A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball

Of course, I am talking about the 70’s sitcom. Remember that one? It starred Eddie Van Halen’s future ex-wife. It was about a divorced mother who was raising her 2 teenage daughters through all the grief the 70’s could throw at them. Truthfully, it was a below average comedy. Why did we watch it? Because it was on tv. And we had nothing else to do in the 70’s during prime time hours…..

The thing I disliked most about One Day at a Time was when they would try to tackle serious issues. Like one of the kids would get drunk and Bonnie Franklin would spend an entire scene crying her eyes out because she was a broke single mom and she didn’t know what else to do. Schneider, the affable, quirky handyman, would stand by, silent and awkward, watching her wail because this was something that a hammer and a nail just couldn’t fix.

I always felt worse after watching one of those serious episodes. Sad. Deflated. Wished I’d never seen it.

Of course, 3 decades later One Day at a Time was reincarnated in a new show called “Modern Family.” It had the same theme, a comedy about a family with an unusual family structure. The main difference between the two shows is that every scene in Modern Family is hilarious and they don’t spend a second tackling any serious social issues. Why? Because they’re all rich as fuck and they don’t have time for one-off serious drama scenes….

My point with all this sitcom talk?

I can’t bring myself to truly believe that the Giants have it in them to sweep the Dodgers. We simply don’t have the players to pull that off. But we do have the heart–something that beats much fainter in LA. These guys are playing with as much heart as any Giants team I’ve ever seen. So while I don’t believe we can sweep, I do believe we can win one….game…at…..a…..time.

One Day at a Time……

We’ve been gifted a surprise Game 7 today. If Bum can beat Kershaw we will have done the near impossible. We will have slayed their 2 headed beast back to back. And if we can do that, there is nothing to fear about Game 3 or 4.

So today is huge. And there is no other man I’d rather have take the hill for us.

One game at a time.

One day at a time……

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here’s a very cool, detailed photo of this epic catch. 483!

We’ve got a 0.1% chance of making the playoffs this year. That’s better than I thought. If we were able to sweep the Dodgers that would rank as one of the best things I’ve ever seen this team do. Maybe ranked right below the 3 world championships. One game at a time. “You could be walking around lucky and not even know it…..”

Hey, whatever happens, at least we aren’t the Nats. We don’t have petulant children like Harper. We don’t have stranglers like Papelbon. And our manager isn’t….well, you know……

Funny note about Williams and his sinking ship: He said he didn’t know the severity of the fight because he was on the other side of the dugout. Just how big is this dugout? A mile long? Was Williams asleep during the fight? He was probably doomed before the fight but he will get his proper firing at the end of the season. Guaranteed…..

I’m no Harp fan but I support him, to a degree, on this. Pap didn’t yell at him because he didn’t hustle, he yelled at him for the comment Harp made to the press the previous day about questioning Pap hitting Machado. Pap was looking to embarrass Harp the way he perceived to have been embarrassed by Harp in the press the day earlier. That’s stupid. And what exactly did Harper do wrong? He was at first base when the ball got caught. This wasn’t a ground ball that could have been misplayed, it was a lazy pop up. How often do those get dropped? It’s September, everyone is tired, I don’t see the point in running like a maniac out of the box on a lazy pop up with the 0.1% chance that the left fielder drops it and you give yourself a chance to make it to second base……

Sadly, I won’t see it. NFL today.

I am hoping we push our elimination to the Dodger series. Make them earn it. And if they win, so be it. It would have bugged me pre-2010 to watch the Dodgers celebrate a divisional crown at our expense but not anymore. #3in5 has everything to do with that. Good luck with their #1inlast27

That bomb he hit to center field….you just don’t magically hit them there. That was a monster blast. I’m trying to figure out what’s wrong with this guy. Drafted in the 2nd round of 2010, he’s 26 now, always shown good pop in the minors. And yet he’s just now getting a shot?

He’s tall and long, maybe that’s his problem. Easy to get inside on him? If he put on 20 pounds I wonder how far these monster blasts would travel?

Time to admit that we were all wrong about Leake. Everyone said that was a great pick up and he’s been a total dud—at least in terms of signing him to a big deal. Don’t want this guy. Already have him under control in the body of Heston…..

In case you missed it, here is the 24 seconds of the stare down between Bum and Joe West. this is pure gold. I’ve never seen anything like this on a baseball field.

My favorite part is Posey punching his glove a couple of times and then just looking back and forth at West and Bum like he was the 3rd wheel on their blind date……

Hey– meant to get a thread out. Actually thought I did.

Anyway, I missed the game yesterday but based off your comments from the last thread it sounds like it was less than optimal. Kuip was on the morning show and said he sat with Bochy for 15 minutes after the game and that Boch was straight pissed at how our relievers pitched some of the Padres.

Must have been a frustrating game to watch.

I’m 100% West Coast and nearly 5 decades younger than Yogi, but I know enough to tip a 2-Flap up salute to the life and career of this man. Most of what I know about him I learned from the radio driving into work today.

He was part of the Normandy Invasion. He won 3 MVP’s and 10 World Series. That’s Buster Posey X 3.

I read a tweet from his daughter earlier this year. It was a picture of Yogi dressed to the nines in his Yankee gear. He had a huge smile on his face. Caption read something like “Game doesn’t start for 7 hours but dad is dressed and ready to go as usual”.

He’s a baseball hero. RIP.

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Also learned on the radio today: Giants were 6 out with 12 to play in ’51

You guys that play fantasy league ball — this is basically gambling gone legit, right?
What is the chance, if any, of the money in this driving some sort of player scandal? Can players be tainted or at least tempted to do something or stop doing anything (that is not legal) that some fantasy league players(s) would like to see to see happen or not happen?…

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No, I don’t consider it gambling the same way I see poker as gambling. There is skill involved with poker but I think far more luck than in DFS. Regarding a scandal, Blade covered it at the end of the last thread. Looking at it the other way, DFS players influencing players in the game, I don’t see that ever happening. The risk would be too great for the player, the gain not enough.

I do wonder about DFS cheating by trying to shut down entire games. For instance, a couple of years ago Fanduel had their million dollar baseball tourney (winner got a milly) and there was a water main break in Colorado. The guy that won that day faded all of the Colorado players and the guy that WOULD have won had the game played had like 4 Colorado players. He finished second. I always wondered about the chances of foul play that day. I don’t know how hard it would be to cause a water main break/problem but it stands to reason that if someone had the means and a shady side to him that he’d do it to win a million bucks. A more simple plan would be to call in a bomb threat or something like that. Because remember, if you could shut a game down then all the players that day do not accrue fantasy stats for that day. Still, you’d have to hit on all the other players you have who do play so there’s no *fix* there that I can see……

Regarding a player playing DFS and starting himself in a line up: What could they really do? Swing for the fences instead of taking a walk? Steal an extra bag? Even if they did that the stat bump would be pretty inconsequential to their *team*. They’d have to have other guys in on it and again, that would blow my mind if it turns out a bunch of players all get together to try to pad stats for a fantasy game they’re playing that evening…….

Looking like Huddy vs Zito on Saturday actually might happen. Do any of you care even a little bit about seeing this come together?

The last time the Giants scored a run: Wednesday night against the Reds. 7th inning. For those not keeping score, today is Sunday. Way back when, according to the box score, 000 tripled to deep center and Specs came in to score. That was the same game Peavy hit a home run. His first in 9 years. Unconfirmed report: that is also the exact same amount of time that has passed since the last time we scored a run…..

I choose not to comment on losing 2-nada to the Dirrrrrrty Snakes.

Today is probably the first time in my life that I am going to watch a Cal game where they aren’t playing Stanford. I am legitimately interested in seeing how they do. Goff is the real deal, I think, and it’s time to find out where the Bears stand against real teams.

And then Stanford will be getting blown out by USC later tonight…..

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Baseball question: Is there a team you are going to be rooting for in the post season? Or are you not interested if the Giants aren’t in it?

I’d like to see The Pirates play the Blue Jays in the world series. Two fun teams to watch…….

Last night I texted San Dawg that I get more than a little irritated if my can of Tinactin runs out….

I can’t even imagine if my home was destroyed in a fire…..

As most of you have probably heard, our Flap brethren Twinfan lost his home in the Valley Fire. He and his wife, as best I can tell, are staying in a shelter somewhere near Calistoga.

One day you’re living your life in your house dealing with day to day problems. The next day you have no house and no place to stay and everything you had is now gone. I just can’t even imagine what they’re going through.

Let’s hold them in our best thoughts and hopefully this some how works out for them.

What is up with all these pitchers hitting home runs? Bum you expect. But then Voggy goes oppo. Freaking Hudson hits one. And now Peavy rakes out his 3rd career bomb?

His revival this year has been epic.

Zito vs Hudson looming?

The only good thing about last night was that we were all ready so far back in the standings it really didn’t matter if we win or lose. Because otherwise, that one would have hurt. But the Dodgers DID lose in 16 innings so it was a little irritating that we couldn’t close the gap.

Everyone talks about getting it to 4.5/5.5 games for the Dodger series but with 1/3 of our starters spittin’ seeds from the dugout that 4 game series would be more frustration than gratification.

Doesn’t matter. We couldn’t even put the Reds away. Still stuck a long way from first place……

Why the heck not?

Hest by Hest vs a lefty I’ve never heard of.

Giddy up

Back in the day, you’d root for your favorite players and you never wondered who they were you just looked at them and knew.

After free agency started revving up, the cynical fan talked about having to root for laundry. A’s fans are the poster fans for this.

But I’m looking at these new Niner uni’s and feel like I can’t even root for laundry anymore.

What is THIS?

Apparently I am rooting for the Texas Tech Red Raiders tonight……

Forget “red and gold till I’m dead and cold.” Now it’s “red and black and Kap just took another sack. I want the old uniforms back.”

After a train wreck off season and now these hideous uniforms to open 2015 the word “rooting” isn’t going to have the same meaning either…….

Go Giants.

NFL…..

But still….

Go Giants.

Out and About today. You guys hold down the fort with the dignity and class that this place is known for.

Bahahahahaha!!!!!!

Oh boy, the college football and pro football come fast and furious this weekend. I’m bummed the Giants are out of it but what are you going to do? I’m happy to continue basking. Although you don’t want to bask too long, right? If you do, all of a sudden you look up and your last world series ring looks like this:

I know I posted this before but it still makes me laugh quietly to myself…..

Also, if you ever find yourself looking longingly back at the 70’s, check out this ad….

This comment says it all:

Noonan, Williams, Perez = easiest save in MLB history.

When you’re running those 3 chumps out there, either strung together or spread out across baseball time continuum, your team is in trouble. I’m not really down on this year, but the reality is we just don’t have enough major league players to make a run in September. Not news, I know, but…..

we needed a new thread.

🙂

So of COURSE Huddy pitches a gem and hits a bomb (4th of his career). Why wouldn’t he? This team plays backwards. Wins when you expect it to lose, lose when you expect it to win. Glad I don’t bet on baseball.

Unfortunately, the Dodgers also get to play bad teams right now and they aren’t missing.

So games like last night are fun and to be enjoyed. And Huddy, that’s your big send off, ok?

I thought it was funny when Angel Hernandez and all the umpires forgot the count. I’m fairly confident that a robot umpire would have gotten that call correct. We are so far past due robot umpire time it’s getting silly.

Boy, if we could all have as nice of a Labor Day as the Giants, right? Show up to work, get paid, but do no work. That’s how the true wise guys stay ahead of working stiffs like you and me…….

Leake came up ant-small but it didn’t really make a difference since we continue to have trouble driving runs in. When Jackson Williams is your starting catcher, otherwise known as “The Human White Flag”, you know your season is toast.

Who wants to get a look at Clayton Blackburn? I do. He’s got a tidy 2.84 ERA in AAA this year, impressive considering all the bandboxes and altitudes that come into play in that league. Well, you don’t get to see him. You get fucking Huddy. Apparently, his is a tale that has yet to be told…….

Enjoy……..

In San Francisco they worry about whether or not Buster Posey is getting enough rest. In New York, Matt Harvey and his snake agent huddle together wondering if he’s going to turn into a Spinal Tap drummer once that 180th inning falls.

Happy Labor Day? I think not.

Let’s rewind to 1976. Tommy John just came off the surgery he’d become famous for. Now, obviously there have been some improvements over the years in how that surgery is done. That first one was probably done with a rusty butter knife and a half a bottle of cheap whiskey to kill the pain.

What did John do his first year back? He went 10-10 and pitched 207 innings. That was for a Dodger team that finished 10 games back in the standings to the Reds. Four of the 5 LA starters went over 200 innings that year….

I picked a random year (1970) and here were the top 10 innings leaders:

With a few starts left for each, here are today’s leaders:

We all know it’s a different game today with pitching specialists and pitch counts and nervous managers afraid to leave anyone in for too long. But being Labor Day I thought it would be nice to give a shout out to the pitchers from back in the day who, you know, pitched. Today’s pitchers have every advantage imaginable over guys who pitched in the 70’s—Technology. Diet. Conditioning. They have like 10 new pitches to throw. They have it all. And yet not a single one of them would be able to crack that list I posted from ’70.

Hope Posey got his 10 hours last night…….

Harvey is now saying he’s going to pitch in the post season (assuming the Mets make it). Why didn’t he just say that in the first place? Public pressure is probably not the best guide for your career. If I was Gaylord Perry I would be laughing long and loud at guys like Harvey…….

Go get ’em……

Pretty locked in with college football today. To be honest, watching all that scoring will be a welcome relief from having to watch the Giants offense operate at glacial pace.

Cardinal…..

Last night didn’t surprise me at all. Coming off an emotional beat down, the team didn’t get to sleep until 5am Denver time. Their VMI number was terrible and they were facing a team that had the luxury of having been in Colorado acclimating for at least the previous series. Sprinkle some Voggy in there and you get an 11-3 drubbing…….

Today might not be much better. Chris Heston is going to get pummeled. And while De La Rosa is no Kershaw, he definitely knows how to pitch in Denver. Glimmer of hope: this is the 3rd straight left hander we’ve seen. Can we finally get to one of them today?

What am I missing? Why isn’t Petit starting today? Is he hurt? If he fails THEN you can bring in Heston or Huddy for mop up duty. But it seems to me that you go with the guy who doesn’t rely on his ball to sink for success. At least in Colorado.

I woke up this morning and smelled smoke. Not real smoke. Metaphoric smoke. I had hoped it was just Mike Winters smoking copious amounts of pole again. Unfortunately it was a fire and it had burned completely through. Nothing left standing. On the ground, smoldering ash. Not sure if we can rebuild.

Remember this epic movie line? “Her insides were a rocky place where my seed could find no purchase….” You can draw a jagged line from that quote to how I feel about this season. How I miss the “salad days”…..

It would be easy to target my venom at guys like 000 who seems to think tagging helmets with no heads in them is sound, fundamental baseball. And while he didn’t directly cost them the game, all I have to say is FUCK MIKE WINTERS. You’d think that after his obvious horrible call on DeAnza from Game 2 he would be a little remorseful, maybe even sheepish. But nope, there he was again making a horrible call and looking directly into Bochy’s eyes waiting for him to flinch before tossing him again. Seriously, is there ANY recourse to get this clown punished by the league?

Gonna hear a lot about *odd years* and *bad pennies* over the coming weeks. That’s misguided. Sabean got caught with his pants down this season. The roster was poorly constructed nearly from the beginning and now we are stuck with guys like 000 flinching at *Noonan!!!!* from the dugout and tagging headless helmets. He’ll now spend eternity being haunted by ghosts from basepaths past……

That is your 2015 Giants. Consider it an early epitaph.

Sinking, sinking, but not yet sunk.

Sure, the umps didn’t do us any favors but the bottom line is that Greinke was better than Bumgarner and even with that, this game was there for the taking. We simply didn’t get it done.

Kershaw is just a man, he can be beaten. I have decent confidence in Leake to make a game of it. Dodger hitters don’t scare me. I could easily see the Giants winning today. They almost have to.

It’s irritating that we aren’t pummeling a bullpen that everyone else pummels.

Not really sure what to say about that game except to honor those of you who stayed up to watch it.

Krukow said something interesting yesterday on KNBR. When asked about Agent 000 he said “Look, he’s not a major leaguer.” That’s a pretty blunt statement in public about a guy who has been a major leaguer for so much of the season. And look, he’s right. I’m going to try to remember that the next time 000 screws something up. It’s not his fault he’s on the team.

Somehow they have to win the next to games. Maybe *have to* is overstating it. But the calendar is dusty and worn. There are only so many games left in 2015……..