Winning
How great was it to see Angel Pagan out there last night? He’s such a huge part of the heart and soul of this team. Imagine “what if” he had played all season? We’ll never know but I choose to believe that we wouldn’t be in the cellar had he not gotten hurt….
Speaking of that, our “Quest for 4th” is humming along quite nicely. With last night’s win coupled with a Padre loss, we have locked horns with our LowCal rivals. The pressure may be on but I have faith in our Live 25 that they will bring this home for us. #questfor4th!
Looking at the division standings I couldn’t help but notice that the Giants STILL have the best divisional record at 31-23. I pondered what this all could mean and came up with this: The NL West sucks balls.
Tim Lincecum: talk about a dude pitching without a net. On July 13th he pitched a no hitter. The Giants have scored 18 runs in his 8 starts since. It’s no wonder he’s 8-13. Come to think of it, that’s probably about what all the starters get from our pathetic offense, at least the last THREE STRAIGHT MONTHS……
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
re: drafting SS….reading the *willie and mickey* zum recommended, Mantle played SS in his younger days and in brief time in minors . Great athlete but erratic arm, Yanks moved him to play next to DiMaggio and taught him some fundamentals and rest is hist.
If you think about it, the demands of the position require smarts, range and a good arm. If you can handle that position you can probably play anywhere.
That’s a great shot of the salute. Let him play!
He has to be able to play his style with the confidence he’s healthy and can go balls out without any nagging worries about it in the back of his mind. He tested legs in rehab games and is good to go. And it was dang fun to watch last night.
Anyone can get hurt at any time. Keith olberman once said, “We’re ALL day to day.”
“Pathetic offense” about sums it up for this season.
I doubt the Giants would even be at .500 had Pagan not gotten hurt — making up 14 games under .500 is a lot to ask of one player. And there’s been so many other factors contributing to this lost season: Vogey’s injury, the bad defense, the inexplicable lack of focus, the prolonged slumps by the big hitters, and Zito — a team of 9 Trouts couldn’t overcome one of his road starts. But Pagan would’ve made some kind of difference and would’ve injected some life into what’s been a far-too-frequent listless bunch, making the Giants a better — or less worse — team.
And Anna’s performance was way below expectations, she sucked, and not in a good way. We should’ve gotten Daisy The Hot Bartender in there.
Hah!
Yeah, I had no idea Pagan was going to play, so that was a welcome sight. Missed the 1st inning though.
Cynic’s view: I’ll watch a few more before I jump on the Pagan is back everything is wunderbar love boat. Yes, he’s a strong welcomed presence. But without the stellar pitching, it could have been yet another desultory 3-1 loss.
Insert 😉
Great to have Pagan back,though it should over never came down to his injury that turned this team to the shitter afterwards.
They better get aggressive this winter with F/A ., like Cano and Ellsbury.2 perfect fits.
And get “Fuckin in the game Internationally” with players like Abeu and Tanaka instead of lip service( oh we scout them but they don’t show enough talent to warrant the big coin, Bull Shit!!! the fucking Dodgers blew right by us with sigining like Puig and Ryu.Yeah some of these players D/R ,Japan,Cubans will be “BUSTS”,
Giants sure know,How about Osvaldo Hernandez Fernandez? who gives a shit what his name was cause he “SUCKED”!!
anyone? Angel Villalona gun for hire, but you still have to stick with it and stop running scared cause you fucked up in your past experience with these siginings.
While the NL West certainly isn’t as strong as the AL East or either of the Central divisions, overall it’s better than the NL East and AL West.
NL West : 331-340
NL East : 322-347
AL West : 320-349
It’s no wonder the ATL has such a huge lead in the East – other than them that division is putrid – Braves have gone 37-20 vs their own division while only going 18-12 vs the West.
The two leaders in the NL Central have very pedestrian records against the West as well – St Loo is 16-13 while Pitt is only 13-15.
The NL West being the weakest division in MLB is pure myth driven by east coast biased ESPN and the like.
Don’t buy it.
Well if the Giants suck how is it that they have the best record in the division?
They suck selectively?…
Pagan gave us a huge jolt alright. All of one run. Why is that any different than before? Yep, we’re all day to day. But, we all aren’t getting $30M over the next three years to patrol CF and jump start the team, and just had a major hammy surgery. For him to play much the rest of the way is nuts, and blocks trying out other bodies to see what they can do. Unless the brain trust already knows what they can do = not much…
18 runs in 8 starts. Scherzer for Detroit gets that in 3 random starts…
I’m loving the #Questfor4th campaign! Nice win last night and I’ll be at the game Tuesday cheering like its the 7th game of the World Freaking Series.
I also love that James made a Ken Henderson reference last night. I’ve read damn near every post on this blog for 4? years and I can’t remember anyone dropping the name of the almost really good Kenny Henderson one time. A San Diego boy no less—went to Clairemont High where Mitch also attended for a short time and which the Fast Times movie was based on. Henderson is also a great example of the phenomenon I noticed as a kid in the 70’s collecting baseball cards where all of the sudden the dudes went from short hair and clean shaven to the long hair and bushy moustache look.
Dawg, uh, not to diss James, but check my 11:02 am yesterday for the Kenny Henderson drop. I’ve mentioned him on here before, too. Good player…
my bad
Can someone do me a solid and post pictures of Ken Henderson’s 1973 and 1976 baseball cards to help me illustrate my last point? I don’t know how to do that shit. I think there may be as many as 7 people out there who will be amused by comparing those 2 photos.
I’d take 3 Kenny Hendersons a la 1970-1972 vintage in the OF, and we’d be golden both offensively and defensively out there…
Season Games AB HR BA OBP SLG OPS
1970 148 554 17 0.294 0.394 0.460 0.854
1971 141 504 15 0.264 0.37 0.429 0.799
1972 130 439 18 0.257 0.317 0.437 0.754
Definitely showing my age on the Kenny Henderson stuff. But, there’s been a lot of water under the SF Giants bridge now. Kieschnick kinda reminds me of Kenny, except Kenny was a switch hitter. Similar size, Kiesch might be a tad slower, I dunno. Henderson was a smooth defender. Good instincts, good jumps. Not great in any category, just a good, all around outfielder. He had pop. We need that. I don’t remember why the Giants let him go, looking at his stats he had some decent years after ’72 with the WSox and Braves, then tailed off. No ‘roids then. Probably because Maddox and Matthews were on the upswing then…
Yeah Dawg, both Snarkk and I brought up Ken Henderson before.Dude was a steady all round player I always admired.
Best Giant OF for me after of course Mays was winding down was.
For “PURE SPEED” good power,Stolen bases,GG caliber gloves
Gary Matthews LF
Garry Maddox CF
Bobby Bonds RF
Nothing I mean nothing got passed those 3 Kat’s( uh guys)
That’s the type outfielders I want but sadly will never see again.
Snarkk–I just reviewed your 11:02 from yesterday to find out where I went wrong missing a Kenny Henderson reference. What happened was you lost me with your statistics-laden topic sentence and I moved on to the next post! If you’re going to drop a Ken Henderson reference, you gotta get that out there quick. I’ll have to double check with Pawlie, but I believe that is called “burying the lead” or something like that in newspaper parlance.
Insert gay ass smiley face here!
Shoot, Dawg. If I lead with Kenny Henderson or Tito or Al Gallagher, 1/2 the blog wasn’t even born yet. They’ll cruise on by. But, when I think of Kenny again, I’ll go with him first — just for you… 😉
I have to “reblog” (is that the correct term?) my buddy, Paulinasia’s awesome post from late, late, late last night – when only the crickets and South East Asia Flap Nation contingent were awake to see it . . . To wit:
“Oh shit, another post from me in no man’s land… James, I respect you and your stats acumen very much. However, I am SOOOOOO tired of hearing your analysis that it was the pitching that sunk the Giants this year, because of the total runs allowed over the entire course of the season, especially compared to last year. Yeah, they were not what they were last year. That has nothing to do with anything THIS year. The simple fact is (and stats simpletons like me look for simple facts), when the pitching was really sucking the first two months of the season, the Giants were well above .500 and in the race. After that, the pitching improved and the offense went south (right about when Pagan went down), and they plummeted in the standings ever since. Total season-long stats do not tell the story of what happened with the team this year. At ALL. And if I was able to be at Flapalooza, I would buy you a beer because of your stats acumen, and because you’re a great Flapper. I just don’t understand how the numbers keep blinding you about why this team failed this year. But we would never agree on this, so it doesn’t matter, it’s all just mental masturbation. You want to believe it was the pitching that put the G’s in last place, go right ahead. I’ll continue to opine, based on actually watching what happened on the field time and time again, that the pitching has actually been ok and the offense has completely sucked. I know your total stats don’t show that. Thank God baseball is played on the field and not on a fucking calculator. I don’t see much fun in that…”
Flav pointed out the great post this morning while we were lifting iron at the gym. In fairness to James, I love his posts too and am looking forward to seeing this analytical genius at the September 7th Flapalooza Fest. 🙂
I said last night (late) that I don’t understand how pitching can take the lion’s share of the blame for the cratering this year. Two of our starters (Bum, Tim) are in the top 10 or so for lack of run support, and add Cain, we have 3 starters on the list of the worst 15 to 20 in run support in the NL and MLB. No other team has 3 in the top 20…
Whoa! The Pirates have traded for Justin Morneau. They really are serious.
Agree that the Pirates are serious. Morneau isn’t what he once was, but still . . . Mac, do you know what the trade specifics were?
“Well if the Giants suck how is it that they have the best record in the division?”
You have to remember the Giants started out this season pretty good – the 1st month and a half (basically a quarter of the season) – the Giants hit their high water mark @ May 13, they were 23-15 with a 2.5 game lead on Dbags – the beginning of the season, and the end, always involves a lot of games played within the division – so the Giants beefed up their record against the west while the rest of the west started out of the gates slower than the Giants.
Many of you have prob seen this, but fun graphs to look at for all divisions – you can put cursor at beginning of season and follow all teams rise and fall as you move cursor from left to right :
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/standings/probability.jsp?ymd=20130829
Dig this for an outfield. 1972 Giants: Kenny Henderson, Gary Matthews, Gary Maddox, Bobby Bonds. Gary Thomasson and Bernie Williams backups. Pitching was crap. They won 79 games.
If we had that OF this season, we would win this division. Guaranteed…
Also Kingman and maybe even George Foster still hanging around?
Good call. The ’72 roster lists Kingman as an infielder. I guess he played first when they sat Stretch, maybe some third? I don’t remember. Occasional outfield. They traded Foster in early 1971 for yep, Frank Duffy. Oh, AND pitcher Vern Geishert. One of the top 3 all-time lame brained moves by the Giants. GM was Jerry Donovan. I have no recollection of him whatever. Must have been a drinking buddy of Horace Stoneham…
Just for the helluvit: Horace Speed.
1975 Giants. 17 games, 15 ABs. OFer…
I love this post and the positive attitude it portrays is what being a SF Giants fan is all about! Good job!! 🙂
Well, it is true what Pawlie says about finding someone in Giants gear outside California. What a freaking rush!!
In the last 3.5 years I have had one Brit (a gang-banger looking lad with a White Sox cap) recognise my SF Giants cap. And then came today. In Nottingham City Centre,
I had left a meeting and did not have my cap on (damn! double, Damn!) but noticed two very noticeable 20 somethings walking together towards me. The one on my left had ‘high-end’ style and was wearing a Bulls jersey, but then as I looked at her mate, under a sweater (blown open a bit by the pace of their walking) I saw the orange edging of a SF Giants jersey. It all happened so fast in a crowded city sidewalk.
I took a double take as they went by and then yelled above the crowd noise: “Is that a SF Giants jersey?” as I turned around to face them walking away. Then she slowed and turned back towards me with a HUGE SMILE and yelled back: “It sure is.” They kept walking, she kind of sideways still smiling back at me, I gave her the thumbs-up and yelled, “WAY TO GO, SWEET HEART!” She smiled even bigger, waved to my outstretched hand signal and disappeared into the concrete jungle.
WOOT! WOOT! I still cannot believe how much that lifted my spirits, even now 8 hours later.
I do love me some SF Giants bball.
🙂
Good story, edd. Keeping the Giants faith in Nottinghamshire…
Edd, I looked at a map. Didn’t realize Nottingham was so close by to Leeds. I’ve been in the UK half a dozen times or more, but never to Leeds. The only reason I know it is the “Live at Leeds” album of The Who. Often called the greatest live rock album ever. I dunno about that, but it is damn good; raw, not overly produced, the way great rock was and should be. I would have loved to have been there to see it, feel it. Moon must have been partially sober — and totally incredible … http://tinyurl.com/3rgf7vg
Agree. Great story Ed!
Good point about drafting shortstops, Willie. A lot of youth teams put their best players at shortstop. Heck, Posey started his career at Florida St. at shortstop.
I watched “Hell On Wheels” for the first time today. It’s a well-done show. It’s about the expansion of the railroads in post-Civil War America.
I saw the first two episodes of “Breaking Bad” I’ve ever seen during this week. Another well-done show, but probably too bleak for me. But I may end up watching its final season this season anyway. I was able to pick up the basics of what’s going on.
I’ve been liking the show “Copper” on the BBC-America network. It’s about a police force in New York in 1865, and the overall beginnings of the rise of the Irish in society during that era.
I’ve been watching the unintentionally hilarious “Under the Dome.” The show is awful, but in a good way that makes you laugh. Kind of like watching the movie “Roadhouse,” which is one of the all-time unintentionally funny movies.
I also watch “Longmire” regularly. It’s not great, and it’s like I keep expecting it to get better for some reason, and it pretty much doesn’t.
I also saw the first episode of “Bones” this week that I’ve ever seen. It’s one of those shows that kind of shocks me with how long it’s been on the air. 8 or 9 years. Say what? She’s a brilliant forensic scientist but a total idiot about pop culture and social cues. But she dresses and looks very fashionable. Whatever.
This week is the final episode of “Futurama,” which is an entertaining and creative sci/fi cartoon. I’m a fan.
I also saw the first 4 episodes of Season 1 of “Veep” this week. I laughed outloud throughout the show. It’s a fast-paced political sit-com, and very well-done overall.
There are about a zillion shows that I haven’t seen. There’s just so many shows. Who can see more than a small fraction of them? I’ve never seen an episode of “The Sopranos,” for example. Or “Boardwalk Empire.” Or “The Shield.” And on and on. And I generally avoid all the forensic procedural shows.
I’ve been watching “Fringe” on disc, and liking it a lot. I recently finished Season 3, and have 2 more seasons to go with that one.
Zumiee. Do NOT skip seasons of Breaking Bad.
You’ll miss some great stuff, and the ending won’t mean nearly as much. It gets way darker, you’re warned. But the passing of Walter White from school teacher to what he becomes is some of the best stuff I’ve ever seen on TV. I’ve watched all of it, and these first few shows of this last season have been awesome, bringing a lot of the intervening stuff together. I’m not much of a TV pusher, but I do have to say that this show is one of the best ever, IMO. I saw the Shield. Better than that. And, it’s certainly on par with the Sopranos, not as many characters, so you really get to know them on Breaking Bad. I literally feel exhausted after watching one of these last ones. The acting and writing is excruciatingly great, and watching it is painfully delicious. I don’t want any of the main characters to die, but I know that’s not going to happen. It’s a matter of who, and how and why. I’m prepared to be totally shocked and surprised…
Yeah, that scene with the four at the restaurant was awesome. Excellent writing and acting. As tense as any scene could be. And then Walter’s “confession” video was an incredible plot-twist.
I can totally see why this show has its loyal fans.
The actor that plays Hank is also in “Under the Dome.” He’s pretty much the only good actor in “Dome.” The gap in quality between the two shows he’s in couldn’t be greater.
The guy that plays Hank is a Harvard grad. I had no idea, none, that the “confession” thing was in the works. Brilliant how Walt pieced Hank’s “involvement” together into a very believable indictment, uh, confession. That Skyler agreed to it is part of the incredible human debris this show has created. Walt has totally turned the tables on Hank, who basically treated Walt like some nerdish dope just a year ago (in series time). The depths to which Walt has sunk apparently know no bounds. And, heading lower. Great writing…
Funy thing about the Dome is it’s based on a Simpsons episode.
Breaking Bad is a definite watcher. Watch all the episodes, Zumie. Incredible writing. Most all of it rings true. For such a crazy-ass premise.
“Funy thing about the Dome is it’s based on a Simpsons episode.”
Chuck, are you sure? My understanding is that it is based upon a novel by Stephen King. In fact, he wrote a a few chapters many years before the novel actually came out and then gave up . . . until a few years ago, where he only used the first chapter of his “old attempt” at writing this story and finally completed the novel. Simpsons episode? I don’t think so.
Blade, sorry, didn’t see your Morneau replay until hours later. If you don’t already know: “The Twins obtained outfielder Alex Presley and either a player to be named or cash in Pittsburgh’s second major move in a week. . . . The Pirates will pick up the remaining portion of Morneau’s $14 million salary, estimated at around $2 million. It’s not an insignificant investment for an ownership group that has sometimes shied away from paying the tab for proven players.”
This will go a long way in appeasing long suffering fans in Jolly Roger land.
The Simpsons episode was about 8-9 years ago. Maybe it was simultaneous ideas, but the Simpsons episode came out way before the book.
Again, these guys work the runners into place only to hack at the first pitch with runners on. I stand DP.
I guess the Simpson dome idea was in the Simpsons movie. Then the book came out. Then the Simpsons TV episode.
http://screencrush.com/cbs-under-the-dome-the-simpsons/
Beats talking about this game . . . Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzs
No kidding. I am just about numb with regard to making any in-game comments about the Giants . . . so much incompetence to choose from.
Another wasted opportunity. 7 LOB. Must be the pitching.
3 runs, 9 hits given up in 6 innings, another shitty start.
The Giants “improved” pitching in the second half:
July 4.43 ERA
August 4.08 ERA
How bout those hitting numbers?
No, please tell me again about how the the worst pitching staff in all of baseball — one that has sucked balls every month except April –is not the primary reason the Giants are under 500.
Did Crawford even have a clue what he wanted to do in that AB?
A comeback win tonight would be so fecking sweet. I need this. It’s important to my private so-called life and my whatever-public life. I NEED — YES, NEED — A GIANTS COMEBACK WIN TONIGHT.
Love this post Pawlie!!!!!
Because – when your team wins it means you are a winner. You go to bed a winner, you wake up a winner. One game at a time you are smarter, stronger, hotter and hipper than that guy over there (—–>) and he knows it.
Proud, Bold, Swagger
We are seeing Macdog’s POTD in action, girls.
Pagan as catalyst once again.
Fuckyeah! Pagan SB! Scutaro triple! The Giants saving my night! Keep it going.
Let’s review:
1. Pagan infield single to second.
2. Pagan stolen base.
3. Pagan to 3rd on wild pitch.
4. Pagan scores after Scutaro triple.
Please tell me again why Pagan wouldn’t have made a difference in this fucked up season even if he hadn’t gone on the DL?
Uhh huh . . .
Hey! vogie’s pitching better now.
And a late game rally, just like the fucking winner this team is.
Pagan’s steal of second suggest the hammy is OK.
There is Panda-mania currently in the UK, Scotland to be exact.
Not so much in San Francisco.
ugly end to a very promising inning.
Fuck yeah! Crazy Horse!
Hold em here and get em in extras.
James, the Giants hitting was near the top pre all star break. They are now at the bottom post asb. Not that hard to figure.
And the pitching has been at the bottom all year. 594 runs given up. That is an awful, season long performance.
Hell, there are so many ways to say this:
1. The highest scoring team in the NL is the Cardinals. If they had he Giants pitching, they would have about 8 fewer wins, and that’s not taking into account the fact it is easier to score in StL’s park
2. The Giants had 569 runs scored at the end of August last year. If that offense was playing with this year’s pitching staff, the team would still be well under 500.
3. Last year, the pitching staff had slightly below average 3.68 ERA for the whole year. The Reds have a 3.68 ERA this year and have given up 496 runs. If the Giants had that pitching this year, they would be around 500.
Fuck. I jinxed that. Damn.
my sentiments exactly
Per several posts about Breaking Bad, I am a much happier camper in China, now that I have found a website for streaming TV show and movies. Of course Face Book and You Tube are blocked here (can’t have any semblance of freedom of speech, you know), but they do have a Chinese site called Youku (pronounced yo-koo) that is sort of like You Tube except people can’t post their own stuff. It’s all in Chinese characters, but if you type any English title in the little box, it will find it. Watched episode 1, season 1 of Breaking Bad this morning to try it out, and voila, no problems That will largely be my evening in-room entertainment lo these months… Combine that with grooveshark.com for music, and at least I can watch and listen to things now on my laptop (TV, useless, all crap on CCTV, TV is already unplugged for the duration). On we go…
and Beijing looks so romantic in the travel folders.
And here I thought “Breaking Bad” had something to do with the Giants’ champs to chumps 2013 season.
Well, I have said for months (on many past threads) that I believe Pagan’s loss had a huge impact on the Giants. No, he probably is not going to spark them to gain 14 games (reference to an early post by Mac), but I don’t think you can minimize what he meant to the team as a spark and catalyst (stole that catalyst part from Jon Miller). I was also one of those who said it made no sense to bring him back this year, but I’ll admit, it is fucking sweet to see El Cabalo Loco out there again.
I am PUMPED thinking ahead to the Orange Sombrero Flapalooza!
Just watched the latest “Inside the Clubhouse – Homegrown Giants.”
http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/sf/fan_forum/gen/itc_index.jsp
It kicks ass! I have both full DVD sets for both the 2010 and 2012 World Series, and a ton of other Giant stuff, but this is one of the best pieces I have seen. It really drove home how happy I am to be a fan of the Orange and Black.
Tough loss tonight, but was glad to see them battle back. There was some good pitching, solid defense, and timely hitting…all the things that have been missing. I just want to see them continue to play solid and hit that Quest for Fourth!
Get ’em tomorrow and win the Series! GO GIANTS!
Make it an awesome rest of the weekend, Flappers.