A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball

Lastly.. Only the Giants lame medical staff would say Span is ok to bunt, but since he has a strained quad maybe he can but but not run????Idiots. He has been lousy so not like losing a great player..but really??? He can’t play because of a muscle strain but lets let him do a bunt and see if he can hurt himself sprinting to 1st if the bunt is bad. I’m sure that never happens!!

I read this last night and it resonated. Great point…..

I’m wondering what the great and all powerful and all-knowing Nunie has in store for us today. What bounty of gifts will he bestow? Finally we have someone exciting at the top of our lame line up……

Giants going against someone named Reynaldo Lopez. He’s got an ERA in the 11’s. I’m sure that’s nothing a triple play or two couldn’t fix.

I’m guessing Nunie gets let loose today at the top of the LU. The o/u on number of times his helmet flies off while running the bases has been set at 1.5. Let the betting begin….

Pence back today. He and Nunie will at least give this shit LU a different look.

We need a shake up. Flip the spread. Whatever. Upside down time.

Whether you call him *Eddie” or “Nunie” or “EdNu”, one thing is for certain: he’s ours. He’s AAAAAALLLLLLLLLL ours!!!!! He’s very nice insurance for Panik’s head and Duffy’s heel. GEICO couldn’t get you that type of sweet *dome to toe* coverage.

The Nun-erator has blasted 12 dongs this season. He hit 12 dongs in his previous 4 seasons combined. That spike in production reeks of something juicy going on but that’s not for me to determine. He’s also decided to steal the shit out of some bases and regarding that I say, keep on running my man. The bottom line is that this dude has more speed and power (this year) than Panik and Duffy have combined.

Will he be able to play the NL game? Is he gonna pull a “Leake” and puss out now that he’s in a competitive situation? Two very valid questions.

But this is no “Orlando Cabrera” pick up. This dude is at the peak of his career (or his cycle). We should all be excited about this first move by Evans…..

I want the Giants to pick up a deadline guy as much as the next Flapper but when I read tweets like this:

Something seems to have been lost, or ignored, in last night’s “Cain-issance”: his ERA actually ROSE for a third straight game. It now teeters on the edge of 6.00 (5.95). So while it’s nice that we somehow held off the unstoppable machine that is The Reds, as Mr. Wolf once deftly stated, “let’s not start sucking each other’s dicks just yet.”

But whatever, we weathered the Peavy/Cain rain and now we get Mr. Automatic. Mr. “Time for a New Agent. Again.” Nice, hot day today. We’ve seen what the Reds can do when they get the ball in the air. It flies far, far away….

There’s only ONE thing you can hold on to right now that doesn’t feel like total failure and despair. All those wins? All 58 of them….are in the bank. Nobody can touch them. And all the Giants can do is add to them. So we were built to withstand this type of nonsense where other teams who don’t have 58 in the bank would simply be watching their season slip away.

We need our real major league players back and we need some major league players who we we’ve never had yet. Gillaspe, Green, Pena, 40% of our starting rotation and an underwhelming bullpen ain’t gonna get it done.

This is not a bad penny year although I’m starting to wonder if Sabean isn’t keeping that one safely in his back pocket, at the ready.

Ahhhhhh can you feel that? I can. That’s the sweet flow of a gentle marine breeze. Feels good. There are unconfirmed reports that breeze hit the players in the face as soon as they got off the plane and many of them fell to their knees, sobbing. Gratitude.

Hopefully the weather and the travel didn’t take too much out of our guys. The Reds are pretty bad but they’ve got some hitters who can make you pay. I’m still not sold on Peavy but appreciate what he’s doing or trying to do. He’s Cy Young compared to Cain.

Imagine how pissed off we’d be if Evans had signed Lincecum?

Time to get back on the winning beam, one way or another…..

Yesterday will be forever known as The Mac Williamson game. Along with Casilla, he deserves massive credit for killing that losing streak. I found out later that his family was in the stands. Very cool.

We still have Flap representation in New York today. San Dawg and son will be there today. Please take some final pics to bookend this trip…

Smarge vs Eovaldi today. The balls could fly far today….

I didn’t think this trip through the AL world would go very well and so far it’s teetering on the edge of complete failure. If not for the great vibes created from the Flap Nation check ins, we would be enraged. But, seeing the pics of Blade, Chi, Loo, MacDog, GH, San Dawg and sons has kinda dulled the edges of our swords.

Now that the crew is breaking up and wandering back to where they came from, I am starting to get my “slow burn” back on.

This is a HUGE start for Smarge. He’s been average since his dominant start in Tampa. The deck will be stacked against us again today with what will likely be the most underwhelming of line ups. The weather will be decidedly un-AT&Tish. And it’ll still feel like an early start for our boys.

But if Smarge can come out smokin’ I’d feel ok about this game. We’ll see…..

______________________-

So I wrote what I wrote about Smarge and I just read that Cueto is pitching today. Not sure when that happened.

another pic of The Gang. When I look at this pic I start hearing the beginning sound track of Reservoir Dogs in my head….

The Flap takeover of New York seems to be in full effect. There are reports of a ferry being ridden (harbor police might use the word “commandeered”). I’m not sure if Chia Blade made it out of the Bronx safely but I’ll assume they did and there was some “motoring” involved with the exit.

It appears to be hot as fuck in New York today. I hope that doesn’t ruin the experience for the non-New Yorkers.

Bum v Tanakasan tonight. It should noted that we’ve really only been close to winning one game since the break re-start and that was the Casilla balk-implosion. So it is past time for a W. I’m calling for Flap Nation to storm the gates of Yankee Stadium and don’t stop till you get the WIN……

This game is pissing me off…..>>Anyway, the pics out of Yankee stadium are hitting my phone fast and furious. As I’ve said, it’s kind of a pain in the ass for me to post pics. But I have gone out of my way to post this one. Maybe it will give us some luck. From left to right we have San Dawg, Chi, Mr. DJ LOO, and MacDog:

Who could possibly have predicted a game like that? I mean, we had The Horse on the hill. Check. And Brandon Belt got an actual hit. Double check. And somehow, shockingly, a loss.

Either way, that must have been a fun game to watch in person. Win or lose, I can’t even imagine the historic lore stuffed in your face everywhere you turn at Fenway. I had no idea till this series started that the park was basically a downtown park.

But that’s it for Boston. Oh(!) and 2. Oh(!) and 5 since the break re-start. Things are starting to feel a little awkward around here. Though not as awkward as that air kiss Trump tried to manfully plant on Pence last night. What was up with that?

Here’s the pic Bum’s…..wife took of Chi and Bum. Not sure how this is going to format, doing it from my phone….

I haven’t worried about the offense a single time this season but the raw erosion of our position players has finally started to set off wailing alarms at Flavor Industries. Belt has sunk back into one of his “can’t hit the fattest of pitches” modes. He’s 0-16 since the re-start. And I’m sorry, but when your line up ends “Parker…Gillaspe…Williamson…..Pena” and the mid-game replacements are Green and Blanco…..that is a spring training line up, at best. And I don’t know what Green was doing out there. It’s like he was on the field just for the jokes. They should have cued up the Benny Hill theme song every time he got some screen time…..

Speaking for everyone when I say we are LOVING all these east coast Flap updates. Keep ’em coming. I’m not going to post pics because a lot of them are coming in but I will at some point. Let me see if I have this straight: Chi and Blade are staying together (TWO (2!) separate beds!!!!) in Boston. They met up with GiantHead (and son) for a pre-game beer (epic synopsis of the trip on last thread, GH). San Dawg is in NY with his son wandering around a park and staying at the YMCA (please take a pic of that room). UncaChuck didn’t go because of a shady contractor and is posting (sloppily) from BART. Chi, Blade and San Dawg (and son) plan on meeting up with MacDog, Pawlie and Loo and some point during the NY series.

Do I have all that straight? Correct me in the comment section if I missed someone….

Having some trouble with my internet today, so I am just popping up a quickie. So far today, Chi has sent me a pic of him and MadBum (he ran into him somewhere) and Blade sent me a pic of him, Chi and GiantHead.

Very cool to see the Flapalooza migrate east……

Another day, another loss to the Padres. Seems about right. With that mindset, I’m actually surprised Edwina didn’t notch her second career no hitter yesterday.

The bottom line is that every good team has weekends like this. And the even “bottomer” line is that we need our guys back. This Tejada/Pena/Green/Gillaspie thing has gone on long enough and no team could keep an offense/defense going with all these random dudes. And that has nothing to do with Casilla and all the problems he brings to the team.

Now we get to go play the American League game and I don’t have a lot of confidence in this trip.

“It shows the manager didn’t have faith in me.”

“Don’t just take the ball and say nothing.”

“If you’re going to take the ball, at least talk to me. Tell me the reason…”

—all quotes from Santiago Casilla after his meltdown on the mound back in May. The “Get back here now you can go” game. And how absurd do those comments look now?

Tell you the reason? Ah yes, THE REASON. Here’s a hat. Stick your shaky-ass hand in there and pull something out. For years he got away with that *finger in the light socket* look on the mound. Seriously, I don’t know how he doesn’t get called for a balk every pitch. He’s the twitchiest motherfucker I’ve ever seen on the mound. He clasps the ball to the glove like he’s holding snakes. But he got away with it by having some pretty sick stuff and an ability to throw strikes when he absolutely needed to. Now at age 35, a light shadow has cast itself on the shine of his stuff. And that’s really all that needed to happen for everything else to fall apart for him. I don’t really follow closers on other teams but I can’t imagine there’s a more “Uh oh, here go again” look on anyone quite like Casilla.

At this point, there’s not much else that can be done to save him. He’s slipped into Armando Benitez territory. And I have to hope to God that Bochy believes this too. Romo will likely get the ball since he’s come back throwing so well. After that, it will be a trade. The Giants brass can’t screw this up. The team is right where it needs to be. This is no “bad penny” year.

Sabean and Evans are going to have to bite the bullet and pay up……

Blah game. But you know what is astounding? I guess I already knew this, but the number of Giants fans down here is just a non stop parade. They’re everywhere. I didn’t go to the game but I’ve got to think we took over that stadium again.

Ok, one more day in this paradise and then it’s back to Land of Ugly Women. I know I shouldn’t say that about NorCal but I have never, in my life, seen a hotter collection of women in one place. And they are EVERYWHERE. Wandering around in the street at night dressed like they’re going to the party of the year. And no, these aren’t hookers. This is just how it is down here……

Baseball FINALLY starting again and of course I am missing it. I’m flying down to Del Mar today for one of the greatest and best days, each year, in American sports history: Opening Day, Del Mar. If I was a little younger and a little better at planning trips, I would hit the Giants game, too. Alas, I am neither of those things. Honestly, I am nearly as excited to see San Dawg and his damn van than I am for Opening Day. Will tweet out many pics, follow me @1flapdown77 if you’re interested in seeing the day.

Later.

All work and no play makes Flavor a dull boy. All work and no play makes Flavor a dull boy. All work and no play makes Flavor a dull boy. All work and no play makes Flavor a dull boy. All work and no play makes Flavor a dull boy. All work and no play makes Flavor a dull boy. All work and no play makes Flavor a dull boy. All work and no play makes Flavor a dull boy. All work and no play makes Flavor a dull boy. All work and no play makes Flavor a dull boy. All work and no play makes Flavor a dull boy.

Huh? What? Oh, sorry, must have dozed off there for a sec. I really count on having baseball around for the Summer. It’s always there in the background. They talk about it constantly on KNBR, the only radio station I ever listen to. I spend at least 3 hours of my free time each day on building DFS line ups. And of course the near-daily actual Giants game that gets played.

So on this, the 4th day of no real baseball, I am running on fumes. Need something that’s not a HR Derby HR or a bunch of guys running around in phony, ugly looking uni’s or an ESPY…..

It’s days like today where you appreciate baseball being there every day in the Summer. Anyway, just popping up a new thread.

Did any of you catch that post HR Derby interview with Stanton? Near the end they asked him about the Marlins and he seemed kinda caught off guard and he wheeled out a bunch of cliches about staying focused, playing hard, etc…. I thought, “that’s a guy that doesn’t understand what it takes to win it all.” He seemed much more comfortable talking about himself and his awesome power and Derby victory. If I’m a Marlins fan I wouldn’t count on this dude to lead them to a WS ring…..

And you know what? I bet a lot of pro athlete studs are like that. They are constantly focused on their individual brand and raw numbers that they can parlay into a big contract but when it’s time to come together as a team and actually WIN SOMETHING they fall short. Cam Newton is a good example. I wonder, and I’m just basing this off that single interview that I watched, if Stanton isn’t a little like Cam Newton. And I seriously doubt if he has a “Hunter Pence” speech in him….

All Star Game today? Who you got? lulz.

I am in Del Mar this Friday and I have convinced San Dawg into coming with me and driving us to Opening Day in the greatest of style in his famous van that has a hole drilled into the side of the speedometer. For those of you who’ve never been, Opening Day at DM is where all the stars and beautiful people show up dressed to the nines and ready to shine. So I’m looking forward to the heads that will turn as we arrive in the awesomeness of that van. And I will exit our chariot locking eyes with and ferociously knowing dude head nodding anyone that dares to non-verbally question our preferred mode of transpo.

Home Run Derby Day!

Eh, not the most exciting group of guys. But it is what it is and once I turn this thing on I usually watch till conclusion. Helps a lot to have something riding on it. So let’s take a look at the contenders:

Stanton: 3-1

Dumbo: 3.75-1

Frazier: 5-1

Duvall and Will Myers: 6.5-1

CarGo: 8-1

Cano and Seager: 9-1

This line up has 2 former winners (Cano (2011) and Frazier who is also the defending champ).

Handicapping it: Let’s start by accepting the absolute fact that mlb uses juiced balls for this event. They don’t admit to it but only an idiot could believe these dudes are hitting 475+ hr’s over and over off slow batting practice pitches. So while Petco isn’t the easiest place to hit home runs, the dimensions of the park won’t come into play with all those juiced balls being launched to the moon.

Stanton is the obvious favorite and he could get in a groove I guess. But so could any of these guys. Not only is he the favorite to win I also think he’s the favorite to injure himself mid-contest. Guys who’s hammy’s are strung tighter than a Gibson Les Paul are not guys I’d put my money on. So he’s out.

Trumbo: a worthy second favorite. He just doesn’t do anything for me so I can’t bet on him.

Frazier: defending champ probably got on his winning roll last year with the hometown backing of the crowd. He doesn’t have that this year so I’m betting against a repeat.

Adam Duvall: Who had Duvall making this contest last year before we traded him for Leake? Anyone? Bueller? I really want him to win and I have to believe he’s a batting practice hero who finally figured out how to hit the bendy shit. My guess is that the pressure of being the no-name will be his downfall. If he doesn’t get hot right away he might panic and be like, “I’m Adam Duvall, how the fuck am I here?” I might put a few bucks on him as my second choice. First sentimental choice for sure.

Wil Myers: Everyone is calling him “this year’s Frazier” and I guess it’s possible. But San Diego doesn’t strike me as the same kind of town as Cincy and while Myers could win (just like any of them) I don’t think the crowd will factor in the way it did last year with Frazier……

CarGo: Eh, if you can get the non-Sherpa factor out of your mind you could probably talk yourself into backing CarGo. I’m not there yet. Yet.

Robby Cano: If he wasn’t 33 I’d bet on this former champion. But this is a game of stamina as much as it is a game of brute power and skill. I just don’t think he’ll be able to keep going with these younger guys long enough to last to the end.

Cory Seager: this year’s Joc Pederson. Pederson was actually the favorite last year so I’m a little surprised that Seager’s the longest shot on the board this year. This guy is super talented, and I have to assume he’s in good enough shape to stay the course in this thing. And 9-1 looks very good.

I will head down to the casino later today to check the odds (the ones listed are just Bovada’s) but right now I could see myself putting $50 on Seager and maybe $10 on Duvall as a sentimental cover bet.

What would your bets be (with the same amount I am using?)

So, as you know I am in Reno. No poker today, it’s my buddy’s daughter’s 16th bday so we are doing a big bbq lunch thing. Only problem was…..propane tank doinked out on us. Dave said he’d just run down the hill to fill it. I asked if he wanted me to go just to be nice. Of course he said “no.” Now I’m bummed I didn’t go. Look who he ran into at the store. They had a good laugh about the woman who had her beers/food blown up by that ball……

Kruk told Dave they howled about it in the booth for another full inning and that they couldn’t stop watching it. Said they gave her a ball and coupons for food.

If THIS is the best team in baseball, I feel sorry for what fans of other teams have to root for. Seriously, I like our team, said the other day I wouldn’t trade it for anyone in the NL except maybe the Cubs. But when Grant Green and Booby Tejada are driving in your runs it’s time to consider that the team record might be a lil’ over inflated. Just saying.

Sunday night baseball tonight.

Peavy pitching and he continues to surprise us all. I’m posting today’s thread from inside a poker room. All the exit signs have been taken down.

But there is no goddamn WAY I leave the Flap hangin’ on a thread…..

Still working my way back to CA. El Dorado Poker Room keeping that from happening. Hopefully we get the good Smarge tonight. Best VMI (for hitters) tonight is the Angels. Interesting…..

That is all.

Long drive ahead.

Another benefit to being in Sun Valley in a log cabin next to a river: no cell service, limited internet and no tv. So I wasn’t able to watch that bullshit from last night or receive any angry texts. The box score looks grim. And I’m going to post this now in case I lose my internet again.

Truly not understanding all the vitriol across the internet about Durant signing with the Warriors. This man gave 8 years of his career to Oklahoma and on the day he decides to exercise his independence (on July 4th no less) he gets beaten down and destroyed for doing so.

Why should Durant have to stay in Oklahoma? I wouldn’t want to work there. He’s earned the right to go wherever he wants. And what’s wrong with joining the most unselfish team in the league that plays a brand of team ball that ANYONE would want to be a part of?

So what if he’s joining a good team? Are you only allowed to exercise your free agent rights if you join a bad team? The Warriors didn’t win it all last year. If Durant takes them over the top, so be it. The goal is to put together the best team and try to win it all.

What am I missing here?

I’m glad I didn’t have to watch that ending. I read somewhere that the bomb Strick-ny9 gave up was his first to a RH since last August. I don’t think you guys should be so quick to bury him. He’s one of the best relievers we have…..

Ahhhhhh, did my part in cleaning out the ElDo sportsbook with only the Rockies failing me. This morning while running several winning parlays through the machine, the teller coyly smiled and said “you did all these with me!!!” I gave her a weird look having never seen this woman before. But it turns out I had seen her, she was the teller from the day before when I made the bets. Had she had a better rack I bet I would have remembered her…..

Now it’s off to Cactus Pete’s where we will stay the night before a short drive to the July 4th parade in Hailey, Idaho. If you guys want old fashioned Summer Independence day fun, that is the place to be. I’m thankful my 13 year old still gets jazzed about this kind of stuff….

Later.

If Parker could just, you know, make contact with the ball, I would love him. Anyone with the power to send a ball THAT far oppo is a beast in waiting. But there will always be that darned contact issue with him……

I wouldn’t bet on the Giants game tonight with YOUR money. Who knows what Smarge is going to do? I’d lean towards AZ and at +128 if I was forced to bet the game.

Other dawgs I like:

Reds at +196

Colorado at +160

Pitt at +148

and for the hell of it I’m taking the Mets at +148 because these are the type of games when “Two Slices” steps up and spins a gem.

And while not quite a dawg, I think the Padres handle the Yanks tonight.

So there ya go, pin those 6 teams together for $50 and watch $2000 roll back your way…..It would actually be more than that since 5 of them are dawgs but I can’t do that math in my head…..

Another sound betting strategy would just be to bet each game individually and take the opposite of who I’m taking. You’ll like win 4 or 5 and make money on the day. Hey now. 🙂

We are floating down the damn river in tubes today and playing poker all night.

Whatever you all are doing today, do it well and make it so……

With one swing from a mighty man, a series worth of frustration was washed away. What if Burns catches that ball? Eh, never mind. Let’s just revel in the glory of a win against a very average team.

Now we travel to Arizona for a match with the dude who’s first name is a girl. With the best VMI on the board this evening I expect us to smack him around.

I’m beginning my Summer foray to Sun Valley today so I will be around and will change the threads but it might be a little sporadic till I get there. With the El Dorado poker room in between here and there, it could be a while……