A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball

I won’t be there, I’ve had a prior commitment planned outside the Bay Area for the last couple of months. But there’s nothing like a parade. Sounds like some members of The FU are gonna storm The City. If you go, take pictures and send them to me.

Not to “rain” on the parade, but I laughed a little bit to myself yesterday every time I heard someone tell me this is a dynasty. Call it that if you want but I’m not seeing it. We have exactly ONE dominant starting pitcher. We have exactly ONE healthy, high level playing outfielder. Our 3rd baseman is about to bail. I like our infield good enough. That is not a dynasty. We are fucked next year, lol.

But if you want to give someone props for this 3rd one you might want to thank Dan Uggla. Seriously. Had he not sucked so horribly and completely Sabean never would have called up Panik and given him a daily shot at 2nd base. And Joe Panik is absolutely one of the top 2 or 3 reasons that we won it all this year…..

Have fun today wherever you are and whatever you’re gonna do. Knowing dude head nods for all!

There’s a lot of chatter about the word “dynasty” going on right now and I honestly don’t get it or care about it. To me, a dynasty is 1 team of most all the same players who win at least 3 championships over a short period of time. And that isn’t what’s going on. Each of these 3 were gifted to us by different men in different ways. Having a few of the same players on this team who were on the last team or the team before that doesn’t make it a dynasty. To me. But feel free to debate the definition of the word. I’ll be busy raising a third flag in my soul and these absolutely fly forever. That’s not just some bullshit I say because it sounds good. It’s what’s up.

Besides the obvious contributions of one man, I still don’t understand how any of this happened. I’m just so thankful that it happened. When stuff like this happens, even if you’re a cynical, negative person, you start to realize that anything, truly, is possible.

I’m not going to the parade, I’m headed east on a 2 day vacation. Breeders Cup on Sat. World Series win last night. Still can’t type that without shaking my head and smiling…..

The biggest problem I have going right now is finding room on that > side of the blog for another World Series ring picture. Somehow, I’ll make space. 🙂 🙂 🙂

_______________________

for those of you who don’t listen to KNBR–a long time ago, some dude wrote a Bumgarner haiku. He read it and had some background drums beating, it’s pretty funny. Anyway, here it is sans music

“Your expanding pants

Now accommodating balls

Big as tractor wheels”

Well said.

___________________________

and finally….

I still don’t have words to describe this. So here’s a video. Of me listening to the radio.

I couldn’t take watching the game anymore so I went out to my car in the driveway, in the dark, to listen to the Perez at bat.

It ended the way I wanted it to….

Well, whoever wins tonight can say they genuinely earned it. Nobody plays 6 weeks of spring training, 6 months of baseball plus nearly a month of playoff ball to find out they “lucked” into the crown.

This will be the 38th Game 7 in World Series history (I counted that myself so it could be off by one or two). It’s the second Game 7 since 2002 and I have blocked out that game from my memory bank.

Truly, I’m not really sweatin’ this game. I think we will win. You know who also isn’t sweatin’ it? These guys…..

Lost in all the drama approaching tonight is this sad fact: no matter what, this is the final baseball game of the year and that bums me out a little bit. Here’s to a great season FU—-whatever happens, happens.

Four years ago, nearly to the day, twin posted this:

and even with one win still yet unsecured I feel the same way about the guys on this team. I’ll never forget this team….

God dammit. This post season finally got to me. I’ve spent each series trying to convince myself that I’m just happy to be here. I’ve kept my celebrations muted. I’ve avoided expectations. I’ve been more like “Painfully Awkward Rob Lowe” than the ebullient Big Flavor.

But with but one win to go, I can no longer keep this charade up. I want what is rightfully ours. I want another flag flying at the top of Flap Mountain.

And make no mistake about it, these championships are as much for us as they are the players. There is no flag without the fans. With each championship we bank, our identity gets stronger, our head nod gets tighter and the supernova burns its brightest yet.

Enjoy all of it, FU. Let’s go get our 3rd in Five….

Yesterday, some time during the first inning, I had this text exchange with my buddy (A’s fan) –I’d asked him if he was watching the game. After the first run crossed the plate in the 2nd inning I texted him “game over.” And I wasn’t blowing fake confidence. I truly believed it. Madison Bumgarner has become the most reliable pitcher in the major leagues and you could make a pretty easy case that he’s the best post season pitcher in baseball history.

On the cusp of our 3rd world championship in five years I’m having trouble coming up with the words to explain any of this. I’m just enjoying the gifts this team keeps giving me…..

___________________________________

For fun, I dipped into the archives to see what we were saying with one win to go in 2010 and 2012:

https://oneflapdown77.com/2010/11/01/1-more-win/

https://oneflapdown77.com/2012/10/28/one-more-win/

The Giants are 7-0 in playoff games started by Voggy so clearly Bochy knew what he was doing. 🙂

Don’t forget that Petit’s dad, who hates to fly, got to watch his son win that game yesterday.

I’m quite positive that I’ll never forget that game. That one will stand out among the rest regardless of the outcome of this series. What did they have? 14 singles? Never have that many singles been louder.

So here we go. Critical Game 5 with Country Breakfast on the hill. I feel confident about our chances……

I wonder what it feels like to shell out $700 for a seat to a World Series game and watch your team lose. Serious question. I’ve been to one game, in 2010, and the memories from that game are as strong and as awesome as the day of the game. But would they sustain over the time had the Giants lost? It’s gotta feel like a win, as fan, to not pay the $700 and to not have to watch your team lose (in person).

It was fantastic to see Pawlie Kokonuts and Sarge yesterday. Freaking Pawlie was getting interviewed by someone associated with the Giants within the first 5 minutes that we hung out. Sarge braved the knot hole experience. He sent me some photos that I’ll post later….

Last night’s loss felt like a lot of regular season losses–can’t hit, can’t win. The pitching was fine. If the Giants can’t figure out a way to score some mid/late game runs against the Royal bullpen I don’t know what to say. Other hitters have broken through against them. This “HGH” stuff is overblown. They’re just men.

The weather stinks right now. Cold. Windy. It was raining earlier this morning. Weather God’s say the game isn’t in jeopardy. I know that several Flappers are hooking up pre-game to toast The FU and to socialize. Have fun up there, boys, sorry I couldn’t make it today.

Days like these are some of the favorite of my life. I don’t know if I’ll get into the game. Likely not. But the anticipation of the train, the swell of excitement ebbing and flowing, the spontaneous chants that the train drunkards start—I love it all. It’s a 55 minute joyride. I’ve got two train stubs (2010/2012) pinned to my wall at work. After today there will be a third.

I’ve got no expectations for the day and no real plans. But I can’t wait to get up there….

As usual, if you want to follow “Big Flavor’s Day Off” you can follow on twitter up until the point that I have to turn my phone over to the officer at SF county. 🙂

@1flapdown77

I’m in a pretty + mood today. See, all Strickland was doing was merely announcing his presence with authority. He’l be back.

The Royals are going to be lost trying to play the NL game at AT&T. Yost has his work cut out for him.

And this guy? This is my guy.

We got too used to sweeping World Serieseseses’.

Play hard. Wait for mistakes. Win.

As a fan, the difference between this World Series and the other two is easy to pinpoint: I’m as calm and cool as a cucumber. We’ve got 2 in the kitty so it’s not the end of the world if we don’t finish the job. And, unlike Royal fans, this isn’t my first rodeo. (apparently, I’m trying to break the record for most cliches used to start a Flap thread). Sorry, I’ll stop.

Twinfan had a brilliant post at the end of the last thread. Here it is:

“It’s not surprising that we’re underdogs year after year. Bochy preps for the postseason from Day one. His patience pays off when the guys he stuck with come up big.None of the experts think of Blanco, Arias, Perez, Ishi- the game is all about the stars to much of the media whereas the postseason is won by a 25 man team, not 3 or 4 guys. Juan hasn’t done anything sexy- he’s just helped win games quietly. Ishi was a *little* louder but how big was it that Bochy trusted a 4 time castoff to start in the playoffs? This a team game and we’ve fielded the best team. and the best manager.”

I couldn’t agree more. The brain dead lemming national media spends their time learning the names of the stars like Puig and Miggy. They don’t understand what it takes for a team to coalesce and win. “ALL THE WAY” win. That’s why so many of them spend most of the season debating who’s going to win the MVP in each league.

I’ve watched this “team thing” happen for 3 straight now and it seems obvious to me. Experience absolutely matters in games like these. Why don’t the national chumps understand this?

As for the Royals, as I said, they should have lost at least one post season game before last night. Their fans looked broken after UnderPants hit his monster bomb. And Ned Yost has no business managing against Bruce Bochy. NONE BUSINESS.

#3in5

Everyone here at The Flap is familiar with the “Knowing Dude Head Nod.” It’s an interaction that 2 strangers wearing the same Giants gear might have in passing on the street. It’s always done silently. A fist bump or high five may accompany it. The phrase itself was popularized by our own Ted-Spe after we won the 2010 World Series. And for true Giants fans, it wasn’t just something we did. It was something we had earned. You root for a team that’s lost for 50 years, and then they finally win? That’s earned. And there is no championship harder to win in all of sports than baseball. That’s not even arguable. In any given year, to win the World Series, you have to win significantly more games throughout the season and the playoffs than any other sport….

While I was doling out my coveted head nods this week to the worthy, I thought of what it must be like to be a Royals fan right now. They must be positively giddy. They don’t know what a knowing dude head nod is. Right now, they’re doing an “Excited Guy Hello!!!!!!” that includes vigorous waving. Make no mistake, they’re nodding. But there’s nothing cool or knowing about it. On closer inspection they aren’t really nodding, their whole body is shaking with excitement. Their face is locked in a perma-smile and their gaze is at least a thousand yards. Combine that with the brand spanking new merchandise they’re rockin’, and there just isn’t a single thing “knowing” or “dude-like” about them.

But that could change. If they win, they’ll finally “know.” They’ll chill the fuck out and an organic “knowing dude head nod” will begin to evolve in the fan base.

Now, I don’t think that’s going to happen. My guess is that Royals fans are gonna be bathed in their brand new baby blues while they helplessly watch us win our third world championship in the last five years. After that, the only blues left will be the ones they’re singing……..

And our nod just gets stronger. It’s gets more knowing. Enjoy the game tonight. This is our time….

___________________________

Still gearing up for tomorrow’s game in KC, we are starting to see the FU Flapalooza come together a bit (but not yet enough for me to send out an email). I can tell you that I am meeting Kokonuts in the City on Friday probably by 1:30. I can only stay for a couple of hours, I have a commitment in Los Altos Friday night, but there was no way I was having PK come out to SF and not drape him in black beads (our customary greeting ritual). He has to leave Sat morning. For those that will be around the yard on Friday, hopefully you can hang with PK after I bail. Location: still not determined.

Sat I will definitely be up there for the game. Probably several hours before the game. And it seems like most of the FU is planning on descending upon The City on Saturday. But I’m basing that just off emails I’ve gotten, if you’re going Friday shout it out so PK knows about it……

I loved Hunter Pence today. He said he didn’t know, until they landed, that Kansas City was in Missouri, thought it was in Kansas. “I wasn’t a geography major.” Now, he had to have been kidding since they played a 3 game series there earlier this year and few people are probably that dumb. Still, awesome way to f**k with the national media.

With Game 1 closing in on us tomorrow, Flap Universe (FU) is closing in on San Francisco. After Ishikawa sent us to our third World Series in five years, Flappers around the world deliriously clicked through airline websites trying to match up their love for their team with their available funds. I know for certain that Pawlie Kokonuts is coming out from NY and WilcoJoe is saddled up and coming in from Texas. There may be others. I also know that there are several local Flappers who are coming to AT&T for both Friday and Saturday’s game.

Today is all about coordinating a mini Flapalooza or two, likely outside the park, but who knows?

So email me if you are planning on being up there Fri or Sat (or both), let me know if you have tickets and/or what time you’d be available to meet for beers and knowing dude head nods. Please don’t share details of your trip within this thread since Flapalooza’s are for Flappers who have already attending such gala events as well as for Flappers who have been verified as legit bloggers who frequent The Flap. Known shit disturbers or trolls are not invited.

My email is bigflavor77@gmail.com and I’ll send out a group email tonight once I hear from everyone….

Still enjoy the break from baseball–been basking my ass off. I swear to God, it feels like we already won the World Series. Ishi’s bomb was that powerful. The game was that intense.

I’ve taken the “knowing dude head nod” up a notch. I’ve added a high five. I still don’t say a thing. Occasionally I’ll grunt out a “yep” or something with a single syllable.

Today is for football. Niners vs Denver—easily my most despised NFL franchise that goes all the way back to my college days and the non-stop shit talking one of my Denver buddies would engage in.

Anyway, I need at least one more day before I can talk about baseball again. But feel free to kick it around today. Or whatever is on your mind.

There aren’t any words that I could add that you all didn’t already write last night. So I’ll just share 3 things you probably won’t read or see anywhere else on the internet today:

1) After Game 4 I was surprised that Matheny never went to Wacha in the 4th inning, choosing instead to blow through the best arms in his bullpen in the middle of the game. Yesterday morning I emailed our resident Cardinals expert with that question and this was his response:

It appears Daniel knew more than the manager of the Cardinals did.

Just prior to Ishi’s bomb the camera had an upclose shot of Wacha with the strangest head shake off of a sign I’ve ever seen. It was like he knew this was all about to end. Since most of you re-winded that play as many times as I did you probably don’t even have to go back to look at it to know what I’m talking about…….

#2: I’m assuming there are a lot of liars out there on blogs but just in case anyone thinks the Flap isn’t comprised of straight shooters, here is the pic of San Dawg’s kid with Joe Panik’s homerun ball. In the middle is his nephew and the girl is Chuck’s daughter.

#3: Here’s what you do with a homerun ball that you catch at an SF Giants playoff game. You trade it for a signed bat from the guy who hit it to you:

Those are my 3 unique contributions to the celebration (the pics came courtesy of SanDawg, the moments of a lifetime, courtesy of his son). I want to thank Daniel Shoptaw for entertaining us and educating us on the St Louis Cardinals. He was as classy as his team and he’s a lifetime friend of The Flap. The link to his blog will remain in the blogroll to the right. http://www.cardsconclave.com/c70/

And now it’s off to my day where about 500 knowing dude head nods await……

The Panik ball . . .

I continue to force myself to not have any expectations about this post season. Don’t get me wrong, I’m enjoying the ride. I just don’t understand the ride. But I absolutely BELIEVE in the ride. And when it comes to *magic* that’s about all you really need, right?

What do the Giants do best? Before this series started, I said “they compete.” And while I still believe that, what they really do best is “whatever it takes.” That’s not a very sexy quality to have until you realize that you can make up for a lot of shortcomings when you do “whatever it takes.” In some ways, it’s all you need.

So I accept, without reservation, the imperfections of the 2014 San Francisco Giants. I celebrate their heart and soul. And I honor their innate will to do….”whatever it takes.”

And whether they lose 3 straight or win 5 more games this year, or do something in between, this is one of my favorite teams of all time. Make no mistake, it’s certainly one of the ugliest. But it’s the easiest one in the world to believe in…..

#heartofaGiant

#whateverittakes

Yesterday, Daniel and I had this exchange:

And while the end of the game certainly had a fortuitous feel to it, it wasn’t entirely “luck”. As I said after the game, when you drop down and rush a throw to first base like that the chances of it tailing on you is high. You might be able to pitch that way off the mound in your usual wind up,  but jumping on a perfect bunt and rushing a sidearmed throw to first base? Advantage: us.

Krukow said something interesting this morning on the radio: “Two World Championships has bought them ‘calm’.” And that’s a perfect comment. If you have good pitching and can maintain a sense of calm in a high pressure situation, more often than not good things will happen. You can call that luck if you want but I think there’s way more to it than that. The minidset of the team is, “keep it close, stay focused and calm and more often than not, it will work out in the end.”

And it works both ways. As the game creeps along you know it gets in the collective mind of the Cardinals a little bit. Like, “what new thing is going to go against us now?”  And I think the Cards are about as professional as they come. But this has become a way of life for the Giants this year. We score runs in the stupidest of ways.

It’s gotta have the opposition doing a slow burn. Again, advantage: us.

Here are the questions he asked me with my answers:

Daniel: What are your thoughts about the series so far? Are you content with the split?

Flavor: I am totally content with the split. We just needed one to have a realistic shot at taking the series. Now, playing at home is almost a negative for this reason: If our bats are silent, which is usual, the crowd gets quiet and there’s a lot more pressure on the hitters to perform. I’ve watched it happen for going on 2 years now. I would PREFER to play all of our games on the road.

Daniel: The Giants have seemed to score a lot of “fluky” runs this postseason.  Is there a concern that the offense could be in trouble if they dry up or is the attitude they are doing well now, just imagine if the bats start going?

Flavor: The offense stinks (as I said before the series started). I don’t think anyone expect the bats to suddenly wake up. That’s why advancing will be such a longshot. It’s going to happen with outstanding pitching and fluky runs or it’s not happening.

Daniel: What should we as Cardinal fans expect out of Tim Hudson and Ryan Vogelsong?

Flavor: They should expect both to pitch very well. The pitching staff is locked in. Huddy’s waited his whole life for this oopportunity and Voggy never turns in a bad playoff performance.

_____________

And my questions for him:

Flavor: What are your thoughts about the series so far? Are you content with the split?

Daniel: I don’t know if content is the word, but it’s a far sight better than what it could have been.  I feel like the Cardinals could have taken the first game with a more Wainwright-like performance, but most everyone expected that this series would go at least 6 games and taking a game against Madison Bumgarner can be a huge task anyway.  So, all in all, the split is fine.

Flavor: Aside from his game winning HR, Wong seems to make a lot of mistakes. Do Cards fans like him or do they find him too inconsistent?

Daniel: I don’t seem to hear a lot of a groundswell against Wong, for a number of reasons.  One, he’s just a rookie and we know there’s going to be a learning curve.  Two, he’s not holding anyone back.  If Wong didn’t play during the year, it was Mark Ellis and Daniel Descalso, neither of which got the fan base excited.  They’d much rather have Wong out there than anyone else.  Plus, with two big postseason home runs, he’s built himself up a little baseball capital.

Flavor: What do you think the final score will be for today’s game? I’ll say 2-1 Giants

Daniel: That’s a reasonable prediction and while I think the Cardinals will win, I can’t imagine the scoring being much different.  Maybe 3-1 if someone gets crazy.  There’s already been a backlash over Mike Matheny using Randal Grichuk instead of Peter Bourjos, given Bourjos’s superior defensive capabilities, so it’ll be interesting to see how that goes over.  Plus the Cardinals don’t have Yadier Molina which will likely play a factor as well.  If more than four runs are scored in total in this game, I’d be stunned.

Flavor:  To an outsider, Yaddy seems to be comparable to Buster Posey in terms of his leadership and importance to the team. How devastating is it to not have him out there?

Daniel: It’s pretty rough, there’s no doubt about it.  It’s good that Molina is still able to be with the team, to travel and be in the dugout to impart some wisdom and leadership.  Not quite the same as having him behind the plate, though, especially when it comes to getting close calls.  The Cards will miss him, definitely.

Another day playoff game that I will be missing. Can someone explain the deal with playoff baseball during the day of a work week? Kids are all in school. Adults are all working. So who benefits from this? The fans who lie to their bosses and go to the game and the small percentage of the adult population who doesn’t work who get to watch it on tv?

Stupid.

The Giants are making it rain on me. Seriously, how much more house money could we be playing with? We showed up in the NLCS series with very little expectation and a wheel barrel full of house money. I asked the baseball Gods for but a single win out of these first two games. We won Game 1. Boom. More house money.

I would like to take all of this house money and slide it *under the table* to MadBum to thank him for his epic pitching skills. He’s simply become the best, most reliable playoff pitcher in the history of the franchise. Overstatement? Prove me wrong.

Today is a very busy day but I will sit down at 5:07pm ready and focused. See you guys then.

I won’t bother you guys with analysis of this series since everyone here probably knows as much as I do. I would say the biggest difference between the Cards and the Nats is the playoff experience the Cards bring to the table. I doubt we will see any of their relievers piss themselves on the mound and throw an intentional walk pitch to the backstop. We aren’t going to see any hitter throw his helmet to the ground in protest of a strike he failed to swing at. And I don’t see Matheny getting kicked out of any games.

I’m just stoked beyond belief for whatever comes our way. I don’t take a single trip to the baseball playoffs lightly. I honor and respect what these men have done to put us in a position to enjoy the drama and the excitement they have given us and will continue to give us while Dodger fans get nothing and like it.

So do whatever it is you do to get through the day and I’ll catch you guys on the flip side at 5pm….

________________________

Here’s a funny pic making the rounds on Facebook

Everyone is saying that these playoffs will be the lowest rated ever. I don’t get that. How many people in the US are actively watching the baseball playoffs if their favorite team isn’t in it? Is some guy in Wisconsin going, “There’s no way I’m missing a Yasiel Puig at bat tonight.”

“But I thought your team was the Brewers?”

“Yeah, they are. But apparently that dude goes crazy if you even breath on him in an at bat. I can’t miss that…”

I don’t think that’s how it goes down…….

I could care less what the ratings are for Giants playoff games. It’s not like you win the Series and mlb says, “Um, sorry, you didn’t pull a 10.0. So, no trophy for you.”

These games are for the players and the fans of the teams. I’m addicted to the drama and the scene. If some chump in Minnesota heads to the gym instead of watching the Cards/Giants game I could literally care less…….

I was approached by a St Louis blogger about doing a Q/A for our sites and thought it sounded fun. Here are the questions I generated for him (as well as some from Flap Universe). I had never actually conversed with a Cards fan before and I found his answers to be thoughtful and interesting. It’s always nice to see where the “other side” is coming from. I answered 10 questions for him, I’ll forward you the link to his blog if he writes a thread related to it. Daniel, if you’re reading this, the headline was generated by one of my vet bloggers, Mr Dr Loo…..

The blog owner is named Daniel Shoptaw and coincidentally he was interviewed by my main man Pawlie Kokonuts for his book Baseball’s Starry Night. Daniel is also one of the founding members of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance of which I am a member. I posted a link to his blog in the last thread and I’ll do so again in the comment section of this thread (he requested I do it that way to avoid this thread getting flagged at his work).

Sorry for having to piece the interview together, I couldn’t get it to copy and paste with his answers in red and I like that so I did it this way. I really appreciated the time Daniel took to answer all of our questions.

Why did it feel like we won the World Series last night? Advancing to the NLCS? With THIS team?

No Scutaro all year. Belt hurt for much of it. Cain? Broken. Timmy? A ghost. Romo? Lost the closer job in June. PaGONE. Left Field? A black hole.

So when everyone talks about “playoff experience” and how that’s an advantage for us, I have to look at everyone who ISN’T a part of this NLCS team and think, “what playoff experience?”

Buster. Pence. Bumgarner. Bochy. I guess they were enough to coalesce into the rock of the foundation.

I am probably underestimating the power and the strength and the faith and the drive of TheHeartofAGiant. Besides the men who accomplished this improbable feat, that collective heartbeat was bigger and stronger and better than you or me. Or the Nats. Or, obviously, the Dodgers.

Where do we go from here? I don’t know, we probably don’t belong too much farther than *here*. All I know is that we earned it, no one gave us a thing. And just like every day you wake up still alive, still breathing, so it goes for the San Francisco Giants.

I went to bed feeling like we won the World Series last night. What’s it gonna feel like if we actually get there?

I’m just taking this one (Giant) heartbeat at a time……

I was watching ESPN early this morning. They were showing highlights of the Dodgers losing again. After that, the talking heads got together and blathered out a theme of “the Giants look like they might be in trouble.” One of the guys said it with a sly looking smile on his face.

That’s really some great insight, Jerkoff. The Giants are in trouble? Why? Because they lost their first post season game in their last eleven? Actually, his reasoning was “The Nats look like they’ve finally got their pitching in order.”

Really? The Giants have scored 6 runs in this series. I think the Nats pitching has been “in order” since Game 1. Anyone with a brain knew the Giants were going to be run-challenged in this post season. The Giants can’t hit? Jimmy crack corn and they don’t care. Did Flavor really just drop a “Jimmy crack corn” on us? Fuckin’ right I did. I’ll throw any pitch at any time……

And I don’t need some ESPN dickhead in a suit telling me what the Giants shortcomings are. The team knows what they are better than anyone. It’s probably one of the things that fuels them.Because I guarantee you that the views of dipshit blowhards on tv go a long way towards motivating our players. And sometimes, that type of motivation can go a long way.

Gio Gonzalez is nobody’s big game pitcher. I’d take Voggy and his raggedy-ass arm over him any day. Sprinkle some nails over your Cheerios, dawg, and go get ’em……

For me, this is another #noexpectations game. It’s much easier for me to admire what the Giants have done so far this post season than to expect them to continue doing it. After all, it’s almost unarguable that this is the worst of our playoff teams (comparing 2014 to 2010/2012). Our hitters stink and we have 1.5 reliable starting pitchers.

And yet here we are on the cusp of advancing to the NLCS. And we have the best starting pitcher in the playoffs going for us today.

It’s a day game, the wind will be blowing out a bit and it’s warm enough that the ball should be lubed up enough to leave the yard now and again.

Who will be today’s hero?

#TheHeartOfaGiant

If you want to know what a *knowing dude head nod” looks like, just lock eyes with a San Francisco Giants fan right now. Now in our third post season in the last 5 years, even the national idiots seem to be picking up what the Giants are throwing down. Focus. Unyielding focus. Distractions don’t exist. While the Nats are busy slamming their bats on the ground and screaming like 3rd graders at the umpire, the Giants take the same calls and just get back calmly in the box. Maybe a slight look back. That’s it.

And is there a better manager in baseball than Bruce Bochy? Matt Williams tried to justify his idiotic pitching change in the 9th last night by saying, “Why did we decide to take Zimmerman out? Because that’s the way we did it all year.” And that’s the exact thing I would expect a clueless rookie manager to say who has never managed before in the post season. And while chaos rained down on the infield during the ejections, Bruce Bochy, calm and in charge, made a beeline to the umpire to discuss the eligibility of Kevin freaking Frandsen and whether he had been announced and burned (or not). I am so thankful that I have a manager that can keep that type of attention to the detail of the game while all hell is breaking loose….

I said it before the playoffs started and I stand by it: I really don’t care what happens in 2014. Of course, I would love another world championship. But I don’t NEED one the same way KC and the Dodgers do. What I’m getting from my team so far this post season has strengthened and solidified the baddest assed *knowing dude head nod* that I have in me.

Yesterday was just a very satisfying day of baseball, don’t you think?

After becoming the first pitcher in the history of baseball to give up 7 or more runs in consecutive post season appearances, my buddy said to me, “He’s becoming the ‘Peyton Manning’ of baseball.” I said, “Not so fast, he still hasn’t won anything yet. At least Peyton has one ring.”

Today’s game is important but not critical. I expect the Nats to be playing with an even tighter grip today, knowing they don’t want to go down 0-2 and have to fly across the country to face Big Country in an elimination game….

What a fantastic weekend of Bay Area sports we have to look forward to. The Cardinal play one of my all time hated college teams today (2nd only to USC), Cal travels to WAZU to a loss (try to keep the opposition under 3 digits Cal defense), obviously we have the Giants game, and tomorrow Alex Smith and Loo’s Chiefs come in to take on my Niners. Throw in a full day of fanduel.com tomorrow and it’s quite likely I’ll need a new couch on Monday……

Well, if heart and soul have anything to do with pitching, I like our chances today. And having watched Strasburg pitch a number of times, I’ll take the fire and moxie from Peavy over the robotic pitch counted Strasburg.

As we know as much or more than any baseball fan, anything is possible. If you had told me when I started the first Flap blog over at blogger.com (as a joke because the Splash blog kept crashing that day) that 6 years later two Giants fans who didn’t know each other would meet at my blog, become proud members of a supernova known as “Flap Nation” and one day meet up in Ho Chi Minh City for a “knowing dude head nod”, I woulda called you crazy….

And yet here they are yesterday (Blade on the right, PaulinAsia on the left with the peace sign):

Let others have the day. We own the night. Flappers around the world, UNITE!!!!!!!!!

I received a bunch of texts last night asking if I was “happy”. That isn’t really the right word. It was as if my friends assumed that a game like last night could kick start a new emotion within me.

Listen up, as far as baseball goes I have been a supernova of happiness since 2010. If I was a desperate Royals fan, an A’s fan or a freaking Dodger fan, a game like last night would probably send me into a long swoon of happiness.

But it didn’t. As a Giants fan, I’m always happy. And whatever happens in this post season is either gonna role off me like water from a stream or just add energy to the supernova.

I am a knowing dude head nod in perpetuity…..

This day went extremely slowly. But finally, it’s almost time to play ball.

My gut feeling today wasn’t good but I won’t dwell on that.

We have a chance, I love our starting pitcher and I feel like we have enough of a line up to not totally surprise me with a win.

Trolls, it would not be a good evening for you to frequent the Flap…..

Go Giants!

I just watched the end of the A’s game this morning. WOW. What a resilient comeback from a such a young team. Didn’t see that in them. And a game like that is precisely why I love the wild card format. You START the playoffs with a *game 7* and there couldn’t have been a more exciting way to kick off the 2014 mlb playoffs. Congrats to the Royals, it’s not hard to root for them or enjoy their exciting brand of play. And those fans reminded me of me four years ago.

And for us, it all comes down to tonight. I have no expectations and no feeling for how this game will go. We’ve got the WIllie Mac winner pitching  and I’m confident he’ll man-child the mound tonight. I am less confident about who will get the important hits needed to win the game.

I hate having to wade through life’s responsibilities on days like this. Let’s GET IT ON!!!!!!!