A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball

I use Twitter for one main reason: to gather micro and macro information immediately. I haven’t found a better way to synthesize news about the things I’m interested in any quicker than with Twitter. Of course, I’ve got my *guilty pleasure* follows. If any of you are fans of 70’s sports I implore you to follow @Super70sSports. But most of my follows are carefully coordinated towards immediate, accurate fantasy sports news (weather, line ups, injuries, etc….). I’d say 70% of the (non-friend) people I follow are for this reason. And I don’t try to get followers, in fact I block anyone who follows me who I don’t know.

But last Winter I stumbled across this guy: @VernThompsonNBA. He made some idiotic predictions about Cleveland beating the Warriors by 10+ in the game the Warriors beat them by 40. Instead of passing him by as I do most twit-idiots I decided to follow him since he had 5000 followers and I was actually interested in getting a pulse on the Cleveland fan base sports scene. I figured we’d see them again in the finals and wanted to know their mindset since we handed them their ass last Summer.

Here is what I’ve learned about Cleveland fans over the last 6 months from following Vern: they are passionate. They are desperate for a championship. They are pretty dumb. They hate the Warriors and specifically Steph Curry. The reasons they hate him are not rational. If you want to see what I mean give this guy a follow, you’ll pick up on the vibe quite quickly.

To my paranoid point this morning: I believe this town is riddled with “Jeff Gillooly”wannabees. I truly and honestly hope security is tight for the Warriors when they’re in Cleveland for games 3 and 4. These fans are capable of anything……

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Now, back to baseball. You wanna point to underwhelming games this year? I bet we look back on the season and point to this one. Peavy. Atlanta. Gonna have trouble gearing up for this one…….

The Giants open up a series in Atlanta in a couple of hours and thankfully their game will long be over when the “bigger” games get started in the Bay Area later this evening. At 5pm the Sharks kick off Game 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs. While I won’t be watching it, I recognize how cool that is for hockey fans around here. One hour later and 37 miles to the north, Our Beloved Dubs fire up Game 7 of the WCF. Uh, yeah I’ll be watching that one.

Honestly gonna have  some trouble gearing up for the Giants game at 10am. I can’t watch sports all day lol. I’m watching the morning local news and they just announced that the Sharks were “huge favorites” to win the Stanley Cup. I’m not going to look that up but that’s incorrect right? Would it be that hard for KTVU to look up the odds before fake-reporting it?

Anyway, whatever you do to honor and enjoy Memorial Day I hope you do it well. Two Flaps up to all those who died serving and protecting our country and our way of life……..

So let’s review how dumb the Mets are:

1. they decided to have their BEST pitcher be the one to retaliate against Utley.
2. The retaliation doesn’t even hit him calling into question the validity of said retaliation.
3. Thor AND the manager get thrown out of the game essentially giving the game to the Dodgers. How many mlb teams in contention give games away for free? Ever?
4. Utley proceeds to dagger-stab them twice including a grand slam to seal the deal…..

And can we talk about what a pussy Thor is. “Gorgeous Thorgeous” (yes, I just called him that) didn’t even have the sack to hit him! He throws behind him like that was some great *message.* Ohhhhh, what could Thor have meant??!!?!?!?! Utley heard a whizzing air noise behind him. Big deal. A strong fart would have sent a similar message.

He shouldn’t have even been kicked out of the game in my opinion. Even if the umpires warned them before the game, he clearly wasn’t throwing at him. He was throwing a lame-ass “message pitch”. If he wanted to hit him I would like to think that THE WORST he woulda done is graze him if Utley managed to lurch out of the way. But he missed him by a mile and Utley barely flinched. Look, mlb pitching studs don’t miss the mark by that much, ESPECIALLY if they have the target of a free-standing human.

Enough about the lame Mets. I’m still basking in the most golden of basks. There are people chirping on twitter about the Thunder choking. Please. Such an idiotic take. They might not have the will of a champion but that wasn’t choking. That was having the unfortunate luck of being on the same court when true champions decide to go to work and enact their will upon you. Klay. Bogut. Draymond. Steph. This team has humbled me. I can’t believe I’m part of their species……

Irritating game yesterday. I’ll give Suarez some props for getting through 5 but don’t hold out any hope for this guy. He was facing a team that didn’t know him, a team that was probably a little tired from playing on the east coast the day before and can someone tell me the last time the Giants played a game at Coors Field where either team homered? I know it’s happened I just can’t remember it…..

Hopefully we get Pence and Belt back today and a pitcher who doesn’t get hurt…..

Transaction note: Chris Stratton just got the call. He sucks, it’ll be interesting to see how he does at this level.

What a great American holiday weekend we have to look forward to. Weather is warming up. BBQ’s firing. The Warriors and Sharks will be playing epic games. It seems almost wrong that the Giants will be playing baseball in Nepal.

But you gotta play the games where they schedule ’em, right?

The Giants have NEVER come into a series in Colorado in better shape. They’re winning the shit out of every series they see. Their starters are going “porn star” deep into games so the bullpen is as rested as a retired grandmother. Plus, while we had a day off, Colorado had to play a game in Boston yesterday.

So let’s get this great weekend started off right. Tonight.

The Giants have had very few days off this season, but is anyone else surprised we have the 2nd most wins in mlb (29) next to the Cubs (30)? With Peavy’s shenanigans and Cain’s inconsistency, it blows my mind that we have so many wins.

Very likely stuck on 29 at the end of today…..

I’m despondent about *my beloved Dubs*. I don’t understand how a team can be so dominant in the regular season only to look so painfully average in the playoffs.

Jack Black told us that when discussing cock push ups. Also, a great man once told me “We score we win” and his wisdom came to pass once again last night. I think Snarkk brought up a good point last night about the weather. It’s been unseasonably cool this year and cold weather absolutely contributes to less offense. Of course, it’s not like we’re living in Yakutsk so a little more offense would be expected. But we are scoring more than the other team and that’s ALL that matters.

Smarge for the win today and then……

This is an important 3 game diddy with SD. After these winnable games the Giants go on a tough 10 game road trip and then return home for a couple of high octane series’ v Boston and The Dopes.

So let’s get these 3, ok? With the pitching we have and our 6th in the league scoring offense, I’m feeling pretty confident. Well, with the first 2 anyway.

Truth be told, I’m a little surprised we are ranked 6th in the league in runs scored. We are 3rd weakest in home runs, ahead of only Philly and Atlose-a. I was surprised to see us ranked so highly in SB category (4th with 28). Still, it doesn’t feel like we play the speed game. Either way, runs are runs and we’ve 198 of them. Philly’s only scored 142 and they’re 6 games over .500. Just something to consider…..

As usual, and it will always be this way for us, it comes down to pitching and defense…..

Hey sorry, came home got caught up in start of *beloved Dubs* game, forgot about the thread. Gonna go peek in on Giants now.

A little early morning googling unearthed this nugget: Highway 821 in Washington state is also known as Canyon Road or Yakima River Canyon Scenic Byway. I’m thinking of emailing state officials to see if the good people of Yakima might consider adding a third nickname to the highway: “Jake Peavy’s ERA”.

Another possible name: “Jake Peavy Sucks Shit”

How ’bout “Jake Peavy Smokes Copious Amounts of Pole”

I think any of my names would fit better than boring-ass “Canyon Road.”

And I agree with Snarkk, Bochy must be around some pretty dumb people all day if he thinks we’re buying “Jake was a little off tonight.”

Enough of Peavy. If the Giants don’t have someone better at any level of the minor leagues who can’t pitch through the 2nd inning of a baseball game then we have the worst minor league system of all time. Think about it.

Arrieta vs Peavy tonight. Jesus. Well, at least Peavy pitches decent at home, he was good last time out and the Cubs hitters, frankly, are in a bit of a funk lately. None of that will help us hit Arrieta who is coming into town as the most dominant pitcher in either league right now. You could certainly argue Sale or Kershaw, hell you could pick 3 guys on our staff and I wouldn’t vehemently argue with you, but Arrieta has been flat-dominant for going on 2 years now. I have no idea how we win this game tonight but won’t be surprised if we find a way……

I don’t know how to say this, but I think I’m falling in love with Johnny Cueto. The long, flowing locks. The shimy that makes me all tingly inside. The complete games. He’s got it all, baby.

And he’s ours. He’s AAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLL ours!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

60 percent train keeps on rolling today with Smargy.

I’m never going to not get tired of MadBum disrupting games with his “Come again’s?” that he seems to not be able to stop himself from doing. And the lame thing is that there’s never going to be a punch thrown. And he knows this. Guys don’t want to get suspended and there aren’t enough “Odor’s” in the league to ever challenge him. Krukow was defending him on the radio today but I just can’t get behind a bully shit talker which, frankly, is what Bumgarner is.

Sorry, I know that’s not going to be a popular opinion here but that’s my take.

Nice game otherwise…….

You like pitching match ups? Today is the day for you. There are like 5 extremely interesting games today and if you’re playing DK, where you have to pick 2 pitchers, it’s going to be a very tough choice.

Bumgarner in SD is intriguing. Rea is no pushover, I expect this to be a low scoring game…….

The main question I have: Will my main man on the San Diego scene (San Dawg) be at any of the games…..

Regarding “our beloved Dubs….”….. not much else to say………

So what’s more impressive, his name or his punch? Because if we’re talking about best names in baseball, the conversation starts and ends with “Rougned Odor.” I’m “old school” baseball, as I’m sure all of you are, and I wish more problems would get solved on the baseball field this way. For once we didn’t have a bunch of pussy grand standing “hold me back” nonsense. And kudos to Bautista for not going down. That was a clean hit he took like a man.

As for the Giants, what can you say? if the 40 Percenters are kicking ass we are going to be tough to beat. Krukow said Peavy can pitch 3 or 4 more years (which is a slap in the face to him since he said Cain could cruise for another 5 or 6). Peavy is now The North Carolina Area Code and that’s at least headed in right direction….

And now we turn our trembling eyes to The Illinois Area Code. One of the 40 percenters. I don’t see how this ends up anything other than awful tonight. Best chance for Peavy? They open the roof and an unexpected tornado hits. Game gets canceled. Here’s a link to the roof status if you’re into keeping tabs on that sort of thing:

http://stadiumroofstatus.com/stadiuminfo.php?stadium=5

I am in Sacramento all weekend for a volleyball tourney so I will check in with you guys when I can.

Advice for the game? Look away, this one could be hideous…..

I like Casilla, I do. But fuck him. He has NO argument to support his petulant stomp off the mound yesterday. And I could even forgive that for a “heat of the moment” thing but he kept crying after the game in his post game comments and offered no apology for his antics.

You want to be treated like a man? Then act like one. Men don’t cry to reporters after the game, they talk face to face behind closed doors.

I think it’s time for a lesson from Mr. Wallace on Casilla’s bout with pride:

Giants vs Grienke today and the one thing we have going for us is the Visual Memory Index number. Giants are at +7.54, Arizona is at -11.55. It’s no lock but that suggest the Giants hitters will be tracking the ball a little better than the D-backs hitters. So I’m cautiously optimistic tonight….

The Warriors. What can you say about this team? Mid season I started following this d-bag Cleveland fan/writer who predicted the Cavs would beat the Warriors by 10. That’s the game the Warriors beat them by 40 (or whatever it was, not gonna look it up). This dope has spent the last 4 months talking shit about “wait till the Finals…”, he was especially critical of Steph winning the MVP. Well @VernThompsonNBA is getting closer to his wish….

Maybe that’s a little rough but I’m a damn Dr. and that’s my diagnosis.

And sorry, I refuse to believe that the absence of Angel Pagan has led to this limp offense. Because if true, we are in huge trouble this year. Crazy Horse and his slap hitting ways is not the path to a successful offense.

The culprits are littered up and down the line up with Posey being the usual worst offender. Like it or not, he gets paid coin for a reason. He can’t just be good when everyone else is good. Maybe it’s tough for him to get any rhythm going with all the rest he’s forced to take…..

After getting shut down by 2 middling AL starters we get our shot at a 3rd today. Maybe Bum just says “fuck ya’ll” and just does it himself…….

I didn’t watch the game (Lock in! #DubNation) but if you just look at Peavy’s line he wasn’t the problem last night. Once again, we failed to do anything with the bats. And what’s weird about this season is that I normally have no problem finding targets for my arrows. But as I look up and down the line up I really can’t find too much to rage about. I like all those guys. At least, there’s no one I think needs to be benched.

If Peavy can go 5 and give up 3 ER’s every game I will take that and shake his hand as our worst starting pitcher. But the Giants should be able to win a game if their starter goes 5 innings and gives up 3 runs. I’m not saying they should easily win or win every time but it’s not like they were getting blown out.

Score some damn runs…….

Well, we’re about to find out if this Peavy start is “M*A*S*H” or “The Jefferson’s” or “Good Times” or…..

As I said, I’m predicting Peavy doesn’t get blasted tonight. I see him pitching better than he has all year— Toronto in an unfamiliar yard, just played yesterday IN Toronto. Keep the fucking ball down, he might be ok. Plus, and this is a biggie, when everyone THINKS a pitcher is going to get blasted that’s when he doesn’t get blasted……

There’s some optimism for ya….

Because I don’t want to talk about what happened yesterday or what’s going to happen today, here’s an off topic thread for the blog:

I got into a pretty heated debate with a buddy yesterday about what was the best 70’s sitcom theme song of all time. He went “Welcome Back Kotter” hands down. I was like “Uh, I’ve got 2 hands up and I will debate the shit out of this with you”. I carefully laid out my argument that it had to be Three’s Company because you have to factor in EVERYTHING not just the song. Three’s Company had it all. John Ritter on a boat in those brilliant white pants. Lana tripping him on the pier trying to score some quick dick. Furley holding on for dear life to a barely moving ferris wheel stick while Jack did casual tricks next to him. Larry making a move on a random chick in the bumper car ride only to find out it was a dude. There was so much more. Could they have possibly packed more good times hilarity into 60 seconds??????

70’s sitcom’s were and still are the best. Their theme songs were the real deal. Night Court. WKRP. You never missed one. They were almost like mini rock concerts….

You be the judge. Feel free to post your favorite in the comment section. And no *wise guy* M*A*S*H uploads. That song always made me want to kill myself.

I have this theory that probably can’t be proven one way or the other too easily, but I think there are less runs scored overall on Sundays. It just seems that the scores across mlb are consistently low on Sundays. It kinda makes sense, too. Players finishing up a long week, maybe they went out Sat night, they almost always play a day game with a flight later looming…..I dunno, just seems like a low scoring day (usually) to me……

Another “60 percenter” going today, so gotta feel pretty good about our chances. Sadly, one of the “40 percenters” is set to take the hill tomorrow….

Derby Day today. So I am popping up a thread but won’t be around much. This afternoon I’ll likely be busy celebrating wildly, shaking 2 fistfulls of winning tickets high above my oversized dome.

Jon Gray going for Colorado today–followed him since they drafted him. Big kid with a big fastball. First round pick. Downside: He doesn’t get enough first-pitch strikes in and I think that will be his undoing today against a patient Giants team. Belt loves this shit, he’ll walk 25 times today……

You’ll recall that I warned you guys about Vin Mazzaro. No one can blow up an inning like V-Mazzy. He’s the human July 4th fireworks show. Now I’m starting to think Cain planted Mazzaro on the team to make him look better.

A Cain quote probably heard after the game: “I mean, yeah I’ve been bad, but Mazzaro’s ERA is NINE TIMES my ERA. Jeez, wouldn’t wanna be THAT GUY.”

There are predictable calls for the Giants to sign Timmy and I’m one of those proponents. But not at any price. If there’s a lot of competition for him, let him go somewhere else. If this showcase thingy works, he will have pulled off quite a re-birth. He’s been one of the worst pitchers in either league for years. What to do? Have surgery and completely shut down on your own time table to return. Wait until the season gets going, teams get desperate, and BANG(!) you suddenly schedule a showcase. Twenty teams show up with radar guns in both fists. GM’s shower you with offers.

Now THAT is how to re-invent yourself without doing anything. Lulz.

It’s another “Uh oh, Matt Cain pray for rain” game. We are going to have a little weather in the Bay today but not enough to halt Cain’s ascension to the mound this evening. So, unfortunately,the only thing *raining* will be Colorado hitters raining bombs down on vulnerable fans in the bleachers.

Krukow has the KNBR morning show today at 7:30am so if you want to hear some of his best blather about Peavy you should tune in. I think you can stream it. I’ll listen to it in my car on the way to work and chime in about it later.

Hey, if he gets blasted that’s now 40% of the starting rotation that can no longer be ignored. And my main man BigTimeTimmyJimJim has his showcase tomorrow. Just something to think about……

Lotta rain in the forecast. So are we praying for rain so we miss a Peavy start? I’m of the opinion that this bandaid just needs to get ripped off. How many shit outings can Bochy ignore?

The Reds are awful. We need to keep fattening up on them. I heard this morning on KNBR that their bullpen just set a record of giving up a run in the 20th consecutive game. That’s unreal. With someone named Mosrat or Moscat or whatever going today we are likely to get deep into that generous bullpen once again.

I don’t often feel confident or positive about an impending win but I do today. Giants romp 10-2 and Smarge gets the W….

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by the way, Dana Stubblefield, what the hell?

Yesterday’s win was a comfortable reminder of the mental toughness of this team. They could have easily thrown in the towel on a soggy getaway game vs one of the be@st pitchers in the league. But they fought like men.

Very interested to see how Cueto does tonight. The Reds, to put it politely, smoke as much pole as could possibly be smoked. He’s in a familiar yard, he should destroy them. But will our offense show up minus Pagan? I hope Buster is in the LU today. One of my all time favorite bombs and calls by Miller:

Probably no game today? That would be fine with me. Cold, hard truth is that even with Bumgarner going today, Thor is probably better, at least at this point in the season. Eh, we could use the day to travel. Call the game, coach.

Besides, it’s Dub Nation Sunday. Bring on the Trailblazers!!!!!!!