Losing to the Bad Teams and My Personal Review Of A Pretzel Bun Cheese Burger
Most of you read Baggs but if you missed the end of his thread I’d love to hear your theories for this one:
The Giants are 30-27 against teams with winning records. They are 20-32 against teams with losing records.
Also, if you’ve ever had one of those pretzel bun burgers from Wendy’s please review it. I almost broke down at 1am last night and got one….
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
I think those records are purely coincidence. I don’t think we “let our guard down” or “don’t get up” for the teams with losing records. Every team is capable of beating every team at any time.
LOVE that you are soliciting reviews on the Pretzel Burger. I too was bummed Zumie never came out and said how he liked the darn thing. I’m gonna try and crush one of those today.
..and Zum, the next time you’re looking for cheap, fast food, you gotta hit Carl’s for the $1.29 Big Burger. I’ve said it before on here, the best value and quality in the Fast Food industry!
I don’t think we had Shakey’s in Woodland, even though I think the first ever Shakey’s was in Sac-town. I used to visit a friend in SLO most summers, and we would usually hit that $5 meal deal at least once when I was with him. Straw Hat was the place in Woodpile. I went from Little League parties as a kid, to video games in high school (I’d like to know how much money I blew playing “Tempest” at Straw Hat), to pounding beers at Straw Hat during and after college.
I have to admit the Jack in the Box big stack breakfast sandwich. (Ham. Sausage , bacon, egg and cheese stuffed inside two waffles) is pretty amazing. In fact At 2:30 in the morning it was quite orgasmic.
“Tempest”– dude I really do think we were twins separated at birth. That’s awesome, haven’t thought about that rad game in 30 years
Dawg, you and I are simpatico on the Big Burger at Carl’s.
They don’t advertise it on the menu signs. You have to ask for it. Some kind of secret.
It doesn’t come with much, but if you’re in a Carl’s that has that bullshit little salad / mexican food bar, you can take the burger to the bar and load up some more goodies on it, and make it a fantastic little lunch. I like loading on some pico de gallo on the burger, now that’s pretty nice. Beats a $4 regular friggin single with cheese…
No idea why they have a winning record against the winners and losing record against the losers. One of baseball’s conundrums . . . Just like OPS. 🙂
I would be lying if I said that I didn’t allow any type of “processed” food or dairy products to enter my stomach. However, I really try to avoid fast food, especially with weird stuff/names like the “pretzel bun burger.” Read “The China Study” (2005), a book by T. Colin Campbell, and you’ll know exactly what I am talking about. He “saved” Bill Bubba Clinton’s life by convincing him of changing his “all ya can eat” habits.
The *idea* of a “pretzel burger” is nearly enough to elicit a technicolor yawn. Yikes.
it’s a pretzel bun burger and I encourage you to ignore all references to it in this thread. And do not post over this thread today.
I know what it is. Eat it. Uh, the burger, that is.
So there are 3 Wendy’s in Reno. The closest one is 7.1 miles away from my current location. Gonna have a buddy drive me downtown to get my car later– I might find the time to do my own review before I try taking down the 700k carryover at Del Mar later today
Dude your at the El Dorado right? Go down one block to the Nugget and get you an Awful, Awful…I will take Reno over Vegas, all day, every day and twice on Sundays….In fact if I make it to flApalooza, a trip to Reno will be in order.
I was at the El-Do last night, I’m at a friend’s house this morning. I’ve had the awful awful it is outstanding and you are a man of impeccable taste!
Another day, another Belt report—he was working with coaches on new approach at plate, moving back in the box and adjusting his hands first part of the week. He wasn’t just sitting because Bochy was mad at him. Even Belt admits seeing Pill do well is some inspiration. And his quote is, “I can just worry about myself. If I play better, I’ll be out there.” Nuff, and well, said.
Bochy played Pill and he got some hits, and so did Kiesh. One of those was a great PH by K, who Bochy hit for Frenchy. Belt starts and gets a bomb and GWRBI with a booming triple. So combined with clutch pitching, bochy’s moves all worked and the team is on a winning streak–even Frenchy (who doesn’t belong here) contributed by gunning a guy down at the plate.
And that is Giants in a nutshell—Bochy knows what he wants to see, but it is up to the players, the guys with gloves and bats in their hands, to make the good stuff happen.
This begs the question of why there isn’t a constant stream of Hunter Pence reports. He and Belt are having virtually identical seasons, yet Pence mysteriously has 100 more PAs.
Let me guess: management sees so much more potential in Belt, they feel obliged to set aside the time to provide their best professional guidance.
How can their seasons be identical if Pence has done as well with 100 more ABs? Wouldn’t Belt be in deep shit if he’d been forced to play that much?
James? It’s all yours…
I’m not quite sure what to do with it . . . it is possible that Belt would have revealed himself to be the failure that BF has declared him to be. It is also possible that he would have played to his current level of production, which matches what he has done over his brief career covering 1000 PAs. He might also have started to improve his numbers, which is not unreasonable given his level of experience. Based on the available evidence, I would have bet on the middle option.
Well, Bochy has obviously had issues with Belt, but Bochy is no idiot. Belt was getting a mental break after his 1-19 slump. He’ll be getting the lion’s share of starts at first.
Yep, anything’s possible. I’m sure the stats prove that fact. And I guess I should have used a couple of smiling faces there.
What the stats plainly say is that Belt, in the time he has played, has performed as well as Pence. Yet Belt continues to be treated like an unstable child who is personally dragging the team down, while Pence is allowed to play on (as he should be.) A day or two off to counter a slump, cool. Knee jerk responses born out of a frustration that ignores the statistical evidence and probabilities, not so much. I hope you’re right, TF.
Is there a “little Jimmy” in the family, James? You can safely bet his Gerber college fund on it.
You guys can all argue the stats better than I. The thing I look at is the overall package. I think after watching pro ball for a long time, I can tell if a guy has talent. Belt has talent. He has skills. With the glove, Belt is nearly as good now as JT Snow was, and can be better. Great instincts, good hands, quicker feet, excellent throws. With the bat, he’s got way more power potential than Snow. He’s a faster runner than Snow. And Snow played in the league for a long time as a starter, even though he was not a hugely productive first baseman. Belt just needs time. He’s a kid from a small town that needs to build confidence, because it was crushed from being brought up early and having his swing torn down while traveling 70 mph on the MLB freeway. He’ll either get confidence here, or somewhere else with a different coaching approach. When he gets the confidence, be will be a very good first baseman for a decade or more. I see him eventually having success at least at a level in between JT and Helton…
I still think SF wins or loses with its pitching. Even tho SF lost those games to the Cubs they were in every single one b/c pitching was good. One more hitter, get the Pagan back that finished 2012 strong along with Belt and Crawford, plus Scut Sandoval Posey and Pence, that LU should score enough to win.
IF, pitching is solid and Lincecum is capable of maintaining recent run of good starts (minus the one bad game). Z hopefully is finally hist, so Sabes needs to fill out back end of rotation, keep the pen intact with Lopez Casilla romo mijares Rosario. This team can win–if not this year then 2014 with a couple tweaks. Hopefully the bad taste of not getting back in parade mode this year would lead to harder off season work ethic and renewed focus on doing what it takes to win it all.
“They are 20-32 against teams with losing records.” Is that connected to us making crappy pitchers look like Cy Young? I don’t have the numbers for that, but it sure seems to happen a lot.
I think that’s the key; the Giants don’t destroy bad pitching. And I’m not sure they ever did during the last 3 years, but did good enough to make the playoffs. The Giants in the last 3 years have never been a team built for the regular season; they were a team built for the playoffs. A good example of a team built for the regular season is the 2013 Dodgers. Those kinds of team just destroy the other teams’ #3-5 starters. But you face much more #1 and 2 in the playoffs, and that’s where the Dodgers are vulnerable. They often still struggle against top-rate pitching.
Pretzel buns are awesome. My local Costco used to carry them, but they don’t anymore.
So I was intrigued by the Pretzel Bun Burger.
My review: it’s a very tasty burger. Of course, it also has bacon in it, which adds even more tastiness to it. I was impressed with the lettuce and tomato, too. Seemed very fresh for a fastfood place. It also has cheese on it. It’s lots of calories, so I’m doing my power-walking today. 🙂
It also has honey mustard on it. 🙂
What time was it when you had it? That’s a serious question and an important one. Anyone with experience with this kind of thing knows that fast food tastes much better after the bars close. And I’m ashamed to say that I have had altogether too much experience.
When Wendy’s “rolled out” its premium Pretzel Bacon Cheeseburger,they declared it “the most anticipated new product in recent history.” I think the press release came out at 3:00 A.M. 😉
Chi, I went to the Emmylou/Rodney show in Berkeley. It was terrific. I’m looking forward to seeing that tour again in the Fall, probably at the Hardly Strictly festival in SF.
I try to avoid fast food, but to be a team player may have to check-out the pretzel burger (I do love a good burger). As far as chain burgers go, if you have a Slam Burgwr in your area check it out….damned good burger.
Nice little win streak going….now this is more like Giant baseball. Hoping Tim and crew can keep the good juju going.
At a minimum, I just want to see them play good clean “to their potential” ball.
Go Giants!
ok, I am a man of my word and I’ve reviewed the Pretzel Bun burger. The video is in the main thread. The girls video taping are my buddies daughters so no rude comments!
Just got back after some am tennis and pretty much haven’t stopped thinking about the Pretzel Burger all morning. Just watched the video review and I was pounding the desk with laughter and approval! 10 flaps up for the video production and I may have to go check out secretgarden.com after I get done posting here.
Details on the Awful Awful. Please.
Thanks. 1 take. Their movie isn’t done yet–they’ve been working on it for a year though. The girl sitting on the couch (not filming) is actually a very accomplished stage actor here in Reno.
I’ll put in a plug for one of the most awesome burgers I’ve ever eaten. We stopped in Murphys before heading to Yosemite last weekend and tried a . . . veggie burger at Mineral:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g32763-d1110928-Reviews-Mineral_Restaurant-Murphys_California.html
The guy would make a killing (so to speak) in the Bay Area, if he figured out a way to sell his burgers here at volume.
Flav–if you’re ever in need of cheap eats while in Reno, let me strongly recommend the hot dogs at Ballpark Mini Mart on Moana, not far from the Atlantis. (No idea why they call the place “Ballpark” mini-mart as it is nowhere near the ballpark in Reno) Anyhoo, they have a .99 hot dog that will kick your ass. They’re cooked on one of those rolling roasters with the buns warming in a tray under the roaster. Its self-service, so you get to pick your own dog, dress it, and put in one of those bad-ass foil to-go wrappers. And they have cool old ladies who work at the counter and genuinely seem to care when they ask San Dawg how he is doing when he purchases a hot dog and a 32 oz can of High Life to stuff in his G-Bag before heading over to Washoe County GC for 18 holes. Plus those ladies keep the condiment tray very neat and clean—which is a crucial aspect of the mini market hot dog experience.
Dirt–are you out there somewhere? Can you get a brother’s back regarding the beauty of Ballpark Mini-Mart?
Flav—remember that hot dog you got at ATT that time? The dogs at this place are the opposite of that.
haha i was thinking of that dog while reading this. Thanks, I’ll check it out
I was pretty skeptical until I came across this, which assures me that a fine dining experience is possible:
http://fatkidapproved.blogspot.com/2013/02/gas-station-gourmet-or-hot-dog.html
I’ve never forgotten that the FDA has previously declared that there is actually a permitted percentage of rat whiskers allowed in hot dogs. Now I’m not anti-rodent, I’d actually not have a problem with a small amount of rat *thigh* in my dog. But I draw the line at whiskers. So ask your butcher if the rats in his weenies have shaved..
Actually, if you buy a box of those White Castle burgers in the frozen food section, and doctor them up with fresh lettuce, red onion, and tomato you’ll have *several* tasty little burgers for about 8 bucks that are called “sliders” in many fantsy schmantsy restaurants. And you can eat ALL of them in bed with a dessert of oreos with Hershey’s chocolate sauce for dipping. Dipping the oreos, that is. Or the side of pretzels…
That’s a lovely picture you paint there, Twin. Now I’m asking myself if I can do Pretzel Burger for late lunch and White Castles for dinner…
I declare this pick 6 at Del Mar to be unhittable today, at least for little ol’ me. I will let the syndicates have at it and try to hit the pick 4 instead.
But the bun? What happens? The review stops. I want to see the whole deal. And Flav, IMO bacon is good on everything. Just had a couple bacon and maple donuts this morning (I don’t care for the maple so much) but bacon donuts, hell yeah.
For fast food I’ve always liked DQ. Whenever I’ve been on tour it was an auto stop. I like their onion rings and the hot dogs aren’t bad. They also have started serving Orange Julius drinks, I loved Orange Julius as a kid so I’m looking to try it out soon.
Years ago I drove cross country with a friend. We went to several ballparks (some of you have heard my story about catching a foul ball with some heat on it on the fly at Wrigley Field on this trip) and had a great time in general. It was 1987. At one point, we were in Louisville. It was a low-dough trip, so we were crashing wherever we could to save a few bucks. In Louisville, we stayed with a friend of my moms’ named Ruth who lived alone and was fired up to have us as guests. Among other things, she took us to the track and the Jim Beam factory. (sidenote–I thought Snarkk was a little hard on JB the other night). A couple of funny things happened when she was driving us around town. At one point, we were on or near the Louisville campus when we saw a sweet ride (It was maybe a black Benz) with vanity plates that made it clear it was Darrell Griffith’s car—Dr. Dunkenstein himself! We started freaking out and wanted to her to follow him or pull alongside him or SOMETHING and she would have none of it–not impressed at all by his proximity. We were also super fired up to go to White Castle. Neither of us had ever been and back then every other Beastie Boy song made a White Castle reference. She said she’d treat us to White Castle and man were we excited to go in there and do some damage. Then we got there and she ordered us like 2 burgers each and no fries—-explaining that she had a special dinner planned for us that night. We didn’t want to be rude, so we just gritted our teeth and said “ok,” but we were both furious and still have some laughs about it to this day. I still never have had a chance to go wreck a White Castle, though I did hit Krystal REAL hard once after a night out on the town in New Orleans.
White Castle has orders of just a few burgers? I don’t think I’ve ever gotten anything less than a dozen bag. And Dawg, New Orleans and Krystal burgers? Come on man, that is wrong in so many ways, even drunk in the Quarter.
… And is the Dead tee because of Garcia’s birthday?
I’m glad someone noticed that! He would have been 71 just a few days ago (as you must know). Love the Dead and love the shirt
Too funny. I see a bright future for you in infomercials, Craig: Big Flavor’s Fast Food Review, coming to a home-shopping network near you….
Late late night? Or just late night? Lol
Gametime Forecast: 85°F • Partly Cloudy • 8%PoP
1. Andres Torres (S) CF
2. Marco Scutaro (R) DH
3. Pablo Sandoval (S) 3B
4. Buster Posey (R) C
5. Hunter Pence (R) RF
6. Brett Pill (R) 1B
7. Jeff Francoeur (R) LF
8. Joaquin Arias (R) 2B
9. Brandon Crawford (L) SS
If we can beat David Price, we’d be beating one of the best, in his yard. Have not seen your review. Will now. Jerry Garcia and I once met, for 10 secs. He grunted at me. His birthday was Thursday. Check this out:
http://www.jerryday.org/ Tomorrow. SF. Already talking w/ some friends about going to Jerry Day next year.
It seems as if Wendy’s is trying to duplicate the pride of the Buffalo area: the kimmelwick bun. Man, our Wegmans offers a hand-carved prime rib on ‘wick that is deelish, au jus.
Keeping an ear open to the A’s/Ranger game, I just heard a Gatorade ad using Jake Bugg for music. You know this kid? Hope the money doesn’t put any polish on him.
well, I guess the link don’t work no more. sorry.
This 19 year old is a local Nottingham lad whose 2012 album reached 1st on the UK charts. Talneted he writes, sings and plays. He was the headliner at the local one-day ‘Splendor’ festival last week and sold out 18,000 seats without even trying. Very popular, very in demand here. Will play the iTunes festival next week. Is writing a second album.
OK, just finished my Pretzel Burger. I went for the “small” combo which featured a 16oz drink and maybe a smaller container of fries than Flav. $7.55 out the door. I think Flav got a better deal at $8.17. (While overpriced, both are a better deal than that $24 pitcher of Sculpin Craft/MicroBrew/Ant Poison I bought last night)
Really, my review echoes much of what Flavor said. Pretty good burger. Bun didn’t have me doing cartwheels, but was good and a significant upgrade from a regular bun. Totally agree that the spring greens were a huge swing and a miss. I have no use for spring greens at any time. Let the health food places in Davis serve that stuff. Looks and tastes like lawn clippings. For salads, give me Romaine. If I’m getting fancy or I’m at my mom’s house, augment the Romaine with some Red Leaf and/or Green Leaf. But for burgers, its gotta be iceberg—preferably shredded. Gotta have that iceberg crunch. There was no crunch with those field greens. The rest of the burger was solid, but not spectacular. Will I buy it again? No. If you’re running out to grab us fast-food lunch and are picking up the tab and you let me pick the place—I’ll be glad to send you to Wendy’s for another one of these. Good burger, but too high of a price point for me. I’d give it 7 Flaps.
On my death bed, one of the great lifetime accomplishments I will cite (and there are so so many 🙂 ) is that on August 3rd, 2013 I was able to inspire a review on my blog of The Wendy’s pretzel bun fuckin’ bacon cheese burger, lol. I’m serious, this have given me a glorious, hearty chuckle and laughing is good people.
All right, I lied. I’m taking a swing at the Del Mar carryover. Gonna watch the Giants gm and ponies at the Silver Legacy today. #gratefulforthelittlethingsinlife
…and a couple of housekeeping items on this topic before the game starts:
@James-thanks for the link validating that in some circles, the “roller” is viewed as the preferred way to cook hot dogs. Cracks me up that the guy repeatedly refers to hot dogs as “sausages.” I will also keep the Murphy’s burger place tucked away in my memory, but I usually attack Yosemite from another angle.
@ Snarkk–your observations on the Big Burger were spot on. Carl’s definitely keeps the Big Burger on the down low and does not openly advertise it much. I also agree that it is a pretty stripped down burger–though I can deal with that. I have not gone so far as to doctor up my Big Burger at the Salad Bar—but you may have inspired me!
@Bozo-I can’t believe your cracking on me for hitting Krystal after a long night on Bourbon St. Felt like the perfect place to be at the time. If I asked Ex#2 what our best night on the town ever was, I think there is a decent shot she’d name that night—and include Krystal. We DID hit Commander’s Palace (didnt do much for me), the Muffaletta market (damn good), Sister’s (or whatever the name of the Po Boy place was) and several other good restaurants while we were there.
ps Remember that story where the Alabama fan gave the LSU fan a balls-on-your-forehead wake-up call at a burger joint in the middle of the night? That took place at the very same Krystal I visited.
Wendy’s dickered with a pretzel burger years ago but Dave couldn’t figure out how to keep the meat from falling through the holes… personally I think a good onion roll is the perfect burger vehicle…
I had my first pretzel burger bun at the Brews Bro’s in Reno 5 or 6 years ago. Loved it. It’s probably why I noticed the Wendy’s commercial in the first place
Dawg – I’m not talking upscale, hell one of my favorite fried chicken places there is a take out place called McHardy’s (please don’t tell folks about it) , but burgers in the quarter and you didn’t go to Port a Call? Didn’t mean to bust your chops and in New Orleans if it works for ya, it’s all good. Central Grocery is the market for Muffalettas, and your right, damn good and still my fav. And, they busted the fuck nut Alabama kid (wasn’t he a cops son or something). But dude, I guess I’m coming down to heavy, because I’m loving the posts you’ve been putting out there. So sorry about that.
I knew you were just busting my chops, Bozo. Those Central Market guys were a trip. They know they’ve got a steady stream of customers no matter what, so they weren’t exactly all over the customer service when we were there. Spent most of their time keeping an eye on the off track action they had going on one of the TVs. We went there a couple of times and one time a customer was trying to get them to give him a sando with the spread on the side as he was flying out that day and wouldn’t eat it until later. He was afraid the muffaletta would get all soggy. The counter guy kept telling him he’s been selling these for 30+ years and they travel just fine with all the fixins on there. Customer kept saying he wanted the spread on the side. Finally, the counter guy says you’ve got 3 choices: whole, half, or get the fuck out of here. The guy finally backed down and just ordered one the standard way. We were cracking up.
Dude, opening up one on a plane that has marinated for a day or two, drives everyone nuts, they all want some. Coming back from Mardi Gras this year we had two full Muffalettas and two huge king cakes in our carry ons, not to mention different sausages and Taso ham. Parade throws, dirty clothes and stuff we didn’t need right away or would keep, UPS.
Sandawg, the Awful Awful is a big ‘ol greasy heap of ground chuck with your usual fixins including a thousand island type secret source…The coup de grace is that it’s all tucked into an onion roll!
The last time I had one was several years ago after stumbling back from the Gentlemans Club…I think one of the major food shows (Guy Fieri maybe) did a piece on it a few years back.
Interesting to read Jenkins’ bit about Belt: “It’s a little late for Brandon Belt to be making a statement. The Giants need a long look at Brett Pill, and he should get most of the starts at first base.” I often, not always, but often agree with Jenkins, but not sure about this one. A little late for what? For this year? For Belt’s career? Why is it that only a few Flappers seem to understand Belt’s greatness and that he should be playing every day? 🙂 Now that management has seemingly thrown in the towel on this year, I wouldn’t mind seeing the team getting a real long look at Pill instead of just a handful of games at a time, but not at Belt’s expense. Hell, they want to look at Pill, put him in left and never let Frenchy play another inning.
Should be a good pitchers’ duel tonight, enjoy the game, gents.
Jenkins is a pretty decent writer, but often FOS, IMO.
He’s considered the best sportswriter in an area lacking in such talent.
Big deal…
Hard to beat an In N Out single, no cheese, animal style for $2.15 or thereabouts. If I’m shamed by the Snarkettes due to weight issues, I’ll get a single protein burger (burger wrapped in iceberg lettuce, no bun), which is pretty good actually, like a salad burger. I’ve been to one of the chain 5 Guys joints, they want something like $5 for a typical burger, more if you add fixins. Way too expensive for what you get, IMO. I don’t mind Fuddruckers — the turkey burger is good, and you can load it up with lotsa stuff at the fixins bar, and smoke down all the pickles and tomatoes you want at that bar. There is one woman that is now apparently the sole owner of In N Out. Early 30s, trust fund type, everybody else in the founding family died, she’s got it all. Lynsi Torres. Private, so no financials to view, but spec is the outfit is worth well north of $1 billion…
http://www.celebritynetworth.com/articles/celebrity/innout-burger-owned-30-year-female-billionaire-drag-racer/
If anyone is watching the A’s gm you just saw Balfour breakdown Profar on a K that made him look so fuckin feeble and weak. He was literally scared of the ball
And how does Greg Papa have a job, nevermind a cush job like that? Cloying to listen to, and he looks like a recently-released child molester…
1.5 mil chillin in the DM pick 6 kitty and there’s still 10 mins of betting to go. Wahoo!
Awesome review! You were relaxed and didn’t hem, haw, stammer, or stutter. I was especially impressed with the unequivocal “5 Flaps Down” rating which was noted with a strong voice. As I said earlier, I rarely eat “fast food,” unless you categorize Subway as fast food. Consequently, your review, coupled with the cameraman’s (girl?) excellent close up of the rancid week old cheese sliding off the edge of the burger – was a sufficient RED ALERT for me insofar as purchasing this burger. 🙂
The first time I was ever in a casino, Harrah’s in south shore, I was pretty geeked up ready to get my gamble on and fire down the free drinks I’d heard about.
So I storm in there and amble up to a scantily clad waitress who had about 10 drinks on her tray. I grabbed a Heineken and said “thanks babe” and slipping her a single in the spot on the tray that the Heineken had just vacated. She looked at me a little funny, I thought that was weird.
I did this 4 more times that night before one of those chicks goes “hey you know you have to ORDER those!”
I apologized profusely…
That sounds similar to my 1st trip to Lake Tahoe, that I took with my brother. We were both under 21 and I had recently bought a brand new MGB. Not knowing exactly how far Lake Tahoe was, we ran out of gas less than a mile from town. Fortunately, we were able to “roll” into the 1st gas station, with only momentum from the crest/hill we had just barely gotten over. Fast forward to the gambling . . . My brother Mike and I both agreed to be “low key,” so we wouldn’t get popped and kicked out of the casinos for being under age. In our feeble, immature, delusional minds, this also meant only winning a couple of hundred dollars at each table and then quietly going onto the “next” table and taking them for a couple of hundred. Uhh huh. I lost most of my money in about an hour and I couldn’t find my brother for a few hours. I finally located him drinking shots of bourbon, tequila, etc., at the bar at Caesars and handing out $1-2 tips to the bartender after every drink. Say what? By the by, this was 1975 . . .
Anywho, I asked him where he got all the money and he said playing black jack. I admonished him for handing out the “Hey Big Spender” tips and said, let’s get the fuck out of here. He was already three sheets to the wind, so we left Caesars, but not before he takes a leak into the fountain at Caesars . . . It was almost 3am, so hardly anyone saw him, except me and a security guard that threatened to call the police. After grabbing him, we went back to our cheap ass motel and counted sheep.
That’s awesome!
A few months back, I was at Harrahs in New Orleans…I didn’t have enough time to do the poker room and the table minimums were outrageous…So I sat at a quarter machine and flagged down a waitress to order my Jack and water…She explained to me that you can now order directly from the machine on a touchpad menu….After placing my order, it promptly arrived about five minutes later. As soon as I tipped her the proverbial single and she walked away, I immediately placed my next order…Less than a minute later she was back at my machine…I am thinking this is the greatest place ever!
Unfortunately she was there to educate me on the 20 minute “wait before you order the next drink” rule.
Frenchy!
Hey, I just noticed that Buster Posey was in a 1 for 20 slump right before the Phillies series. How the heck did he manage to get out of that rut without some counseling and rest?! Dude’s amazing.
Nice to see Crawford continue his solid season.
It’s never gonna get talked about much, but his numbers are down from last season–OPS is down over 60 points, slugging and OB both down 30 each, BA too.
I was thinking about this other day–while CERA is not a good stat, Posey was in there while pitching staff sucked at first part of the season. Fair to attach any blame there, esp for Cain Z Vogs TL struggles?
Yeah James, and considering Belt’s MVP year, you’d think he’d get the same consideration, wouldn’t you?
Well, I could find a Hunter Pence slump. Or dozens of others from run of the mill players who didn’t get benched and somehow managed to get back on track.
When you have a $167 million deal, you get your own counseling…
Kind of surprised to see James Loney hitting .310, but looking at his splits, it looks like it is product of parks he hits in on road. Home OPS is .727, road .912, and he is batting almost 100 pts higher on road too. Not more power or rbis, just more singles…rest of that division is mostly hitters yards, balt ny bos tor.
Just saying, but it wouldn’t surprise me Belt could put up .900 OPS too if he got to hit in places like that.
There’s a guy who posts on baggs blog who reminds all the Nate lovers he has a .900 plus OPS at home and .730 on the road, where he hits .250. He never hit like that here or showed that type of power at home.
The park does make a difference.
Panda. One HR in the last 2 1/2 months…
More Keystone Kops defense. Where is this coming from?…
My first time in a casino: 1974. Reno. Maybe Harrah’s. Very drunk. Playing blackjack and asking to be hit at 17, maybe 18. Not only did I lose profusely, but the table and the dealer were pissed. Did my laundry in Reno, too. Or was all of this in Tahoe? I was in both. A blur. Then to Dino’s strip club in SF. Philosophy majors from Berkeley. I believed it then, and still do.
Francouer Comes Alive!
Mon couer, Francouer!
James–Do You Feel Like I Do-that taking a flyer on Francouer was worth a shot?
I want to see that pitch again. That was no fucking strike.
Yo, thx for mentioning Darrell Griffith from the Ville. I liked Utah, esp Adrian Dantley, my buddies all hated AD and the rest of his team. I think Grif wore number 35? Man could he elevate shooting a jump shot. Cool player.
I knew at least one guy on this blog would appreciate the Dr. D reference!
Does Joe West have pictures on MLB execs? This guy is a horrendous umpire, and has been for years. On the merits, and an ego-tripping A-hole to boot…
Outfuckingstanding game by Lincecum tonight, now time to figure out how to squeeze one run out of Price.
Oh by the way, loved the stories about the first time casino runs by you guys. If I was a better writer I would tell about my first time in a whorehouse down San Juan PR.
just the facts, ma’am
Ha ha…Francouer says not so fast mofo’s. I’m still kickin.
2014 everyday outfield for SFG:
RF Pence
CF Crazy Horse
LF Jeff Freaking Francouer
Frenchy will be home on his couch in 2014…
Frenchy had been 4 for his last 35 up to tonite, including 0 for his last 15. Let’s see how long it takes him to get another 3 hits…
there’s a contest my man—the frenchy watch. can he get 3 more hits before the September call ups arrive?
Good one SanDawg.
Giants have blown scoring opps, as usual. Timmeh with a fine job. 5 hits, and 2 were infield types, I think. 5 to 1 Ks to BB. I think he’s discovered pitching backwards works for him — use the breaking pitches to set up the FB….
No Giants PC video feed, so following ESPN Gamecast dots and watching the Pirates/Sherpa game (which I do have a feed for). I think Pawlie did a book interview there. I’m impressed with the Pirates announcing crew, i.e., they are not overly dramatic – sort of “just the facts mam” type of broadcasting team. However, I am even more impressed with the rabid fans at PNC park. Sherpas are a shitty team and it doesn’t matter – you could have the Trenton Thunder playing them and they would sell out. Great fans.
I always watch on MLB, so for road games I get the other team’s announcers—like today. I totally agree the Pirates guys are good. Took me a while to warm up to Bob Walk, but I like Steve Blass a lot. They’re both analysts and their play by play guys are solid. I’m not wild about the Rays guys today, but they’re decent.
I knew Walk was part of their crew, but wasn’t aware that Blass was. I’m reminded that before Steve Sax Syndrome was “discovered,” there was Steve Blass Disease. Ha.
Extras. Get em, Giants.
And that’s why Sabes DIDN’T trade Lincecum or Lopez.
So they can lose 2-1, he didn’t trade Lopez? Great…
who do you think he is getting for him, Mike Trout? I understand your misgivings, but be realistic, man.
Every pen needs a loogy, and Bochy’s options are Mijares and Affledt, who is hurt. If you want to contend next year, or now, that ain’t gonna make it. Lopez is part of the solution, not part of the problem.
Lopez is a free agent in 59 days. That’s realistic. If he leaves, they might get some type of pick. Whoopee. That’s realistic. Not trading him is no guarantee he’ll stay, just like trading him made no guarantee he wouldn’t re-sign. All realistic. Keeping him on a team with a snowball’s chance to win now serves little purpose, IMO…
Crap.
another 2-1 loss.
Tough loss, but at least we put up a good fight against a good team. I’d never watched Price throw a full game before—very impressive. Now I see what all the hype is about.
Bummer. The last inning was a cluster fuck from the get go walk of Jennings . . . Frustrating to play a tight game for 9 innings and then load the bases in the 10th with no outs. Sigh.
Wow, what a pitching display by the Giants bull pen!! That is all I have to say. Wait one more thing that Marlins pitcher who wears his cap like he is playing with a bunch of thugs.
Someone mentioned the shitty job the ump was doing, Kruk made the comment he was calling the game the way the scouting report said he would!! WTF?? This is where baseball needs to change, I have a friend who is an NFL official and if one of them have too many bad games they get the boot back to the college ranks!! Baseball needs to get into the 21st century!!
Mrs. James and I went out to dinner tonight. We passed on the pretzel burger and the 10th inning. SD, I do not love Frenchy’s way — he ain’t no Pat the Bat — but the article BF posted made him sound pretty simpatico.
I was pretty sure he wasn’t your cup of tea, but I was looking for a way to make another Peter Frampton reference, so I asked the question. Now I’ll go eat some Humble Pie and I want you to Show Me The Way as to what you think our outfield will look like next year.
Yes, Steve, I met Steve Blass last year. Extremely cordial and humble guy. Talked to me like I was his younger brother. His book is good. A Pirate for Life.
I was in the car when the 7th – 10th went down. I was yelling for Crawford to bunt in the 8th w/Frenchy at third. Of course, Bochy will not do that, and Crawford crapped out, of course, against a dominant pitcher. And, so no score, and we lose. Bochy infuriates me, on occasion…
You wanted a LH batter to squeeze? With the catcher not being blocked and able to see the play unfold, that would have been an interesting call.
Tim pitched his ass off, and again, Pfffft, no run support. I’d like to see the stats on where he is in the NL in run support. Gotta be way way down the list, even including the no hitter blowout. If he’s on the Cards or Reds, he’s 11-6 or 10-7, easily…
Clearly, the pitching is the only problem this team has. Thr stats say it’s so. Tok bad, cause it kinda looks like the hitting (that isn’t there).
Listen up, this isn’t a stats class. It’s idiotic and almost weird to treat players like 100% like numbers. I’m down with underlying stats but at some point your eyes have to tell you something. These are human beings. The numbers on their backs aren’t actually who they are….
I think this is addressed to me. What I posted the other day was pretty simple:
The team, at the end of July, had scored about the same number runs as last year to that point and given up a lot more. This is in a year when scoring is down across the NL. That’s the reason they are under 500 right now. You could argue that even more was expected of the offense this year (In fact, as you probably remember, August was a huge month for the offense last year. I’m no more hopeful than you are that they will score 155 runs this year). It could also play out that the the 2.66 team ERA of the last 7 days will carry on for the rest of the season and the number of runs scored will be balanced by those given up. You could then clearly spread the blame for a 500 season all around. OTOH, if the team ERA is 3.81 the rest of the year — as it has been for the last month — that is not nearly good enough for a staff that pitches half its games at ATT, and even if the Giants score 718 as they did last year, they will still give up a lot more than that.
I’m not really sure what your objection to the above might be, other than it’s boring, obvious shit. I really hope it isn’t “those cumulative stats don’t matter, if the Giants were really great human beings with outstanding characters and the right team spirit, they would have spread those runs out over the season with super clutch hitting.” Now that would be comedy.
Not that anyone cares, but a correction: if the team ERA is 3.81 the rest of the year, they will give up about 700 runs, or 50 more than last year, but not more than 718. It would still be a piss poor season long performance by the pitching.
Not surprisingly, Machi sent down, Kontos recalled from Fresville . . .
Went to big mouth burger in the city last week after moving my daughter. Awesome bacon burger. One of my top 5 burger joints.
Hey I’m driving to Idaho so if any if you have something better than a freakin’ pretzel bun burger review, get yo stable boy on and have at it
Hard to top the pretzel bun burger review. By the way, what did they put on it? I usually have Ketchup and maybe a little mayo on a burger, but pretzels tend to go with mustard, so besides the field greens, what did they dress the burger with?
“Well, it’ll look like a line drive in the box score tomorrow.” That’s the simplest, maybe the best, critique of stats. Obviously it doens’t mean that stats are boring or unimportant. The contemporary array of super-sophisticated stat analyses certainly slices away at the distance between a stat and a play, between a stack of stats and a player, but some gap always will remain. Otherwise, we wouldn’t watch the games; we’d watch numbers zip by, like a stock exchange feed tracking the day’s trading prices.
Then again, there’s the equally true cliche that things even out.
After all this time, I don’t understand why the explanatory power of better stats and analysis is still viewed as a threat to the enjoyment of the game. When a Giant gets a walk off hit, my pleasure in the moment isn’t diminished because I know it has nothing to do with his inner character.
If things even out why make such a big deal about the minutiae? More important, there’s no threat. I can take or leave stats, as I choose, so that they improve my appreciation of what’s happening on the field, in the dugout, throughout the season, etc., but do not eclipse the games themselves.
Maybe a better example: when a hitter grounds one slowly to the right side and the runners advance to 2nd and 3rd with two outs, I am a far happier person at that moment than if an inning ending DP had transpired. But I also know that “productive outs” as a measure of offensive effectiveness at a macro level are pretty much irrelevant — they have nothing to do with how many games you win by the end of the season. Now, if that same player had drawn a walk in that situation, I’d be even happier. I’d know that, at a macro level, drawing walks in that situation is far better than making a productive out because of the higher scoring probabilities. The number of walks you draw as a team has a real effect on how many games you win.
I think the discussion we had yesterday is more pertinent. A drive to the warning track with 2 outs is theoretically equal to a SO with 2 outs. But I’d rather see Belt hit drives to the track than strike out in those situations. True, a dropped third strike could put him on base, but a drive to the track is more likely to result in something good. Moreover, even if instead of striking out he hit outs to the track, those outs wouldn’t really be equal to SOs. The good drives would have impact the weak SOs wouldn’t — for Belt, for the pitcher who gave up the drive, for the other players on the field and in the dugout, for the managers and coaches, etc., because of the “human” factor.
Blanco now 5 for his last 48 ABs. Like last year, he’s cratered as the season goes along. Makes me almost wish Gamer were at leadoff. Why he doesn’t try more bunt attempts for hits is beyond me. Last 30 days — Blanco and Torres a combined 24 for 126. A combined .191 BA. Combined OBP at around .262. That’s OBP, not BA. Hard to win games when your leadoff guy(s) have a pathetic OBP around .265.
Here’s the free agent OFers for 2014. Awful. I’d say Choo is the pick here to solve the leadoff and LF problem. Assuming he’d play LF, not CF. Of the rest, just to shore up the LF black hole, Ellsbury. Chance of the Giants signing either one away from their teams — probably tiny.
Jason Bay (35) Mark DeRosa (39) Matt Diaz (36) Raul Ibanez (42) Reed Johnson (37) – $1.6MM club option with a $150K buyout Austin Kearns (34) Jason Kubel (32) – $7.5MM club option with a $1MM buyout Nate McLouth (32) Mike Morse (32) David Murphy (32) Xavier Nady (35) Laynce Nix (33) Ryan Raburn (33) Delmon Young (28)
Alfredo Amezaga (36) Rick Ankiel (34) Coco Crisp (34) – $7.5MM club option with a $1MM buyout Rajai Davis (33) Jacoby Ellsbury (30) Curtis Granderson (33) Franklin Gutierrez (31) – $7.5MM club option with a $500K buyout Tony Gwynn Jr. (31) Nyjer Morgan (33) Andres Torres (36) Chris Young (30) – $11MM club option with a $1.5MM buyout Jeff Baker (33) Carlos Beltran (37) Marlon Byrd (36) Shin-Soo Choo (31) Nelson Cruz (33) David DeJesus (34) – $6.5MM club option with a $1.5MM buyout Mark DeRosa (39) Matt Diaz (36) Jeff Francoeur (30) Corey Hart (32) Xavier Nady (35) Nyjer Morgan (33) Hunter Pence (31) Juan Rivera (35)
I would easily select Choo snarkk. . . Choo is interesting because he could also hit 2nd or even 3rd (i.e., for a 3-4 year period, he averaged something like .300 BA and 20 HR). Dude can rake and has a bit of speed. Moreover, he has a conscious – he will give you 100% each and every day. Read about how he reacted when he got his DUI . . . In his Korean culture, he was totally disgraced by this. Conversely, for an American ball player, this is sort of a right of passage.
Regarding stats – just my take James, but I think you “overwhelm” everyone with your stats. I don’t mean this as an insult, but you remind me of the guy in math class that always has his hand up and has to be right. I love stats and you have obviously studied them in detail. I like that. However, the game is more than that and I think that’s what Xoot and Flav were trying to convey. For example, you can cite OPS and other stats about how good Belt is until the cows come home, but to me he is an average player and with regard to other MLB 1st baseman, a lousy one. That’s what my eyes tell me.
New thread someone? Don’t have to write anything. Just post the lineup.
Thanks…phone makes scrolling hell.
Agree…Anyone around that has the keys to the stable?
Tim has the 10th worst run support of NL starters. Worst on the Giants. Cain and Bum are tied for 16th worse. Zito is at 27. Not good when 3 of your 5 starters are in the top 20, and 4 of 5 are in the top 30 in this stat. No other team has 3 in the top 20. Nats and Phills have 2 starters each in the top 10. Zito is at 27. Nothing we didn’t know generally, but putting the real numbers to it gives some perspective…
OK, new post or thread . . . This is my first, so be kind. 🙂