Left for Dead, Now Seizing Their Moment
Yesterday, I was all about the fringe guys who just get a taste of the big leagues and then disappear into the obscurity of an assignment designation. And then last night we see the flip side of that—Check out 4 players who are seizing their opportunity and not letting go….
1) Santiago Casilla. I know, I know, this is his 9th major league season so he’s not really an unknown guy *seizing* his one shot at the big leagues. But Casilla is a guy who was basically left for dead by the A’s. After he got released he had exactly one team call: the Giants. With the A’s, he was maddening to watch, his ERA with them was 5.11 and he seemed to walk most of the batters he faced. His bb/9 rate hasn’t gone down a lot with the Giants (it was 4.5 per 9 with the A’s, 4.2 with us) but he has harnessed his *stuff* and he is making the most of this opportunity as a closer. As I said last night, to ME it looks like he’s balking every single pitch but as Michael pointed out, he’s never been called for a balk. He seemed more wound up than normal last night. It’s something that bears watching as the pressure of closing can get to a pitcher, you have to have the right personality to succeed at that job. But success reinforces success, and from last Summer till now Casilla has come through almost every single time. He just needs to slow the game down—and shaking the ball (and his mit) before he pitches is something he might want to stop doing. I don’t know why that’s not a balk, he’s not coming to a complete stop, ever………
2) Brett Pill. Facing the right hander Belisle, Pill found a way to muscle a ball through a hole in the infield. This guy has hit timely bombs and now he’s coming through at the most important times. He can hit, and we need guys who can hit. Pill was another *left for dead* guy. Drafted in ’06, he toiled in the minors for nearly 6 years, going from prospect to suspect to AAA roster filler. He turned some heads last September, did what the team told him to do (learn new positions) and he’s another young guy who is seizing this moment. I still hold my breath when a ball is hit to left field but not when he’s hitting. That dude can flat out hit…….
3) Gregor Blanco— There is one fan in the world, outside of Blanco’s family and friends, who has been in Blanco’s corner from Day 1: The Flap’s own “Bozo”. That fucking Clown knew what he was talking about, didn’t he? He was touting him and predicting grand things (I’ll look it up later if you like) from the first day it was disclosed that the Giants had signed him. After a brilliant spring, Blanco made the team. And then he sat on the bench while we went through the 36th Chapter of Nate starting in right field. Blanco seemed pretty glued to the bench and it was fair to wonder if winning the Venezuelan Winter League MVP is actually not all it’s cracked up to be. He got a couple of starts in early May but it wasn’t till May 12th, with the Giants desperate for offense, that Blanco took off. He’s had 3 fabulous games in a row and he’s our starting right fielder at the top of the line up from here on out. I can’t believe that there’s a 37th chapter in Nate’s underwhelming novel, but we’ll see. Blanco might turn out to be the reincarnation of *Torres 2010* and if that happens it will be so huge for this team that is choking on it’s own offense this year………
4) Joaquin Arias. The PTBNL in the A-ROD/Soriano deal, Arias found himself unemployed this Winter. The Giants took a flier on him and he nearly made the club coming out of spring training. What this guy has done has been just a huge as what Blanco’s has done. He hasn’t done the same thing offensively that The White Shark has done recently, but he’s brought at least SOME offense to spots in the LU where his predecessors were bringing no offense. And he’s won 2 games with his glove at third base. We found out what kind of a player Arias is last night after he bungled that simple ground ball that would have ended the game. He didn’t dwell on it or check out mentally, he stayed focused and when that slow roller got hit to him he made the play that he simply had to make in that situation. That play won the game.
And that’s what all 4 of these guys have in common right now. They are making plays st the most critical times that are contributing to us winning games. No one expects them to succeed in every opportunity. To me, it’s more important to watch how they respond after they fail. All four have been casting aside failure and succeeding at the times we need them the most and as a fan of this team that’s all you can expect from 4 guys who were left for dead at different points in their career……..
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
Perfect Flav!
Weatherproof games: Rays-Blue Jays and Pirates-Marlins
Astros-Phillies and Mariners-Red Sox will both experience heavy rains throughout their afternoon games, and each game is in serious jeopardy of postponement. Brewers-Mets will be playing through all kinds of rain Tuesday night, which could make Citi Field unplayable as well. Yankees-Orioles should be able to complete their game, which starts at 7:05, but it will likely be interrupted by showers in the middle innings. Giants-Rockies windy and cold (Hey, it’s San Francisco, whatcha expect?).
shit, thanks. This will force me to adjust my BTS picks……
De nada Flav 🙂
I may have been the first to jump on the Blanco band wagon, outside of his family and apparently the Panda man, but it wasn’t a clean start. As I recall I was pissed because the Sox picked up Ross on a very affordable contract (not sure if he would have signed with us for those $s though). I ranted about the Blanco signing but at the end of the rant I threw my hat into the (3) ring (circus) and said something like the Giants are smarter than me, so Gregor was going to me my guy. I really didn’t have a clue until I saw his ST games but I sure did like him then, although I thought I might see more of him in Richmond than SF. After his spring and the fact that we only had three true OFers at the time, I think it was a no brainer for all.
I do feel like a proud papa though, the other night when he went 0 for 4 but scored twice, I just said “Fuck yeah, you adopted clown”.
You know, this might be another year of castoffs and clowns taking us into October and wouldn’t that be fun.
Excellent lead-in, Craig.
“Adopted clown”…LMAO! That’s good! It’s no secret that Ross really wanted to come back, but obviously not bad enough to take whatever the Giants were offering (for one year). When it was apparent that he wasn’t going to get that multi-year deal, perhaps the Giants window had closed, or he was just too proud to accept a one-year deal from them. Regardless, I wanted him back, too…but not for more than a year. He has some decent numbers this year, but as always, he is a streaky hitter (he was hitting .209 a couple of weeks ago, and in a week, was up to almost .300).
I was immediately enamored with Blanco, and am glad to see him getting some regular opportunites. Hope that continues until he proves he sould not be out there regularly.
Arias continues to improve. The bunt he fielded early was a beauty. Followed by the rocket up the line…he handled it like a routine play, and then as Flav mentioned…he put the error behind him and made a huge play to save the game.
Santiago – Torture 2012, baby.
And I do like Pill, but as Mike mentioned last night…I bet he sits today with Belt getting the nod at 1st.
*the bar called you*…a raspy voice was on the other end. All it said was “Blanco’s your guy, you fucking clown” and then the line went dead. You had your orders and you’ve carried them out to perfection……
Flav, I sent you some photos of Clown World. I hope they don’t jam up your inbox (I broke it up into 3).
Great post again, BF. For all the Sabean hate on the web (not necessarily here), he has certainly had a string of success in finding fringy minor league castoffs (Torres, Vogelsong, Blanco and Arias). This excludes the major league castoffs who have had resounding success here (Huff, Burrell, Ross, Uribe, Mota, Casilla and this year Hensley). I can’t think of another GM in baseball who has exploited this market as successfully as Sabes. National columnists and stats columnists are particularly unkind, sneaking in all sorts of pot shots at Sabean whenever they can. Sabean has not been perfect by any means, but who the hell is?
I completely agree with you. After 2010 how could anyone get behind the ridiculous “fire Sabean!” battle cry? And now he’s doing the same thing with players NOBODY wanted. And yet all anyone can do at the Splash is wad their panties up over the fact that he didn’t sign Beltran. Fucking idiots, the whole lot of ’em…..
Gotta admit to being pleasantly surprised at Vogs so far this year. I was sure his season was going to be more like second half last year and continue to slide toward 4.00 ERA. Giants SP continues to dominate, as does the pen. LA nor anyone else can match us for PS quality and depth. I hope SPs can continue to go deep in games (like hopefully tonite) so bochy won’t have to overly tax set up guys. bochy knows how to manage this, unquestionably tops in division…my only concern would be hensley as RH 7th inning type.
Mets sunday game featured them racking up two blown saves in the same game. Ramirez came in bottom seven with the lead and gave up two run HR, and then in the ninth francisco and acosta gave up 6 more runs including the stanton walk off GS, after mets had re-taken the lead off Bell in top half. 2 and two thirds innings, the pen (with one shut down inning from rauch) combined for 6 hits two walks one HB and 8 earned. Ouch.
Barely 50 runs scored yesterday in 8 NL games, and in 6 the losers were held to two runs or less. Rox pretty lucky to get the last one, unearned off Casilla. Pitching wins again, and always nice to have the insurance run.
Excellent post, BF. And the other day, you had the well-written flip-side to the happy stories: the sad stories. Somebody’s success story is somebody else’s Wally Pip story. But as you said so well, Nate has had opportunity after opportunity. Nate’s a nice reserve player. He’s not a guy that should be starting a whole lot. When Panda comes back, the Giants will have a big decision on Crawford to make. Arias clearly can be the shortstop. It looks like firstbase has turned into a Belt/Pill platoon. When Buster’s not catching, just give him days off. He’ll be better in the long run for it.
It’s still too early to make predictions, but it just seems like this team is doing it like in 2010; players falling like flys but another one comes up to pick up the flag.. . maybe it’s the fan base and continued AT&T sellout (100 so far), maybe it’s Pablo and Huff goosing them forward, maybe it’s the great coaching staff or maybe it’s just the feeling that they did it with smoke and mirrors before ….
All I know is that it seems no other team has the ability to take these DL punches and get back up on their feet.
………….. Here’s to Freddie making it back in some capacity….
“FS recovery…has hit another snag….is dealing with a lower back problem that has forced him to stop his rehab.”
Don’t, uh, hold your breath on fs “making it back.”
Sanchez? Thanks for playing…I will be really surprised if he makes it back at all…
Yeah I know .. long odds.. when they started him playing 3B in rehab, my heart sank and odds got worse…
But he’s not giving up (11 months after the injury) so I’m not either!
Well said Flavor.
There’s something special about pulling for the unsung rookie or the castoff. We have, as No Talent points out, witnessed some improbable personal stories the last few years. There’s a spirit and appreciation for where they are at that Andres exemplified so well. Nothing is taken for granted. I was a little skeptical, but couldn’t be happier for these guys getting their shot.
Gold standard baby!
“Vogelsong has a 2.66 ERA and ranks THIRD in his own starting rotation. Matt Cain (2.28) and Barry Zito (2.53) lead the way, and Madison Bumgarner (2.80) isn’t far behind.
And then there’s Sergio Romo.
“Since last June 30, he has given up just one earned run.”
What a difference between last year, Orlando Cabrera 37 yrs old, Miguel Tejada 37 years old!! Blanco 28 yrs old, Arias 27 yrs old!! the potential upside to youth and speed on the base paths!! This is what I have been waiting for. I will always go for youth over an aging vet!! The only problem with youth is, are they a 1 year wonder or the real deal. See Torres.
It’s not known that Torres was a one year wonder- actually his success began in the minors after he began taking medication for ADD. So he had two very good AAA years, an excellent yeear as a reserve OFer here in 2009, then his excellent 2010. He’s currently hitting .260 with a .393 OBP leading off for the Mets. t’s not clear at all that he was a 1 year wonder..
All true. and I will admit that he was not the only one who did poorly in 2011. So yeah, I will take that back using Torres as an example.
I don’t read the Splash comments anymore, and we don’t know what it would taken to get Belrtran, but there’s plenty to justify that he would have been the far better choice than the trade for Pagan. I gave some details already on how it could have worked financially, but whatever, it’s over and done…
I have no idea who was first to endorse any of these guys, and it’s not terribly important. I’ve urged that Pill be given the chance to either prove the AAAA tag wrong or confirm it- the jury is still out. Both Arias and Blanco actually did have some major league success before this, the big question is why they were still dumped- and Blanco’s horrible year in the minors in 2011 is inexplicable. Casilla came here as a guy like dozens of others- great stuff, unable to capitalize on it- you have to wonder about the A’s on this one- even though Santiago had his wild man streaks, he’s been nearly unhittable here from day one.
What now becomes a huge question beyond this year is the OF. Melky and Pagan are both free agents. Hard to imagine they’ll want Angel and Melky might be tough to sign. Wth Blanco controlled through 2017, the OF could be Blanco, Nate or Kieschnick, and get ready for it-Pill.
Has Brown cooled down a bit this season?
He’s hitting .243 with 0 HRs , just 5 extra base hits, 9 for12 stolen bases, .325 OBP for Richmond..
So that would be a yes
Raghetti is an unsung hero on the coaching staff. The organizational culture is a big contributor but his string of successfully developing/sustaining quality pitching at the ML level is pretty amazing. Maybe it is out there but I don’t see many praises for him in national media.
Agreed.. and the respect the young pitchers have shown him is undeniable… Managing is probably in the cards for him .
It’s been a good 3 years since we’ve called him a drunk…
Agreed. If managing was a path, you would think he would have been considered by now. Perhaps it is something he is not interested in and that he is happy where he is…
Pill swung and missed at 5 straight pitches out of the strike zone last night before Belisle threw a belt high slider over the plate. I think he has to show a little more before he can join the Bengie Molina school of successful hackers. It’s not easy to put up a good OPS over a whole major league season when you walk all of 25 times.
denniszu, You would think Raghetti has had his chance in SF but maybe not. I have read that not wanting to move his family was a big issue for him. He has certainly been around enough good baseball minds that I think he could do it well.
Hard to see you picture. Is that a 280?
Here’s hoping that he stays!
’72 240Z (orange.. is there any other color?)
HAHA, used to have an orange 300. Put a new block in it and drove it across the country one summer. Miss that ride.
I think it’s funny how quickly it’s become almost the set LU that had been begged for. Other than some spot starts to keep a couple guys (Nate, Burriss) fresh, it’s probably going to be what we saw last night with just Buster’s days off and the probable Belt/Pill platoon to break up the everyday LU. I didn’t see it this quickly but Arias/Blanco forced it- and he gave the players enough time to show who deserved the starts.This shows for maybe the 100th time that Bonehead will go with a regular LU when performance warrants it- Pill and Culberson are still iffy as to staying in the “rotation” and Crawford could give way to Arias when Pablo gets back but Crawdad is showing a pulse at the plate. As I’ve said- best case is that Mudbug actually does make it, and
now Culberson too, I think we’ll like Arias best as Super Sub..but it’s reassuring to know that Joaquin can step in.
It’ll be interesting to see how some of these ‘possibles’ react to the ‘dog days’in the bigtop. That is a lingering
concern that I have….
dirtnrocksnomo, yeah but the memories will last.
In 1972 I had my 1st Z… rusted out in ’89…. Northeast isn’t good for that poor japanese metal . Got this one from NC in ’06… Color fit in perfectly with Team preference… still a great car….
man, Freddy Sanchez’s “rehab” is sort of reminding me of that old Saturday Night Live sketch: Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead
I was thinking SNL as well, but not Franco. More like Roseanne Rosannadanna: “If it’s not one thing … it’s another!” The shoulder, the back, next will be Hamate bones…. both hands.
or the death of buckwheat.
Pill is 13/55, hitting .255 with 3 doubles and 3 HRs. OBP is .309, OPS is .799. He has 7 Ks against 13 hits. I’d love to see him succeed, because this team has so little power otherwise. But, he’s hardly proven with those stats that he’s not a AAAA player. On another team, he’s not on it…
but he does “damage” with those 13 hits…
You must pay very little attention to the reserves on other teams. Saying he wouldn’t be on any other team is utter nonsense. It’s true that he has not proven himself yet- but if the numbers you sneer at were maintained, he’d easily be in the upper echelon of back up first baseman. Right now his OPS is better than 19 other NL first basemen, including most regulars, including Belt. I’m confident that Belt’s will go up, and I’d think Pill’s will down, but your statement is patently untrue.
13 for 55 = .236.
He’s 13-51, .255.
Amazing how 4 ABs can swing an average 20 points. One more reason I think you really need to see 200-250 ABs (as a minimum) to get a good feel for what a guys can do.
I’m sure this has been discussed here before, but has it been officially articulated as to why Pill isn’t more than an emergency backup at 2b? He played 57 games there last year at Fresno, presumably to boost his value in a 1b-stocked organization. He had only 5 errors, but does anybody know how bad or good he was (i.e. range, ability to turn a DP, instincts)? There are many 4A types that had long careers by increasing their versatility, Ty Wigginton strikes me as a recent example. Even a low 700 OPS with occasional pop would be theoretically great if the defense didn’t absolutely suck.
Good question…his time at 2B was mentioned briefly on last night’s postgame…but not in light of your question.
Speaking of “Left for Dead” (the front portion of Flav’s thread line)…I am wondering what is going on with Huff…what are the plans. He has seen all of 4 ABs since being activated. Can they really afford to carry him on the 25 for the long haul? You name any position in which he could play (OF -1B) and they have “multiple options” that are better.
I don’t know of aynone who thinks that Pill has proven he’s more than an AAAA guy quite yet- and as I’ve said, I’ve been a skeptic. But this is a young man who now has a decent sample-101 AB. He has 5 HR, 18 RBI, an .840 OPS. These are not good numbers, they are OUTSTANDING numbers, even with the low OBP (.315).
As to playing second, it’s nice that he might be able to so on an emergency basis, but it was said that he “tried”
to play second, not an encouraging choice of words… Bottom line- he’s been a very good addition, and would be to almost almost any team.
Didn’t they try Pill at third in ST? Or was it someone else?
They talked about it and talked about him taking grounders there and at second. I can’t imagine it went well or we wouldn’t have seen Gillaspie, and then Culberson.
The thing about Pill, in regards to Giants fans, is that he is liked, but doesn’t have much of a natural constituency. There are a bunch of Giants fans that want Blanco playing everyday, and a bunch of Giants fans that want Belt playing everyday. Pill’s a valuable player, but there isn’t as much Pill-love out there as might be expected.
Pill will have plenty of love if he maintains his numbers. It’s just fact, though, that was not considered a top prospect like Belt ( don’t take my word for it, there are probaly a few dozen scouting reports) and he doesn’t have the excitement factor of Blanco. On the other hand, a lot of folks are sick of the Belt/Bochy soap opera and Bochy obviously prefers Pill’s “did it the hard way, blue collar” persona.
Mentioned last night the Giants are going for their first 4-game win streak this season. It could be worse: The Phillies today won 3 in a row for the first time this year.
It could be worse…G-men could be languishing in last place…like:
Philly
Angels
Red Sox
you know, for all the kvetching about a “set” lineup, how many other fans get to spend the day anxiously awaiting the lineup? Here it is, almost 2 and i’m looking at the clock thinking, “ok, another hour and they’ll probably have something.”
ok, maybe it’s a “half-full” kind of thing.
You’re getting closer to having a near everyday LU
I was just going to reference your earlier post (around 10 this morning)…I expect much of the same, with a switch between Pill/Belt depending on the pitcher, and occasional appearance for the others…at least until Pablo returns.
Of Belts and Pills:
1. “Bochy said Brandon Belt will be in the lineup tonight against righty Jeremy Guthrie.”
2. “Bochy admitted that first base right now is a “platoon” between Belt and Brett Pill.”
3. “Bochy further said he knows Belt can hit lefties, but he doesn’t want Pill to play left field anymore”
….
unrelated: “the A’s claimed Travis Blackley off waivers from the Giants.” (bummer, I would have liked to see him get more of a chance w/ the G’s this year)
http://blog.sfgate.com/giants/2012/05/15/sf-giants-manager-bruce-bochy-uses-p-word-for-first-base-belt-tonight/
Answers my question earlier (11:12 post) about Huff…he’ll be an expensive cheerleader who is, IMNSHO, wasting a spot on the 25.
Do the Giants have the fortitude and balls to eat his contract (remainder of 10 mil this year and 2 mil buyout on the club options for ’13)??? (Think Aaron Rowand.)
Yeah, and how did cutting Rowand work out for Mr. Bow-tie? (grin)
I think BBT was on his way out for a multitude of reasons…
And that is sad…I actually liked Neukom. Got to meet him when the trophy was on tour in Sacto. We got there early and the trophy was sitting out on the sidewalk outside the Capitol. There were a handful of fans there, and Baer and Neukom showed up, took picts with the fans, chatted…it was awesome…beat the hell out of seeing The Oracle in the Capitol building later that day! Just remember…who was the head boogie man when our boys won it all…BBT!
Neukom said that the decision was supported by the other investors ahead of time. Since was there was some bad blood there, I find it hard to believe that no one in the group would disagree if it really was a factor. Purdy and Baggs had said it was but neither supported the claim. Until someone in the group or a reporter with facts makes the claim, it should be considered unproven speculation, IMO..
The lineup:
Blanco RF
Belt 1B
Cabrera LF
Posey C
Pagan CF
Arias 3B
Crawford SS
Burriss 2B
Lincecum RHP
WTF! Why isn’t Culberson in the LU? What the hell is Bochy thinking? Has he gone blind fucking mad???!!!
Just kidding…
MRmister, # 3 is golden. Huff won’t make it through June.
Just dawned on me now- if the Giants hadn’t scored in the bottom oif the 8th, Casilla was going to pitch the ninth in a NON-SAVE situation. Buster, thank you, you saved some poor bloggers a lotta misery…
I’ll go out on a limb and say Belt carries the offense tonight. First hr, 3 hits, 3 rbi’s…
Certainly a reasonable call since he’s going to start hitting them at some point. But he says he doesn’t start hitting bombs till the weather warms up (an excuse that isn’t going to fly as he gets older). I’m going with Blanco as tonight’s MVP just cause I want to see it happen….
He’d better HR every time we play in Miami, Phoenix and any other place that has a retractable roof.
I was turned off by that “I don’t start hittin’ ’em till the weather warms up” comment. He’s young, power will come for him as he gets a little older. But shit, don’t tell me the power isn’t coming till the temps warm up. If that’s really the case, then you can sit your ass on a Fresno bench with mittens on and a warm scarf till Summer time and we’ll call ya up then…
Wainwright, RHP: check
MrB in BL139 (the “Coke Bottle” section): check
Warm weather Thursday: check (probably)
…
I’ll be sure to catch’s Belt’s HR: profit!
I’m not sure that saying that is an “excuse”. If he’s hit more as the weather warms up, it’s a fact, if true. It’s certainly not unusual.
In the early-mid 80’s the Yanks were real high on a powerful local kid named Danny Pasqua. His first year numbers were very similar to Belt’s. He lasted 10 years, but never came close to living up to the hype.
Anyway, I haven’t seen anything from Belt that makes me think he’ll even be as good as Pasqua.
Why would you pick him to lead the team in home runs if you thought he wasn’t good? Pasqua, BTW, kicked around in the minors for a few years before he made the big club.
Wishful thinking, I guess. Twenty-something is all it usually takes anyway. I though he’d play enough to get that many. Giants haven’t had a 30 HR guy since Bonds in 2004.
If you put money on it, you have a good shot. Panda leads the the team with 5. I wouldn’t be bailing on that pick. Belt could tie that before Panda is off the DL.
As I noted the other day, and far more important than what Belt said about his power numbers, is that the coaching staff quit fucking with his swing . As far as noting that he traditionally has had better numbers later in the year, nothing wrong with that statement at all, and not unusual. Anyway, let’s hope we have some guys who field their positions better as the weather warms up..
I’m completely on the fence with Belt. I certainly could see him turning into a great MLB player, I just don’t know if his time is now. And I could also see him failing (though I think that’s unlikely). The fact is, we have had two guys step up (Pill and Blanco) who deserve more PT because they have earned it. No one is giving anything away. Belt even said that the other day. OPS is obviously an important metric but the single hit by Pill last night, the ball Arias slingshoted on the run to end the game, those are the things that stick with managers. Belt needs to do what all these guys need to do– take advantage of his opportunities and bounce back from failures. All young players need to do this and Belt would probably feel like he was being treated like a pussy if he got *free starts* regularly just for putting the uni on…
Look, I’ve backed Pill, but he hit a 6 hopper into the Rowand hole, give me a fucking break. Belt is the guy who will be getting the majority of starts, deservedly so. Pill IS getting more playing time, he will start against most LHers. Since Belt is in fact getting the majority of the starts at first and you have been so clear that Bochy knows something we don’t, obviously he thinks Belt should get most of them.
I agree with you. You’re making my case FOR me. Belt IS getting most of the starts at first and for some reason that’s not good enough for everyone. He’s getting his chances, Bochy isn’t fucking hindering him in any way. If Belt starts putting up then the blog world can start complaining even more (joy) but he IS getting the majority of starts (and doing less to help win games than other guys who get less starts, I might add)…..
That isn’t true about not helping win games as often as Pill. And you never take his defense into account. Pill is better than Posey but Belt is GG caliber, he makes every infielder better. And he’s being treated better now, early on his handling hurt the team.
Well if Belt wants to his 1st “Bomb” of the season,tonight would be a good time off of Guthrie.Cause he’s back on the bench tomorrow against Lefty Jamie Garcia and the Cardinals.
Tulo: fortunately, last night’s unlucky hit appears to be nothing more serious than a very bad bruise. Just bad enough to keep him out of tonight’s game. X-rays are negative (though, don’t we have someone on DL whose X-Rays were neg for a fracture, but one turned up anyway via MRI?)
Actually, he is in the lineup tonight.
Heh, well news often has a curious way of changing over the course of a few hours.
Ishikawa with 2 bombs and 5 rbi’s so far tonight for the Brewers. Now THAT’S how it’s done….
“Ishikawa with 2 bombs” sounds like a WW2 headline…
Every squirrel finds a nut once in a while. Or two…
There is exactly no one who has supported Travis more than I .Hell, I remember calling his 1st major league HR 5 minutes before he hit it. But are you aren’t using his great night to knock Belt, are you?
Not that it matters but I’ve always been a big Ishi fan. Still am, and I thought he would be a good fit in Brewtown. Glad he’s doing well.
Umpire “Balkin”Bob Davidson ‘s Ejection of Charlie Manuel today Featured more F-bombs than a Tarantino film.
He once ejected a mascot (Montreal Expos) for dancing on top of the Dodgers’ dugout roof in a nightgown.
MrMrMrMrMrStutteringWilliam wins the 19-word Ernesto Hemingwayesque short-story contest.
Comcast again brought up Belt possibly being traded with Hector catching and Buster to first. We all love Hector but the idea that that would help the team is ludicrous.Unless we’re getting Honus Wagner III…
was there a Honus Wagner Jr. or II? I wish someone would name a kid Honus. Rhymes with bonus.
Honus-ly?
BTW, many wondered how much Crawford would have to hit because of his defense- .220? 210? .240? It’s now .400…
Very happy for Ishi. Is it a career night?
I too am getting a weird 2010 vibe about this team, as someone noted up top. As Blade reminded me that year, I SURRENDERED, WAVED THE WHITE FLAG (to skirt the edges of propriety of DJLoo’s comment above) in an email to our colorful Coloradan, counting out our boys in June. Not officially or fully. Just surrendered to how crummy I felt at that stretch. But I feel the simmering of the same sort of alchemy as 2010. Believe, Pawlie, believe.
Well, I am waiting for a starring role in that book too. When are you going to write it?????
🙂
Truth be told: THAT IS the one book I want to / and must write eventually: my life as a Giants fan. PUBLIC NOTE TO MAGNUS: Several bloggers (SurvivingGrady comes to mind) compiled stuff from their blogs into a blog. That would work here. Hell, we can have one wild-ass chapter on TWIN-FLAVOR WARS, featuring some of the epic contretemps you guys engage in (though I typically tune out then). Shit, now I’ve started another round.
Well, when you write it, anticipate Hollywood and “jazz up” the scene you spoke about in your 7:14pm post, e.g., “After catching a plane to Syracuse, the mysterious man from Colorado was met by a police escort where they took him to where I was about to jump off a 20 story building ledge . . . He was able to convince me that the Giants weren’t surrendering and I shouldn’t either . . . ” Fade to mysterious man riding away on his hors . . . umm, catching a plane back to Denver.
I had to defend Ishi from the rantings of a bitter Mets fan (is there any other kind?) tonight on Twitter. No outsider’s gonna mess with our beloved WS champs.
Good job Mac!
On the flip side, Torres continued his 3 game slide..
Gee, Miley Cyrus is pitching for AZ.
That might be the first back-to-back walks they’ve had all year.
Damn . . . I thought that was PaGONE.
Pawlie, your the wordsmith – what is the antonym for PaGONE?
Pennsylvania gynecologists overtly nurturing estrogen.
or maybe:
Pandas against gastrointestinal overage nudging entrails
Look on the bright side- it wasn’t hit *TO* PaGONE…
When Timmy’s on, the batters look like they’re guessing up there.
That’s what makes an outing like the last one so frustrating.
If Blanco keeps this “hitting and stealing and scoring” stuff up, poor Nate is never gonna get his job back.
“Hitting, and stealing, and scoring…oh my”….. Fun stuff. And, Nate already has a job — backup OFer. He and the team should be happy with that and just carry on in that manner. Blanco, as many of us have said, is appearing to possibly become this year’s Fungo, so necessary.
ah yea… paulinfarawaylands… drop me a mail: bill@magneticdiary.com
Did I say Fungo? Oops. Vungo. Second cup of morning coffee, comin’ up…
So K&K think that Helton, with his Coors Field-enhanced career belongs in the Hall of Fame. I disagree. I just don’t think Hall of Famer when I think of Helton.
When Kruk mentioned the Expos switch hitting shortstop, I thought “Tim Foley wasn’t a switch hitter.” Then I saw that no Tim Foley has ever played in the majors . . . . Foli
Ouch. But that is likely just a bruise.
Hope so…
Burriss is making my case for shitcanning his ass. The guy cannot even make contact. Fuk….
June Cleaver is about to pour gas on a 2-0 Arizona lead . . . Bases loaded and no one out.
Correction – Mattingly just pulled him in the 5th inning, Guerra to the rescue . . . Still bases loaded and no one out.
BLADE…As June Cleaver would say to Ward,”You were alittle hard on the Beaver last night”. (GRIN)
Pasqua is a nice call, Loo. Kind of the down side to the JT Snow projection, Still, if Brett Pill or Travis come anywhere close to a career OPS+ of 112, I’ll be really surprised. WTF, I already know they won’t.
Oh for criminy’s sake. Tell me there’s a stat called OPS PLUS now. (grin)
Well, the Giants are sure entertaining when they make errors.
Burriss needs to get a hit and steal a bag to make up for his fukups in this game. He’s certainly not making a case for him staying on the roster when Pablo is back…
or when theriot is back. I thought this guy could bring more to the table with more PT, but hasn’t happened. More you see, less there is to like.
I’ve seen his shit for 3 years now. That’s enough…
Nice takes by Belt. Pill does not have near the eye Belt has…
Terrible inning for Manny but Crawford should have taken the pop up.
Ball dude looked like he was shot.
boy Sf is lucky…I’ve seen faster HR trots than tulo to 3b.
I’ll let Twin do the talking on that PaGone play.lol
The “give Pagan a second to think” theory just took a hit.
That is NOT a worthwhile gamble in a tie game with no one on, Kruk.
If that’s how his leg feels, I give him all props for even starting, let alone two whacks tonite.
Tell me again why Pagan is still playing CF?
Because earlier this season, in the recent past, he had a 20 game hit streak including a number of extra base hits
FUck Krukow and fuck Pagan…He has to stop that ball….Thats the fucking ballgame.
I’ve said Pagan to LF and Blanco should be in CF. Bochy isn’t listening…
All 3 outfielders are in the wrong spots. Agree on that one.
Absolutely
But it’s still no excuse for Tim to blow up. Let’s see…2 runs? A victory..
Blow up? The double for one run. That’s it. The sac fly would have been the third out.
Ah, correction. I can’t assume what would have happened with Helton. We’ll never know.
I said ” Let’s see…2 runs? A victory..” in other words, he didn’t blow up. I was waiting on whether he would. He didn’t.
Yeah, it’s all Timmy’s fault that Pagan’s a fuckin gagger in CF…
I sure hope Arias didn’t break his wrist. The guy looked to have found a home with the Giants, at least for this year anyhow.
Can we get a LITTLE offense? Gawd, I missed Arias getting beaned. Any word?
Base hit for PaGROAN!
Angels have fired hitting coach Mickey Hatcher.
About $249.5 million cheaper than firing Pujols…
Too bad this is a Giants blog, because that was the POTD in my opinion . . . Good one snarkk. Lqtm.
Hatcher, a hero of the ’88 World Series. Let’s go ahead and call the ’88 Dodgers the worst team to ever win a World Series.
Krukow: “Huff can play 2b”…Uh, no.
Not unless he wants US to take the Xanax.
I am getting the Rockies feed Wilco . . . Just wondering – can you tell if Kruk is on hallucinogens?
And I heard Hector was fielding balls at 1B with Belt and Pill before the game.The on going of Madness at 1B continues…Whitey is demanding a switch to 1B as well in Fresno.
Popup? Grrrrrrrrrrr . . . Crawfish.
Kruk saying that was worth the gamble is retarded. HE’s GOT to stop the fucking ball.
And here comes the wet noodle offense.
Somebody prove me wrong.
When Arias went down, the bottom of the order fell off the planet.
Wow. Impressive, Crawfish.
Why, with no outs, was Bochy not bunting the men over to 2nd and 3rd? Maybe, maybe because Posey is a slow runner. But, sheezus, you’re depending on Culberson to get a hit or to move them along with a grounder to the right side? Totally disagree with that move. Got to get at least one runner to third…