An Inning that Refused to Die
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…..
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
Part of the beauty of baseball: no time limit. We don’t know when an AB/inning/game will end. 🙂
Like the foul-lines reaching out to infinity….I think Carlin said.
Our FIRST PLACE SF GIANTS play the second-place Mets today. 🙂
This too shall pass.
The inning or the Giants being in 1st?
A series of 13-1 losses where SF gets 9 hits, 6 walks and one whole run.
I hated the Bay to Breakers when I lived in SF. I hated that inning. I hate that Posey popped up, that Pence dropped the fly, that Peavy felt good while coughing up 6 runs. Hell, I hated that Pagan hit a dinger and I’m going to include Panik just because his name starts with a P.
45 years ago today Willie Mays blasted 4 homeruns in Milw
Jeez, kokonuts would have been better off at the ballet.
Great and storied lol, thx. Beats late lamented.
Up in Seattle for a biz meeting, one night a black guy who grew up there drove me and a fellow Seatte mgr. around from hotel to dinner and back. He’s a little younger than I am and pointed out an area that had once been Scandinavian enclave, where black kids were decidedly unwelcome in his day.
Who knew? you can’t get any further north or west and still be in America than Seattle.
Alaska doesn’t count?
lulz.
One of my favorite DFS players, Chris Colabello was also suspended for PED use. He said, “I cried and cried and cried” upon learning of his suspension. He added, “I would never, have never, will never compromise the integrity of baseball — ever — in my life,” he said, as transcribed by the Toronto Star. “And whether that means taking a performance-enhancing supplement, I just wouldn’t do it. I don’t do it. I haven’t done it. I won’t do it.”
Chris Colabello = idiot . . . and crybaby.
http://www.yardbarker.com/mlb/articles/chris_colabello_on_80_game_suspension_i_cried_and_cried_and_cried/s1_8061_20786839?mb_edition=5725&linksrc=mb_story_related_10_20806558
cain (Giants player rep) in all seriousness said words to effect, “this means the system works.”
Also said (Baggs blog day before on mercnews) main topic in Giants clubhouse was whether they believed his story that it was accidental or not.
Cain will be in the clubhouse reading player’s union communiqués by the bottom of the 5th?
my buddy who is an A’s fan is having his allegience tested. He tried to buy 2 seats to the game today for him and his son. $58 each. They were very good seats behind one of the dugouts. But the website wouldn’t let him do it because it would have left a single seat open in the row and they don’t allow for that. He sent me a screen shot of the section he was trying to buy seats in and there were entire rows completely empty. So he sent the team a scathing email and told them, essentially, to go fuck themselves. lol.
Mets website won’t let you buy one seat when there are two together or some shit like that even if it’s the last row from the roof…
May 11th dugout seats for the Sherpas and Snakes are $22. I had no idea they were that cheap, until I thought to check after your post Flav . . . Conversely, Chi and I are paying around $268 for 2 tickets at Yankee stadium (a bit away from the Giants dugout/left field, but called “infield” tickets). I would imagine any comparable Phone Park tickets would be the same or more.
here’s the email he sent them, I can’t get the screen shot of the section to configure:
McDevitt, Thomas
9:01 AM (10 minutes ago)
to me
Check this out……….
From: McDevitt, Thomas
Sent: Saturday, April 30, 2016 8:57 AM
To: ‘groups@athletics.com’ ; ‘suites@athletics.com’ ; ‘CVanDyne@athletics.com’
Subject: This is not OK……
Please see picture below. I was going to take my son to the A’s game today….picked my seats…..then got this insane error message “not allowed to buy these two seats because it will leave a single seat in the row”…..even though there’s 50 other seats available in the section with entire rows empty. This is the Oakland A’s, in a half empty stadium, available seats everywhere, 2nd worst stadium in all of baseball, who traded away the AL MVP for absolutely nothing. We’ll find a better way to spend $150 today.
Sincerely,
42 year A’s fan (since age 5), wondering where it all went wrong
Good for him, but too classy for my taste – should’ve used some graphic profanity…
One thing about the As, they can be dog meat one year and competitive the next, but they always seem to come up with some pretty good young starting arms, year after year. Giants — we heard a long time now about a good pipeline of young starters coming up– where the hell are they?…
I’m looking forward to Cain pitching well today, and Imean that in a real way like 7 frames and 2 runs. Not in the Kruk way of 4 shaky to good frames and then the roof caves in, but “he felt good and he’s close to finding his mechanics, so it was a good outing”…
Hate to be negative about their chances, but I think deGrom and company handcuff the GMen and Cain gets slaughtered. Again, May 2nd against Cincy can’t come soon enough.
Peavy said the same stuff after the game yesterday: he felt good, he feels close to being sharp, blah, blah, blah.
“the Kruk way” lulz
I hope so too, snarkk.
As Snarkk (I think) pointed out, the contracts will dictate many more starts for Cain and Unable. The Giants’ offense is going to have to pick those guys up. Today’s another rough challenge.
I don’t think so for Peavy. One more putrid start and he will minimally be put on the DL with a “mystery” illness/injury . . . and when he comes back, he will get 2 starts maximum before being released.
Yeah, the phantom injury is a great face-saver. Remember when it took Zito three months to recover from a sprained ankle? That was classic.
Yeah, zum I said that yesterday, not that I’m the first. Cain has a much longer contract = longer leash. I remember conveying here a few weeks ago Kuiper’s KNBR nugget that essentially Peavy would have a short leash. Kruk and kuip generally should have the scoop on things, so that foreshadowing may have some legs soon. One more disaster start and he may have a sudden bout of elbow tendinitis and onto the DL — we know the drill…
I remember a player on some team being asked what his injury was, and the playing saying something like “I don’t know; ask the GM.” Brutal honesty that I’m sure wasn’t appreciated by the front office.
The Padres got a nice outing from a rook last night. 5 1/3 innings, no runs vs. LA.
Pads suck. SF sweep of them at home is not a great indicator of much; SF must take the season series with 13 or 14 wins. I would much rather see more games against other oppo, too many Pads and Rox games for me…
Fucking Baakle I just want to rip his fucking eye balls out of his sockets!!
Gotta believe Kelly atleast made the 1 st 2 picks which were solid. But now the clown is taking over and it tells with his CB ACL project& and another CB? Who was suspended from his team and played little??? Then the Ravens on the next pick grabs a STUD RB Kenneth Dixon!! Fuck you Trent!!!!!!!
Giving up a 12 run hairball inning must means it’s time for a new BBOTD chick…
can’t do that till I get back to work unfortunately. I don’t have that *snipping tool* (f) on any of my chromebooks here at the house and I can’t format it properly otherwise
My 12-run inning odyssey went like this:
At Appleby’s after my daughter went 3-4 in a 13(!)-11 loss in softball. By the time we left it was 1-0. Put the game on the car radio it was 3-0. Then 4-0. Then 6-0, 7-0? Somewhere in there was a pitching change and the Pence drop at the fence. Got home, put the TV on with the same morbid curiosity as I would to look at an accident, and Conforto doubles for 8-0. And then the Yo slam.
That A’s story is great, and certainly goes a long way towards explaining their attendance issues.
As I’ve already told a couple Mets fans, they may have done us a favor with that shellacking, because if that doesn’t convince the brass that Peavy’s done, I don’t know what will.
A’s just got back to my buddy. Gave him 2 tix behind home plate on the house lol
Wow! Frankly, that’s nice of them . . . They did the right thing. However, that stupid ass rule does need to be addressed, as I suspect they only provided the tickets because your friend was pissed off enough to fire off an email to them.
Wow! If what Loo said about the Mets is true, I gotta try that!
Listening to Kruk on pre-game show . . . Asked what Cain needs to do today to avoid what happened to Peavy, “. . . Don’t walk anyone.” Also some other gibberish about our defense being as good as anyone else in the game. Fine and dandy, but this is avoiding the question in my opinion. I would have said, “Cain hasn’t been Cain and he will do fine, if he can pitch the way he pitched before all these injuries and surgeries. If he doesn’t have Cain like “stuff” and control, we’re in for a loooooooooong day. Next question . . . “
Raiders must have a thing for Michigan State: First DE Shilique Calhoun (local Jersey guy), and now QB Connor Cook.
Panik out today, mild groin strain.
Broadway to Sac-town.
Vin Mazzaro up.
Vin Mazzaro (who?) promoted . . . The righty reliever posted a 3.75 ERA last year with the Marlins, although he has never been overpowering. His 0.64 ERA in 14 innings at Triple-A probably prompted the promotion, but I don’t think we will see him in risky situations.
Yeah, my first reaction was “who?”
Pretty sure I recall Mazarro give up like 10 runs in one inning a few years ago so he’ll fit right in with our pitchers
Wright not starting vs. Cain, day game after night game. Hmmmm…
DeGrom hasn’t walked anybody this season yet. That seems unreal.
Back home, mercifully.
During the Endless Inning, I left my seat with my Mets fan friend when SF was down 3-0 or 4-0. It already looked bad. I figured I’d go see Dieter of Finnerty’s and stroll through the stadium, which I’ve never done. So I was in the bowels of the stairwells (bowels, apt word; not fan-friendly architecture: you can’t see any action from these closed-off, cavernous stairways), and I could tell how bad it was by cheers that would rise and then rise higher. I think some of that was Pence ALMOST CATCHING the ball. The loudest had to be the Cespedes GS. I emerged from the gloom into the bright of the stadium. The scoreboard said 12-0.
I had to ask myself: was this all in the same inning?!
I had a fun time seeing Dieter.
Most Giants fans I saw were very positive, upbeat, resigned. Hey, it’s one inning of one game, long season, even year. That kind of thing.
Of course, I was selective in my sampling.
Weird thing: the young woman with the SF wool cap I talked to at Penn Station turned out to be the same one on the L.I.R.R. going back.
I know. All Giants fans look alike.
Black and Orange.
(Maybe this gets inserted in the book, somewhere.)
p.s. My mood too was very breezy. Oh well. History in the making. Just not all that bummed by it. Macdog text “at least it wasn’t 2-1.” I wish it had been the worst inning in Giants history. It is not. But it is the best in Mets history. I teased my Mets friend by texting my youngest daughter, the SF fan, saying we gave the Mets a 12-run inning, as if the Mets had nothing to do with it.
Regardless of how this inning ends – Cain is throwing way too may pitches.
feck this
i’m taking a nap
At least Cain held ’em to 2 runs.
Baby steps!
If he can last his usual 4 or 5 innings, we’re talking 8-10 runs. No problem.
Degrom should hit Cain in his kneecap next inning…
Mets fans probably well remember Cain plunking Wright in the head.
Sigh
No need now Loo . . . He probably won’t last that long.
Conforto is that young stud OF that snarkk would die for — and we can’t seem to find.
Need 4-5 starters pronto!!
Just won’t work with Cain&Peavy..
They brought up Mazzaro in anticipation of another blow out — astute planning!
Is the NFL draft still going on?
OK, Plan B . . . I’m down with Loo’s suggestion that deGrom kneecap Cain. Anything to get him out of there.
I highly recommend the Baja Burger at the Lazy Dog, near the Dublin/Pleasanton BART station.
Good things happen,
When Pawlie’s nappin’
Nice rally!
Belt’s baserunning drives me crazy sometimes.
Hey, a shutdown inning!
Peavy and Cain
And pray for rain.
that’s pretty good.
Peavy & Cain, what a pain…
Matt & Jake, what a mistake…
Bochy and Righetti
Get the bullpen ready.
Cain & Peavy,
Shut your Tee-V…
In their craptastic ERA battle, it’s:
Peavy 8.61
Cain 7.00
My memory was right about Mazzaro but it was even worse than the 10 runs I thought he gave up in a game. Check out what Cle did to him back on May 16th of 2011
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.cgi?id=mazzavi01&t=p&year=2011
Asdrubal Cabrera played in that game, too.
Ass Dribble. Never liked that guy.
Does Specs have an average yet?
Cain gopher balls thrown right down Broadway with a “crush me” sign on “em…
As Cain does his thing, Zumie provided another opportunity to see what the numbers show, this time about base running. I assume that being thrown out at home is usually on the base coach. The stats also don’t distinguish between being doubled off on a line drive, hit and run etc. But if you focus on making outs at 2nd or third, you can get a sense of about how many times a baserunner makes a decision that results in an out. Over his career, Belt has made 6 outs at second and 5 at third. Since 2012, Angel Pagan has made 8 outs at second, and 6 at third.
I don’t see what Belt did as a mistake at all. He had to be assuming that they would throw home with slow ass Buster Posey lumbering towards the plate. I would have assumed that as well and taken 3rd which should have been a gift if not for Duda making the last second decision to go to third base.
Yes, agreed.
I guess it’s now 6 outs at third for Belt 🙂
I have low expectations for Belt on the base paths. If he can just avoid getting hit in the head and make it back to the dugout sans a concussion I consider it a successful trip around the bases for him.
It’s interesting to look at how awful both Cain and Lincecum’s deals were. They literally both started sucking as soon as they started making their biggest coin.
I think Cain had one good year (2012) after signing the big deal, maybe…
he did have a good 2012 but the next year is when he started making 20 mil a season. He made 15 mil in 2012 I think. I was just noting how both of them started shitting the bed as soon as they made their biggest per year coin.
Cains deal is far more awful. Timmy never had a long term deal. Cain = 6 years, $120M. He is clearly now in Zito territory. That’s on the Giants. They knew when they signed it that he had bone chips in the elbow. How can you give a guy with Stinson Beach in his elbow a 6 year deal at that price?…
I believe Timmy turned down 4/80…
He turned down 5/100. Turning a deal down, and having one signed and in place, are two different things. Cain’s deal is real, and it sucks. It sucked almost from the start, but surely from year 2 onward…
I mean shit, at least Zito went 15-8 for us in 2012, not to mention what he did in the post season that year. Timmy or Cain did absolute shit once they started making 20 mil a year.
If Cain pitched as well as Zito in 2009 and 10, even that would be acceptable.
Isn’t Crawford due?
Goddamn, can’t hit it much better than that.
Fudge
Matt & Jake
Get ready to get raked!
I don’t understand why you don’t bunt Span to second, and let Duffy and Posey have chances to drive him in to tie. I don’t care that Angel’s been hot. Bochy never likes to bunt, but to me that’s a major mistake, or Bochy doesn’t trust his Pen to keep the game tied in the bottom 9th if he does tie, so he rolled dice for more than a one run inning, and ended up with egg on his face. Posey’s bat left at the on deck circle — it’s hard to drive anybody in from there. That should not happen. Peavy and Cain cannot continue as the 4-5 much longer. I don’t have the stats, I’d like to see how Cain is doing relative to the average #5 in the NL. From where I am, he stinks…
I think he did the right thing, Snarkk. It just didn’t work out…
100% totally agree.
Due to a timing quirk, it is not clear who you agree with. Lulz!!!
Kruk post-game on Cain’s performance, apparently with a straight face:
He was “not pitching with a lot of luck today…”
this is the one thing I can’t stand about Bochy. He did this with Rowand, too.
Henry Schulman @hankschulman 1m1 minute ago
Bochy not even close to making change with Peavy, Cain. “I have too much confidence in these guys. It’s April here. Both … are close.
It’ll be May here in less than 5 hours…
At least Bochy admitted he has too much confidence in Peavy and Cain. 🙂
Pence and Crawford hit those well. So close to being a totally different game. The guys battled and made a game of it. They couldn’t overcome Cain’s issues.
Yeah, Bochy’s loyalty to Peavy….we knew that was something to be concerned about.
A Flapper the other day had the idea of Bochy using an off-day to rearrange the rotation so Peavy and Cain aren’t back to back. I like that idea.
Yeah as I was pulling weeds listening to the game I thought, Cain is doing OK. But the solos were killers. Again he gets ahead and can’t put guys away. All day guys got 2 strike hits off him.
In the pregame show, they talked about how it used to be his fastball that finished batters off; but with a loss of velocity, it doesn’t do that anymore.
Its the same for Peavy. When you get older, you can’t put the guy away with a strike out, or an out pitch that they get themselves out. The batter hangs in, fouls a few off, the pitcher throws into a 3-2, a foul or two more, then the batter gets one to hit, and pounds it. Marty Lurie going off on Cain and Peavy right now on KNBR, “horrible pitching”, and basically laughing at how Bochy in today’s post-game conference was protecting Cain’s horribleness…
I understand both points of view . . . Respect Lurie for not toeing the company line. Similarly, Bochy is protecting his players. I still maintain that Peavy will be on the DL if he face plants in his next start. The trainer and/or team physician are probably going through their medical encyclopedia for a half-assed believable disease or injury to cite.
Regarding Cain, his contract will give him a bit more leash a la Zito. Consequently, his roster spot is safe, except maybe if they make the playoffs or World Series.
Blade, I think Cain will eventually have a DL stint, too, if he keeps this up. You can’t have an ERA near 8, even as a 5th starter. Somebody in the Giants system has to be able to pitch somewhat better than these two have. Some worm has to turn by mid-May, either these two get better, or one or both go onto the DL and Heston is stretched out and ready to come back up…
Yeah, in that scenario – I can see him on the DL too. In fact, my reference to Zito alludes to that happening as well. I just think that Peavy would be sent down or put on the DL right this minute if not for his relationship with Bochy and his contract. He has been absolutely horrible.
Really liking the Billy Martin biography. Very well-written and very interesting, and an attempt to give a more complete picture of someone whose image has become a cartoon.
Not that the main character of a biography has to be likable for it to be a great book. It comes down to the author’s ability to draw the reader in.
thx Zum, I’ll check it out (literally).
Martin played in an era when a guy making $13,000 a year could get an extra $7,000 for winning the World Series. Most players didn’t talk about “having fun” on the field. It was to be considered intensely serious business.
Nowadays players talk about winning a ring, because the extra money is an afterthought.
Peavy weighs 180 lbs. per his ESPN stat page. Is this a mistake? Has he always played at this weight? Seems too light to me, especially for a starting pitcher (not named Lincecum).
OK, I just went to his Wiki page and that says 195 lbs. Which one is right? Maybe he has AIDs . . . dunno.
Also, CSN’s Pavlovic says that Cain was “repeatedly hitting 93 mph.” Huh? I bailed after that last home run, so it’s possible his velocity got better than what I saw (which was consistently 90-91 on his heater), but I doubt it.
Cain has no wins in his last 12 starts going to the middle of last season. Bochy, after the game today:
“I have too much confidence in these two guys,” Bochy said “We’re in April. I’ve seen some good things. I think they’re close. I don’t think there’s an option that’ll make this staff better.”
Wow. So there is NOTHING better in the minors than these two guys, with Cain/Peavy ERAs of 7.00 and 8.61? How is that even possible?…
Close to what?
close to Armageddon. And that ain’t a town on the Jersey Shore.
PK: I’m guessing you’ve never been to Seaside Heights on a Saturday night in the summer.
It is a difficult task for any team to dig itself out of a 4-zip hole after two innings ~ particularly when facing good pitching. It must be said that they did not roll over and die and did make things interesting, but that’s kinda like handgrenades and horseshoes.
Agree. Spotting the other team 12 runs, much less 4, will usually result in a L.
I agree Stix, we at least made a game of it at the end. We gotta remember the Mets have some formidable bats in their lineup. As well, considering we were facing a relatively young but proven pitcher in DeGrom with an excellent record, our bats gave a reasonable accounting of themselves. Yet, who do we have in our lineup that commands the respect and instills fear like the Met’s Cespedes or the young Conforto, a tuned up David Wright (I realize he wasn’t in there today,) or a dialed in Granderson? Posey when he’s hot, I suppose, Pence, when he is on a streak, Panik occassionally, and … uh? I’m speaking of consistency. Cespedes had that ugly streak in October last year but the Mets wouldn’t have been playing in Oct if wasn’t for he did when he came over to them in the trade.
I’m still willing to give Cain another month (end of May). He is younger than Peavy and I think he is a better athlete, and probably in better shape. And as I’ve said, he is gonna leave it all out there on the field.
Two more starts for Peavy and if we don’t see some big turn around something has gotta be done about that guy. The question is, what exactly are our options? Did not Peavy pull something like this with Boston before we got him in the trade?
So, when down a run in the top of 9th on the road, do you guys agree a team should never, ever bunt a leadoff hitter along to get him on 2nd with one out? You have to “play to win” on the road, not give up an out? I think that’s total crap. You know what happens if the leadoff guy doesn’t ever get to second? You lose; no shot to win, like today. If he gets to second with one down, you have shot to tie, and a tie means you have a shot to win…
no I think you absolutely should bunt considering the situation. Pagan is mostly just slap hitting right now anyway, I’d rather have him bunt in that situation and leave it to Posey to drive the ball
Thank you. If you bunt Span over to second, you are guaranteed Posey, our $20 million fair haired boy, has an at bat to tie or get the team ahead, with one swing. Hit into a DP, like happened, and you have a good shot at leaving his bat in the on deck circle. To me, that’s a dumb outcome, which is what happened…
The “book” says play to tie at home and win on the road in that situation. I definitely don’t believe you should always play by the book. But considering that the bullpen has pretty much gone to shit and that Pagan has good speed and is hard to double up, the move today was correct. I think most people would agree. He’s also been our best hitter this year…
I don’t care what Pagan’s batting average is, he’s slap hitting almost everything. I know he hit a bomb the other day. As much as I don’t like Posey, I’d still rather have Buster up in that situation with Span on 2nd base > Pagan with Span on 1st base 100 out of 100 times. No guarantees I know. I just trust Buster at the plate way more than fucking Angel Pagan.
I think we lose either way. I thought we should have bunt though.
Bochy has gone away from the bunt where I thought he would a few times this year.
it’s not that big of a deal. I think we would probably lose either way. I’m just giving my preference over what ended up happening. If Pagan ripped a triple down the line I’d feel differently of course. I think Pagan’s batting average is in for a huge hit. I haven’t seen all his at bats, maybe only 20-25% of them. But he sure seem like he’s just slap hitting and going for contact to me. If that’s all he’s gonna do I’d take a few more skillfully placed bunts in situations that call for them.
I don’t plan on having a stroke over it, either…
The Giants end today still tied for first place! 🙂
No team in the NL West has a winning record.
There still is a play called a hit&run. Guess Boch forgot that one exhist, doubt they could get Span at 2nd if he’s running or atleast won’t get the DP when Span inside the SS jock..
Looking forward to this Dubs series with Portland. It will be very interesting to see how the Dubs play without Steph against a better team than Houston …
I think it actually helped that they had a few games to work on playing w/o Steph. Livingston is much taller and should press the scoring a little more. Great mid-range shooter.
Barnes REALLY has to get his shit rolling. He was a non-factor on offense the whole Houston series. They can’t afford that vs Portland.