Orange Sombrero Night
Just checking to see who’s *in* for Flapalooza 3.0. The momentous event is scheduled for September 7th (Saturday) 6:05pm vs the D-BACKS. It’s Orange Drunken Sombrero Night and a large percentage of Flavor Nation is descending upon the Club Level section of the ballpark. This will allow us the option of shielding our eyes away from the game and focusing instead on meeting and mingling in the lounge area of the park with fellow Flappers. Thousands (give or take a few thousand) have already confirmed their attendance including at least 3 that are flying in for the grand event.
I’m driving all day so I won’t be able to answer any questions in the comment section till probably 5 or 6pm tonight. But several of the vets can answer any questions, should you have them.
I’ll re-post a Flapalooza 3.0 thread more than once as we approach the date. I just wanted to get a ballpark on who’s coming and invite those who haven’t heard about it yet. My advice, should you value it, is to buy tickets on game day (I know some have already bought them and that’s fine too). With the team woefully out of it and nearly impossible to watch at home, season ticket holders are abandoning their seats in droves. There will be cheap club level seats available on the internet– just buy and print, you’ll be good to go.
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
Wish I could go, but I’ll be back in China by then. Hope all Flappers great and small enjoy the evening.
friday night’s game ended poorly but the series with the orioles has been a good one. it was even cool seeing davis’ monster hr since it ended up just adding more tension and satisfaction when romo retired him for the final out.
Yesterday I saw no signs of the weird-ass OF shift they futiley deployed against Davis late Friday night. The IF was generally way over to the right, in the traditional Barry Bonds shift, but the OF was straight-away and DEEP. (Not so deep, however, as to give Torres a glimmer of hope on that CF bomb. Seemed to me he just looked up at the rocket speed past above.) The final routine grounder straight to Scutaro was a thing of beauty. No shift on, because of the runner at 1B–just a great pitcher beating a great hitter for the out. And I think you’re absolutely right, TF–lost season or not, the excitement in the 9th was terrific baseball.
I admit it feels different watching a losing season after all the winning that went on in 201-12, but I’m coming around.
Gametime Forecast: 62°F • Partly Cloudy • 0%PoP
1. Marco Scutaro (R) 2B
2. Brandon Crawford (L) SS
3. Brandon Belt (L) 1B
4. Buster Posey (R) C
5. Hunter Pence (R) RF
6. Pablo Sandoval (S) 3B
7. Roger Kieschnick (L) LF
8. Gregor Blanco (L) CF
9. Matt Cain (R) P
Giants have played two of the best teams in the supposedly superior AL very tough, on the road and at home. Pitching has been great–not a lot of guys hitting, bur SF pitching is holding the other guys down and keeping them in games. Win or lose I’d rather watch these types of games than a Zito start.
Not sure what to make of Quiche, but to warrant 100 more ABs, he’s gotta show something soon. Right now all he has done is K a lot and hit without much pop. Got schooled big time other night when he had a chance to show some plate discipline, which wasn’t good.
There’s obviously going to be at least one starting OF spot open next year along with a back up or two. All those interested, and after Sept 1 might be a couple more around, have to show SF brain trust what they potentially can bring to equation. Otherwise Sabes is going shopping again.
And tho the FA market doesn’t look promising, Sabes has managed to rebuild his OF twice in last few years–Burrell, Ross (still making good bucks with AZ), Pence, Pagan–and all these guys have rings to show for it…even Melk.
I bought my Flapalooza ticket a month ago before the ship settled under the waves. Shame on me. Anyway, I’ve enjoyed these last two games. Well played ball, the other team is well coached, some excitement. That’s baseball. Losing a game like Friday night was a bit of a downer, but in the end, that’s what I want out of the balance of this season. If you lose, go down fighting, playing good ball, not sleepwalking through it. This series proves why I like inter-league ball. Who would want another 3 games with the fuggin Padres, vs. these three this weekend with guys you’ve heard of/seen on highlights, but now you get to see for real? I like it. And, now I’ve got a bit of rooting interest in the O’s to take it deep in the playoffs in the AL. They’re well balanced, with good pitching, good pop, and good defense…
Mariano is human after all. Just blew his 3rd straight save, the first time he’s ever done that.
Mac, he actually has been going south the last 3 games (gave up 2 and 1 runs resulting in blown saves as well). Moreover, the overall opposing BA against him this year is .253. That’s high for an elite closer.
Sorry Mac . . . I read that wrong – I see where you said “. . . blew his 3rd straight save.” For whatever reason, I read it as today’s game.
Belt hitting a high and away fastball like that is something new.
Belt with the booming double and RBI; he is feelin’ it…
Cain with a 2-0 lead, when’s the last time he had that?
kind of funny- scooter hit .362 going ‘braid dead hacker’ in 2012, he’s 60 points less as mr. patience this year…
today’s game is free on MLB [dot] com
I hope we get as many Flappers as possible to attend the game on the 7th. I haven’t heard from Nipper, Chico, Boxhead, Twin, Salty and “quasi/semipro/honorary” Flapper, Sandy (I know, I know – he’s a Dodger fan, but dammit, I like him and besides, he’s not overbearing). Anywho, I sincerely hope all of you guys are there if at all possible. Twin, I know that with your medical problems, it’s probably going to be near impossible to attend, but I just want you to know that it would be fabulous if you were able to some how attend this game.
One last thing – I will be in the SF bay area from August 15th through September 9th, mostly tending to my mom and stepdad’s house, while they cruise the ocean in Europe. Flav and I have already agreed to meet for some gym sessions and anyone else who would like to get together for dinner, lunch, another game, etc., give me a shout. My time in the SF bay area will be a bit chaotic, since I have a lot of friends and relatives there, but I have sufficient “wriggle” room to meet up with one or more of you mugs. 🙂
steve, thanks for the thought, but i won’t be going.
Why is it the Giants pitchers generally cannot field the position? The Miijares/Panda screwup on the bunt just another shining example of bungling of routine bunt and grounder plays. It’s continued all year. Do the relievers never take any infield practice after Spring Training? It’s a problem, and looks like this mistake will cost big time…
Stop me if I am wrong, but all the games lately are taking on the same pattern. It is a pattern I do not like.
Strange days had found us, strange days have dragged us down.
The Pen was brutalized there. Ouch. Orioles are good, they have guys that can hit. I look at their lineup and salivate…
In the offseason, acquire FA McCann to catch. Move Buster to 3B. Trade Panda for a LFer that can actually hit. Or, keep Panda, move Posey to 1B, and move Belt to LF…
Zitman hopefully does not get embarrassed here, but it’s not starting well in the mop up role…
My god. I barely got that posted, and Jones rips the 3 run dinger off Zito. They just need to DFA him, this is ridiculous, he can’t come out of the Pen, he’s just taking up roster space out there…
it’s not a good way for the zitster to be ending his time here. maybe a waiver deal can be worked out to a contender in a pitcher friendly park. he might have it in him to help somebody as the 5 down the stretch..
Think Billy Beane would take a flyer on him? I would have no problem seeing him go back to Oakland.
Looks like I made the right choice to watch the rest of the PGA.
The Duf?…
Yep.
I paid zero attention to the game today, until now. Ugh. Looking at the box score, it seems that Cain gave them a chance, but Mijares and Zito sabotaged whatever opportunity Cain provided.
It was done, decided before Zito came into the 9th. His 3 run served HR was just an unnecessary embarrassment. Bochy obviously considers him a mop up guy now. He came in, and they mopped him up, like the other night. His worth as a reliever is not debatable, he’s terrible at it, like everybody predicted. The only reason he still is on this team is to save face, for the team and for him, I guess…
Too bad MLB baseball teams aren’t like the old time circuses, where the trapeze artist sold tickets between his gig and the lion act. Oh wait! Or, is it the carnival barker that would sell tickets to view the 8th Wonder of the World – The Bearded Librarian, then make it over to the “dunking pool,” where he would yell, “Hit the target and dunk the Clown – 3 softballs.”
Is there a similar gig for Barry?
seriously, athough i’m no fan of zito, finishing his career here as the guy who pitches when all is lost is demeaning to him and doesn’t save face, it shines an even more unfavorable light on this fiasco of a season and his whole tenure here. imo. surely a waiver wire deal can be worked out and he can have a chance to see if he can help a contender.
My point about saving face was versus the alternative, which is a DFA or some deal where he goes to another team for a bag o’ balls. The Giants don’t want to do that, either one. Instead, Bochy’s trotting him out there in a role he has no business playing, and the embarrassment is worse. At minimum, he needs to develop shoulder soreness or something and go on the DL for a while. He’s taking a valuable roster spot, as well…
well, we get *the next food network star* tonight- and guys, i should un-retire and blow those those people out of the water. just get me a curvy assistant to do the work. last year the winner was some *sandwich king* and now this year one of the finalists is a pretty engaging guy who calls himself ‘pie style’, and his thing is that he can make anything into a pie. people-how about something novel- maybe a real chef…
anyway, it’s still a pretty good show, and i’ll record it, it’s on the same time as the new ‘breaking bad’ episode.
enjoy your evenings…
Bochy is a class act. Rather than just DFA Z or come up with a phantom injury for the DL, he moved him to the pen so he wouldn’t have to start. I think he just wanted him to get in an inning or two under no pressure and see if he could recover something, regain confidence, yada yada.
Which of course has failed utterly. I almost feel sorry to watch him continue to give up runs even at home now, like a boxer that is overmatched and taking an unnecessary beating. I’m sure TF is right, they will put him on waivers and accept any deal that sends him to team of reasonable quality if he so agrees.