Dubs Advance, LA(ME) in Town for Huge Series
I’m still struggling to appreciate the advancement of the Warriors into the second round of the NBA playoffs. Forget the ref’s, if anyone seemed to be part of a *fix* it was the Warrior players. Mindblowingly stupid turnovers and bad shots in the 4th quarter. And the number of times that Jackson calls a TO only to have his team turn the ball over coming out of the TO (or not being able to even get the pass in) seems to happen way too often. I guess just chalk it up to the Dubs being a very young team and mistakes are going to happen. Still, the only reason they won last night (and taking nothing away from Bogut who was a man-child) was because the Nuggets couldn’t knock down a shot. They were horrible, offensively.
Giants going against Kershaw tonight. *Dumb-ass Eye Goggles* is back. Early May games don’t get much more exciting than the one tonight at AT&T. Anna needs to start scattering her particles into the universe NOW.
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
Sloppy game last night but that happens in game with so much at stake. Give a lot of credit to the W’s just to be up 3-2 without Lee and 3 rookies getting big minutes. That bodes well for the future.
Probably ends with SA, but gotta love their heart and enthusiasm.
The Warriors had something to do with Denver shooting poorly… However, I agree with what Flavor touches on. Jackson brings a lot of fervor and as the overused phrase goes, his players seem to “buy into it”. That’s not all good. He’s not a poised or thoughtful man- he’s more a like a TV evangelist than sports coach. Too often in crunch time, this very talented and dynamic team takes on much of Jackson’s unfocused energy. There doesn’t seem to be a calming influence on the team…the closing moments in two of their wins had more torture than season of the Beard closing games…well, almost..
I hear what Flavor says (about the Dubs), and a lot of it is valid, but I beleive they absolutely deserve to move on. They had their faults (five turnovers in the final minute and a half, etc.), but they battled their asses off and closed it out. I read where they have not won in SA since ’97. Time for that to change!
I saw that someone posted the article (John, I believe) on Peguero possibly being called-up. I will be very surprised if that does not happen, and I would also be suprised if he does not get at least a start (maybe two) in this series with the Bums.
Zito against Kershaw…should be an awesome game. I would love to be down there tonight…the house should be rockin’!
It’s been pretty warm in bay area last few days, and ATT plays differently in warm weather. 3 night games, so hopefully our SPs can keep the ball in the yard. Vs. all these lefties, it’s time for Pence and Posey to start pulling stuff out the park to LF.
Bringing up Peguero I was thinking about the latin presence of Giants team. Half the position starters —-sando, scut, blanco/torres and pagan, plus Arias hector/Quiroz off the bench. Add in large portion of the pen–Romo Casilla Lopez plus some combo of Mijares/Machi.
Sandoval would rank as the guy who has been here the longest. And with all the accomplisments, I think he has quite a lot of cred in the group–has hit .300, been to all star games, won 2 rings, and lit up the biggest stage possible vs. the top pitcher in the whole league with 3 HR performance..
I enjoy watching the salutes and stuff Pagan and the others bring to the game. It was really neat to see the dugout shot of Pagan and Sandoval after his bomb the other night share an extra handshake and a big abrazo.
“Zito against Kershaw”… yes, the Zito legend may become pandemic if he out duels the kid.
Stranger things have happened…including ones that involved Zito.
Funny thing is, listening to Jackson in the sideline huddles reminded me distictly of Mike Singletary. Being out here in the hinterlands, I don’t get to see much of the Dubs. I’m sure Jackson is more Xs and Os than Sing ever was, but it was such vanilla stuff.’ Take care of the ball, rebound, take good shots’. Really, coach? We thought it was time to take huge risks on stupid plays and try to give the game away.
Yeah, they are a young team, and the hope is they can wear down SA, but it isn’t likely. The thing is, this team plays defense much better than any of the previous 30. I had hoped we would draw Denver just for the fact they have no outside game. They are tough, but can’t shoot for shit. 28th in free throw shooting? For a team that gets to the line as much as they do, that’s flat awful.
The annoying thing is the Dubs have a decent inside game with Bogut, Lee (if healthy), and Barnes/Green. They just choose to let fly from beyond the arc. The completely amazing thing to me was the fact that the Warriors gave up 9 offensive rebounds in the 1ST QUARTER, and 12 for the half and were only down by 4. I figured it would be easy from that point on. And it almost was. If they are to have a chance, they need to control the ball better. They had 1 TO in the 3rd quarter, 10 (!!!) in the 4th.
The biggest question after the first month- how do we get Zito the ABs to become the first guy to hit .400 since the Splendid Splinter?
And talk about versatility- “Tip” O’Neill hit .400. Alright, different guy…back to Zito. As BP says-is there anything this man can’t sort of do?
Daunting task with Kershaw but maybe they are due. Sorry about his loss. He’s a class guy from what I’ve read. OK. So 2-1 Giants on a walk off hr off of League.
Everybody has power rankings, but nobody has better power ranking ( they call it the “Hit List”) comments than Baseball Prospectus.
“When he leads off Juan Pierre is batting .178/.213/.211. When he hits anywhere else it doesn’t matter because he’s still Juan Pierre”
Noticed yesterday BJ Upton’s numbers. Something like Juan Pierre’s. Braves might be regretting that one.
Yeah…well, it is early. But even if he approaches his lifetime stats, between him and his brother, almost a quarter (20 mil) of the team’s 90 mil payroll goes to those two. The next two years the salaries for “the brothers” is almost 30 mil. That is a lot of coin for two players. Of course, if they win it all, few will give a shit.
Kershaw is kryptonite to the Gyros. Somebody needs to hit a dinger off him with a man on to score something. Putting together a string of 3-4 hits may be dang near impossible. Zito has to keep it close, with good D, for the Pens to battle it out late…
I agree…keeping it close (as his been the case, to date) will be key. In his one start against the Giants this year, he WAS kryponite:
9.0 IP – 94 pitches/65 for strikes. 4 H, 0 R, 7 Ks, 0 BB.
Chi, check out your ESPN trade IN basket.
Will do later today when I get home, Steve.
Excellent post on my blog Tom. Noted. Thanks.
I enjoy your blog, Blade. I admire your constitution in sticking with those posts dang near every day while you’re traveling. Very good discipline. BTW, who’s Thaddy?…
I know his mom. Leah and I sort of have a long distance romance going on. She lives in Grand Junction and I am near Denver (225 miles away). She is also 20 something years my junior, which makes me even more attracted to her (especially since she is a stone fox). All the ones I love have issues, e.g., like living too far away. Sigh.
As they say Blade, life is like a Kleenex box — issues are tissues, you pull one out, and another pops up… 😉
I have never heard that quote before but I like it (and moreover, it sounds so true).
Yeah, the losing streak was fraught with errors. When they tightened that up, they did better.
Fun series. Let’s hope we can bury the Dogs further. Would love to keep them under .500 for another week.
Weird. Double post there.
Probably already mentioned here, but I see Roy Oswalt signed a minor league deal with the Rocks.
I think it speaks to their desparation. Also, it reveals quite a lot about what cheap skates the Rockies are that they only go after players that rate a minor league deal. Minor blip on the mediocrity radar screen. Shit, these idiots haven’t signed a legit MLB free agent pitcher since being burned by Hampton and Neagle.
Are they still limiting the innings for the Starters?
No. That was scrapped after Tracy left. He really embarrassed them by leaving for that exact reason. The dumb ass GM said they were going to continue experimenting with it and Tracy said, Fuck that (not in those words, but he made it clear that if he wasn’t running the club, he was outta there). The club had egg on its face when he left and they scrapped the 75 pitch limit. O’Dowd may finally be on a death watch if the club doesn’t compete this year. Amazing how managers, GMs, and pitching coaches last on this team. You basically have to rape or kill someone in Denver to be unemployed on the Rockies.
Kershaw is a true Ace, hard to beat. Think Timmy in his first cy young year. The Giants will have to get lucky IMO to get 1-2 runs. it can be done.
Tonight is a huge pitching matchup: Kershaw vs. Zito and Anna
or aka, the Koufax Kopy vs Zits N Tits…
I always like Pav’s monthly recaps…here is a link to April’s recap.
http://tinyurl.com/d7m5zeg
I’m on page 214 already..
You must be a graduate of Evelyn Woods Speed Reading…
Rosario down, presumably for Affeldt. No call for Pequero yet. One blog says Hector down, Pegs up. Not confirmed.
Just saw that.
Torres is playing himself out of a job.
I think so too, Xoot.
The story yesterday by Baggs said that Torres will probably end up as the SW to be used in PH situations (similar to the way it was expected that Hector would be used).
Only a PH role for Torres is not good. He’s not normally a patient hitter. But, if Peguero comes up, I don’t see why they would not play him a lot, else the call up makes little sense. This whole LF situation is a head scratcher…
As ever, I’m more sanguine about Torres. If the drive that nearly hit the foul pole for a HR last Satuday and the drive that Denorfia made the diving catch on Sunday had gone the other way, many would be singing a different tune about Torres. Yeah, I know about the hand grenades and horseshoes chestnut, but the fact is that Torres has hit the ball hard. The difference of a few hits in a 50 AB sample is huge. With that said, before ST I thought Peguero would win a spot on the opening day roster (Noonan as well). And I don’t think he’ll exposed as some of the Bowker class was- he’s a better athlete.I’m not sure how Bochy will play this, my guess is he’ll give the majority of the Torres starts to Pegs to start with and go from there. They do have to give him a good look, because he’s also in line for possibly taking over RF( Kieschnick as well) next year since Pence is hardly a given to return.
Peguero called up.Hector down.Mudbug gets his first day -off.Probably wise against Kershaw.Arias at SS.
Belt starts, Craw sits: Pagan cf, Scutaro 2b, Pablo 3b, Posey c, Pence rf, Arias ss, Torres lf, Belt 1b, Z p
Wow, Belt behind both Arias and Torres? Stay mad, Giraffe.
I don’t get Belt at #8. At all. The guy has shown his pop may be coming along. He’ll get crap to hit at #8, so his pop will in the long run be theoretically wasted, notwithstanding the last coupla games…
Right. At some point Belt will get nothing to hit. Although that’s what the last guy tried to do . . .
Although Belt has a very good eye, the #8 hole seems to me the worst place to put him. No pressure? OK, no pitches to hit, either, so he’ll be swinging at shit all the time, if he swings at all. Maybe he’ll get a few “mistakes” to hit like the other night. It’s like putting the Gamer as leadoff. He had a couple of games of success at leadoff, so boom, he’s the leadoff guy? Head scratcher to me…
Belt has struggled 3/24 11k’s against Kershaw but so have Torres and Arias. Even Posey 6/36 10k’s
Best bets: Pagan (8/26, Scutaro 5/14 and Pablo 10/33.
Speaking of bets….are we getting a Derby thread?
Absolutely. It’s going to be chaos at its finest. I did a small oaks/derby double today. Took 4 horses in the oaks, 3 in the Derby. One of my 4 in the oaks won at 38-1 so before I even bet tomorrow, my interest is quite peaked. And of course I’ll post the ticket if anyone is doubting me.
Wtg! I watched it but didn’t bet.
Well, tomorrow is when I let the shaft out a little. But I love the oaks/derby double, just to kick derby weekend off. I’ll love it a lot more if the 6, 12 or 19 win tomorrow….
What about #7?
Better than Jimi!!!
No.
Barry Z just made a mistake on that throw to second.
Whoops, called that too early.
I think HanRam just re-injured his thumb on that swing.. Grimacing.
It’s a little ridiculous that I have to sweat out the ABs to the opposing pitchers.
Fuck. Zeeto finally get ahead in the count and gives up a single. He’s playing with fire so far.
WJy the fuck does wordpress ask me who I am 5x a day?
I wouldn’t worry about it unca. If you start asking yourself that 5 x a day, that’s when you should be worried.
I’m sick of logging in so many times. I only ask myself that question Saturday morning.
Unca, Flavor didn’t have anything to do with that. He knows who you are. and are you checking the box (on the wordpress login page) “remember me”?
I am surprised that there was no Slayer tribute tonight at the ballpark, although I’ll confess I was always more of a Flesh Eaters kinda guy myself.
The Flesh Eaters were one of my favorites too James. X, The Gun Club, Fear, The Blasters, a lot of fun punk bands coming out of LA at the time.
Still have all have all the vinyl, Bozo.
Can I emphasize enough I *have all* the vinyl?
All my vinyl has been boxed up since I moved back East (6 years now?). One of these days I’ll break em out again.
The Blasters and Los Lobos were the best. X too. Used to see em all at the SF Stone, Keystone Berkeley and, best of all, half a block from my apt, at the Berkeley Square.
Too soon.
I’ll quietly note that the 2-0 pitch Belt just fouled off was a fastball down the middle of the plate, belt high.
I guess Kershaw shouldn’t have tried it twice, I”ll quietly note.
🙂
Mistake pitch. I wish I could see X. They are playing at Bottle Rock in Napa. I can’t make thursday. I will see the flaming lips and the shins tho… Plus the Black Keys and about 50 other bands,
Flamin’ Groovies is such a cooler name I never could listen to the other guys.
If they were there . . .
The first time i saw X was at the Berkeley Square. I think the opener was an all girl band called the Castration Squad. X was playing on my birthday at the Old Waldorf years ago, with the Blasters and Romeo Void. Had a few birthday drinks with Donny Bonebrake, a very cool guy. Loved that band.
Saw them first at Barrington Hall, what a fucking crazy night.
Did you play at the Berkeley Square, Bozo? I lived half a block away in the 80s — saw the Blasters and X among many others. The church next door was pretty interesting on Sundays.
See sept 6 http://jon.luini.com/thelist/archive/1996-09-06
xoot – did a couple of shows there, the one James has on the list (I still have a Neosoreskin single that they gave me that night) and one were Buck Naked and the Bare Bottom Boys opened (I think Buck worked the door back in those days).
Speaking of vinyl, I recentl;y opened up my remaining box of records that didn’t get ruined in a garage flood, and I found a light blue translucent Japanese Jimi Hendrix album that I do not remember buying, It musta been about 30 years ago. It did have its Rods Used Records sticker on it so I know where I got it.
Zito is fucking Houdini tonight.
Do we really not nave a hit. A no-hitter? Kershaw hasn’t given up a hit?
Just saw a replay of the Metallica national anthem, that was pretty damn cool.
Hunter’s little league style is amusing. Watching other kids strike out like that against my wild fastballs was the most fun I ever had playing ball.
I think it’s time for a trade proposal (inspired by Ryan, an earnest enough fellow). Timmy and Hector for Kershaw. What do you guys think?!
Meg Ryan?
“Jackson brings a lot of fervor and as the overused phrase goes, his players seem to “buy into it”. That’s not all good. He’s not a poised or thoughtful man- he’s more a like a TV evangelist than sports coach. Too often in crunch time, this very talented and dynamic team takes on much of Jackson’s unfocused energy. There doesn’t seem to be a calming influence on the team”
If you’re going to blame Jackson for almost blowing the game, you need to credit him for building an 18 point lead to begin with. As long as his influence is +4 for the game, it’s all good.
It’s ludicrous for a blog commenter to say a former All-Star, NBA point guard and candidate for Coach of the Year is not poised or thoughtful. Winning a playoff series with a bunch of rookies and sophomores after losing Lee is a great accomplishment.
IMO Gregg Popovich is the best coach in American sports right now, certainly the most underrated. If you switched teams, he would have no chance of beating San Antonio. Having a preacher like Jackson on the bench is the only way the Warriors can go Braveheart on the Spurs. If God is on their side, anything is possible.
Hey the Giants got a baserunner, let’s see if they can get a hit
Dang! That was close
Calm down, John. I think Joseph Prince might be on somewhere…
Draymond Green @Money23Green 20h
Amazing time!!!! Blessed beyond measure! All glory be to God… #dubnation Round 2 lets get it
Ra, Ra, Ra!
“We suck on ‘D. Both individually and team-wise, we suck. We’re pretty consistent that way. I don’t know if I have an answer to that. If I did, we wouldn’t suck quite so bad.” GREGG POPOVICH
That”s fucking ridiculous that a ball hit that well isn’t a home run.
Or even a hit. Teams have learned to give up the line and play the alley.
If you ever have any doubts about that OPS+ stat, recall that fly out by Belt.
Wow. Belt blasted that one.
Looking forward to catching the Metallica Star-SB
And James, though I didn’t honor it here, I did last night. Slayer was part of my youth. Very, very sad…
Ok, BF, I was being a schmuck, a cut rate DJ Loo. I apologize:
http://www.sfgate.com/news/medical/article/Spider-called-pivotal-in-Slayer-guitarist-death-4484296.php
1st curve called for a strike on either side.
Leadoff guy on every inning?
End the No Hitter – Check.
End the shutout-Check
All right Marco!
MVP!
End the shut out – Check.
Tie game. Shut em down Giants.
If stats on it were kept, I know they’d confirm that the opposing catchers get dinged as much as Posey does. It sure doesn’t seem that way, though . . . .
I said earlier today this would be a Pen game if Zito did his job. He did, and it is. Let’s go, get a run here and we win this thing…
revret
“Throws a little cutter…”
I’ll be honest with you guys–I have no idea what that fucking means
It’s even more a fastball than a slider than a regular cutter is. It is always thrown, never kicked.
I appreciate that James. No, seriously, I do. But that didn’t help. Let’s face it. I don’t even know what a “cutter” is. I just don’t really understand baseball as well as the rest of the Flappers.
Well I called it 2-1 G’s on a walk off hr off League but will happily take Bellasaeio.
9:34 am…you’re welcome.
BUSTER!
walk off posey
That was a sweet, well played victory. I can’t remember the last game that wasn’t exciting in the later innings, I think it was in Milwaukee.
Giants won – I see the score was 2-1, but no details in frickin’ Italy. WTF happened?
Wella this isa what a happenda. We was bueno no scoro whena we tied the frickinesia dodgeralios witha some nice-ah stuffo and then bottom of the ninetha thisa bustereo posenini he dunsa slappa inna de basah-balla deepa deepa into the where’s da fanna what being ista–ista–how you saya–ista homarunnerio and ista gigantesierios whatsa winna de game.
Bravo
POTD right there.
FukinA, thatsa some funnyassa stuffa righta thaira…..
Yer killin’ me Ted. Heir apparent to DJLoo. 🙂
Gracci, gracci but Ima so happia
Excellent post ted spe!
Buster hit a walk-off homerun on a 3-2 pitch from Belasario. The pitch was high and inside and he turned on it and got good wood on it, and put it in the leftfield bleachers.
Your translation is funny too Zum. 🙂
But Ted said it better. (grin)
Oh fuck yes!! Buster walk off blast!!
The bar I’m as is rockin!!
Nothing better then beating the Dodgers!!!!!!!!!:)
that was worth it. All I have is KNBR and it is now 7am, but what a great, strange game. Hanram thrown out on a bad decision, Posey out at home, but 2 RBIs in a 2 run win.
who hoo
I’m trying to think of anything much better than a walk off HR win over the Doghairs. Well, anything better is all x-rated, and mostly things I used to do before I got mail from AARP…
Solid post Snarkk!..LMFAO!!
I get about 15 AARP cards per year. They’re pretty valuable you know. With their special discount, you can get a hundred bucks worth of services for just 100 dollars…
This post from Macdog is SO TRUE:
“It’s a little ridiculous that I have to sweat out the ABs to the opposing pitchers.”
Good day today. Giants beat LA. And, the older Snarkkette gets a surprise award last night from her middle school totally out of the blue. She was one of only 19 among 1200+ kids in the school chosen for “great character”, the highest annual award given by the school. Given to students chosen in secret only by teachers, no applications, for those kids who have continuously shown great citizenship and personal character above and beyond that called for by the average student. Papa and Mrs. Snarkk were surprised and proud as punch last night at the awards ceremony. I’m thinking this kid just might turn out to be a solid contributor to this damn planet when she grows up and I’m gone. I’ve got a Makers celebration going on right now for Snarkkette #1 AND the Giants…
Congratulations Tom. Good to hear that not all is doom and gloom for the younger generation. She sounds like one in a million (or 1200 anyway). Yes, the Snarkk household has reason to be proud.
You were right, one in a million …. 😉
whoo-fecking-hoot!
KNBR is reporting that was the first lead-off-walk-off ever for the SF Gs (and) Posey’s first game ending hit.
Anna is a Goddess.
Wow, that’s what I was talking about early in the thread. As Twin has pointed out for years, pulling one out to LF is the friendliest part of the park. We’ve seen plenty of it from Dan Uggla, Burrell and Uribe. If Posey and Pence are gonna hit 20 plus, they have to get more of them here just like that one. I love their opp field stroke, but unless you go right down the line to RF corner it’s a lot harder. I think only werth has done that here as RH.