Suar-tton Start?
I know they’re giving the ball to Al-Su today but the back up plan has to be a quick entrance for Chris Stratton, right? If they’re worried about putting too much pressure on the kid it makes sense they’re keeping him in waiting in case Suarez needs assistance. And if he isn’t needed as a long man then things must be going ok for Suarez, right?
There are still 585 tickets available for the game in Atlanta tonight. I noticed yesterday that there were 747 tickets available so they’re going….slow. I have no idea why this has caught my attention. If anyone gets a chance to eyeball the number of fans at game time please let me know. I’m betting 40% full and I’m starting to obsess on what all these people are doing with their unsold tickets.
They hit 9 home runs in Colorado last night. Seriously, they need to move that team to another city. It is absolutely absurd what happens to the game up there……
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
Good post Flavor, especially regarding the Rockies. As I mentioned last night, that was the 3rd game in a row, that a team playing in Colorado had 17 or more hits – Giants, Reds, and Rockies. I actually wrote this comment in the Denver Post the day before when they got creamed by the lowly Reds . . . It was in response to a Sherpa fan wanting the Rockies to go back to the good old days of not having a humidor . . .
“Just my take, but if one was to get in Mr. Peabody’s WABAC machine and go back to the 1990s, you’d find just as much futility as you do now. The Rockies 1995 season providing the only post season visit (2nd place in the division which netted them a Wild Card).
Otherwise, you have a 6th place finish in their inaguaral season of 1993, the last season there were 7 teams in the West; 4th place in 1994; 3rd in 1996; 4th in 1997; 4th in 1998; and, last place (5th) in 1999.
I’m being brutally honest when I say you can’t discount altitude being a factor in all games played here. It is the 800 lb. gorilla in the room. No one can ignore or escape this irrefutable fact. Yet, very few people talk about it, much less cite it as a significant reason for the Rockies poor performance. it impacts the team in myriad ways, e.g., home/away offensive splits, injuries/fatigue, obscene pitching stats, etc. Solution? I’m not certain that there is just one. Personally, I think the humidor is a good idea and Bridich has a good plan. Frankly, during the hot stove season, I thought he was an imbecile, concentrating on the bullpen and not getting a front line veteran pitcher. However, I understand his thinking now and that coupled with a wealth of potentially good to great young pitchers (on the staff and in the minors), I think he should be given an opportunity to see if his plan bears fruit in the next couple of years. Let’s face facts – the owner is not going to go out and get a free agent ace. He’s cheap and recognizing that, you go to Bridich’s Plan B, homegrown pitchers (or prospects obtained via trade) and building up the bullpen. Do I think this will work? Quite honestly, all evidence – 20 plus years of mostly failure – points to it not working, i.e., that “800 lb. gorilla.”
As Warren indicated, other teams do not like playing here. Not just the 1990s, but today as well. Mostly due to messing up a pitching staff’s rhythm. I know my Giants team hates it here and their record – notwithstanding this weekend’s results – bears that out the last few seasons, as the Rockies have regularly cleaned our clock here. Thankfully, for us, the Rockies have to play at our park (and other parks) . . . and this unfortunately, is where they usually fail.”
Hell, I talk about it all the time, especially when the Giants are headed to Denver. It blows me away that there’s anyone out there who’s delusional enough to think it’s NOT a factor (we need an italics function). If in doubt, just look at the science of it.
As far as I can tell or remember, the worst band box ballparks in history haven’t skewed the game as much as Coors Field (think Polo Grounds down the lines). It’s the ultimate wild card that can turn any game, or team, on its head. You can go in hot, as the G’s did on their first trip there, and come out ice cold, or vice versa. The Giants went on about a 2 week slide after that trip. That’s what concerned me most about last weekend’s series.
From a psychological standpoint, I don’t think the hitters can help but swing for the fences. They may not even realize it. That’ll fuck up a Major Leaguer’s swing in a NY minute.
800 pound gorilla indeed.
Off topic – Think the cord-cutting trend was an overblown fad? Think again.
According to a Nielsen N.V. analysis by Fox Sports, ESPN lost 1.5 million subscribers in a four-month span from February to May of this year. That increases the number of dropped subscribers to 10 million since 2013.
If you recall, I said do not touch Disney with a 10 foot pole, despite all their hit movies. Stock is in a tailspin due to them owning ESPN.
Any idea what the reasons are? You say subscribers, which makes me think website, but I’m assuming you’re talking about TV.
Millennials are not subscribing to cable/sat and instead watching everything laptop/phone with streaming services/YouTube. So they are avoiding the monthly fees to cable/sat who then pay ESPN/Disney per subscriber….
I seem to be having this discussion more and more. I’ve thought a lot about just cutting the cord and paying for the MLBtv premium package and going with Netflix/Amazon Prime. I swear the only channels I watch are comcast bay area, some occasional PBS and HBO. If they can do menu pricing in Canada we should be able to as well. They do a lot of things up there that make sense for the common citizen.
I am with you, Dirt. I have had the same considerations for a couple of years. And I agree…there is absolutely no reason they cannot provide “ala carte” pricing. I worked for software developer for about 15 years that wrote the billing software used by Comcast and DirecTV. There would be significant programmatic changes to that billing software to make it happen, but it is do-able (I know because I managed the group of business analysts who managed all of the customer requirements).
I had been a Dish subscriber for over ten years, and liked their product, but got so tired of problems with their DVRs that I switched to Comcast (and got locked-in for three years at a very good rate for their top-tier package). When this three year contract ends, I will seriously consider going back to Dish (or DirecTV), as I will be retired, and I want to be able to put up my dish and get my content wherever the hell I am (I just bought a new travel trailer a month ago, and plan to hit the open road and give it a real workout when I retire).
Stratton was a first round pick that has fallen off since taking one to the melon. I guess easing him in is a good approach.
Too bad the Rockies didn’t move to the AL instead of Houston. I’ve never understood that decision but I remember wilco mentioning it was a condition of the sale or something.
The take on playing at altitude is valid. I remember it being really difficult to run even 3 miles up in Reno and down in Santa Cruz I’d go 5-7 miles like it was nothing.
Didn’t CO go to the WS in ’07? Computer says yes…
Yeah Dirt, they had that amazing August and September run that put them in the playoffs. Here in Denver, they call it the Rocktober World Series. Also, I agree about what you said regarding running. I don’t run anymore (bad for my knees), but when I did – I would do 2 miles every day at 8500 feet. In Sunnyvale, I would easily do double that. Same thing, but different benefits with anaerobic (weight) workouts, where my recovery time was significantly shorter after lifting.
It’s along the lines of warm versus cool air. Warm air is less dense so fly balls will have less resistance and tend to travel farther, in general. Dodger Stadium is a good example. Normally considered a good pitcher’s park, that’s in reference to night games, which is when almost all Dodger’s games are played. I believe in a normal schedule, the Dodgers only play day games on Sunday. Chavez Ravine cools off significantly at night.
Day games are another matter and more home runs are hit then. I don’t have any numbers to back this up, but I’ve seen enough and heard enough to know it’s true. I seem to remember watching a show some years ago that tested this and was able to quantify it.
tell that to Kruk who still thinks when it’s humid the ball is dead in the air.
I missed Peavy’s (or the alien inhabiting his body again) one-hittter….how was that possible???
markakis freeman, same guys that lit up Samardz. Giants bats did not do much either–check out the 0-fers from Panik Posey Belt Craw and Pence, who all got less hits than Peavy himself.
I can handle the 0-fers when the team wins. Just Win Baby!
His control was good, he didn’t serve up a lot of fat pitches. And the Braves aren’t very good, of course.
50 HRs hit yesterday overall , unprecedented. And yeah SF won without any.
We complain about hella stuff here regarding Giants but they are running away from pack right now warts and all as Twin used to put it.
Big divide imo btw haves and have nots in NL. 7 top teams (I don’t buy marlins or phils) and everyone else.
WC is gonna be a tough way to go–90 might not get your team in.
Win the division, beat LA…and hammer the chump teams because other top dogs are likely to do the same.
A lot of people are tired of paying for TV channels they don’t use. It’s starting to feel like a rip-off to a lot of people. And with more people, especially millennials, willing to watch TV shows on other electronic devices besides TVs, many are ready for changes in the market. The basic packages of DirecTV and cable are priced high, and many viewers are rebelling.
Ah, just saw GH’s post.
Great ump scouting report from Krukow yesterday. I’m quoting him word for word: “He has a tight strikezone; but that can change from inning to inning.”
It reminds me of George Carlin doing his Hippy Dippy Weather Report, where he’d say things like: “The weather will change, on and off, for a long period of time.” And “Tonight’s forecast is….darkness. Followed by partly-light in the morning.”
I have hemmed and hawed about cutting the cord for a couple of years now. And the only thing that keeps me paying for my cable service is Giants baseball. Since I live in the Bay Area, MLB.tv does me no good. Literally everything else I watch it can watch on Hulu or any of the various other streaming services that are available.
I have a package that includes MLB, but it is NOT an option for me to get my Giants games. I cannot stand most of MLB’s announcers…gotta have CSNBA.
Speaking of cable TV, I read a thing that said that the Warriors/OKC game 7 had the most viewers in history for an NBA playoff game on a cable network.
Not surprised there. They damned near lost one (me) due to a heart attack!
Krukow finally brought up a good point last week. He said that with all the mileage on Peavy’s arm it isn’t going to bounce back the same way it used to with 5 days rest. Cue yesterday’s start when he had an extra day of rest. Kruk thinks that is something the Giants are going to have to manage all year and I agree with him. Unfortunately, his next two starts are set up on regular rest against big time offenses so we will probably find out as soon as his next start if he’s right or not.
This is a big game for Suarez today, obviously. He needs to make a solid case for himself to be part of the rotation. Plus, the Giants need to pile up victories vs. the Braves.
Gonna be very surprised if he pitches well enough to go five. But we’ll see.
Great thread, Flav. Yeah, I don’t get it with the Hotlanta fans. I mean, on one hand I can see, since the Bravos SUCK (er, are rebuilding), but when I finally had a chance to sit down and watch the game yesterday (it was top of the 8th), and it looked like MAYBE 25% of the ballpark had asses in the seats. Pathetic.
reports that Marlon Byrd just failed another PED test.
LJ, regarding your questions. Cord cutting will get worse before it gets better. Anecdotally, I cut the cord almost 4 years ago. I don’t miss it at all. I watch all baseball games for free (I recently found a new site without the pop up ads and is way better quality), 1st run movies for free within 2 weeks of their release (all in HD), all TV series for free, and all pay for view sports, such as boxing.
It’s pirating, but I could give 2 shits, since for years, that’s what Cable and Satellite have done to me . . . and believe me, I took advantage of all the discounts, i.e., going to their “subscriber retention” telephone customer service threatening to cut the cord each time if I was not given a significant reason (discount) to re-up my subscription. Worked for years, but then they called my bluff and I cut the cord.
As Dirt and others have pointed out, most people only watch a few channels and consequently, the Cable and Satellite operations are making a killing. YOU ARE NOT PAYING FOR THE FOOD CHANNEL, TBS, ANIMAL KINGDOM, BIOGRAPHY, ETC. No, what you ARE PAYING FOR IS ESPN, which subsidizes all the other lame channels. Now people are recognizing that if they don’t get ala carte selection, they are cutting the cord and going elsewhere, e.g., Hulu, Netflix, Amazon . . . or, what I am doing. Or, at least considering it, as Dirt, Chi, Sarge, etc., are doing.
By the by, ESPN took in 7 billion dollars for Disney. What are they afraid of? Programming (NFL, NBA, etc.) cost $6 billion. Oh Oh . . . It’s no wonder that Disney’s stock is cratering and that new Alice In Wonderland flick isn’t helping either (it bombed).
Regarding Colorado fans and altitude – they don’t mention it because they believe it is a defeatist attitude and lame excuse, which I think is valid. The team rarely mentions it too. Consequently, finger pointing is directed at the team owner, manager, and GM, as well as the media (ROOT Sports for being too rah rah; and, the Denver Post for not calling out the owner more frequently).
Here’s the link about ESPN hemorrhaging customers . . . http://www.foxsports.com/college-football/outkick-the-coverage/espn-loses-1-5-million-subscribers-as-cord-cutting-accelerates-052816
Both my boys (ages 7 and 4) despise commercials. They don’t understand the point of them. Most of the cartoon or kid programs they watch, they watch on their kindle. They barely even know how to use a tv remote, which I guess is a good thing. Me on the other hand, I am old school. I still read my newspaper every morning and I love watching the local news. I also love channel surfing. I would have a hard time cutting that cord.
I do like channel surfing, too, Wilco.
Rainy day up here in the Great Northwoods. Had been drought conditions till the past 3 weeks or so and now the ground ~ even in my 7 raised-bed gardens ~ is pretty much waterlogged. Frustrating to be stuck indoors when there’s still planting to be done. So i looked up some SF team stats.
Some fascinating correlations between hitting and pitching stats: Giants hitters have accumulated 476 base-knocks, for which they are 6th in the league. Pitchers have surrendered 5 less than the hitters have gotten, with 471 given up. Home-runs are also almost statistically identical with the hurlers tagged for 45, while the batters have knocked out 44.
Where this really gets intriguing is in walks vs strikeouts. Giants hitters are 3rd best in the league with 201 free passes. Pitchers, contrarily, are 2nd best in the NL with a stingy 122 bases on balls given up. Though i did not do a team by team correlation the differential of 79 goes a long ways to explain why SF has the second best W-L record in the Senior Circuit. On the strikeout side, Giants pitchers are sorta ho-hum with 422 Special K’s, tying them at 7th in the league. Flipside is that SF batters are THE most selective in the NL, sitting in a comfortable first place in fewest strikeouts by our batters with a skimpy total of 338, while #2, Miami hitters have K-ed 391 times.
Though the team remains 6th in the league in overall offensive stats and 5th in the key pitching statistics, which on the surface would tend to indicate their W-L record should be in the upper-middle part of the pack; it appears to me that their BBIP emanating from their league-lowest strikeout total, combined with being second in walks given up; gives the Giants their current edge making for the second highest winning percentage in the NL.
Good stuff, Stix. Thanks for the share.
Blade, GH thanks for those answers. I’m generally pretty up to date on tech stuff, but apparently not on cable. I watch a lot of movies, one of my favorite things to do, so I’ve got the full Comcast premium package, with internet, and yes it is expensive as hell, not to mention having to do what you said. Customer retention line. I like it, but it’s a really stupid thing to have to do.
If you don’t, they’ll simply raise prices willy nilly and good luck figuring out what the increase was really for . But I’m hooked on my HD movies and sports, so I just haven’t made the switch. Seems like a hassle, so throw laziness in as another reason I have cut the cord.
I am completely lazy. Not getting rid of my Directv. One thing I was savvy about was dropping the NBA package this season. The Dubs were on almost every week on free tv that it ended up saving couple hundred.
Add in there was a class action that brought down the MLB package price this season and now I am going to go 6 months HBO (once Game of Thrones ends and trying to finish the Wire finally…wrapping up season four) and then switch back over to Showtime for the other 6 months. With all the on demand, you can go back and watch an entire season on demand).
Kids made me get Netflix so looking forward to second season of Narcos and finally started with House of Cards (or is it House of Thrones and Game of Cards????) Then can’t wait for second season of Mr. Robot….
This was the first year I didn’t buy the MLB TV package in quite a while. There are so many games already available on TV in my area: the Giants on Comcast, the A’s on Comcast, plus the number of MLB Network games, and ESPN games, and the Fox Saturday games. Sheesh, that’s a lot right there. But I do also have the MLB.TV internet package, and so will often be watching a Giants game on TV and have the Dodger game or some other game going on my cellphone at the same time.
But I’ve always said the various baseball packages (TV or internet) are high value for the money, if you use them a lot.
I have not finished season one of Mr. Robot, but really like that series.
Marlin Byrd busted for PED use…I am shocked….NOT!!!!
On a related cable TV note- some of the best networks have turned to complete crap over the years, as the quest for ratings took over; so it’s a loss in customer value of those networks themselves. The Learning Channel, The History Channel, Bravo, and A&E used to really stand for something, and show quality worthwhile stuff. And now it’s almost completely all “reality show” crap. Worthless shows that lead to an idiocracy of the nation, and probably helped Trump get the nomination.
I get tired of a big chunk of the public dragging everything down to crap. They eat crap for food, they watch crap on TV, they listen to crap on the radio. They can’t tell you what century the U.S. Civil War was in, or how many branches there are to the U.S. government. But they can tell you how many different flavors of cheetos there are, and what each Kardashian is up to.
That’s a great point. I watched a video last week where an interviewer walked around Texas A&M and interviewed students and of the ones they showed l, 75% couldn’t name the two sides of the civil war or who won. But they all knew Who Brad Pitt was married to and some nonsensical question about a Kardashian.
It’s scary for the well-being of a democracy, and it’s not the educational system’s fault, which is always a trendy thing to blame. These “low information” folks in the public were all taught history and civics in school. But you have to refresh your knowledge of things or it atrophies and fades away.
Just reading a newspaper a few times a month would keep a person up on so much, but so many don’t even do that.
In SE Asia, my hotel TV had the Discovery channel and National Geographic channel. It is disgusting what has happened to these two channels. I hadn’t watched either in years since cutting the cord, but as you said, most of the content are reality shows involving hillbillies living in Alaska or wannabee survivalists living off the land or imbecilic shows about displaced carpenters building a cabin in “fill in the blank.” Those shows will probably get worse, as I understand Rupert Murdoch bought National Geographic recently. Ugh.
Thinking about what Zum and Sarge said about “low information” folks who seemingly are walking our streets like zombies. For example, I know Marlon Byrd and especially, his attorney think baseball fans are idiots by their statement below:
“Since that time, I have paid close attention to the substances that are banned by the Joint Drug Agreement, as I had no intention of taking any banned substances. I relied upon a medical professional for assistance and advice with respect to the supplements that I was taking. However, certain supplements I was taking were not on the NSF Certified for Sport list, and therefore, I assumed certain risks in taking them.
“When I learned that I had tested positive for Ipamorelin, I retained the services of private counsel and an independent chemist to determine the origin of the Ipamorelin test result because I never knowingly ingested Ipamorelin. After an extensive investigation by my lawyers and an independent chemist, it was concluded that the most likely source of Ipamorelin was a tainted supplement.
“I alone am responsible for what I put in my body, and therefore, I have decided for forgo my right to an appeal in this matter and accept the suspension. I apologize for any harm this has caused the Cleveland Indians, Indians’ fans, my teammates, and most importantly, my family.”
So, I guess they think we think Kirkland (Costco), Nature Made, and Vitamin Shoppe brand supplements sometimes make mistakes and have PEDs in them? Hilarious.
I think Baggs pointed out: 6 (or 8?) more plate appearances last year and he’s guaranteed 8 mil.
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. Gregor Blanco (L) LF
8. Kelby Tomlinson (R) SS
9. Albert Suarez (R) P
DuffMan back in the starting LU, and also in the three hole, which will make Loo quite happy. 😉
Specs getting a start at SS.
Let’s go Suarez…bring us a win baby!
Blade, I think the argument goes that the stockboy who unloaded the supplements off the truck was full of roids and they transferred that way.
Just like Ryan Braun’s pizza delivery guy. Or urine collector.
The intellectually impaired argument certainly explains things like The Donald. And the McRib . . .
Yeah, I definitely missed my calling as a “mouth piece” attorney.
Hah! You got it . . .
Dodgers/Cubs game is supposed to be on ESPN tonight.
Loo, just so you know, I sent your comment about JRH to one of Baer’s workerbees. Haven’t heard back about it.
Thanks, Flav. I’m really outraged over this. Hart had a bum shoulder that they never fixed. He drank to numb the pain and it took him down further. He still put together 5 great years…
Is Hal Lanier still alive?
Ahhh, I see he is. Good to see Dirty Al Gallagher is still kicking as well.
Try watching Flip My Tiny House. My wife is into that one. Very weird.
Maybe the Giants have unleashed their new longman. Suarez has been more than adequate for 3 innings.
Mr. Belt.
Belted. Them Southern boys sure do like them some home-fried cookin.
Pence grabbing the back of his leg, didn’t look good.
That looked like “See you in September” to me…
I hope not.
It doesn’t seem like the Giants handled Pagan and Pence the best, in regards to their hamstrings.
Or maybe I’m just second-guessing. I don’t know. It’s frustrating.
Pence is under contract until ’18; the Giants need him to become durable again.
That looked bad to me. Fuck. And the team is rolling.
Yeah, looked like he tore something, but WTF do I know…
Hopefully it’s just a Casilla special.
Could be like Napolean when he tore his bone apart..
Wow! Nice plays by Saurez and now Duff.
Now Pence again. Uff Da, as the Norskies say. He’s currently high on the NL leader board in RBI’s.
totally agree with your 5:18 Zumiee
How about Suarez!
Pitching great, 1st big lead hit for a knock,..( Trading Places movie)looking good, feeling good Lewis..
Jinxed the kid,
Damm double, triple back to back and I have to hear that dumbass tomahawk chop BS twice Fucckkkk!!!
He pitched well, overall.
Suarez is coming up with the goods.
I have no idea what Suarez was trying to throw Smith. It was 80 MPH, straight down the middle with no movement. A change-up, I guess.
Suarez pitched well, overall, but just ran out of gas. No shame in that. Bochy will have the bullpen ready quicker next time.
Parker almost looked like Jose canal do heading one over the fence
Autocorrect be damnedcto the depths of hell. Nice job George.
We knew you meant Canseco. 🙂
I didn’t . . . Scratching my head, who is this guy Canal?
Wasn’t Gordon Beckham in the same draft class as Buster Posey?
Think Posey went #5 and Beckham #8.
Nailed that pick for sure with a HOF potential catcher, compared to a Dan Uggla bust.. as Beckham stinks it up in his career..
Dodgers going to throw Urias into the fire again tomorrow. The kid is starting in place of Maeda, who has a boo boo on his hand.
Five strong innings. What you want from a longman. Of course this is the Braves ~ yet they did take game one from a tired-out team.
Bryant went yard, Cubs lead 2-1.
Mac WIlliamson getting called up to fill Pence who is hitting DL (at least that’s the way it looks, he got scratched from the game tonight)
Injuries are opportunities. Mac gets another chance. Show something.
Good outing from Lopez.
Hopefully Mac is pissed off for greatness.
Heyward hitting .218 now.
That contract could end up hugely bad.
Strick time! Hold your hat!
He’s passed on his HRs to Osich.
Oh shite!
The Brower Method!
Thanks, ump!
I wouldn’t mind getting a few extra runs here.
Casilla….
hold your hat again!
Bigger crowds at the El Dorado then in Atlanta…Must be a die hard fan to go this place.. Btw Zumie isn’t your wife a Braves fan? If memory is still working.
Yeah, Kat, but this year they don’t hold her interest nearly as much.
Probably a happy camper right now.
😉
Casilla…..sigh…..
Here we go…
And boom. Nice job Santiago.
FUUUCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That’s what bugs me about Casilla, blows the 1st guy away, dicks around with the second guy and then beans him, and now a fucking bloop, and the story continues….and now a fucking WP you fucking moron!!! And a tie and it still continues its ugly ways, and pray for extra innings!!
Shit.
Your best hope is extra innings, with half your bullpen used. Love it when the closer does his job.
Could be Stratton time next up.
Fuck Casilla, I don’t give a shit he got out of costing the kid a win as well, “”I just want to put his sorry ass in the wood chopper like in Fargo”
Blown save, extra innings, half your pen already used and a noon EST start time tomorrow. Yee haw!
Well, at least we got us a bit of Southern Comfort on the mound tomorrow, a red-assed Carolina cowboy who is not known for taking prisoners and is not too bad with the lumber either.
Parker flailing per usual.
Nice job, Law.
Yup. I like that kid.
1/3 of the way through the season, and Casilla has four blown saves already.
Dodgers lost.
Pfffttt!
Fuckin’ piece of shit Casilla did the same thing last year to this absolutely shitty team.
‘
Well there you have it. They fought the Law and they won…
The Giants needed to make hay in this series, and not doink around.
Sharpening up my pins& needles in my Casilla voodo doll!!!