A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball

Predictions? I’m out for the weekend so this thread will linger and toil in infamy or dominate in someone’s face. I think Seattle handles New England rather easily.

Not sure about the O/U of 47. If I had to, I’d go under.

But I think Seattle beats them by 7+.

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Only SB I ever went to was this one. My old man took me:

I’ll check in this weekend. Have a good one.

Confession: I love the “27 outs” videos. The first one I found is this one:

I don’t like Cold Play but I really like the song for this video. And if anyone wants to remember what Timmy was like before his great slide into obscurity, watch this video again. I’m sure you’ve all seen it. My favorite moment is looking into Timmy’s eyes as he walks off the mound after the 7th. He’s got this.

The 2012 “27 outs” video, at least the one I’m uploading, wasn’t as good as 2010. For starters, it was 30 outs. And the music sucks. But still, awesome moments.

And that leads us to 2014. I can’t find a “27 outs” video for our most recent dominant triumph. If any of you have seen one or could upload one, go for it….

Designated on January 21st, March Scutaro was officially released yesterday. He is unlikely to sign with another team. I won’t say “sad end” because he got paid in spades after what he did for us in 2012. But I will say “disappointing ending” to yet another 2nd baseman for the Giants who have 2-baggers disappear the same way Spinal Tap loses drummers……

Joe Panik, please look both ways, a couple of times, before crossing streets today….

Absolutely zero baseball news to kick around. Pitchers and catchers report on Feb 18th. That’s 20 days, 14 hours, 15 minutes and 3 seconds, as soon as I hit the “publish button”….

Anniversary of the space shuttle exploding. Where were YOU?

I was at school in the library. We were huddled around a shitty tv watching it live. Probably a good event to miss in HD.

This got kicked around a little by you guys already but until I watched the video of him saying it, I didn’t really grasp how stupid Rob Manfred’s idea to increase offense in baseball really was. The number one idea he decided to float publicly: eliminate defensive shifts.

Whaaaaaattttt the fuuuuuuckkkkk?

While I do think that would work, why stop there? Why not make corner infielders use gloves on their throwing hand? Make Brandon Crawford wear concrete cleats. Outfielders are no longer allowed to throw. To get the ball in they need to transport it via catapult. Make it illegal for a runner to get thrown out trying to steal. I can already see Manfred giving me a knowing dude head nod for my ideas. You’re welcome, Idiot….

Some hitters can’t beat the shift? Boo freaking hoo. Learn how to hit. Guys like Will Clark laugh at hitters who can only hit the ball one direction.

And Manfred wants to help these poor guys out by eliminating shifts? I guess now that he and his owner cronies are no longer allowed to look the other way on steroid use this is the only idea they could muster to increase offense across baseball.

And by the way, more offense busts his other goal which is to shorten the time it takes to play an entire game.

But don’t let that stop you from implementing one of the dumbest ideas I’ve ever heard come out of a commissioner of a major sport….

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PK with the trophy

Here’s a photo taken at Pawlie’s day with Willie and the Gang yesterday

Apparently, Panik was going through some type of dehydration issue….

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And here is a picture of Boston’s new 300 pound….er, I mean, “100 million dollar man”. This was taken yesterday. I love the look of the kid behind Sandoval. He’s like, “Fuck. We’ve been had. Get the Dodgers on the phone stat to trade this dude”

At the trophy event, Willie Mays allowed how this World Series was the hardest, the one that had him worried. He is amazing rattling off player names and situations. He was asked about the greatest center fielder besides himself. He begged off, saying how he got crushed when he said he was the greatest. He didn’t want to get in trouble. (“Junior was pretty good.”) And he went on to say how it is just one position, it takes nine guys on the field to win. “I helped all the guys around me. It was for the team, not me.” He meant it, and he said that was the thing about the 2014 team.

I’ll share three little gems. 1.) When Mays was on deck for the 1951 Bobby Thomson homer, he said he did not realize at first that the game was over, that the homer won the game! “I had no idea. Stanky and Leo were hugging and jumping. ‘Get up there, fool!’ I said to myself. I just wanted to bat. I was a kid.”  2.) The passing of Ernie Banks was mentioned. Over and over again, Willie affirmed the take everyone has on Banks: just a nice guy, a kind man. Mays related how Banks came up to him the first time before a game, maybe in Chicago. Willie knew of him and Gene Baker. Banks introduced himself. “Yeah, I know who you are. We’re still gonna knock you down.” And as for “let’s play two,” Willie was, “C’mon, you gotta play one first.”  3.) Willie shared great memories, warm thoughts about Monte Irvin, left fielder. He is 95, living in Houston, the oldest African American ex-player. Irvin was supposed to come up before Jackie, Mays said, except he served in the military. In the beginning of Mays’s time in New York, Mays would visit Irvin and his wife Dee every other day in Paterson, NJ, to eat, get acclimated, etc. Irvin took him under his wing. Willie told a profound story of how he could walk around in Paterson at a park, by himself, untouched by fame. (To me, that’s the origin of the grouchy reputation. Fame is a killer, as Bob Dylan showed in the Scorcese movie “No Direction Home.”) Willie said, “I didn’t want to hurt Monte’s feelings. I was his roommate for three weeks. I told Dee, ‘I gotta get some sleep!'” instead of going back and forth to Paterson. You could tell how much Irvin meant, and it hints at a whole subtext of being black on a white team in a white society.

Sorry I missed DJLoo and Macdog down at Finnerty’s. What else could I do? What a day.

Let’s put to rest any stereotype that Willie Howard Mays Jr. is a grouch. Rather, he is a delightful storyteller, with crackling wit, evident kindness, and self-deprecating humility.

I managed to snag an invite to a private showing of the World Series trophy this morning at the New York Palace hotel. Dennis Z. and I braved a snowstorm and found our way to Manhattan from Dennis’s house about 70 miles northwest. The New York Giants Preservation Society (http://newyorkgiantspreservationsociety.com/)  spearheaded the event, led by Gary Mintz. (Great job.) Pictures posed with the trophy. I did a 3 with one hand and a 5 with the other. Then on the other side of the second-floor landing, by the stairs, a tall fellow was being interviewed by MLB.com. Joe Panik. I thanked him, shook his hand, asked if he knew George Brown, who played with him at St. John’s. He did indeed. My daughter goes to HS with Brown’s sister. (My camera messed up for most of the event but I might have a video to share.) I went back a bit later and got an autograph for this daughter. Panik is well spoken, friendly, patient, mature beyond his years. Dennis and I skipped the free sumptuous breakfast this palatial place. Too excited. Soon, at the entrance to the Villard ballroom, a clutch of people stood around willie Mays. I got chills. A reverent aura surrounded him. (Pictures to come, somehow.) He was surrounded by what appeared to be a bodyguard and Giants staffers. As he walked in (I was behind), people stood, one by one, and clapped, all 55 guests. At the dais, Mays sat on one end, Panik in the middle. Bryan Srabian, standing, director of digital media of the Giants, served capably as MC. I’ll just share some notes, but first left me say Mays was truly funny. Folks at the table near me, and many others, exchanged comments that more or less said: “Who knew the guy was such a comedian?” You could really see how he kept his whole team loose. Plus, his recall of games and people and episodes was brilliant. Maybe a stat was off here or  there (or not) but his recounting was lush with narrative detail. Humor and charm. I will “download” some recollections right here right now so that I don’t forget details. (It’s all notes for my otherwise-completed next book.) Forgive me if I run into a second thread. Most of the event involved audience Q and A.

The Flip. Someone asked Joe Panik about the double-play in Game 7. He said he knew how Bumgarner pitched (hard sink) and how the batter batted, so he positioned himself where he did. When it was hit, instinct took over. He knew there was no time, so he had to flip it to Crawford. Said you can’t practice that. The questioner lined it to Willie and The Catch, in 1954. Willie was funny: “What do you mean three? I only one one, in ’54. I didn’t win these. Then Willie playfully explained to Panik how you have to nurture the idea of a slogan, The Flip. I’m not explaining it right, but it was perceptive and amusing. All the while, Panik was deferential to Mays — and enjoying his stores, as we all did. [more to come]

Decent debate over the last 2 threads about how Petit will be used. Starter? Long guy? I think there’s the realistic way he will be used and then the *fantasy* way he will be used. Realistically he’s going to be a long guy who comes in after a starter gets blasted. He’ll try to stop the bleeding. For a team not projected to score many runs, we are likely to lose those games.

From a fantasy perspective (and I’m talking about *fan* fantasy, not fantasy baseball) Petit could be the long guy who takes the ball after one of our old pitchers (or Timmy) manage to make it through 4-5 innings and still holding the lead (let’s say it’s 3-2). He holds sway for a couple of innings and gets the ball to our 7-8-9 guys.

Of course, I think Timmy could do that job too.

Petit proved last post season what a weapon he can be that was more circumstances than it was a way he could be used regularly.

I’d love to see Bochy use Petit in his most effective role (bringing him in when one of the oldies hits 75-80 pitches and we still hold the lead) but I doubt that’s how he’ll get used…….

And now an all day VB tourney in freaking Discovery Bay. Bye.

Pete Rose is going to attend and play a public part in the 2015 all-star game. Wut?

He’s not allowed in the Hall of Fame but baseball is cool with making some dough off him at an all-star game?

Rose will do it, it’ll be a boon for his gambling habits. He’ll sign so many balls and jerseys he’ll have to switch to his left hand to sign. When that one quits he’ll stick the pen in his mouth and….you get the drift….

I’m fine with it, too. More Pete Rose at real, sanctioned baseball events is all good in my book. But all this does is continue to make the HOF look like a joke. Which it is……

The deal with the (L)astros looks to have fallen through. Apparently, Vogg’s read my thread a couple of days ago and said “on second thought, fuuuuuuuck that.” He’s now in negotiations with the Giants and I’m fine with that as you can never have enough starting pitchers on your staff not named “Kickham.”

So I may be jumping the gun here but welcome back, Voggy. We missed you?

🙂 🙂 🙂

I’m not certain, but I think Saturday is the day the east coast gets overrun by the tsunami known as “Mac-a-Looza.” Head for higher ground. I’m hoping PK joins the flood too, just to push the party over the top. Please take pics and forward to me. Or dump them in the ‘bucket’ yourselves if you have authorization to do so.

And if today isn’t the day then just enjoy the pleasant weather than winter on the east coast is known for….

🙂 🙂 🙂

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in other news, the Giants have designated Marco Scutaro. So there’s that……

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and in other other news, here are the updated odds to win this year’s WS. The Cubs? Do oddsmakers understand how difficult it is to actually win the WS? Let alone 3 in 5?

Voggy is about to sign a deal with the Astros and I don’t fault him for that since it took him so long to ensconce himself at the mlb level. Gotta get paid. But goddamn, what an awful way to end your career—as an Astro. And the deck is stacked against him. He’s going from a pitchers park to a hitters park. When you’re at the tail end of your career that’s only a good move if you’re a hitter. As high strung as he is, I can’t imagine he’s going to be too cool with a bunch of bumbling Astro kids playing defense behind him. And we all know that at this point in his career he seems to pitch much better in the post season than the regular season. I wonder how many post season games the Astros will play in 2015?

So long Voggy. I hope you’re getting a lot of guaranteed money…….

Scherzer, as all of you probably know, is off the table after signing a 7 year/210 million dollar deal with the Nats. This carries on a predictable theme where I would have been happy to have the player on my team but I’m relieved he signed somewhere else.

That leaves Big (regular season) Game James Shields as the final landmine to a miss this Winter…..

Casey McGehee and Nori Aoki better be really, REALLY good at baseball….

I find it hilariously ironic that The White Shark gets paid NOW (2years/7.5 mil) a day after he gets bounced to the bench. Anyone else think that’s funny?

I’m fine with keeping him around, he is serviceable and, if anything, appears to be a good luck charm. I’d rather have Aoki starting just in the hopes that he recaptures some production from 2012 but basically they’re 2 dudes of the same ilk combining to produce a fairly underwhelming starting outfielder….

Sorry I’ve been MIA, my daughter has risen to the club volleyball level and that means lots of driving and lots of volleyball all weekend long. I almost got in a fight with a family from a Samoan team from The City today. Didn’t start it, obviously……

I keep remembering what this dude did in 2012— 37 doubles, 30 steals. .288 batting average. Unfortunately he’s been on a slow decline since then. He’s 33, the steals are unlikely to come back much.

But what the hell, I’m down with this signing. We need depth and The White Shark just found his way back to his best look–the bench.

But ask yourself this: Panda and Morse out, Aoki and McGhee in.

Does that make us better? Or does it at least keep us competitive?

Jim Tomsula….zzzzzzz………

The last time I wrote something like that it was to the Letters to the Editor at the Chron back in 2007. I wrote it in reference to the Giants signing Bruce Bochy to be their manager. I still have that letter somewhere, I’ll try to find it…..

So that’s about the only thing positive I can find to say about the Niners new head coach hire…….

Speaking of Bochy, there were things in his managerial career that surprised me (I looked that up today). He’s barely over .500 for his career— 1618–1604. He’s only finished first in the NL West twice in his 8 year career with the Giants. And yet his playoff record (with the Giants)  is 34-14. Impressive.

Krukow was on KNBR this morning in full-shill mode. He was asked what he would say to Giants fans who are questioning Sabean’s Winter-long hands sit and he replied simply: “Relax.”

He then went on to say he had confidence in Blanco due to the fact that he’s been a starting OF in the last 2 world series wins, that Juan Perez is still young and that he can use his success last year in the playoffs as a building block and that Casey McGehee is a “really good player.”His comments were making me laugh out loud alone in the car…….

But that got me to thinking, what is our greatest current area of need? Or put another way, where are we weakest?

Here’s the projected line up:

Pagan

Panik

Pence

Posey

Belt

McGehee

Crawford

Blanco

The Starting five project as Bum, Cain, Peavy, Lincecum and Huddy with Petit sprinkled in there somewhere…….

To me, the line up is the weakest link, especially when you factor in an injury that will happen. Because of Petit, the rotation could withstand one blow.

Thoughts?

Yes, the rumors you heard are true. Travis Blackley does, in fact, have a minor league deal to join the Giants in spring training. And some of you thought Sabean would wait till the 2015 trade deadline to launch into activation mode.

Don’t you feel stupid now?

#sfgiants are now rumored to be interested in Dillon Gee. Interest and action are 2 different things. Here’s a link to Gee’s stats:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/geedi01.shtml

He’s ok, I’d take him on the team as insurance. But at 28 years old there will be competition for him and we all know what direction the flow chart takes us with Sabean when competition is involved…..

Next.

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If you’re interested, please leave your national championship predictions in the thread below. I’m on Oregon winning 45-24

When Ben Zobrist went to the A’s for John Jaso it just reinforced what we already know about Sabean: he’s a lone wolf who doesn’t compete for players.

Say what you will about him, but he doesn’t repeat a unique move. He went all in on a monster deal for Zito and he hasn’t gone down that road again for a non-Giant free agent. He went all in on a mid season blue chip trade when he gave up Wheeler for Beltran and you get the feeling that he’ll never do that again.

But when it comes to more middling less interesting pick ups like Ben Zobrist, I feel like Sabean operates in “No Man’s Land.” Unsure of what to give up and not wanting to give up too much he ends up doing nothing and lets way too many doable deals go by without action. It’s the same reason, by the way, that he never gets a decent foreign player. Unsure of what they truly cost, he always loses…..

DJ Loo’s POTD has never felt more real to me as it does right now……

I can’t believe I’ve spent a second wondering about the possibility of getting Ben Zobrist. Of course we aren’t getting Zobrist. There are other teams interested. When does Sabean ever compete for a player via trade? The last one might have been Carlos Beltran. So while he’s done it, he doesn’t do it very often. He’s not into competing. Sabean is a lone wolf….

Makes it all the more remarkable that we got Hunter Pence for Tommy Joseph and Nate Schierholz. How the hell did he pull that off?

No new Giants news to speak of. If you want to know how long it’s been since we heard anything meaningful about the team, consider this: the last time we heard Giants news the current BBOTD was a sophomore in college. She’s still waiting….

Regarding the pitching, the Giants must be ready to go all-in on Yuzzie-Pet spot starts. Nothing else explains the lack of action.

It’s hard to stay positive about the upcoming year when all Sabean has done is bring back the old guys. We’ve seen how this has gone twice now. I don’t know if it’s bad luck of post-championship complacency, but bringing back the exact same team (and in this case it’s minus Pablo, plus McGehee) is not a recipe for repeating…..

Who will win this year’s Aubrey Huff Award? You know, the award given to the player who was an invaluable cog in our World Series machine only to do absolutely nada the following year.

Of course, Huff himself won the inaugural award back in 2011. Marco Scutaro won in 2013. Who will win in 2015?

Without further ado, I proudly present this year’s nominees:

1) Tim Hudson

2) Jake Peavy

3) Juan Perez

4) Travis Ishikawa

Sorry I couldn’t put this in voting form, wordpress seems to have either hid or done away with the voting feature.

Who are you voting for and why?

This will never happen, but I wish that Barry Bonds would come out publicly, denounce the Hall of Fame and the joke voters they employ, and request his name be taken off all future ballots. It’s time to send a strong message to the HOF that they are full of shit. Sitting around hand wringing and nervously wondering about your vote percentage seems like a waste of time–especially for a place that doesn’t want you no matter what percentage of votes you garner.

It doesn’t have to be Barry. It could be anyone who has been twisting in the wind waiting for these blowhard writers to allow them to kiss their ring. If enough of them denounced the hall and renounced their inclusion on the ballot we might finally see the Hall of Fame renamed to what it truly is: The Hall of Hypocrisy.

I couldn’t care less who gets voted in or not anymore…..

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Unca here, again. I’m starting to see these all over the City. Is there a Flap graffiti artist out there?

Let’s move on from the Stuart Scott goodbyes and discuss something more Giant-centric and that would be the possible Ben Zobrist pick up. He would be a great fit for the team, mostly due to his positional flexibility. Unfortunately, other teams want him too. The Rays are looking for a huge haul– 1 top prospect and 1 mid prospect. If that’s true, for me, that’s a deal breaker. No way do I give up a top prospect for going-on-34-year-old Ben Zobrist.

Translated, they want Kyle Crick and maybe a Clayton Blackburn. Obviously, we would all include Blackburn in a deal because we see him more as our next Mike Kickham than our next Hunter Strickland.

Or do you see Hunter Strickland as a guy you’d give up for Zobrist?

I’d do that. Probably not much more. And that’s why he’s probably going somewhere else…..

Thoughts?

I am deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Stuart Scott. I was never a huge fan of his persona on ESPN and like anyone with a shtick it got old from time to time. But he was one of those *friends* who I never actually knew. He was in my living room, every night, telling me about the day in sports with all the cliches he made famous. But over time, like a warm blanket, I started to appreciate how “cool the other side of the pillow” really was….

And watching him fight his cancer so publicly there was one word that rose above all others in describing his fight: inspiring.

In 2014, he won the Jimmy V Perseverance Award and his acceptance speech was the best one since Jimmy V himself. I’m embedding it below but here’s the line that we should all adopt as our mantra in life, whether we have cancer or not:

“When you die, that does not mean you lose to cancer. You beat cancer by how you lived, why you lived, and in the manner in which you lived. So Live. Live….”

RIP Stuart Scott.

And for the rest of us, go live today. Live.

As a member of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance I am required to participate in HOF voting. Surprisingly, the BBA voters do very well in predicting actual outcome. I’m not so sure about this year. 🙂

Here are the players we voted in this year as well as the % vote they received. You need 75% to get in.

Randy Johnson–100%

Pedro Martinez–95%

Craig Biggio–90%

John Smoltz: 89%

Mike Piazza–85%

Jeff Bagwell–77%

Tim Raines–77%

The players who fell short were Edgar Martinez (71%) and Curt Shithead (69%).

Remaining vote getters:

I can’t believe I was rooting for the Ducks last night. They’ve been a problem for the Cardinal for years. But it was a magnificent win over a despicable program. This vine gets my early vote for best vine of 2015. If you don’t lip read, he says, “Jamis, if you don’t calm the fuck down you’re going to the bench!”

Love it.

As far as the Giants go, it’s still a long, slow Winter. I’m just hoping we don’t sign James Shields.