He who laughs first . . .
It’s been my impression that there is a significant difference when the giants score first. So, I looked into it. When the giants score first, they are 49-16. When the opponent scores first, they (the opponent) are 39-21. The giants have scored 84 runs in the first inning to the opponents 72. When the giants are ahead after 1, they are 33-5 and when they are behind 7-22. The giants are 4-49 when losing after 7. I think it’s pretty obvious that when the white shark (early in the year) and now pagan are hot in the 1 hole, the whole offense works better. maybe that’s the definition of obvious. so, score early, score often.
Not a bad way to go through life. Unless it’s one of the undead . . .
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
Great game last night. It seems obvious to me that the Giants are at an advantage when they score via moving on the base paths. I thought how earlier in the season we would have been screaming about men left on base, especially with the bases loaded. With runs scored during other at bats and with men on base being a common occurrence we do not worry so much. Instead of the doomer comments of RISP problems we are blessed to be getting runners on base and *confident* they will be scoring. so it is forgiven, knowing if we score early OR later we have a great chance of winning with our pitching. As I watched the two HRs by the Braves in the first two innings my first thoughts were UH OH, we didn’t score first, but that did not matter and we scored later. So even if we are not laughing first we can be cheering when this team starts running the bases.
Speaking of scoring early, a tip of the cap to ewisco for a post early enough for the coffee club.
From last night thread, I have to say ted’s rant towards the nipper bleep was funny. But this reply from flav
“Flavor said, on August 25, 2012 at 4:38 am (Edit)
I was going to moderate this with a *delete* but I couldn’t figure out specifically why I was going to do so. So I didn’t. 🙂 ”
Really cracked me up.
Score early and score often!
Yeah, that cracked me up as well. It was all in good humor
“When the Giants score first, they are 49-16.”
In life, when I have “scored first,” it has resulted in a marriage or relationship doomed to divorce/breakup. Since I am single right now, I guess you could say I am looking for my first win in this category. 🙂
Too bad scoring first didn’t help the marlins last night. Reyes homered off Barbs for a 2-0 lead and then they gave 6 runs back in 3 innings and LA spanked them 11-4.
As to the committee, like it or not, bochy’s rolling with it. when he yanked vogs in the 7th, in came mijares but after he gave up the hit to McCann, he was gone. Casilla was in to finish the inning, and unfortunately his turn at bat came up. As hot as Pagan has been, two outs craw on first bochy hits for casilla with theriot in a 5-3 game. We’ve all seen casilla ABs, and it’s hard to fault bochy for trying to get more insurance, even tho that meant no more casilla.
So it’s romo in the 8th and lopez vs. the LH heyward (brutal K) for the 4 out save. Today/tmw it might be different, but with all those LHs in the middle that can whack–heyward freeman mccann (plus chipper as switch hitter, whom lopez got out batting RH)–bochy used casilla early and then romo vs. lower part of the order and bourn/prado.
I think the *score first* thing is a bigger mental challenge for our opponent than anything it does for our team. Knowing you are already down in the first inning against this rock sold pitching staff has got to be a mental burden. And I suspect that our *5* are so used to pitching in tight games that they take the same mindset out there whether they are up/down/tied and just go out and dominate….
It’s going to be interesting to see who gets left off the post season roster (assuming we win the West). Here is our W/L record for the team when each starter pitches….
Stoney– 9-17
Barry– 14-11
Horse–16-9
Voggy– 15-7
Bum– 16-9
I”ll say this about Casilla: He looks far more relaxed out there in the 7th inning than he ever did closing a game. He’s not twitching and rushing his delivery (like he appeared to do when he closed). And Bochy has made many negative public comments on KNBR about things that displeased him about Casilla’s approach to pitching. I wonder if Bochy thinks he’s more suited for a set up role?
I was taking a look at MLB closers that could be had on the waiver wire…Would anyone take on Jonathan Papelbon and his contract? Better yet, would the Dodgers block the move? Other than Papelbon, I don’t see any other potential relievers the Giants could snag, that the Bums would block first.
at this point, I don’t see the team making a move for a closer for one main reason: they wouldn’t want to upset the current group of BP guys. They are a close knit group that takes a lot of pride in how they stuck together and got through the Wilson-loss by not just surviving but succeeding.
You bring in a *Papelbon* and Romo/Affeldt/etc would probably be like “fuck that.”
Joe, closers are always a crapshoot and in my opinion, I would rely in-house on closers and closers in waiting. We have an excellent relief staff that during the year has had some ups and downs, but I look at other teams closers that were lights out as recently as last year and it gives me pause, e.g., Bell, Bailey, Waldon, Axford, Farnsworth, etc. (I probably could have listed 4-5 others, but their names escape me).
Good point guys and I tend to agree… Really I think we should be more concerned about the rotation…on paper our 3-5 looks better than the Bums, but I have zero faith in Zito and Timmy…I think Blanton and Beckett win that matchup.
this is from mlbtraderumors.com (ps I am LQTMing to myself while I type this):
8:19am: If there was any doubt remaining that the Dodgers’ new ownership group would drastically alter the franchise, it has now been officially eliminated. The Dodgers and Red Sox have completed a massive nine-player blockbuster trade that will send Josh Beckett, Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, and Nick Punto to Los Angeles for James Loney and four prospects, reports Michael Silverman of The Boston Herald. Dan Roche of WBZ appears to have first reported completion of the trade (on Twitter).
The four prospects are expected to be Allen Webster, Ivan De Jesus, Jerry Sands, and Rubby De La Rosa. The Red Sox will pay just $12MM of the over $270MM owed to Beckett, Crawford, Gonzalez, and Punto according to Silverman. Adding the four new players represents a substantial financial commitment by the Dodgers:
Comments from David Ortiz about the trade:
“I think they’re looking to put the ballclub in a better situation next year. I’m not saying that we’re going to be in a better situation without those players. We’re about to find out.”
Ortiz knows it, he’s half way saying it with this quote: The Red Sox have gotten rid of 3 shitty attitude/me-first/money driven players, they have ditched 260 million in payroll and they even got a few prospects out of the deal. It’s unreal that The Dodgers could be so fucking stupid to WANT to do this thing.
I’m down with that analysis too. Bums just bought another team’s problems. Bring it fuckwads.
One other point – Crawford has missed most of this season with the arm problem. Does anyone truly believe he will be available next year in lieu of Tommy John surgery? Almost laughable that this guy is salvageable. Besides that, he wasn’t that good anyway. Fucker will be 33-34 when he is in uniform again.
Game on, BumFucks. The only one I’m worried about is Gonzalez, a major upgrade over Loney. But that’ll make it all the more satisfying when he strikes out against Lopez late in a big game.
A rather massive misunderstanding about “closer by committee”- the idea really isn’t to have to use all of them almost every night. As much as I’ve defended Hensley as a 5th or 6th reliever- if he’s warming up to close ( he was coming in if it went to Uggla), it is not a good thing ( he already he had to get the final out once after others failed. We’re getting a little too close to Kevin Bacon closing. ). Too often, our committee is just taking turns bailing each other out.Bochy is a master- but at a certain point, some simple math will come into play- the more pitchers used, the more likely one of them with fuck it all up. Whatever he says now, he will not stay with the current set up long. IMO, of course.
Anybody have the energy to look up how the Reds rationed out the “Nasty Boys” in 1990? I don’t….
On the trade: I’m not as dismissive as some about it. Even if Gonzales really turned out to be the only upgrade for them, that’s a big one. With that said, this will make beating them even sweeter…
It can’t be dismissed. That is a pretty awesome foursome in the middle of that lineup…
Where’s DMD on Travers Day? As you all should know I am hideous in Triple Crown races but I am the undisputed king of the Travers. So this year I will give my highly respected lukewarm endorsement to Liason (#9) to pull off the minor upset at about 7-1 in this year’s dreadful but wide open renewal …
The July 31st MLB trade deadline now has the credibility of a Brett Favre retirement announcement…
that’s a great point– it’s not just for the buyers to add a piece or two to the puzzle but it’s a chance for former buyers (who has buyer’s remorse) to ditch payroll.
On pure numbers, of course A-Gon is an upgrade. And maybe getting out of Boston will revive and focus him. But he WAS one of the guys fingered last year in Chicken/beer-gate and he was totally involved (if not the driving force since many reports say the dastardly text came from his phone) with the attempted coup of B-Val’s job earlier this month.
I also would argue that throwing 6 brand new players into a starting LU (HanRam and Victorino plus the 4 from Boston) as September is about to start is the WRONG way to go about building team chemistry. There are a lot of holes in this *plan* the Dodgers are taking to trying to buy the West crown…….
I’ve been trying to think of something that would compare to this idiotic, brainless spending spree that the Dodgers are going on and I came up with this. Fast forward to about the 48 second point and watch a couple of minutes of it……
Can’t speak for others, I’ve never said or thought this was a good trade in the long term for them . And whether it works even short term is not known- by any of us. I do agree that the deal is a corruption of the spirit of the waiver wire process- and it would be regardless of the teams involved- SF included.
And what do the current Dodgers think about this total team overhaul? Are Kemp and Ethier cool with it? There are a lot of team chemistry variables to consider and that won’t be known until they throw all these strangers into the same LU. It’s not like they get to figure it all out in spring training games…….
And, I’m sorry, but Beckett has sucked this year. He’s gonna show up in LA totally stoked and ready to go—to the strip joints. LA’s starting pitching, besides Kershaw, sucks.
Lately, there has been more inappropriate back and forth again- what I wanted to avoid with the new format. I want to be clear about a few things- Michael is nearly always cited as the instigator of any unpleasantness and it’s obvious that he has a fair share of blame he must bear- but it’s wrong that he’s been singled out to the near total exclusion of others who contribute to this. If any of you feel a commenter is out of line- report it to me, this is not a soap box for any of you to take off on another user. I will take care of it if the situation warrants my action. Finally, I’ve seen many, including myself, attempt to make Twin the scapegoat for me turning the blog over. That was not fair- too often what should have been a short disagreement turned into an endless and off putting bitch fest. I’ve been as guilty of that as anybody. So let’s all examine how we conduct ourselves. Ed noted how the blog numbers are up with the Dodger rivalry and what has usually been some excellent commentary. Let’s keep it way. Thank you.
also, Twin’s been added back to The Stable, at his request. He goes after Edd (author schedule is listed to the right)
welcome back twin, great to know you are gonna be posting behind me.
It looks like I have a few days to come up with something.I might look into waiver wire abuse more closely. Whether the Dodgers spent wisely is irrelevant- the fact that they are reportedly taking on 95 percent of the salaries from the Red Sox just reconfirms that the playing field is crooked- even with a process that claims to prevent exactly what this trade achieved.
Glad to have you back, twin. But I knew it was temporary anyway
I’m sick about this trade and am having Fred McGriff flashbacks. I don’t care about the Dodgers adding salary and I don’t think they do either. Bottom line, they are adding yet another superstar to their team. The commissioner ought to block this deal—all it is is Boston giving the Dodgers Gonzalez to take the other 2 salaries off their hands. That’s messed up and only an extreme deep pockets team like LA can do a deal like that. I didn’t read yesterday’s thread real closely, but I think Pawlie compared it to Charlie O selling off players in the 70’s—-which I think is a valid comparison. I also don’t buy A Gone as one of the chicken wing and beer guys—I caught his act down here in SD for several years and everything he did here showed him to be a class guy and great teammate.
I ABSOLUTELY FUCKING HATE that SOMEHOW LA always ends up with the superstar whether its Dwight Howard, Wayne Gretzky, Wilt, Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Manny, Kobe, Hanley, AGone, and they rarely seem to have to pay much of a price or take much risk in the process. And YES, as a matter of fact, I am a conspiracy guy on this topic and totally believe that in some of these deals some shady league office crap went down that funneled the superstar to the huge west coast media market.
I’ts total bullshit and I think we’re fucked.
You left out Dieter Brock…
…and I wanted to include a Ram or 2 on the list. Namath crossed my mind, but he was done at that point. Eric Dickerson maybe? Norm Van Brocklin? John Hadl? Ollie Matson?
I can agree on the shady office crap: like a well hidden clause where the Red Sox agree: we will not trade Ross back to SF.
Giants should just keep winning. Problem solved.Dodgers are willing to take on salary and Boston is more than willing to give it to them. This was a trade that was bound to happen.
we aren’t fucked Diggity. And I recognize I could turn out to be wrong about this. We were supposedly fucked after they got HanRam and Victorino and I think (though don’t have the time to look it up) that we’ve put 2 or 3 games on them since those deals went down.
Now, I’m out for a bit. Later.
I referenced the Laker thing a few days ago, I agree. Much of this just seems like a way to get the Dodgers returned to a competitive status to boost the media market you just spoke to. I’ve always said that a healthy SF-LA rivalry was good for the game- rigging one is NOT good.
But I still think we’ll beat ’em…
Amazing the amount of money LA is spending, with most of it debt. They look like they are following the Amazon plan: as long as we continue to put a team on the field eventually we will make some money and start to pay off the debt. I can’t be looking up last year’s salary commitments, but next year it will be $194M. One dies (as Boston leaves the big spender club) another is born. (and boston may be back soon)
Gonzales was not happy in Boston, he should be a great add for the dogers over Loney; who is a rental for the Sox. Allen is reported to be a top pitching prospect; a 2 or a 3. Crawford has had surgery and may be back next season and will be earning millions until he is retirement age.
Beckett and HanRam both are known clubhouse question marks.
this “blockbuster” may turn out to have less impact for the Gmen then losing that player they got for Dirrrty.
OK, if anybody is smart and has the time, the place to be is Williamsport ’cause, today are the League Championship games. Winner of Japan v Panama represents the Int’l League in the LLWS Championship game tomorrow. They are playing now.
Next up is the USA League game with Tennessee v California (ie Petaluma) and it starts around noon thirty pdt
Tennessee made it to the league championship game with a 3-0 record. California comes in with a 4-1 record the only lost was to Goodlettsville, Tenn.
On paper Petaluma is the better team. Looking at intangibles Goodlettsville probably is. Plus they already have the one win head to head.
Should be a good game ESPN is showing it in 3D (I knew you would ask, Flav)
*May interfere with the home team broadcast.
Angel Pagan CF
Marco Scutaro 2B
Pablo Sandoval 3B
Buster Posey C
Hunter Pence RF
Joaquin Arias SS
Brandon Belt 1B
Francisco Peguero LF
Madison Bumgarner P
all apologies if someone already posted this.
Astros outfielder Steve Pearce is drawing interest from the Giants, who are looking for someone who hits left-handed pitching.
Who the F is Steve Pearce? At this point, they may as well as bring in Stephen Pearcy to play LF for all the difference it’s going to make it.
Alright, that’s it—no more Doomer comments from me—I said my piece and I’ll leave it at that. I’ll still be tuned in with my IPad in one hand and a Miller High Life in the other rooting for the Orange and Black.
..and If any of you knows who Stephen Pearcy is without googling it, you get a gold star for the day.
Weren’t we warned about Burning Ratt posts 😉
OK, I googled. Can I have a cardboard star ?
I remember Pearce from when he was with Pittsburgh when he played 1B, I thought about how Ishikawa would be such an upgrade. So we’re interested in a guy with no pop, doesn’t steal bases, been with 4 teams just this year. Can we look a little lower in the trash heap ?
But he hits left handed pitching, and he does it good. and he is 29, I wonder if he wears his socks high?
Yeah, I know. Look, if he’s free it sounds fine. Just seems there’s a LITTLE more to aspire to.
Shocked to see Pence behind Posey. Don’t get that one?
Japan will be in tomorrow’s WS game and look uber tough – great pitching and 5 homers in today’s game against Panama.
from the MLB pre-game story: The Giants’ five-game winning streak matches their longest of the season. They last won five straight from July 13-18. The Braves snapped the streak with a 3-2 win, beating the Giants and Bumgarner in Atlanta.
Well, the game starts in a few, but on TMC is the Magnificent Seven. I am spoilt for choice tonight.
Tough choice
Aw, snap!
Neil Armstrong, commander of Apollo 11 and the first man to ever set foot on the moon, died to today at age 82 due to complications from his heart surgery three weeks prior.
bummer, he was only an astronaut, but one more is gone. A hero for the history books.
Bummer indeed
No harm no foul. Come on Giants, score early, score often.
Not sure if I’ve been ostracized here for my disagreement with others on Bochy, but, if not, I wondered if anyone knew if Gonzalez was traded because he stated his contempt of Valentine? Just trying to settle a discussion and thought you guys might have some insight. Gonzalez always seemed real quiet and when I read what he said about Valentine, I wondered what ol’ Bobby V. would do about it. How much sway he has with Boston and all. Appreciate any insight and thanks.
Don’t worry. You have not been ostracized. That being said…I have no insight. As many here will attest
Adrian, most of all, was not a _fit_at Fenway. He is a californiano, hard to get with the east coast vibe. Having said that Bobby is the kinda guy who would think riding a player might make him work harder.
I don’t remember your postion on Bochy- but lots of posters here aren’t fans of his managing. I’ve been called an apologist for him but I have my disagreements too. I can’t imagine that you would be ostracized.
This thing about Gonzales and Valentine I don’t know much about but why the Sox hired an unstable pesrson after last year’s mess was not the wisest move on their,part IMO.
Here is the lowdown from a week or so ago: “Adrian Gonzalez, texting on behalf of himself and some teammates, aired their dissatisfaction with Valentine for embarrassing starting pitcher Jon Lester by leaving him in to allow 11 runs during a July 22 start. It was the latest incident in a season’s worth of bad relations bubbling between Red Sox players and Valentine.
Gonzalez and Dustin Pedroia were among the most vocal in the meeting, in which some players stated flatly they no longer wanted to play for Valentine, the sources said.”
Not sure that had much to do with it,but as eddacker said, I bet Gonzalez was not used to East Coast ball. I just wonder if Boston will stick with Valentine who seems a relic in today’s game. My NewEngland friends are spitting glass because of BV. Meanwhile, I’m staggered by the 3 run bomb. Not that I thought we’d never get scored upon again.
I do not follow the BoSox, but I thought Terry was a good manager. BTW he is sharing colour commentary at the LLWS games (with Garciaparra).
I think a lot of fans were surprised with Bobby V getting the call. Most of them knew it wouldn’t last.
Personally, I think MLB could learn an awful lot from the folks who run the LLWS. I love LL baseball.
I see MadBum’s in full snot-rocket mode this afternoon
Sweet
And Adrian is the one thing the dogers get so far, this year, it will be seen. LA officials already saying: sometimes you have to overpay to get good player(s).
Tennessee 8-1 no outs in the 3rd
Bad omen for ewisco’s thread theme here
Well that sucked.
Either you’re thinking, “god I hope Arias is clean.” or you’re thinking, “this guy is going to put somebody out of a starting job soon.” I’m thinking both those with my alter egos. Can’t decide who is winning.
Robbie, I’m probably the only one here that isn’t an Arias fan. Filling in at third or second OK, playing SS, nope, I just think the dude has slow reaction time to play that position. But to answer your questions, 1) yes, 2) No.
That is what I’m hearing, either A or B. I think it’s an amazing feat to be able to play all three of those positions really well and he’s made some plays that were the best I’ve seen. His bat lately makes me think “A” but that is because I’m shell shocked by the stories of others.
God this is why I don’t agree with Bochy. This Kontos kid looks as nervous as a nelly and I wonder why is he out there even? Bring back Mota already, these games are too precious for nervous nellies.
How has Peguero looked at the plate? I just got home.
I fully expect Boston to win a WS before the Dodgers do. Maybe if the get rid of Coletti I’ll change my mind. Really though, if all they’re going to do is throw hundreds of millions of dollars at payroll every year, the owners should just GM the team themselves.
Weakish grounder, then struck out with runner on third and one out. Nice play in the field.
Loo, I like a Liason and Neck and Neck exacta in the Travers.
Pat Travers?
Boom Boom out goes Lights.
So much for Thorograph
I’ve got nothing to add. Just want to make the 70th comment today
Missed it by that much
that’s better than those imbecile’s over at the Merc blog with all of them falling over themselves to be able to be the blogger who gets to post “first” for each thread. Those are some dudes who need a hobby or something……
Braves are 45-0 when leading after 6. We hear a lot about those kind of numbers after 8, but after 6 is amazing; even with Kimbrel, Venters, etc. We can change that, though
that’s an insane stat, especially with Venters being ineffective to begin the year and then hit the DL. He’s been good since he got back but that’s a pretty big 7/8th inning hole to have in your BP for most of the season and yet they still are 45-0 after 6? Wild……..
BLEEP this game!
Bum definitely was off today . . . sigh.
Not Bum’s day……..
Marty Lurie interviewed McCarver recently and they played it on KNBR this morning. Interesting take he had about today’s players v previous generations. He acknowledged that today’s ball player is faster and stronger but said that most of them don’t understand how to play the game and he reeled off a bunch of examples that seemed reasonable to me.
I’m not connecting to how ballplayers have gotten dumber since the last generation. Maybe they just don’t care enough to learn the game. As long as they get paid they’re cool?
BLEEP boring day games.
Lorenzo Butler has just hit his third 3-run HR for the Tennessee team who lead 15 – 5
Looks like Petaluma will not be playing Japan tomorrow for the honour and pride of the USA
I’m tired of Little League stuff. They’re cute kids but on ESPN? I don’t like it.
go to Flav’s house, check it out in 3D. There are over 20,000 fans at the game today.
I don’t know how many of these are pinch hitters, but the oppopsing team’s 9th place hitters have hit .216 against us, highest in the league.
I didn’t dig that Twitter photo of three of the guys in the trade laughing on the airplane. Why send that Tweet? It shows no class and no appreciation for how much they disappointed the fans in Boston the last couple of seasons. The whole photo says “Why should we care? We’re getting paid millions of dollars.”
At least it was honest. Boston sure didn’t want them.
I was pleasantly surprised when I saw Mijares has 12 holds this year.
this is interesting
Bob Brenly may leave Chicago for Phoenix
Arizona’s current game-calling duo of Mark Grace and Daron Sutton have had rough seasons away from the booth. In June, Sutton was suspended with pay by the Diamondbacks for “insubordination,” according to a report by ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick. He has not returned to the booth. Grace is taking an indefinite leave of absence from his job after his second drunken driving arrest in 15 months this week.
Brenly is closing out the final year of a four-year contract he signed before the 2009 season. Industry sources insist that he is the highest paid color commentator on local baseball broadcasts, making in excess of $900,000 a year.
“Bob loves his job and broadcasting for the great Chicago Cub fans,” said Brenly’s Northbrook-based baseball agent Barry Meister. “ Bob has had a wonderful relationship with WGN and it is his hope to continue this partnership for many years to come.
(Though Brenly calls games on both WGN and Comcast SportsNet Chicago, his contract is negoitated with WGN.)
The Los Angeles Dodgers may also have interest in Brenly once they decide how to reconfigure their broadcasts. Hall of Fame announcer Vin Scully continues to reduce from his full-time duties after more than 60 years in the Dodger booth.
Brenly started his broadcasting career on WGN radio in 1990 for two years before taking a coaching position with the San Francisco Giants in 1992.
That 45-0 streak is due to be broken.
45-1?
your favorite reliever
Petaluma came back!
Hensley, I don’t know, he seems to get this look on his face when he gets hit that says, “huh?” Not sure what his story is yet.
He’s not awesome.
I sure would like to see Casilla on the mound right now.
Well, it’s part of the problem with the commitee- ideally, Hensley should be pitching in blow out games only. And Affeldt has to challenge guys with the bases loaded. That’s when a guy has to “give in”.
Could not agree more about both those ideas. Hensley seems lost and Affeldt sometimes seems to need an attitude adjustment. You know he can do it but he looks so full of doubt.
Frickin’ strike if you ask me. Blind ump.
Now we get to see how good the Atlanta bullpen really is.
That inning did not go according to Hoyle.
Damn. You have to tip your hat to Johnson on that play . . . then cuss him out.
Giants responded, offense came back, but were they let down by bullpen or management decision?
Hensley, I have no faith in, but Affeldt was a disappointment, two games in a row. Can’t blame Bochy or Raggs for Affeldt walking those guys.
It’s just one of the reasons bullpen by committee doesn’t work long..
Pffffft!
This is my biggest problem with Bochy, he has no guts for sweeps. He wins a couple and seems to run out of gusto or something. Very poor bullpen use for a red hot Giants offense. I sure hope this doesn’t cool them off. I think we should have won, or at least ties, this game.
Yeah, he walked and gave up a hit to a pathetic hitting pitcher. Bochy is the best pen manager in the game. If he has any blame at all, it’s not going to back to Caailla as the closer yet.
I have no doubt that if I were in his place I’d have burned out the top guys before the break.:)
A few days ago I gave a homework assignment to all the Flappers about what the Giants record was in day games after a night game. Well, after looking at the schedule, the Giants, even after today’s loss, are 17-15. Not bad, but they are 7-11 in their last 18 of such games. More night games please MLB.
Also, the boys played like they didn’t give a fuck today. Wake the fuck up and don’t be satisfied with a split. Go for the jugular tomorrow night.
They played hard and were managed just fine.
They’re wern’t satisfied to lose today and and they would not be satisied to lose tommorow.
ditto
Sorry, I don’t buy it demp . . . Did you see Blanco’s facial expression and body language after hitting the double in the 7th? How about Belt and Posey after they crossed the plate? I can’t and wont buy that the Giants EVER DON’T “. . . GIVE A FUCK” OR ROLL OVER FOR ANY TEAM.
Sorry blade, I missed the Blanco facial after he doubled. I was watching Petaluma make a ten run comeback in LLWS.
No biggie demp . . . Yeah, Blanco was quite excited about the double, as were the runners crossing the plate. Quite frankly, I think the silver lining of this Dodger trade is that they just woke up a “sleeping Giant” (team).
Haha, I was wondering when you were going to give us the answer to that.
Listening to the ESPN dicks, against every ounce of judgement, and I just want to blow up my TV. Talking about the Giants as if they are a fluke.
Fuck them and the entire east coast.
Wait till you read the article that just came out about the nine people injured in the shooting outside the Empire State building yesterday – all were injured by NYPD bullets. NY NY, it’s a helluva town.
Seriously? I hadn’t heard that. Robbie, it seems like one of these mass shootings occur every other day and I guess I am numbed by the frequency of them, especially here in Colorado (where we have more than our share of gun nuts loose on the streets carrying concealed weapons).
I turn it in to comedy. I think it’s hilarious how little the espn announcers and all of the other team’s announcers know about the players and the team’s around the league. Well, espn has Yanks and Red Sox covered. But that’s it.
I manage 5 different fantasy teams and to do so I have to do research on pretty much every player in the league as well as any minor leaguer who might get called up. I’m a single dad, got a full time job (and a half) and I still manage to get the baseball research done. That is their actual job and they can’t get it done. It’s hilarious.
What’s more pathetic is that these losers have access to professional baseball people, e.g., scouts, managers, players, GMs, etc., via interviews and interpersonal relationships/friendships. We do it via the internet. 🙂
Well, I’m sure as fuck not in another “sweep stakes” tonight. Yeah, they’ve fought and clawed their way to a 3 game lead and that’s good enough? Brewski and Hot Wings time, their job is done…I’m gonna make some pan fried chicken myself, haven’t had that in awhile, then I’ll watch the Dodger game– talk about a team that lays down- never even attained a TIE in our sweeperino…
Skin on or off?
And just as I finish saying I “research every player in the league, I think I can safely echo San Diggity with a pm comment to compliment his am comment: Who the fuck is Steve Pearce?
I feel kinda the same way about the big deal as Flav–boston got rid of 3 guys they were disappointed in with huge contracts. Loney is someone who might help them if they decide to keep him around and they pick up two guys very cheap to help out underachieving pitching staff. flems said Giants guy he talked to was high on both de la Rosa and the prospect webster (?), who was supposedly second top rated pitcher in the system.
the way I first read it, LA really wanted gonzalez and the sox told them fine, but you gotta take the other two. Sox fans are not going to stand for such a crummy record, so I’m sure they will go after other FAs to hit there. Since $$ aren’t an issue and it’s a great hitters park in a division with a bunch of others, shouldn’t be a problem attracting high priced talent…valentine notwithstanding.
This is just the dodgers throwing as many million dollar bills against the wall and seeing what sticks. It’s brain dead gm-ing, anyone can do this. But it’s not going to work. Especially the Beckett part. Beckett doesn’t give a single shit about anyone but himself. And he IS a big part of this deal. A-Gone might bump them up a little offensively, but really, they’re already fine offensively.
Their starting pitching still isn’t very good…
Baseball Cliche Alert!!:
Well, hell they were on a 5 game winning streak. Couldn’t last forever. Bum was a little off today so there you go. Can still take 3 of 4
Boston tried to fix their major problems last year by ditching their gm and their manager. That clearly didn’t work. Now they’re chopping off the heads of the players with the biggest deals who had a role in the last 2 years.
The word on Crawford and A-Gone is typically that they’re good teammates but BOTH have been implicated on and off in the last 2 seasons of drama in Beantown. So either they’re percieved as good teammates or they are me-first fucks. And don’t presume to know a player if you didn’t know them before they got their “take care of me” deal. People change………
Absolutely ON- and absoluetly on the bone as well.Talking chicken..why don’t you all go over my chicken page when you see the link on the right? Listen- all opinions on how to fry chicken are totally welcome- although county wars have been fought over whether Chicken Betty did it better than Chicken I Forgot the Other Woman’s name. Betty fried chicken for something like 60 years in and around KC so I’m going with her- although I’m approachng the 60 yerar frying mark myself so it might not be long before I declare myself the world champ. Chicken frying is rather like pro wresting, there are two thousand some odd world champs. Even so, there does have to be one REAL champ and I’m fixing to make that me…
I will check it out in detail after we eat. And my experience with your cooking recommendations has been
100% + so I will definitely try it and I can say that before reading it.
Jazz fest in NOLA has many great food booths (30?) with tons of different stuff. Back in the mid 80s there was a fried chicken booth from some Baptist church that was some of the best I’ve ever had. The guy that fried it told me he knew they were done by the sound of the frying. In my world, it was akin to Ted Williams saying he could smell the burn of the wood on his bat when he got a hit.
Frying chicken is such a hit and miss deal with me, but damn I love it.
I worked part-time in KFC back in 1971 and to this day have never revealed their secret recipe…
I worked some games on a carnival for two seasons back in the late 70s and I haven’t revealed any of those secrets (although, I have played the games to my advantage on a couple of occasions).
With SanDawg, I’m having a few McGriff flashbacks, but over all at least for this season I don’t think it buys the Dodgers the NL West. It’s desperate and superficial. For all the pluses it brings LA, it also brings chaos, tension, and shitty attitudes and performers. It will be an interesting soap opera. HOWEVER, a) I thought you could not trade someone on the DL and b) why WOULDN’T the commissioner invalidate it “in the best interests of baseball”? No one has mentioned it. since Selig and his office are now pawns of the owners, is that option even available anymore? On another note, driving down Route 17 in NY I heard the Mets announcers speculate the trade would oddly CEMENT Valentine’s position as manager. apparently, early on in his Mets stint he cleaned house (Bernard Gilkey and two others were named) to get the team he wanted.
Gonzales hit a 3-run HR in his first frigging AB. No chicken for you, dude..
He McGriffed.
I vote for Flavor’s 5:04pm as POTD. Out of context, it’s nasty on about 5 different levels.
I don’t think it’s like ’93 because the Giants pitching is better than ’93, and the Dodgers’ is not as good as the Braves that year. In ’93, the Giants were winning their games 8-6, and the Braves were winning their games 3-1. The Giants of 2012 are actually more like the Braves of that year, and the Dodgers more like the Giants that year. Still, it was close at the end. So, this is probably going to be a close one. Those last 3 games at Dodger Stadium loom large. But we just swept 3 at Dodger Stadium, so there’s not a lack of confidence there. And if the Dodgers want to get over-confident right now, that’s fine. I always consider it an advantage for a team when the other team is already planning out their championship parade.
I’m on record with my support of Pence and the trade that got him here.And I’ve seen enough before to know he’s a wild swinger- but man, he couldn’t hit a beach ball with some of the hacks he’s taking right now. I’ll wait- like I have a choice- but let’s go, Hunter- it’s game on..