“We SUCK” Yes we do!!
I’m even gonna blame Kuiper for continual suckitude for changing his color scheme in his house!!
Duane Kuiper hear I just want to give out a shout to Bejamin Moore who helped me pick out a certain shade of “BLUE” for a bedroom…The landslide started with the fucking Dodger color scheme he went with!!!
We play in probably the toughest park for hitters yet have given up the 2nd most home runs in the NL, if not the league.
And we have Matt the glue horse as the stopper. Right. This isn’t 2010. something tells me we are losing 9-6. Because, as you know we only score when we give up more.
Nice essay about the love of baseball gloves, called “Having a Catch.” The most interesting part, to me, is about the woman who has a shop where she repairs baseball gloves. Anyone here ever been to her shop?: http://www.lawrencegrobel.com/2014/12/19/having-a-catch/
Yes, it’s an East coast thing. Pawlie and others have said they call it “having a catch.” It was always “playing catch” on the West coast. I never heard “having a catch” until Pawlie mentioned it.
blade3colorado said, on August 17, 2016 at 9:44 am
Actually, I think Loo said “having a catch.” Regardless, I agree with snarkk for West coast kids – “I’m going to play catch” or “Let’s play catch” or “I’m going out and playing catch mom.”
“I dug out my old Spalding Sam Esposito from the closet and decided to recondition it. On the Internet, I found that my glove was ranked by Vintage Sports Shoppe as a “very rare, top quality made glove.” I also found Fran Fleet, “The Sandal Lady,” who lives in Cotati, California, just north of San Francisco. She has been reconditioning baseball gloves for forty years and has developed a product called Glove Stuff, which she claims is all you need to clean a glove and make it soft again. It combines both cleaner and conditioner. I could have sent away for a bottle, but instead, I thought I’d pay her a visit, as my daughter lived in Santa Rosa, just eight miles from Cotati.”
Shit< I wonder how much it would cost to get my Rawlings Ryne Sandberg glove fixed. My dog chewed the spot where the wrist flap thing attaches to the pinkie side of the glove. She ignroed the glove for 3 years and then decided it was time to ruin it.
Hey boys – I am coming in off the ledge for just a minute to see how things are shaking in Flap Universe.
Seriously, been busy as hell at work (starting to question my sanity in deciding to get back into management), and on many days when I get home, I am pretty wiped-out, and as much as I love you guys, I have just been too whooped to jump on here.
This too shall pass, just as I hope the Giant’s current SUCKTITUDE passes.
You all know that I am definitely one of the “Pollys” on here, but this shit (our team) is WEARING ME OUT! (Doom da Doom Doom…).
I watched up until the final out last night, and as I suspected, we found a way to lose again. I have lost all confidence in this team to rally from being down, or to get that key knock to win a game that is tied, etc.
TRYING to stay positive, but this fucking team is NOT making it easy.
OK…gotta run…
Blade and Charlie (Unca), I bought tickets for the Giants game on Sept. 7th in Sherpaville. Club Level Section 219, Row 6, so we will be a section or two away, Charlie and can meet up for a cold one! Cold one? I need one now! Or a cocktail…make it a double!
blade3colorado said, on August 17, 2016 at 11:48 am
Hope you got that raise you were thinking about asking for Chi!
Thanks, Steve. Email will go out today, and my boss is in town next week. I think I can make a pretty compelling argument. Wish me luck.
Looking forward to seeing you again, and also UncaC in Denver.
blade3colorado said, on August 17, 2016 at 1:05 pm
From the way you described the situation on the bus, he has only one moral choice – to give you the raise. He sounds like he’ll do the right thing, so I think you’ll get it. Good luck!
Thinking I will need a shot of “Novacain” to get thru this game today..
pawliekokonuts said, on August 17, 2016 at 11:19 am
Just before (or was it after) the alert came through on my ‘device’ for the final score, around 1 am, I had an ultra-uber-maxi-Doomer nightmare vision/dream: namely, we have seen the best we are going to see, privileged to Bask Ultimate 3 times, and that from the heights of just before the All-Star Game, when the San Francisco Giants could boast the best record in MLB, it will be a steady decline, inexplicably morose and dark.
That’s a nightmare brother, not a dream. Let’s hope our boys pull out of this and surprise us all, with it all culminating in a parade down Market Street!
Yeah, I had the same thought as Kang’s home run sailed over the centerfield fence last night. That the Giants as currently constructed, will not sniff the promised land any time soon.
If so, so be it. It just seems like this team cannot figure out how to win anymore. Just as every early game seemed to have a new hero, every game these days has a new goat.
Law being the latest. The LOBs, baserunning errors, R Kelly’s eyes wide shut approach to coaching 3rd base, on and on. They get good pitching they lose. They score runs, they lose.
All we had to do was play .450 ball to coast easily to the division title. Instead we are playing .300 ball.
pawliekokonuts said, on August 17, 2016 at 12:13 pm
Freaky because we had those 31-game or whatever stretches that were the best since 1954. But everyone knew this team was not the best in SF history. That was a given.
i forgot about that. That’s right! This year we had a stretch that was better than any since ’54. Can’t remember the total games, I think 31 is about right. Wow, shows you how meaningless that was.
Law, to his defense, had not given up an earned run since June. He gets a pass in my book. Casilla? That is another story. And Kontos needs to come up with some mystery ailment when Gearrin is ready to come back.
And I still say when Mac is ready to come back, Blanco needs to be DFA’d. I am done with him.
Cotati/Rohnert Park is where Sonoma state college is, back in the 60’s/70’s quite the hippie hang out. Little hole in the wall bars, Doobie Broethers, Santana all the Bay Area bands played there when they first started out, okay not all, but quite a few.
blade3colorado said, on August 17, 2016 at 11:58 am
Agree Kev. My cousin use to live there in the 1980s and I loved visiting him. Always a party going on and just a laid back place. No idea how it is now. Oh, it also has a weird town square/plaza in the shape of an octagon or hexagon. Nothing like it in the USA. Anywho, my cousin use to have a small patch of marijuana growing in the middle of a grove of Redwood trees. I doubt if it is like that today though, as air surveillance was becoming in vogue by the U.S. government.
In the Central Valley recently, while a town was having a farmer’s market, a guy had a drone flying over the farmer’s marker to take photos of it, and a farmer objected to that happening, saw the guy with the drone controls, told him to stop it, the drone-owner refused, and it actually ended up in a fist-fight between the guys.
pawliekokonuts said, on August 17, 2016 at 12:27 pm
“Playing catch” was for so-called fairies in our neighborhood. “Having a catch” in “Field of Dreams” was right because the guy was from Brooklyn, if I recall. BTW, that movie is based on “Shoeless Joe” by W.P. Kinsella. Excellent.
blade3colorado said, on August 17, 2016 at 12:45 pm
Holy shit. Rockies just tore the Nats a new asshole 7-0 in the 1st inning. lulz.
Why does it feel we are 10 games out??? This game after owing the first two seems like we are not playing for anything after already losing the series. We should be on a 4 game winning streak…
My experience too. Just got back to my desk. Was 4 zip and cruising. But we should NOT be surprised…this has been Cain’s MO for a while now. Even when he had his “no hit” outing a while back, he only went five innings.
If he ends up tanking here, I would almost say give Peavy another shot, or to bring Suarez.
There you go. Now will he get Matty? Good to see us put Lawrence McCutcheon back on track.
blade3colorado said, on August 17, 2016 at 2:17 pm
No shit. Almost like the “baseball accounting gods” are in the middle of their tax season . . . “Oh, the Giants owe more than we thought and the Pirates get a refund.”
Boys, I am just beside myself. I keep telling myself I should not be this emotionally invested in a sport…especially this fucking team. This shit just naws at my gut. Thank goodness I have another meeting soon. I am so done with this game. Maybe I will get a big surprise and check later to see we came back to win. Uh, yeah, right…and monkeys could fly outta my ass, too…
blade3colorado said, on August 17, 2016 at 2:19 pm
Mccutchen telling a team mate, “Damn, they took out that MOFO Cain? I wanted one more crack at him.”
3 in 5. that’s what I’m thinking. Other than that, they need to really turn this roster over.
Blanco, Cain, Adrianza, Lopez, Casilla, and Peavy are gone. Span and Smarglebargle are on the fence. Will Smith? Fuck him. Pagan should be the 4th OFer.
Wow, just reading all the posts. Like last night in the 9th, Bochy managing like he’s on his third glass of red wine. Gee, it’s not like Cain hasn’t blown up in the 5th and earlier. Well past time to DL this guy, he’s Zito redux…
This isn’t that difficult to figger out. Cain, AT BEST, seems to be able to go 4 innings before age, wear and tear start taking their toll. For the life of me, I don’t understand why Bochy keeps treating him like the old Matt Cain. He isn’t that guy anymore. He belongs in the bullpen where he wouldn’t get his arm maxed out so easily like he does as a starter.
Gloves off re criticism of Bochy. Radio shows this am had people ripping him for not bunting last night in 9th w Adrianza, as I commented. Now, this Cain debacle…
Giants have to figure that LA won’t run away with division while Sabevans try to figure this mess out. Any other team would be making DL moves with regular roster guys after running at .333 for 30 games. The trades, in toto, haven’t moved the needle at all…
And the defensive gem of the year. Again. For the other guys.
pawliekokonuts said, on August 17, 2016 at 2:47 pm
This is the kind of game even if we win it feels like a loss. Though I’d dearly, dearly like to see that W. What an awful, dreadful, gross CF of a meltdown. Honestly, can it get any worse?
blade3colorado said, on August 17, 2016 at 3:19 pm
By most measures, Pagan is the 2nd half MVP. BA .299, OBP .369, OPS .839
Span BA .300, OBP .331, OPS .739
Posey BA .283, OBP .380, OPS.771
Gillaspie BA .254, OBP .267, OPS .690
Crawford BA .236, OBP .292, OPS .683
Belt BA .216, OBP .362, OPS .735
Nunez BA .214 , OBP. 302, OPS .694
Pence BA .203, OBP .261, OPS .558
Panik BA .197, OBP .306, OPS .551
Bench (not Johnny) –
Adrianza in 9 games BA .333, OBP .385, OPS .801
Williamson in 14 games BA .323, OBP .432, OPS 1.078
Brown in 17 games BA .297, OBP .366, OPS .771
Blanco in 25 games BA .111, OBP .200, OPS, .333
As someone pointed out on the Flap recently: it’s so hard for anyone in our bullpen to have a clean inning. There’s just about always somebody on base.
Doesn’t get any more tortuous than that…things had gone so fortuitous in our three world three series runs that I think Bochy and Sabean just think the magic will always go our way…these four losses are as low as we have been in years…
Bochy’s bullshit excuse about “I thought Cain was going to find his release point” is hogwash. Has he at least considered some basic numbers here? Cain is getting killed the third time through the LU. Every start and that’s if he even makes it that far. If a guy hits a dude and then walks 2 more dudes that is a sign he has lost it. Completely. And even if you believe that bullshit about “finding the release point” it was inexcusable to leave him in for McCutchen to tattoo that bomb. You HAD to have a reliever come in at that point, considering everything that had happened in the inning.
Cain belongs in the bullpen. He’s actually been very good (some of his starts) with his first 45-60 pitches. Jesus, there’s no shame in it, the BP is a vital component of the team. Either that or Bochy HAS to start pulling him, or being ready to pull him, at 4-5 innings. Today he was completely caught flat footed because (slow southern drawl about to start) “Cain was pitching soooo goooood.” Fuck that. If a dumbass like me can be driving around in his car listening on the radio to a pitcher falling apart on the mound the fucking manager should at least have an inkling that it’s happening, too. NO excuse for the bullpen to be silent for so long today….
absurd nonsense:
Boris Mayfield
@borismayfield
@extrabaggs Tony Watson’s series: 3 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 2 ER, 6 ERA, 2.33 WHIP = 3 saves. Only game w/o a run was his only 1 run lead. #SFGiants
With the off day Monday, Cain’s next start can be skipped and Bumgarner can open the Dodger series on regular rest. Unlike Bochy’s post ASG gaffe, this would make sense now…
It took the Dodgers’ offense a few months to get its act together, but they’re now in that mode they’ve been in the last several years where they beat up on bad pitching. It has served them well in the regular season the last four years. It doesn’t work so good in the playoffs, though, where you’re facing much better pitching. The Giants with Bumgarner and Cueto would still be a better playoff team than the Dodgers; but, of course, you have to make the playoffs first.
Not to make excuses or anything, but IMO Cain was cruising until he had to go into the stretch after hitting Freeze. He wasn’t getting blasted, he just couldn’t hit the strike zone in the stretch. Why he didn’t go back into the windup, I don’t know. He was pitching that well before, that I’m not sure I would have taken him out at that point to hand it over to our Bull Pen. Still, after two visits by Posey and one by Rags, I guess it would have been prudent to do so before he did get blasted.
On another note, why won’t the Umps ever make the call on a guy that doesn’t try and get out of the way of a pitch? It’s a rule they never call and today Freeze did not “make an honest effort to avoid the pitch”, he took one for the team.
Bochy’s Giants career has been awesome, and he’s a Hall of Fame manager and a Giants legend; but he’s had an abysmal second half of ’16 as a manager. There’s a huge list of head-scratching decisions by him. To me, it seemed like things started going downhill when the Giants were behind 8-0 in a game, and loaded the bases with none out in the 8th inning, and Bochy chose to let the pitcher Stratton bat, when there was a pinch-hitter available. Bochy just gave up on that game, and it still mystifies me. Stratton grounded into a double-play and killed the rally. Maybe Bochy’s health was already an issue that night and he just couldn’t stay into the game or something. Giving up like that just didn’t seem like Bochy. And it sent a weird message to the team, I think.
Sheesh, at least if you’re going to let Stratton bat in that situation, have him take pitches and just strike out, and avoid the double-play. That would have been a strategy. It would have shown that Bochy CARED that night. But there’s just little of that type of strategy and gamesmanship going on with the Giants these days. It’s kind of like the Giants need a Billy Martin-type to sub in for just a few weeks, and try to rattle things up and light a fire under this team. The season is slipping away and Bochy is so passive about it. I wonder about the health issue. Did we ever learn much about that? Of course, the beat writers aren’t going to find out much.
“The club did not disclose the nature of Bochy’s illness; the 61-year-old had not complained of any recent maladies but has two stents in his heart after undergoing an unscheduled procedure in February, 2015, to treat a pair of 90 percent blockages.
Bochy has undergone regular heart checkups with a cardiologist in San Diego even before the surgery because his father, Gus, was 65 when he died of a heart attack in 1990.
“It’s scary, but he’s fine,” said right-hander Jake Peavy, whose relationship with Bochy goes back to their days together with the San Diego Padres.”
That was one of the A’s games, I remember being PO’d about that, too.
blade3colorado said, on August 17, 2016 at 6:11 pm
I use to love Ron Hunt, who famously said, “Some people give their bodies to science; I give mine to baseball,” He used to have the MLB record (upon retirement), but I think Baylor and maybe Biggio overtook him.
…not to be confused with Bog Gagliano—yet another QB the Chiefs inherited from the Niners!
blade3colorado said, on August 17, 2016 at 6:29 pm
Yeah Loo, I use to crack up when he would pick up the ball and throw it to the pitcher. lulz . . .it was crazy that he got hit so much because usually Mays, McCovey and Hart were next up after him. Dumb.
Yeah, Zum, and I think someone else here said something similar: starting to wonder about “something wrong” in the clubhouse, which could be about Bochy’s health. Or ill health. This isn’t a slump, there’s something wrong with this team. They’re playing unconfidently. They even look uncomfortable. Unconfident and uncomfortable will not bring wins. Of course, winning more would make them more confident and comfortable, but they’re just incapable. Ok, that’s enough c-words. What if Bochy has been, I don’t know, diagnosed with terminal cancer or something, and the players all know but no one else knows. They’re stumbling and fumbling around like they’ve all got something serious on their minds, and it ain’t playing winning baseball. Something is distracting this team, and if it ain’t fixed very soon, the season will be gone. Of course, we won’t find out about anything, if there is anything, until it’s way too late…
blade3colorado said, on August 17, 2016 at 6:40 pm
By the by, just my opinion – but on the scale of culpability, I rate Bochy at around the bottom. Regarding position players – Panik and Pence have literally fallen off the map. Pitchers are another story – just throw a dart, sans Bum and you’re probably spot on.
Totally agree, especially regarding Bochy. I don’t think our problems are because he is off his game as a manager. I’m not saying he hasn’t had some bum hunches lately, but I would put his culpability far down the list.
Bochy is not the reason the team is failing and falling like a rock. But it would be nice to see a HOF manager doing things to alter the trip down. Re-distribute the winds. Instead, he’s just sitting on his hands and waiting. He’s doing what, frankly, any of us could do. Only worse.
Lochte lied about getting robbed in Rio? Lol, there is too much gold there to mine. It would be so awesome if got robbed right now. Like tonight. Alone with no cameras around. And then tomorrow, watch the hilarity ensue……..
I am going to be at a Giants/Braves game later in the month. Loo said I’m picking on easier low-hanging fruit; but hey, I was at the 2-1 win vs. the Red Sox. That was an awesome game. Almost seems like from a different season now. Bum and Price were locked in a pitcher’s duel and Williamson (!) hit the go-ahead HR.
Williamson and Parker. I miss those dudes. It has to be admitted that the fill-ins for Pence and Panik were being more productive than P & P are right now. Hopefully those two get it turned around, because time is a-starting to run out.
The message Bochy sends to his team by not going ballistic and DFAing players and changing the LU radically is: I believe in you (to his 8 best position players and bench). We’ve won before and we will win again. Just do your job, relax and do what you can to help the team win. Play hard and be smart and focus on task at hand.
I really think at this point they are gripping and trying to hit 8 run HRs. Craw the other night was swinging to blast pitches into next galaxy. 2 runners on Panik tries to hit ball over CF fence, at night.
Finding pitching he can trust might be another matter.
the bp was fantastic today. Bochy (and everyone else) needs to get over our BP. It’s fine. It’ll do it’s job more often than not. Cain and our offense? I’m not sold on them……
The Cubs are really rolling again. If they don’t win it all this year, their fans are going to be doing some serious baseball-grieving. It couldn’t be more served up on a platter for the Cubs this season. It would be hilarious if the Giants stumble into the playoffs and cause the Cubs some big problems.
I was at the library recently, and in the new book section they had Bryan Kenny’s book, so I decided to go ahead and check it out and read it. I’m not a huge fan of the guy, but I think he does a good job with his show on the MLB Network. He brings on guests that don’t all agree with him, and he lets them have their say, as he debates with them. And he’s pretty polite with them, IMO. It’s not one of those shows where the host is brow-beating the guests. He’s a huge sabermetrics guy, and worships the ground Bill James walks on, so I’m curious what he has to say in the book. I know some of his beliefs already. He hates bunts. He thinks the W/L record for pitchers is a worthless stat. He thinks the Cubs were right to sign Heyward to such a big contract because defense and baserunning are under-appreciated. I’m not sold on the Heyward signing, though. It was predictable how well he would hit, which is NOT well.
Yes I’d agree on time and place for a bunt, but I think in Giants case there aren’t many that can properly execute one, hence it’s not part of Bochy’s strategy.
Bunting is a basic batting skill that any player needs to have, especially pitchers, and guys that are fast, like Blanco, Adrianza and Nunez, to name a few. If they can’t bunt, that is an organizational miscue…
Hayward is a bust. As of now at least. You don’t spend $184 mill for being a smart baserunner and decent defender. .227/5/32? Fricking Trevor Brown is doing better than him as a backup catcher. .259/5/19.
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball
“We SUCK” Yes we do!!
I’m even gonna blame Kuiper for continual suckitude for changing his color scheme in his house!!
Duane Kuiper hear I just want to give out a shout to Bejamin Moore who helped me pick out a certain shade of “BLUE” for a bedroom…The landslide started with the fucking Dodger color scheme he went with!!!
Well said! 🙂
It would be awesome if our pitchers would stop giving up so many HRs.
We play in probably the toughest park for hitters yet have given up the 2nd most home runs in the NL, if not the league.
And we have Matt the glue horse as the stopper. Right. This isn’t 2010. something tells me we are losing 9-6. Because, as you know we only score when we give up more.
Cain pitching a day game doesn’t sound like an optimistic combo…
Well, there’s always football season.
*urk*
Let me Ponder that some Chuck..Arghhhh
Nice essay about the love of baseball gloves, called “Having a Catch.” The most interesting part, to me, is about the woman who has a shop where she repairs baseball gloves. Anyone here ever been to her shop?:
http://www.lawrencegrobel.com/2014/12/19/having-a-catch/
When I grew up, it was never “having a catch”. It was “playing catch”. An East/West thing?…
Yes, it’s an East coast thing. Pawlie and others have said they call it “having a catch.” It was always “playing catch” on the West coast. I never heard “having a catch” until Pawlie mentioned it.
Actually, I think Loo said “having a catch.” Regardless, I agree with snarkk for West coast kids – “I’m going to play catch” or “Let’s play catch” or “I’m going out and playing catch mom.”
Well, I grew up in the Midwest/Southwest – Oklahoma…and it was “playing catch.” I never heard “have a catch” until I saw “Field of Dreams.”
I had never heard of the town of Cotati.
“I dug out my old Spalding Sam Esposito from the closet and decided to recondition it. On the Internet, I found that my glove was ranked by Vintage Sports Shoppe as a “very rare, top quality made glove.” I also found Fran Fleet, “The Sandal Lady,” who lives in Cotati, California, just north of San Francisco. She has been reconditioning baseball gloves for forty years and has developed a product called Glove Stuff, which she claims is all you need to clean a glove and make it soft again. It combines both cleaner and conditioner. I could have sent away for a bottle, but instead, I thought I’d pay her a visit, as my daughter lived in Santa Rosa, just eight miles from Cotati.”
Have you made the visit yet? Sounds like a cool place to visit.
Haven’t been there, but she does a decent amount of business, it looks like.
Shit< I wonder how much it would cost to get my Rawlings Ryne Sandberg glove fixed. My dog chewed the spot where the wrist flap thing attaches to the pinkie side of the glove. She ignroed the glove for 3 years and then decided it was time to ruin it.
Hey boys – I am coming in off the ledge for just a minute to see how things are shaking in Flap Universe.
Seriously, been busy as hell at work (starting to question my sanity in deciding to get back into management), and on many days when I get home, I am pretty wiped-out, and as much as I love you guys, I have just been too whooped to jump on here.
This too shall pass, just as I hope the Giant’s current SUCKTITUDE passes.
You all know that I am definitely one of the “Pollys” on here, but this shit (our team) is WEARING ME OUT! (Doom da Doom Doom…).
I watched up until the final out last night, and as I suspected, we found a way to lose again. I have lost all confidence in this team to rally from being down, or to get that key knock to win a game that is tied, etc.
TRYING to stay positive, but this fucking team is NOT making it easy.
OK…gotta run…
Blade and Charlie (Unca), I bought tickets for the Giants game on Sept. 7th in Sherpaville. Club Level Section 219, Row 6, so we will be a section or two away, Charlie and can meet up for a cold one! Cold one? I need one now! Or a cocktail…make it a double!
Hope you got that raise you were thinking about asking for Chi!
Thanks, Steve. Email will go out today, and my boss is in town next week. I think I can make a pretty compelling argument. Wish me luck.
Looking forward to seeing you again, and also UncaC in Denver.
From the way you described the situation on the bus, he has only one moral choice – to give you the raise. He sounds like he’ll do the right thing, so I think you’ll get it. Good luck!
Thinking I will need a shot of “Novacain” to get thru this game today..
Just before (or was it after) the alert came through on my ‘device’ for the final score, around 1 am, I had an ultra-uber-maxi-Doomer nightmare vision/dream: namely, we have seen the best we are going to see, privileged to Bask Ultimate 3 times, and that from the heights of just before the All-Star Game, when the San Francisco Giants could boast the best record in MLB, it will be a steady decline, inexplicably morose and dark.
That’s a nightmare brother, not a dream. Let’s hope our boys pull out of this and surprise us all, with it all culminating in a parade down Market Street!
Four in Seven!
Yeah, I had the same thought as Kang’s home run sailed over the centerfield fence last night. That the Giants as currently constructed, will not sniff the promised land any time soon.
If so, so be it. It just seems like this team cannot figure out how to win anymore. Just as every early game seemed to have a new hero, every game these days has a new goat.
Law being the latest. The LOBs, baserunning errors, R Kelly’s eyes wide shut approach to coaching 3rd base, on and on. They get good pitching they lose. They score runs, they lose.
All we had to do was play .450 ball to coast easily to the division title. Instead we are playing .300 ball.
Freaky because we had those 31-game or whatever stretches that were the best since 1954. But everyone knew this team was not the best in SF history. That was a given.
i forgot about that. That’s right! This year we had a stretch that was better than any since ’54. Can’t remember the total games, I think 31 is about right. Wow, shows you how meaningless that was.
Law, to his defense, had not given up an earned run since June. He gets a pass in my book. Casilla? That is another story. And Kontos needs to come up with some mystery ailment when Gearrin is ready to come back.
And I still say when Mac is ready to come back, Blanco needs to be DFA’d. I am done with him.
Cotati/Rohnert Park is where Sonoma state college is, back in the 60’s/70’s quite the hippie hang out. Little hole in the wall bars, Doobie Broethers, Santana all the Bay Area bands played there when they first started out, okay not all, but quite a few.
Agree Kev. My cousin use to live there in the 1980s and I loved visiting him. Always a party going on and just a laid back place. No idea how it is now. Oh, it also has a weird town square/plaza in the shape of an octagon or hexagon. Nothing like it in the USA. Anywho, my cousin use to have a small patch of marijuana growing in the middle of a grove of Redwood trees. I doubt if it is like that today though, as air surveillance was becoming in vogue by the U.S. government.
What??? There was Marijuana in the 60’s and 70’s?? Ha ha just kidding, yes I inhaled, a lot!! Ha ha
In the Central Valley recently, while a town was having a farmer’s market, a guy had a drone flying over the farmer’s marker to take photos of it, and a farmer objected to that happening, saw the guy with the drone controls, told him to stop it, the drone-owner refused, and it actually ended up in a fist-fight between the guys.
Ah, thanks, Kevin and Blade.
“Playing catch” was for so-called fairies in our neighborhood. “Having a catch” in “Field of Dreams” was right because the guy was from Brooklyn, if I recall. BTW, that movie is based on “Shoeless Joe” by W.P. Kinsella. Excellent.
Holy shit. Rockies just tore the Nats a new asshole 7-0 in the 1st inning. lulz.
Yes…was aware the connection with “Shoeless Joe.” I still love that movie.
Why does it feel we are 10 games out??? This game after owing the first two seems like we are not playing for anything after already losing the series. We should be on a 4 game winning streak…
We’re NOT 10 games out?! Hmmm…must have been a nightmare…there have been several of those of late.
I could not stand it…came in off the ledge to listen to the game. Craw GETTING IT DONE!
Gotta love that Craw.
Oh oh, Cain was on cruise control before his GPS went out of whack here.
Wow. Went from cruise control to this? Was in a meeting and checking mlb.com. Looked great til I got back to my desk.
1 HBP, 3 BBs, weird shit.
My experience too. Just got back to my desk. Was 4 zip and cruising. But we should NOT be surprised…this has been Cain’s MO for a while now. Even when he had his “no hit” outing a while back, he only went five innings.
If he ends up tanking here, I would almost say give Peavy another shot, or to bring Suarez.
Might a well let the Cainer lose it.
Cuz we ain’t scoring anymore.
This is tough to stomach.
Jesus. 4 walks in a row. Figuring out new and exciting ways to fuck themselves.
Ahhh, didn’t know there was a HBP.
why is he still in the game
There you go. Now will he get Matty? Good to see us put Lawrence McCutcheon back on track.
No shit. Almost like the “baseball accounting gods” are in the middle of their tax season . . . “Oh, the Giants owe more than we thought and the Pirates get a refund.”
FUCK THIS SHIT! I am SO FUCKING DONE! Get Cain the fuck out of there! Time to DFA his ass. I am FUCKING FRIED!
Payback for the one the one that died in Triples Alley. Pfffttt Cain. Bye bye.
…and there you have it. Wow, what a fucking nightmare.
There are no words…
Boys, I am just beside myself. I keep telling myself I should not be this emotionally invested in a sport…especially this fucking team. This shit just naws at my gut. Thank goodness I have another meeting soon. I am so done with this game. Maybe I will get a big surprise and check later to see we came back to win. Uh, yeah, right…and monkeys could fly outta my ass, too…
Mccutchen telling a team mate, “Damn, they took out that MOFO Cain? I wanted one more crack at him.”
3 in 5. that’s what I’m thinking. Other than that, they need to really turn this roster over.
Blanco, Cain, Adrianza, Lopez, Casilla, and Peavy are gone. Span and Smarglebargle are on the fence. Will Smith? Fuck him. Pagan should be the 4th OFer.
Was Bochy asleep during all of that? WTF was he doing during that long, slow melt down of an inning?
Wow, just reading all the posts. Like last night in the 9th, Bochy managing like he’s on his third glass of red wine. Gee, it’s not like Cain hasn’t blown up in the 5th and earlier. Well past time to DL this guy, he’s Zito redux…
He wanted Cain to get the win or die trying. It may be his last shot.
Crawfish gets a favorable count, and breaks his bat.
Get ready for Peavyto be back in the rotation
I just threw up in my mouth a lot.
I blame those fucking cloyingly sweet videos from Pence and his Goddamned girlfriend . . .
Agree
This isn’t that difficult to figger out. Cain, AT BEST, seems to be able to go 4 innings before age, wear and tear start taking their toll. For the life of me, I don’t understand why Bochy keeps treating him like the old Matt Cain. He isn’t that guy anymore. He belongs in the bullpen where he wouldn’t get his arm maxed out so easily like he does as a starter.
His shit just doesn’t fool anyone anymore. 1st time through the LU, he seems OK, 2nd or 3rd time…BOMBS AWAY bitches.
Gloves off re criticism of Bochy. Radio shows this am had people ripping him for not bunting last night in 9th w Adrianza, as I commented. Now, this Cain debacle…
Pitts announcers wondering where Pence was on that play. Says Freese should have scored on that play.
I’m wondering myself.
Giants have to figure that LA won’t run away with division while Sabevans try to figure this mess out. Any other team would be making DL moves with regular roster guys after running at .333 for 30 games. The trades, in toto, haven’t moved the needle at all…
And the defensive gem of the year. Again. For the other guys.
This is the kind of game even if we win it feels like a loss. Though I’d dearly, dearly like to see that W. What an awful, dreadful, gross CF of a meltdown. Honestly, can it get any worse?
It seems like every time I look up the last 3 innings we already have two outs…
Blanco with the single now smokin at 1 for his last 20…
When can we get the big home run?
It could get worse Pawlie, rumor has it their gonna bring up Joe Nathan to start..
Yes! Nooonzzzz with the restful AB.
Kuiper on radio sounds like how the team is playing– in need of a case of Geritol…
Cain had a few hiccups, but he- oh nevermind….
By most measures, Pagan is the 2nd half MVP. BA .299, OBP .369, OPS .839
Span BA .300, OBP .331, OPS .739
Posey BA .283, OBP .380, OPS.771
Gillaspie BA .254, OBP .267, OPS .690
Crawford BA .236, OBP .292, OPS .683
Belt BA .216, OBP .362, OPS .735
Nunez BA .214 , OBP. 302, OPS .694
Pence BA .203, OBP .261, OPS .558
Panik BA .197, OBP .306, OPS .551
Bench (not Johnny) –
Adrianza in 9 games BA .333, OBP .385, OPS .801
Williamson in 14 games BA .323, OBP .432, OPS 1.078
Brown in 17 games BA .297, OBP .366, OPS .771
Blanco in 25 games BA .111, OBP .200, OPS, .333
As someone pointed out on the Flap recently: it’s so hard for anyone in our bullpen to have a clean inning. There’s just about always somebody on base.
OOO batting against fireballing relievers late in the game. Yeah, that’s going to work….
Don’t expect much grilling from the scribes when you see tweets like this from Baggs:
A lot of meek contact after the third inning today. At times like this, it’s worth remembering that baseball is hard.
Cannot believe I just slid back over to check the score. Bottom 9, bases juiced. Posey AB. Will things be different today?
GIDP…same shit, different day. Tying run at 3rd…not holding my breath…
Pfffttt….fuck this shit!
We really suck.
Doesn’t get any more tortuous than that…things had gone so fortuitous in our three world three series runs that I think Bochy and Sabean just think the magic will always go our way…these four losses are as low as we have been in years…
Bochy’s bullshit excuse about “I thought Cain was going to find his release point” is hogwash. Has he at least considered some basic numbers here? Cain is getting killed the third time through the LU. Every start and that’s if he even makes it that far. If a guy hits a dude and then walks 2 more dudes that is a sign he has lost it. Completely. And even if you believe that bullshit about “finding the release point” it was inexcusable to leave him in for McCutchen to tattoo that bomb. You HAD to have a reliever come in at that point, considering everything that had happened in the inning.
Bochy should be managing now like his hair is on fire. The wheels have come off for over a month. Instead, he’s waiting for Godot…
Cain belongs in the bullpen. He’s actually been very good (some of his starts) with his first 45-60 pitches. Jesus, there’s no shame in it, the BP is a vital component of the team. Either that or Bochy HAS to start pulling him, or being ready to pull him, at 4-5 innings. Today he was completely caught flat footed because (slow southern drawl about to start) “Cain was pitching soooo goooood.” Fuck that. If a dumbass like me can be driving around in his car listening on the radio to a pitcher falling apart on the mound the fucking manager should at least have an inkling that it’s happening, too. NO excuse for the bullpen to be silent for so long today….
Probably no room for Godot till the rosters expand on September 1st…
absurd nonsense:
Boris Mayfield
@borismayfield
@extrabaggs Tony Watson’s series: 3 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 2 ER, 6 ERA, 2.33 WHIP = 3 saves. Only game w/o a run was his only 1 run lead. #SFGiants
With the off day Monday, Cain’s next start can be skipped and Bumgarner can open the Dodger series on regular rest. Unlike Bochy’s post ASG gaffe, this would make sense now…
Loo, you may be the only one on the planet that believes that was a gaffe. 🙂
The likelihood of one individual being right increases in direct proportion to the intensity with which others are trying to prove him wrong…
No it doesn’t
It took the Dodgers’ offense a few months to get its act together, but they’re now in that mode they’ve been in the last several years where they beat up on bad pitching. It has served them well in the regular season the last four years. It doesn’t work so good in the playoffs, though, where you’re facing much better pitching. The Giants with Bumgarner and Cueto would still be a better playoff team than the Dodgers; but, of course, you have to make the playoffs first.
Not to make excuses or anything, but IMO Cain was cruising until he had to go into the stretch after hitting Freeze. He wasn’t getting blasted, he just couldn’t hit the strike zone in the stretch. Why he didn’t go back into the windup, I don’t know. He was pitching that well before, that I’m not sure I would have taken him out at that point to hand it over to our Bull Pen. Still, after two visits by Posey and one by Rags, I guess it would have been prudent to do so before he did get blasted.
On another note, why won’t the Umps ever make the call on a guy that doesn’t try and get out of the way of a pitch? It’s a rule they never call and today Freeze did not “make an honest effort to avoid the pitch”, he took one for the team.
Utley does that a lot, and it’s annoying that the umps let him get away with it every time.
Bochy’s Giants career has been awesome, and he’s a Hall of Fame manager and a Giants legend; but he’s had an abysmal second half of ’16 as a manager. There’s a huge list of head-scratching decisions by him. To me, it seemed like things started going downhill when the Giants were behind 8-0 in a game, and loaded the bases with none out in the 8th inning, and Bochy chose to let the pitcher Stratton bat, when there was a pinch-hitter available. Bochy just gave up on that game, and it still mystifies me. Stratton grounded into a double-play and killed the rally. Maybe Bochy’s health was already an issue that night and he just couldn’t stay into the game or something. Giving up like that just didn’t seem like Bochy. And it sent a weird message to the team, I think.
Sheesh, at least if you’re going to let Stratton bat in that situation, have him take pitches and just strike out, and avoid the double-play. That would have been a strategy. It would have shown that Bochy CARED that night. But there’s just little of that type of strategy and gamesmanship going on with the Giants these days. It’s kind of like the Giants need a Billy Martin-type to sub in for just a few weeks, and try to rattle things up and light a fire under this team. The season is slipping away and Bochy is so passive about it. I wonder about the health issue. Did we ever learn much about that? Of course, the beat writers aren’t going to find out much.
I saw this online:
“The club did not disclose the nature of Bochy’s illness; the 61-year-old had not complained of any recent maladies but has two stents in his heart after undergoing an unscheduled procedure in February, 2015, to treat a pair of 90 percent blockages.
Bochy has undergone regular heart checkups with a cardiologist in San Diego even before the surgery because his father, Gus, was 65 when he died of a heart attack in 1990.
“It’s scary, but he’s fine,” said right-hander Jake Peavy, whose relationship with Bochy goes back to their days together with the San Diego Padres.”
That was one of the A’s games, I remember being PO’d about that, too.
I use to love Ron Hunt, who famously said, “Some people give their bodies to science; I give mine to baseball,” He used to have the MLB record (upon retirement), but I think Baylor and maybe Biggio overtook him.
He was hurt worse when Phil Gagliano stepped on him than by any of the HBP…
…not to be confused with Bog Gagliano—yet another QB the Chiefs inherited from the Niners!
Yeah Loo, I use to crack up when he would pick up the ball and throw it to the pitcher. lulz . . .it was crazy that he got hit so much because usually Mays, McCovey and Hart were next up after him. Dumb.
You got me there, SD – no recollection…
He barely played for KC. I just googled him and he was actually on the Niners after he was with KC. Threw 10 TD passes for the Lions in 1990.
Yeah, Zum, and I think someone else here said something similar: starting to wonder about “something wrong” in the clubhouse, which could be about Bochy’s health. Or ill health. This isn’t a slump, there’s something wrong with this team. They’re playing unconfidently. They even look uncomfortable. Unconfident and uncomfortable will not bring wins. Of course, winning more would make them more confident and comfortable, but they’re just incapable. Ok, that’s enough c-words. What if Bochy has been, I don’t know, diagnosed with terminal cancer or something, and the players all know but no one else knows. They’re stumbling and fumbling around like they’ve all got something serious on their minds, and it ain’t playing winning baseball. Something is distracting this team, and if it ain’t fixed very soon, the season will be gone. Of course, we won’t find out about anything, if there is anything, until it’s way too late…
By the by, just my opinion – but on the scale of culpability, I rate Bochy at around the bottom. Regarding position players – Panik and Pence have literally fallen off the map. Pitchers are another story – just throw a dart, sans Bum and you’re probably spot on.
Totally agree, especially regarding Bochy. I don’t think our problems are because he is off his game as a manager. I’m not saying he hasn’t had some bum hunches lately, but I would put his culpability far down the list.
every reliever except Peavy has given up runs lately too–Strick Law Casilla Romo Kontos Smith Lopez.
Seriously? Another meeting, another go-to-hell-from-ahead loss.
Well if the Giants have to play a Wild Card game, I hope it’s here in New York…
Colorado will have passers by then
Bochy is not the reason the team is failing and falling like a rock. But it would be nice to see a HOF manager doing things to alter the trip down. Re-distribute the winds. Instead, he’s just sitting on his hands and waiting. He’s doing what, frankly, any of us could do. Only worse.
Lochte lied about getting robbed in Rio? Lol, there is too much gold there to mine. It would be so awesome if got robbed right now. Like tonight. Alone with no cameras around. And then tomorrow, watch the hilarity ensue……..
might I suggest a Flap based crowdfund to increase Zum presence at ATT?
In Zumarust We Trust
i mean, it’s our ace in the hole but do we fire it so quickly? It’s time to keep a steady hand. Or am I acting like Bochy right now?
I am going to be at a Giants/Braves game later in the month. Loo said I’m picking on easier low-hanging fruit; but hey, I was at the 2-1 win vs. the Red Sox. That was an awesome game. Almost seems like from a different season now. Bum and Price were locked in a pitcher’s duel and Williamson (!) hit the go-ahead HR.
Williamson and Parker. I miss those dudes. It has to be admitted that the fill-ins for Pence and Panik were being more productive than P & P are right now. Hopefully those two get it turned around, because time is a-starting to run out.
you never lose. Ever. You’re the greatest fan in attendance in the history of Giants games. Make it so, Zum.
I WISH I was never at a losing game, but the losses do tend to fade from my memory a lot faster than the wins. 🙂
The message Bochy sends to his team by not going ballistic and DFAing players and changing the LU radically is: I believe in you (to his 8 best position players and bench). We’ve won before and we will win again. Just do your job, relax and do what you can to help the team win. Play hard and be smart and focus on task at hand.
I really think at this point they are gripping and trying to hit 8 run HRs. Craw the other night was swinging to blast pitches into next galaxy. 2 runners on Panik tries to hit ball over CF fence, at night.
Finding pitching he can trust might be another matter.
the bp was fantastic today. Bochy (and everyone else) needs to get over our BP. It’s fine. It’ll do it’s job more often than not. Cain and our offense? I’m not sold on them……
The Cubs are really rolling again. If they don’t win it all this year, their fans are going to be doing some serious baseball-grieving. It couldn’t be more served up on a platter for the Cubs this season. It would be hilarious if the Giants stumble into the playoffs and cause the Cubs some big problems.
It’s hard to imagine a team playing as poorly as the Giants right now, but the Mets might be it. And four games to look forward to!
“The stoppable force meets the move-able object,” as someone once lamented. A despairing football coach, I think.
I was at the library recently, and in the new book section they had Bryan Kenny’s book, so I decided to go ahead and check it out and read it. I’m not a huge fan of the guy, but I think he does a good job with his show on the MLB Network. He brings on guests that don’t all agree with him, and he lets them have their say, as he debates with them. And he’s pretty polite with them, IMO. It’s not one of those shows where the host is brow-beating the guests. He’s a huge sabermetrics guy, and worships the ground Bill James walks on, so I’m curious what he has to say in the book. I know some of his beliefs already. He hates bunts. He thinks the W/L record for pitchers is a worthless stat. He thinks the Cubs were right to sign Heyward to such a big contract because defense and baserunning are under-appreciated. I’m not sold on the Heyward signing, though. It was predictable how well he would hit, which is NOT well.
And I think bunts have their time and place where they are valuable.
Yes I’d agree on time and place for a bunt, but I think in Giants case there aren’t many that can properly execute one, hence it’s not part of Bochy’s strategy.
Anyone can bunt. They don’t try.
Bunting is a basic batting skill that any player needs to have, especially pitchers, and guys that are fast, like Blanco, Adrianza and Nunez, to name a few. If they can’t bunt, that is an organizational miscue…
Hayward is a bust. As of now at least. You don’t spend $184 mill for being a smart baserunner and decent defender. .227/5/32? Fricking Trevor Brown is doing better than him as a backup catcher. .259/5/19.
Yeah, I see Heyward and Fowler as two vulnerabilities for the playoffs, for the Cubs. They both could go 0-fer in a short series.