Barry FUCKIN Zito…
How to follow a game like last night’s with a thread? Difficult. But, way way more fun to do than the alternative of composing a thread about what is ahead in the offseason. Fuck that noise.
The obvious must be recognized, and feted. No reservations about it. Barry Zito. Barry FUCKIN Zito. His line: 7 2/3 innings, 6 hits allowed, 6 Ks, no runs allowed, 1 walk (intentional), one sweet and memorable Zenbunt hit that knocked in a run and sent Zito into a contemplative trance as he stood at first. The only Giants (or Cards) starter so far in the playoffs that has taken the bump into the 8th inning. Now THAT, fellow Flappers, is a “quality start”.
A lot of us, most of us, maybe all of us, figured the Giants had that “backs to the wall” win thing in them again, and said so ahead of it. If anything, the Reds series taught us this squad is as tough as a road kill turkey on an Ozarks’ spit. But, Zito in the role of Apollo? Seriously? I had him down as starter in name only, the guy that likely would hang for a coupla innings, then the Pen takes over to stave off disaster. But, no. It turns into his game, his win. He spun that win like a spiderweb; he owned it, he controlled it, he sucked the Cards into it and smothered them. The 13th straight Zito start where the Giants win the game. Given the situation, the elimination game, the quality of competition and the Cards’ record this year against lefties, this was by far, by far, his best, most clutch, defining game as a Giant. Simply fantastic. A professional that came through when the chips weren’t just down, they were under the damn poker table mixing with smelly socks and Tiparillo ash.
Observations come to mind like streaking meteorites in the Mojave night. Fast, furious. Only one walk, and intentional. That’s cool; unusual, and critical. Six strikeouts. How does Zito get 6 Ks on this Card squad? By ball movement, change of speeds, location, location, location, and no fear to throw inside and to contact. Defense? For some reason, Zito’s karma has changed this season from where the defense always seemed to give away outs behind him, to where it is working lights out FOR him. And, the karma HAS turned. Some line shots were right at people, but that happens when the Zen worm has turned. Maybe the bad karma has jumped to Tim, where game leadoff bloops and a Hector’s dropped throw at the plate further manifested his season-long bad Karmathon. Back to this one — Pablo with the stretch grab of the foul ground liner at third. Scutaro with that wonderful all-in-one-motion sliding grounder grab into right field and turn around throw of a strike to Belt for the out. Pence with that super slide catch in RF where the ball actually hit his right hand and caromed off into his Mays’ basket (check the slow mo, incredible bounce off his right hand INTO the glove). To start all the goodness, the Cards Lynn throws that potential DP ball INTO and OFF OF the second base bag into centerfied, a possible sign of karmic goodness to come this Sunday. Oh, and Zitman threw this gem into the glove of BUSTER, not Hector. So much for disproving the comfort and success of pitching only to your favorite guy.
Oh, and Brandon Crawford is a man. Yeah, it’s official. He of the triple down the RF line in Cincy that got that fateful rally going in game #5. Last night, his slap shot up the middle in Frame Four plated two, and that monstrously changed the tilt into the Giants favor. Under our very own eyes this season, the kid has become a bona fide major leaguer.
What Sunday brings, we can’t know now. All we know is that there WILL BE a Sunday game. ATT will be rocking, there is no doubt of that. As I said in an earlier post, whatever happens Sunday, or Monday or even if we go on to win the WSeries again, when it’s all over, I’m going to miss this shit. This is the REAL Reality show…
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
Zito’s gem has been properly seen as the greatest performance from him since the 2006 win over the Twins and Santana- well, even better of course- this was win or go home. But it’s good to see acknowledgement of how many players actually do contribute to a win such as this..This is especially true in the playoffs.where we’ve all seen how one swing or one throw can win or alter the course of a playoff series. Zito himself talked tonight about how one pitch can be so big in the postseason and how the defense helped him.It was very appealing generosity towards his teammates and also true. This was a great win.
Right now, it IS as good as it gets if you are a San Francisco Giant fan!
You’re right, we don’t know what Sunday will bring (at least not the outcome), but I do know one thing (or a few)…this team has grit, determination, and heart, and they will bring that to the game Sunday. This is a TEAM.
Not unlike going into Game 3 against the Reds, or going into tonight’s game, I simply wanted to see them win just that one…to live to play another day. Sunday will be that day, too.
This morning I said something to the effect If we can steal this one from St. Louis, we bring it back home and Vogel-TRON will be on the bump. Win that one, and we have Cain on the hill. Stranger things have happened.
MY mantra this post-season. One Day, One Game at a Time.
GIANTS!
Pablo fucking fat ass
With his three fat ass post season HRs…
Most surprising pitching performance in my memory…Just awesome. If we do make it to the WS…We now know who is starting.a game…ZITO!!!!
Just noticed Blade’s POTD. Well said, Steve. So fucking true! And I cannot remember who was being interviewed (or maybe it was Shawn Estes talking) about how Zito is always the first one to ST, first in to work-out. The guy IS dedicated. The dedication has not translated to regular success throughout the contract, but it paid off today in the biggest start of Zito’s life, and the most important game our boys have played this year.
Dude, Zito might be starting game 1. The hope is Deetroit stagnates while the Giants get more battle tested.
Off your feed, Edd?
And another wonderful thing happened today…
Brian Wilson threw for the first time since his surgery…
Wilson tweeted: “15,811,200 seconds of waiting. 54,900 minutes of rehab. Today is National Play Catch Day in the Weez calendar.”
Way fucking cool…
http://www.sfgate.com/giants/article/Wilson-plays-catch-a-1st-since-surgery-3965633.php
Hope it is an indication of good things to come for Brian and the Giants in 2013.
don’t be so sure he’ll be a Giant next year. We could offer him arbitration one more time but it wouldn’t surprise me if the Giants non-tender him. The lowest offer they can make to him in arb is 20% what he made last year and for a guy coming off his second TJ surgery that’s a fair amount of cheddar to just hand over without at least thinking about it–Romo would be infinitely cheaper and safer……..
If they non-tender him and want to bring him back for 3 million or so, I would be behind that………
i could see him agreeing to an arb offer in that range…
The lowest arb number they could agree to is around 6.5 million (20% less than his 2012 salary)
It is all going to be contingent on how his arm responds to rehab, etc. Whether or not he comes back, I just thought it was cool that he was throwing.
Frankel
horse of the
every thing
a beauty, if ever there was one
Last night around 8pm, I got a text from one of my A’s friends (not The Boney One) that just said “alright so….Zito contract worth it?”
That question can be answered one of 2 way:
1) no fucking way. He’s 58-69 in SF. When he signed the deal, we were expecting much more. Fuck him. There is NOTHING that bastard can do to make his contract *worth it*.
or
2) Hell yes. It’s not my money and it’s mostly all paid out anyway. Plus, he saved our season last night. And since there is nothing more important to me right now than *this* season, his monster-mega deal is 100% worth it to me. I’ll even throw a couple of respectful “thank you Zen Master Zito’s!!!” at him on my way out the door……
And right now, what’s happened to Zito in 2012 is all that matters to me. I don’t hold shit for grudges against him after what he did this year. The saberstat geeks will stammer and mumble about how his peripherals say this year is no different than any other. But most people don’t understand peripheral stats and there are too many dumb ones out there these days anyway.
Here’s the bottom line: Barry won 15 games in the regular season this year. The team has won 13 games in a row that he’s started. As Snarkk noted in his intro, the horrible karma from year’s past is gone and balls are actually now heading toward the defenders instead of tailing away from them into the gaps (or over the fence).
And as Blade noted in last night’s POTD, this is a guy who never gave up. He could have easily. But he stayed committed to getting this thing right and he has done so this year–despite, in my opinion, many Giants fans who want to see him fail. And all of them will lie and say they don’t want to see him fail. But they do. Their loud objections to this claim only cement this opinion into a fact, I think……
I have said several times this year that I think the Giants will pick up Barry’s 18 million dollar option in 2014 and I won’t bore you with the reasons again. Of course, I can’t be 100% sure that they will pick up the option but I think they will…….
And not that this is in super-great danger of happening, but Barry did pitch 184.1 innings this year and that option vests if he pitches 400 innings across the 2012-13 seasons. Unlikely, I know. But it won’t have to happen for the Giants to make the correct decision to just go ahead and pick that option up……
Something else to consider if the Giants make the World Series (and win it): Barry’s got a $200,000 bonus for *each* world series MVP he wins.
Now THAT would be a bonus that even the most jaded Zito-Hating-Giant’s-Fan would genuinely love to see paid out…….
Pay him 18 mil to toss 175-200 innings, or 7 mil to walk. If next year is anything like this year…it is a no brainer to pick-up the option.
Crazy number: Zito is 126-7 when he gets 4 or more runs of support…
can you image being the jockey
to ride the beat horse in the world
Master Po’s: I have a question about official scoring. Since Blanco walked, advanced to 3rd on Crawford’s single and scored on Zito’s bunt single–why was that not an earned run?
Ted, the error is always assumed to have been an out, so by that time there would have been 3 outs and any runs that scored are unearned.
Two good outings by SPs have resulted in wins, and one other one was the loss to Lohse. Good pitching, plus defense, yada yada.
Sorry, didn’t see your post.You are correct, of course.
The scorekeeper charged an error on Lynn’s throw to second, which would been the second out, making Belt’s the third. Any run scoring after what would have been the third out is deemed unearned.
My thanks to both of you, lads.
See? I’m always learning
Steve is totally riightt about the fact that Barry is hardly to be blamed for signing a contract offered.As we have heard, at the time there was a huge desire to put a new Barry up front as a FOF. Our dear friends at the Drumbeat were pretty unanimous in warning us what we were getting and there was nothing in his recent work to warraht anything close to the contract he was offered and signed.It’s been widely perceived that Magowan was behind the signing, It’s never possible to know with certainly what other offers were out there at the time but there were reports that the best competing offer was from the Mets for 5 years and a total dollar amount of 75 million. Whatever that best competing offer was, then,ESPN Insider Rob Neyer, former assitantt to Blll James ,and current writer and editfor for SB Nation wrote at the time of the signing:
“The only thing this deal does is make the Giants look ridiculous. Granted, Zito’s ERA will get a boost from the National League and the Giants’ home ballpark. And this one isn’t as dumb as the Mike Hampton deal with the Rockies. But based on the facts at hand, this looks to me like one of the dumber free-agent signings ever. Zito just isn’t very good.” Others were less harsh.I recall Jenkins loving the signing, at least one Mets’ reporter wrote that they blew it by not offering more to get him. It was said to equal the contract extension Vernon Wells signed with Toronto..
All that just a bit of history… Now I don’t give as much credit as Steve does for him not giving up- doing so would have meant forfeiting millions of dollars after all. I do give him credit for quietly sufferring all those slings and arrows and for how he handled being left off the 2010 playoff roster. But the only bottom line for me as of now is what he did last night .And of course no Giants’ fan could possibly not appreciate that we’re still aive largely to do with Zito’s outing.
But let’s see what Neyer has to say after last night:
“Meanwhile, although nobody’s likely to forget Barry Zito’s contract or his performance over the last five seasons because of just one game, his Game 5 performance probably erased as many bad memories as one game can” ..That’s an eminently reasonable a staterment that I totally concur with.
http://tinyurl.com/8updfqw
“As you could see today, momentum got swung.” – Hunter Pence
Full on bask day…Giants gut out a W and force Cards to come back to left coast where they could be eliminated and watch SF celebrate in front of their home crowd. Niners win, shut down sea chickens rookie QB, and shut up all the Hawks fans I have to see in a couple days when I leave the land of sunshine (and my kind of foxes in sleevless tanks and shorts) for the home of flannels and heroin music.
If the Giants make the WS, that Zito win was worth $50 million. If he wins Game 1 in the WS that is another $50 million and then we will be all squared,
If the Giants do pick up his option, then I will question Sabean and ownership’s sanity…Zito should tell them that with how generous the Giants have been, they should just buy him out for the $7 mill and he will sign a one-year deal at the vet minimum and that will cement the fans’ forgiveness. That will also be the off-year decision to make on Timmy and of course need to lock-up Posey for as long as possible.
I will say this for Zito from the first year and his first appearance in DC and other games, he has always and mean always been availabel for autographs regardless how well things have been going for him or not. That is a class act. We have been around Timmy a few times and cant get his attention to bother signing anything for my son. Cain and Bumgarner have also been pretty unapproachable.
I also said this about Zito in the middle of the season when I noticed an alien must have taken over his body, he made all his starts must-watch tv, you never knew what was going to happen…
I probably won’t get to see you tonight at put my severance Cisco Giants are in this for a fight
fear the beard
Ed, I have no idea what the hell you’re talking about but thumbs up buddy!
Fight.
I am not sure but I think he said that he bet his entire severance package from Cisco on last nights game…I would be shit faced slurring my post too…Congrats Ed! 😉
hahaha!
Dude, some of your posts seem out of character. Either you’re on a weekend pub crawl in Newcastle, or somebody’s hijacked your password. Good luck, either way…
Zito could easily get the call in the opening game start against the Tigers(and yes we will kick the Cards Ass to get there) and how would that be for final redemption for him being left off the 2010 series roster to starting the 1st game of the W/S!!!!
What I appreciate so much is how Barry has never given up on himself… even with his poor Giants win/loss record before this year or his being thrown under the bus in 2010 post season (and rightfully so) and even seeing the mediocre to poor performance of his fellow 3 starters that got shredded on the mound , he put on his old Cy Young performance and was money.
I truly think the Birds are feeling vulnerable. I think that if the Giants score first , the Birds will crack.
Here’s to Buster and Pence joining the parade on Sunday.
For me, the 2010 season changed my attitude a lot about Zito, Rowand, and anyone else that was a focus of intense angst. And that’s why Huff never got that much angst from me these last two seasons.
Having said that, I had no expectations for Zito this season. Like just about all of us, I figured he’d go about 1-5 and be put on the shelf with a phantom injury. He obviously far exceeded that. (grin)
That win last night was huge, and for me, will totally affect how I see this season. To go quietly three in a row in St. Loo would have been an awful way to end the season, and would have tarnished even the great comeback against Cincy, and would have had, in my opinion, people wanting some ‘splainin’ about some things from Bochy.
But the gap between winning and losing is wider than the Grand Canyon, and…..the Giants WON that game last night, with, yes, Barry bleepin’ Zito pitching a game for the ages.
And now, the train that has seemed off the tracks and struggling to get back on the tracks since game one in this series, is back on the tracks again. Whatever happens, we have Vogie, who pitched so well earlier in the series in game 6, and if the Giants can win it, we have the Cainer in game 7. Both games are in OUR house, with our manic fans waving orange towels; and in these game 6 scenarios, the amount of pressure is almost the same on both teams. There’s no way the Cardinals are comfortable with a game 7 against a team that has all the momentum.
So, yeah, let’s bask today that we’re still in this series, and take it one game at a time, and dig the good times of Giants baseball. I’m seeing all kinds of folks wearing Giants gear and talking Giants baseball. There truly is a ‘Giants nation’ out there.
Snarkkkkk, a very fine summary of last night. Thank you.
In my pajamas. Savoring. (Groucho Marx: “I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How it got there, I’ll never know.”)
An elephant trumpeted thanks, back at you…
An aside on Huff: it’s really kind of sad. The Giants kept me as a PH who just might possibly maybe coulda shoulda woulda uncork one, just one, at a big moment. It’s an act of outsized hope and charity most teams would not countenance. He looks lost and nearly invisible, trying to fit in, trying to contribute, trying to be happy. I confess that I too still hold to the cold ember of hope that he will send a game-winning home run soaring into the non-Texas night.
“the home of flannels and heroin music.”
Ah, Willie, that’s being a little rough on Seattle. (grin)
I love Seattle! And coincidentally I was listening to a Pearl Jam album yesterday. Good stuff! (The music, not heroin.)
“my severance Cisco Giants”
That sounds like something out of an REM lyric, and I’m a huge REM fan. I ponder their lyrics forever, because they are so awesomely ponderable.
Lyrics like: “My love is a two-headed cow”
In case it gets missed due to the plethora of posts, my thanks to williedav and twin for explaining scoring to me.
Yes, that’s an unearned run if you’re scoring at home.
But if you’re scoring at home….
There’s an old baseball joke in there somewhere.
I’m as thrilled as everyone else about yesterday, and the season in general for Barry Zito. He basically picked up the slack for Timmy suckiness this season. In spades. But really, what options did Zito have? All this talk of him not giving up is all well and good, but he wasn’t going to get traded. He wasn’t going to AAA. He wasn’t going to the pen. His only real option was to pull a Marquis Grissom and walk away. Sure, there’s something to be said about his intestinal fortitude in the face of mounting fan anger and animosity, but $18 mill a year to basically scuffle around ain’t a bad gig. I said before the season started that his getting married had as much to do with his turnaround than anything else. I mean, if your job is to basically hang out chase tail in every stop on the road, and stagger through your starts without catching too much flack, then your priorities might get a little skewed. Take the snatch patrol deal out of the equation, and you redirect the energies to your craft.
Who knows? Hey, everyone else gets to play amateur psychologist . . . .
well, I think he had a lot of options. A big part of those options was *level of effort exerted*. To me, it was clear that he always gave his all and a LOT of big contract guys don’t keep doing that after they get the big contract. There are countless examples of free agents chucking it in after a big deal. Manny basically gave up after the Dodgers gave him a 40 million dollar/2 year deal. Soriano looks and plays like he could care less about re-capturing any of his former stat glory. Russ Ortiz was paid just to go away by the Diamondbacks after the deal they gave him. John Lackey turned to eating buckets of fried chicken in between shit-outings for the Red Sox after they handed 80 million dollars over to him. Andruw Jones? Albert Belle? Vernon Wells? Come on, he might be the worst……..
And the fact is, Zito did choose to re-invent himself a bit (that’s an option to pass on for sure, especially if you’re stubborn). He finally decided to stop throwing his 4-seam so much and replaced about 20% of his pitches each game with a very effective cutter in 2012.
He got it right this year.
Good point. We’re so used to seeing other overpaid athletes quit, sulk, point fingers and extend a middle finger to the critics. The money was guaranteed. I like to think it was about pride and a strong genuine desire to give something back to the org, the fans and his teammates.
That it’s guaranteed is slightly misleading- if he were to quit he’s guaranteed nothing more han what he’d already earned. The guarantee basically covers injury. And as Craig has pointed out, the club option becomes guaranteed if certain criteria are met.
That in no way negates the rest of what Salty just said.I posted last night that I felt he had invested everything he had in him in that outing, his determination was evident even on the screen. He looked pretty dapper in that hat during the interviews also…
That’s a fine post,Chuck. IMO. Nothing wrong wih stating a forceful opinion,we’re not killing puppies here. .And you’ve aways been able to play amateur psychologist , as has eveyone, of course. It’s a regular practice and there isn’t a blog that would survive long wihout some good ole Dr. Phil-ism…
But addressing Ted’s thank you- you are welcome. Whether it’s a recipe.,a little rules help as he requested,a computer question- sharing information is a pleasure.
Well, from everything I have heard and read from other Giants when talking about Zito, they say he is the most dedicated on the team. First to ST, always dedicated to being in shape, etc. And if you were in his shoes, and single, you wouldn’t be chasing your fair share of tail?
I admit I skewered Zito early this season after his off season visit to Tom House and the resulting Groucho Marx approach on the mound lasted about two bullpen sessions. But, maybe out of that offseason tutelage he did find something, as BF says, a change over to more cutter, and maybe more slider. I’ve noticed that when he’s successful, he seems to pitch more inside to RH hitters, which is way more effective than throwing a bunch of teasers outside called for balls, then he has to come in with hit me fastballs. Clearly he’s changed some of his approach and pitch selection this year. Still, to be successful he has to have both his curve and spot-on low in the zone command like he did last night…
IMO, it’s way too early to speculate about Zito’s option year. Until this season, we all figured that would be a no brainer buyout and adios muchachos. He’s got some provision in that deal that the option gets exercised at full value if a certain number of total innings pitched either in 2013 or in both 2012 and 2013 is reached. Not sure what that is. But, I agree with an earlier poster that IF, IF he were to come back in his option year, he’d do well to just take the buy out, and come back at MLB minimum to give the team some major financial flexibility. That would be a nice morsel to throw Giants fans in his last year…
I hadn’t even thought about the possibility of taking the buy out and then coming back at the minimum. Love the idea but not sure the union would go along with that even if Zito wanted to do it. He could certainly take the buy out and get another team to pay him 8-10 mil a year to do what he did this year, I would think. Maybe more…….
Yeah, that sort of applies, Flav, but most of those guys you mention were at the end of their strings anyway. The deals they got were bad in that Manny was 36 when he got his deal, Ortiz was near toast. Schmidt, et al. Zito was 28. I guess there’s something to be said for going out there and giving it your best effort. Even if that’s fairly lame. I mean, we were all ready to eat the rest of his deal not that long ago.
I’m happy as hell, but by no means am I ready to buy that option. He could pull and Alex Smith, and sign for a cheaper deal after next year.
the buy out is 7 million so kicking in another 11 is about what they’d pay a FA pitcher for a year to replace him. If he pitches next year like he did this year it would be an easy option to exercise if I were Sabean…….
All i want now is watching Joe Buck and Tim Mc Carver “EAT SHIT” and “SQUEAL LIKE PIGS” when the GIANTS TAKE THESE NEXT 2 GAMES!!!!!!
I’ve not been listening to those two, until last night I was at a bar and had to listen to them on the TVs. They are just outrageously bad. Buck sounds like he’s not interested when the Giants do anything, or should I say even less interested than his usual not interested sound. McCarver just needs to retire…
Those two “Homer Bitches” should not be allowed to call postseason games.Especially when you have an ex player McCarver and Buck(Old Man’Jack broadcaster) and his now pathetic little boy.
Should be a conflict of interest for MLB.
Big if there . . . but hey, it could happen
I’ve noted my thought that Buck and Sean Hannity might be the same person, I can’t think of a better way to express my dislike for Buck more than that.. I’m not as down on McCarver as some, I think his position on protecting catchers has somehing to do with that. He’s clearly not as sharp as he was a couple decades ago when he worked with the great (IMO) Jack Buck, Tim gets some deails wrong now but I think most would like him a lot more if he had a less obnoxious partner. Or maybe not.
So if the Giants/Bochy/Sabes feel like right now that Bum’s arm is toast,and they do advance to the W/S are we gonna go with 4Starters?
And then it would probably be
Zits gm1
Freak gm 2
Vogs gm 3
Cain gm4
with a decision to be made on adding another player or BP arm.
Timmy’s turn may not happen.
Funny, or dumb, thing is, 90% of all the announcers doing post game highlights didn’t know that Posey wan’t catching when that throw came home that Sanchez blew 2 nights ago. McCarver just never shuts up. It seems like he’s announcing for the blind. We can see what is happening. He acts like no one on Earth knows the game in ant way, shape or form. There’s dumbing it down for the casual fan, and then there’s stating the obvious add nauseum.
“Molina is walking to the mound.” Really, Tim? I thought he was levitating himself there.
haha, that’s a perfect way to describe his announcing style: *for the blind*. Fox must get fantastic ratings for their baseball games. Nothing else could explain the shit-announcers they choose to employ……
and I should be clear, I don’t hate McCarver, he often says things I find interesting. But so much of what he says could be, well, *not said*.
Something Flav said, “Zito did choose to re-invent himself a bit” struck a chord with me. When I was the occupational safety and health manager at Shasta Dam, I would walk the Dam everyday at lunch with the Chief of Civil Engineers, who I considered a mentor. We would discuss work, the world, etc., i.e., solve all the problems of the world in a half hour . . . and they would be back by the end of the work day. 🙂
Seriously though, related to what Flav said – he told me that employees should find a new job every 5-6 years or re-invent themselves at their existing job. Why? Simply because the existing job that you’ve mastered can become old hat or a grind; and, if that’s the case, an employee will often become complacent, complain, and/or resentful. In short, he frequently turns into a whiny malingerer and is no longer a team player.
My point being that Zito not only re-defined himself not once, but probably a few times, including performance wise (as Flav noted with his example), but mostly with regard to his attitude always focused on being positive.
I will give one more personal example why $125 gazillion dollars isn’t a primary reason to toe the line or stay in a job because of the money . . . First, let me preface my story by saying that I am assuming Barry Zito is essentially a moral and spiritual person, with integrity . . .
Some of you know my story – I was a whistle blower against the Federal Government (specifically my immediate supervisor, whom I perceived as grossly incompetent, allowed fraud, waste and abuse to occur while she was employed). I couldn’t turn my head from the wrong doing that went on and I filed an Office of Special Counsel “Whistle Blower” case. OSC handles most of the Federal whistle blower cases. To assist me legally and emotionally, I had an attorney, as well as a therapist. The case went on for almost a year, with me losing the first 3 appeals (management circled the wagons around this incompetent employee and protected her). My six figure plus salary was on the line, as well as my reputation . . . Fast forward a year later, 2 days before Christmas, my attorney contacted me and said I had won – The Office of Personnel Management had vacated their earlier decision, when it became clear my case was going to a Federal Judge Magistrate (where actual evidence would be important and not asshole opinions and lies).
Moral of the story? When I filed my whistle blower case, I could give a rat’s ass about losing my job and salary, because I was doing what I thought was right. More important, my job was being an employee advocate and employee safety and health was involved in this case. After the case was resolved, they asked me when I was coming back to work. I responded in a nice way, but in reality – I essentially told them to “stick it up your ass . . . I am retiring.” My supervisor resigned her position, with a reduced retirement, when they told her they were taking steps to terminate her, unless she left. My point is that I think Barry would have retired as a pitcher if he thought he was wasn’t giving the Giants his best effort. Hey, that’s just my take. I can be cynical at times, but I usually think the best of people and Barry Zito hasn’t really shown me any reason to think he isn’t an outstanding young man.
I’ve never heard about what you’ve just related, I congratulate you for the integrity you exhibited and your resolve despite the cost to you emotionally as well as financially..
As to Zito’s character, i have no reason to believe he hasn’t always given his best.
Thanks Mike.
Wow, great post Blade.
I was aware of Blade’s story.
Though I don’t know him well, I have a good deal of respect for him for that.
Much more respect, though, for his success with the Chicas… 😉
Don’t believe everything you hear Tom.
Don’t burst my bubble… 😉
Even announcers who didn’t learn on radio seem to have a hard time understanding that the viewer doesn’t need much of the information provided,Yes, we can see Molina walking to the mound an we can see that Gore cut left, then right, and was tackled a bit later. Player identification is the primary job of the play-by-play man, Getting that right is even better…I’m sure I’ve told the story of Bill Stern announcing one of his first games on TV. A player was romping untouched and alone for a TD. Stern suddenly realized he had the wrong guy with the ball. Being used to radio and covering his errors with some inventiveness, he declared that the player he had misidentified lateraled to to the guy who had the ball all along. Stern is a legend in his field but TV was not his medium…
I’ve seen McCarver make some pretty astute predictions in many not so obvious situations…He also tells it like it is…Sort of the Johnny Miller of baseball.
Joe Buck is just riding on the coattails of dear old dad. Tim? Well, he was good once upon a time. His signal to noise ratio is just too much to overcome now. Like a blind squirrel looking for nuts.
Timmy’s turn might not happen?
Jesus Chuck it’s not Rocket Science.If Bum is ruled out it would have to be Tim in game 2.Unless you want a fucking BP game with Mota andKontos and I sure don’t..
Vogs goes Sunday,Cain on Monday,the W/S starts Wed..
How the fuck could Tim not Start gm2.
He will be the most rested.
Is Bummie ruled out? No. Not yet anyway. Timmy WAS effective out of the pen. They may still go that route.
WillieDav said, “Full on bask day.” How true Willie. I don’t think I have ever been more focused and emotionally invested in any Giants playoff run ever, as I have been with the Reds and now, the Cards series. Even back when the Giants made their 2010 Playoff and World Series run, I was preoccupied in selling my mountain home and buying my condo in Denver. I didn’t really get to enjoy that series, because I was making so many personal decisions related to the selling of my mountain home and closing the deal on my condo. Couple that with moving, things were fairly chaotic at the blade household.
Yeah, I am glad today is a “Full on bask day” or as I said last night, “I exhaled for the first time in 2 games” after we took the 4-0 lead.
Bumgarner should NOT pitch again this year. And that issue is probably my biggest issue so far in 2012 with Bochy. It was obvious to anyone looking at his stat line in September that he hadn’t pitched a *playoff worthy* game since the Aug 20th/8 inning/10K shut out of the Dodgers. That was also the game he threw 123 pitches (or close to that), his season high.
I had been tricked into believing that Bochy and Raggs had seen Bum turn it around in his bullpen sessions–those DO matter, it’s not just random exercise. There’s no way, I told myself, that they picked BUm to start Game 1 off his last 6-8 weeks of pitching.
And then to see Bum come out with the same lifeless bullshit and no one says anything about his bullpen sessions, just admissions that he could have a tired arm, well, that didn’t cut it for me. And despite the article Blade cited, Bochy DID have options. He could have started Voggy or Timmy.
If he started Bum in Game with nothing more than a prayer backing up his decisions, I continue to have a problem with that one…….
and add to that Bum’s noncommittal, lethargic comments after his starts….um, the bosses do not like that, nope; grab some North Carolina pine, Mad
I
Hi. Autumnal joy. Still savoring. Basking. Just saying hi to my peeps before walking the dog then wearing a bow tie to a hundred-bucks-a-head Skaneateles library fund raiser dinner party thingy, wherein Paul Kocak is the most sought-after author for his book BASEBALL’S STARRY NIGHT. No lie. BTW, an event I could not afford to attend on my own. sounds again like a Groucho Marx line.
sounds like a winner Pawlie. And that dog is the best conditioned dog on your block, I’m guessing……..
I think you know where I stand on Autumn. As much as I love the brilliant color changes in the leaves (who am I kidding, I live in the Bay Area, the leaves are the same fucking color as always) I still have one regret about Summer passing: with *mist* in my eyes, I bid adieu to the *mall tits of 2012*. I know you’re with me my man. This was a great mall tit season, I trust you had the same experience on the other side of the country…….
and Pawlie, the dream of “AT&T Park Tits 2012” is still alive. Dream well tonight my man, dream on…….
“I have no idea what you’re talking about” is how a seasoned politician would respond. AS IF!
“(who am I kidding, I live in the Bay Area, the leaves are the same fucking color as always)”
Hilarious. No shit too . . . Before I moved to Colorado, I thought there was only one season – summer.
I had started to post about MadBum or Tim starting Game 2 but decided I have opinion on it.between them. A pen game sounds fine.
Well if you want a Pen game with Mota and Kontos Twin,you will be in the minority.Even Boch wouldnt be that stupid.
Ok, I’m stupid..
Not stupid enough to think it would happen, though.The performances of MadBum and Lincecum were bad enough, however, that I truly don’t give a rat’s ass which of them starts. If the chosen one surprises, as always I’d be delighted for the team.But based on what I saw, we’d probably see Mota in the second inning anyway.
WillieD (and others if you’re interested): We lost our soccer game this morning 2-1. Early 8am game. The team we played was outstanding. But they had one girl who was consistently elbowing my girls in the side every time she would run along side them and try to take the ball or disrupt their dribble. At least 3 times I had a player go down and each time this girl would laugh or say something under her breath. I complained to the ref who was a huge pussy and refused to ever do anything except *warn her coach*. And I’m not talking about normal arm-tustling, these were flat out elbow slams into vital organ areas and while not quite the biggest kid on the field she was most definitely the most athletic and strongest player…….
My girls were all complaining about it at halftime and while I would never encourage them to do the same thing I just told them this: “When she comes along side of you tighten that side up as tight as you can do it, create like a shield on that side of your body.” We all practiced it as a team. The 2nd half started and this girl approaches one of my best players and tries the same elbow-slam move–fuckin Anna sees it coming, and you can see her start turning that side of her body into a rock, she flexed her arm into a 90 degree angle (Anna was like *fuck protecting the ball*) and when the girl hit her she staggered a bit but stayed on her feet. The dirty player didn’t expect that type of resistance and she fell sideways, ultimately falling awkwardly to the ground….
Anna looked over at me (play had gone in the other direction) and she just smiled and gave me a thumbs up and continued on. I was so happy I literally had to fight back tears for a second. And while this particular technique wasn’t anything you recommended I teach the girls to foster a more competitive/deal with contact attitude I swear to God I thought about you in the moments after it happened….
that’s really cool man, glad it worked out. I hate when shit like that happens bc a ref won’t enforce rules properly; you made an adjustment and the girls handled it. Sweet, Coach.
must share w/ daughter — who gets up at 5:30am Sunday for next sport (last soccer game was Thursday): five games of lacrosse in Rochester
Blade, just catching up. Great freaking post at 12:42pm.
Me personally? I’m lucky. I’m fucking *PAID* to be a whistle blower. The President, the CEO, the board of directors all dance delicately when they’re around me.
They’re worth about 5,000 times more than me financially but I get to give them a crooked smile every now and then and it feels pretty okay.
Not great. I still know they’re getting away with *something*. But there’s something pretty cool about knowing the 1%’s have to walk gingerly around you. I just wish–nay PRAY one of them would try to bribe me
So I say, bravo, sir, bravo
Ted, I still recall our conversation at Flapalooza 2.0, where you told me about what your job entails. I was duly impressed and my hat’s off to you – because you’re trying to nail the so called “1%ers” or plutocrats that believe they are entitled to 9/10ths of each and every frickin’ pie they can “eat,” as well as the low life drug dealers and money launderers.
Woo-Hoo!!! (Sorry, was busy yesterday…better late than never, I hope)
Great game last night – Zits was ON!!!
Zito gave us something to look forward to tomorrow. I’m not trying to say there’s nothing else but baseball to enjoy, but there is something huge about getting at least one more game in. Steve and I have spoken about the jolt of depression that hits when the season ends and the management of our fantasy teams suddenly comes to a halt. It’s like, *well what do I do now?*. But, the daily vagaries of life quickly take over.
And when our team ultimately gets eliminated or wins the WS, the same thing will happen. Despite it still being October, all the haiku’s of an impending winter will thunder down upon us. Dark days. The same darkness that befriend’s the worst of the BBOTD’s that I’ll spend the morning hours of the winter uploading for your pleasure………
But we aren’t there yet. We get one more game. How much is that worth to ya’ll, especially if it’s not your money…..
One…..More…..Game. At least.
How prophetic . . . Flav, I just wrote this email to a woman I sometimes date:
“Damn, I was just thinking – I wish you were here and could watch a movie with me, have popcorn, and cuddle. Sorry, I am a bit lonely right now – all my errands are done, I didn’t plan anything for tonight, no Giants game on, and am washing/drying/folding clothes. Bored I guess. Sigh.”
lqtm.
*all my errands are done*—
if this works, I’m gonna try this one. 🙂
my other favorite line was *bored I guess*.
Seriously, can you get back to me about the outcome of this email? She’s good looking right? For the sake of the story I need to know she’s hot. And now, I need to know her response. Cause if she says yes and is swinging from your dick this evening then it’s time to write a how-to book or something. Good luck!
I’m lurking here – does that provide your answer? Ha.
A dollar short and a day late Flav . . . Yes, she is very hot and frankly, I have no idea why she is attracted to me, since she is 40 and (did I already say) hot. Unfortunately, she already made plans for the evening, so me and the baloney poney will have to make other plans. 🙂
I can’t imagine why ‘Bored I guess’ didn’t work. She must be very positively disposed towards you, because to me this reads as a list of things that came before wanting to see me -” no baseball, already did the laundry, oh well, guess I’ll check in with ferret…”
And thinking like that is reason 2,483 why I will most likely die alone!
HEY FERRET, YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE DOING . . . UMM, YOUR NAILS, FIGURING OUT A RESOLUTION TO THE WORLD SITUATION OR SOMETHING. 🙂
Yeah, she knows that my sense of humor is very . . . uhh, let’s say, “Neanderthal,” so yeah, quite understanding. She hates baseball too, but I ignore this because . . . Never mind.
“Cuddle”? They like to cuddle!? Who knew???
Sheesh . . . I’m not a total pig Pawlie. 🙂
I talked a bit about what Flavor said in his 2:29 about season’s end in one of my “B” posts, “Baseball as Therapy”.. the ballgames are a huge part of my life, and I miss them more than I probably should when they’re over. I certainly don’t lack for things to do and there is great reward in much of it- but the games are a part of my life here that are really just mine. I enjoy football but it’s too bang-bang compared to the leisurely ambience that is so appealing to me about baseball. I look forward to when pitchers and catchers report, oh, about 10 minutes after the last pitch of the current season has been thrown..
you should re-post the *Baseball as Therapy* thread. I thought you told me you kept it.
I love college football (b-ball too). Just watched Texas Tech edge TCU 56-53 in triple OT. Horned Frogs (great mascot!) scored 10 pts in last four minutes with redshirt frosh QB to tie it 36 all in regulation, but 3 TD passes in OT beat em.
Saturday and no baseball?
It’s un-American
Reduction
Nipper’s van is actually quite nice.
Magnus makes a good point that there’s a tinge of depression when baseball ends even if you win! True, even with all the basking, it’s like, what now? Back from my posh event. Chix like authors. BFD. Errands and laundry and stuff come first hahahahahaha
Re Pawlie’s post earlier today, I attended a wedding in the late ’80s in Skaneateles, NY this time of year.
Gorgeous area, the colors were really out, quite crisp in the evening.
The reception was at the Sherwood Inn, an early 1800s inn that was really cool, had a nice dinner, etc. It may have been called something else then, but that’s it now. Google, ya know.
Finger Lakes area is really gorgeous, but gotta be friggin cold in winter.
They got divorced about 5 years ago…
that’s it Snarkk; we were in an utterly magnificent home and then repaired downtown to the library, where the coffee was hosted by the Sherwood inn; told all I’m a Giants fan weighing a WS trip; is it logistically possible to get plane tix on short notice without astronomical bucks? Two quick stories: one guy there, a library trustee, saw Giants games in the Polo Grounds; heard Bobby Thomson’s homer on the radio in Plainfield, NJ; the host, her grandparents and siblings would go to Ebbets Field as kids, all gingers; gingers were considered good luck so the kids would get their heads ruffled by the players before the game, shades of Doris Kearns Goodwin
I won’t make this the POTD because that would look gratuitous since it was your thread today. But it’s shit like this that makes me still dig this place.
I just finished well actually cooking some chicken but I just finished re-watch of the Zito game.
And that is why I love pitchers like that always have always will throw it up there slow and curvy and watch the big boys flail away. It’s also why I always have loved knuckleballers.. RA Dickey? Has a chance to win the Cy Young? You’ve got to love it! everybody loves the fastball but I love the curve one thing I used to love about Krukow was that 12 six big curveball he had. a thing of beauty. yes I love the curveball pitchers always have always will.
Edd! thank god. That’s like 100 words or something numerically greater or, boo, <…. Solid job.
Now, if you're in the mood, walk us through your 12:21am post and, if you're not too winded, detail the grassroots of the 8:27am post.
You are the man, don't ever forget that……..
rarely read The Chronicle anymore but I clicked over there today to see what Jenkins had to say about last night’s game. Loved his final paragraph. It’s not a schtick or dramatic in the slightest. It’s fact.
“He could have finished the game. He knew that better than anyone. But it seemed crucial that Zito depart with a shutout in progress. As Bochy made his way to the mound, summoning reliever Santiago Casilla in the eighth, Posey tapped Zito on the chest. Then Scutaro did the same, and then Pablo Sandoval. No accident, there. They went straight for the heart.”
It was very cool watching Posey and the Infield guys do that.
and I Tweeted his article saying, “Straight to the heart. Our hearts too. Thanks.”
well then I need to get on twitter and start re-tweeting that type of gold—that’s the response right? A re-tweet? It’s hard for me to get behind twitter, mostly because of the gay vocabulary……..
Craig asked, so I reposted “Baseball as Therapy”. It’s slightly updated as it was originally posted when we were eliminated last year. And I’ve added “or Just Pleasure” to the page title.Maybe the game just makes you smile-or bask. There’s a link to the right if anyone cares to comment.
Thanks for reposting that, Michael.
Flav, yer killing me with the soccer post. My daughters are long gone to college, and my son is through with baseball, and I did my fair share of soccer, basketball, softball, and baseball coaching. Shit goes by fast, but it never seems like it at the time.
It will get faster, Chuck. And it will seem like it, too.It’s something I’ve heard from every old fart I’ve ever known. Even though I do not consider myself an old fart quite yet, I’ll be danged if it doesn’t already appear to a truism..
Criminy, it’s getting scary. I feel the same, and the kids are all nearly gone. It seems like it’s the holidays all the time. These last 12 years have just whizzed by.
Crazy the horror stories you get being a kids coach.
I need to check myself all the time because I talk to the other team’s player’s constantly. It’s usually ‘Great tackle 19!”, that kind of shit. I did say something fairly direct to *The Dirty Player* from today’s game, but it didn’t impact her to change her game. And no one else heard it, she was running by me on the sideline. She heard me though.
AYSO would not have approved the comment…….
Yeah, coaching basketball there was all kinds of stuff like that. When the refs are turning a blind eye to it, it’s hard not to react. Or strangle the other coach. I did get a complete denial from a coach who had a girl on his team who was real free with her elbows rebounding. After the 3rd girl went down, and the ref was holding his breath, I just told ’em, let her have them. It ain’t worth a bloody mouth over.
Vogie against Carpenter again. Even though he’s pitched so little this year, Carpenter just isn’t a guy I’d expect to be off again. But we’ll have a rockin’ house, a guy AT LEAST as tough a competitor as Carpenter, and we’re playing our best defense in a long time.Should be a good one. This was a fine night for Nicole to go out with the girls while Ryan gets his game face ready.
Catching up after a long day/night. I just gotta say these posts are some of the best I’ve read on a single thread here. From Snarkk’s typically outstanding intro, Blade’s fascinating work story, Craig’s coaching exploits (I have to pass that along to my wife, who did a great job coaching my daughter’s soccer team for five years) and right up to Pawlie’s eventful night in upstate NY, this blog was an absolute pleasure as I wind down in the wee hours.
And it’s all because of #75. Really. If the Giants had lost last night, the Flap would have taken on a much different, and likely less cheerful, tone. But because Zito had his finest hour as a San Francisco Giant, the season lives on, we all have another game to look forward to, and the Flap was every bit the equal of Zito’s masterpiece.
“. . . the Flap was every bit the equal of Zito’s masterpiece.”
Nice post Mac and great line!
I have to add my two bits to the coaching threads. I coach a flag football team and have been active in the baseball community. this morning we had a football game and played our best game so far against the team we’ll have to beat to get to the championship game. just destroyed them. I’m not one of those dads who thinks that their kid is the best kid on the team, but this year one of my twins has been rotating at QB. Today the other kid wasn’t there and my guy just had a great day. he’s fast, so if the play breaks down, he just uses his legs to make some positive yardage. had great touch on a couple of balls while firing a couple of others in there. the weirdest thing to me is that neither kid has a tremendous amount of what i’ll call confidence. they know that they’re good but they are happy to defer to other, more aggressive kids. drives me nuts. Flavor’s post about the dirty player reminded me of a game where there was a really big kid just terrorizing the offense. bowling through kids to get to the qb. i told the other of my two guys to stand up to the kid and hit him. he got this big smile and said sure. well when those two collided it sounded like two sides of beef slamming together. All the dads on the sideline went “oooohhhh”. that kid never put any more pressure on the qb and i don’t think i’ve ever seen him again in the league. he was just a big kid who thought he could get away with bullying the small kids until my guy taught him differently.
tonight we had a double header in Davis. I got to be the first base coach. haven’t spent much time around these kids so confined myself to not saying much. The head coach and I have a good relationship but it’s his team and i just try to help out. I have to admit, i had a blast. we’ll be on the road at 8 tomorrow for the next game.
this is all my last hurrah as they will be in high school next year and i will be watching from the stands. to all you dad coaches out there, enjoy it. savor it. don’t overcoach it. realize that it ends pretty quick.
Yeah. overcoaching wasn’t a problem when I coached 6 year old girls soccer! I walked up to talk to the AYSO coordinator and she said, oh, thanks for volunteering to coach.
I love this post Eric!
I forgot to add, good night knuckleheads.
I was on last night late, but before Eric’s post. Yes, some of the best posts of all time on The Flap yesterday. Snarkk had a very nice thread to get it going. Steve’s job story, Flavor’s soccer coaching story/experience, and Eric’s post (these just a few examples of some really good stuff).
Eric, I’ve been there…coached my kids up to 9th grade (daughter in softball, son in hardball). It was a great experience, and I agree about not over-coaching. I was not one to play my kids because I was the manager…I always tried to field the best team, and we (me and my coaches) always worked hard with kids to develop their talents and ensure everyone had the same opportunity to get into the mix.
Great thread. Now–where the fuck’s dirt??!!
Good point Ted . . . I forgot to mention what a great thread Tom (snarkk) wrote yesterday. In regard to a new thread, you throw one up you silver tongued devil. 🙂
Meanwhile, I am meeting a friend for an early matinee . . . going to see Looper. I’ve read a couple of great reviews about this movie. Besides, I like Bruce Willis’s haircut.
While we wait for today’s thread- please pop over to B if you like. As when originally posted, there are some fine comments there as well as here. Chi mentioned something we’ve often talked about- baseball on the radio. The guys who did the games when I was a boy in Pittsburgh were Bob Prince (I’ve posted some of his “Gunnerisms”) and Jim Woods, Ed McMahon to Prince’s Carson.
There’s been some sentiment that Holliday get a high, hard one, Prince might have called that a “soup cooler”, right at the lips…
I’m also reposting some of Prince’s Gunnerisms over there. Some real classics that survive to this day. I can’t attest that he invented all of them, but that’s the story.
new thread real quick.
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