A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball

I drove into my driveway yesterday just as the bottom of the 3rd inning got under way. I decided to stay and listen to it on the radio so I wouldn’t miss anything and I like listening to Miller anyway. I should have brought a sandwich and something to drink. I got very hungry and thirsty.

As the inning wore on and the scoreboard lights began to flicker from overuse, I considered just going into the house. But I was stubborn and I wanted to see just how long an inning could last. Like could this inning somehow alter the time/space continuum law. About 20 minutes into it I turned the ignition back on because I was worried I was going to end up with a dead car battery.

Here is a sample of some of the texts I got during that inning:

“this is a looooooog inning dawg”

“can we surrender?”

“hilarious”

“what is happening to the Giants right now…”

“longest and worst muthafuckn inning in fuckn history and I am here.”

“is 12 runs in an inning a record?”

There were more. So much time was passing. My 5 o’clock shadow grew into a full beard. I considered braiding it to pass the time. I starting thinking about weird shit like how much time was there left in the world. When would the world end? When would this inning end? Do I have enough gas in my car to keep the radio on and the battery running? What would I tell the AAA guy if I ran out of gas and got a dead battery all while sitting in my driveway?

Mercifully, the inning ended and I wandered into my house tired and exhausted like I’d just finished running the Bay to Breakers. I checked the calendar to make sure it was still April…..

“Busted down on Bourbon Street, Set up like a bowling pin…..”

There is one Flapper who gets to strut around and say he knew it all along, and that Flapper is the great and storied WILLIED.

Dee Gordon got taken to the woodshed for PED’s and now last season makes a lot more sense. I wonder what his hitting coach has to say about this? lqtm.

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The Giants are in NY for a very difficult series vs a solid Mets club. Matz? deGrom? Thor? Jesus, those are 3 studs lined up and we counter tonight with fucking Peavy.

Do we have any New York Flappers storming the gates this weekend?

Heard Finnerty’s owner on KNBR this morning. He says they’ll be 160 strong in section 138 today. All wearing orange shirts and loud as fuck.

Today in 1988, Baltimore lost their 21st game in a row. Here is the SI cover that week. I miss the simplicity of those older covers. Nowadays it seems like it’s just shit superimposed on other shit. Fake.

We are going to have trouble in NY, I’m not looking forward to this trip.

Just a reminder, Cueto and Samardzija got ranked by most pundits who pundit this sort of thing as 2 of the 5 worst free agent signings of the Winter.

Where would we be without them?

And why can’t we seem to score at AT&T?

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I was just cleaning up my clogged desktop screen and I found this. It’s Jayson Stark’s list of worst free agent signings from interviews he did with baseball excecs

Pffffffffttttt…… long shitty day.

But I’ll be damned if I leave The Flap hangin’ on a game time thread.

I’ll try to check in later.

I missed most of yesterday’s game catching some of it on the radio. Each time I tuned in Jon Miller was doing a different type of flabbergast at the hitters and their inability to drive in runs when presented with the opportunity.

A quick check of the team stats? Sounds like a plan. Stats that stood out:

Trevor Brown has more RBI’s than Buster Posey (7>6).

Brandon Crawford has 1 more RBI than Jeff Samardzija (4>3).

Eh, I’m not in the mood to keep going.

How’s Steph’s knee?

Also…..

Happy Birthday Unca Chuck!

I’m sitting here typing this in a worn out, black, long sleeve Giants shirt. No frills, just “Giants” emblazoned across the front. There are multiple holes in it. The “black” has faded to almost gray. At this point, it’s probably only good for sleeping in. I think I bought it in 1998.

It got me to wondering about the gear we all own. Outside of a hat, what’s the oldest Giants gear you own and still wear? This is probably the oldest for me. I wear shit hard so it’s no surprise that I don’t have anything older than this.

Good win last night. When Barry got his curtain call didn’t it seem like the entire Marlins dugout was ignoring it? I wonder how they feel about Barry and his fame. Do they listen to him? Or do they think he’s a diva?

Somehow I missed this: Prince died in an elevator. That’s…..crazy.

I was never a huge Prince fan. In fact, since his epic Super Bowl halftime show I hadn’t even thought about him until he showed up at Oracle last month with a freaking scepter or cane or whatever that was. My buddies saw him perform the next night and said their minds were collectively blown.

But even not being a big fan I did walk the earth yesterday with a certain kind of melancholy malaise hovering above me. It was like when Michael Jackson or Whitney Houston died. Not big fans of them, but they were such a huge part of my youth, they were just always around somehow on MTV or on the radio or whatever, it was jarring to know that he was suddenly gone.

Now, back to baseball.

Giants update: We suck.

That is all.

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just for the H of it….

In a couple of months, I want Lisle to break out that shorthand/journal thing that he’s furiously scribbling in and remind us of the darkest time of the year. Because this is it. And we shouldn’t overreact to it, just as we shouldn’t have expected the Giants to average scoring 8 runs a game as they did earlier this year.

Bad stretch. Bad week. I think Buster is hurt, there’s a direct line you can draw from his foot getting hit to the slump he’s in right now.

The important thing to remember>>>>>>

this too shall pass…….

Finally got some news on Lincecum. He’s in Arizona *training* with his dad. His pitch count is into the 70’s on a 5 man rotation time frame. That sounds painfully slow, in terms of progress, to me.

But what if he finally turns a corner and can be productive again? Would the Giants re-visit? Especially with Cain and Peavy pitching like #6/7 starters?

I don’t think he’s got anything left. But if you’re going to trot Cain and Peavy out there every week wouldn’t you at least do the same type of rain dance with Timmy?

Last night was irritating. And I’m not just talking about the D-backs uniforms.

Peavy pitched about as well as he’s going to pitch this year. And as your #5, he was passable. The bullpen was atrocious and if they keep vomiting all over the mound we will see management act in bold, swift fashion. They didn’t build a team with a 170 million dollar payroll this year just to watch the one-inning guys piss it all away.

The good news is that Houston sucks and the Warriors can beat anyone. Also, someone told me the Sharks lost. Boo hoo.

You know what’s a perfect remedy for what ails Peavy?  Paul Goldschmidt and his biceps combined with unseasonably warm temps.

Uh, maybe not.

At least he has the pitchers-park factor working in his favor.

Huge start for Peavy. If he implodes again I’m not sure even the bromance he’s got with Bochy can save him.

At least we don’t have to watch Goldshit blast off against Timmy all night. He used to take Timmy out to the woodshed. Whatever happened to our hero Lincecum? Has he retired? I thought his surgeon pronounced him good to go and better than ever? You can’t listen to surgeons, they all lie.

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Also, 66 years ago today, this guy called his first Dodger game. With a 40 at the ready and smokes for days.

Just once I’d like the Giants to hammer a pitcher they “haven’t seen before.” Why not tonight? Unfortunately I fear that Maeda will be the next pitcher in a long line of first-start pitchers to bamboozle us.

I’m on board with everyone else being officially worried about the bullpen. One problem that Lopez might have— he’s underused. Probably could stand more innings to get a little tighter. And there’s no reason he can’t continue to be successful as a lefty specialist.

Huge start for Smarge tonight.

15 year anniversary of Barry blasting #500. I was at that game. Totally electric moment.

Last night? Just wash it off, it was too much of a 1-off to fret over. And don’t have any day dreams about Tomlinson getting sent down. With Adrianza on the shelf we don’t have another utility guy on the 40 man. And sending him down would be a brutal message to send. Have a bad game, you’re gone? Bad idea. And one we aren’t really in the position to execute anyway….

I though Panik’s flub was worse. Of course, Specs did have the recent botched dp from last week and he had some shaky throws last night. He’s obviously fucked up in the head right now. That will pass as soon as he gets out there again and has some success…..

Warrior Game today. I sure hope the players aren’t so tired from playing basketball that they sleep through their alarms and miss the start of the game…….

This Romo thing is going to be an issue. I don’t believe for a second that this is just a situation where a tendon got *heated up*. Kruk says the Giants have ruled out TJ surgery and I also don’t believe that for a second. So, we need to prepare for and find someone to do his job–no small feat considering his important role. Derek Law may or may not be the answer.

Kershaw v Bum tonight. I don’t see how we score off this dude unless our pitcher once again provides the O or maybe if something fluky happens.

I can’t get over all the rest these NBA players have taken over the last couple of weeks of the season. Pop started all of this a few years ago but teams that aren’t even sniffing the playoffs are *resting* players. WTF? NBA tickets are expensive, it seems like quite a screw job to the fans to make them pay usual prices to watch the scrubs garbage time their way up and down the court.

The Warriors have obviously been playing their guys down the stretch. Will it affect them negatively in the playoffs? Please. These are young men in the prime of their careers. You want a little rest? How about today and tomorrow. That’s plenty of rest. Then kick the shit out of Houston on Saturday…

Happy birthday to Greg Maddux. He’s 50 today and though he’s older than me, that makes me feel quite old.

There are tons of jokes on Twitter about Buster being “pipped” but the real life guy who lost out is Andrew Susac and all the little bumps and owies that ail him. And that will probably work out fine for us if he cobbles together a healthy enough season in Sacramento and we can include him in a trade somewhere. I hope he doesn’t suffer too many heat related maladies this Summer…..

Smarge went into last night’s game with an unsustainable Coors Field ERA of 1.88. He proceeded to predictably fall apart with an ERA of 2.25 for the game. lqtm. Seriously, did the Rockies even consider signing this guy? It’s like they prefer to just have pitchers who CAN’T pitch there……

Warriors set to break a record tonight that seemed unbreakable when it was set. I’m preparing myself now for all the haters and trolls who will choose to disparage this great achievement. I’ll never understand people who sit around the house all day waiting to tear down others who were actually outside doing something…..

Mostly, this feeling has to do with DFS. Contrary to popular opinion, these games aren’t always 12-10 barn burners. Yet the prices of the players who play are always (rightfully) jacked up. But not every hitter goes off. And if they do, and you have them, they’re likely over owned. But fading players in Colorado games is dangerous for obvious reasons.

And then there’s the weather……

I know most of this doesn’t affect any of you. Just wanted to get it off my chest.

How many HR’s get hit today? 3? I’ll say Blackmon, Parra and Pence go yard. Who are your 3? And remember, you only get 3. Unless you think more will get hit. Ok, go!

Giants have scored the most runs in either league this year, I’ll try to remember that if I get tempted again to post something negative about the offense. That run total figures to take a healthy add when we get to Colorado tomorrow.

Looking forward to watching Trevor Story. He’s the first rookie to ever hit 7 hr’s over any 6 game stretch in any season. That’s a wild stat. Maybe start throwing this dude some off speed stuff? Because he seems to be hammering the fastballs.

Get to Denver and rest up. A tsunami of runs is pending…..

Missing out on a golden opportunity to beat Kershaw sucks but when you consider that our offense was provided by a pitcher and a guy who hits like a pitcher we can’t really be too bummed that one didn’t get put in the bank. Our offense is not good right now.

The rain is falling this morning, it certainly doesn’t have the feel of a hitters game approaching.

Drizzle. That’s a great word. Describes our offense perfectly…..

Probably won’t be a fun game to sit through today…..

When the protagonists in the story line are named Ross Stripling and Trevor Brown, you know you have the makings for a Giants/Dodgers insta-classic. The best story lines are written by The Randoms….

But it wouldn’t have been nearly as awesome had Brown hit that bomb off the Dodgers newest rookie CPA. Admit it. Stripling’s stone faced mug in the dugout was a snap shot moment in the rivalry that will live for a long, long time. And this was another managerial gaffe by a manager of a team that has had a lot of those in the last few years. “Two-Trips” got a nickname out of his screw up. What shall we call Roberts? Davey -something…

But was it really a “managerial gaffe?” Roberts was put in an unwinnable position. The kid was on a pitch count and he wasn’t close to finishing the game. He would have probably had to let him go to AT LEAST 125 to complete the no hitter and you can’t justify doing that considering the situation—-he’s a Tommy-John *survivor*. It was cold and wet. It was his first start of the year. I mean, those are the reasons he’s on a pitch count in the first place. Dave Roberts didn’t invent the concept of the pitch count and he’s certainly not allowed to go *lone wolf* on medical science as it relates to baseball. Not in that situation anyway.

But for Giants fans, the sweetest of evenings. Dave Roberts ejecting himself out of the dugout at a rate of speed not seen since the days of George Brett was probably my 3rd favorite moment of the night after Brown’s improbable blast and the Crawford walk off.

In the box score, it was simply the 4th win of a long season yet to unfold. For Ross Stripling it was a dagger to his heart. For Giants fans, a little bit more “knowing” got added to that head nod. And for Dodger fans, they weep, collectively.

I’m not sure if I’ve been hypnotized into staid indifference with all of these Warrior wins but beating the bejezus out of the Dodgers yesterday didn’t stir the same “knowing dude head nod” reaction inside of me that it would have in years past. Is winning really getting this easy? That’s a game we would have lost in years past and not only did we win but we bent those art dealin’ chumps over the dugout out and doubled them up.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited about the win. But there’s a part of me that misses the faults and the failures of pre-2010 Giant teams. I’m tired of seeing every other person I pass on the street decked out in fresh Giants gear. And I liked it when no one believed in us. Wins are sweeter and better savored when the doubters are exposed.

Which was more exciting, Mike Ivie’s grand slam or Hunter’s from yesterday?

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2 Flappers, representing.

So today, the Dodgers have to actually play a team that’s conscious. That will be a new thing for them after what they’ve been doing the last 3 days. I don’t even know who’s managing the Padres these days but whoever it is did not have his team prepared to play baseball this year.

Alex Wood is just a guy, and if anyone is gonna be focused up and geeked out of his mind for an opening day start it’s Peavy. I’m a little worried about this flu bug+flight+no rest but whatever, it’s baseball it’s not like they’re running a marathon.

Another game I have to follow on gamecast. Anyone going?

Opening Day. Nothing like it.

Nice, professional win yesterday. Casilla was dominant. The hitters were better than the 2 runs they produced.

****Breaking News***** Hunter Pence’s scooter has been recovered. I don’t know what type of scumbag steals from the make-a-wish foundation, but both criminals have been arrested and the scooter is back with the foundation. Mayor Ed Lee, always a whore for attention, called a news conference to announce the recovery. He was so excited.

The Padres continue their sleep walk through the season, still runless headed into the 3rd game of the season.

It can’t be this easy, can it?

I’m still doing a slow burn about San Diego. You’re facing Kershaw, we get it, he’s tough. But to lose 15-love is just an utter lack of effort. Especially at home on opening day. A minimum expectation should be showing up and marginally competing. They didn’t do that yesterday.

I’m not sure how Padre fans feel about their team since I don’t know any Padre fans. I’ve never even met one in all my years of walking the earth.

And a quick note on Sonny Gray: he had food poisoning last June and missed a start, now he got it again? I think I’ve had food poisoning twice in my life, how did he get it twice in less than a year? And what are the odds that he keeps getting felled by it the day before a start?

But back to our team. As I was skeptical yesterday of Bumgarner I am definitely casting a wary eye towards Cueto. I still don’t understand why he was facing minor leaguers most of spring training. But with Span on pace for 810 RBI’s this season maybe we don’t need Cueto’s most dominant effort today…..

Really intrigued to see how Bumgarner does today. Vegas seems to be a bit skeptical too as the total is 7.5 (a little high for a MadBum start) and the Brewers are +157 to win. With Peralta going against a stud like Bum I would have expected them to be at least +220 to win. Even with them being at home.

But Bum sucked this spring as he tried to shake off two mysterious aches. Pitching isn’t like riding a tractor and I hope he isn’t trying to soldier-thru one or two actual injuries. I guess we’ll find out today.

Season predictions hold no interest for me anymore. Anyone can blabber out who they think will win the divisions but teams change dramatically over the course of the season and unless you put $$$$ down on it does anyone care if you’re right?

It’s great to see Loo and his tiny url’s back at it again. This morning, while making coffee in the dark, I wondered quietly to myself who was taller, Loo or his tiny url’s…..

James is back, too. Probably got stuck in a winter-long line at Costco trying to purchase bulk loads of plastic wrap. Who knows, he might actually need it this year.

Well Flappers, we’ve managed to sludge our way through another winter. No BBOTD’s, only a few haiku’s. The important thing is that we broke on through to the other side. I’ve opened back up the Eastern and Western arms of Flavor Industries. I’m looking for a few good latex salesmen.

The sun will be rising soon. It’s supposed to get near 90 here this week before temps plunge back down. A nice reminder that Summer is on it’s way and our favorite sport starts today to guide through the heat, the fresh cut grass, the bikini clad Flapperettes and all the rest of the radness that comes with this time of year…….

Baseball is back, baby! And while I don’t care about any of the teams playing today and probably won’t watch any of it, I couldn’t be more stoked.

There is something missing in my life when there’s no ballgame to be had. I try to trick myself with NFL or NBA and the daily fantasy games associated with such. Horse racing and golf are two polar opposite sports that will always have my attention. But….

Baseball, man. It’s all I ever need.

After I’m dead, have someone scribble that on my tombstone……

Now that you’ve been properly bamboozled by my mad April Uno skills, it’s time to get back to baseball.

AJ Pollock should probably be glad he got hurt yesterday. That elbow was going to give way soon enough, might as well be now as opposed to mid year. You have to wonder about the medical advice he was getting. It was bothering him all spring and all he did yesterday was try to push himself up off the ground next to home plate and it snapped. At least this way he can make it back for the end of the year playoff push that the D-backs won’t be having…….

Smarge and Peavy showing that AZ pitching lines mean nothing……

Let’s go, ready for real baseball to start!

I have paid these idiots twice now and they continue to say I haven’t paid them. Communication with customer service is now over. This happened last year too and I am DONE WITH THIS.

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