A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball

Recently, someone made a comment about not wanting the Giants to turn out to be the worst “next year” World Series champion of all time. I concur. I don’t know what that record is. If you exclude the Marlins (and you have to since they were completely dismantled after their WS win) I think it’s impossible to not at least consider that this team is the worst World Series follow-up team of all time. And that is irritating on many different levels. I don’t want them being some trivia answer from Elias. Its incomprehensible for me to consider that they’ve gone from best to worst in less than a full season. And make no mistake about it, this is the worst team in baseball. Three teams have worse records than they do. One of those teams, Miami, kicked our ass 3 out of 4 back in June. The Cubs just swept us in our park. There was exactly one team that won less games than the Giants did in June (The White Sox). Exactly one team has won less games than the Giants have in July (The Astros). Answer honestly, do any of you think we could beat either of those teams in a 4 game series right now? I don’t.

Watch the interview with Bochy post game from yesterday. I have NEVER seen a more beaten down manager in the history of interviews. His body language is pathetic:

http://www.csnbayarea.com/blog/andrew-baggarly/bochy-wont-commit-zito-wont-rush-vogelsong

If the manager looks and acts like this how could you possible expect the players to come out with ANY life at all?

I can’t even recall what a knowing dude head nod looks like, much less how to do it…….

I got a huge kick out of this photo:

When you take a photo like this everyone is assigned a spot. Who’s idea was it to have Tanaka, Frenchie and Abreu front and center? Hilarious.

Bee Wheezy is likely signing with the Dodgers. Question: Does that bother anybody? Also, I can’t believe he’d go their as a closer, Jansen has been spectacular as the closer. Would he go there as a set up guy?

How long ago does this feel to you?

Today, the Giants have more wins than exactly 5 other lowly, out of it teams. Also, happening today, they’re going here:

So it is a very surreal, incongruent time for YOUR San Francisco Giants these days….

Things have gotten so bad that there is actual documented calls, from both fans and the media, for BRETT FREAKING PILL to be called up for extended play at first base. Hey, Belt has been horrible lately and has not brought the offensive numbers that you need from a first baseman in 2013 but let me be one Giants fan who will raise his hand with a resounding *Nay* on Brett Pill taking over first base to *see what he can do*. I’ll save you the pending wonderment: he will do nothing.

As the trade deadline approaches, there are rumors that Sabean wants to trade Javier Lopez for a *MLB ready starting pitcher*. If that’s true, then Brian Sabean truly has a no feel for what his player currency is worth. And it will probably be the reason Lincecum doesn’t get traded–although he should be traded. He’s got 10+ strikeouts in 3 of his last 4 starts and the one start he failed to strike out 10 was the start post-no hitter and I think everyone forgives him for that one. Anyone, whether you are a scout or a fan, can see how well Timmy is throwing the ball right now. And it sucks because Sabean is going to sit on his hands and do nothing at the trade deadline, holding on to Lincecum for no reason other than he can’t overcome his own stubbornness. #FreeTimLincecum

In Greek mythology, Fortuna was the goddess of luck and fortune. She might bring good luck or bad luck to you.  The only reason I know anything about Fortuna is because of a dude I knew at the race track back in the day. He would babble on constantly about Fortuna. EVERYTHING was about Fortuna.  If he was winning he’d be bounding around the track saying “Fortuna spinneth up!” and if he was losing he would dejectedly wander around the track mumbling “Fortuna spinneth down…” His name was Scott, and he was entertaining as hell…..

Here’s what she looks like according to eBay:

After Abreu hit into that double play to end the game last night there was a tv shot of Bochy staring at the field. He kept staring and staring as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing, like none of this was real. And at that moment I was reminded of my old buddy Scott and his belief in *Fortuna*. If he were sitting next to Bochy on the bench he could have turned to him and glumly explained, “Bruce, Fortuna spinneth down…..”

And Scott would be right. Fortuna neatly packages up an explanation for our 2 world series wins as well as what has happened in this horrible year. So I’m going to stop trying to figure all of this out. I’m going to stop *staring*. It’s not doing any good. But I will slowly clasp my hands together, turn to the goddess and respectfully request a return to the upward spin of our Fortuna. And I recommend that all of you do the same……

Here is the pic that MacDog took YESTERDAY before I had even thought of today’s thread. That’s beyond trippy….

As the 2013 season continues to take shape as the most disappointing season ever and while we continue to await the exciting arrival of Guillermo Moscoso, I thought it’d be fun to take a look at some July stats. And by fun, I mean the opposite of that. It turns out our offense is not what we thought it was. Or maybe it is what some of you thought it was.

There’s still a couple of days left in July to *fix* this. We are currently tied with the Yankees for last place in all of baseball with 7 measly home runs. This promises to be a most exciting race to watch play out. Detroit and Seattle are tied at the top with 31 July bombs each. Are they even playing the same game as the Giants? 31 > 7?

Next stat: batting average. As I slowly peek into the next screen I see that it’s not as bad as I thought. We’re hitting .237 as a team in July. That’s actually better than 6 other teams. Shockingly, the team bringing up the rear in the A’s at .214. How are they winning so many games?

Runs scored: 65. That’s better than one team: the Marlins (who kicked our ass). 65 sounds a little high, doesn’t it? I remember about 5 of them…….

I was going to go through more stats but this thread has already gotten lame and staid.

Everyone, come in from the ledge. Sabean has worked his magic once again. Guillermo Moscoso has arrived! I had to look back 3 times to mlbtraderumors.com to make sure I spelled his name correctly. Anyway, he’s been pitching for the Cubs at AAA but is supposed to join the big club tomorrow. Come on down?

The Giants have 8 pending free agents this Winter. E-I-G-H-T. Sabean’s got to at least try to move one or two of them, right? Sabes gave up on the season yesterday saying, “As we speak, the math is horrific against us,” he said on his regular KNBR appearance on Thursday. “And we’re almost ready to turn the page on this season.”

I’ve accepted the fact that he isn’t going to add anything that could be useful this season. He’s got a boat load of “Culberson’s” down there but for some reason refuses to part with them. Many GM’s have died before him clutching too tightly to their *Culberson’s*.

But what sense does it make to hold on to ALL of your pending free agents? How many will he make qualifying offers to (In order to get the draft pick)? Pence, Timmy and Panda? Ok, so at least CHECK IN with other GM’s about what any of those 3 would bring. And sell the other guys off for SOMETHING. And when I say SOMETHING I’m talking about aiming a little higher than Guillermo Moscoso (got his name right the first try, all I had to do was look up the thread a bit)………

Anyone else fascinated with the A-Roid story? I have a weird obsession with following Yankee drama, watching it unfold….or implode. For those who aren’t paying attention, here is the break down of the last week or so:

1) A-Rod informs the club that he has injured his quad. Club does an MRI, tells him it’s a Grade 1 strain and that he needs to rest. A-Rod secretly has his own doctor look at it and he goes on a radio show to say there’s nothing wrong with him. Then it comes out that this *secret* doctor was disciplined by the New Jersey State Medical Board for, of all things, some issue with steroid prescriptions earlier this year. A-Rod continues to repeatedly say he wants to play with the Yankees saying *no* and then Arod finally does an about face and agrees to their re-hab program.

Here are some things I don’t get about all of this:

first of all, I’ve heard conflicting reports about the Yanks insurance policy on him. I was under the impression that it didn’t kick in unless he didn’t play for them at all this season. That would be obvious motivation for the team to keep him from playing. But I’ve read other reports that say the policy has already been covering a portion of his salary for the entire season.

Secondly, it’s obvious that the Yankees’ main goal is to get out of the monster deal they still owe him. And you KNOW mlb and Selig will do anything they can to support this goal. But contracts are guaranteed in baseball, how can they get out of the deal? Is there something that says if Arod never plays another game they can get out of it? That doesn’t sound right.

MLB is going to nail Arod for trying to buy the Biogenesis documents. While clearly damning evidence it still seems like its circumstantial evidence. How could mlb use that to ban him for life? And if that’s the path they want to take, why not just bust him now before he plays in a game? Or is there no benefit to dropping the hammer on him before he plays again? It just seems very odd that Arod is rushing and pushing so hard to play—but remember, he’s the one who came to THEM with the original quad injury.

If any of you guys have info on the insurance policies that are held by both the Yankees and Arod and/or and understanding about this lifetime ban/void contract thing please feel free to share…..

Break out your bell-bottoms, platform shoes, and polyester shirts. The ’70s are back in force this weekend, as the Dodgers and Reds are having a big series. Just like old times in the old NL West. And the Giants are fading out of contention. Just like old times in the old NL West. It’s a blast from the past. The Big Red Machine and the Big Blue Blob of Evil, back in the spotlight. The Reds haven’t won the World Series since Bush, Sr. was president; and the Dodgers haven’t won it all since Reagan.

Where have you gone, Joe Morgan? George Foster? Steve Garvey? Ron Cey? We know where Dusty Baker is. He’ll be right there in the ballpark, trying to get back to the World Series and win the big one as a manager. The opposing manager in that game is called Donnie Baseball. Seriously? His nickname is Donnie Baseball? We Giants fans know his true nickname. He is, and forever shall be, Donnie Two-Trips.

So….Go Reds, tonight! They better not lay an egg against the Dodgers, after having hammered the Giants. That would be not awesome. Joe would agree.

Brian Wilson showed off his new arm the other day to Raggs and Billy Hayes at a private workout at USF. He reportedly touched 94 on the gun. If he can prove that’s where he’s truly at I don’t think he’ll have any trouble finding a job. The Tigers and the Red Sox, two teams who are obviously contending this year, would be the most obvious destinations. The Giants don’t really fit for 2 reasons: 1) they aren’t contending 2) they already have a front line closer. If Wheezy did come back, what would be his role? Would Romo get bumped back to set-up guy? Just from a logistics standpoint that would seem to be a great idea. But from a *Romo* standpoint, I’m not sure how cool he would be with that.

Brian Wilson is one of the few former players that I will actively root for regardless of where he lands. It wouldn’t cost us any prospects, just some dough. It’s unlikely but I’d love to see him back in the Orange and Black again…..

As I forage on in my attempt to watch  the entirety of this double header I’m remembering the first double header I ever attended. And since I can’t remember another one that I went to or saw, today’s will be the second double header that I’ve seen from start to finish. The first one, as many of you know, was the first game I ever went to live. My dad took me to the August 24th, 1975 double header and Halicki threw a no hitter. I just looked that box score up for the first time ever. I can’t remember a single thing about the other game and discovered tonight that the no-no was actually the second game of the day. That completely sucks balls, I have always told people that the first game I ever went to was a no hitter. 😦 Here’s the box score, interesting that not only were there no pitching changes but no position changes or pinch hitters either (for the Giants).

Chris Speier is in the Reds dugout tonight…..

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So let’s fast forward 38 years and someone try to answer this one: The Giants have called on Kickham and Surkamp for 4 spot starts this year (Kick 3, Surk 1). They have combined to pitch 14 innings in those 4 starts and given up 23 earned runs. That is almost unbelievable failure. Petit came in and went 5.1 innings and 2 ER’s. How is it that the Giants brass came together 4 times and each time picked a pitcher from AAA that could not have pitched worse? Was Petit ever considered to make a spot start? We all know he’s not a prospect but how could the Giants casually pass him by so so easily and lamely pick Kick and Surk? Bad judgement and even worse upper minor league pitching depth…….

Ok, back to finish the bbq, another beer, I’ll take some deep breaths and fire off a few “Serenity now’s” and go back to the couch for Game 2…..

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What’s worse, a cheater or a liar? How about a *cheating liar*? Can you be one without the other? After considering the shocking developments of the last 24 hours with Ryan Braun’s pathetic demise,  I’ve settled on this: Cheaters aren’t as bad as liars. Obviously, there needs to be context attached to any situation involving cheating and/or lying. Have any of you ever lied about something? Ever cheated before? At anything? Have you ever kicked your golf ball a few inches to the left to avoid a tree? Ever looked down to see an adjacent poker player not properly covering his cards? Cheating. It happens.

Narrowing it down to Ryan Braun as the context, I can accept the fact that Braun cheated. Lots of baseball players cheat. It’s been happening since the beginning of the game whether it was amphetamines, corked bats, spitballs, sandpaper, vasoline, or stealing signs, cheating has always been part of the game. Steroids, for whatever reason, is the one form of cheating that seems to enrage fans the most. It probably has something to do with the amount of money the players make after turning their bodies into human buildings. The fact that some of baseball’s most hallowed records have been broken by cheaters also fuels the fury. It’s somewhat amusing that those same fans don’t bother to consider the distinct possibility that the players setting those original records were probably cheating, in some form, themselves. It’s what baseball players do.

What I cannot accept is the lying. I’m talking about the direct, look you in the eye lies. Because NOT everyone is doing that. That has nothing to do with gaining a competitive edge. When you lie the way Braun lied back in February of 2012 you are basically calling all of the rest of us idiots. I’m talking about all the reporters who gathered that day to listen to him, all the fans who read the articles written about it, your manager, your owner, everyone. It’s like he’s saying, “these people might just be dumb enough to believe this story.” And thousands of Brewers fans believed him. Trust in tact.

If you cheat by taking steroids to excel in baseball, you’re basically saying you’re not good enough to perform at the highest level without cheating. That really has more to do with you and the perception of yourself and your abilities. But it’s YOUR personal risk. When you lie, now it’s affecting everyone else. Trust is one of the most basic things that binds the human race together. It’s the foundation of our monetary system, our legal system, our government, our relationships with other people, everything. And your word is the starting point for whether or not you will gain and/or maintain the trust of others.

If it turns out that your word is worthless, that’s pretty much impossible to overcome. You could try apologizing and that works sometimes. Second chances happen, for sure. But does this sound like an apology to you:

“As I have acknowledged in the past, I am not perfect. I realize now that I have made some mistakes. I am willing to accept the consequences of those actions. This situation has taken a toll on me and my entire family, and it has been a distraction to my teammates and the Brewers organization. I am very grateful for the support I have received from players, ownership and the fans in Milwaukee and around the country. Finally, I wish to apologize to anyone I may have disappointed – all of the baseball fans especially those in Milwaukee, the great Brewers organization, and my teammates. I am glad to have this matter behind me once and for all, and I cannot wait to get back to the game I love.”

He apologized for NOTHING in this *official Ryan Braun statement*. Apologizing to anyone you may have disappointed is not an apology for your actions. He could apologize for cheating. He could apologize for lying about it. He could apologize for fingering the innocent FedEx worker. He could apologize for believing the fans were stupid enough to believe his lies. He could apologize to the kids who wore his jersey and looked up to him as their idol. He could apologize for being a fake idol. And there are probably other things he could apologize for that would make me at least respect the smallest slightest thing about him. But he apologized for none of those things.

Imagine Braun was apologizing to you.

Ryan: “I apologize if I may have disappointed you.”

Me: “Huh? How did you disappoint me?”

Ryan: “I know. That’s what I’m apologizing for.”

Me: “What did you do?”

Ryan: “I may have disappointed you.”

See how this doesn’t quite cover it?

Here’s what his clueless owner, Mark Attanasio, said about Braun’s statement:

“We are disappointed with the news today of the suspension of Ryan Braun and his admitted mistakes. It’s clear that Ryan used bad judgment, but we accept his apology and believe that he should be given the opportunity to redeem himself.”

So Attanasio accepts Braun’s apology for *maybe* disappointing some people? Uh, Mark, why are you accepting his apology? How do you know he was apologizing to you and what specifically was he apologizing for? I guess Attanasio feels comfortable lumping himself into the group of “some people.” What a joke.

I’m not a Brewers fan obviously and I don’t really care if Braun comes back with an actual apology or not. He doesn’t owe me an apology. But he need to apologize to everyone who believed in him, everyone who trusted him, everyone who looked up to him. He needs to apologize for the specific things he actually DID. Until he does that, “this matter” that he refers to isn’t going away, and the only thing that’s now truly *behind* him is the shadow of his all lies…..

I was surprised to read Flannery’s complete-across-the-board mea culpa for sending Buster home in the 6th inning yesterday. I mean, if you want to adhere to NEVER sending a runner home with no outs unless you’re certain he will score then there really isn’t much to discuss. And I don’t have a huge problem with that perspective.

But a couple of things make it hard for me to skewer Flannery (the way he’s being skewered on Twitter):

1: He was out by 3 inches. The relay home had to be perfect. Unfortunately, it was.

2: the Giants haven’t been scoring runs. Who among us can’t envision a scenario where Buster gets stranded at 3rd? No one should be raising their hands…..

3: this is a little tough to see and I’ll agree this is open to interpretation. But Buster sure looked like he was running with the expectation that he was going to be held up at 3rd base. He turns on the gas as he’s rounding 3rd and he sees that Flann is sending him. If Buster’s running hard the whole way he scores…..

To me, Tanaka’s blunder in the 9th was much worse in terms of calculation of risk as well as not really running all out to get to 2nd. Maybe he thought he was all good but that dude is FAST, he likely would have been safe if he gunned it from the beginning of his decision to go all the way to the bag. I’m not certain of this, but I don’t even think he slid into 2nd base (although maybe he did). He did not look like he was approaching the bag with a sense of urgency (to me) that indicated a player who knew where the ball was (other than that it was *somewhere* behind him)……

But I recognize that getting thrown out at the plate is significantly worse than getting thrown out at 2nd base…..

So what do you guys think?

Sorry guys, but the British Open has just been consuming me–haven’t been able to even think about baseball. And with the Eddie Read going off later today, it’s probably now or never for a baseball thread.

I was bummed that Jimenez fell back today. It was to cool seeing a 49 year old man leading the British Open after 36. And with Tiger near the top this is shaping up as the most exciting Sunday’s in recent majors history. I can’t wait.

I popped a new Anna up just to keep the good vibes of the 2nd half headed in the right direction.

The post-all star game part of the season begins tonight. It’s also the first Friday Night concert at Del Mar with the B-52’s playing after the races. I know Diggity likes to hit those epic Friday night shows now and again. I’m gonna bet he sees Sammy Hagar on July 27th. Just a guess……

But back to baseball. Have any of you noticed that we aren’t seeing as many Giants jersey’s in road parks as we were at the beginning of the season? Have the band wagon jumpers abandoned the wagon? I, for one, would be fine with that. At first it was kinda cool. It was like waking up one day and finding out you had a bunch of new friends. But these new friends knew nothing of the knowing dude head nod. And with that, I was pretty much done with them.

So here we sit, 8 games under .500. Someone asked me how far out we are in the wild card and I said I had no idea. If we sweep Arizona we’ll be 3.5 games out and that would feel rad. So I don’t really care what our record is or that the newbie fans have jumped ship. We just have to take it one game at a time and hope that someone in the LU besides Buster starts hitting the ball. We have to hope that Pence and Pablo took advantage of the break and recovered from whatever was ailing them. I’m actually cautiously optimistic that Sandoval has a decent rest of the season (assuming he doesn’t injure himself again).

This is actually a pretty good place to be (as a fan). I’ve got no expectations so there’s nothing the team can do to disappoint me. It’s the middle of Summer and what’s better than watching baseball and the races at Del Mar? Hmmmmm…. I’m gonna say “nothing.” 🙂 🙂 🙂

Today is Thursday July 18th and I thought baseball started again today. I just looked at the schedule to see if there were any day games that I could catch on my phone. Thud. No baseball today. If I was the baseball czar, my first decree would be that all baseball players would be required to take steroids and Adderall. No cycles, just take them every day. My second  decree: They have to play every single day. 162 straight.

Day offs are bullllllssshhhittttttt………….

So now that we’ve all had a few days to properly reflect on the Tim no-no, I’m interested to know which of the 3 (his, Dirrty’s and Cain’s) was your most memorable? Mine is probably….jeez I just almost chose each of them…..I’ll say Cain’s because I had the predicted no hitter going and the Blanco play was so epic. Also, the last play by Arias was the most dramatic ending of the 3…

If you like *boring* you got it last night. The most exciting part of the game was probably when they miked up the “Enter Sandman” intro for Mariano Rivera. I heard that it was actually that rad song that got the MVP, not Rivera.

The NL scored nothing and Bochy was strangely comfortable watching it happen……

Well, last night’s game got us properly ready for today: another long day without baseball. With only 2.5 hours to go, about the only thing to watch is whether or not Blade’s trade with Kokonuts gets vetoed by the rest of the Flap Fantasy league owners. The vote is currently 5-1 to veto, but it needs one more vote to get overturned….

Kershaw for Freeman?

Why not, let’s have a vote here. Just to see if the votes at the Flap line up with the votes in the fantasy league. Purely for entertainment purposes.

As I watched ball after ball smash into the upper deck at Citi Field yesterday, it reminded me of the gag golf ball I had a few years ago. It’s slightly smaller than your normal golf ball and probably made of something different, too. Anyway, you wait for a nice long, open par 5 to come along. Then you unsuspectingly challenge your buddies to a long drive contest. Everyone agrees. They hit their nice, normal drives and I launch one about 375. Dumbfound and awe ensue. Relax, I don’t collect…….

I’m assuming the balls used last night were normal size but whatever technology goes into juicing a ball went into the balls used last night. We’re talking about batting practice pitches. It’s not like these guys were turning around 96 mph fastballs, which is what you would think would be necessary to have those balls rocket out of there, seeming to go faster at the moment just before they slammed into the stands……

And where is the *dislike* button on Chris Berman? There no more tired HR call than his “back, back, back” bullshit. And talk about a guy who doesn’t understand the moment. He gives the same enthusiastic call, like it was a game winning home run. Leave  a little in the tank, Bermey, there’s gonna be another one of them in about 6 seconds…….

And my favorite anti-Berman moment was early in the first round, someone hit a high fly, Berman launches into his “this one is headed for (insert nearby city name)!!!!”…..and then the ball lands just short of the warning track……..

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I’ll be watching the all star game tonight for the first time in a few years because I literally have nothing else to do. Here are the rosters, sorry for the text size………

The AL looks to have a stronger starting LU but the NL has a better bench. Considering the pitching is about equal I’m going to say the NL pulls ahead mid to late game and wins this one. Hopefully not off Mariano. Having him finish the game with a save would be a most deserved way to honor his greatness and everything he has done for the game…….

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Finally, here’s a pic of our own Pawlie Kokonuts at Finnerty’s at his book signing. Amy G is getting a tight shot of him. I’m sure he’ll have a story about how he got her to take this and why she’s so up in his grill:

Hello flappers

Well are you flappers the same bunch of winners that I’ve been hanging out with for the last few years? It’s been a grumpy group the last few weeks and adversity makes us stronger. I’m not going to go crazy thinking that three wonderful wins against another team with a losing record means that we’re all the way back but I am going to try and talk about how important team is to this team.

Just as this group of flappers are bound tighter by the long slog of the Giants recent losing streak so a group of teammates can be bound or unbound through the course of a season. I certainly saw a real falling apart of the clubhouse camaraderie during that long losing streak. One time when I saw Bruce Bochy standing at the edge of the dugout his hands (seemingly) folded in prayer I instantly thought to myself, “oh my God even the skipper has lost it.” Where was that intelligent confidence that he always shows this team? It was gone, everything was in dis-array. Losing can affect every member from bench players all the way up to the general manager and, so can winning.

Big flavor has already commented on the new Korean player Tanaka providing a spark that was so sorely needed. Matt Cain who has been such a rudder and such a solid calming force, always pointing this team towards winning, has not been able to do it this year. We’ve had some injuries and what most people will admit is a weak bench neither of which was helping to turn things around. When the team started going south it sunk like a stone.

Last night we saw the littlest hero Tim Lincecum throw a game and a half, 148 pitches, of no-hit ball. For a lot of fans and a lot of the Giants players Timmy is well loved. Last night I saw a lot of love in that dugout and for me major hope for the second half.

What I’m trying to say is the biggest thing this team has is team spirit and when I see that coming back these last couple of games I know we have a team that can go all the way to the playoffs.

Thanks Anna and get well Twin.
Go Gigantes!

Well, maybe it’s too soon to call it that, but still…..he’s brought some spark to the offense when it was completely dead in the water. He’s given hope that leftfield for the Giants is no longer the biggest sucking cosmic black-hole of the universe. A feeling of hope has returned to Giants fans these last couple of days, for the 2013 season. Maybe it’s not a lost cause after all. And, heck, after all that’s happened, the Giants are still not all that far behind the division leaders. Sure, Tanaka-mania is nowhere near Puig-mania, but we’ll take what we can get. We’re feeling hope for the season again, and it’s a very nice feeling!

Oh, and of course, excellent starting pitching the last two games is pretty darned important, too.  That will be key in the second half of the season to make any kind of run at the playoffs. Playoffs?!! As Jim Mora famously said, we’re just trying to win the next game! And that’s a very good goal. The Giants just need to focus on winning the next game. And only one thing can stop Tanaka-mania. Yes, it’s coming. The thing that we all dread now. The thing that Giants fans absolutely now in no way want to see. And that thing is…….

FRENCHY!! No, say it ain’t so! Please say that Bochy won’t be taking Tanaka out to give starts to Frenchy! It cannot be! Well, we can hope it cannot be. We’ll see. The original plan was to platoon Tanaka and Frenchy; but maybe that’s changed now. Surely Bochy won’t start platooning yet. Or will he? Here’s a sobering paragraph from an article: “Prior to his ouster from Kansas City, Francoeur was hitting .208 with a .571 OPS in 193 trips to the plate, hitting left-handers equally as poorly as he hit right-handers. Francoeur is only 29 years old, but not many are optimistic about his ability to play at the Major League level.”

The season is still full of possibilty. It ain’t over yet. The Dodgers looked very human last night. Kershaw lost, and Puig has a hitch in his get-along and had to leave in the middle of the game. The Giants have many players who have under-achieved this season so far, and can have much better performances in the second half. There is still time for the 2013 Giants to…..

Kensuke Tanaka is fun to watch. His stolen base was impressive, he came into second base like a lightning bolt shot out of a cannon (whatever, that made sense to me when I typed it). And for those of you who watched the game, did you see that playful bow that Panda gave him over and over as he entered the dugout after scoring on Blanco’s hit? So far, he’s been exactly what this staid group has been lacking: Energy combined with a little levity. Not only is he performing but he’s having a positive effect on the entire chemistry of the team…..

The *Matt Cain is tipping his pitches* excuse is coming up again. The only way you buy into this half-baked theory is if you truly believe Bochy and Raggs are clueless. You would have to believe that all the other teams have picked up on this and yet Bochy and Raggs, who watch him pitch every start, don’t see it. The truth is, there could be lots of things that are contributing to this. He’s throwing less fastballs than he ever has in his career–just noting it, not saying that might be contributing to his poor season.

“Gurney Gaudin* (San Dawg’s nickname) pitches today. He could also be called *Grabbin’ Gaudin*. I agree with Diggity, I’m not buying the Renal failure excuse. Way too convenient of a diversion from what it appears to have been: him drunk off his ass in Vegas….

Dominated by Zack Wheeler, we just got swept by the Mets. The Chicago Cubs have a better record than we do. Gaudin has been feeling up random women at the ER. Matt Cain is one of, if not THE, worst starting pitcher on the staff. None of this is making any sense. I’m tired of waiting for things to change back to normal and I’m not heading out to the ledge cause I’ve still got 2 World Series trophies hypnotizing me so I’m gonna play my last, final card to do my part to turn this season around……

As you all know, we have a secret weapon. If you look to the right under the Room B tab and scroll down to the bottom you’ll know what I’m talking about. She’s been in hibernation for a few months. But last October, she reeled off 8 straight wins and a world championship for us. I brought her back this year and she spun 5 straight. She’s 13-0 as the BBOTD. Shortly after I post this thread I will thoughtfully select another picture of her and upload her to the BBOTD page (which has been dark for months now).

Anna is rested, this shouldn’t be much of a burden for her. I’ll gently nudge her, tell her *it’s time*. She’ll open her sleepy eyes, crack me a half smile, maybe nod once or twice. It’s not a knowing dude head nod–more like a slutty consensual head nod. Either way, she’ll do what we ask of her. She always does. At least she always did. Earlier this week, our old buddy San Dawg was reminded that nothing lasts forever.  Sometimes not even Nickleback can save a love lost. It’s possible that our “sure thing”, our “neighborhood bicycle”, our “slump buster”, our “midnight text mistake”….just might be done with us. Say it ain’t so, Anna……

I’ve decided that as a New York/San Francisco Giants fan my primary duty — and pleasure — is to bask in the Golden Gate glow of the Giants as 2012 World Series Champions. That’s all. There are — I don’t know — 90-plus days left of basking guaranteed. I hereby resolve to enjoy those days. My charge, my self-imposed mandate, is to treasure each of those days as reigning champions, to act like “Roman kings,” as Bob Dylan puts it.

Teams rarely repeat, in any sport, especially baseball. My job now is to enjoy the ride and not worry about anything else. Not wins, not losses, not injuries, not trades, not other teams, not good weather or storms.

Yup. A grand escape. I don’t want so-called reality to rob me of this delicious, daily pleasure.
That’s my strategy. What’s yours?

Gold stars for those who made it till the end of that game (and the last page of last night’s thread): Snarkk, Chi, Zumiee, Salty, Sportsdude, Xoot, Edd and MacDog….

Belt, 0-8 with 5 k’s. Pffffftttttttt….

And just in case you wanna sprinkle a lil’ extra sugar on your cereal there’s this: Jeff Francoeur, come on down!

Wow. I don’t have anything to say since I didn’t see the game. So I’ll just leave you with this video and pray that somewhere at that bar last night someone videotaped SanDawg singing this. If so, please forward ASAP (don’t sweat the chick my man, you live in San Diego):

I asked a question for Dodger fans the other day and since we only have 2 of them who barely even infrequently come to the blog I wasn’t expecting an answer. But The Rooster (formally *gloating* and probably soon to be gloating again after this past weekend) was kind enough to come back with a detailed post. I really appreciated that and wanted to make it it’s own thread…..

Rooster said, on July 8, 2013 at 3:31 pm (Edit)

Hey, hey G’s fans – good to see you all still going at it here in BF’s own private “Splash” – just got back from camping out down the coast in Carlsbad, so missed the Sat & Sun games – looks like the Dodgers gave away Sat’s game with the 3 unearned – shoulda been a sweep.
Anyways, congrats on the 2nd WS win last season – I really thought Giants were doomed after going down 0-2 to Cincy – hell of a run they put on after that.
Obviously I got out of blogging a few years back, but when the Dodgers-Giants get together I still remember way back all those years ago when I came across all you nuts @ the Splash. Lucky for you guys BF took the best of the posters from there and brought ‘em here – just been browsing back thru the weekend posts and you guys got a great spot here for talkin’ hardball.
Just to answer your question BF – the one from a couple posts back about am I bothered about the Dodgers not winning a WS in so long? It’s been so long I’ve grown kinda used to it to tell you the truth. I still remember vividly where I was when Gibby hit that HR off Eck and limped around the bases – remember it like it was yesterday – also remember that that would have never happened if Scioscia hadn’t popped one out off Gooden and the Mets in the NLCS to keep that series going.
Does it bother me that the Dodgers haven’t won a WS since then?
I don’t really think much about it – I watch the games when I can – which isn’t nearly as much as I used to be able to when I first met you guys – and I still root for them to win, but I don’t put expectations on them to do so. I still read the box-scores every morning – check on how Loney’s doing over with the Rays (still hitting above .300 ! unfuckingbelievable) – yes I still get the Times delivered every morning – I’ll be doing that ’till the day I die – just love the old-school box-scores in the morning paper.
So, yeah, I wouldn’t say it really bothers me all that much – If they don’t have a good enough team to make the playoffs, so be it – I’ll watch the MLB playoffs anyway, I love good baseball – and sure it would be great for the Dodgers to make the playoffs and win, but you have to play good baseball to get there – Dodgers have come close (Phillies had their number) recently but haven’t been able to close the deal.
Giants 2 out of the last 3 – that’s gotta feel good.

__________________________________________________-

Rooster, thanks for this detailed response. I was hoping either you or Sandy would respond. I don’t think we have any other Dodger fans here. Thank God. 🙂
You said “I don’t really think much about it” and that triggered something for me. We had never won a WS in my lifetime (and I don’t give a shit about the other five they won in NY) so it just wasn’t something I ever thought about or could think about since I’d never gotten to experience it what it felt like. So I couldn’t really think about it. It had never happened.
I do recall more frustration before 2010. Like, “WTF, why do we lose EVERY year!?!?!!?”.
Then 2010 happened. And 2012 was even better in some ways because of all the elimination game wins. But nothing touches 2010 in terms of the first moment of winning it all–emotions overwhelmed me, memories of the Stick and all the games I’d been to suddenly crashed down upon me, the thousands of hours I had invested in watching games, following the team, reading about them, THINKING about them….” It was like all of a sudden it became worth it. And I suspect it was like that for many of the rest of us….

These days, the Giants are smoking copious amounts of  pole. Strangely, I am not frustrated. I want them to win but I don’t need them to win. And I don’t think about what it felt like pre-2010 because I don’t really remember what it felt like except as if someone was reading me a story about being a Giants fan and I was in one of the chapters. I remember it happening, I just don’t remember the pain and the suffering……

I don’t feel complacent or less hungry for another World Series win. I’m hoping for several more before I die and I’ll be doing what I can after death to bring SF a few more. But the 2010 win did get me off The List and into The Club. And while I will always be able to walk the earth with those on The List I am perfectly fine basking in this never ending supernova that burns so brightly in The Club……

Did we fail to improve our team enough this year? Sabean brought back the same team in 2013 and he did the same thing in 2011. Should it be a surprise that this team is 7 games under .500? Do you wish Sabean had done more to improve the team?

When Harbaugh was hired by Stanford he put up a HUGE banner that stretched the entire end zone of the practice field. It says “You are getting better or you are getting worse. You never stay the same.”

It’s a great point.

Is this something Sabean needs to learn?

Look, Romo is not required to have to talk to reporters. It’s not like they ask anything but inane questions for him anyway. If he wants to bounce after a bad game, so be it. And if the beat guys are going to respond with pussy-fits like they did today then they shouldn’t worry about soft balling questions to these players. Just ask whatever you want to ask. And if you get kicked out of the clubhouse or shunned or blackballed then at least you earned it going out on the level.

Tweeting out all your cleaver, spontaneous thoughts doesn’t make you a good reporter. It makes you the same as all the other *tweeters*. And if you’re the same as them, what are you getting paid to do again?

No time to celebrate yesterday’s nice victory with Kershaw looming. His numbers at AT&T are absurd. 61.2 innings pitched, 0.73 ERA. 0.89 WHIP. Somehow, he’s only 5-2 lifetime in SF. Just once I’d like to see Kershaw get lit up here for 6ER’s in 3 innings.

Nolasco to the Dodgers sucks. He would have made our team better and it’s doubly bad because not only did we not get better but the Dodgers improved. I can see the writing on the wall on this already. Sabean is going to miss the boat on trades as he fiddles around deciding if we’re good enough to compete this year. That approach will clear a certain pathway to us not being good enough to compete this year. Frustrating.

That’s it for the available pitchers. He won’t get Norris because he’ll cost too much and he won’t get Lee because of the money still owed to him. Peavy is the last resort, and a good one, but I doubt we get involved.

I’m not sure why it’s ok to just give up mid season but I feel like that’s what Sabean is doing……..

When Juan Uribe drops 7 ribbies on you it very likely was not meant to be your night. I can’t tell you how he acquired those 7 ribbies having turned the game off after the third inning. For all I know they were gifted to him by the ghost of Ron Cey.

Cain pitched terribly and that was surprising considering his recent success and the stakes last night. The hitting continues to be pathetic and if this team wide breakdown wasn’t so pervasive it would simply be embarrassing. As it stands, it’s shocking. At least to me.

Here’s an excerpt from Carl Steward who sits in for Pav at the Merc from time to time. He’s an old timer who’s been around the game a long time and I enjoy the honestly in his posts: “Maybe they’re still proud but they aren’t showing it much. The clubhouse is like a morgue….and that’s BEFORE the game. No lively banter. No pranks. No nothing. There is just no soul to this club right now and that may be the most disturbing aspect of the horror story that’s unfolding. There’s no alchemy and there’s no energy…..”

Amen, Carl.

The Giants have to play 9 more games before the all star break and this could get painful to watch. Wincing regularly and training yourself to look away quickly should get you through this difficult time. Turning the sound down on the tv to avoid Kruk’s excuses will be mandatory. Taking  thoughtful, introspective walks around the block, during the games, should be in your tool box. Deep breaths and calls for *Serenity now* will be part of my pre and post game ritual…..:) 🙂 🙂

Truthfully, I find it much easier now for me to deal with games like last night’s than it was before the 2 recent World Series wins. I’m not trying to be corny or pompous, but it’s true. Those 2 championships are fresh and provide a lot of fuel for me as a fan. I’d like the Dodger fans to chime in on this, but doesn’t having not won a WS in 20+ years bother you a little? A lot?

Hey, when a Dodger fan orders me to write a game time thread I freaking do it. No questions asked. 🙂 That way, if we blow you fuckers out tonight it will be a perfect, undisturbed, devoted work of blog art.

Puigster goes 1-4 tonight and Gillespie has the game winning hit……

Tony Abreu has surprised me. It’s only been 46 at bats but who had Abreu leading out team in batting average (.326) and OPS (.967)?

Buster Posey’s batting average (.312) has surprised me a little. I know he won the batting title last year but no one expected him to hit .336 again. I thought he’d check in around .290 this year.

Another small surprise for me has been the bat of Marco Scutaro. Before he went down with his finger injury he was hitting .332. He’s now down to .312 and between his bad digit and his balky hip I fear we’re going to see a regression from Scoots towards something more like his career batting average of .278 (if we’re lucky).

The Panda has been a huge, negative surprise– mostly I just can’t ever remember a time where he looked so helpless at the plate for such a long period of time. Pitchers are blowing fastballs by him with ease. I almost hope he’s dealing with an undisclosed injury or a vision problem. That would at least explain what we’re seeing now….

Barry Zito’s home/road splits don’t surprise me as much as they baffle me. 1.98 ERA at home, 9.38 ERA on the road? Opponents are hitting .422 off him on the road? It’s getting to the point where he shouldn’t even be an option away from AT&T. Of course, our options are limited….

Ryan Vogelsong pitching terribly for 8 of his 9 starts surprised me. He’s got a 7.19 ERA and that went DOWN by nearly a point in his final start.

Surprised me in a delayed sort of way: Angel Pagan’s ITPHR would be his final play of the 2013 season….

And finally, the fact that Sandoval, Crawford and Blanco are 1 for their last 73 most definitely blows my mind. That’s almost incomprehensible.

Yesterday morning at work, a buddy of mine asked me “As a Giants fan, when do you guys wave the white flag and become sellers? When do you decide it’s just not going to happen? 12 games out?”

I blurted out, “No, they can come back from 12 games out.” And then I thought about it and said, “It’s not really about how many games out they are. I mean, sure, at some point they will be eliminated mathematically. But for me, it’s always been how do I feel about the players on the team. Are they the right guys or not. Does the current collection of guys make up a team that will compete?”

In 2007 and 2008 I didn’t even need to see a game get played, I knew they were going to suck and I said so at the Splash before the beginning of each of those seasons. Before the 2009 season, i correctly identified that they would win 88 games, exactly. When the Dodgers added A-Goner, Beckett etc…. last August I scoffed at the trade and declared they wouldn’t win in 2012…..

This year, we brought back essentially the same team to win the world series. We did the same thing in 2011 so I knew the possible problems that this would create. But I still thought this team would do well this year and compete for a title the same way I thought the 2011 team would. This is clearly not going the way I had expected it to go in 2013. But as I look at the collection of players we have I still see a team that should compete this year, provided that we fill a couple of holes at the break. I think it’s now clear we need a starting LF. Blanco and Torres are fine #4’s but that’s it. Who will be *this year’s Hunter Pence*?

After that fictional add, I still feel we need either a stud set up man or a starting pitcher. Before Crain got hurt I wanted to acquire him and Rios. Now, I want to acquire Rios and Peavy. Both are owed 13 or 14 mil next year and that’s fine since we will need their services next year, too. There’s a risk with Peavy’s health but there’s always going to be a risk in a trade.

I’m not getting into who we give up to make that happen. I’ll leave that to Sabean. The price shouldn’t be exorbitant since we’d be taking on so much salary. But if a deal like that goes down, I don’t really care what the team is doing right now or how many games out we are today or tomorrow or next week. If it happens, I will believe firmly that we will fight to the end of this season for the NL West crown.

The same way I only count 2 Giants World Series wins instead of 7, I’m only going to count 11 no hitters against us instead of 16. Here’s a list of all 11 in the San Francisco Era:

2013 Homer Bailey 3-0

2003 Kevin Millwood 1-0

1997 Kevin Brown 9-0

1992 Kevin Gross 2-0

1990 Terry Mulholland 6-0

1986 Mike Scott 2-0

1981 Charlie Lau 4-0

1980 Jerry Reuss 8-0 (the Lau/Reuss no hitters were also back to back in all of major league baseball)

1968 Ray Washburn 2-0

1963 Sandy Kofax 8-0

1961 Warren Spahn 1-0

Not too many patterns to see here other than getting no hit 3 straight times by guys named “Kevin”. Oh, and curiously we seem to get shut out each time 🙂 🙂 🙂 ….

Be honest, how many of you, at some point in this game, started rooting for the no hitter? Come on, how many have you seen one from start to finish? Any no hitter is historic. I’ll admit that starting the 9th inning I wanted to see it. I’m not saying I was rooting for it, but I was excited to see it happen.

Today is the 50 year anniversary of the 16 inning pitching duel of Marichal/Spahn. Chris Jaffe of The Hardball Times wrote an article remembering it. Jaffe sends me links to articles he thinks Giants fans will enjoy and I forward them if I think they’re something you guys will like. His website is awesome, you should bookmark it. Here’s the link:

http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/blog_article/50th-anniversary-the-marichal-spahn-duel/

It’s threads like this one that really deserve the personal attention of Mr. DJ Loo……

Here’s the box score. Sorry it’s so big, I couldn’t figure out how to snip it in one piece from baseball reference

I couldn’t find the pitch counts but Marty Lurie said on his Sunday morning show that Sphan threw 226 pitches, Marichal 254– I might be off a few pitches, that’s just what I recall him saying.

Lurie was positively gushing about this game on Sunday. I’m not certain of this because I was only listening in and out, but I THOUGHT I heard him say that Mays recently told him that before the bottom of the 16th started, Marichal said something to Mays (half joking) about hurrying up and ending it. And Mays told him he would take care of it. Something like that. Correct my recollection if any of you heard the Marty Lurie Show on Sunday.

Of course, Mays hit a bomb to end it 1-0 in the bottom of the 16th. And if anyone ever asks you who was the only player in major league baseball to homer in every inning 1 through 16, now you know the answer to the question……….

It’s funny how one win can turn your mood around regarding the direction of your team. But winning a game is a reminder that you can also win 2 in a row and then 3 and so on and so on. Cincinnati has lost 8 or 11 and that means absolutely squat. That team has had this series circled since  that fantastically epic October 11th game from 2012. that was easily in my top 5 of *Most Intriguing Games I’ve Ever Seen*. Miller’s HR call was one of my all time favorites, you can hear the excitement quivering in his voice as the ball leaves the bat….

http://youtu.be/P1TVP5OsqZk

Of course, that was just the beginning of about 6 games that would get played within one game that day. Bruce’s incomprehensibly dumb decision to try to steal third. Pagan’s epic catch. Romo’s 3 day duel with Bruce….

God, what great memories.

Anyway, they want to kick our ass this week so we better show up ready to play ball….