Pre-game / post-game thread
This thread is going to be a double whammy in honor of the Giants and 49ers both playing at the same time tonight. This is the 3rd time this post-season that both teams have played on the same day. The first occasion the Niners won big at home. However, the Giants lost 9-0 to Cincinnati. A week later was perhaps one of the darkest days in SF sports memory, as the Niners were embarassed by the NY Giants and the SF Giants couldn’t quite come back from their 6-0 deficit vs the Cards. The hope this Thursday night of course is that both teams come through in this very real crunch time for both teams.
Not all of you are football fans, but sorry, my thread tonight. The Niners are at the point of their season that will make or break their playoff run. Yes it’s early, but losing to Seattle at home would be a huge blow to their season. Gone is the euphoria of beating the Packers and the Lions. The Jets and Bills are but a distant memory after the smackdown delivered by the visiting Giants. I suspect Jim Harbaugh will tone down the gimmick plays, and try to get the team back to the style of play that got them their wins. Tough running, with short/mid-range passes liberally sprinkled in to keep the chains moving, and the defense fresh. Score early and keep Seattle’s quick strike offense off the field. Pressure their rookie QB Russell Wilson and force mistakes.
The Giants? Well, we all know the deal. 11 LOB. 7 RISP left dangling in the wind. Pence has caught his dose of shit for being little more than a cheerleader at this point. 0 RBIs in 8 games will get you that. Bochy likely won’t go ape-shit with the changes. That being said, I’d sure like to see Buster catching instead of Hector, and he and Panda swap spots in the batting order. I’d also like to see Pence and Belt swap spots (if Hector isn’t catching and thus Belt out). Timmy also gets his game on. He’s been nails as a closer so far, and was even stretched to 4 innings vs Cincy, so we’ll see how he does as a starter. I hope, at least early on, he pitches out of the stretch. This seemed to keep his shit in order.
There you go. Depending on how this goes, what follows could very well be a drunken screed about the impending doom of both my favorite sports teams, and the suckiness of life in general.
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Well, not too hammered, but I am bummed. Spent the last 3 hours flipping back and forth between the games and scaring the shit out of the animals. As much shit at Timmy may or may not get, he was getting killed by ground balls early on. And of course the offense, minus Pagan and Scoots, was DOA. We don’t score, we don’t win. Pence got his 1st ribbie, on a solo shot, goddamnit. If he hit that yesterday, well, we’d be sitting pretty. Thing is, I didn’t like the decision to put Hector behind the plate. You have to wonder if Buster makes the short-hop play at the plate. That gets made and the bleeding is lessened. Shit, who knows? You just can’t weaken 2 positions and lose Belt in the playoffs. With every game meaning so much, the strategy sucks. I think everyone is pretty much down with this, and the bitch is, do we get the same thing tomorrow? Since Zito’s going, are we really going to sit Belt again? I sure hope not.
As for the Niners? Hey, winning ugly sure beats losing ugly. Smith had a not-so-spectacular game to say the least, but Gore was a monster. The defense was back to being fairly disruptive, but for a few drops by the Seahawks, this game could have gone a lot differently. I REALLY didn’t get Harbaugh not taking the safety at the end, though. The spread was 7, and the margin of victory would have been 9. Weird. It’s stuff like that where you scratch your head and think, hmmmmmmmmmm. Shit, this thing is getting too long. Good night madams and monsueirs
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
Four spot!
Sdown inning for Barry
that IS working.
That’s how you do it.
get your base hits for nothing
and your runs for free.
can zito do what seemingly no one else has done: get run support and then throw a shut down inning?
BuckFuck and McCar vomit cringe in the booth knowing they have to come back to Our House!!!
Fuck those 2 Queers!
Awesome inning but I’m greedy. Tag some more runs on these fucks.
Maybe the Cards 10th man (HP Ump), will switch sides now.
Didn;t see it coming, but hell of a houdini act there.
Barry Zito: Cementing his plaque on the wall.
Zactly. Get 3 here and pile it on the deadbirds.
McCarver….Nice try by Panda,but even if he makes the stop Craig gets on.He did keep him from a double.Uh No Timmy worthless,he did get a Double on the play you moron.Just look who standing on 2nd.That would be the hitter Craig.
The blather out of McCarver’s mouth is pure unadulterated drivel. Like it didn’t matter if Panda stopped that ball.
The good news was all the Clowns in the pregame predicted Cards.
Buster with a hit! Let’s get all these bats warmed up.
I did NOT pick the Cards.
Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooor not.
The Zito Alien is taking care of business….
Wow. Pence!!! Beauty play there.
Bringing the D!!!!!!!
IMO, tonight – Zito = worth every penny.
The next hill to climb will be breaking thru the Birds pen… If that happens with some runs and a win, then the Cards can get on the damn plane wondering if they are going to be the next 3 game sweep victim!
Brandon, at some point you need to swing.
This fucking pen is lights-out. Got to keep this 4-0.
What’s with this team?They just want to put every flapper on cardiac arrest.Elimination games both series,and yet they keep battling while my blood pressure and alchol inake keeps rising.
Giants Baseball unpredictable Torture.
Changing sight lines has really fucked Belt up.
Wow. The D is huge tonight.
Giants are flashing some serious leather out there.
yeah, this “Zito” kid … he looks pretty good. If he stays healthy and in the league long enough, he might get a Cy Young and a big contract or sumthin’
As I posted on the Splash, WHEN we go on to win this, the bottom of the second will be why. I’m sure some of you have said the same..
Barry’s untouchable…. and with the D doing amazing things, it just breaks the backs of the Cards…… so they get more aggressive at the plate and don’t get clean hits…
Barry wants those when he’s back out there.
Man,Zito is dialed in on his focus.Every pitch has a purpose,his location spot on.The Zitmaster is having his best game ever under the pressure of this elimination game. This Bud’s for you Barry.
Zito’s had a terrific season for the Giants, but I’m not totally diggin’ Fox commentators saying things like “Zito never complained during his adversity with the Giants.”
Someone would have to explain to me what Zito could have possibly complained ABOUT, because I’m clueless on that, unless he was tempted to complain that the Giants were giving him more money than he could possibly figure out what to do with. The Giants fans booed him relatively little compared to what a lot of other fan bases around would have done.
They’re idiots. Ignore them. I have had the sound off since a couple of innings ago and am listening to some music. 🙂
I know, I hear ya, definitely; but I do like the ambient sounds- the crowd, the bat hitting the ball, and all that. Well, when the Giants are WINNING I like that ambient sound. That Cardinal crowd getting nervous is sounding pretty nice about now. (grin)
Fuck. Can we get a hit off this guy?
Agree with Bozo’s 6:52pm. However, I will go further . . . The contract was always ridiculous, but that only means he has a fantastic agent that knows how to sell his clients. He only signed the frickin’ contract.
Even with poor, mediocre, and occasional glimpses of outstanding performance, the MOFO never, ever gave up. That counts a lot in my book. One reason I always liked the “Gamer.” I knew (and quite a few others as well, e.g., Twin) Rowand could never perform to that contract. However, I digress . . . Barry’s perseverance paid off this year and this game. Baseball is a PERFECT game for redemption. Glad to see him performing well. 🙂
Right, Zumie. It was everyone else dealing with the adversity. He did what he was supposed to do. Go out and try to pitch.
Just imagine how well Zito and Lincecum could have pitched if they had Posey behind the plate all year?
It has been an utterly bogus issue all year long, and Bochy should not have allowed nonsense to dicate the line up.
What a performamce! As Twin mentioned, that second inning was the turning point, hopefull in the series.
Barry with the K!
Zito, walking off with some swagger, after 7 shutout innings tonight.
OK, baseball, you are AWESOME in your ability to provide the unexpected.
Can Joe Buck just STFU!!!!!
I give Zito one more inning.Anybody reaches pull him.He’s still throwin good.
Man-child by Zito tonight. With our backs hanging off the edge of the cliff, he stepped up.
Finish this game…
Panda Power!
bRINGING THE BOOM!
Yeah Pablo! bout time we put something on their pen.
Big Papi Panda!!
Yeah Baby!!!! Admire that blast.
Was it The Clown that predicted a big game by Panda? Great defense, and a bomb; good call!
He said that the last 12 games. . .
Hey, TF, walk’s as good as a hit 🙂
Even with the smiley face I have no idea why that would be directed at me. Actualy, even though he K’ed on actual strikes tonight, like a lot of hitters with good eyes, they’re better than most ump’s..When he’s more established, he’ll get more calls go his way. However, minor correction: a bases empty walk is as good as a single.
Ahh, sorry. In the past you’ve inveighed against that cliche, and, yes, I brought it up because in this case it is true, and it helped salvage Belt’s night just a bit.
Lucky fuck.
HAPPY FUCKING BIRTHDAY MATT! DICKHEAD!
Way to stay agressive Giants!
Nice steal by Belt,didnt pan out but that’s how you keep the pressure on.
Wow! That curve was perfect.
Is it me or is Barry Zito flat dealing tonight? Sometimes what you wish for comes true in the strangest of places and events
Schumaker your a pussy,trying to milk your way on with a walk.But the Zenmaster said fuck you and struck yout little whiny ass out.
Fat fucking umpire barely got out of the way.
I bow down to Mr. Barry Zito.
Were not worthy to be in the presence of the Zenmaster Blade.He is above the highest power on earth right now.
lqtm. He certainly is kat. 😉
Hell of a job by Zito there. In the biggest game of his life.
Hell of a game by Barry. That guy still knows when to pull out the mojo and get the stop. 13 wins in a row for him? Time will tell
OK. Shut this fucker down.
HR’s better than a walk here.
Sweet.
I don’t know WTF Matt was swinging at, but it’s good for us.
Willco…look it up, I had the Panda prediction before the first pitch!!!
Yeah,but i had Huff meekly rolling one over to 2nd.
My bad GH…Nice call!
The cheering in Busch is being overrun by the chants from the Bay Area to bring it home; their waiting to show their team how appreciative they are to fight on……. Cards will be thinking of Vogy on that long trip West!
Romo just filthy stuff!!!
Rock that plane ride home boys!!! You deserve it,well done!!!
Nice pitch calling there by Buster, with the 4 fastballs in a row to Freese. Cards were starting to lay off the slider by not swinging at anything that looked like a strike.
Just another win as their starring into the barrel of the gun…If they win sunday night, Game 7 will be the toughest ticket to get in Bay Area sports history.
As the bunt hit also showed, in addition to his stellar pitching,Zito invested everythng he had in this night and he couldn’t have come up bigger…
Great team win.
James: “That’s right you fucks, get your asses on the plane!”
Mrs. James: “Can’t you just be happy for the Giants?”
James: “After all these years, you ask me that? . . . I’m so disappointed . . .”
Well alrighty then.Let’s go win it in “Our House”
Brillant perfomance Barry!! And your Bunt wae truly epic for the drama of the moment! Totally heads up play!
Just win two. Ain’t no big deal.
Big Game Barry!
Herculean effort from BZ….Happy and optimistic plane ride home for all.
Very resilient squad this is.
Just amazing. Fantastic defense behind Zito.
And Zito divined some fantastic Zenshit that mesmerized the Cards.
Another one for the memory books…
See ya Sunday night…
Vogey, step on up.
Money money money game by Zito. Never thought I’d see it or say it, but it doesn’t get much more pressure packed than that.
Our house, baby. Our house.
As I said all season…an Alien has taken over Barry Zito’s body! I think we can all agree that this was the most improbable victory in SF Giants history….Voggy’s got Game 6…
Shit. What do we do about Scoots? The dude is nails at the plate and defensively.
as a LONG time BZ apologist, wow that was fun. the question of course is, WHY CAN’T YOU DO THAT ALL THE FUCKING TIME! Nice win. not a “great” win, but a nice win. time to get home. i’m not too concerned about vogs spinning his magic but i really worry about cain. not so much that he won’t rise to the moment but that the rest of the team will RELAX. “oh, we’ve got the horse going. no need for us to do much”. They HAVE to score early and often. and he, for his part, needs to throw a god damned shutdown inning if he gets some run support.
But it’s back to the phone booth. time to don the superman cape.
if not POTD, at least of the hour
pawlie, if i could post like you i’d burn mine.
Before the start of the game everyone except Giant fans were burying this team… back to SF it goes….
Now anything can happen…