Lou
I was at work all day, zero internet access and no cell phone so I didn’t hear about zum’s game or Melk until driving home. First thing I thought of was Lou Holtz. While I’ve often disagreed with his takes on college football, he is a great motivational guy, and I thought if he could address Giants closed door like bochy did it would sound like this:
“Gentlemen, we have lost a teammate who has helped us get to where we are today, but who can no longer do that and we shall go forward without him. We have recently added Marco and Hunter to our core of men who began in spring training to work toward our goal of finishing the last out in October. We will add a couple more to fill our full complement of the roster, but I’m just here to remind you, this is us.
We’ve fought obstacles since day one and before together, without any help or excuses. We didn’t have full use of freddy, aubrey, or willie and we’ve done just fine while others have been hurt or banged up and not available. We’ve gotten this far by playing smart baseball, picking each other up and sticking together. And that’s the same way we’ll win this thing too.
Two years ago we had an even bigger deficit to overcome at this time, and while we had our ups and downs, prevailed in the end. Whatever roadblocks are in our path, we’ll go over them, around them or smash right through them to reach our goal, by everyone doing whatever is in their power to help the team win. No one believed in us then, but outside of this room I don’t care who believes in us now. This is what you live for, to see who can come out ahead in the end of a heated pennant race, best team wins and tastes the champagne. Let’s prove em all wrong again.”
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
“What? Over? Did you say “over”? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no! ”
willie, after your speech I’m ready to put on some eye black, stock up and ice down some champagne and hunker down for the remainder of this season. Again, “Nothing is over until we decide it is!”
And thank you for not mentioning the Wild Card once in your thread. I don’t want to hear about the Wild Card unless it becomes our only option.
And I thought this was going to be about the mascot. . . .
Still pretty bummed/pissed about the Melkman. Couldn’t they have waited one more day? It’s a fricking off day. The timing would have been better.
Almost makes you forget our other issues – such as our “ace” being well on his way to going 8-17 and the minor problem of having no closer. EVERYONE had better step it up and quick…
Fellow Flappers, I have been out of pocket as far as posting comments the last three weeks or so due largely to the fact that I have had to do some soul searching and checking myself in regards to being a “Negative Nelly” when it comes to what the Giants can’t seem to do; even when the game is not over. My good friend ChiP can attest to this. I have been trying to shake the negative stigma that my mother handed down to me.
I often see a lot of negativity on this site; especially after a loss. Yesterday notwhithstanding. The Giants, as well as us longtime fans, have to stay positive in the face of adversity. Yes, it sucks we lost Melky, but it’s not over.
I have been very busy at work, no time to post. but reading yesterdays posts when the Melky story broke, damn by the comments I could have sworn I was reading the Splash. So many of you were standing on the ledge with one foot hanging in mid air. I was wondering how high up you all were and whether you could be talked down. Listening to KNBR the 5:00 PM show, don’t know who the host is, but like he said look at the silver lining in all of this. 1. the giants would not have had Melky for 113 games to keep them in the hunt, 2. thankfully the Giants did not sign him to some outrageous contract. 3. They signed Pence. So it would have been nice to have 4 good hitters, but the Giants have been doing it all year long with 2-3. Hopefully they can get past this and win the division
Good Topic Willie, thanks.
I was sad to see someone doing so well and find out they were cheating. I was shocked for my team to lose a focal point player. But I love the team, not one player. Timmeh, Belt, ‘Pop’sey, Panda, and the new guys: scooter and hunter have been part of my joy just as Melky was. But this is a team, teams lose key players, teams play on.
So for Bam Bam, Bochy and Rags I say, “today is the day, now is the time, baseball is the game; you are the team and we want the team to win this division”.
Go Gigantes!
I still think Sf has better pitching than LA, SPs and lopez romo affeldt casilla. I also think position wise SF is better all around the IF except Hanley vs. craw at SS, plus C. I’ll give LA Ethier and Kemp, but Pence and Pagan are at least as good as Victorino.
I also think SF has a big edge with Bochy. Mattingly isn’t on the Yanks anymore, and I don’t think he can handle a PS and pen near as well as Boch and Rags, let alone a rulebook.
AZ is back under .500 and almost as close to the Pads as they are to leading the division. SF doesn’t have to be perfect, just finish one W better than LA.
Sniff……
Well, this is suppoised to be the time where the Giants are making hay. They are (were) at home, and LA is starting a 10 game roadie. So far, not so good.
I’m not saying they can’t do it, but the road to the playoffs just got a lot tougher. Timmy’s back on skid row, the pen is shakey as hell. Dauber up, dauber down? Fuck it.
There’s something to be said about wrapping your hopes around a team and then having them fuck up wildly like this. Going through the Bonds era was bad enough. Now all the allegations will come out, and the WS will come into question. Who else on the Giants is juicing? Buster? Matt? Bummie? Anyone doing well on the Giants suddenly is under a cloud of suspicion
BLEEP!
Well said.
Not feeling particularly anything about this, oddly enough. Not feeling hurt or cheated, not feeling doom for the team, not feeling animosity toward Melky, not feeling glad the team didn’t sign him for beyond this year… We don’t know the particulars, when he started taking the stuff, but it could well have been in KC or just before KC, and he saw the uptick in production, and he got addicted to that.. not to the drug, but to the results. So, he rolled the dice, “hey, it’s random testing, just maybe I won’t get caught, worth the try,” in his own mind. Oops. The only thing I’m feeling is, this team as is cannot replace Melky’s numbers. And those are a lot of numbers gone now. Obviously someone in his place will regenerate some of those numbers, but in total, likely not even close. Doesn’t mean the team won’t make the postseason, and if they do make it, we all know they have the pitching to win, but I do think it will now be a huge challenge to just get there, unless something else happens down the stretch (a key injury in LA, a new miraculous pickup in SF, whatever). I’m not a stats guy, as most here know, but for me, this is mostly a big statistical blow to the team. As others have said here, it will largely depend on the TEAM picking itself up. I see Buster leading the way, getting pissed off if someone is slacking. We’ll see if that will be enough.
Nobody had the Giants winning it in 2010. They were in it until the very end last year minus Buster and Freddy and Panda missing 40 games. Now, we’re down ONE position player who only hit 11 homers. If Blanco can hit like he did in April and May, they’ll be fine. Besides, once the roster expands, the Giants AAA players are better than the Bums’ AAA players.
In the immortal words of Tom Berenger from “Major League”. “Well I guess there’s only one thing to do…let’s go out and win the whole fucking thing.”
To which I say for us fans and the Giants: Breathe…Believe…BATTLE!
Dodgers suck just not now.
Nip channels St. Augustine. Nice.
If this season has shown anything, it’s that our farm system is devoid of talent that is ready to play. To hope for anything from the callup is a pipedream. Christian or Nady is the immediate replacement for Cabrera. Chew on that for a moment.
2010 had Burrell, Ross, and Uribe suddenly hitting bombs all over the place in the 2nd half of the season. We’ll find out soon enough how the team responds to this. But as we see now, the Dodgers are playing very well, and are defintely in better shape than the Giants right now.
Like I said, to me this is a huge blow. Up there with losing Buster last year. All this ‘we only lost one player’ shit is just that. Buster was one player last year. I don’t think they can recover from this. I’ll be happy if they do, but I ainlt holding my breath.
Nady is the perfect Giant. He is over 30 with a BA under .200
He is the X-factor and I will be rooting for him when he plays.
http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/the-xavier-nady-dynasty/
cheerio
“There’s something to be said about wrapping your hopes around a team and then having them fuck up wildly like this.” – Come on unca. This team is in contention, would you prefer to be a Cubs fan?
“Going through the Bonds era was bad enough. Now all the allegations will come out, and the WS will come into question. Who else on the Giants is juicing? Buster? Matt? Bummie? Anyone doing well on the Giants suddenly is under a cloud of suspicion.” – Since the league is probably still pissed about Bonds, I could see them being heavy handed with testing Giants players. Some teams may get additional scrutiny, I don’t know but it would seem the Brewers do not.
I’m not trying to throw blame at anyone other than Melky, he fucked up. I just don’t give a shit what Bud or ESPN questions about the Giants. Nope, in fact I would send them in a complete frenzy and sign Barry and Manny to minor league contracts. Then when Bud comes calling tell him he needs a new toupee, his old one is looking a bit singed around the edges..
Bud is trying to count his toes.
That is too funny, Clown. You are one twisted genius.
Oh, I’m sure Bonds will get some kind of thing thrown his way. More power to him. Anything to rub Bud’s nose in the fucking mess he perpetrated. Like when he blew off the home run contest.
You know what they say. Time wounds all heels. I’m sure I’ll feel better in a few days, but this shit really pisses me off. Mainly because of how Melky’s actions could totally derail the season.
Next year, he’ll sign a 1/$10 million deal and move on like nothing ever happened. Meanwhile, if this season implodes, next year this team is picking up the pieces for what might have been. Sorry I’m not doing cartwheels that we dodged the bullet of not signing this guy to a long-term deal. All that would do is keep him on the team. The fans would forgive and forget. As they always do.
The point being, the fans, the players, the owners, the union, and the league don’t give a flying fuck about the cheating. NO ONE FUCKING CARES. Well, I do, and I’m tired of this shit. The front office/training staff, along with being seemingly inept at diagnosing injuries now has the spector of a locker room full of juicers. yay. Go team. Just don;t get caught!
if you are stupid enough to get caught, you get busted. Great policy there, Bud. Either do it right, or don’t do it at all.
This Bud is for you!
😆
Flavor will get a kick out of this: I have a signature that throws out random quotes. I am on a forum in the UK and one of the quotes was flavors:
There are few things I enjoy more than watching guys with neck tats fuck shit up.
– Big Flavor 2012
I even cleaned it up by changing fuck to mess, but I got approached by the admins today. They removed it from my signature. Not sure why, but if it was guys with neck tats feeling put upon I say: grow a pair, girlie.
Look…I’m not going to sugar coat this shit. Sure, Melky brought a lot to the table. .346 BA, 11 bombs and 60 RBI (accounts for over 10% or their HRs and RBI). He also played some exceptional D and had a great arm from LF. But he is still just one of 25 on the team. Who knows what the team does for the remainder of the season, which player or players get hot, or what players they add.
The latest scuttlebutt is will the team show renewed interest in Soriano. He has publicly (again) said he does not think SF is a good fit. He is making 19 mil this year, and signed for that amount again in 2013 and 2014. SF said they had the coin to deal with Pence’s arbitration numbers next year, AND sign Melky. Well, if they had the money to sign Melky, then they have the coin to sign the likes of Soriano. Soriano has cleared waivers, so the question becomes what would it take to make a trade happen. I am not saying go after Soriano…just saying that perhaps the team makes a play for a bat.
Regardless of whether or not they load-up with a big bat or not, no way in hell I am bailing on this team, or throwing in the towel and saying it is over. Sure, the road to the West just got tougher, but let’s let ‘em play some fucking ball and see what happens.
I want no part of Soriano. Fucker can’t even field his run, nor field his position. CSN Chicago asked Soriano about his feelings on the Giants and he said he’d likely not accept a trade to the Bay Area. Fuck him and the horse he rode in on.
Chi, he continues to struggle to hit for average. Last year, a quad injury landed him on the DL in late May and he batted .265 with 14 home runs and 41 RBI in the first half. Not bad . . . However, he hit just .219 after the break. His .244 average last year, also marked the second time in the previous three years that he batted under .250.
Yeah, the Cubs would love to unload his contract. The only thing he brings to the table is power and that’s neutralized for the most part playing at the Phone Park. Oh, and did I mention this fuck is older than Moses? He is 37 with no speed and his .305 on-base percentage over the last three years is ridiculously bad. Please God, don’t bring him here!
Delete “”field his” in 2nd sentence. 🙂
Steve – I was by no means saying the Giants should go after Soriano. If you read the last sentence of the second paragraph in my post: “I am not saying go after Soriano…just saying that perhaps the team makes a play for a bat.”
Point I was making is that if they had money for Pence’s arb and dough for Melky, maybe they make a run at a bat…
Chi, I agree with your point about a getting a bat.
I’ve also heard Cody Ross being mentioned. Wouldn’t that be a hoot.
Whoops – should have placed my comment here, so you would see it – Chi, I agree with your point about a getting a bat.
My biggest issue with all this isn’t whether or not the Giants can stay in the race. I think they can, although it won’t be easy. They’ve gotten this far despite missing Sandoval for 53 games, so they can certainly get through 44 games without Melky. However, Lincecum’s lousy start yesterday, given the circumstances, could not have been more ill-timed.
Rather, my main issue is that the season is irrevocably tainted. The Giants were tied for first when this all came down, and Melky played a big part in that. What kind of percentage did he have on the team’s success? I don’t know, that’s for the sabermatricians to figure out. But there’s no denying he’s had a huge role in what’s been a winning season, and now it’s been spoiled. At least for me, anyway.
Also, as Chuck has said, I thought — or hoped — that we were well beyond the whole PED issue with this team. Obviously we’re not. This dredged up all the bad vibes surrounding this team during the Bonds days, and now here we are dealing with it again. I’m tired of it, really.
Chances are, though, I’ll get over it and get into the season again. A series win over the Padres would certainly help, and a win by the Pirates today wouldn’t hurt, either, since they’ve been no help whatsoever. At least it’s an off day, something everyone probably needed, Giants included.
Yeah, I have no idea if we are able to sustain this blow. As you pointed out Mac, we didn’t have Sandoval for 53 games and the Timmy we all know has been MIA all season. That being said, I am not going to criticize Chuck or anyone else for thinking that this isn’t going to be a “cake walk.” Far from it. You can throw out all the platitudes about “Never Say Die” and blah, blah, blah; but the reality is that quite a few players have to step up and/or the GMen need reinforcements if they are to make the post season, much less the World Series. I like what Paulinasia says, “Obviously someone in his place will regenerate some of those numbers, but in total, likely not even close. Doesn’t mean the team won’t make the postseason, and if they do make it, we all know they have the pitching to win, but I do think it will now be a huge challenge to just get there, unless something else happens down the stretch (a key injury in LA, a new miraculous pickup in SF, whatever).”
We’re in for quite a ride, buckle your seat belts boys and girls.
Getting away from Melky for a second and since Tim’s name has come up a bit. Is it just me or has anyone else noted that Pagan’s D seems more suspect when Tim pitches. Yesterday, when I saw them in DC and a couple other games when Tim has been pitching, Pagan has taken some weird ass routes to balls. It almost seems like he wasn’t seeing the ball come off the bat or something. I know his defense can be somewhat suspect on a regular basis but to me it seems more so when Tim’s pitching. Anyone else notice this or is it just me?
I heard Kuip bring something like that up after the game. But only as a coincidental type thing. Truth is, Pagan spooked Pence in the Wash game, which caused Pence to misplay the deep ball. Pagan often gets to the spot where the ball is going (or close) but doesn’t call for it or call himself off. And it ALWAYS seems to happen when Pagan goes to his left.
I think Melky got used to simply calling Pagan off.
As of now, I’ve lost a lot of love for this team. It may come back, but the more this shit happens, the more this team seems to be turning a blind eye to a big internal problem.
I’ve noticed it. I’ve mentioned it. What does it mean? I dunno…
All this pallaver about Melky being just one of 25 is horsehockey. I’m with Chuck. This thing just got a lot tougher. The odds are they are not going to make the POs now. Not dooming, just reality. Especially with a shaky pen and Lincecum up and down like a pogo. You lose a guy like Burriss, yeah, it’s “hey, he’s one of 25” and go forward. No. This is your best hitter. He’s always on base. The #3 hole. You lose him, the whole lineup gets moved. Does it mean the team implodes? No, not necessarily. But, to say Fuck him and move on like all is lollipop land is weak. I’m sure Sabean is working on this, and we’ll know more later today about the reflexive moves. I’m assuming they had some moves in hand already that will appear reflexive, at least internal moves planned, since they had to have smoke signals that this was coming. There’s still 2 weeks of trade period left, and LA is now above us, so they can’t block waivers right now. Sabean and flunkies must be scouring the waver wire. Shit, get Cody back in here, maybe catch lightning in a bottle again, or get Brown up and see what happens. Blanco gets a short leash, because he’s been dogmeat for two months. I don’t want to see any slow moving “let’s see what happens” crap as usual with Bochy ala move Pill and Christian or some such back up here, while the season burns down the next two weeks as a reaction to losing Melky. Meanwhile, they apparently turned Otero around and he’s gone back to Fresno, so they must be bringing in two hitters…
Agree. The “sitting around a campfire toasting marshmallows, singing Kumbaya” attitude will get us last place.
Well, Blade, I’m not trying to cry Wolf here, but come on. I’m seeing blogsters saying all over basically “Fuck Melky, we’ll be OK, the other guys have to just pick it up”. Hmmm. You can’t very well say all season that wow, Melky’s great, where would we be without him? And, now, here we ARE without him, and turnaround and say “everything’s cool, Blanco et al just need to pick up the slack”. Let’s get real, and make some bold moves to salvage the situation while it’s still close…
Cabrera took full responsibility for his actions and I commend him for that but I hope to never see him (or Mota for that matter) in a Giants uniform again.
I think the club can overcome this and still get into the playoffs but only if Sandoval stays off the DL for the rest of the season.
Dirt, I agree with you. I hope to never see him play for the Giants again. For starters, it’s not hard to believe that his numbers this year have been tainted. I’ve read people pointing to the fact that his power numbers didn’t go up and they would have if he had been taking steroids. Hogwash. He’s leading the league in hits and runs scored. It’s impossible to think he did that without the benefit of PED’s.
And if that’s the case, then we really aren’t missing anything from him since he couldn’t produce those numbers unless he was juiced. And his *un-juiced* numbers are largely uninteresting to me. Therefore, I don’t miss for a second what Melky is no longer delivering since he is unable to deliver it without the PED’s.
We should be happy that he helped us win as many games as he did. They can’t take those wins away. And it’s not conceivable to try to replace his numbers, just find somebody who can produce enough so that they aren’t fucking shit up.
Remember, this team is led by Buster Posey. He’s been carrying the team since the all star break. Not Melky. Buster. Now, if Buster goes down I’ll get on the doomer bus but until that happens this shit is totally winable…….
BF staying brave!
I agree.
Taking full responsibility after the fact is all well and good (well, it isn’t but what choice did he have?), but it’s still too fucking late. He could have ‘fessed up a month ago and saved some of the season for the Giants.
As it is, he tried the longshot of an appeal (the pizza delivery defense only works once, I suppose), and guaranteed his never playing for the Giants again.
He had the choice of denying responsibility for his actions as Bruan, Palmero, Mota, Bonds and so many others have or taking responsisbility for what he did. As dissapointed as I am in Cabrera, I can undestand his actions with all the money on the line if he made it to the other end. Appealing the decision is part of the process and within his rights. In this day of media spin and bullshit Cabrera stepped up and took it like a man and I can respect that.
I’m extremely disappointed but I’m not hating or condemning Melky, anymore than I did Bonds.
They could still pull this off with a BIG surge from Belt. Didn’t get much from him in the first half. And of course, Pablo is capable of carrying them along with Buster. Get Pagan rolling again, Blanco has a good month…it’s not impossible. The Dodgers hung in there without Kemp. What is still vital is for Tim to get his head out of his arse and have someone in the pen fill Wilson’s shoes. Tall order there.
This thing, whatever it is with Tim, has gone on too long in my book for it to right itself this season, and put him back in dominating form. He lost his way in Aug 2010, then found it in Sept and went balls out. But, this is different. He’s been lost all season, with glimpses of decency. The secret’s out, teams just take and take until they get a cripple pitch. Meanwhile, his pitch count goes stratospheric and he’s done early. I hope he makes a miraculous turn, but it seems really unlikely…
Flav, when Sabean put together this team, the additions (Pagan and Cabrera) were supposed to allow us a better chance to make the playoffs. Thus far, Sabean’s plan has worked to perfection, despite Franchez not being here, Panda being on the DL, Huff’s myriad problems, and Timmy being MIA for much of the season. Melky was a big part of the GMen being only one game out of 1st place per today’s standings.
How long will that last? Sure, we might be able to make the playoffs if Posey continues to be lights out, as he has been since the All Star Break. With this team, that requires that the rest of the players step up their game.
Maybe no problemo . . .
However, have you checked out our performance for the last 10 games? We are .500 and I see us continuing to tread water, unless we do something along the lines of what snarrk said above, i.e., “Let’s get real, and make some bold moves to salvage the situation while it’s still close.” Just my two cents worth.
Schulman reports Christian and Hacker are now coming up.
Sabean quoted as saying re: waiver wire nothing “too compelling or interesting” there, and no, Brown is not coming up. Wow, that better not be the final response. Else, Giants management is like Chevron in Richmond — watch the leak grow and grow until the whole thing blows up…
BAM! KABOOM! ZAP!
Rest assured the Melk is gone for good. Just for stupidity he should be exiled for good at least by the Giants. When you put on the Orange and Black it should mean something. Cheaters beware!
Apparently, donning the O and Black means you’ve got a better chance at being a ‘roider than on most teams, and a stooopid one at that…
Fessing up AFTER the appeal is weak shit. Look at Braun. Yeah, it was a shot in the dark, but he fucking GOT AWAY WITH IT. Does anyone even care? No, they don’t. Do you think Braun stopped? Right. EVERYONE knows how this shit plays out in the eyes of the media and fans. Test positive. Stall as long as possible. Appeal the ruling. Get suspended. Call yourself contrite, take your (figurative) lumps, and move on. No one cares as long as you act like you know what you did wrong. Andy Pettitte is the way to go.
Bonds didn’t take that way out. Mainly because he was outed by his own testimony. Bonds never tested positive, and roiding wasn’t even illegal. He told, under the cloak of anonimity, that he did use. Lizard king Clemens tried the same route, and was ‘pardoned’ by a sympathetic judge and jury. Way different circumstances.
Whatever. Melky fucked up. He possibly blows the season for the Giants. Beyond the sting of missing out on his big fat payday and what would have been had he not been caught, he’ll still go to a new team and a get new $8 million one year make-good deal. Poor fucking guy.
I tiotally understand Melky’s actions. He was scuffling as a player, and needed a little edge to get just that much better. So he cheated. Commending him for ‘manning up’ is ludicrous.
In a year, no one will care he tested positive as long as he’s hitting. For the fucking Dodgers.
So who wins the fucking Melky/Sanchez trade?
I guess we do since we at least got 118 games out of ol’ muscle melk . . .
No more Melk!
KC traded Sanchez for Jeremy Guthrie, who after losing his first three starts has thrown 15 straight scoreless innings in wins over the White Sox and A’s. So the Royals are finally getting a little something out of the deal.
Who was advising Melky on the testosterone cycles?
ManRam?…
His wife?
Damn Chuck, are you becoming the Soph of this blog or what. So now everybody and there mother is going to come out and question 2010? Really? Seriously? I don’t think so. I do think that Melky is gone as a Giant, no post season, no new contract. If any of you don’t think that there are still players out there, snorting, shooting, smoking, whatever you are crazy, MLB still has one of the weakest drug testing programs in all sports. In my opinion any player who is breaking records and doing above what he normally did in his career, MLB is going to be looking at that player very closely. as well they should. The Giants have lived through worse than Melky. We will see how the players react. love to hear what management says in the locker room.
Cover your ears!
I’m with Chuck, whether fair or not. Objectively, outside the Orange and Black glasses set, why would you NOT look at 2010 and question it from a PEDs perspective? Huff was golden, since then he’s been nowhere, hurt and basically useless for 2 seasons. Uribe was crackin jacks out of the park all season, since then he’s been dogmeat for LA, and hurt. Burrel was nowhere with the Rays, comes here and he’s off the charts for the summer. Then, hurt and out of baseball, and into the Marina. That’s a lotta smoke right there, without even mentioning Guillen who got caught…
Posting again just wasn’t worth the effort.
Huff is an expecially interesting case- he used PEDS during his up years and smoked Marlboros in the downs..
You can blow holes in any argument about PEDs, because nobody knows whether and when. I’m saying it is not at all unreasonable for people outside the Giants fanbase to see things in certain 2010 Giants, followed by career cratering, that is suspicious, particularly in light of the Giants history of PEDs use. Nor, for example, is it unreasonable to question whether Tiger Woods has been a user. Fantastic heights, followed by sequential injuries and fall back to earth, not to mention his curious relationship with that Canadian doctor that has been “controversial”…
Posting again just wasn’t worth the effort
Posting again just wasn’t worth the effort
I think the homer and the fightback in innings 8 & 9 last night show that this team is there to do the job.
A fight to the finish would be great, getting hot during the playoffs even better.
Pirates score 3 in bottom of first, Kemp and Mattingly ejected for arguing balls and strikes.
3-1 bot 2nd
Dodgers sucking today!
It didn’t take me long to learn THE NEWS when I got to the stadium yesterday. Someone in our group, already there, told me before I had even sat down. I wanted to believe they had the news wrong. It wasn’t fully real until Renell did the starting lineups, and….no Melky.
I read somewhere on the web last night that the crowd at the stadium was as somber as at a memorial service or something like that. That’s ridiculous. The crowd was the same as always. When the Giants scored two runs to tie the game up, the place exploded with noise. I’ve BEEN to that stadium when it was a memorial service, literally. I was at the first home game after 9/11, when a black gospel choir sang before the game, and a pastor gave a brief sermon, and the fans were given candles to light. The ushers went down the rows lighting candles for the people at the ends of the rows, and then everyone lit each other’s candles down the rows. Then just about all of the stadium lights were turned off for a long moment of silence, and it was heartbreakingly powerful and deeply moving, while at the same time being such a sad moment.
Giants fans will survive “Melk-gate.” Will the Giants of 2012 survive it? Hard to say. But the players will try to move forward, and they’d like the fans to support their efforts in moving forward. It’s an awful feeling to be betrayed by Melky like that. Everbody feels betrayed. It’s a big jolt when an athlete goes from being beloved to being mostly despised in just a few hours. Fans pour a lot of emotion into following sports. It’s a tough time right now for everyone involved with Giants baseball in any capacity. But the schedule waits for no one, obviously. The Giants get a moment to catch their breath, and then the battle must be rejoined.
Well said, Zumie. Not sure how much of yesterday’s thread (your thread) you saw. Anyway, in regards to books, send me your top 10 list of baseball books (I am a serious book hound). My girlfriend will probably disown me (I have a stack of about 6 or 7 books in the queue on my nightstand). Have to throw a Zumie grin in for that (grin). I think you read a lot of historical stuff, too, right? I like history too…especially military stuff…so I would be down with some titles along that line if you have any recommendations.
Chi, I posted the baseball list below before seeing this post from you today. I did read all of yesterday’s posts. It was quite a day on the Flap, lots of memorable stuff from everyone. I’ll put a list of favorite military history books together later tonight. It’s fun putting the lists together. It makes me think through again books that I’ve read over the years.
Chi asked about my favorite baseball books, so I’ll just blast it out there for everyone. (grin) I was supposed to list 10, but it was too tough to limit it to 10, so I agonized and was able to limit it to 15. Plus I should add the disclaimer that there are lots of terrific baseball books that I haven’t gotten around to reading yet.
(This list of my favorites is in no particular order)
Summer of ’49- David Halberstam; a classic book by an award-winning historian about a classic pennant race between the Red Sox and Yankees. DiMaggio vs. Williams, and lots more.
Satchel- Larry Tye; the author brings alive one of the greatest pitchers ever that a lot of readers may not know much about.
Ball Four- Jim Bouton; one of the first looks into the real lives of baseball players, told in a very well-constructed and hilarious narrative about a remakable season Bouton participated in.
The First Fall Classic- Mike Vaccaro; the very exciting 1912 World Series between the Giants and the Red Sox was the first World Series to fully capture the public’s attention and make MLB a much more widely-followed sport.
The Negro Baseball Leagues- Phil Dixon and Patrick J. Hannigan; an excellent pictoral history of the black leagues. It’s like going in a time machine.
The Greatest Game Ever Pitched- Jim Kaplan; the 16-inning masterpiece, Marichal vs. Spahn, is the springboard for dual biographies of the two pitchers.
A Band Of Misfits- Andrew Baggarly; Baggs does a terrific job of capturing the magic of that season in his book.
The Baseball Codes- Jason Turbow and Michael Duca; an entertaining look at baseball’s “unwritten rules.” Lots of cool stories highlight the various “rules.”
Willie Mays- James Hirsch; insightful and comprehensive bio of Mays and his times.
Baseball’s Starry Night- Paul Kocak; a book that captures very well what it’s like to be a fan right now, connected by social media across the nation, as the book focuses on one amazing night in baseball history in particular.
The Last Hero: Henry Aaron- Howard Bryant; a great bio of a player that a lot of fans don’t know all that much about, or at least not as much as they thought they knew.
Joe DiMaggio- Richard Cramer; some of the things in the book have been challenged for accuracy, and the book is often unflattering about Joe’s personal life. Still, the book does a great job of showing the fierce competive drive of DiMaggio, his excellence on the field, and his almost unstoppable will to win.
Clemente- David Maraniss; a moving and poignant look at Clemente’s life. The reader feels an emotional connection to Clemente in this book that crosses the decades of time.
The Great American Novel- Philip Roth; a hilarious, laugh-outloud fictional story of the craziest minor league team ever.
Lefty- Vernona Gomez and Lawrence Goldstone; a very entertaining look at the life of Lefty Gomez and his wife June. His daughter is one of the co-authors. He was a great ballplayer who has probably been mostly forgotten until this book. The book brings he and his era fully alive.
I recommend again, if you get a chance, going to the book’s website and watching the 4 minute video tribute that’s on the frontpage of the website. One of the things the video also does is give a sense of Lefty’s world travels promoting baseball.
The video is at http://leftygomez.com/
Nice! Thanks, Zum…
Flav, can we permanently post this on the Flap? Make a link? Good info here Zum.
done
Thanks . . . Amazingly, I’ve only read Pawlie’s book and Ball Four out of this list. I need to expand my horizon beyond the thriller, espionage, and horror genre. 🙂
I saw the Lefty vid on the site. Good stuff. Plus, anything with B&W of Babe Ruth off field and with his family is a treat to see. Also, seeing him take swings at the plate, given maybe some of the idiosyncracies of film speed etc, at the time, shows that the guy really could turn on the ball. Seems to me all the hitters in those days were much more relaxed and fluid in their swings. Nowadays, guys are coiled up like snakes and look stiffer than a Madam Tussaud’s figure…
Chi/Zoom, if you don’t have Unbroken on your list, do so. What an intense story that just happens to be true. You even have olympic stores for Eddddd.
Huh, According to SI, Melky didn’t appeal the suspension.
“In this instance the JDP testing procedures seemed to work very well, as Cabrera did not follow through with an appeal he didn’t think he could win, according to a report by the New York Daily News. Cabrera admitted his mistake in a statement released by the players’ association.”
That’s somewhat at odds with what Baggs was reporting yesterday…
In other words, rather than stall to help his current team, he decides to get the suspension over with as fast as possible and move on next year. Good luck Melky.
What a fucking tool.
On a rather somber day with the Melk Shake mess.
I come back strong with the Incredible journey of the Fightin Petaluma Little league team.They go to Williamsport and put a licking on a team from Conn.Final score 6-4 Petaluma…That’s a DRUG FREE Team of 10-13 yrs old…
Though who knows these days,considering the Coach’s son,Bradley Smith 13 is already 6’3 187 lbs who pitched got the W,and went 4-4 with a Bomb.
Could be a.candidate for an extra pee sample,or atleast extra Acne treatments.
6′ 3″ and 187.
Crap, bring him up, not Christian…
Little league games should never be televised. Kids need to be humbled at an early age or they grow up thinking who the fuck they are. It’s a hardball world out there. We have to keep our heads till this self-esteem craze blows over…
Yeah, Generation Y (or is it X?) grew up being told how great they were and given awards for just showing up. I wonder if an attitude adjustment “took” after the great recession of 2008? Dollars to donuts they don’t expect to be promoted to Vice President anymore . . . Umm, at least in the first year of employment. 🙂
Yeah, Baggs said Melky appealed.
As I said in my 9:20 post, to me, this is all about numbers… Melky’s numbers, now lost. All the kumbaya crap is probably moot, because I do think this team will handle it with a good spirit, and now, more than ever, this is Buster’s team, and he will become more of a leader than even before. Not worried about the team’s spirit; the reality is, this team cannot replace Melky’s numbers. Someone pointed out he only hit 11 HRs. He’s the top run scorer in the NL for chrissakes, with a hefty batting average no one else can come close to. Someone else pointed out that LA hung around with Kemp gone. Yeah, after losing close to 10 games in the standings. Only when Kemp came back did they reach the top again. This isn’t doomerism, it’s reality. Sabes is not impressed with what’s available on the waiver wire, yet I still think he’ll pick up somebody… but no one player on this team is going to make the difference, EVERYone on the team will have to elevate their game at the plate. It will be a most remarkable thing to see if they can do that. Loved this team with Melky, love it without.
One more try: Is the team better with no Melky but *with* Pence and Panda? Answer: without question. It’s a loss but hardly devastating.
It’s better with all three. Now there’s two…
No shit. They’re still better off than they were on July 31…or, as I said- Melky’s a loss but hardly devastasting..
Twin’s back! Where’s DMD?
Pushing an old lady off a cliff..
And don’t worry. I’m not “back”…
Of course, Twin is right about this. Our team is fine offensively right now. Lose Buster too and we can discuss our demise. But he’s fine. He’s Thurman Fuckin’ Munson. We’re ok as-is……..
Tolbert was yapping to his bobble heads about “would you want Melky for the playoffs after the 5th playoff game.”
I almost broke my rule and called into the show (haven’t done that in about 15 years).
Resoundingly, FUCK THAT. Hey, if we make the playoffs it’ll be with the guys we have (see: WillieD’s main thread). Why would we want to take back a fucking dude who faked his entire season to come back and play for us (without his precious steroids) at the most important time of the year after he left us in the lurch and has only played 10 minor league games (after missing 50) only to get thrown into the intensity of the playoffs….Meanwhile, the *other guys* are the ones who got us to the playoffs and Bochy gets to tell the LF (or the *LF-by-Committee*) “thanks for your help but we are going back to our cheating-fake-fuck the rest of the way.”
100% fuck that and good riddence Melky Cabrera……..
Agree BF,Don’t need a rusty Melky taking a roster spot of someone who can actually help in the playoffs.And the Giants cannot add a player start the playoffs, if they wait for Melky’s suspension to expire, they have to play shorthanded to start a series,Fuck That!
I’m just mad that he got caught. Cheating is part of baseball. Giant fans know this better than anybody. Stolen sign on the Thomson HR? Greaseball Gaylord? Barry? C’mon….
For those of you guys who like to read baseball books, I highly recommend “Eastern Stars” by M. Kurlansky, the story of baseball and the town of San Pedro de Macoris (aka home of the SS) in the DR. glossary in the back of all those from the DR that have played mlb, and insights into “academies” as they are called run by mlb clubs there.
I’ll look for it!
Chuck, I have a copy of Unbroken, and am looking forward to reading it.
Here’s some military-themed and other history books that I like a lot:
Ghost Soldiers- Hampton Sides; a riveting true account of a daring attempt to rescue American soldiers in a POW camp in Japanese-occupied Philippines in WWII. It’s one of those books that grabs you and won’t let go.
Where Men Win Glory- Jon Krakauer; the Pat Tillman story by an always excellent author who did excellent research on the story.
Killer Angels- Michael Shaara; a classic telling of the story of the commanders on both sides during the Battle of Gettysburg.
A Moment In The Sun- John Sayles; the film director/screenwriter’s engrossing historical novel about the Spanish-American War.
A Bright Shining Lie- Neil Sheehan; the best book about the Vietnam War, in my opinion. It looks at the war by focusing on a particular soldier, and his long journey through the war.
Cronkite- Douglas Brinkley; a big part of Cronkite’s career was war coverage, including time as a correspondent during WWII, risking his life many times to report on the war.
Cobra II- Michael R. Gordon’s very good and thorough book about the Iraq War.
The Devil In The White City- Erik Larson; an un-put-downable book about the first famous serial killer in the U.S., running amuck during the Chicago World’s Fair in the 1890s. Larson’s “In The Garden Of Beasts,” about the rise of Nazi Germany is very well-written, also.
The Fifties- David Halberstam; very entertaining and thought-provoking book about a decade that was far more complex and influential than it often gets credit for.
Go Down Together- Jeff Guinn; riveting, highly-detailed biography of Bonnie and Clyde, and their times.
The Worst, Hard Time- Timothy Egan; mindboggling, fascinating book about the worst man-made environmental disaster in U.S. history- the Dust Bowl.
Pillars Of The Earth- Ken Follet; very entertaining, interesting historical novel about Medieval Life. The sequel is called “World Without End.” His WWI novel “Fall Of Giants” is also very well done. A sequel for that one comes out later this year sometime.
Loved Pillars Of The Earth. Less memorable was the sequel you mentioned. His first book, Eye of The Needle was excellent too,
I’m also madder that he got caught and we’ve now proven that we’ve got 2 of dumbest 5 players in baseball- and two of the other 3 are Manny Ramirez..
I have rope, cyanide and my special ledge at the ready. The “Dumbest” players in baseball have no business on the field, let alone living. As Blake Clark, “It’s time to thin the herd.” Melky can’t even speak English let alone learn how to mask his drug tests. The herd does not need him…NEXT!!!
Ya know I could give a S whether these guys use ‘roids and testosterone and HGH, or whatever. The fact that they all do it, at least we have to assume they all do it, tells me that this “testing” process, however lame it is, is a totally artificial and nonsensical construct. The underlying problem is that steroid use, without physician imprimatur, is illegal under federal law. That is a stigma that could go away, but for absurd politics. Federal drug laws and the DEA are a total political football and a federal budget item that wastes billions of dollars and ruins many lives, because of the Puritanical nature of this society. Until such time as these laws are regularized to the realities of life in these United States, this kind of BS will continue. Why should 65 year old dudes be able to use testosterone supplementation with the OK of a doctor making dough on the transaction, but 35 year old dudes that happen to play MLB can’t use the same stuff under physician care to improve their swing speed, because it is deemed cheating essentially due to its arbitrary illegality? I can get the shit prescribed to me if I happen to have erectile dysfunction, but if I want it presecribed to jigger my swing speed, nah, that’s wrong. OK for the boner, but not for the dinger. It is all a crock of crap…
“OK for the boner, but not for the dinger.”
Ha! Great one.
Wait snarkk, it’s taken you two days of blogging to finally get around to the point that you don’t give a shit?
OK, I got it.
I’m finally tired of all the blather about it, and have finally come to the unfortunate conclusion that they ALL could be using, so I’ve decided not to care anymore. Yeah, two days. Wasn’t that long, really. Was it?… 🙂
I do agree about being tired of the blather. The dude fucked up, he was stupid and yes every one of them could be using. Hell, I still believe Ripken used, not for beefing up but for the supposed healing properties. I can’t prove it but that doesn’t stop me from believing it and yet I still watch the game. I still root for the rookies and I still marvel at some of the shit these guys do on a somewhat daily basis. Matt Cain threw a perfect game, a perfect game. Is he a user? I don’t know but, it was a perfect game. In that game Blanco, a guy who couldn’t hold a starting role made a catch for the ages. Is he using? Again, I don’t know. BUT, it was a perfect game.
Two days of bitching about Melky (not just you Snarkk) and I gotta tell y’all, I’m kinda ready to get back into this Divisional race thing myself.
“Ok for the boner, but not for the dinger”…. good one. To me it seems to be the random testing thing that’s just silly. Either do mandatory testing for everyone, like once a month, or don’t test at all. Mandatory testing would be the only fair system. Of course, the players union would never go for mandatory testing, but even if MLB could do mandatory testing, the bright minds in the upper offices know full well it might cause some very skilled players to not play at all, or it might result in a lesser product on the field, which is bad for business. Since this will never happen, just bag it all. Otherwise, you’ve Melky getting caught but Kemp (just an example) not. Ineffectual competitive process.
Not completely relevant, but a tangential example: my brother used to be a long-haul truck driver. He also had been a rather ardent pot smoker. Mandatory urine sampling, not random, caused him to give up smoking pot (not that he was puffing while driving the trucks, just in his spare non-road time) so he could keep his job. Random testing might have resulted in him continuing to smoke and maybe getting caught and then losing his job (or maybe one warning). In the end, he missed the pot more than he enjoyed driving the trucks, so that was that. In Melky’s case, if testing was mandatory, would he not have taken the stuff? Or would he have pursued another occupation? Who knows…..
You guys already know wants coming, but I have to say it…
Melky DESERVED what was coming. Fuck his stoopid ass.
You’re BAAAAAACK!….
Interesting situation in the Dodger game. In the midst of a bunch of player and manager vs. ump bickering, the ump told Kemp “Not another word from you!” And so Kemp, like a little kid, said “Let’s go, Dre,” an exhortation to Andre Ethier to get a hit, but also kind of a test of the umpire. And the ump threw him out. Can an ump really tell a player “not another word” in a situation like that? Seems questionable. I get where the ump is coming from- the ump’s do have a right to expect a certain level of respect from the players, or the game can’t function properly. But where to draw the line? Certainly he meant Kemp could talk at some point, just not towards the field at that particular time.
These modern umps have a totally pumped up sense of importance. I don’t get it, since video proves that they miss tons of calls. especially at first base. The game could easily do without all umps except the home plate umpire. One single ump manning the video station could call the game other than balls and strikes…
I think the umps need mandatory performance-disenhancing-drug testing.
Hey guys— I’m up and out at about 4am tomorrow and gone most of the day so I put my thread up now. Later.
Now that our division hopes are over, no thanks to Melky. It’s already a given that “My” Dodgers will win the West now. Do we still have a chance at a WC spot? It’s like trying to pick the 4th and 5th spots in a Super High 5 because we already know the top three slots are going to WASH, CIN and LA. Yes, I said Los Angeles. Don’t shoot the messenger. Unload your gun on the NL All-Star MVP who was leading the league in hits and runs scored.
I love a cheater myself. I just can’t tolerate one who’s dumb enough to get caught. I’d spare Anne Boleyn before I’d give Melky another look. His next look? Off with his head.
You know the one thing that bugs me about that kind of negativism? It’s that if the Giants DO win the division, then you’re going to say “I’ve never been so glad to be wrong.” As if that equals out all the weeks of relentless bashing. The “I’ve never been so glad to be wrong” is the cheapest cop-out that exists on sports blogs.
What pisses me off is that no one really gives a fuck about steroid usage. Melky will move on to his 5th team in 5 years, sign a $7 million deal, and if he hits, those fans will be happy. End of story. He may have shitcanned our season, but in the end no one will care but us Giants fans. It’ll be a blip on his career. Or he sucks without the T and he fades away. Still and all, he’ll get a nice fat payday next year.
Either test everyone equally or don’t test at all.