True Love
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.
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
Wasn’t there some critics that thought Cueto was a bad signing by the Giants? I’m digging the guy, I love the way he bounces off the mound to make plays. I also like that the guy gets out and does touristy stuff on the off days ( a buddy of mine got to get a photo with him in Union Square when Cueto first got to town). Now with the Shark, we’ve got a chance to sweep this road trip.
Looking ahead to the Cubs coming to town, I see we’ve played four more games than them. I don’t know if it is because of weather or poor scheduling or both, but that means their # one and two pitchers go against our four and five. That sucks.
Cueto and Smarge got ranked near the top as the worst free agent signings— ranked by *baseball executives*
Those execs sure know their shit, we paid around $220 mil for our two guys and AZ went $200+ just for Greinke. Yeah the Giants fucked up for sure.
Fire Sabean and Evans! NOT! Those other execs can go pound fucking sand. I would ask the execs for those other teams “has your team won three World Series titles in the last six years?” No? Then shut the fuck up!
Johnny C is looking the FA signing of the year so far.
It’s amazing what happened to the team once Peavy and Cain out together a few decent starts: 7 in a row. If those guys can pitch .500 ball, this is one tough rotation.
love the complete games; glad Bochy left them in there and gave them a chance to finish what they started.
Cueto is a trip. His ABs are entertaining, and not in a Casilla type. Hella play to nail Kemp.
Great pitching can hide suspect O, but only for so long. Span is rolling and the guys behind him, Panik and Duffy are now both hitting in .230s; both are 0-fer San Diego. Pagan is back to reality in 9 spot.
Giants are likely going to have to score a few more runs to beat Cubs, esp with back end opening the series.
Funny thing is, Pads (who are gonna suck big time as they rebuild imo) come in next week and get another taste of what beat them.
I have said it before, and I will say it again. Even a month is a very small, finite sample size when you are talking PAs, BA, etc. I have no issues with Panik and Duffy (look at their splits and lifetime averages). I feel certain that they will eventually come around.
I still marvel on that play Cueto made to gun down Kemp that was pure athleticism at its finest moment!
Then his All-Star pitching with his multiple deliveries and throw in alittle “Shimmy” as well cracks me up!
Ok.. Admit it or not, we all have our little highs that we get when the Giants put up a ‘W’ . Mine is in the morning ; a march to the front porch, a salute to their flag as I take in a shot of whisky….Yeah, getting a little wasted lately.
Who gives a shit what the neighbors think!
Keeping the liquor cabinet stocked is my one mission.
Go Giants!
lol, there is a LOT going on in this post.
LMAO…salute, Dennis! If I was not at work, I would tip one in your honor right now! Bottoms up!
Was out of pocket last night at a concert. Did catch the first half of the Warriors game at the bar, and followed that and the Giants on my phone throughout the evening.
I agree…I am loving me some Dominican Dandy, Part II. The dude is an awesome addition.
Back to the previous thread, it looks like I am in the minority. I am with Paul, as long as no one gets hurt, no harm no foul. Bum can be a red ass until the cows come home…I don’t give a flying fuck. Loved the hockey/enforcer analogy, Paul.
Giants Big Three starters are beginning to cruise. Two complete games, even if against the Pads, have resulted in a well-rested bullpen, making for little or almost no pressure on Kontos in his return and set the stage for (1. Romo also coming back to a less than bedraggled pen and (2. Peavy and Cain to feel very little pressure and a lot of uplift in their efforts. That all said, as i mentioned several threads ago, Arrieta vs Peavy looks to be a classic mismatch (though probably not a blow-out). The Cain game could be quite close but i think Chicago may cop that one as well. In Game three a very highly motivated red-ass Carolina Cattleman should have something to say.
Cubs have been playing over their heads. Currently they sport 3 of the 5 lowest ERA’s in the league and their hitters also include at least a couple of guys who are having career years, to date. Were our Big 3 facing theirs this weekend the contests could be the most classic of the season. Arrieta and Rizzo appear to be completely for real. Their presence has elevated the games of their team-mates. It is not likely that SF will derail them this go-round. That said, the Cubbies may come to realize that their season will not be the romp they have enjoyed to date.
Important thing in the short term, though, is not to lose focus on the Pads. SamWhatAm is now challenged to maintain pace with Bum and Cueto for a third consecutive C.G. The other challenge will be for Panik, Duffy and Pagan to get off their asses and begin contributing at the plate. Crawdaddy seems poised to return to his All-Star form and Pence has elevated his game to 4th in the NL in RBI’s. An outstanding showing by Alphabet Souperman and some awakening by the 3 offensive laggards and the Giants just might pop a surprise or two on the high-flying Cubbies.
Willie, I’m not too worried about the Cubs if last night’s game with the Brewers is the reference. They finally won it in the 13th inning 2-1, but Brewers pitcher, Jimmy Nelson was outstanding against them, allowing five hits, walking four and striking out five in seven-plus shutout innings.
In fact, the Brew Crew pitching staff handcuffed the Cubs the night before as well, e.g., getting no-hit for seven-plus innings by right-hander Chase Anderson (who dat?).
In short, the Giants, Cubs – all teams go through these types of periods, where hitting .300 is still failing 7 times out of 10.
Shit, the Pads took 2 of 3 from the Cubbies last week. In their house. They can be had.
Fuck the northsiders.
Got to love Cueto. There was a game last week where he hit a dribblr up the first base line and the 1st baseman picked up the ball and waited for Cueto to get there. Cueto acted like he was going to give the 1st baseman a hug as he got there. The 1st baseman had no idea how to react. Almost like he weas going to get out of Cueto’s way. It was priceless.
Guys like he and Pence (and Morse/Huff/Pat the Bat before them) are the ones bringing fun to the game. Not showboating or grandstanding, just hustling, laughing and showing that in the end the game should be fun.
Good post, Charlie. I agree…especially about the game being fun, and how that can be accomplished.
Interesting stat (for James or anyone) about the Padres – they strike out (25%) more than they hit (.228 BA).
As you were . . .
Heard on knbr this am that cueto was shaking off the catcher with batter in the box and when Posey wasn’t putting down signs. How cool-crazy is that?
Gmen starting to gel.
Ed – Wassup? Good to see you here…
This is an older piece on #55. A friend shared it with me (I had not read it back in the day).
http://goldengatesports.com/2015/04/02/despite-struggles-tim-lincecums-legacy-in-san-francisco-already-set/
Here is the story I am writing in my mind’s eye: Timmy has a good year with the Angels. Once the season ends, Peavy get’s his gold watch and rides off into the sunset. The Giants make a hard play for 55 in the off-season, and ink Timmy, and he ultimately finishes his career with the Giants. The number 55 is eventually retired by the Giants organization.
Fairytale? Stranger things have happened.
Lousy turn of events for Fredi Gonzalez. The Braves’ front office almost completely destroys the roster in order to trade for prospects, and to tank and get high draft picks; and then he gets fired because the team isn’t winning many games in the process of its tanking. Man, this can be a rough business.
So, the major leagues went from 3 minority managers out of 30 teams, to 2 minority managers. That’s a pretty pathetic ratio. MLB has Jackie Robinson Day every season; well, one of Jackie’s biggest desires was to see minorities getting the chance to manage.
Cueto love? Smargy!?!
This is Huff/Burrell level bromantic.
To be fair, Fredi Gonzalez wasn’t a genius before the Braves rebuilt. No idea why they fired him now, but I’d bet most Braves fans feel it’s long overdue.
F/G has interesting poll on announcers, with fans rating their home teams. Starting with worst, they are down to best top 10 and I haven’t seen mention of K and K (et al) so they must be up there.
My point about top of order is Span is doing a great job of getting on base and those behind him simply are not doing enough to help team score runs. Both Panik and Duffy had great seasons last year but that doesn’t give them a pass. Both defied projections last year but so far they are living up to those that predicted their BABIP would drop and negatively affect BA and OB. Neither of them walk much and esp Duffy is hitting for way less power than last year.
Would not surprise me to see Bochy tinker with LU again—move Posey or Belt into 3 slot ahead of Pence and Craw followed by Duffy and Pagan, and rest Panik vs. LHP for Specs.
Pagan’s avg is falling fast, reminiscent of what happened last year, when he had the excuse of the forever unexplained injury. He’s already been out for 10 games and now that he’s back he’s 1-15 or some such. I’m not convinced there’s enough left he pulls out of it
Wille: Have long held that because of the ratio of his OBP (one of the best in the league) Belt should be batting second or third ~ that and the fact that he is far better at igniting rallies or keeping the conga-line moving than he is at bringing in those ducks on the pond. Duffy, particularly, is in a bit over his head right now and may well be pressing. He would feel little pressure ~ if some embarrassment ~ batting 8th for a spell. Panik might benefit from Belt batting behind him and Buster too might feed off a positive effect of BB9 getting on base almost half the time.
Willie–thanks for pointing out the announcer rankings on FG. You and others are always pretty hard on Ray Fosse, so I was surprised to see the A’s team land at #9. I kind of like him myself. Announcer taste is a real personal thing. As I have said many times, I don’t care much for Kruk and Kuip, and now that I have the MLB package, I often listen to the road announcers by choice. I really like Thom Brennaman for the Reds, but he seemed to get trashed pretty badly on the FG rankings. Part of my love for Brennaman I think goes back to the days when he was the second fiddle to Harry Caray on Cubs games with Steve Stone. That was back in the day when getting to regularly watch out of market games was a real treat.
Sports Authority, recently discussed on the Flap (filed for bankruptcy) has announced it will close ALL of its stores…
http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/sports-authority-is-closing-all-of-its-remaining-stores/ar-BBteXCK?li=BBnb7Kz
The life and times in the online age…
In general, all retailers are grappling with too much inventory, a consumer addiction to discounts and blockbuster growth among other low-price players (e.g., Wal-mart, Target, Amazon), all of which are contributing to price deflation. Just this quarter, Macy’s, Nordstrom, and J.C. Penny – all disappointed in earnings and forecasts were grim. Related to Sports Authority, Dicks Sporting Goods WAS NOT able to take advantage of this, i.e., they recently disappointed in earnings. Frankly, they may be going out of business before too long as well.
Conversely, has anyone noticed lower prices in Wal-Mart’s food offerings? You can expect further price cuts in food and health and beauty aids. Those categories offer the most bang for their buck, because they’re purchased more frequently than such discretionary merchandise as apparel. That equates to more store visits. Adding more fuel to the fire is Wal-Mart’s expansion of its grocery pickup service, which allows its customers to order groceries online and pick them up at the store. This is quickly being rolled out, with them adding nine new markets to the fold this month, and will be in roughly 40 by the end of May. Grocery already accounts for more than half of Wal-Mart’s annual revenue.
Wal-Mart was asleep at the wheel for a couple of years, but they woke up when they noticed Amazon eating other retailers proverbial lunch. However, you’re competing with someone with the best logistics network in retail and the most favorable vendor relationships in retail, so the deck is stacked against you . . . In short, they were able to leverage this against all retailers.
1. Denard Span (L) CF
2. Joe Panik (L) 2B
3. Matt Duffy (R) 3B
4. Buster Posey (R) C
5. Brandon Belt (L) 1B
6. Hunter Pence (R) RF
7. Brandon Crawford (L) SS
8. Jeff Samardzija (R) P
9. Angel Pagan (S) LF
Pitcher 8th, grumble, grumble…. 🙂
K&K come in at #2 on the FanGraph poll, which is very cool. Scully at #1, which is probably predictable. As I’ve said before on the Flap, I’m not a Scully fan.
The Mets crew ranks high, as it should. The Boston crew, with Remy, came in at #11, which is baffling. Remy is the worst, and I can’t imagine anyone worse at broadcasting baseball. The Hawk came in last, which is predictable; but, as I’ve said on the Flap before, I like him. I’m possibly the only one of the Flap that likes him, but that’s the way it goes. The Dawg said it well: “Announcer taste is a real personal thing.”
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/2016-broadcaster-rankings-tv-10-1/
Either I can’t count or this guy is using new math . . .
Giants ratings (Charisma/Analysis/Overall): 4.8, 4.6, 4.8
Dodgers ratings (Charisma/Analysis/Overall): 4.8, 4.2, 4.8
Why are the Giants broadcasters in 2nd???
I have to admit I didn’t read much of their poll methodology.
As others have pointed out, it’s amazing how Cueto can be so consistent, while varying his deliveries. One of the things that is talked about in pitching is the ability of the pitcher to repeat his delivery. Yet Cueto has several different deliveries. Clearly he has spent a lot of time practicing those. You can’t just whip those out in the spur of the moment and have good control. It’s very impressive.
Don’t forget it’s an earlier start-time tonight, Flappers. 🙂
6:10 Pacific Time.
and, a 4:15 start time on Sat. I’m gonna be at that game with my Oregon peeps. For my tastes, 4:15 is the absolute PERFECT time to start a baseball game.
You might know this already- before lights were added to ballparks, the standard start-time was 3:00.
Of course, in those days, the average game finished in under 2 1/2 hours.
I originally had tickets to Saturday’s game, but my wife and I decided to give those tickets to my nephew and his wife because of some work he’s done for various family members, including some plumbing work. He’s a huge Giants fan, and his wife will like a nice trip into SF.
We have tickets to a game in the Red Sox series in a couple of weeks.
Mea culpa . . . I decided to take a Rockies pitcher (Gray) in DFS this evening. I have never done this before. I figured the phenom had a great chance to do well in St. Louis, away from the house of horrors at Kathmandu.
The kid shit his pants – 9 runs in 4 innings. It will likely be decades before I make such a mistake again.
Dumbness…
Hey, as long as his shoulders don’t slump!
Our ace thirdbase coach.
I’m extremely annoyed that the slumping Duffy is still in the 3 hole against a RHP, especially one who he is 1-15 lifetime against. There is no fuckin’ reason on Earth he shouldn’t be somewhere behind Crawford in the LU tonight. And as long as I’m in a bad mood, this is the most unimpressive winning streak I’ve ever seen. Hope no one’s delusional about it…
Does that make it the most impressive unimpressive winning streak you’ve ever seen?
Yes, that too…
I’m a little bit delusional about it.
Duffy’s LD % is 25% this year. He’ll come around.
Well Bochy is treating him like Roberto Clemente. It’s gotta fuckin’ stop.
Hot, Cold or Medium, he’s not a #3 hitter on this team at this stage of his career…
Whenever the Yanks go into Oakland, I remember the oddity that took place there in a 3 game series played in 2001. All the opposing starting pitchers matched up against a pitcher whose last name started with the same 2 letters as his own (like Marichal vs. Maloney for example). Never happened before or since. Only one of the match-ups is easy. This post might be classified “FZO” (for Zumiee only)…
Mulder v Mussina?
Good Dog!
Zitio v Zimmerman?
Braden v Browning
(reaching now)
Hudson v Hughes!
Good tries but incorrect.
First letter hints: H & L
Fuck, I thought Hudson/Hughes was money
Did Chad Hutchinson pitch for the Yanks? Hudson/Hutchinson?
Hudson is not part of the answer…
Mulder and Mussina jump to mind. I’ll have to ponder the other two….
Beaten by the ‘dog!
Pagan has that problem where the opposing outfield doesn’t respect your power and they keep creeping in closer, stealing potential hits. There’s no answer for it, other than popping some over their heads.
exactly. He’s just a slap hitter now, this is a problem that can’t be solved.
Dumbness squared…
Duffy is becoming a bit of a snot-rocket guy. Have you noticed?
Was that Emmett Kelly’s fault again?
How was the first one his fault? Panik should have stayed at 2nd? I thought that just a weird/bad decision by Kemp that somehow worked out.
Us old New York Ranger fans need a whipping boy.
It’s in our blood…
I assumed the 3b coach would do something on a play like that.
That one’s probably totally owned by Panik. That’s just bad baseball: when players are fishing where there’s no fish. Like in basketball, trying to force something that isn’t there.
Talking about the ball that rolled away from the catcher.
how the fuck did San Diggity nail that bullshit impossible question by DJ Loo? HOw the fuck did Loo even come up with that question????????
Google?
No sir
no way, Diggity would never roll that way. Neither would Loo
I had a chance to be ahead of the dog, if I’d been on my laptop. But on my cellphone? No chance. 🙂
#TimeStamp!
I just remember when it happened. I always have to look up the pitchers, though…
Except for the Mu-Mu…
Loo, what kind of shit gets you in a bad mood? Why are you down today?
I never feel good anymore. I think it’s age.
that is an unbelievably deep take on life. I mean that seriously.
Dennis Z’s 7:54 today was something to ponder…
alcohol, as I’ve gotten older, just seems to make things worse. Something else to ponder.
Well, almost never…
The election? That’ll bum anyone out.
This book?
Or this one? 🙂
Now I did do some digging because I MUST KNOW!
LIdle and Lilly, and I still can’t find who matches Hudson
Loo’s 7:12: Hudson is not part of the answer…
Hmmmmmm. The plot thickens
Forget Hudson. He’s not the “H”…
Was Ken Hill the Yank?
Haren and Hernandez would be close.
My Yanks guess is Hernandez….
Pat Hentgen involved?
Heredia/Hernandez?
Heredia/Hernandez is a fantastic but incorrect guess.
The Oakland guy is really obscure.
The Yankees guy was around awhile.
If it was a 4 game series the next game could have been Heredia- Hernandez…
Just tell me….I’m begging you Loo….
Forget I said that. Sterling Hitchcock v ……
Erik Hijus (who I have never heard of)
Didn’t mean to torture you…good job, Dog
It’s ok. It was an emotional journey that sent me into a manic rage, but I’m calm now and ready to resume normal life activities. 😎
If he lost it in the lights, how did it hit him smack in the pocket of his glove?
Pure luck.
Actually had a flashback thinking Fred Lewis was butchering another one in LF!
Dog&Loo your killing me!
Loo with the trivia & Dog with his bone knawlin on it till I get the answer!
Here’s a interesting tidbit… Freakin Barry Zito was the kid on that team the youngest player at 23? Seems almost surreal..
“Dog & Loo” sounds like a ventriloquist act.
We actually might be able to pull it off in real life…
I bet we could give Boomer and Carton a run for their money!
Oh man, what a bad show that is.
Pence collided with the psychedelic wall.
Line-shot!
Nice effort by the guy in the cardigan trying to haul that one in….
I’m trivia crazy now.
The first millionaire harness horse: Cardigan Bay (from New Zealand)
Craw goes deep.
Hey Craw!
Big Game let me introduce Big Crawdaddy!! Bombs away!
Hey if they bring in that Hand guy do the Padres expect him to get the job done or just give them a handjob performance?
Shields was pretty meh tonight.
The whole Padre organization is meh.
Panik is hot.
This evening. 🙂
Before the season, some lunatic here proposed a trade of Panik & Belt to the Mets for Harvey and Duda…
I was gonna float Panik for Puig the other day…
The raptors being in the NBA final 4 is a joke. After the first round of conference playoffs, they should re-seed across conferences…
They’re pretty good Snarkk. MAYBE the Spurs are better, but other than that they are one of the 5 best teams in the NBA imo. Yeah, the Cavs are making mincemeat out of them, but the Cavs might do that do the “dubs” as well. (I can only hope)
Dawg, I respect your view. But I can’t abide with Raptors > Spurs. A Spurs v Cavs semi final has to better …
Quackenbush looks like a Duck Dynasty guy. Figures.
Joe Panik=Wade Boggs=Batting Title Book it!
that is a hugely bold call. If you hit on this you’ll be a legend here.
Sharks shoveling ice in the Blues faces again up 3-0!!
Loo’s trivia question itself is more amazing than the answer, whatever it turned out to be.
Great comment from Kruk about the pitchers being very efficient.
I have one for Loo . . . and he probably knows the answer. Which pitcher struck out 10 consecutive hitters?
Seaver. I watched it. Al Ferrara from Brooklyn was the first and last victim…
I knew you would know that . . . and at the fucking game too. Unfrickinbelievable.
I wasn’t at it, Blade. Watched it on TV. What I didn’t remember until I just double checked myself was that Ferrara had homered off Seaver earlier in the game for the only run…
Carl Hubbell?
I slept half the day (blame it on the late game, or old age), but the day had a good ending. I signed a book contract today with Creators Publishing, in Hermosa Beach, CA.
Congrats!
Thanks. The book is essentially written; hoping it is edited smoothly and quickly. Would LOVE for it to be out when the SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS WIN THEIR 4TH WORLD SERIES IN 7 YEARS. (Excuse the yelling.)
That is great, PK. Hope you got a little advance…
Good for you Pawlie!!
Congrats let the champagne flow!!
Great news!
Why WOULDN’T Pence be a good cleanup hitter?
Remember all those games he batted lead-off (2014?)
Loo’s trivia reminded me of another one I heard on NYC radio recently: Ron Guidry went 25-3 in ’78, and all three of his losses were against three different pitchers whose first name was Mike.
Good one……Witt, I think was one of ’em. Stuck now.
Nope.
that is a REALLY good one, especially since I remember that season so well—at least as well as I could remember it as a kid with shitty newspaper box scores to go by.
did Mark Fidrych beat him once?
sorry; what a moron ….has to be Mike…
Mike Torrez?
Good guess, but he’s not one of ’em.
Is it just me, or is there no one more annoying than Dick Vitale (including on Twitter)?
It’s not just you. He’s become a caricature of a cartoon…
My OCD, obscure bit of personal trivia involves Don Taussig, backup CF to Mays. He made the last out when the Giants were down 11-1 and rallied for 9 runs and lost to the Pirates at Seals Stadium in 1958. I recount the incident — and my call to him — in the book. At Cooperstown, in 2013, several old NY Giants fans remembered it better than I did: who was on base, etc.
Got another one Loo . . . When Barry Bonds hit 45 HRs in 2004, he struck out only 41 times. Ditto for Mel Ott who hit 42 HRs and SO 38 times.
Name the other four players who hit 40 HRs or more HRs and struck out less than their HR total? Hint – Three of them did it multiple times.
Joe DiMaggio?
That’s one Zum
Ted Williams?
No. Another hint you picked the other guy (DiMaggio) that only did it once like Ott and Bonds. One guy did it 3 times and the other two did it twice.
Clemente?
No, wait, Clemente’s a bad guess. Not that big a HR hitter.
DiMaggio and Williams and Musial in there?
timestamped!
No Williams or Musial.
DiMaggio and Ted Williams would be obvious guesses. After that- gotta think about it…
Smadjz-ik!
Tomlinson sure made a Spectable out the pass ball..
By the by, Loo – As you well know, Seaver struck out 19 total that game.
My friends dad used to regale me with baseball trivia all the time. He liked to claim that Seaver through nothing but fastballs for like the last five innings of that game
Boddicker?
No SD . . . Good guess though.
Flanagan!
Cuellar feels like a reach
Norris?
Nope, although you’re not far off.
Sandog: Yes on Flanagan!
NG on Williams and Musial – I checked…
Thanks for above; naw, no advance. But that’s fine.
On the HRs, Ott or Terry?
Terry is a no and I already said Ott did it.
Ah, I’d forgotten already. 🙂
Hank Greenberg?
Gehrig or Ruth?
Gehrig is correct and he did it twice.
No on Ruth
Another hint on the HR question . . . All 3 players accomplished it between the years 1934 and 1955.
Greenberg?
No on Greenberg
Can’t believe Bochy won’t let Smarzamatic go for the trifecta 3 CG???
And shit now I have to really get drinking knowing Casilla coming in!!
Don’t get too skinked AK. Still a work day tomorrow.
lulz!
he’s taking him out? too bad
Was Torrez correct, and did I hit on Norris or Cuellar?
No on Torrez, only correct one so far was Flanagan.
Let’s get that 3rd consecutive CG. Surely not a record, right? In the old days, it was fairly common, I’d think.