Garbage Trucks and Droughts
Today, I want everyone to look for garbage trucks. If you see one, take notice, you just saw yourself a good luck charm. Notice as many as you can, The Giants need all the help they can get….
But before tomorrow’s game, we have the AL wild card game. It’s shaped up to be quite interesting with Lester facing off against The 29 year Droughters. I think Oakland wins and I think KC plays too tightly tonight. All the pressure is on the Royals and when you’re carrying the hopes and dreams of 29 years gone by for 40,000 fans, that could easily tighten the players up to the point of failure.
So remember, look for garbage trucks today. If you don’t see one before game time tomorrow, we are in big, big trouble….
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
Couple good columns on F-G today that cover the principals, Bum and Volquez.
Bum talks about how he positions himself in a mirror, mechanics, and how he adjusts grip and location. Quite insightful, and obvious he isn’t just a dumb hard thrower but is very analytical about how he goes about his craft.
By contrast, V just seems lucky lately with plus factors being he is in pitcher friendly park and has good D behind him. As Flav pointed out yesterday, very up and down career.
Lot of interesting comments from bloggers on mgr. decision on whom to use in those last 2 games. If V blows up and SF wins and Pirates are gonzo after a stellar season, Hurdle will get a lot of heat. If Bucs win then Hurdle is set with his 2 best ready for Division series vs. Nats and looks like a genius.
Guy who isn’t a genius is the U of Michigan head football coach who threw his obviously concussed QB back in there couple plays after 100K fans saw him get his bell rung. The kid had suffered an ankle injury that everyone focused on instead of the fact he did have a concussion. The medical staff (and there were a bunch of them present including neurologist) disconnect with coaching staff might prompt NCAA to make more mandatory requirements on sidelines in hopes of avoiding stuff like this.
I dunno, more you read about injuries and all the season ending stuff that happens all the time, makes me wonder where football is headed and what it will look like at all levels in a few years. I saw a blog post from a guy who said if it weren’t for fantasy, interest would be far different.
Luck, schmuck. As far as I’m concerned the Giants are playing with house money and everything after 162 is gravy. They’ll come out loose and shut em down.
Will be an interesting game. What is not to like about an elimination game…
Regardless of their home record I don’t see Pirates beating Bum, esp with anything less than their best SP. If they faced him 81 times in their yard I doubt they’d be 51-30.
Too bad this is the one game match up, I’d like to see Bucs go farther than any other NL team beside SF.
Stat on blog about quality starts (day or two ago here, right?) showed Bum winning 18 of 21 times he did that. He holds Pirates down I think SF is in.
Lester vs. Shields is a great match up but I think KC has better pen and A’s bats have gone silent all too often lately. Close, but no cigar for Billy…again.
After flying 10 hours home from London, the Raiduhs got off the plane. Then, they fired Dennis Allen via a telephone call. A phone call. WTF? Easily the most dysfunctional organization in pro football, if not pro sports…
My neighbor across the street from me is a HUGE Raidahs fan – goes all out on gameday – my two girls and his two girls are close in age and play together constantly – I’ve had many a beer and bbq at his place – anyways, the wife and I pulled up in front of the house Sun. evening and he was out on his porch in his Raiders jersey with his head hung low.
Me: “Hey, Ernie, how’s it going?”
Him :”Not good”
My wife (Not a football fan, and probably concerned something was wrong with the kids or something) : “Oh no, what’s wrong?”
Him : “MY TEAM SUCKS!”
My wife just chuckled a little and turned to go into the house. I shook my head, and went over to have a cold one on his porch and try to cheer him up. He’d had a few and was really torn up about it. felt bad for him, but yeah, the Raidahs are flat-out TERRIBLE.
I really thought that after Al passed-away, that the org would start moving in the right direction (as did all of my friends who are Raider fans). Nope. Still the most fucked-up franchise in sports, IMO.
I don’t know how to look this up, but when Mad Bum made his last start against the blue, Scully said his era on 6 or more days rest was well under 1.0….if that trend continues, ya gotta like the G’s chances.
Well, at least he won’t have to face Justin Turner or Matt Kemp.
Bum is proven in the postseason. And His comments today about wanting to be out there and anyone who doesn’t want to be the guy, should fine another line of work says it all.
It’s the offense that concerns me.
But Volquez is a bit of a ?. His only postseason start he lasted 1 2/3. Jump on him early and maybe he falls apart.
I’ll be pulling big-time for KC tonight and don’t buy that all the pressure is on them. A’s best team in baseball at the AS break and now they had to just barely squeeze into the WC game on last day of the season? I say that odyssey took too much out of them and they’re just relieved that they got there. Their emotional roller-coaster ride ends tonight with them completing their free-fall.
Saw one this morning.
I am at our office in Phoenix, and my connectivity has been spotty. Just realized there was a new thread. Here is an article I posted on the last thread. Not sure if it has been shared, or not, but I thought it was a good read.
Not a guy who I read a lot in relation to bay area baseball, but I thought this was a good encapsulation of the Giant’s and A’s seasons. Let’s GO GIANTS!
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Wild-summer-for-A-s-Giants-ushers-in-potential-5789318.php
I think the key (and this has been the absolute truth with our boys this year) is to jump out to an early lead, and for Bum to put up a couple of 0s. I am actually looking forward to watching the A’s tonight as a precursor to the Giants-Bucs game tomorrow. As I said earlier, what is not to like about a winner-take-all elimination game. Giddy Up – GO GIANTS!
as I type this…
947 San Francisco Giants M Bumgarner
Over 6.5
(-110)
-1.5
(+155)
-116
948 Pittsburgh Pirates E Volquez
Under 6.5
(-110)
+1.5
(-175)
+106
Here is the link to Bum’s stats (career splits). If you scroll about half-way down, you find the Days of Rest tab. Two games, no starts, 3.0 IP, 0.00 ERA and 1.00 WHIP. Great numbers, but VERY SMALL sample size. Anyway, if you go to Baseball Reference dot com for a player, and choose career splits, you will get this, and a ton of other stats. I still like the Giants chances with Big Country taking the ball tomorrow.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?id=bumgama01&year=Career&t=p
So Scully was just blowing air maybe…
Ishi gets the start in LF…
http://bleacherreport.com/tb/df3Xy?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=san-francisco-giants
What a trip on Ishi and Strickland. Should be a very intriguing game. Damn…I can’t wait!
The country will know the name Joe Panik after tomorrow’s game.
So, you are saying the Bucs are going to experience a “Panik Attack?” I am with Willie D, and the Bucs are a team I would have liked to seen go far (outside the Giants). Oh well…Fuck the Bucs.
and the names of Matt Duffy, Andrew Susac, and Jean Machi, too!
. . . and Hunter Strickland and Adam Duvall and Juan Perez…um, those last two? I don’t think so.
Not sure how many of the “kids” will be on the 25 for this game. They will stack the 25 specifically for this game. Obviously, Panik will be there, and I suspect Duffy makes that squad. Outside of that, it is hard to say. My stomach is doing somersaults just thinking about tomorrow’s game.
Hopefully for some clutch ABs and not for a Brooks Conrad moment.
Didn’t Braves D melt down last year in the play in game on some weird play, IF fly non call or something?
Hi. I have nothing clever to say except: I am wiggling in my seat, pacing internally, and squirming with anticipation! When the Giants put on those 2014 POSTSEASON T-shirts and sprayed each other in the Pence-inspired clubhouse with alcoholic beverages, I watched and said to myself: “Only 10 teams have this privilege. This is great deja vu. In 2010 and maybe even more in 2012 — who can say? — I thought a World Championship was but a fanciful dream. Even now, I have tamped down my expectations. But who knows? Anything can happen. ACH.” (I didn’t actually say any of that to myself, but some thoughts along those lines.) GO, GIANTS! GO, GIANTS! GO, GIANTS! GO, GIANTS! LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL!
25 Guys.
ONE Common Goal.
LET’S ROLL, GIANTS!
Has anyone seen the 25 man roster for tomorrow’s game? I am curious to see the number of and names of the pitchers they take to Pittsburg. I looked at sfgiants.com but did not see a roster slated specifically for this game.
I mean, IF IF this team rolls onward, I won’t be able to contain myself. Can you just imagine the craziest scenarios? We beat Pittsburgh, then the Art Dealers, and then the A’s for all the marbles? Chew on that bone, dawgs.
I am pretty sure that the Natty Nats is who the Gigantes will face if they get past the Bucs. Bums and Cards in the other NLDS. I would LOVE to see us advance past the NLDS, and knock out the fricking bumbinos (even better, at the latrine) to advance to the World Serious.
Right. In my exuberance, I got ahead of myself. Life story.
I am there regularly, too, Pawlie. Exuberance and Giants baseball is a wonderful thing, right?
Bochy, btw, is 6-0 in post season series with SF. I’m just saying… going against Donnie, Matheny, Hurdle and Matt Williams. Edge Giants, no?
I like his percentages. From a pure managerial perspecitve, I agree…huge advantage Bochy. I mean, would you want to manage against a guy with that huge a dome? (Grin)
Yeah, Willie, the Braves got ripped off the first year of the two Wild Cards. The Braves had a much better record than the Cardinals, I think, and then the Cardinals win the game because an ump called an infield-fly rule on a ball farther into the outfield than any of us has ever seen an infield fly called before. The Cards shortstop and outfielder were have a difficult time getting to the ball, and ended up dropping the ball. But suddenly an ump called infield fly about the time the ball was a few feet above the fielders’ heads. Total confusion ensued. Not only was the Braves batter out, when he shouldn’t have been, but a Braves baserunner got confused, stopped in the basepath, and got tagged out. DOUBLE-PLAY!!! Game-changer!!! Horrible call by the ump, and a bitter pill for Braves fans to swallow. And then the Cards go on to win the World Series.
A total bunch of crap.
An infield fly is supposed to be called immediately, to let the runners know what’s happening. And no one had ever seen an infield fly called on a ball that was between the infielders and outfielders, who were struggling to get to it.
Yeah, that sucked…I remember it big time. Of course, it could happen in any game at any juncture in the season, but to have it happen in an elimination game was totally effed-up.
Yeah, zoom – that was complete bullshit – but then, the best fans in baseball got to see their team win the WS…
Best fans in baseball? St. Looie? Yeah, that’s the ESPN (name your feed) story line. Fuck that! BEST fans in baseball are the fans of the Orange and Black…SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS!
I don’t think the Cards won the WS that year. I’ll tell you why. My Starry Night book is about 2011. That’s the last year without the play-in game, so it had to be 2012 (SFG Champs) or 2013 (Bosox Champs). I think it was 2012.
Yeah, it was 2012.
“Payback’s a Bitch”
We owe Pittsburgh one dating back to 1971 NLCS!!!
I’ll take Bumgarner anytime, anywhere to get the W as the Orange&Black continue their quest for a 3rd W/S ring in 6 years!!!!!
Kat – it would actually be Three Rings in Five Years. I love the symetry in that thought too.
2010 – WS Champs.
2011 – nada.
2012 – WS Champs, again.
2013 – nada.
2014 – TBD…GO GIANTS!
I have been out of the mix for a few as I was preparing for and traveling to Phoenix. I have not seen much from Blade lately. Has he gotten lost in the jungles of Laos, or is he perhaps absorbed with some brown-skinned beauties…might be both.
I wouldn’t put anything past the A’s. Rather see the Royals progress through the playoffs. Not that I dislike the A’s, but they have had many shots to get somewhere in the playoffs, and have failed.
Give the long-suffering fans a shot.
I think the Giants can pull it off. Why? Bochy.
If the Giants do get through this play-in game, the Nats are the biggest dog in the hunt right now. This one-game thing is fricking nerve-wracking. One bad play wipes out an entire season? Seems too random.
It’ll be epic to get back to the playoffs. The real playoffs. Just don’t know how we’ll make it through the gauntlet, but we did it before.
Apropos of nothing, I thought Bud said the format would switch the WC thing to a best-of-3 play-in series at some point.
I agree, Charlie, but there have been several times in the past couple of post-seasons when the Nats were “the biggest dog in the hunt.” You know what I have to say about that…bigger they are…harder they fall.
good movie; GREAT GREAT album
Agree, Pawlie, on both counts (movie and album).
[…] The rest of the article can be found here: THE San Francisco Giants Blog […]
The stats supposedly show that the earlier a team clinches their division, the worse they do in the playoffs. Or something like that. So, if the Gyros get past the Bucs, they definitely have a shot at the Nats…
I could see that, and have read and heard a number of conversations on this…where the players and pitchers get out of their normal rotation, etc.
It definitely hurt the Tigers in 2012, who were having to wait for the Giants to finish their grueling 7-game series with the Cards. The Giants were knife-edge sharp for the World Series, and the Tigers were rusty from hanging out and playing grab-a## intra-team scrimmages. MLB network showed some footage from one of those scrimmages, with Tigers players laughing and having a good old yuck-yuck time. I suddenly got more confident about the Giants’ chances.
Really we have one more advantage over the Pirates with Bum on the bump.He’s an extra bat in the LU,that will win the silver slugger award as the best hitting pitcher in the NL bar none!!!
Volquez=Soloman Torres in this game!!
Hah! Well played, sir! Pulling out the Salomon Torres card. I’m feeling better already.
Thanks for the correction on the Braves/Cards game, Pawlie. It’s cool that the Giants ended up eliminating the Cards that season. The Cards really didn’t deserve to be there.
I’ve said this before on the Flap; the Cards remind me of the Joe Gibbs Washington teams (in the NFL) in the ’80s and early ’90s. They were never spectacular; but they were very consistent, and any time the other top teams faltered, then Washington would be the champs. They were just always hanging around, and the Cards have a way of doing that.
One note on our boys’ experiences in Pittsburgh this year, while they were 2-4, three of those four losses were by one run. Giants need to score early/first, and play solid fundamental ball (no free outs or runs). If they do these things, I seriously like our chances.
LET’S ROLL – GO GIANTS!
I like our chances if Bum has a quiet first inning. He, like a lot of other great starting pitchers, seems most vulnerable in the first inning. That means he needs to get through the first McCutcheon AB ok, and then I think Bum is off to the races. He settles into his groove, and the Giants get to Volquez eventually.
He also needs an ump who doesn’t squeeze him.
I’ve seen that get to him on occasion…
Fortunately for him, he won’t have to face Justin Turner or Kemp in the first tomorrow.
“We owe Pittsburgh one dating back to 1971 NLCS!!!”
My first year as a Giants fan. When they lost in the playoffs, I was disappointed, but I thought: “Hey, they’ll be right back in the playoffs next season.”
Little did I know….d’oh!!!………………
Interesting you say that, Zumieeeee. McCovey is on record saying they weren’t all that disappointed in losing the 1962 WS because they figured they’d be back, easily and maybe often. (Not in those words.)
They could’ve been, but they were always short one good SP and a solid lead off hitter…
Yeah, 1969 was my first year of getting into baseball. Chris Speier was my favorite when he came up in ’70. So much fun to watch him and Tito turn DPs. And yeah, with game one under our belts, I thought we were world series bound. . . That hurt near as bad as the Niner playoff losses around that time.
I have never in my entire life heard of garbage trucks being good luck charms. 🙂
Was wondering the same.
Bumgarner 11-4 2.22 era on the road this season.12-4 after he takes down Pitt in their house.
“The Undertaker” lines up the coffins and buries these guys!
POTD, IMO.
WTF? Garbage trucks? No garbage trucks in Laos. Plenty of tuk tuks though. They count?
Fuck it. Go Giants!
That was Kuip’s thing in 2012. He saw a garbage truck and had a premonition that we were going to win it all
Ahh . . . See? I miss all these little nuggets and minutia being in the jungle. 🙂
“tuk tuks” anything like cuchi-cuchi? Speaking of which, did you know Charo learned flamenco guitar from Andres Segovia?
MLB.tv is a fraud. I signed up the day it was offered for $12 for the rest of the year. The promo very ostensibly said, right through and including the world Series, for the first time. As we speak: I am blacked out from the TBS feed and all I get is a commercial br — WAIT. Quad view just came on. OK. Fer feck sake.
I really do like Ernie Johnson, and especially Ron Darling, on TBS. Darling, a Yale guy, typically gives good respect to your San Francisco Giants.
My favorite Ron Darling moment:
look how thin the players are
Cocaine & greenies. Nobody had an appetite…
good one, Loo
Shields really feeling it now – it’s slip sliding away for Oaktown.
And right after I post that, Shields can’t find the strike zone next time out – lost it in a hurry there.
Morning in Guangzhou, China; no garbage trucks, but I am, at this very moment, watching an orange-clad worker sweeping the streets. Does that count? I think so. Afterall, today is a big holiday here (National Day, 65 years since Mao ushered in the “new China”). Gotta figure watching a laborer do his duty on a holiday is good luck. As others have said here about the game, there are many possible keys, but the one that seems most important is scoring first. Hey Pawlie, “We score (first), we win.” By the way, Pawlie, Cu Chi is actually a town north of Saigon where the most preserved VC tunnels are… 🙂
good post, PaulinthefareastamongtheMandarins
And Brandon Moss says Fuck you KC and your stupid manager (Yost)for throwing in a kid in a pressure situation as he torches a 3 run Bomb to add to his other 2 run Bomb! all 5 RBI’s have a night Brandon Moss!!!
Yep – Shields was only at 88 pitches when Yost yanked him – quick hook to say the least.
Suggestion for you tomorrow night:
http://tinyurl.com/kttvoky
Steve, you on Yahoo?
Btw.. These freakin announcers are the dumbest hillibillys I’ve ever heard!
They didn’t even realize Brandon Moss hit a HR till he reached 2nd base.
this game was just too big for these young Royals. No surprise. Good experience for them, though. I’d down with the A’s, several of their players have made me some good coin this year…….
hold on; game not over
I love the way these Royals run. Sheesh. Old-style NL ball.
Gonna be saying the same thing about the Pirates BF.
ROYALS!
A’s are a bunch of ball garglers
Damm looks like the A’s have been run over by a garbage truck this inning!
Shit got interesting real quick.
Well, if the A’s blow this in the 9th, it will be a meltdown on a parallel with the one they almost accomplished (but dodged) before becoming the final team to make the dance.
A loss would be a bone-dry anus fuck with some KC dry rub to make it burn
Well said!
again, not your worst post ever.
Been there, done that, eh ODB?
I think Zum’s 3:29 is spot on. Woodson on radio quoted a stat about Bum’s first 15 pitches being worst for ERA.
Harrison had great season, second in NL for avg I think. Get past he and Mac who has .900+ OPS and hits way over .300 at home in the first inning, and Bum should cruise.
Woodson also mentioned LF at PNC being much less friendly to long ball than ATT LF. In that F-G column I read this morning Bum talked about changing where he positions himself on rubber to 3b side, as a way to stay in on RHs. Also relies more on pitches up as batters look for more pitches down in the zone. I love when he zaps guys out with that high heat. Seek and destroy, big guy!
Anybody watching this game with their kid or grandkid must be shuddering through those Viagara commercials. What’s an erection, gramps?
Gramps forgot. (This grampa ain’t done forgot, let me tellya!)
Well if it last 4 hours I want some ,gramps is thinking.
Man, these guys run on anyone.
Sweet!
Tie game! That’s entertainment, girls!
Wow. Royals play some NL ball to tie the game. Unreal.
I like their style, like 6 Willie Mayses on the basepaths, though no one seems to “dance” anymore the way Mays, Robinson, and other players of that era did before they ran, most notably guys from the Negro Leagues.
Wow, Gotta hand it to these Royals, they play “Balls to the Walls” with their daring play to get that tying run, great game ! Really dig postseason games, especially a 1 and done scenario.
Ballsy base running in this Royals comeback.
Think they’d get second guessed if he was out at third?
Damn! More National League small ball. Unreal if they do this…
Was Bob Melvin a “good Giant”?
I think so. Not great but good.
Damn! I thought that one was sneaking through….
Ripken has dedicated his life to keeping younger men from advancing their careers.
One thing cool about baseball is teams like KC and Pitt perennial “bottom feeders” get back to respectability faster with all the high draft picks both team get ,and watching them all gel together in 3-5 year span.Stud arms,speed etc
Lead-off guy on, again. One of these innings the Royals just have to cash in.
Damn! The longer the Royals get close to scoring and choke, the more I can see another A’s bomb biting them in the ass.
Hey Ernie,
Try your wet dream fantasy finish on dumber fans then flappers.
Jason Nix .091 avg and without even a hit with the Royals ,was not gonna give you a game winner!
Some hints about the 25 man for the WC game…
http://m.giants.mlb.com/news/article/97123816/giants-to-carry-extra-pitchers-with-michael-morse-doubtful-for-wc-game
Thanks, wins…
Down goes Frasor.
A’s score!
Did you catch that calligraphy on that lineup card? Impressive.
Yeah, I thought I was hallucinating. It’s hard to read.
I can’t seem to find a box score for this game. Anyone know how many pitchers these teams brought for this one-game (now well in extras) do or die situation?
I’m sure it’ll be in your Sun Yat Sentinel tomorrow morning…
LMAO…
I really did LOL, but no one was here to hear it.
According to mlb.com boxscore, looks like A’s have 8 pitchers (4 still in bullpen) and Royals have 9 pitchers (2 still in bullpen).
What a way to start off the postseason – hell of a game!
Holy shit! Un-fucking-real!
Ok, this game is now off the rails.
Some ballgame to say the least
Blowing that lead, they take a Royal cheese-filled sausage slap to the face!
I wonder if there are any old-time K.C. fans there rooting for the A’s.
Great question, Mac. I wonder….
I’ve noticed several dozen Jose Tartabull jerseys in the stands…
Unfucking believeable!
We’re never getting out of Kansas Toto!
8-8 !!
Well Bochy just set his W/C roster watching this one, 11 arms in the pen!!
i wonder if watching this game impacted his decision…