Private Trainers – Bet The House On ‘Em?
Yesterday’s MadBum game sucked. Royal. So, I’m not rehashing that HOT mess. Instead, my topic is: What’s the role of a private trainer in MLB? This piqued my interest when Pablo came off surgery rehab directly from 6 weeks under the Giants’ nose — he looked like the Michelin Man wearing a custard-colored Gi with a Black Belt in midnight snacking. Domo arigato, Panda.
First, a definition. A “private trainer” is a third party (not a team trainer or employee) hired by an athlete OR his team to work with the athlete to improve his physical conditioning and/or specific sport’s skills or techniques. You can define it your way, that’s mine. No, Panda’s Mom does not qualify as HIS private trainer. Chef, maybe.
You know these examples, maybe you’ve got more:
1. Prospective NFL draftees engage specialized trainers, now a cottage industry, to get them in shape to ace the Combine tests. 2. Panda worked the 2010 off-season in Phoenix at his own expense to get back in shape with former Bonds trainer Greg Oliver and former decathlete Dan O’Brien. Plus, Panda supposedly hired his own healthy-eats cook — a 1 star “Michelin” chef? 3. In the Clemens trial the Rocket’s private trainer McNamee testified he shot up Clemens and weirdly, also Rocket’s wife (which she admitted). 4. Bonds had Greg Anderson, his connection, and Harvey Shields, his rub down guy, cuckolding Stan Conte to the “hear no evil” Sabes. 5. In Zito’s first Giants’ ST, he showed up with a new motion from Planet Zitoid. That freaked Rags, who put a quick stop to it. This past off-season, both Zito and Alex Smith went to LA for advice from Tom House, the career Pen journeyman who is now somehow a throwing motion expert on things he didn’t master himself. Zito “cratered” early this ST, and jettisoned the House Crouch. But, maybe some of that House voodoo diddoo what it was supposed toodoo given Zito’s subsequent improvement this season. 6. Timmeh shed 20+ pounds last off-season and swamalot, a new thing for him. Did anybody tell him to do that? His Pops? The mirror? Did the Giants approve or supervise that “plan”? There’s a stationary lap pool in Timmeh’s Seattle luxe condo building — so, now the scope of the off-season conditioning program of your Ace, uh former Ace, depends on what’s in his condo building’s training room?
My 10-minute “exhaustive” Internet search didn’t turn up much gossip on this topic. Leading me to believe few care, or at least aren’t talking. Momentarily nonplussed, I trudged ahead anyway and looked at the new MLB Basic Agreement, which is just a few Bezukhovs shorter than War and Peace. I found nothing in the MLBBA about teams controlling private trainers in non-injury situations. Same with the MLB Uniform Player Contract (MLBUPC link below). In general, players must follow the team medicos’ advice and be in condition to play, but players have the right to get second opinions on injuries from their own docs. The club must pre-authorize procedures by non-team quacks and others where there is a player “disability” due to work-related injury. But, where there is a non-work related disability, injury or “condition” (altogether a Non-Work-Related-Injury) no advance notice to the Club or consent by the Club is required for treatment of the player by a non-Club provider unless the NWRI “may affect the player’s ability to provide services” to the Club under the MLBUPC. The Club will not pay for treatment of these NWRI’s by outside parties. That leads me to believe that since Panda reportedly paid for his outside rotundity rehab, his girth is considered a NWRI condition over which the Giants do not have official contractual control – though Panda has no limitation on voluntarily coordinating his outside training (treatment) with the Club.
So far, my conclusion is that the Clubs handle this private trainer activity on a case by case basis, because where no injury is involved, the MLBBA and MLBUPC are non-specific in this area, maybe purposefully. I would argue a team should have greater official control than just “keep us posted” over how the player trains and maintains/improves his skills and techniques with private trainers the player hires, especially during the off season. If Tom House tells Zito in December that he’s got to lower his arm angle and crouch like Carlos Castaneda, then what if that contradicts Rags’ advice? Rags gets paid a lot to tutor the pitchers and build their confidence; he’s got a pretty damn good track record doing that, and he was a lefty. In the tort world, I’d call that interference with contract. To me, the vague to non-existent official Club oversight of private trainers risks injury and anything from slight to major interference in managing the performance of highly-paid players.
If you guys have some inside dope on this, let’s hear it. Tempest in a teapot? Eh, probably. Unless your team has a Frequently Fat Panda and a Failing Freak…
Links:
1. MLB Basic Agreement. See Art. XIII E. and G. MLB Uniform Players Contract starts on page 277, see its Regulation 2 on medical care. http://mlb.mlb.com/pa/pdf/cba_english.pdf. 2. Stan Conte and predicting injury: (ironic tidbit at the end about Kemp and his great non-injury history). http://tinyurl.com/7jgqfgv 3. Now, kids get private trainers to improve scholarship chances. http://tinyurl.com/8x62ugx
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
Wow! The Stable Boys have put together some wonderful posts, but this one is excellent on so many levels. Question – was this stream of consciousness writing or did it take a few days to put together. I’m serious . . . It’s so natural and flowing, that I would select the former. However, there are so many nuggets of information/facts, that it also seems to have taken you more than a day to put together. Regardless, this is an excellent post snarkk. Bravo! I love the Castaneda reference.
Regarding my opinion of personal trainers, I would agree with you that “. . . the Clubs handle this private trainer activity on a case by case basis . . . “
Blade, the stream flows first. Then, it gets pared back and channeled…
Well, bravo! You truly impressed today. You are an excellent writer.
Same thing goes for the other “stable boys” too. All of you are doing an excellent job!
Hopefully, that’s not a future description of my prostate…
Weatherproof games: Marlins at Brewers, Royals at Blue Jays, Dodgers at Diamondbacks.
Thunderstorms are the new norm, it seems, with the rain expected to fall in Detroit, Atlanta and Chicago. The forecast is for temperatures in the 90s, with mostly sunny skies and humid conditions, in Washington, New York and Pittsburgh. Cleveland also will be sunny, with the mercury topping out at 94. St. Louis will be the worst place to be Thursday, with a projected high of 106. Los Angeles (76) and San Diego (69) are much cooler and cloudy.
I think he was talking about player’s responsibilities to MLB and their teams. There was something about having a trainer in there. Other than that I didn’t understand a word of it.
😀
My logical mind tells me every highly paid athlete would pay some one to help them with their off field activities: diet, training, mental. Just like rap artists have bodyguards. And movie stars have nannies.
but the real world often doesn’t follow my logical mind.
Well snarkk, you hit another grand slam. Lots of information here, but the one point on which I want to comment (at least initially) is where you say “I would argue a team should have greater official control than just “keep us posted” over how the player trains and maintains/improves his skills and techniques with private trainers the player hires, especially during the off season.”
I agree whole-heartedly with this. Teams invest a lot of cheddar in these players (Zito 19 mil, Timmy 18.25, Cain 15.83, Huff 10, and so on.)
If I owned/was running a club, I want some type of “check-and-balance” where the player is required to consult with the team prior to hiring a trainer and embarking on a regimen with that trainer. Seriously, if I am your employer AND I am on the hook for millions per year, I want to be aware of your plans beforehand, and have some type of discussion about that plan.
It blows me away that this IS NOT the case.
Oh, and like Steve, I loved the Carlos Castaneda reference. Loved reading those books in my “high” school days.
Quite interesting topic, snarkk. I think the whole personal trainer vs. the club issue goes back to accountability—what are you doing, and is it working? who is the club to trust, athlete or outsider, on how beneficial or harmful a program it is? And the trainers definitely have a stake in this, trying to promote themselves for what they can do to help an athlete increase performance.
Collgege D-1 athletes have workout requirements to fulfill in off season; b-ball kid I know who was at Cal was to respond to emails as to exactly what she was doing. There, of course, if you were inflating what you did, it would be noticeable, and very bad for your career. College coaches, as we all know, have total control and can make someone’s life as difficult as possible without much recourse if they are disappointed in you (read steve alford’s book for an insight). Don’t like it here? hey, transfer.
There was a lot written locally about Jeremy Lin and how hard he worked to improve his technique and his body after playing for the Ws. Shooting stuff he did with the coach from Pinewood Doc Scheppler (excellent coach, but not someone I respect much for how he runs his little factory) but Lin also worked out at a local training clinic to improve his leg strength etc. I’ve known HS kids who use these type of facilities (very expensive and private) during off season of their sport to work on something specific, such as increasing take off speed from standing start in football.
All in all tho, with the tremendous improvements in on site training facilities, travel accomodations, and clubhouse meals and spreads, the baseball players of today come up with the damndest injuries and excuses not to play that would have had them laughed out of the league and ostracized back in the day.
The first player I remember reading about that had a personal trainer was none other than our very own Will Clark who early in his career was trained by the famous Mackie Shilstone. He probably should’ve stuck with it.
I thought Will being out of shape hurt his career.
—
Maybe Sabes will swing a deal while they’re in Pittsburgh. Give ’em Nate, Huff and a little cash for McGehee and an emergency starter like Lincoln or Karstens.
Why would the Pirates take these Stiffs Loo? Might as well throw in Noah Lowry.
Don’t quite get what your point is Snarrk. Are you suggesting they “police” these guys outside workouts and use of private trainers to make sure they fall in line with what the club authorizes or recommends? And/Or are you suggesting they have it written in their contract that they can’t use PT’s without club permission and if they are caught, the contract is voided?
They told Bonds to leave his entourage outside, but they couldn’t prohibit him from working with those guys anymore than they could monitor what he does in his private gym. What Pablo eats or does on his time is up to Pablo. They can only offer advice, the facilities etc and hope these guys exercise sound judgement. If not, they say goodbye when the contract expires.
Brad Penny certainly arrived in shape…
If by ‘shape’ you mean circle, bingo.
LQTM
Penny looks like he spent time in a Sumo training camp.
Yeah, you’d think teams would track this better among their players, and maybe there’s some kind of sign-off on players planning to do stuff.
I mean, what if some pitcher finds out that placing South American Hellobdella Robusta leaches on his throwing arm will gain him 5 MPH on his fastball?
Hey, I’m just glad the mystery surrounding bat day in the 60s is over.
Chuck hope you saw that I was clear that I was not questioning your truthfulness.
On the first page I had said:”Bottom line: there was no bat day in 1968- which is NOT to denigrate Chuck’s remembrance. I’ve often noted that one of the beauties of this wonderful game is that as time passes it’s not the details, it’s the ambiance, the poetry, the romance- a lovely day at the ballpark, good enough for me.But I think we really wanna hear more about the sheep.”
This had started with me trying to find the game you saw,thought we’d all enjoy that. It’s actually interesting to have found the info about the game being cancelled because of the RFK assassination.
.
Yeah, i get it. The point remains that sometimes reality gets in the way of memories.
I thought for sure that it was 1968. Turns out it was ’69. . . .
“Round” is a shape. I watched bartolo colon handcuff boston the other night, and he’s quite a large guy.
Smokey, snarkk can certainly speak quite well for himself, but if I were paying the millions baseball teams do now for reseve IFs let alone superstars, I’d sure want to be kept aware of and monitor what the players do in the off season. How can you not be concerned about that and want to know what’s going on? And in constant consultation with your team paid trainers for their opinions and advice on such.
I’ll bet in coming years there are end of season meetings with coaches and players to address just this type of stuff. You can make off season stuff voluntary, but ultimately the club does have a hammer.
monitor”
How? Video survelliance?
oops, before Ted spits up his cheerios… it’s surveillance.
I don’t criticize typos, I do those myslef. I only criticize egregious mangling of the English language or the heretical mangling of proper names. And how did you know I was having Cheerios?
Speaking of surveillance . . .
“You can make off season stuff voluntary, but ultimately the club does have a hammer” Well, I don’t think the teams have a choice as to whether it’s voluntary. The team could never have required Pablo to attend Camp Panda, for example. The teams do have a “hammer”, but it’s subject to the terms of the labor agreement.
Nothing is wrong. Everything is normal. You win some and then lose some. There’s no one way of approaching being in shape too. Will Clark worked out by going hunting. Some like golf. Some like weights. Chuck Norris likes Total Gym. His wife tells everyone (for a price) that anyone can do it!
That’s a lot to digest, good work. I’ll address it as the day progresses. But a couple things-“Tom House, the career Pen journeyman who is now somehow a throwing motion expert on things he didn’t master himself.” That’s a needless remark considering that many MLB hitting and pitching instructors are also masters on things they didn’t master themselves. Maybe some would be interested in the list of current MLB coaches- for every Righetti or Baylor there’s a John Narron or Bryan Price. The ability to coach or instruct is not tied to one’s ability to master the craft himself. http://tinyurl.com/d8ypk5z
Also, I know many consider a Pablo fat analogy just so terribly witty, and “he looked like the Michelin Man wearing a custard-colored Gi with a Black Belt in midnight snacking” is about as witty as they get considering the low bar, maybe Sandy Alderson would be interested in your services.
You’re a good writer and observer, but I really don’t think this piece is advanced by the faulty thinking on instructors and yet another zinger at Pablo.
That’s right Twin!
“Momentarilly non-plussed”
Classic. Don’t know why that cracked me up, but it did. Hell of a job, Snarkk.
I liked swamalot as well. This was great stuff snarkk
“I would argue a team should have greater official control than just “keep us posted” over how the player trains and maintains/improves his skills and techniques with private trainers the player hires, especially during the off season.”
And that’s a fine argument that as much chance of being approved by the union as waterboarding underachievers..
Yep…I commented on this one. And I agree there is probably a snowballs chance in hell that something of this nature comes to fruition. The point I made was that if a team has all that coin invested in a player, then the team should have some visibility and input into the offseason agreement. Probably won’t happen but just my opinion that teams should have some level of say in these agreements.
Your earlier comment was absolutely valid Chi. You also are correct when you say, “The point I made was that if a team has all that coin invested in a player, then the team should have some visibility and input into the off-season agreement.” See Zumie’s point below (10:18am) . . . Another example is what they told Panda in the off-season, when he was out of shape . . . Essentially, “Get in shape or you will find yourself in the minors.” In any event, I think it is not only a good comment, but it is a fact that teams have much more input than anyone really suspects regarding their players health and well-being.
I wasn’t commenting on Chi’s comment and hadn’t even read it, but on the qoute from Snarkk. But “Get in shape or you will find yourself in the minors” is absoutely within the team’s rights. How much they can dictate how he does that is very much in question.
I would agree. No question that this area is not ignored by the MLBPA in the MLBBA bargaining sessions…
The NFL has non-mandatory mini-camps in the off-season which baseball doesn’t have; but MLB teams sometimes do ask a player, minor leaguer or major leaguer, to play winter-ball of some kind, in one of the many winter leagues.
key words there are “non-mandatory” and “ask”.
Chi, I’m not going to the Avett Brothers concert in Chico, but I do look forward to seeing them again in concert someday.
The concerts upcoming on my calendar n the next few months are Kasey Chambers at the Fillmore, and Wilco at the Berkeley Greek Theatre.
One of the things the Dodgers have going for them is their 8th and 9th inning relief, when they have a lead. Belasario looks scary good right now, and the closer is solid, too. The Dodger pitching has been better than expected, overall, and is keeping them around. The Dodger wheels have gotten very wobbly in the last couple of weeks, but those two wins over the Reds in the last two days were impressive. The Dodgers have come back to the pack in the division, but their pitching makes them competitive on a daily basis.
D-Backs still struggle to be an above .500 team.
Mini camps, winter ball, fall league, etc still leaves a player with time to get outta shape. 49er mgmt were “momentarily non-plussed” recently when their top draft picks showed up out of shape.
And it’s interesting how things have changed in the NFL over the years because of the big money involved these days. In the past, it was expected that a lot of NFL players would get out of shape during the off-season, and then get it “sweated off them” in summer camp, which was alway a very dangerous thing, and has had tragic results.
The Niners, of course, used to train in the brutal heat of Rocklin. I went up there several times to watch them practice. It was awesome to be so close to the players as they practiced. Montana, Rice, Lott, and all of them. And I think, overall, Walsh and Siefert ran more humane camps then some other teams did. Still, often the Niners were out there practicing in 100+ temps with pads and helmets on.
Zumie, when I worked at Nasa Ames, I would see the 49ers do their “walk throughs” at Hangar One (largest blimp hangar). Usually, they would utilize the Hangar due to inclement weather or secrecy. Back then, they hadn’t constructed the training facility in Santa Clara yet. They were always friendly and would sign autographs, albeit, very business like during their practice. Always amazed at “how small” they looked in shorts and t-shirts. At least, that was my perception.
If I was going to guess, Twin, I’d think it would be April 26th or 27th of 1969. Narrowing it further, I’d say Saturday the 26th, as the 27th was a doubleheader, (vs the Astros) and I’m pretty sure we didn’t go to a DH for bat day. But 43 years ago is a looong time ago.
Interesting piece from Schulmann on hot hitting prospect Gary Brown and the adjustment the team made to his batting stance. He’s back on track, but they say he won’t be up this year. We’ll see if that holds if Blanco continues to struggle.
http://www.sfgate.com/giants/article/SF-Giants-prospect-Gary-Brown-is-on-a-tear-3684348.php
Good stuff. Hopefully we’ll at least see him in the September expanded roster. But if Blanco’s struggles continue, then who knows? We all know Nate isn’t the answer.
What the team is saying now is meaningless. That could change tomorrow, next week, whenever ( as both Smoky and Zumiee note). But while we’re here in Richmond enjoying some barbecue at Buz and Ned’s, we’re a little worried about Tommy Joseph, 5 HR sub-.700 OPS in 242 AB. He’s still a kid but our best prospect isn’t exactly destroying those light towers..
You guys have added some good perspectives and criticisms. As I had hoped and expected. As you’ve probably noticed, I pay probably inordinate attention to the medical/physical side of the sports news these days. I just find it interesting, especially in these days of concussion vigilance. Top sports performance is so dependent on health and conditioning, that I seems to me we don’t get relatively enough detail on it in the baseball media. Privacy matters, I suppose, is one thing. Baseball tradition, too, to keep things under the rug. The health aspect adds to the confounding nature about the quick fall of Lincecum — we’re told repeatedly that he is completely healthy, but I am getting back to having some doubts about that. Anyway, compared to baseball we hear way more detail about NFL injuries, rehab prospects, etc., notwithstanding Harbaugh. I know it’s due partly to the league info requirements prior to games, but the related big gambling aspect to the NFL seems to give the media more incentive to pry out more detailed info week to week…
Tim was very clear after 2011 that he was uncomfortable with how he felt after the 20-25 weight gain during the season- that he attributed to the double-double diet. I guess it’s somewhat humorous that he performed better when he was scarfing down the pink slime.
There is that. But, I was thinking more along the lines of arm or shoulder issues. Jim Bowden, former Reds GM, said on a radio show that he was not convinced Lincecum was healthy. He said when pitchers lose velocity on their pitches quickly, despite the lack of major pain or other symptoms, he’d try to get a special high contrast MRI to rule out small tissue tears or other problems that were otherwise undetectable or unnoticed, but were actually causing problems. I haven’t seen anything on whether Tim has undergone diagnostic tests on his shoulder/arm/elbow to see if anything is wrong. I have heard a couple of media say that up close he looks very thin. Maybe he has had an MRI and multiple tests, but nobody’s talking…
He’s the FREAK!
Weirdish aside: did anybody know that All Star Game managers must provide Selig’s office the day before the AS Game an extra inning pitching “plan” for up to 6 extra frames, including use of a starter? I had no idea. Hit the link to the Basic Agreement, go to page 74…
Is that new because of that game that Selig ended in a tie a few years back?
That would be my guess…
crazy…what next, a Commissioner-mandated deposition on the managers’ views on the DH?
Fuck the DH…a total abberation that has no place in MLB. You field a position…you swing a bat…it’s that simple.
agree, Chi
AL superior!
Snarkk, I appreciate your attention to baseball details and addenda to the conversations here. Today’s thread takes me into territory I assumed was for professionals only. But we, the fans, have an investment and ever since the SFGs doctors said fruckie was healthy I have had my doubts about management. Your post today gives me hope that, as just an ordinary fan, maybe knowledge can give me power and influence (even slightly) the honesty with which management deals with team members and team news.
thanks
Well, you’re welcome eddacker. I tend to be a curious person, interested in the minutiae, and for that, the Internet is wonderful. Anybody can find things, now, and put them online for the masses to be educated, and that’s what scares the governments. The fact that you can pull up the Basic Agreement online and read it is extremely interesting, and enlightening. I’ve never seen an internet article by a baseball writer with a link to it, which they easily could do. I am going to read it from time to time, the details in there give real background to how the game is now played and managed. The media will never educate us on most of those things, they’re into the game facts and the personalities, which is fine. But, the nuts and bolts of the owner/player relationship really have an impact, and explain a lot. That’s why the owners and players spend months and months negotiating those things…
Chuckling over Sandy Alderson’s over the top negative reaction toward SF Giants fans because we “showed up at the polls” and elected Panda to the All Star game starting line-up, which means his player, David Wright was told to “grab some pine meat.” Whhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh! Cry me a river Sandy.
I get tired of hearing what great fans they have in New York, yet a city of 8 million was outvoted by a city of 750,000. Too funny.
I’m with you on that. And I have no beef with the Mets or their fans. But, puhleeez. And Jayson Stark and ESPN carrying their torch. Eat me raw. This morning Mike&Mike talked of which division leaders would not be there at the end. Of course, Golick named the Giants. He would. First, i got mad but then smiled. 2010 anyone? They ignored us then too hahahahha. And then when they gave the scores and news update they left off the score for the Nats-Giants game yesterday. I’m sure the Nats are laughing too. ESPNc*cksuckers. BTW I noticed that when you call the Giants you get something like “Welcome to the San Francisco Giants, your 2010 world Champions.” Sweet.
Just cashed royalty check for $211.38. And that was for like five days in March. The book came out March 26. Yippee.
Golick knows football…….period.
Excellent, Pawlie. We’ll be waiting for the invitations to that Flap Bash in the Caymans! 😉
Sir Snark, Esq., I would not want to face you in court or on the deposition playing field! I salute your thorough research and wide knowledge. AND I admire your use of “nonplussed,” which seems to me to be in accordance with the traditional and “proper” sense of that word, which 90% of users miss. I feared you were at risk of “burying the lead,” as they say in journalistic circles (keeping the rotund theme going), but reminded myself of the dictates of lawyerly narrative. Plain and simple, I agree with you if you are saying, “Hey, you millionaire fuckstix, we have an investment in you, so don’t go messing with your body without our oversight, unless it involves carnal activities of an intimate nature, which we don’t wanna know nothing about.”
BTW, Snarkk and Twin and Magnus et al., I endured the sleep study, even slept a little. Was not the biggest fan of it. No results yet. But, yeah, I might want to talk offline at some point about it.
Re Casteneda: I risk incurring displeasure here but I’ll say I ate his stuff up in college (coinciding with some high times) and then either read or wanted to believe it was all a hoax, a contrivance, a fiction, just like stuff from that Coelho dude. I mean, the spriritual aphorisms (bromides? platitudes?) are quotable at times but not essentially original and never as pithy as DJLoo’s.
Now I’ve done it.
Thanks, Pawlie. I’m serious about the apnea info, it’s a minefield out there of doctors and treatments. As you probably know, an apnea fix is usually not as easy and definite as pulling out an appendix. After about 5 years of tests and trying CPAP and other things, and getting worse to the point of being at my wits end and constantly exhausted, I ultimately went to docs associated with Stanford because surgery was the last resort and it had to be done right. The guy I chose is literally one of the best in the world, and it was worth it…
Well, what bothered/bothers me is the rigid assumption I have ANYTHING; we don’t know that. Or at least I don’t. Yet. Shoot me an email at paulkocak at mac dot com so I have your contact information, as needed. Thanks.
Will do…
He’s done, folks!
I’m not done, but I’m a lot better…
I think Nipper, in his Nipperian way, meant I was done when I said “Now I’ve done it.”
Pawlie, I was staying at my sister’s house and she said I might have sleep apnoea and I scheduled one of those sleep tests. Apparently I passed, which was a weight off my mind as sleep is so important to everyone except Klingons. So just let me say I am on your side whichever way the test goes. I have a friend in Fla. and she uses the mask and wouldn’t be without it because of the improvement and security it gives her.
cheers, mate
thanks; wouldn’t the simple use of the Personal Fellatiometric Vacuum Device (PFVD) do the trick? hahahahahahahahahaha
Anyone see the lastest Alderson comment?
===========
Alderson wasn’t done there.
Sandy Alderson
✔
@MetsGM
ASG election of “Kung Fu Panda” shows the value of a cute nickname. Surprised Giants fans didn’t elect a “ball dude” to start at 3B.
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This rubbed me the wrong way… Like his dissing the city in his first tweet..
Ok Wright should have been picked….
Sandy just needs to teach his fans next time how to vote.
I pity the Met fan that gives me some face to face lip.
as Mega Big Flavor Shady posted Pablo has the numbers has Alderson ever mentioned that?
Sandy’s just puffy his chest since his Metropolitans are flashing in the pan…
He better prepare his answers to the fickle NY fans who will want to know why
on Sept 28th, why the Mets burnt out…. what a dick…
i’ve posted about Pablo’s numbers several times before and during this nonsense. And the fact that Pablo had better numbers than both third basemen on the 2009 team where Wright was the starter. At least Wright is on the team this year, Panda’s snub in 2009 was far more egregious.
As much you all know that I liked Torres, Sandy has to be more than a little pissed off that Vungo is about to slip under the Mendoza line- this hasn’t worked out too well for the Mets. They’re just 4.5 out of first, either a productive Torres or even the Pagan of last year would have them right there. So I imagine he’s a little testy..
Twin, at his level, that was unprofessional…. I give him NO pass.
A Mets fan and an Indians fan are driving to Pitts. w/ me. Hope we end up on speaking terms. Then again, I didn’t mind the quiet time driving all the way to Charlotte.
I know of absolutely no one who would dispute that teams have the right to demand their employees be in good physical condition. And I know that many fans would have no problem with a player having his rights violated to achieve that goal. But seeing as this still America and also not Roger Goodell’s NFL- the SF Giants do not have the right to dictate a player’s off season life. As noted before- “report to camp in shape” ( with the guidelines established) is a perfectly acceptable and legal postion. A requirement to attend Camp Freak or Camp Panda is not.
Very few, if any players would dare ignore a “strong urging” to do so, but establishing an employer’s right to demand it would be a terrible precedent. IMO.
With all my caveats noted, it’s a great post Snarkk.
I am fairly confident my first game was August 23, 1958, Pierce beat Ford, 7-1 (I thought the White Sox won, but 5-2). Ford and Pierce had a great rivalry, it turns out. Plus, games were 2- 2.5 hours typically.
let me try again, maybe the mic was off: tap tap Personal Fellatiometric Vacuum Device (PFVD)…tap tap tap
I’m thinking you have to be awake to use that; or does it work when sleeping?
Christian RF, Theriot 2B, Cabrera LF, Posey C, Sandoval 3B, Pagan CF, Belt 1B, Arias SS, (Cain P)
Damn – I had forgot that Christian was on the team. I suppose every dog needs the occasional bone (and Bochy had talked of the White Shark needing a rest).
Christian RF,Jewish 2B, Hindu LF, Muslim C, Shinto 3B, Taoist CF, Confucian 1B, Sikh SS, (Voodoo P)—-And then, I woke up
classique, Mon Pere [what the fucque is it w/ me and French this week?]
LMAO. But WTF…no Buddhist in the line-up?
Voodoo P? I thought Cain was going tonight, not Zito.
Ted, have you gone off your medications?
Posey is a Muslim? the things I learn here.
Spe is on meds? That explains a lot.
Ted, that is a fanfuckingtabulous lineup. But what about the non-believers. Where’s the agnostic? Which reminds me, did you hear the one about…
An agnostic dies and finds himself being greeted by Moses and Mohammed.
‘How is it I got here? I didn’t believe’, asks the agnostic.
‘Well’, says Moses, ‘it is not what you believe, it is how you lived. Anyway follow me’.
As they walk along Moses points out the Jews, the Muslims, and Buddhists. They came up to a wall and as the agnostic starts to ask another question, Moses whispers, ‘Quiet, on the other side are the Christians, and they don’t think anyone else is up here’… 😀
I’ve concluded that the Fantasy League is like the Dow Jones. I’m sunk. And all my moves now, my inclination to day-trade, smack of desperation. Get me a Buddhist.
What i don’t get is why Bochy did’nt realigine the pitching staff on this road trip from hell in the heat?
With the A/S game on the 9th he could have easily altered it so Timmy doesn’t pitch in Pittsburgh as well,could have called up a AAA or AA guy for a start.
I think Bochy will reshuffle the rotation after the break. My best guess: Horse, Bum, Vogey, Timmy and Zito to start the second half.
That’s not your worst post ever, Denny. It makes sense.
Still, it won;t happen.
Darvish and Freese law firm added to the A/S team for the final 2 slots.
I can’t even log in to see my fantasy team. I get the emails, but when I try to log in, I get a “you can’t access this because you don;t exist” response.
Persona non grata, eh? If I could only get some pitching, I’d be back in 1st place. . . .
Call 1-888-549-ESPN for help on all things Fantasy
I don’t think they give help on pitching, all of mine is on the DL so I’m no help either.
You lose …..Chuck.
Chuck, it’s your browser. Whatever browser you are using, try a different one, e.g., FireFox, Explorer, Safari, etc. This will DEFINITELY solve your problem. Moreover, in the future, you should report that to the Commish (Flav) when something like this happens . . . He can assist.
I hadn’t been able to find the number before when a couple people commented that the team had been poor against LH pitchers. I really have no idea how that misinformation got circulated, but they are tied with Boston for best record in baseball against lefties at 16-8..And Cain is 5-0 in his last 6 starts on the road with a 2.33 ERA.. what does this mean? 17-0 Nats 😉
Or they lose 2-1 in the 10th on a wild pitch.
Speaking of numbers: After MadBum’s beatdown, much was made by the beat writers of the Giants’ lousy road ERA, that it’s worse even than the Rockies (4.69 to 4.70). A quick check reveals the biggest reason for this anomaly. Cain at 3.18 and Voggy 3.54 are respectable, MadBum at 4.43 is a bit high, and Zito at 4.93 is about what one would expect.
And then there’s Timmy, coming in at a ghastly 8.45. It’s hard not to be near the bottom with that 170-pound anchor, or whatever his weight is, dragging them down.
As for the core of the bullpen: Romo 0.75; Affeldt 3.06; Hensley 3.71; Casilla 3.95; Lopez 4.91.
***BREAKING NEWS*** Freddy Sanchez is out for the year. He’s going to need back surgery.
Y’all can pick up your jaws from the table now. The shock will wear off eventually…
He is becoming the Evil Kenevil of baseball.
Or Mark DeRosa . . .
Why do you guys keep trashing DeRosa? Yeah, he never lived up to expectations due to injury- but he played well for us in a utility role down the stretch last year- when he could have cashed his checks without ever suiting up and breaking a sweat.
actually, I thought it was quite nice seeing DeRosa was playing in Washington. Injury is such a lousy way to end a career and Mark is a player that wants to play.
I agree. MDR gave it his all. As did Freddy, from what I see. The Giants surely knew of Freddy’s *glassinine* fragility when they got him.
Because you get all frothy, Mike.
I don’t give a flying fuck about DeRosa, but I know you’ll leap to his rescue.
The words “breaking” and “Freddy Sanchez” in the same sentence have become redundant
Good point.
wry but mournful laughter if that is possible
Freddie had a partial “discectomy” in LA today, per Baggs tweet. His lower back and out for the season, maybe career ending, per another report. Baggarly also reports Heath Hembree placed on the DL today after getting torched last night. No reason given as yet. At least it didn’t take a month for the local media to find out Freddy had another surgery…
The guy that fixed Dwight Howard’s disc reportedly also operated on Freddie.
http://watkinsspine.com/doctors.html
ESPN and AP saying the op is next week. Not so? He becomes a free agent. Sayonara, Senor Sanchez. I will always love you: for your hitting in Game 1 of the 2010 WS, for your fielding in Game 5, for your hypercaffeinated antics in the box, and for your lovely wife.
Hembree has not produced as expected all this year- and this alleged high 90s-100 fireballer has pedestrian K numbers.
And what’s the deal with the reluctance to pitch him on back-to-back days?
That’s a red flag if I ever saw one…
Sure hope Sabes is working the phones: the black and orange ones that cemented the Javier Lopez/Ramon Ramirez deals, not the polka-dot and striped fuschia ones that radioactivated the Garko deal.
You know what team gets no-respect Dangerfield treatment? The White Sox. And A.J. Piercyzcycyzcysysncski is having a good year. I wasn’t in SF when his whole deal went down, and I know he broke some rules of the Code, but I don’t get why EVERYONE who follows the Giants hates on him so. I mean, c’mon, he wasn’t THAT bad. Haters.
How bad was he? Ask Stan Conte and his genitals…
I don’t get it. BALCO? An affair? Neither? All?
Read #9, Pawlie. The incident has been corroborated by many unnamed Giants…
http://www.gq.com/sports/profiles/200601/most-hates-athletes
Stan Conte was the trainer then. Probably he’s not real happy about his name anymore
oh, I get it; ok
The code for me is mostly for my fantasy team; no players that are Dogers or what done the team I love wrong. Like AJ and LaRoche.
It is the way my daddy taught me: play fair and hate the boys in blue.
except lasorda, . . . or Kershaw 🙂
Probably an incident where he kneed the trainer in the balls didn’t help his popularity.A.J. had taken a shot to the groin during an exhibition game. Conte went to see how he was. “Like this!!” A.J. said as delivered a knee to Stan’s groin..
But they hated him in Minnesota, too. We knew ahead of time that even teammates couldn’t stand him.
So, seriously, do the White Sox hate him? Doubt it. Won a ring w/ them. Did he get along w/ Ozzie? (That’s a loaded question.)
He seems to have fit in there. Of course, he had Ozzie for years, taking the heat off everybody.
Be careful Flappers when you bend over. The back is a fragile part of the body.
After I emailed author Stewart O’Nan [he wrote the best-selling FAITHFUL with Stephen King; essentially their correspondence during the Red Sox 2004 run; it’s very good; author THE ODDS, about a couple willing to bet it all; excellent] he replied thusly, slightly edited:
Fragile Freddy. He was a Sox prospect, got hurt several times at Pawtucket before getting called up. I had a Freddy Sanchez Fan Club sign on The Monster during his first game. The back said FREDDY IS THE FUTURE. He signed it for me after visiting Fenway with his next club, the Pirates. Then signed a 2006 All-Star game ball in Pittsburgh for me. Won a batting crown there, then a ring with the Giants. Nice highlights of a too-short career.
When I checked with Stewart if it was okay to share the above, he replied:
Share away. I’ve always been a Freddy fan, always will be. Classy guy, kind to the rank and file.
Sweet AB, Pablito.
Where’s Wright?
Didn’t AJ get in a fight with Jason Christiansen?
Wow. I’ve got a sinking feeling here. Don;t think they’ll waste opportunities like we just did.
No error?
Is it my imagination or does Pagan “juggle” a lot of balls?
No it isn’t Kruk. Getting the run in in big-league baseball.
very strange both team’s first run scores because of following the basic rules of defensive ball.
very strange Panda leaves the bases loaded twice in 4 innings.
Very frustrating to say the least.
very weird starting every post with very
Very lqtm.
I prefer “Well”…
Don’t know about Christiansen, Chuck. I did hear that he and Tomko hated each other. That made me like A.J. a little more..
That’s the difference between you stable boys and us Flappers that don’t write – we use poor adverbs like “very” and the stable boys use “well.” 🙂
I’ve just always felt that even though they often mean the same thing, “Well” comes off better than ‘Doh”..
Can ya believe that “D’oh,” actually made Merriam-Webster? What’s this world coming to?
Thanks Christ it’s coming to an end on December 21 later this year.
D’oh is also copyrighted by someone. You cannot use it commercially
very nice, well, excellent pictorial about Legends of the Bay Area broadcast booth in today’s crondonicle.
I, of course, remember Russ Hodges and Lon Simmons, loved Hank Greenwald and worshipped the skill of Bill King.
Cool lineup, Ted, but why didn’t Pagan just stay the same? (grin)
Because I didn’t think of it. Wish I had.
It was still brill
hard to get all religions in 9 positions
Favorite Pagan movie? I’ll go with the Hanks/Aykroyd “Dragnet” from 1987. Far from great, but a few good chuckles here and there. Received a 5.7 rating from IMDb voters. “Johnny Dangerously” was only a couple of ticks higher with a 5.9.
Sorry, but those movies are miles away.
I let my grandpa give “Johnny Dangerously” a five star rating on IMDb once. Once.
And you guys can thank me for this victory [no jinx]. I started Detwiler on my Flap fantasy team.
Don’t ever say I don’t make sacrifices for the good of Giants-kind. Jesus Christ took one for the team, then I followed suit.
Well,you can say the late game start doesnt hurt tonight as well. Much cooler conditions for Cain,over what Timmy and Bum went thru.Plus a getaway game and extra incentive of not getting swept,helps as well.
Cain will be at 100 pitches this inning. Has Romo had any work this series?
Sergio pitched an inning on the first and got a ‘hold’
And the torture is here now
That was the worst check-swing call I’ve ever seen in my life. And of course we receive the proper punishment by Harper blooping one into left.
Goddamn Pagans. And goddamn Pagan for good measure.
Twin, what I meant earlier by teams having the “hammer” in terms of conditioning recommendations would revolve around playing time. Sure whatever the player does on his own time in off season is completely voluntary and up to him and probably always will be, but ultimately the team can choose to give his job to someone else, and either sit the guy or cut him loose..
Something else re: conditioning I wish I knew more about: in terms of diet and nutrition, how best to prepare for a night game? Kids get out of school at 3 PM, game’s at 7:30…what do you do in btw time to give yourself best chance to perform at highest level? What do you eat and when?
I’ve talked to college D-1 players for whom diet at team meals is strictly regimented, and in some cases the coaches order at restaurants for the players. Obviously there are strong recommendations on dos/don’ts, and have scientific evidence to support the theories behind it.
Man, as I’m typing this the inning got ugly really fast. Nats are not going quietly, and looks like we are going to need more insurance runs.
Willie, as one who’s coached and has been around basketball for many a year, wouldn’t it be fair to say that basketball players as a whole are far more well-conditioned than baseball players? I know it’s kind of an apples and oranges thing, but I could see NBA players making it thru 9 innings. Baseball players? Most would be gassed by the end of the first quarter.
The thing I always thought was interesting was that you VERY rarely see basketball players pull their hammies like football and baseball players seem to routinely do. What are they doing differently that the others aren’t?
sure, but it’s built up over a career, running and stretching to keep muscles loose, esp back and legs, and working on core strength. That said, I can’t imagine anyone who looks like Steve Kline calling himself an athlete.
three pitches total and Morse, LaRoche and Desmond up in the bottom of the inning
They take the mistakes deep into the cheap seats. Buster there pops it up.
Yeah, Buster got a pitch to hit there.
Discectomy? I’m getting closer to that very procedure . . .
Is that anything like the my “Dickstaysinmypantsotomy” when you visit the whorehouse?
That fricking pitch gives me the willies.
Gimme a fucking break. Another fucking wounded duck.
That was almost like a 5 out inning. Great job.
Romo great job. Affeldt not so much.
Well, the Nats brought in their and my Flap fantasy closer, Tyler Clippard, in a NON-save situation.
We shoulda scored on his ass. Nothing’s going right on my birthday. [end shameless plug]
I had Dickey starting for me and he had one of his rare bad starts this year . . . Not to worry, my closer, Parnell, picks up the vulture win, after Murphy ties the game in the 9th and Wright follows with an RBI single to win it. Imagine how Papelbon feels about blowing the win for Hamels/Phillies . . . Me? I could give two shits.
Chuck, I’m guessing that in basketball it’s because the players rarely go from standing still to a full sprint, which happens in baseball and football a lot more.
That was Tyler Moore PHing? Some big PUSSY also starts him on his fantasy team.
Slippery when wet.