2012 World Series-Game One
First off, I suppose I need to apologize to Nipper. Because this will be long. When Big Flavor asked to take my place yesterday, 2 things came to mind. First, hey, it’s Big Flavor’s blog, I’m just an apostle. Who am I to argue? Second, for Big Flavor to even ask such a thing, it meant he had something special. And lo, it twas to be. Flavor’s post yesterday was poetic, magical, inspiring and in good English. So once again, I’m here to put a stop to that.
This is an oldie but goodie. In the Peanuts comic strip on Dec. 22, 1962, Charlie Brown and Linus were sitting on the sidewalk, chins in their hands sulking. For the first three panels, they just sit there silently when finally in the fourth panel Charlie Brown blurted out “Why couldn’t McCovey have hit the ball just three feet higher?” Then again on January 28, 1963 in the same setting Charlie Brown shouted out “Why couldn’t McCovey have hit the ball even two feet higher?”
Of course, the Giants have since put the issue to rest by sharing their 2010 World Series trophy with Willie Mac. And now, a mere two years later, they’re on their way seeking another. But they’re facing a team that swept the Mighty Yankees in four. A team with the best all out starting pitcher who can go on 3 days rest and still paint the corners with 98-99 fastballs. A team with the first Triple Crown winner since 1967, tops in almost all offensive categories including nose hairs. They’re playing against a manager who is a 3 time Manager of the Year and 2 time pennant winner both from both leagues and who won it all in 1997. A team with the guy who wrote “Purple Rain”. Wait…strike that–wrong Prince.
So, do the Giants have a chance?
Well, yeah. Of course they do. I mean the Tigers have a shaky bullpen and are error prone. But as fortunate as the Giants were in the playoffs, you can’t *count* on other’s mistakes. Nope, if the Giants don’t bring it, it *will* get scary. But there’s another little strategy they could use. It’s a strategy they’ve been using throughout these playoffs but this if they try it… with a bizarro world approach…Well, Hunter Pence. As Bruce Jenkins mentioned, he’s not even from this planet. His speeches have roused the Giants when their backs were against the wall. His words inspired, transposed and cleared heads. He was…The Voice.
And if I may be so bold, I have a suggestion for old Van Gogh Eyes. In this series, go undercover. Find a Tigers uniform and sneak into their dugout (wearing a Groucho mask of course. They’re not too bright). And recite in a deep, resonant, well modulated voice an ancient poem found in the basement of a Baltimore church. Its faux message of hope and salvation that cannot be more sinisterly implied. It is something certain to deflate even Prince Fielder’s exceptional girth and ego. A simple ode entitled Deteriorata. I may be paraphrasing from the original text but the message is clear no matter the indulgences. Ahem…
“GENTLEMEN! My fellow Tigers. My Tiger brethren, if you will. Hear me and hear me well. Embrace these words as they me be the last you shall hear until it is too late. Go placidly amid the noise and waste. And remember what comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof. Avoid quiet and passive persons unless you are in need of sleep. Rotate your tires. Speak glowingly of those greater than yourself and heed well their advice even though they are assholes.
Know what to kiss…..and when!
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
SCOOT SCOOT SCUTARO!!!
MARCO…MARCO…MARCO…
Panda – that is some fine hitting! LOVE IT!!!
Panda > Tigers
Gotta Bench Panda now huh? A fucking single ferchrissakes….
So much for rebuilding Valverde’s confidence.
Buster joins the party!
Sit down Valverde – NEXT!
MMMM…..MMMMMM…..MMMMMMMMM….Tiger Bullpen, nutritious and delicious…taste just like chicken!
Buster needed that flair.And Tigers BP looks like some great feasting on as the series continues…
I hope Mr. Kokonuts isn’t missing too much of the game while taking notes for his next book:
A Cast with Character
go Giants
Okay, get this – I told my friend yesterday that I was worried the guys might be tired. After all of the effort to get here, the adrenaline needed to pull off a 6-0 record in elimination games, and Monday night’s celebration they might be a little off tonight. If this is ‘off’, I’d LOVE to see ‘on’! (Never been happier to be wrong!!!)
Damm CHI,,,Great minds are working tonight.
So, I have one question for all the dumbfuck media…what the fuck happened with the notion that the Tigers were supposed to bury the Giants?! Uh huh…JUST LIKE Tex-Ass in 2010…
So I know they are pros, but watching their Ace get rocked for 4 runs what does that do to the Tigers?
I think any spring in there step, any xtra rest advantage, any Verlander, Cabrera, Fielder dreams they planned on using is now plan-A out the window.
Not to get too far ahead of myself, but I am already planning my “swag” purchases, e.g., sweatshirts, t-shirts, etc.
Those grey hoodie sweatshirts the Giants are wearing in the dugouts are available, but they won’t ship them till the series is over. I bought one from the NLCS series
A little surprised Tim is out there in the 8th with a 7 run lead.
TIMMEH!!!!!!
My luck,i would win a trip to meet a Legend ballplayer and be paired up with Tim McCarver..
Question – When Zito plunked Fielder for the bowling pin incident, did that count as a half-a-revenge pitch or paid-in-full revenge pitch? Just wondering . . . 🙂
Weird . . . It just started snowing here in Denver and I am watching a baseball game.
are you all having fun? The fun continues tomorrow night. Verlander wins the 5th game @ Detroit but we celebrate my name on Halloween night…
You are correct, or I am as I picked G6 for the elimination of the Tigers
Have you changed your name to 2wswinb4igo yet?
Hit the top of his glove . . . and then over. No biggie, let’s get these last 2.
Unless it’s mop-up duty, I don’t think we see Kontos the rest of the series.
Quoting Verlander and Flav quoting Verlander. “WOW”
Game 1 to Giants!!!! Woo-Hoo!!!!!!!!!
We’ve heard and said two words all year, tonight they made things a little more comfy: “add on”.
You heard it here first – FULL PARDON AND REDEMPTION FOR BARRY ZITO.
I think BZ may have another good season left in him. And I think Timmeh goes into ST as a starter.
yes.
except for the pussy-fake-fan-haters…..
they’ll ultimately end up lynching him one day…….
there is a tweeter saying: “I stick with my prediction, Tigers in 5” although I think the Giants can win one in deeroid
And unless madbum implodes we have an OK chance tomorrow night.
Just win three, Baybeeees
Pablo’s thinking fuck my 3 HR’s…I should atleast get laid by you tonight Erin.
Hahaha! I’m betting Panda likes a girl with a little meat on her bones…some, any meat on her bones! Yeesh, Erin, eat a sandwich!
fantastic game tonight, not just the win, but all the boring, slow, strategic stuff that baseball games always have.
🙂
I don’t think my heart slowed down until the 8th inning
well played my Gmen
What all the media idiots forgot . . .
Tigers
Giants
W-L
88-74
94-68
BA
.268
.269
RPG
4.5
4.4
ERA
3.75
3.68
gnite, all, see you here tomorrow nite?
Maybe. Lqtm.
Cheers Ed!!!
What’s that now, 28-4 in the last four games? Keep on keepin’ on.
it’s getting rather dominant, eh?
Giants unveiled two secret World Series weapons in Game One. The Panda is now fully recovered from his hamate bone operations and demonstrated same in front of a national/international audience by tying Babe Ruth, Reggie Jackson and Albert Pujols for three dingers in a W.S. game. He leads the other three, though, in doing that feat in his first 3 A.B.’s.
The Timinator may define a whole new bullpen role. Think that Bochy is definitely onto something here. #55 can be the Fireman and quickly douse a rally. Timmy can go long, like he did tonight, and nudge his opponents into novocaine nirvana. Timmy can close. Hasn’t been called on for that role yet, but it could happen before the series is in the books.
So far as my 58 years of following the Giants (and baseball) i have never heard of a Super Reliever, a man who can go out in any of three roles and excel. Figuring that he might get two or three appearances through each rotation he could easily cop as many wins as the most elite starters in the game ~ thereby justifying a $20M+ salary. Giants could pick up a fairly mediocre starter or maybe bring up a good farmhand like Heston and be confident that more wins than losses would be likely every five starts.
tonight wasn’t a huge surprise in terms of how flat Detroit was. They sat around for a week+ and played against each other with zero fans watching. That’s not preparing for a world series game.
Pablo was enormous. Zito stupendous. But it’s going to get harder with Fister and we can’t take the pressure off these guys.
I’m surprised at how easily Verlander was rattled tonight. But it put them on their heels and that’s all good for us.
Looking forward to Pawlie’s re-cap later from his seat in center field. When I left him he was negotiating his ticket with a scalper who didn’t know what he had coming……..
He was unbelievably happy on the phone when I spoke with him. The fan noise that came over the phone connection was unbelievably loud and rowdy. Mission accomplished for him coming out here and actually seeing a game. It will be an epic book . . . I can’t wait to read it.
WHOOT! Giant kick some Tiger ass! One down and three to go!
Despite the late HR, this wasn’t a game where the Tigers can think, “forget it, get ’em tomorrow”. We’re in their heads. This takes a lot of pressure off of MadBum, as well.
IMO.
Nenn! Loved that dude when he closed for us! (CSNBA)…
Told you guys no reason to fear Verlander. He can be had, and was.
It’s early, but this Detroit squad is slow, porky, and not impressing me. The Cards looked a lot better…
Yeah, I talked about Verlander and his record of giving up quite a few when he’s off. This didn’t surprise me even a little.I’m sure there are also others who knew he was human. Panda showed why he cannot be pitched to and why keeping hitting instructors as far away as possible from him is important. He’ll correct his own unique strike zone as needed.
Nice job for Zito, he had them confused all night.
Timmeh retired 7 of 7, and struck out 5, including Cabrera. Maybe he’s found a niche?
Scutaro is just friggin amazing…
Panda was outta sight…
BTW, I was watching at a local brew pub, and when Zito came up the second time, that prick Buck said something like “this is the greatest mismatch of all time”, or some such, and I immediately thought — ya prick, watch Zito do one of his patented slap shots to the left side and through. Swear to gawd, and then that’s exactly what he did for the RBI. I laughed my ass off…
I know that Fister can be tough but I’d much rather face him than Sanchez, who has dominated us, especially here,
Watching Pablo do his thing tonight reminded me of how silly those position-by-position matchups are for the World Series — and yes, I read one of them. No one’s gonna argue that Cabrera is a better hitter, but it’s not like our guy is some bum.
Continuing along with what snarkk said . . .
We are much better than the Tigers. The Giants’ had a defensive edge over the Cardinals in the NLCS. However, the Giants have an even bigger advantage over the Tigers, who ranked among the five worst defensive teams in baseball by any defensive metric you want to use.
Ditto for bullpens. Not only is our bullpen better, but we have Bochy. So, we not only have lots of good pitching options, but someone who knows how to use them.
We also have better wheels . . . were the ninth-best baserunning team in the big leagues vs. 26th for the clumsy Tigers.
Last, but not least, we make contact. In fact, we are the 4th best team in MLB at making contact.
As Twin said, we got into their collective head this evening. Whenever you “rent” someone’s brain, it’s hard for them to “evict” you. Giants in 6.
We pitch Zito, we win.
MadBum tomorrow. Would be sweet if he truly has worked out his mechanical problems and kicks some ass!
Yep, Giants need to bear down and get game #2 to guarantee a return to ATT. I don’t pretend to know about Fister much, but he may be tougher than Verlander was tonite. I’m convinced even more now that I’ve really seen them that if the Giants put pressure on their defense, good things will happen. Some hit and runs would be good. Pagan and Scoots need to keep on the pressure. Good to see Buster breaking out for 2 knocks, including the one to RF, which tells me he’s getting back on the beam. As for Pence, whatever. Blanco still is taking to many damn called third strikes, but his D is stellar…
Ok so if that is the best they can throw at the Giants??
Well, Night all. Tonight took about 100 pounds off of MadBum’s shoulders. His key? Not so many strikes. Even at reduced velocity he’d be OK if he didn’t get so much of the zone.
IMO.
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Thanx Ted.
Is there a quiz tomorrow?…
Don’t think there won’t be. Sonny
You guys probably did not miss this.
But, early in the tilt, McCarver called Pablo “Pandoval”, catching himself a bit later.
At first, I thought, what a putz, this guy needs to retire.
Then, I thought, hey, that’s not bad!…
ESPN asshole list and their one sentence reasons why they selected the Tigers to win the World Series:
http://espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs/2012/story/_/id/8544168/espn-expert-predictions
Hey way to fuck with a clown. That was Armstrong’s version a minute ago. But Prima did Keely Smith, so a hell yeah.
Armstrong’s is great. But Prima’s felt more in my mood
thanks for lunch, friend
No worries my friend. I love Prima
It’s almost 1 AM here and I’m still bouncing off the walls! Ted, thanks for a bit of Louis before I hit the sack!
Red Beans and Ricely Yours.
Just win three.
Cheers all.
I can’t say much. I’m spent. Overwhelmed. But let me say this much: Today was a day I wrung joy out of every morsel and molecule of my Life. Greetings to Blade’s aunt. Breakfast at the Crepevine in the Sunset District. Lunch w/ TedSpe. Meet with Magnus and survey the AT&T demesne, and its lambent waters, like Roman kings. Meet Micah and his dad, Joe, on Micah’s birthday. And, hours later when the recording of Tony Bennett’s anthem played at AT&T Park I sat *alone* on a mostly empty row of metallic bleachers in Section B142, Row 28, bowed my head, covered my face, and rocked my universe with grateful sobs.
Beautiful Pawlie. Thanks so much for taking the time to look for my brick. I miss being there so much, but I’m one happy clown to know that Flappers are there.
Cheers man.
OK, now I’m passing out!
and thanks for buying a copy of BASEBALL’S STARRY NIGHT, Magnus; honored to sign it near the Juan Marichal statue
What a great fucking day.
First the honor and privelege to meet and dine with our own Bard and future Pulitzer winner–Pawlie the one and only
Then listen and see Pablo make history
All from the atmosphere from my dog walking and nicotine stained car to the beautiful Presidio with a view of the bridge in the background. Chicken and sausages cooking on the grill.
And I take no small credence. It was my elongated, vanglorious, multi-faceted, annoying, self promoting, blatantly stolen, semi-amusing post today that clinched this extraordinary win.
And by the way. I’ve read in the Chronicle and heard on KNBR many–MANY–things that have originated here on the Flap. Mainly jokes and pithy observances. Verbatim.
Perhaps it’s just a coincedence.
But in truth–I think they’re fucking stealing our material. Even when we’re not entirely original–we came up with it first. Baseball wise. Not to mention wiseguy wise.
Time for one of the Flavor Nation attorneys to take a case.
Before oneflapdown77, no championships. Since?
Let’s roll.
Goodnight, gentlemen (question mark)
(And have a safe flight, Pawlie)
(Poor Posey. Imagine the first year he’ll have to know, barring injury, what it’s like to *not* win a championship)
HEHEHE . . . I agree with you Ted. This is a case of infringement that snarkk should be tabbed for.
Basking again!!!!
Pandelirium. [let’s see if THEY take the bait]
They went with Panda-monium. Still…
I dunno. Should I just stay aawke, goggle-eyed until the airport shuttle at 5 am comes….and puts me in a straitjacket? [and the spelling is correct; I am insufferable]
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