A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball

Flappers— been under the weather the last couple of days, sorry for no thread.

What do you get when you combine the ugliest new stadium ever built with the dumbest fuck pitcher facing us? Hopefully a good old fashioned trip out to the woodshed.

Voggy continues to shine and I was surprised to see that dumbfuck Latos is only 27. Feels like he’s been pitching for a decade+.

__________________________

Missed this on Friday– The Nats called up PK’s favorite minor league player Manny Burriss

I simply refuse to believe that Jake Peavy gets to slide neatly into the rotation if he continues to suck shit in the minor leagues. I don’t buy that “results don’t matter, how he feels the next day does” bullshit.

Look, if you aren’t missing bats in Triple A it’s likely you won’t be missing them at this level. Peavy got blasted again yesterday and frankly, when was the last time this guy had a good start? Maybe the end of the regular season last year?

If Timmy has a good start today (I know, I know) I’d like to believe he still keeps a spot somehow with Hudson, who seems to be at the end of the road, hitting the DL with “old man syndrome” or something less life threatening and Cain rejoining the rotation when he’s ready…..

They were kicking this around with Hank Diddy on KNBR this morning. He went with Crawford and while I think that’s a pretty pedestrian pick, it’s got merit. For me, it’s Heston, hands down. I don’t even want to think about who we would have trotted out there every fifth day if it weren’t for that dude. Aoki should get some votes. Buster, too. Panik?

Who am I missing?

Another day, another Buster grand slam. He’s hitting just enough of those to make him worthwhile. 🙂

Everyone ready to admit they were wrong about Voggy again?

Anyone? Bueller?

Heston vs Big Game (Regular Season) James.

Last night was just a joke. A bad, frustrating, “fuck your mother” type of joke. Chuck said “Why is it so hard to beat these guys?”

Agreed. But if you look up and down this sad sack line up, it’s not hard to see why we can’t hit. Our most productive hitter this year is out (Aoki) as well as the heart and soul of the line up (Pence). Pagan is just a shell of himself. No power, few stolen bases. His OPS is in the tank and he’s just not a difference maker at this point. Blanco is a nice player as long as he doesn’t play every day. Whoops, now he’s playing every day. Maxwell is worthless unless he’s running into monster moon shots. Buster and Belt are pretty hit or miss this year. Crawford has cooled off considerably.

The Duffman can only do so much….

So, we need some guys back and I think when that happens we’ll see the rest of the offense stop shitting itself every game. The bad news is, that could be a while……

Tonight we have to try to hit The Cuban Alphabet and as we have seen in the past, that’s not an easy thing for Giants hitters to do. Luckily, MVP is pitching for us. So we have a fighting chance.

The goal: scratch a run or two off a guy most other teams pound into the ground…..

_____________________

I had forgotten that Darryl Hamilton was traded for one of my favorite short-term Giants of all time: Ellis Burks. What a senseless tragedy. He and the woman who killed him leave behind a 14 month old daughter. Just so sad.

I don’t feel like talking about last night’s game. Embarrassing.

For you guys who aren’t from around here and don’t know much about what the Warriors winning the NBA championship has meant to Oakland, check out this 5 minute video of Draymond Green at the parade (see end of thread). He’s maybe got a few pops in him, but that doesn’t take away from the pure joy, the boundless exhilaration, that Green exudes on this wild trip down the parade.

Even though Green is from Michigan he’s a person that Oakland can relate to. Nobody ever believed in him, he had to work his ass off for everything he ever got. That sounds lame to say about a NBA player who’s about to sign for 100+ million. But as a 2nd round pick who most people outside of Michigan had never head of, he’s a role model for what the payoff for hard work looks like. Here’s what he said after he fell out of the first round and got drafted by the Warriors:

“That’s one of the things that has really driven me this far,” Green said, with a line that’s familiar to Spartan fans. “It’s always been about what he can’t do, ‘How far can he go?’ When I got to Michigan State, they said I would never play. Once I had a decent year, they said that’s the best I’ll ever do. They just keep going, keep going, keep going, they never stop (with their criticism). So, it just continues to light more fire under me and just keep on pushing me.

“One thing I did say about going in the second round is, first off, to go in the second round and go to an organization where the team picks you because they really wanted you and not just because you were there, I think that was one of the main things (that makes this a good situation). And then, whatever happens, happens. I didn’t go in the first round, so be it, it didn’t happen. But I’m somewhere where I’m going to fit in an where I’m wanted, and that’s a blessing for me.”

After reading that and then watching this video it’s impossible to not be happy for him and the city that adores him:

Yesterday, I want to say around the end of the 2nd inning, the camera panned to the outside of The Art Dealer Exhibit and showed the long line of cars waiting to get into the parking lot. We’ve heard about this for years, but what exactly is up with that? It was Saturday, isn’t traffic lighter on Saturday? And even if it’s awful every day in that god forsaken place, what’s wrong with those dopes that they can’t, you know, PLAN OUT THE TRIP so even with traffic they arrive on time?

Hey, it’s their money, if they want to spend it listening to half the game in their car that’s their right.

Timmy going tonight in one of the biggest games to start the Summer I can remember. Winner is in sole possession of first place in the NL West……

Happy Fathers Day!

Savvy ol’ veteran Huddy vs. youngster Frias.

I wish I knew a Red Sox fan. Actually, I do know one. Maybe I’ll call him. I’m truly interested in how the Red Sox fans are feeling about our beloved Panda. Besides sucking this year, he’s now slipping away from games to go check out the hotties on his instagram account. Think about that. So unfocused on the game, he’s not just thinking about the ladies he’s LEAVING THE GAME to go check them out on his phone.

He took some shit from Giants fans but deep down he was always loved and will be forever. But that’s due to the 3 World Series he helped us win. He’s bequeathed the Red Sox no trophies. But he is taking 100 million from them.

Anyone got a pic of the chick he was so desperate to click “like” on? Hope she was worth all the shit he’s getting now……

Big waste of a terrific start by Bumgarner. But, what are you gonna do? The King at home is not an easy task. I hope we can hit this kid tonight. Doesn’t look like a pushover.

With Pence looking farther away from playing and Pagan in a deep, deep slump, the Giants are in a lot of trouble right now. You can’t win if you can’t score and here’s a look at our run totals for the last 7 games:

4-0-2-0-1-2-0.

That’s not just a normal downturn that all teams see throughout the season. We need Pence and Blanco back and Pagan needs to sit or get healthy or do something to fix whatever is wrong with him…….

Still living the dream. The Bay Area dream. The center of the sports universe. Too much? I don’t think so. Three World Series wins in 5 years. A Super Bowl appearance 3 years ago. Last night, an NBA championship. And the Sharks are in San Jose, I think…..

I do think an NBA championship is the hardest one to win. There’s no luck in winning that thing.

The Golden State Warriors are champions of the NBA. If you’ve lived in the Bay Area your entire life, you know how weird that sounds……

Continuing my recent theme of not discussing anything *Giant* in the main thread until they stop playing like shitfucks, I’m wondering what all of you think about the all star team of Royals that the AL is in the process of assembling. If you haven’t heard, Kansas City currently has 7 starters slated to open up against the NL in the this year’s Summer Classic.

As a fan of the NL as well as a fan of the team that usually represents the NL in the World Series (since 2010), I am a fan of this ballot stuffing. Not that we need it, but home field advantage in the World Series is a nice perk. I also think it’s funny that this is upsetting so many people across the internet.

Newsflash: if you don’t want a bunch of Royals clogging up the starting spots of your AL all star team then VOTE FOR DIFFERENT PLAYERS!!!!!!!!!

Shit, we’re talking about the Royals fan base. I can safely say I have never even one time walked by a person wearing Royals gear. If the rest of the AL fans can’t out-vote the tiny Royals fan base then they deserve what they get this coming July 14th…..

Brett Butler turns 58 today.

I don’t like Brett Butler.

But I’d rather post about his birthday than discuss anything that happened this weekend at AT&T….

Am I missing any other notable birthdays today?

That is all……

Today we have the forces of two weaknesses colliding. Two broken titans unleashing the opposite of Hell on each other. A bad pitcher vs an offense that can’t score that’s also missing the only two guys who drove in runs yesterday. I don’t know what our line up will look like but apparently it will require Jarrett Parker to have the game of his life. He’s so unknown to me that I originally spelled his first name “Jarod” until I decided to look it up.

So a weakened, withered and bored fan base turns its tired eyes to Jarrett Parker et al for an unlikely power burst.

Still, Ruby De La Rosa….

time to take the shine off her……

Not sure about you guys, but I’m tired of the Giants under performing at home. 16-15 in our yard? Unacceptable. They have one of the best road records in either league. It makes zero sense that they can’t do even better at home. Form the hitters to the pitchers, this team, as it always is, is built to succeed at AT&T.

Starting tonight, it’s time to start playing like it.

this date in giants history: Cainer through his perfect game 3 years ago today.

In case you missed it, the Giants are none to pleased with the Mets scheduling an evening game yesterday. Of course, there’s no way you could have missed that. The Giants have been non-stop whining about it for going on 3 days. They say they’re complaining about it so mlb will change the way scheduling is done but my understanding is that’s something bargained between the players association and the owners. So what exactly do the Giants get out of boo-hooing to the press about this?

Will they be flat tonight? Every time we think that’s going to happen, it doesn’t. If they’re flat it’s probably got more to do with the ballpark than anything else. The Giants should focus their attention on the home field advantage they have instead of an unfortunate scheduling issue that hits all teams at least once a year……..

__________________

also, how is Kevin Correia starting for the Phillies tonight? Did I just have a bad dream that he was in our minor league system?

When you’ve nicknamed your two best pitchers “The Dark Knight” and “Thor” you’re kinda setting yourself up for ridicule if they don’t dominate the opposition. If they both get their asses handed to themselves it might even be time to talk about a couple of new nicknames.

Heston was spectacular and Huddy gutted the job done, but the real story this series has been the hitting. I’m still marveling at that backspin oppo jobber that Belt blasted off Harvey. And Aoki and Joe Panik? What else can be said about those 2.

So what’s Jon Niese’s superhero nickname? *The Dark Loser*? *Thor-oughly Dominated*?

sidenote: my favorite cartoon character (and cartoon name) was Foghorn Leghorn. No close second.

Without question, the best thing about The Flap is the way it connects Giants fans around the world. As the no hitter was unfolding, and I was avoiding the blog for stupid jinx reasons that I don’t believe in anyway, I wondered if there were any Flappers in attendance. I thought I’d remembered MacDog was going, wondered if PK and DJ went as well. I always assume BuzzSaw is there.

Anyway, turns out but one lone wolf Flapper made it to the game. Considering we’re 2,906.7 miles away from New York, one ain’t bad….MacDog, take it away…..

Sorry I’m late with this. I gotta say, when Craw made that play to end the 8th and then Heston got those three punch-outs in the 9th to finish it off, I was as excited as I’ve ever been at any sporting event, and I’ve been to just about everything, except the Super Bowl, as far as team sports go. I’m still stunned — Chris Heston!!!, not someone like MadBum or Timmy. Ok, so that wasn’t exactly the ’27 Yanks he faced, and the Mets certainly helped with all those bats left on their shoulders. But what an amazing game: That homegrown infield making every play look easy, Heston putting it where Buster wanted it just about every time, and then throwing that hook of his to finish ’em off. And to be surrounded by Giants fans (yes, there were many) as it all unfolded. I’m just so very grateful to be a fan of this team and get a chance to experience in person one of the many special moments they’ve given us over the last five years.

This was my third no-hitter. The first two were against the Giants: Terry Mulholland in ’90 and Kevin Millwood in ’03, both at the Vet, the only no-hitters ever thrown there. So maybe I was owed one.

So we should have at least a few NY Flappers going to a game this series. Or at least threatening to.

Sydergaard/Harvey/Niese. Jeez, that is a tough line up. Well, the first 2 anyway. I feel a beat down coming on but that could just be the fumes from last night’s bbq still wafting through my senses.

Here’s a pretty good article on our new stud first baseman Chris Shaw. I had completely forgotten about the Sandoval compensatory pick so Chris Shaw, for free, sounds good to me.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/06/07/chris-shaw-poised-top-pick-mlb-draft/FkwXlaLC3WO7BOtqHHCiiK/story.html

People are tripping on what this means for Belt. It means nothing. If Belt continues to perform he’s our first baseman. If Shaw rakes like he’s supposed to, he’ll bring a shitload as a trade chip.

It’s all good unless they both suck.

_________________

It’s funny how Bickford’s ganja bust knocked down his value. I bet half the first round picks smoke weed. Maybe all of them. I could care less that Bick lights up. I care about what he does when he’s NOT baked…….

Giants took a pitcher by the name of Phil Bickford with the 18th pick in the first round. He’s a right hander, 6’5 205 pounds. Internet says he went to College of Southern Nevada. Never heard of it, I’l assume that is a JC. But who knows. Any info you guys do on this cat, put it in the thread below.

I’m off to bbq in 100 degree weather.

WTF??????

Another day, another Philly ass to kick.

Show of hands of all those who believe Voggy will continue his dominance today in the Philly bandbox?

It shouldn’t matter, we oughta light this chump up…..

Lots going on today: Giants/Philly, then we find out if American Pharoah can do what no horse has done since Affirmed, then in the evening Joe kicks my ass in DFS again. 🙂

Not sure about Pharoah today. There’s got to be something to this recurring theme of a horse who wins the Derby and the Preakness only to get taken down by a rested horse who’s been laying in the weeds all Spring. Who knows, it has to happen some time, right?

So the Giants go back to back against Francisco Liriano and Jerome Williams? What year is this again? Hot tub time machine?

We should blast Williams, because he sucks, but I’m not confident about Timmy finding his footing on a foreign mound. I really do think there’s been something this year to his tiny ass slip sliding all over *away* mounds. Not sure why…..

______________

Zummie brought up Panda’s underwhelming year at the end of last thread and it got me to wondering what Red Sox fans must be thinking about him these days. I don’t read other teams blogs, mostly because I wouldn’t have a clue how to find a good one. And I don’t know any Red Sox fans. So while I could guess what they’re thinking about him, I don’t have any hard evidence………

______________

That Warrior game. Wow. I was at a graduation so I missed most of it but I caught the last half of the 4th Q and overtime. Moments are a trip, aren’t they? If David Bowie’s wife’s shot at the end of regulation was like an 1/8th of an inch longer, the game is over and Warrior fans are worrying about the series and talking *must win* in game 2. But her shot missed and then Irving got hurt in overtime and the Cav’s look basically dead at this point.

A day off to reflect and travel….

With 3 games v the Pirates in the books, no one could rightfully claim we got swept because of bad luck. The Pirates, quite simply, were better than us in all facets of the game. And that’s not the most humbling thing to admit in June. This is basically the same Pirate team we took to the woodshed in the WC game last October. So perspective is a good thing right now.

___________________

and tonight, Game 1. Still having trouble processing the Warriors being in the NBA Finals.

Another frustrating loss. I can’t imagine what this will do to our power rankings. I can’t bear to look. 🙂

I think it’s fair to say that Hest-by-Hest is settling nicely into the number 4 or 5 slot in our rotation. And really, were we to expect something better than that?

Hudson vs Liriano tonight. Seems like a million years ago that he signed with us in 2000. In 2003, he was traded with Boof Bonser and Joe Nathan for AJ Pierzynski. Amazing that AJ is still playing…..

I saw the Giants had moved up to #2 on the ESPN *power rankings*. Normally I never click on something like that but it was embedded in an article I was reading. I was shocked to see thousands of comments in response to these *power rankings*.

Power Rankings, regardless of the sport, are so stupid, so inconsequential, so devoid of any value whatsoever I just couldn’t understand why so many people we commenting on a list that is just literally some dipshit at ESPN pulling team names out of a hat.

And then it hit me: of COURSE thousands of people are responding to that dumbass list. When your team HASN’T won 3 out of the last 5 World Series trophies, *power rankings* are the only thing to grasp on to. And the way the teams shoot up that list, usually for no reason, there are ample opportunities for fans across all teams to brag about their team or to razz fans of teams sliding down the ranking list.

We’ve lost 3 in a row. I can’t imagine we’ll retain our #2 ranking. Boo hoo. I’m sure the next update will have us at #28 or some shit.

I think back to that late April evening at Chavez Latrine and it still makes me shudder. Even quiver. Bomb after bomb, launched into orbit off Voggy—to be forever tracked by NASA’s most powerful satellites……

And yet here with are, with yet another Voggy reclamation project that he performed on himself. Again.

As usual, it feels like he’s going to get blasted tonight.

But who knows? He’s been so good for 5 straight starts, I’m starting to believe in him again……