I Can’t Watch Santiago Casilla Pitch Anymore
“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……
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
Baggs says Casilla was 9 for his last 9 in save opps since June 1. Fair enough. But Baggs leaves out the shitshow vs. the A’s when Casilla entered with the Giants down 1 and left with the Giants down 4. And he leaves out the first appearance after the June 1 blown save vs. the mighty Braves, when Casilla gave up 2 in the top of the 10th to the Red Sox to lose that one. Bochy has already said something about rust after a week without pitching. That’s bullshit. Six other relievers have come in over the last two games off the break and done just fine. Only Casilla appears to be the rusty one. And if it’s so obvious that’s he’s rusty, then he should’ve been yanked when he let the catcher of all people — the winning run — trot to second without even a throw. This can’t go on.
Great posts, BF and Mac.
Serious question. Has there ever been a Sunday Red Sox-Yankees game that wasn’t the ESPN Sunday night game of the week?
That would be unheard of, of course.
Nothing is more fun than a 9 inning AL game that takes 4 hours.
It’s a great rivalry but the lengths with which MLB and ESPN go to show every game is ridiculous This year’s Bonus Baby, of course, is the Chicago Cubs, whom about 4 sports channels simply cannot get enough of. Never mind that the S.F Giants were easily the best team in the first half and had the best record at the break, those Cubbies are pure gold, I tell ya, gold! They are this year’s New York Yankees.
Mickelson played pretty damn good today, but Stenson was just unstoppable, right to the end. Tremendous finish and well-deserved win for the Swede.
I agree with you BF and Mac, some change needs to happen and Romo is the obvious choice for now. Regarding Pence’s setback, I really hope they aren’t pushing to get back to soon, like they did the last time when he blew it up again. To make the same mistake twice would be unbelievable.
If you all haven’t seen “Concussion” it’s definitely worth a look-see and very revealing. Will Smith is so good in it that I stopped seeing him on the screen and saw only Dr. Bennet Omalu. The NFL was complicit in some pretty heinous acts.
Germans have a saying: “Zu viel is zu viel”. Too much is too much. Without consulting the rest of the Flapiverse regulars i’m willing to bet that something in the order of 90% of Flappers would agree that we have had too much Casilla. Same is likely true with the steadier posters on Giants Extra. So my take is that the more fanatical of Giants fans have had it with Casilla. A closer should bring home, let’s say, 90% (that figure again) of his save opportunities.
So it comes down to the ever loyal Bochy and the boyz in the Front Office. Have they had it too? In public they would never admit to that as it would among other things, have a deleterious effect on trading prospects. Two weeks remain in the primary trade season. Will we get it done?
Stenson is a cool dude. I followed him around Harding Park one Sunday 12 or so years ago. Super cool and interactive with the crowd. That was an unreal performance.
Casilla is 35 years old?? No wonder the wheels have fallen off. Damn any time you have a 35+ closer you better have a Plan B for when this happens, does not appear the Giants had/have a plan B. And if H Strickland was plan B…oh shit moment.
he could easily be older than that. I don’t trust the ages of anyone coming out of DR
Irish Kevin,
That’s what I thought about are Giant’s Outfield in 2006 of Bonds,Alou& Finley all in their “Freakin 40’s that the wheels have fallen off”
How could 3 guys in walkers be able to chase down a fly ball??
That’s for sure BF.
Missed the game yesterday, probably a good thing not knowing how Casilla blew another one. Just know he blows & we will need to make a move soon ! Work your magic wand Sabes&Evans ,and make it so!!!
Most Valuable MLB Franchises . . .
5. Chicago Cubs
Current Team Value: $2.2 billion
Revenue 2015: $340 million
Operating Income 2015: $51 million
The Cubs made the postseason for the first time since 2008 after five straight fifth place finishes in the NL Central and ace Jake Arrieta won the Cy Young Award and third baseman Kris Bryant captured Rookie of the Year.
4. San Francisco Giants
Current Team Value: $2.25 billion
Revenue 2015: $409 million
Operating Income 2015: $73 million
The Giants have won three of the past six World Series and have sold out AT&T Park each of the past four seasons.
3. Boston Red Sox
Current Team Value: $2.3 billion
Revenue 2015: $398 million
Operating Income 2015: $43 million
The Red Sox have paid a total of $325 million into the revenue sharing pool over the last four seasons, second most behind only the Yankees.
2. Los Angeles Dodgers
Current Team Value: $2.5 billion
Revenue 2015: $438 million
Operating Loss 2015: $73 million
The Dodgers became the first baseball team with a payroll of more than $300 million in 2015, of which $95 million went to players that did not play for the Dodgers during the season.
1. New York Yankees
Current Team Value: $3.4 billion
Revenue 2015: $516 million
Operating Income 2015: $13 million
Attendance in the Bronx fell 5.5% last year to 3.2 million during the first season without Derek Jeter in two decades, but at 3.2 million the gate was still good enough to lead the American League.
Still don’t think a “move” is coming. Grant Bisbee from mcchron posted something I thought about yesterday when Strick came in. The numbers mostly look great on surface–only 2 HRs given up with 30+ innings, good K to BB ratio, RHs only hitting low .200s.
But we see him and every once in a while he’s one dimensional and when he leaves that fastball up it gets hit no matter how hard he throws it.
Bottom line, lot of guys look good on paper, but are less than advertised once they are on mound in late innings.
Getting Andrew Miller seems out of ?; one of the Pirates guys might be more doable if they fade more.
Getting better than what Giants have, i’m not so sure. And they have Gearrin Romo Law Lopez Kontos Suarez Osich and Strick, beside senor meltdown.
Casilla may be 35ish, but seems to me his stuff is still decent. A caller into Marty Lurie this morning made a good point, Casilla’s WHIP over the last years has been around 1.20, and that is no bueno for a closer. Casilla just seems like mentally the guy goes over the edge at the slightest hint of trouble. Closers have to be mentally strong, you can’t let a blown strike call tank your mind where everything after just falls apart. The thing about Romo as closer again, at least for a while,is that he has been crap against LH batters. The closer can’t be crap against opposite side hitters, he has to be able to get anybody out…
Good points,
Well, if that’s the criteria, I certainly don’t want Huston Frickin’ Street . . . 1.92 WHIP, .329 BA allowed, and 5.09 ERA.
You’ll warm up to him, Blade…
lulz
That’s a horrendous WHIP, he must be saving like the Beard used to — put 2 or 3 guys on, then get it done…
Before Sabes signs Street, I want a try out.
John Shea @JohnSheaHey 1m1 minute ago
Matt Duffy going to Arizona today to resume his rehab. He will try running Tuesday. This is a slow process.
Has anyone diagnosed exactly what is up with this dude’s calf?
I thought it was his foot? Plantar fasciitis or something like that
Not Achilles???
I thought it was his achilles…
It’s his Achilles. What “it” is, I haven’t read, but a strain of some sort apparently. The thing is, if you pop that, you’re done for a long long time. So, they rightly want to make sure that has healed from whatever ails it. Meanwhile, I’m not sure the Giants miss him that much. He’s got the good glove, but on the road, his hitting was disastrous so far this year. The platoon subbing for him has done more than OK in my opinion, with some defensive hiccups. Gillaspie has a fairly stone glove, but he’s gotten his hitting stroke a bit — still, the guy may be the slowest running SOB on the team, just a bit faster than Bochy. Sheezus, a guy that slow certainly doesn’t benefit from many infield hits…
The thing about Casilla is that his saves seemingly are always on a tightrope. Few saves that are dominating. I’d like to know the stats on his first batter success in save situations; seems he often lets the first batter get on, which is no bueno at all for a closer. Plus, like BF says, he just looks like he’s uncomfortable out there, like he’s ready to come unhinged. The Beard usually had long ass saves, but at least he looked like he had it all under control, even if things were not…
I was sound asleep by the 6th, only to stir slightly conscious to hear Posey’s homer. OK game over, TV goes off. Then I wake up and got an email from a friend saying he can’t believe we lost the game…whaaaaattttt? Watching the bottom of the inning on DVR was pure agony….and this is the difference between these Giants and what they rolled out starting in 2010 after the Giants traded for Javier Lopez and Ramirez. That bullpen in 2010 in the second half was unhittable. I think their combined ERA for that Sept was around .50.
The Yanks are not settling for Duffy and Strickland for Andrew Miller. Why would the Yanks want Duffy anyway? He is not thought of as a furure superstar. And everyone in baseball has seen Strickland and know he has no second pitch and is not closing anywhere not any time soon. I don’t see the Pirates parting with Watson. Street is probably the realistic option. Casilla is done for. How about Street and this outfielder the Angels have named Mike Trout???? What 12 players do you want Anaheim???? I’ll go ahead and put Arroyo on the table:)
Where’s a Rod Beck when we need him???
“Street is probably the realistic option.”
You’re losing all credibility with me GH. With Loo, I know he is probably pulling our collective legs half the time. However I digress, please tell me why Huston Street is the answer????
Realistic in the sense it would not take much to get him…that is as far as I think mgmt is going to get another closer…
GH, I think it would take one of our top pitching prospects in addition to Duffy and Strickland to land Miller. Again this only makes sense if the Yanks value Duffy as much as some here do.
Don’t think the Yanks or anyone does re Duffy, especially if it is an Achilles injury that if pops he is f’d for a while…
By the by, he has 2 blown saves in half the innings Casilla has thrown and his K/9 rate is a putrid 5.9 . . . Mull these stats, along with the earlier ones I provided as you formulate a response. lulz
he’s been hurting all year. Casilla doesn’t have the same excuse.
Blade, I am not saying Street makes us a world series champ, I think that is the type of arm mgmt would go after because we just dont have the talent to land Miller or Chapman or Watson. We will get a pedestrian type of arm like what Street can offer…
“I think I did everything right, and my mechanics were fine,” said Casilla through interpreter Erwin Higueros.
Either Erwin is the worst interpreter of all time or Casilla is losing touch with reality….
The balk and that language reminds eerily of blown-save machine “I did my job” Armando…
Sad thing is the hit that drove in the first run from Rosales was just an easy out with IF at normal depth. 3 singles and a gift balk when he fell or caught a spike. Before that relievers had pitched out of similar situation.
But just the way it went down seems worse than a 400 ft bomb.
And I’m sure what Casilla said and how it came out in English are 2 different things. Every language has its idioms and connotations that are more pointed than literal translation.
Every Spanish speaking jockey I have ever spoken to or seen interviewed pronounces the word “horse” as “whores” in English.
Sometimes it’s very funny…
The whores were running berry berry bast…
You know it, GH…
speaking of losing touch with reality……
http://www.latimes.com/sports/angels/la-sp-angels-report-20160716-snap-story.html
I’d actually take Street. Not to close. But just as an experienced BP arm. We could use that down there and it’s not like he can be any worse. In fact, I agree with some of what he says in that article and do think he’ll be better this year.
I was about to link that story. The thing that concerns is he had that oblique problem for 5 weeks in April/May and came back too soon. If you get him, but not to close, somebody in Pen with options has to go to Sac, I don’t know who that is. Other than Casilloss, the Pen last night did a fine job. And, is Casilla still closing with Street in the Pen?…
I also think some guys are NL arms and they have more familiarity with NL; i.e. Johnny Cueto. I am ready to yank Casilla and wouldn’t have a problem of they brought in Street to gauge how he performs in that role…
Analyzing guys in Pens based on their stats, to me, is almost total BS. They have such short IP stints, one bad inning can blow their stats for a season. Or, they can get hammered and let in the previous pitchers runners, none of their own, and have a stellar ERA, but be continually pitching like crap. Even saves can be misleading — if he’s on a high scoring team, a lot of saves can come from going into the 9th with a 3-run lead, so he can pitch like crap and still rack up saves. It’s not an EZ deal without seeing them pitch. You gambling dudes that are stats geeks, what’s the best stat for a Pen guy to really understand how he’s doing?…
bullpen guys aren’t a part of daily fantasy. I don’t know who half of them even are and have no idea how to analyze them except on K/BB rate. But I totally agree with you about the small sample of innings.
Yeah, K/BB is helpful. And, HRs given up. The other stats seem subject to small sample size problems…
Cain is gonna pitch in Fenway? That sounds like a positively horrible idea.
The doubles off the Green Monster record could be in danger…
I will be wearing my Cain jersey!!! Of course we are going to the Tuesday game only…drinks with Chi at 1 pm:)
I didn’t like what Bochy did with the rotation coming out of the break.
There were many ways he could’ve gone that would’ve given a badly needed break to the top two.
I would’ve went Smudj – Peavy – Bum in SD. Cueto- Smudj in Boston.
Keeps everyone in order. Doesn’t matter now…
So Parker is getting the jerk-around treatment. Tough to succeed that way.
Melancon just blew the save in Washington…
Crap lineup today supporting Cueto. Pre-game, Bochy says Cueto’s been ill with virus, has been on IVs, but will give it a go…
After Cueto’s Allstar performance I became ill as well Snarkk…
I don’t like guys who say a prayer and kiss their cross necklace before every at bat. Seems like an awful lot of opportunities for God to let you down. I’d save that prayer shit for the big at bats with the game on the line, not every single time you head to the plate…..
Separation of church and AB…
The prayer Flav may be “Please Lord don’t let me take a fastball to the forehead!”
So perspective, that prayer may be working for them 100% of the time…
this chick bugs the fuck out of me. So many things bother me, but I would settle for her to stop saying “O-M-G” all the time.
OMG is she fuckin’ annoying. I had to stop it half way through.
And Hunter is not blameless, either.
Why do people put their personal lives out there like this?
not sure if there’s any correlation, but Hunter has been getting hurt all the time ever since he started vlogging with this chick…..
I lasted about 10 seconds of it. Total, useless crap. Waste of digital memory on some server…
Is that recent? I noticed they were in Houston. She was talking about Blacksmith, which is a hipster cafe near downtown.
Pence had his surgery in Dallas, I believe. Cowboys surgeon did the hamstring job. I think Pence still keeps a condo or something in Houston. He may do that for tax reasons, there’s no income tax in TX…
He does still own a condo downtown. He also opened up a youth baseball academy here as well. I just thought it was odd that they would be here during his rehab stint. Though it could have been during the all star break when everyone is off.
Street seems like pen equivalent of Hudson to me. Old guy without the same stuff but who has good idea how he wants to get hitters out…which obviously doesn’t always work. As evidenced by what has already happened to him, he’s eminently hittable.
The giants had full set of days off btw Bum starts—last Sunday when he dominated, to Friday when he didn’t.
Cueto did get another day and Smardz Peavy are on normal sched anyway, right? I don’t see any of them as being overworked and in need of extra days, yet.
Boston OK, see what happens. But the Yanks suck. They’d be 12 back of the Giants if they were in NL West, and most of their hitters don’t scare anyone anymore. All the Giants LHs are gonna be glad to see RF, Posey too.
I just don’t want to overreact to losing a game or three. If the Giants win 95 this year that means they are going to lose another 30 games–that will feature some combo of crummy pitching, POS offense, poor numbers with RISP, baserunning meltdowns, errors, yada yada. Long season, hard game to play well, lotta failure.
Every team in the league would be lighting Edwina up today. We’re getting no hit. Time to get the fuck out of San Diego.
This lineup Bochy is fielding is as threatening as a feather duster. Belt was on track before the break, he’s been off track since coming back. Williamson and Parker should be playing in the OF, they can hit the ball out of the park…
This new Pence tweak also probably shows we do need another bat as well…I would be happy with Jay Bruce at this point and they do have recent positive trade relationship with the Reds after they landed Duvall from us. The chance of landing Reddick is probably nil with that non-existent Sabean-Beame relationship.
I would not be shocked to see the Giants pursue Reddick as a free agent…
Kuiper is right. If that’s not reviewable, throw the whole system out.
That’s about 3rd or 4th time this inning Cueto has walked off mound and grabbed rosin bag.
What is benefit to rosin bag? What does it do for a pitcher?
I think it dries out your hands and helps you get a better grip on the ball.
Jackson hit 97 on that last fastball to Posey. I’m surprised he can still run it up there like that.
Helps the grip, especially if warm day and hands sweating. Plus, if you’re getting winded or things or going off rails, a rosin bag moment may help gather the mind…
I may try it for jerking off…
Uh, could be a chafing risk…
silver lining to SD suckitude: Robbie Ray shutting out Dodgers through 7 5-0 as they lit up Maeda after beating them in extras last night and pinning blown save on Jansen. When I looked at game tracker I think in 14th or 15th, DBacks had 2 walks and 15 Ks.
The pitchers can’t use pine tar, but they can use resin, which is made from…..pine trees. So go figure.
Is there a difference between rosin and resin?
“o” and “e”…
We’re about to get swept by a crappy Padre team. If only we had some reserve outfielders with homerun power.
Yeah, that would be awesome…
Enter bullpen.
And, I thought Sabes was the expert dumpster diver…
Kontos is lucky that pitch wasn’t hit 800 feet…
Anyone have a plausible theory why the Giants regularly go belly up against these AAA wet-behind-the-ears or the emergency washed up scrub starters — that teams bring up against them? The rest of the league tends to beat the crap out of them, but the Giants regularly just go into some kind of catatonic state against these types of hurlers…
It kind of seems like a mental block, at this point.
If I had to win just one game from the giants I’d bring up someone from aa
I have been in and out last few couple of innings…we are being no hot by Edwin Jackson, the retread of all retreads….
Grouch Grenade!!!
That’s great Loo! If he was a chick, they would it call it “resting bitch face.”
That’s one way to break up a no-no!
The Somber Bomber!!!
Gold!
Can we pretend it rhymes?
Poetic license!
Looks like we are about to lose the entire series as Bassbaldy, i think it was, kinda half predicted. Of course it’s not so bad when we consider that we have been facing Gibson, Koufax and Marichal ~ or is it Cy Young, Grover Cleveland Alexander and Christy Mathewson.
Chickens have come home to roost on this patchwork offense. Seems like when Belt is into a BBIP funk the whole batting order sucks shit. Are we gonna have a panic attack before Panik is back? Getting pensive without Pence? Getting our duffs whomped lacking Duffy? Offensively if something could go wrong, it has. Baseball gods must be chortling as the team with the best record in MLB is starting to look like chumps rather than champs.
The Incredible Sulk!!!
You’re on fire!
Perhaps i spoke too soon after coming in from a hot, buggy garden pulling weeds and hilling spuds. Can’t tell for sure, but did Gillaspie just make a statement? Gotta switch back to the SFgate coverage.
Dodgers within a run top 9th…
D-Backs traded their closer. Great move.
2 out – tying run at 3rd…
Dodgers lose!
Cool!
yeah almost cost them today. Still they took 2 of 3 from LA.
Belt hasn’t woken up since his All Star trip.
He’s got a better eye than most umpires, but it’s costing him a lot of called strikes.
Time to get more aggressive?
Puig K’d with one out – tying run on third…
Roberts had getaway day LU too–Van Slyke at 1b, Puig in CF, some kid named Chris Taylor (who K’d for final out) at 2b, another new OF too.
Taylor hit a grand slam a couple of games ago.
Just reading the title to this thread, I am with you. I went through that with him about a month ago (as I believe most of us did)!
Need to get a win here before heading East. I am packing between half-innings…excited about the trip East and meeting up for a Flapalooza!
I just responded to your email, Loo.
Nice to hear that Zona held-on to beat the bumbinos.
10 fastballs in a row to get Kemp.
LOL this bullpen.
0-2 gopher ball. Strick is making me sick.
I heard the HR call for Diego, but didn’t know who had replaced Cueto. I figured it was likely Strickland given the HR. Yep. On an 0-2? The guy has to be a mental midget to keep doing the same shit. I’ve got no other explanation…
And it had hit me all over it. Heard a good piece on KNBR this morn (Bruce Jenkins, I believe) and he said the same thing we all have said in like, forever…Strick has to develop an off-speed pitch that he can throw for a strike. Otherwise, not sure how long you can keep doing the same old shit (hit me fastball).
Make it through all of 4 seconds of Pmce’s video preen-fest. He’s losing me in a big way. The first couple were cute.the last 75 were vomit inducing. How about you play some baseball, skippy?
This chick has him whipped…
. . . And there’s your Giants replay.
Nice Osich!
Span sucks. I am with Zumiee…that deal is looking worse all the damned time. Hope he proves me wrong…
Well, what a pathetic fucking effort in Dago. Jeez, wash that shit off before you get on the plane to Boston.
Bummie Smarj and Johnny C go 0-3 To start the 2nd half. Looks like we saved the swoon till after the ASG. Peavy and or Cainer as stoppers?
Not feeling very confident all of a sudden. Osich was good though. He could very well be on the fast track as closer. Strick hasn’t gotten a new pitch to keep batters off balance. As it is they sit dead red and he accommodates. Romo has to prove more against lefties before he’s closer again.
Maybe prefer them to tidal waves and earthquakes, but deerflies (also known as deltawing demons and simply “goddamns” ~even from religious types when they chaw down); were out in full force this evening as i did a tank of gas with my 22″ Huskvarna mower over sections of the 3 acres or so that get cut around here. Up and down hills and watch out for trees, shrubs, milkweed plants, alfalfa plants and rock-edged gardens. They really like attacking when both hands are occupied.
Though the back of my head and the arms have plenty of welts, i know i killed a dozen or so in the process. This is peak season for the demonic parasitical predators ~ always out for blood. Bites from the ladies of the evening are mere pinpricks by comparison. Had a number of them as well, though they are not so avid as the goddamns when you present a fairly quick moving targets. The deltawinged demons like to keep buzzing around your head and then dive bomb.
Three Giants losses in a row seem like small potatoes compared with not being bold enough to go out and get something more done before dark. Just flipped a fly-corpse off the sleeve of my ca 1980 teeshirt with the slogan “Support Wildlife, drink Wild Turkey. Cost a quarter at a garage sale about 30 years ago and seem to wear it as a workshirt once every summer. Good amortization but not much protection from those flying menaces. Thankfully by the end of the month they will be pretty much gone. Hope.
Stix, I remember when I lived in upstate NY back in the mid 70’s the ‘God damns’ were brutal! I would go swimming in a river and they would love to bite me in the part in my hair when I surfaced. It fucking hurt! Also, Copperheads were prevalent near the river banks.
Bass: Yeah, they delight in those headshots. Glad you survived it. No poisonous snakes in the northwoods of Minnesota, though. St. Patrick must have gotten here even before the Norwegians.
We need Street!
Can he hit crappy, washed up starters?…
Cheese & Crackers!! Followed the game on my phone while at MBS (My Beloved Saguaros) game. Golly gee .. What a surprise! Almost no hit by EdWIN Whatshisname … The two hits we did get supplied by third stringers (thinking if Specs, Panik, Duffy, et al weren’t injured these current guys would have never seen the light at the end of the tunnel to the Giants big league playing field).
Stix nailed it when he predicted the coming “correction” awhile back (thinking it was around the time we were tanking with the A’s). And a nod to GHead’s astute “I feel a slide coming” recent post.
It seems obvious to me how much the incredible pitching of Bum & JC Superstar have meant to this team. When those guys are scuffling like the these last two starts, we got nothin .. And I mean NO THING!
Good News: we are still the winningest team in MLB … I’m gonna savor saying that … Got a distinct feeling I’m not gonna be saying it much longer.
Pecos League Report: Tuscson Saguaros 11 Alpine Texas Cowboys 5
Saw the weirdest fucking thing EVER in a baseball game (in person, tv, or whatever).
A come-backer hits off the front of the mound goes up the pitchers leg, travels up the entire length of his body and rockets straight up so high I could not track it because of the overhang of the stadium roof ..
(I’m seated just to the left of home plate in the last row of the grandstand — because there are windows there and always a nice breeze blowing … It can get hotter than Hades here.) …
The ball comes roaring straight down and narrowly misses hitting the pitcher in the face … In field hit.
I tell ya, I’ve rarely seen a ball go straight up like THAT! … off a bat, sometimes but off the mound and off the guy’s body? Never! It was weird and wonderful to behold … I would have loved to have seen a replay.
It happened so fast I’m guessing a bit on the fact it traveled up his body … It seemed like it did but it was too quick for me to be sure.
Other Good News from Pecos L … The first place Saguaros will play at least one playoff match at Warren Ballpark! Bonus! Yay! Today’s game was the penultimate of the season’s Bisbee schedule.
This roadie is looking rough.
Cain at Boston looks like a possible blow out. You Flappers going to Beantown need to bring some good mojo…
I am not tripping on this bump in the road. The fact that they have the best record and have done it with a bunch of rookie and journeyman fill-ins is still pretty amazing. I am optimistic that they will eventually get healthy. Will be interesting to hear the latest on Pence. Duffy is a ways away…they are not going to push him with that achilles, but Panik is supposed to be back for the YankMee series. On a sour note, Cain is slated to pitch the game that Blade and I will catch in Boston, but we get Bum in the game in NY. And you bet we will try to bring some majic mojo Loo!
I also still think they will go out and get a relief arm sooner rather than later. I know everyone is poo-pooing a potential Miller deal, but you know he is the big fish for which everyone is fishing.
Hang tough Flappers…should be a fun stretch run to the finale of the season.
Baldy, I had a little bit of a similar thing happen to me playing slow-pitch Friday night softball about 20 or so years ago. I was playing catcher, with no mask for some reason. I don’t think any catchers used a mask in that league. You let the ball bounce before you catch it. A batter fouled a ball back in the dirt with all kinds of English on it; it was weaving like a snake. I tried to glove it and missed it, and it traveled up my leg and body and hit my nose. The only time I bled playing in that softball league. My jersey had traces of it for the rest of the season. Not a serious injury, just a minor nose bleed, but I marveled about how the ball, with all that spin, had crawled up my body.
Yep Zum, sounds very much like what I witnessed today … really like an illusion .. oddest thing was not that it went up his body as it did – that certainly was bizarre, for sure – but the height that the ball attained and the fact it went straight up with such incredible velocity … that was downright mystical … and mystifying … it was like the twilight zone … there was a moment of hilarity with pitcher trying to figure out where the ball disappeared to, and fortunately, the play did not end on a tragic note with pitcher being struck full on, full force, in the face when it returned to earth … instead he finally decided to look up after frantically searching his immediate 360 vicinity and it fell at his feet, probably brushing his uniform on its descent. As I said, and cannot find words to accurately describe, the height was stunning … incredible, never saw anything like and probably never will again!
We all knew a “correction” was coming regarding Giants wins and losses, but, still, three losses in SD was an over-the-top correction.
The good news is the Giants only have two more games before Friday, so they’re guaranteed to still be in first place for the East Coast FlapaLOOza at Yankee Stadium.
Hard to do, but Span, if he keeps playing like he’s often watching his cell phone with Pokemon, may have me wishing for the glorious CF days of Rohand. Span is a great argument to bring Greenies legally back to the game. I don’t see much reason why he should be starting over Parker, besides the big contract. Worse arm, way less pop, 100 points LESS in OPS than Parker, not even a much better fielder, if at all…
ZZZ-Span is a great argument to start Blanco. Or Wiliamson. ABZZZZ
He is a better defender though. But I can’t take the noodle bat any more.
Seventeen games into the first half of the 2016 baseball season the SF Giants were swept in a four game series by the lowly Zonas who were in fourth place in the division.
Fifteen games into the second half of the 2016 baseball season the SF Giants were swept in a three game series by the lowly Friars who are in fourth place in the division.
They ended the first half in first place of their division.
Using these two pieces of raw sabermetrical-like data I conclude the SF Giants will be in first place in their division at the end of the second half.
there is no other conclusion. QED
Giants magic number is 64. 6+4=10, 1+0=1 we’re number one, baby!