Quick Post Today
I don’t think I’ve ever been as confident in a SF Giant Zito start than I am today. He’s been throwing the ball decently,. most of the time, and he’s facing a shit offense. He cruises today 🙂
Well, Beltre took me down at BTS at 19 games. But hey, if you’re gonna go out, go out in style. 4 K’s in 4 plate appearances will get ya noticed……
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
i saw beltre’s last two ABs, not good…who were your first choices again?
Zum gets a W.
“confident in a Zito start”…I think that deserves a fuller explanation, and I can’t say I share the feeling.
After last night, I would think the price for Matt Garza just went back up. I was wondering why the Cubs hadn’t been playing the LaHair guy (bad splits?) much recently. He battled Casilla the night before and hit the double to LF.
Last couple have been textbook Ws–starters go into the 9th, Sf scores just enough, pen shuts things down when they have to without a lot of work.
Yes, Willie, nice to get a win! I’d been racking up some losses at AT&T the last couple of years.
The weather was fairly nice, overall, although cold and windy by the end of the game.
The Giants did a good job with the retro theme. The guy with the amplified bullhorn. A barbershop quartet between some innings. Jazzy piano music between innings. Organ music throughout the ballgame. The scoreboard in black and white, to look like old news film reel. Footage of some old commercials. A 100 year old woman tossed the first pitch….. to the catcher about three feet away. It’s all good.
The Giants had encouraged people in the stands to dress up, and a few did. Women with the big, flowery hats. Men in suits and old-fashioned hats. I saw a guy dressed up in an early 1900s-style U.S. army uniform.
As for the game- it was Cainer’s show, obviously.
And what a dog Soriano is. I saw three plays where he dogged it. That squibber between the pitcher’s mound and the foulline, where he jogged to first. I heard an exasperated Cubs fan yell: “RUN!!!”
And the double to triple’s alley. Soriano never ran all out on the play to see if he could possibly get a triple on the play. Yeah, there were two outs. Still, if he hustles, he probably gets a triple.
And the botched flyball. Maybe not so much a lack of hustle on that play, as just taking an utterly wretched angle.
The Giants gave all attendees a scorecard that had newspaper clippings from 1912 on it. I saw more people keeping score because they all the scorecard.
I think “angle” might be inaccurate. “Flight pattern”? “Journey”?
Zito is the Great Equalizer. Good team, bad team, they’re the same team. What you get from the Zitster is whatever the voices in his head command him to do.
watching darvish throw last night, I’m struck by the stop mid motion employed by japanese pitchers. What is the benefit, besides potentially disrupting hitter timing? Kuroda does this too, and I recall correctly goes at least back to Hideo Nomo. ?
“if” I recall correctly. Didn’t nomo stop when he was doing his turn around motion? Honest, I don’t get why they would do this, and I don’t think the kid pitchers in the LL teams they send over here for the WS do it, so it must be taught at some level.
Does it actually disrupt hitters’ timing? Maybe at first. It seems like the batters would get used to it at some point.
From SFGate:
“Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval was interviewed by sheriff’s deputies in connection with an alleged sexual assault at a hotel near Santa Cruz after a woman named him as the suspect in a complaint, authorities said Saturday.
Lt. Fred Plageman of the Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that Sandoval was questioned at the oceanfront Seascape Beach Resort in Aptos early Friday and cooperated with authorities. He was not arrested or detained.”
To speculate before the “facts” are known, it sounds like a “Too Drunk to Fuck” contretemps . . . from the woman’s POV.
If Selig had the powers that Goodell does, he could suspend Sandoval even if it was shown that Panda did nothing wrong. What would you all think if Pablo were suspended without any evidence that he did anything illegal and with no charges filed by the *real* authorities ?
Blanco RF, Theriot 2B, Cabrera LF, Posey 1B, Pagan CF, Sanchez C, Arias 3B, Crawford SS, (Zito P)
There’s some humorous comments at the MLB.com site in regards to yesterday’s Giants game:
Ricky Beaver
No matter which uniform they wear the Cubbies are awful. They haven’t won a WS since 1908 so their championship flag is older than the barbershop quartet.
Reply · 4 · Like · Follow Post · 14 hours ago
Eric Landrum · University of California, San Diego
Blame Wrigley. That place is like playing in a snow globe.
Reply · Like · about an hour ago
Samuel S Wakim · Indiana
In 1912, the Giants won the pennant! The Giants won the pennant! The Giants won the pennant! The Giants won the pennant!….
Reply · 1 · Like · Follow Post · 26 minutes ago
Tango Eclectus · Top Commenter · Redondo Beach, California
Yay Giants! Good win.
Reply · 1 · Like · Follow Post · 14 hours ago
Darin Heinz
It would be nice if it were 1912. Then it would only be four years since the Cubs won the World Series. Plus the Holocaust wouldn’t have happened yet (giving it a chance to be avoided) and the stupid Internet would not exist, allowing people to live real lives instead of fake virtual ones. All I’m sayin’…
Reply · Like · Follow Post · 12 hours ago
Mike Reynolds · Top Commenter · Owner/Managing Editor at Akron Sports NOW
Says the person posting from the internet.
Reply · 9 · Like · 12 hours ago
Darin Heinz
Well, I was going to mail it in, but my inkwell had run dry, my penmanship is atrocious, and in this economy I really can’t afford the twelve cents to send a telegram.
Reply · 5 · Like · 12 hours ago
Mike Reynolds · Top Commenter · Owner/Managing Editor at Akron Sports NOW
haha, fair enough!
Reply · 2 · Like · 12 hours ago
Daniel Gower · Subscribe · Gunderson High
keep it up GMen. even with kemp out, doesn’t look like LA is slumping anytime soon.
Reply · Like · Follow Post · 14 hours ago
Don Pursley · Temecula, California
LA just ended a 5 game skid
Reply · Like · 11 hours ago
Jerrad Mechals · Eureka Senior High
Do you even watch baseball?
Reply · 2 · Like · 9 hours ago
Eric Landrum · University of California, San Diego
Who cares about the Dodgers, the Braves are who we have to worry about winning the NL West… How the hell did a team from Atlanta ever end up in the NL west in the first place? Anyway, they need to create some kind of wild card, create an unbalanced schedule and come up with some way to allow NL and AL teams to play out side of the WS and spring training.
Anyway, some may say that I’m a dreamer, but I’m not…
Reply · Like · about an hour ago
View 1 more
Rick Lasse · Columbia College Chicago
1912 Throwback “Night”? What’s wrong with that ? And wasn’t it the Giants that set the single game attendance mark with 976? Say what you want about the Cubs, but they draw fans no matter where they play.
Reply · Like · Follow Post · 15 minutes ago
Mike Reynolds · Top Commenter · Owner/Managing Editor at Akron Sports NOW
This is just plain awesome. Wish the Indians would do something like this.
Maybe a turn back the clock to 1920 night?
Reply · Like · Follow Post · 12 hours ago
Eric Landrum · University of California, San Diego
In 1920, I think it was still cool to call them Indians…
Reply · Like · about an hour ago
Kiel Guico
Giants cant lose their unstoppable.
Reply · Like · Follow Post · 13 hours ago
James Hodge · Concord, California
Their unstoppable what?
Hey, if the Rockies pick up the pace a bit, Car-Go could get NL MVP, and Gio (Nats) the CY…A’s fans would be so proud..
The story with Panda is extremely disappointing. Hopefully, there is not much to it. The thing is, he should be smart enough at this stage of being a major leauger now for 3+ years to not even have put himself into a situation where this kind of thing is even a possibility. According to a report into KNBR this morning from someone who saw him last night in Stockton v. the Ports, he is looking very heavy…
Agree Snarkk…He needs to get his shit together when he’s away from the team on his adventures.Lot’s of money grabbing Bimbo’s out there looking for the situations to cash in.
This has the potential mess of a Kobe Bryant scenario.Either way it takes a hit on Pablo’s reputation.
Brad Penny is slated to start for the Grizzlies tomorrow. If things remain according to Hoyle, he’ll be starting for Timmy in a couple of weeks.
We’ll see.
Well Dennis, it sure as hell isn’t going to happen Tuesday. He begins the week at the game’s most pitching-friendly ballpark, San Diego’s Petco Park. However, he goes against the game’s most potent offense, the Rangers, on Sunday. Timmy should be a lock against the Friars, with a record of 10-4, 1.84 ERA and 1.15 WHIP in 19 career starts, including four consecutive quality starts against them (highlighted by an eight-inning gem against them April 28 – 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER).
However, everyone should worry when he goes against Texas and more important, all inter-league teams . . . He’s only 7-5 with a 3.47 ERA and 1.29 WHIP in 15 career interleague starts, numbers considerably worse than those against NL foes.
Lurie’s topic this morning is, what the biggest surprise to the season (now a third of the way complete). Most callers went with Melky. Lurie went with Pagan, which is weird, because before the season started he said that Pagan was *head and shoulders* about Torres as a major leaguer. Now all of a sudden he’s surprised with his performance?
To me, it’s Blanco and Casilla. I think I read yesterday that Blanco is leading all leadoff hitters in the NL in on base %. Um, that’s a pretty big surprise………
Did ya hear about Union Rags’ workout this morning? 4-1 or 9/2 next Sat. sounds pretty juicy to me.
I watched a little of Lurie’s pre-game show in the Willie Mays Plaza yesterday. I gave him a wave and he gave me a big wave and smile. He looked pretty darned happy. And why not? Nice gig he has- getting paid to talk about baseball!
Snarkk, you are correct that Pablo has to be smarter about this shit. Going home with some drunk be-atch who you don’t know is just asking for major trouble. It’s not like the chick disappears into thin air after you fuck her.
Yeah, he’s not some young pup anymore, that excuse is long gone. These pro players, single or otherwise, have so much spendable dough, I don’t get that when they have the urge, they just don’t pay for it. As has been said before, they don’t pay to get laid, they pay for the girl to leave….
She would have disappeared if Panda had told her he was a janitor after fucking her.
WillieD–to answer your request above, what I said was I’ve never felt so confident (and I then I made a joke about him cruising today). All I meant was that compared to all his pre-2012 starts where I had zero confidence that he would pitch a good game, today I have *some* confidence that he will pitch a good game–and that qualifies as *the most confident* I’ve ever been for a Zito start (when you factor in the poor opposition).
and he’s rolling today, even tho cubs have hit some balls hard.
the thing with Panda is, we don’t know enough info. His lawyer said it was a “consensual, personal relationship of a sexual nature.” That could be a lot of things. Was he skull fucking her while she was passed out? That would be a problem. On many levels. They were out with a group of people, I’m assuming she had friends there and their reports of what happened will probably impact this case greatly. If they didn’t see anything unusual, then it’s probably just a he said/she said thing and this will all blow over. Hopefully, he’s smarter next time he goes out on the town.
The thing is, I’ve heard reports that the young lady went to the hospital and had a rape kit taken. If true, that means she is serious bidness — the cops can now get proof whether Panda was not just in the room, but with her. If that turns out a positive ID, then at minimum, he’s going to have to pay big time to make this go away. Meanwhile, you gotta believe that from a PR perspective, Baer and the Giants front office are livid and in red alert mode —
Day Baseball!
Get your red hots!
If Zito can just keep from getting guys on ahead of Soriano, he’ll have gone halfway to a good outing. He should throw Soriano nothing but those parabola curve balls all day long…
Justin Blackmon got a DUI this weekend but that’s not the interesting part. He was 3 TIMES the legal limit. That’s some pretty serious drunk driving.
Dennis probably doesn’t drive much.
It was his second DUI since 2010. No joke: When I got my DUI back in 2000, I blew a .24 exactly myself.
Sey Hey!
I got one too (5 years ago). I was driving out of a wedding at the Wente winery– I didn’t stand a chance, lol. But I was at a .11 and I was surprised it was that low– I was pretty lit up. Regardless, everything happens for a reason, some good things came out of that $10,000 evening
As an adult man having sex with an adult woman there is nothing Panda or any other athlete should have to justify any more than you or I should if it is deemed to be consensual. A “rape kit” sounds ominous, as if there’s anything involved that would prove rape (if no violence is involved). It might prove he fucked her is all. His attorney has said this involved consensual sex, he shouldn’t have to pay her anything if it can’t be shown it wasn’t consensual. Having a rape kit taken does she mean is serious business- either about a rape taking place- *or* about laying the groundwork for her extortion of a wealthy athlete.
Blanco’s got that little running over the shoulder catch thing down pat
He seems to play much shallower than Nate, although that may be just perception. If true, that’s a good thing as long as he can run that stuff down.
“The contents of the evidence collection (rape) kit vary by state and jurisdiction. They may include:
Instructions
Bags and sheets for evidence collection
Swabs
Comb
Envelopes
Blood collection devices
Documentation forms
The exam will most likely begin with the examiner obtaining a complete and thorough medical history from the victim. The medical forensic exam also involves a head to toe physical examination, which includes the genital area. This may also include:
Collection of blood, urine, hair and other body secretion samples.
Photo documentation.
Collection of the victim’s clothing, especially undergarments.
Collection of any possible physical evidence that may have transferred onto the victim from the rape scene.”
Again, unless violence is involved , a rape kit is a misnomer, it’s a sexual intercourse kit.
Bullshit. The name is EXACTLY what I identified it as . . . Not a “sexual intercourse kit.”
Per RAINN: The nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization –
A rape kit may also be referred to as:
Sexual assault evidence collection kit
Sexual assault forensic evidence (SAFE) kit
Sexual offense evidence collection (SOEC) kit
Physical Evidence Recovery Kit (PERK) kit
lqtm.
A rape kit is taken when there’s a victim’s allegation of forced intercourse, whether there’s evidence of physical violence on the victim’s person, or not. It’s a perfectly accurate name in either case. It’s used to gather evidence of intercourse, which is a prime element of the crime; as well as any signs of violence on the person of the victim. Of course, rape can occur without any evidence of physical violence on the victim’s body, it can occur under threat of violence, such as win a gun or knife held by the perp or an accomplice. In that case, it still is a “rape kit” because the evidence gathered is used to prove one element of that crime. Without evidence of violence from the taking of the rape kit, all that means is that then the “non-consensual” element is harder for the DA to prove, and often a hurdle that deters a DA from filing a rape charge…
Arias is now 0 fer his last 18 and just 1 fer his last 23 (.043) He is who he is.
Keep praying to the Theriot god when Pablo comes back. Oh, wait. Looks like Pablo already came in Santa Cruz.
And what he is is a .250ish hitter in a slump.
KOAPOS!
Credit that run to Soriano. Shit. He makes Brett Pill look like a Gold Glover out in LF.
Wow, Pagan is really proving to be a key part of this offense. Probably nobody but Pagan and Blanco have the speed to score on that hit. Nice clutch job by Arias, he was overdue…
Flannery took a risk that paid off- Pagan was out by three feet but the catcher dropped the throw.
With two pitchers due up next, it was a good risk.
***ERA RACE UPDATE***
Zito: 3.13
Timmy: 5.82
Still not too late to change your vote. Too bad the same couldn’t be said after the last Presidential election.
Yawn
I voted Zito. I found out I was a 13 per center!
Dennis, do you have a job, or are you living on some kind of government stipend, i.e. disability, Social Security, or other progressive liberal programs?
Just wondering.
Denny, John Taylor Bowles wasn’t pulling it out for you anyway..
This is the only John Taylor that I know. That name Bowels has a bad connotation attached to it. For shame, Prince Charles. For shame.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1St5vm7zJyQ
I remember the first glove I got all those years ago. My Uncle got me a Rawlings Claw first basemans mitt, the autograph in the pocket was Whitey Lockman , a old first baseman for the New York Giants at one time. This was in 1962 or 63. I wore that thing out over the years.
That was a great shot and it really was “this man needs a hug” from Theriot. Right up there with Mota’s reaction to Stewart’s HR last year..
Yeah, they showed it on the Cubs telecast too…Brenly seemed to appreciate it too.
A 5-pitch inning for Zito, and another starter goes at least eight.
Why not send Blanco to steal? He was stealing bags blind in ST. Get him on second where a really bad wild pitch could even get him in….
The decision is ultimately on Blanco- you have no idea whether he had the green light or not.
Is Bochy going to let Zito attempt to finish the 9th? I think he is.
When’s the last time that could be said of Timmy?
Our best two finishers of late have been Zito and Pablo.
It would be the second 9 inning CG for Zito in 9 years.
Alright, I didn’t know Soriano had a knee problem. But- he’s hurting his team out there. They’d be better off getting him some DL time.
And another Soriano-assisted run.
Alfonso was so pleased and relieved with himself for fielding the ball cleanly . . . .
The Great White Shark come home!
Soriano’s not the brightest player out there, sheesh. Bochy obviously didn’t want to risk Blanco get caught stealing w//2 out and taking the bat out of Melky’s hands, so he went with the hit/run, and it worked. Nice execution by Melky. Blanco’s speed is huge for this club…
With all of the deserved praise for how Melky and Pagan have hit- Blanco has been the difference maker. We were 2 under .500 when he took over the lead off spot for good. Pagan had a .278 OBP at the time. Blanco is at .386 before today’s game.
did I just hear the home crowd booing bochy for pulling zito?
haharharhaha
🙂
Well, removing Zito is the “by the book” decision. I would have left him in for one more, see if he could get the DP….
Flappers, get off your goddamn lazy asses and stand and applaud as Zito walks off the mound.
The world can’t end soon enough. This Zito-Mayan shit is fucking unbelievable.
Record for Zito at comparable times since he’s been here.
June 4, 2007 6-5 3.87
June 3, 2008 1-9 5.87
June 5, 2009 2-6 3.86
June 1, 2010 6-2 2.78
June 3, 2012 5-2 2.98
2011 on DL
Are you still “booking” that Timmy’s ERA will be lower than Zito’s come the Mayan’s end?
Zito is contributing to the world ending, and I love it.
We are now into June, and Zito’s ERA in UNDER 3.
As Larry King was want to say…Houston, Hello!!!
Yes, almost as good as 2010. Can you check on how he finished that year out, Denny. I’m verr appreciative of his success thus far but this man has a looooooonnnng way to go before he’s out of the doggie house…
And that’s why Bochy took out Zito for Romo. Think LA is hearing some Giant footsteps?
I didn’t even realize L.A. was busy losing their game today.
The Cubs are crap, but you gotta give props to Zito. He really mixed things up, they were off balance all day. I’m getting it now. Zito made a pact with the Devil — he gets some mojo back, but in exchange Beelzebub steals all Timmeh’s…
Annnnnnd, the Gyros played great D today behind Zits. That’s unusual. Giants have gradually been getting their D together the last fortnight; and that’s huge…
was listening, not watching [which is a treat
Jon Miller said Romo may have hurt himself on final out…how’s Sergio look? is he ok?
Maybe it was too risky, but I really wanted Zito to record the shutout.
No immediate news on that. And I don’t think they showed a replay.
He participated in the handshake line.
looked like the ball may have hit his knee, he grimaced and then started walking around
close parens after the word “treat”
Tough stretch for the Pagan/Zito haters.
Good Game Gmen
and I am in bed by midnight
nothin’ finer than a day game beneath the bridge.
a good win for me in the Flap with Zito:) I still suck….watching Zito’s starts are becoming cant miss tv…
A good win for you in the Flap? You’re some 40 odd pts. beneath my pussy.
It wouldn’t help your cause if Kim Kardashian came and sat on your face.
Does anyone here think that Lincecum could have gone 8.1 no runs today? I don’t. I voted in Denny’s poll for Zito as a joke but I think it’s completely possible that Timmy finishes with a higher ERA than Zits this year. We are 1/3 of the way through the season, lowering or raising your ERA significantly is getting harder to do as each start passes by………
Zito owes the Giants a good season at some point.
And he was just as baaaaacccccck at this time in 2010.
I’ll be at the game tomorrow. The weather forecast is kind of quirky, though- a possibility of some rain.
The START time is quirky, too. A day game on a non-holiday Monday.
You think Chapman has a shot for the ASG? Still 0.00 ERA. 28 IP 7 H 9 BB 50 K..
Here’s what to do when facing him- Put the bat on your shoulder and leave it there.
new thread.