horrrrrrrible.
his foot was off the plate by at least a couple of inches….
after he caught the ball. IMO.
Pablo’s throw was horrible!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Posey’s awareness was horrible!!!!!
Bad throw and his foot was OFF the plate.
on a play at the plate that is such an easy force play to call, the ONLY thing the ump is looking at is the plate and Posey’s foot. Posey fucked up. And Bochy got his money’s worth for other reasons. He was probably so pissed off at the last few innings he had to take it out on somebody……
Krukow keeps saying the call was right, but the best angle clearly shows Posey was on the plate when he caught the throw..
negative. It was not on the plate. It was off by at least 2-3 inches. I just spent the last few minutes watching it frame by frame in HD. He was off the plate…..
Pablo’s throw WAS NOT horrible. Posey never had his foot on the plate. That is 100% on Posey…..
I thought it was was on the plate when he caught it.
well it’s possible I’m wrong but it seemed obvious to me. I’ll go back later and take a longer look. As I saw it, he never had his foot on the plate. He also didn’t really argue at all. Remember, the ONLY thing the homeplate ump is looking at on that play is the plate and his foot since the runner would have ben out by a mile…..
Good AB from Pill. I hope Bochy/Wotus doesn’t bunt here…
I’m going to get a Pabst.
make it the Big Boy
Right…..Watched it again closely as well, Posey had plenty of time to get his foot on the plate, fuck. Double play, double fuck
I’m sure you’re both right.My eyesight isn’t what is used to be.
Burriss hits into a DP. We need trade for a 2B. I know, Why not bring back Kepp and he can bat cleanup too.
Asking for Crawford and Burriss to do anything at the plate is a fucking joke. And the D-backs had that played perfectly…….