Welcome to “Mixed Feelings Day”
On the one hand, man, what a great win. If you had told me that the bedraggled Voggy would have to hump up for another spot start and toss 30 pitches in the first inning and that we would go on to WIN 2-0, I woulda called you crazy. And yet, that’s what happened. And then the lowly A’s manage to beat Kershaw and the Dodgers? Was that a dream?
Sadly, there is another hand. And that hand smacks us back to reality with the Hunter Pence to DL news. At some point, your team just takes too many blows to remain realistically in the race.
However, I absolutely think they are still in the race as long as Sabean puppeteers Evans into making a skilled waiver wire deal or two. We have experience and I don’t doubt a focused effort till the end, but we are not making the playoffs with Maxwell, Blanco and whatever hologram from AAA we might be shining into the final outfield spot.
So stay positive, but have it be contingent on the above mentioned moves that have to occur for us to pass the Dodgers in September……..
Here is the piece I shared at the end of the last thread. In it there is mention that the Giants have made a few claims on waivers…more to come…
Nice piece from Steward on VogelSTRONG and his synopsis on the Giants current state (with all the injuries). Love the attitude. Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor!??
I agree absolutely with most…if Cain falters tonight…Vogey is back in the rotation.
http://tinyurl.com/o5fske7
I absolutely think our boys are still in this. They get Aoki back tomorrow, and Leake should be 100% any day now. If Panik can come back by Sept. 1st and the kids (Tomlinson, the Hologram, etc.) can add some key play and energy…well, anything can happen.
I will be surprised if Pence is back in four weeks. I suspect anything from four to six, but hope he proves me wrong.
I agree chi, the G’s are in it til the end. It sucks about Pence, but the plug-in pieces the Giants have used this year have been pretty damn good. The latest is Lollis, but Tomlinson has also been solid. He can hit, he’s fast and pretty good with the glove. I looked up Lollis’ numbers last night and he’s been a solid hitter throughout his minor league career. Let’s hope he keeps it up in S.F. He made a nice catch last night as well.
Oh, and on a totally separate topic, happy birthday to Ginger Baker…a beast of a drummer and one of the founding members of Cream.
If you get enough pitching you can win the torture games, with Kelby Triple O, Hologram et al. Aoki is supposed to return Thursday, right? Cards are also hurting big time, so 4 vs. Pitt could be tougher. Romo and Casilla looked fine.
One of great stories of season for SF has been emergence of young pitching, from Hest in rotation to Strick Osich and Kontos as reliable set up guys out of pen.
I was so disgusted when AJ Ellis of all people burned the A’s with 3 run bomb I shut it off. Hard to believe they came back and won…everyone else has beaten them like proverbial red headed stepchild.
Yeoman’s effort by Vogey last night. He came up with the goods when it was needed the most. He’s been tough lately.
I was moved that Flavor actually felt bad for Belt for the very first and only time. I’m on the road, and missed the game, but was curious about how shitty that one affecting strike call was:
http://tinyurl.com/o4r76uf
Studying the chart carefully, two of those called strikes suggest that there can be a very, very fine line between sympathy and disapproval!
.
I picture James in a shitty Best Western somewhere in the continental U.S., a single tear running down his cheek as he reads Big Flavor’s sympathetic post regarding our hero Brandon Belt.
Who was that guy in the anti pollution commercials? Chief Stoneface?
Was listening to Miller on radio around 6th or so on ride home and he commented repeatedly how inconsistent ump had been all night on outside pitches. Said the one to Belt was a good 6 inches off the plate.
Not apologizing for Belt, but if umps really are graded after every game, how can mlb allow this?
WillieD, the only ones who should be apologizing are MLB for allowing an umpire to make calls like that.
And there were two equally inexcusable strike 3 calls. See the chart.
lol, that is AWESOME
It’s even more pathetic. I was supposed to be home yesterday, and the fucking hinterland weather conspired to keep me in Dallas another night. These people live like animals . . . .
Haha, I hear ha James. You have my sympathy.
Apropos of nothing, walked into work this morning and pulled out my daughter’s laptop from my backpack.
Back on Bart.
Grrrrrrr.
In other non baseball news, we dropped our youngest son off to start his college career at CSU Monterey.
As they say, I’m now an Otter pop. No kids in da house!!!!
Congratulations, chuck. CSU Montery is a great choice.
Empty nester, eh…party at Charlie’s house!
James – I appreciate the time you spend gathering up the pitch charts, etc. These just add credence to the fact that many umps have their heads up their proverbial asses, and are not held accountable for their shitty work.
The ump last night was the poster child for “consistently inconsistent.” And yeah, Belt was on the wrong end of a couple of his crap calls.
I am not ready to go robotic on the strike zone, but dammit, the umps (every fucking single one of them) needs to call balls and strikes per the rules as currently written.
And if each game is truly reviewed, then those in charge of the reviews are as guilty as the fucked-up umps, as they are NOT holding the umps accountable for calling a shitty game. There should be consequences that hit the umps in the pocketbook (or something that will get their attention), and prod them to call balls and strikes appropriately.
With all the respect and cred that Sabean has within the MLB world, he is in an excellent position to first, let it be known to the commissioner and other GMs that the Giants are ready to publicly go on record once the WS is over; that they not only object to the current umpiring fiasco but that the 3 in five San Francisco Giants will not compete in 2016 and will forfeit all games unless and until a uniform strike zone is enforced throughout all MLB.
Needless to say, the baseball hierarchy could not possibly allow the Giants to go public with such a threat and would quickly work to remedy the situation. That is called effectuating change from a position of unassailable strength.
Sounds great in theory, Stix, but we both know there is no way in hell it happens.
Chi: When it comes to power relationships in baseball there is no comparison between the currently most successful franchise in the game to the Umpires’ Union. If Sabes gets it in his head to play this kinda hardball he could crush the umps.
I’ve been down on Vogey as much as anyone at times this season. No more. If we’re going to make it into September, this is just the guy I want leading the charge:
“This time of year is fun,” he said. “I know it’s only August, but the stretch we’re in right now, this is almost like playoff baseball for us. I’ve said before, I enjoy that kind of intensity and pressure.”
Here’s James, thinking about Belt’s ABs.
Oh, man. I remember that commercial. 30 years later it’s crazy how much trash is everywhere. Even backpacking over the summer we came across trash strewn all over 2 days out from civilization.
Pence seems like a guy that might want to dial back his workouts during the season.
The good news is that Aoki-San comes off the DL soon. The bad news is that Pagan will be eligible to return soon too.
Pence has never played in less than 154 games since he broke in. And in that regards, what does his in-season workouts have to do with anything?
Pagan coming back bad news? If he is actually healthy how can this be bad news?
Not saying the workouts are a bad thing or responsible for this latest injury just that as he ages he may want to dial it back a bit. As you said he’s been healthy most of his career and just unlucky from the get go this season.
I don’t think we’ll ever see a healthy Pagan again and when he does return Bochy will probably pencil him in sacrificing D up the middle which is not a good thing for the club.
Yeah, as Pence ages (this is true of all players as they age) he may well want to dial things back a bit. With Pence…not sure he will ever do that.
Well, if Pagan comes back one-legged, as he was before going on the DL, yes, he will hurt the club in just about every aspect. But if truly healthy…he will be a welcome addition. Time will tell.
oblique injuries are tell tale sign of guys working out too hard.
Well Chi I just know you are waiting to hear from me about Pagan, at this point in the season I think Blanko is playing better than Pagan. Pagan has become some what of a whiny bitch at the plate over calls he disagrees with. Blanko over the last 2-3 years has come off the bench to be a start and proved his worth.
I remember that commercial back in the day as well.
What I just found out is the dude in the commercial is Italian, not Native American. Although he lived his life as an Indian. Chief Iron Eyes. He was treated as a Native American for furthering the cause.
Totally unrelated topic. Have any of you seen the recent nude picts (well, she is wearing stilletos) that Sharon Stone did for “Harper’s Bazaar?” In the piece she says “I’m aware that my ass looks like a bag of flapjacks.” If her ass looks like a bag of flapjacks, pass the butter and maple syrup…I’m going in! At 57, she looks a hell of a lot better than many women half her age.
“pass the butter and maple syrup.” that was pure gold.
Daniel mentioned the other day about his Cards playing in a lot of one run games this year. I came across this stat in that regards:
The Redbirds are 27-19 in one-run games. Our boys? Giants are 15-16.
So I guess all we have to do is stay two runs ahead of them. I’m good with that.
I read the lead again with this playing. I think I feel worse.
We can’t let the “flapjacks” line by Sharon Stone and its fallout here at the FLAP (cf. Chipower) just melt into oblivion like Aunt Jemima’s syrup. Something will evolve: a player nickname, a play, an award. Something.
Chutley to the Dogs . . .
“2 minor leaguers and $2 million . . .”
whatever, he’s basically done. On to the next……
2nd inning…A’s 1-0 over the bums. Go Oakland!
We beat the red birds! How good does that feel? All the weird plays that went agin us on Monday happened for us on Tuesday. Too Cool.
And how cool would it to be for the cainer to have A GAME tonight? I for one will Joyce and Re-Joyce. And be mightily in happiness for Matt C.
Rags saw ‘good things’ watching Cain throw bullpen. Here’s to seeing those same good things tonight.
How much more can we take? The reverend out again? Aren’t the Giants medicos there to prevent injuries? They need a new magic 8 ball.
But the story of Kershaw imploding was good for a chuckle.
Well, this is certainly different. Not sure why no Tiburone Blanco…
1. Kelby Tomlinson (R) 2B
2. Matt Duffy (R) 3B
3. Brandon Belt (L) LF
4. Buster Posey (R) 1B
5. Brandon Crawford (L) SS
6. Andrew Susac (R) C
7. Justin Maxwell (R) RF
8. Juan Perez (R) CF
9. Matt Cain (R) P
Vs. lefty. I thought maybe Belt would get the day off, but it’s Blanco.
Admittedly I don’t follow the dodgers closely but picking up Utley seems dumb. I thought their issue was the bullpen tire fire that Donny two trips has no idea how to manage.
tire fire… I like that image
When you see Juan Perez getting a start, then you know why I clamored forever for an OFer (Parra, etc.) at the deadline.
I mentioned earlier that the Giants have supposedly put offers out on some OFers via the waiver wire, but I also read where they are going to be “very picky” about adding an OFer…
As for Utley, when the Giants need to get him out late in a game, there’s this (tweet from Steward): Utley vs. Javier Lopez 0 for 20, 2 walks.
what’s Cody Ross up to these days?
From what I read, he’s playing with his kids and looking for a job…
If the Giants, or anyone else did pick him up, they would only have to pay the league minimum while AZ picked up the rest.
Last I heard about Ross was when he was released by the A’s early in the season.
3-2 A’s bottom 6th…
We all dug Cody for his masterful work for the Giants, but he’s done.
2-25 .O91 avg with the A’s before they mercifully cut him loose. The ship has sailed, then sunk with him.
5-2 A’s.
A’s mini-sweep L.A.!
http://tinyurl.com/o4nuckw
Nice job by Pomeranz in the 9th inning, closing it out. He blew a game against the Dodgers earlier this season.
I don’t really get the Dodgers picking up Utley either. The back-up to Kendrick, Kike Hernandez, is a .300-hitting utility infielder. Good luck trying to find that somewhere. Then what happens when Kendrick comes back? The Dodgers are a weird team. Well, they’re not really a “team,” in that sense. They’re a collection of players wearing the same uniform. Some of those players have a lot of talent, but there’s a weird vibe to their team.
The Dodgers are 0-8 in the Bay Area this season.
Man, that’s huge. Now Giants will head into the Steel City no worse than 2 games out.
If the Giants can just hang tough….
August was the Dodgers’ chance to bury the Giants.
Giants just gotta keep grinding.
So the A’s are good for something. Wonderful win for them. This should be a fantastic incentive to return to the status of Matt the Horse. Giants need some quality innings piling up. The Cardinals’ lineup is even more devastated than that of the Giants. This could be the perfect venue for Cain to get his mojo back.
Yeah, in Cain’s case I think there’s something to the mechanics/arm slot thing. He’s been pitching so long with bone chips, he needs to figure out how to do it without them.
He looks great and then poof. No control. No rhythm.
Spiderman!!!
Awesome catch!
Lots of applause from Cardinal fans, too…
That was an incredible catch. You couldn’t help but admire it, no matter what side!
not sure if I can listen to Kruk blabber on about Cain’s mechanics all game. Might need to go mute button till he gets yanked.
wow. 5 pitch inning.
Fricking gameday doesn’t show pitch count. I suppose Cain is up to 60 about now? And Garcia is a 15?
32 with 1 out in the 3rd, Chuck…
#33 should be coming through your living room window shortly…
lqtm . . .
Cain has 33 (after that HR), I didn’t see Garcia’s count.
Not making excuses for Cain, but after that meeting at the mound in the 2nd with Matt, Buster and young Andrew, I’m thinking Buster should be catching tonight.
ahhh, 36 pitches as of now.
Piscotty Too Hotty…..someone needs to cool him down.
Fuck. Who is this Piscotti dude?
Oops, I posted in the wrong spot. Sorry Unca.
I was hoping for the silver hammer and got the silver croquet mallet instead.
PH!!!!!
The horse with some woodie.
Yeah, PH who? I know.
For Nipper,Fuck the DH!!
Only in Baseball you get a chance to see a pitcher in the AL hit in a NL park with his first ever at bat, Detroit Tigers Daniel Norris goes straight away center field bomb, lefty vs lefty as well, most impressive!!
WTF happened to the Nip. And yes….hey Nipper, wherever you are….FUCK the DH! 😛
Is there anyone on the planet not named Brandon or Matt?
Giants have a Hologram..
Crawdad!!!
Huge hit and Kelly didn’t hang Duffy out to dry!!
OK, this is going to sound really stupid, but to me Cain’s arm looks more lively as the game goes on (last outing the thing looked like a piece of dead meat). It also looks like he is starting to finish his pitches off better. Am I seeing things through rose colored glasses?
And, WTG Craw.
Where in the hell is Maxwell’s Silver Hammer? What a pathetic AB.
That was a classic example of the difference between a legit hitter like Duffy and a borderline guy like Maxwell. After a couple of ABs, Duffy altered the plane of his swing to connect with the change-up; but Maxwell’s up there still using the same swing, in the same plane. No adjustment. Then players like that wonder why they can’t stick in the MLB very well. Same as Hector Sanchez.
Nip’s been gearing up for football on my blog, chuck
Game cast on Bart yet again… 😠
My daughter put these smiley faces on my phone, and I’m using them, dammit!
Cain jogs like a schoolgirl…
KAT!!!
Yes.
Clark Kent! Hell Yeah!
Tomlinson is legit.
So half or maybe two-thirds of a SF lineup has got Garcia outta there in the top of the 7th. We can win this one.
Wow just swathe Perez catch on my phone.
It will be on the highlights for awhile. Awesome.
Might’ve beat the tag at 2nd…
I was right.
Bad job by whoever decides to challenge…
Just saw that.
Think your right Loo, Should have challenged it..
WTF was Dunston doing in the trailer besides beating his meat?
The Dogs getting Utley was a total cock block move. They knew we needed him a helluva lot more than they did. In terms of prospects they were big stacked and we were small. They checked, we bet, and they raised. Well played.
We can still beat ’em on the river…
Ah crap.
That would have been a tough pick for Susac.
You see that kind of play from rookies all the time. Very few rookies would have the guts to say “Nah, that’s not there; I’ll take the out at first.”
That was the right play Imo Z..
They just moved the infield in and it was hit directly at KAT,good throw, right spot for the tag, Susac should have hung on, Posey would of..
Lay off the Vino Kuip, that was a perfect throw by KAT, that’s on Susac for not holding on IMO…
Gracias
Ball short hopped in the dirt IMO.
I’m listening to the radio feed. Anyone screw up on that play? Someone point some fingers! Miller is giving me nothing other than saying Susac didn’t handle the throw.
I wouldn’t blame anyone. It just didn’t work out…
Works for me
Sounds like my second marriage!
I blame belt.
sounds like both my marriages
Kuip, definitely hitting the sauce tonight..
Just said: Got em, on Belt’s AB that he fouled straight back
Great job by Strickland.
Looks very confident out there…
This is like playoff baseball. I like how Perez had FUN making his leaping basket catch. Willie Mays had FUN. That was his allure. And I had fun wantching Strickland get those two outs.
Tigers bomb Lester…
I sort of feel that Osich should have caught that dribbler.
Time for a Buster bomb…
Just by statistical odds, one of his near-misses has to be a bomb, eventually.
Since you’re asking, the colonoscopy went fine. good results. No GoLytely for five more years.
Glad to hear that everything went ok Pawlie, cause colonoscopy’s are the shits!
And their not even that bad, compared to the 3 liters of roto rooter you have to down prior to going in…
128oz