(Ker) Shank Redemption?
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.
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That’s my biggest disappointment. Teams regularly feast on their shitty pen but we miss opportunity after opportunity these past 2 games. Belt’s DP was oh so close to getting through . . .
I didn’t realize how small Leake is. I guess I didn’t notice it his first couple starts.
The inability to get the clutch hit w/RISP is frustrating as all hell (and yes, especially against the bumbino’s POS pen). Giants could have easily won both of the first two games. And as we have all discussed, time is growing short for such comments…the boys must find a way to get it done.
I too am confident in Leake. I was pushing hard for him before the Giants made the trade, and I sure as hell hope we resign him for next year. We are going to need a couple of arms to reload the rotation next year, and I would like to see Leake be one of them.
Not a must win today, but as fucking close as you can come. 6.5 down 28 to play would not be good…fuck, if we squeeze out a win today, 4.5 back with 28 is daunting enough. I still think our boys can win the West, but it needs to start with a fucking win today!
Fuck the bums.
A friend shared this piece on Timmy. Sure, the focus now is on winning the West, but it is hard to imagine that we will never see 55 take the hill for the Giants again. In his prime, the guy could electrify an entire ballpark like few others ever have. He will always be “Big Time Timmy Jim” in my mind, and will always be one of my all-time favoritie Giants.
http://grantland.com/the-triangle/2015-mlb-tim-lincecum-san-francisco-giants-career/
Like the Pirates series. Would have been great to take 3 of 4 and reasonable to go 2-2 and we ended with just one win. But that was just off at the end of the day by being a net loss of one game from what we expected.
Would have been over the top to expect 2 of 3 in Hel-LA, so 1 of 3 was the reasonable expectation. Would have been nice to have won game 1 and hit what was expected. So tonight is the must-win and we have beaten Kershaw before. 6.5 games would be a big hole to crawl out of….
I am my two cents, I don’t see The F Heads of Hel-LA getting past the Mets, let alone the Cards or the Pirates in my mind..would be nice to go out and break the bank to get Greinke next year…
anybody can get past anybody once the playoffs start.
If anyone proved that it was the LaRussa (urk) Cards. They crawled into the playoffs at 82-80 (i think) and still won it all.
Shit, we proved that Chuck in all 3 of our WS wins. No one gave us a chance.
Not sure I want to break the bank for Greinke. He is 31 now, and has the option to opt-out of his current contract with the bumbinos (which would pay him 24 mil next year, 23 mil in ’17, and 24 mil in ’18). So, I am assuming if he opts out, he wants at least three years (probably four with an option), and would want coin that at least matches what he has through 2018 with the bums. I think there may be better options out there.
Leake will be 28 in November, and lifetime stats are comparable to Greinke. I would make re-signing Leake a priority, and then go find another arm that will not cost quite as much as Greinke.
And I would like to see some of that 50 mil or so that is coming off the books used to upgrade the bench for next year.
Excellent post Chi . . . Not sold on any Dodger coming here, much less Greinke. To me, this current “era” of Dodgers – are all losers. Coupled with the cost of bringing Grienke here – which you succinctly covered – I’ll pass.
Our park is the big equalizer . . . If the front office brings anyone with half way decent talent to our team, they get an easy 25% boost or better from just pitching here. See Schmidt, Peavy, Hudson, Vogelsong, etc., etc.
Consequently, you could sign Flavor with his little league no hitter rep and he would hold his own at the Phone Park.
Craig – you got an agent? What’s your price? 😉
Op certainly is beatable and he has had rough time finishing games, with pen occasionally blowing up after him. Like to see Leake match up and outduel him or Giants get to Dodgers pen for some runs. Right now Mattingly pushing all the right buttons.
Next up for Giants are Sherps DBax on road and Reds Pads at home. LA at Pads next…they have owned these teams so far, and Giants are going to have do that in last month. AZ has winning record vs. SF this season and that noise is gonna have to change.
DBax swept the Sherps yesterday in Katmandu, after losing 2 of 3 at home vs. A’s last weekend. Bottom line these next 4 series vs. under .500 teams Giants have to dominate to win division or catch Cubs.
The Pads and AZ have both played well at times this year. Shit, they were both at .500 not too long ago.
They’ve also cratered badly as well. Got to take the teams we need to take. Starting tonight.
Greinke is on record as saying he has always and will always take the most money. If that’s all it takes, the Dodgers will get him every time (assuming they want him, and why wouldn’t they?)
Well maybe Greinke can use all his extra fucking money he will make to disinfect the whole clubhouse& urnials , since he can’t stand any of his teammates for not washing their hands.
“It’s irritating that we aren’t pummeling a bullpen that everyone else pummels.”
Time after time, we’ve seen Giants hitters get fat pitches from them that they foul off, or pop up. It’s very frustrating to see.
Nice article about Timmy; thanks, Chi.
I would think the Giants will do some kind of goodbye thing for Timmy before the season is over. I don’t know what that would be. But it seems like they would do some kind of pre-game thing of some sort. Maybe they’ll come up with some contrived award to give him or something. But it would be very nice to see something.
A gold braided Let Timmy Smoke T shirt?…
Agreed. Unveiling of a statue? 😉
I think it would be cool to let Timmy take Cain out of a game and as they walk off the mound they get an ovation that would tear the park down. Have it be a surprise.
I think the Yanks did exactly that with Pettitte and Rivera a couple years back. Of course we’re stuck with Cain for awhile. Maybe he can still turn it around at some point during the next $50 million…
I didn’t grow up with the Giants like many of you did. Other than the obvious history like Mays & Marichal et al, I’m not up on all the nuances … I’ve only followed them for the better part of 20 yrs so I don’t expect my opinion to carry much weight around here but, for what it is worth, I’m thinking much like Chi (re his 8:28am post): Timmy is truly one of the Great Giants of all time. All of us may not see it in that perspective quite yet, however, as time wears on, that fact will become clearer and clearer. Therefore, I believe that Giants management will get at least one thing right this season and will make sure that The Freak will end his career as a Giant – whenever that may be. I believe management will step up, do the right thing and re-sign him. Maybe retire his number at some point, erect a monument, have a parade? I dunno exactly but I believe it will turn out good for him and the fans.
No, LE, most fans see Timmy (at least in my opinion) as part of the beginning of the rebirth of the team. Especially after the heavy downer that the Bonds years became. Timmy was a breath of fresh (well, bong) air after the huge backlash around Bonds’ HR chase and the media flying circus around him.
Timmy was as anti-Bonds as anyone could be at a time when the team needed someone to rally around. Buster came later, and Cain was established, but Timmy took the baseball world by storm and the fans became, well, instant fans of his.
The first word in your post is “No” and I’m therefore thinking I got something wrong in what I said … Please, pardon my denseness but, after reading your comment, I’m not getting what I missed. I understand the debatable Bond/peds thing and the turn around into a new era with the emergence of Tim. But does that somehow detract from making him one of the all time greats? I’m just stating I think he will, at some point, enter the Pantheon of Olympian Giants.
Yep, good point Charlie re: Timmy being one of the principal players, if not THE principal player to lead the team out of the Bonds era. And outside of that, as I mentioned earlier, the ballpark was just fucking electric on days on which Timmy was slated to start. There was a buzz (pun intended) in the air that didn’t happen with any other player. I truly wish him well with this latest injury that he is facing.
Yes, Lisle. Unca Chuck seems to be agreeing with you. Or maybe not…
Well yeah … He’s “The Freak” … In a city of Freaks that built its reputation on being the freakiest place on the planet he is THE Freak … as true an icon as there ever was … That fact that he was also one of the greatest ‘lights out’ pitchers in team history solidifies his station as a giant Giant. IMHO.
Thanks clearing that up Loo in your own inimitable fashion.
Uh, the ‘no’ refers to you thinking that the fans might not truly grasp how great Timmy was at this point in time.
The ‘All of us may not see it in that perspective . . .’ part.
Nothing wrong in what you said at all. I think the fans young and old are as behind him as they are behind anyone on the team, past or present. Especially the younger fans that didn’t see Mays/McCovey/Marichal. Or even Billy Swift, Will Clark, and Robby Thompson.
I mean, I never saw Cepeda and McCormick, and the Mel Otts of the world are pretty much the same as Mays and co. are to the millennials. You hear the stories. Like my kids. I told them about guys like Mays and Jim Ray Hart, Jimmy D and all that, but Timmy’s the best Giants pitcher they’ve seen live and grew up watching.
Not sure where I’m going with this, but you get the idea!
Ok, got it Chuck! Thanks, you’ve made that clear for me now.
My “all of us may not .. etc” was more about not wanting to be too presumptuous … Ya know, a “some of the people all of the time … etc, etc” kinda thing.
Off topic … I always find comedy raises my spirits and they sure could use a lift at present … favorite comedy podcasts of mine that I highly recommend as a soul balm is Bill Burr’s … another is Doug Stanhope’s.
After the first loss it was said, “We were one hit away. . . ” and last night MadBum said, “We were one pitch away. . . ” So, obviously, we are getting better each day.
Go Gigantes!
Kershaw is just a man,he can be beaten..
Well since the beginning of July, he’s 6-0 with 96k’s and only 8 walks..
But then again he’s 0-2 with a 3.54 era against the Giants, so he can be beatable I guess..
Every party has a pooper.
Hopefully we’ll be the party poopers tonight.
Any shot Byrd or De Aza are Giants next year?
Byrd is deserving thus far Loo. Maybe De Aza too will show he belongs. However, I hope both are bench players next season and the Giants get a real stud outfielder to complement Pence. Same deal with the pitching – one more decent pitcher to go with Madbum and maybe Leake (jury still out on him – so dunno about him yet either).
Byrd, sure. One year deal if he keeps smacking the ball all over the place De Aza? Haven’t seen enough. But it’s hard to be worse than the current bench.
Infield set next season, albeit, potential logjam at 1st, if Posey’s time at catcher is decreased. Outfield and pitching needs to be addressed. Wish list? One stud outfielder, one flamethrower closer, and one pitcher equal to someone like Indians Salazar or Tampa’s Odorizzi. I know, I know . . . I’m dreamin’.
Or, maybe one or more of these rookies break through (great article) . . .
http://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2015/9/1/9241813/afl-rosters-sf-giants-arizona-fall-league
Odorizzi’s gotta be tough name for a chick…
WTF?… Airhead 000 in the lineup again! Can Noonan truly be any worse at the plate? Is it because the former switch “hits”?
He’s gone 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts against Kershaw.
For him that’s ownage…
and that’s fucking gold as usual from you, my man. POTD!
If nothing else my POTDs are real space savers…
that’s another one! You’re on fire!
I’m really getting tired of raggin’ on this guy – I cannot even bring myself to say his name … But you all know who I mean.
Many years ago, I would attend some games at The Stick with a hilarious friend of mine – he was an extraordinary guitarist who pitched rookie ball in So Cal in his youth … Anyway, there was somebody – I cannot remember who – on the Giants that had an abysmal batting average (let’s say it was .176 this one particular time) and my friend would start this chant in the section ” one seven six, one seven six …etc … ” Whenever this guy came to the plate … He would get the entire section into it chanting whatever BA number it was … at first people didn’t get it, but they’d catch on and get into it … I’d piss myself, it was so funny … people would fall out laughing!
sounds like a fun game to play. I’ll go first. Ok, so you didn’t start following the Giants till ’89 (I think you said). So let’s go with a shitty hitter from the early 90’s… hmmm….gonna noodle this one out and get back to you before the end of hour. I know you said you don’t remember who but maybe his name will jar you if we get it right.
I mean, the obvious one is Mike Benjamin. But I’ll keep throwing some bones out there till you say yay or nay
I’m thinking this was somewhere between 93 & 95 … I moved to SF from Montreal in 92 … I was still an Expos fan until the strike killed ’em in 94 … If I remember right I wasn’t following Giants that closely at the time so it could have been as late as 95 (my transition year).
Btw, once again, I gotta bail … Running out the door to my reg Wed gig … No internet tonight, so no iPad App. Will run out to my car to check progress of the game.
GO GIANTS!
I suspect there will be several answers when you check in tomorrow. Go bang a groupie, it’ll make tonight’s loss easier to tolerate. See what I did there? That’s the OPPOSITE of Chi’s move after a win yet the same goal is achieved. Outcome still the same. Baseball is a great, great sport…….
actually I’m going with Rikkert Faneyte. Final answer.
Or, J.R. Phillips. Both of those guys made you wish Dusty would pinch hit Porch for em.
Had to be Phillips right??? And they thought he would take over for Will the Thrill, hardy har har…
Pagan looks ready to break that HR drought tonight…
Looks like he’s ready to turn a single into one, while playing D.
Ok couple of responses from earlier posts:
1) Giants are going to have a whole lot of money to spend.
2) If Fuck heads don’t win a WS, maybe Greinke wants to leave LA LA land and the Puig miasma.
3) Getting Greinke means he is not on the Dodgers. There is a certain value on just that fact.
6 years for $150 mill does not seem unreasonable to me considering in 2-3 years, Bum is the only significant contract in the rotation. Bum-Greinke would be a nice lefty – right one two punch. Especially with the questions about Cain . Also, our infield is going to be very very reasonably priced next 3-4 years. Pence and Posey only big contracts for multi-years.
So money is not an issue in any Greinke debate…in my most humble opinion of course.
Next, I realize, especially with our recent Giants history that “anything can happen” when the playoffs start but can anyone explain why Kershaw has been dog shit in the playoffs?
So making a reasonable comparison among the potential NL playoff teams, I can’t see the F Heads beating the Mets, Pirates or Cards.
Pagan. Fucking. Sucks. I am so tired of this dude. Critical to one world series win. But he is as done as done gets right now. I’d rather have Rowand out there, at least he could play defense…..
Damn, MLB is freezing up on me again. The Kruk won 20 back in 86, Timeless Moment, really has become timeless…
Sorry Flav, not meant to be a comment to your post.
And then Pagan doubles off Turner at 2B. Every once in a while you remember his good side (all those stand up triples, etc.).
He made a nice play on that liner to double up the runner on 2 nd…
Incompetent fool.
000
Adrianza finds new ways to be terrible.
Better to be unlucky than suck!
Fuck you, Turner.
I “hate” that Grizzly Adams Turner mofo. How about Adrianza dropping the tag on a loose helmet bouncing at him instead of on the runner? Now that is an empty headed mistake.
I agree. Hate the way he looks/acts/everything
So this 000 dude is a defensive star? Yet he blows that tag at second with the ball there 3 feet ahead of the runner? You put the glove on the bag and the runner will tag himself out. SheeUs, I am so tired of this kid screwing up
Gotta say though, it was a hell of deke by Turner to send his helmet into second.
That fucking helmet tag by 000 is something you or I would do. And then he goes high with the follow up tag. Complete incompetence
And he didn’t stretch out much to take that double off throw from Pagan , though they got the runner
Adrianza: No. 1 in our programs, No. 000 in our hearts.
Unfortunately, giants are doing a great job of auditioning to be next year’s team for Leake.
“aren’t”.
This thing has all the look of a kershaw shutout so far
Fuck fuck fuckity fuck
That 53rd pitch of Leake’s sure is taking a looooong tome to get out of his mitt. I’m glad I upgraded this year.
000 almost got a hit with that bunt try his first AB. I laughed when I heard Flemm say he should do that a couple times a game — Flemm must be reading my posts…
Too disheartened to read the previous posts, but how bout that Ehire?
Byrd to the Fucking wall. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Not that it has hopes but e have to get to this pen.
Specs with some good takes there for the walk. Why is 000 Not bunting
Fuck. Just start him out at 0-3.
Ahhhhhhhhhh Bloch is getting tossed. He’s safe.
So much for that rally.
Dogs getting the calls tho. He’s safe but they will call him out.
Shit. Ok do something.
We are playing terrible. Can’t bunt fucking Ehire didn’t even try. Time for that first finger Angel.
Finger dinger whatever.
Nice . . . Way to go Angel.
A bleeder! Eat shit Turner
Tied up. Pagan getting the run back.
Uh wrong, Kuip. Getting picked off is never s good play.
Pagan’s foot wound up on the plate. That’s not interference?
Way to go Crazy Horse!
Tough to say who is more incompetent right now, 000 or Pagan
There’s your answer…
I mean, Pagan hit a ball to 3rd that should have been handled but I don’t think 000 could have done that
Ok that was a good catch and 000 tags helmets without heads in them so I’ll go with Ooo as more worthless
On defense too . . . Dude has been hurt this year, but he always tries. I give him props for that.
Hey, what’s this in my jock strap? Attaway Angel, attaway.
Love these 0.1 innings that we tie this shit up. Start drilling hese fuckers.
Godammit.
F ME…hate that Utley bastard….good swing though…
I was about to write to get Leake’s ass out of there..
who was that Cardinal OF back in the early 80s, someone dubbed him the only guy who can simultaneously keep you in and out of the game? Pagan’s like that.
Lonnie Smith?
yes. thank you.
E T McGee? Naah
Bbbbbbbbbyrdddddddd
Come on!!!
Umps suck. Bring on the electronics.
I am real close to being there, too.
The electric chair is a bit harsh, but for Winters.? OK, I’m with ya.
You get the straps, i’ll throw the lever.
Jesus. Winters is a complete fuck head. That wasn’t very close. 10 against 9. He took the bat out of De Aza’s hands yesterday and Belt’s tonight.
Fucking bullshit on the Belt no swing. If I was Bochy I would have went off, too! These umps need to be held accountable for their bullshit calls.
agreed. Winters is a bitch.
We are running out of innings here.
Susac got the pitch you would have thunk he was looking for…Bochy is the most mild mannered manager when he gets thrown out of game….I would have gone ape shit and stolen every bag and thrown as much as could on the field just to get Kershaw out of sync if possible…
Time to hit somebody
Utley is the perfect target
Time to score some fucking runs.
Score some fucking runs already.
Fuck the fucking fuck bums.
I think Bochy came very close to a multi-game suspension with his tirade against Winters. I’ve never seen Bochy take it that far, shout the fuck you you blind son of a bitch these games count in September if you don’t realize it you fucking scrubs so clearly that viewers can see them. Bochy was almost begging for a close review of the entire imbroglio. mlb could check the video, see how fucking wrong Winters was on a non-swing anybody could’ve called, and then seriously considered Bochy’s real complaint–Winters is biased against the Giants. mlb can’t let this shit continue, and they aren’t going to fire Bochy.
C’mon, you slumping fuck!
It would be epic for Byrd to go yard and end this MOFO.
Let the air out, Blade…
Wish they had sent Duff Man on the 1-2 pitch. Handcuffed Grandal. Would have tied it up with Posey ‘ s single
Let’s go Bird Man
Buster saw Kershaw’s slider and fouled it off or took it several times. Byrd swung over it and out last time.
and there it was again. Three tough fought unbelievably close games, with a bunch of bad breaks including umpire crimes against the Giants, and September looks like Denali.
Fuck!
Pfffttt . . .
Frickin #@$&(#)
Same shit. Different night.
It’s gonna take a miracle. Miracles are rare, but they do happen.
Getting swept by the fucking bums is THE WORST.
Damn. Would a been sweet to beat opie 130 pitches in.
Fuck. Hope for the Cubs to crater? At this pint that seems more likely.
Pitch count may come back to haunt Kershaw…
unfortunately, that may be in the PS, but I was thinking along the same lines
15 strike outs. Rarely will that result in a win.
Kershaw? “Motherfuck him and John Wayne”
It’s time to do something desperate:
Replace the worn out BBOTD with the picture of young Flavor in that awesome outfit..
Op was still throwing 95 at pitches 124 and 130 according to cbs site. He’s on a roll, but Leake looked dang good too, Giants just haven’t scored for him.
Giants better tcb on rest of chump teams in division to catch LA or Cubs…starting with Sherps. Miller on radio at start of game said Friday SP still undecided. Hmmnn.
The one thing Giants could absolutely not do was get swept. And, that’s what they did.
They were in every game, they just are missing the horses needed to get wins. With Pence, Panik and Craw out, you really can’t expect to just go out and win. Nobody but Byrd seems to be able to get doubles and HRs, and that’s what it takes to get runs with the rest of the squad barely at AAAA level. Adrianza now at .165. You can’t win a lot with a SS swinging linguini like that. It is on Sabean that they are trotting a guy out there that is an automatic out in the major leagues, and there is no other option…
Normally, G-Head’s earlier suggestion to send Duffy would be lunacy with Posey up. But, it wasn’t such a crazy idea given that Posey — for whatever reason — is nothing more than a singles hitter lately,
Yeah, he’s running on fumes lately. Not going to get into the 1st base redux suggestion, but him being optimal all season long means a lot less time catching.
Well, stuff we were concerned about in Spring Training came to pass. Starting pitching issues and bench issues. Pagan didn’t bounce back. McGiggles flopped.
We called out the starting pitching issues early on, before the season. Lots of fans did. Voggy re-sign was a bad move. They aren’t out of it yet, but dang close. Keeping Pagan and his Capn Ahab leg out there for 2 months made no sense. Arias on nothing but bellman duty for 2 months also made no sense. Games were wasted. Anyway, Panik and Pence need to get back, stat. No guarantees at all that these games v Rocks and v Padres are gimmees. If they start Heston or Huddy in mile high Denver, that will be crazy, IMO…
I do believe the umps had it in the Gyros after the first game, for some reason. They let Romo get away with a balk, but I think balk calls are stupid anyway. Every meaningful call afterwards seemed to favor the Doghairs…
I like GH’s logic about going all-in for Greinke. It’s double value. Our gain and the Dodgers’ loss.
If that happens, pigs will fly at ATT…
I hope not Zum . . . Grienke has 2058.2 innings on that arm (207 per year for 12 years). I see us getting “Schmidted” by him and the Bums if we sign him. Dude wants a max contract too. IMO we will be making the biggest mistake ever . . . Cain and Zito will pale in comparison.
I want starters under 30. Period. End of story…
Time for a 10-game winning streak. Yet, as currently constituted, I’m afraid a 10-game losing streak is more likely. Way too many winnable games lost the past 2 weeks. Dudes need to come out angry at Coors…
Nick Noonan?
Seriously?…
The Cards lose Wainright and their top prospect dies, and they’re 39 games over .500.
Sandoval’s hitting .247 for his last-place Red Sox.
Just some random observations
Since the 3rd inning Monday we scored 3 runs in 29 innings. Thats how sweeps happen. We pitched great. No hitting at all. I missed todays game, but not even one hard hit ball yesterday, Grr