Flat Loss
Yesterday was……a holiday for many. More than I thought actually. Bochy continues to wait out *his guys* and they continue to disappoint him. Buster has got problems that a day off isn’t going to fix. Belt is a hot mess. Span is….look, the bottom line is that nobody on this team is leading the way to anything other than the merciful end to this season…..
Another game tonight. I’ll watch it with a stoic, staid glaze….
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
I’d be down on Bochy more if he was the one with a bat in his hands.
His entire team has laid down for him at the plate. He’s moved Belt around to no avail.
I felt like Loo’s post the other day, that Giants played best team in baseball to a relative standstill and held their offense down at their home yard. But losing to Rox is different and unsettling.
There aren’t many days off coming up, Giants have to suck it up and finish strong enough to hold onto WC.
Great weekend of college football. Bobby Bowden has to wonder how you find kicker to make 6 field goals.
Snarkk, I think Duffy surgery was just to shave off part of bone that was bothering his foot, not an Achilles tendon tear that would keep him out a long time. More of an irritation apparently that he can play through but that is bothersome enough to keep out every few days that he wants to get fixed.
If Giants actually do not finish well, lot of fingers to be pointed I’m sure, and letting go Duffy will definitely be up there. I’ve thought all along they handled off season well (moving Pagan to LF worked way better than I thought) and made good moves to bring in Nunez Moore and even Smith. Seems that it’s mostly the vet guys, in everyday LU, SPs and pen, that have let them down.
I agree. Even with Moore having a shit day yesterday, I think he is going to work out well for the Giants…especially his costs and the control they have over him.
Kruk and Kuip this morning on KNBR in their own separate segments were very honest about what’s happening. As has been mentioned on the Flap before, they’re more willing to be critical of the Giants during these morning-show segments. Kuiper went through all of the horrifying batting stats. Neither of them was tipping their cap to Bettes, which was nice to hear. We’re all beyond tired of any cap-tipping to the opposing pitcher, and K&K seem to sense that.
But they both ended on positive notes. This team has playoff experience, they’ve battled back from the brink before in their history. They CAN do it. Will they? Absolutely no one knows.
I agree. Pence and Panik are showing signs of life. They played the Cubs tough in Chicago. And you’re going to get one of those WTF games every once in a while, even at the hands of the Rox. If they can get healthy and hot at the right time, anything could happen. Don’t’ Stop Believin’!
i don’t buy even half a second the theory that Duffy leaving somehow screwed up the chemistry of the team. He wasn’t even playing when he left. He was no where near the team, he was rehabbing. And by all accounts the new guys have fit in fine. Nunie was never brought in to be a hitting savior. And Moore has been pretty critical to what the SP’s have done since he got here. Unless your idea of a starting 5 including Cain and Peavy float your boat. And this isn’t on Bochy, he’s not responsible for motivating these guys. This is a total breakdown across the position player side of the team. maybe these guys are injured, and if they are I do put some of that on Bochy. Why no Parker when Blanco was clearly hurting all Summer and Pence was out? But other than that, I put this on all the guys who have sucked shit in the second half.
Great post, Craig, and I agree with you big time brother.
Kruk and Kuip must have gotten the “ok” sign from management to both sound the alarm this morning that the Giants have to turn this this around pronto, else no playoffs. Must be for softening fans up for some LU changes. Alarm is about a month late…
I missed Krukow but whatever, Kuip’s segment was pretty good. It was refreshing to hear someone not blaming Belt for everything. He talked about sitting everybody that’s been sucking ballz. That’s pretty much the whole club but it got me thinking maybe this LU could muster 4 runs at Coors Canaveral;
Nunez 3b
Tomlinson 2b
Parker LF
Williamson RF
Gillaspie 1b
Brown C
Gorky CF
Samardzija P (I don’t know if you know this but he played college football at Notre Dame. Yep, wide receiver!)
Ehire SS
Wait what did Smarge do in college? Wide receiver? Now I know you’re just trying to BLOW MY MIND!!!!
Crazy, right!?
He’s an athlete.
1-6 that LU could do some damage.
lulz
I’m with you except for the The Rash in the 9th hole. (What?) Crawford has been the lone position player that at least has been respectable lately.
Fair point. I figured Pagan is getting a day may as well give Crawford one too. 🙂
Well , a few weeks ago B Evans was on and he said if he could start this season over he would address the bullpen first and foremost, and I agree the Bullpen has been the weakest link, IMO.
The bullpen has not even been close to the biggest problem in the second half. It’s all on the hitters.
Agree. MLB worst at leaving men on base…
They were hoping to build the bullpen “in house,” and it didn’t work out. A lot of us were questioning from the get-go this season having Casilla as the closer. That seemed likely to be a big issue.
Yeah, Casilla, and Lopez, way past there prime, and well I always knew that Strickland was never ever going to be the closer.
That one you can lay on Bochy, who made sure this season was vested by the way he used him end of last year in meaningless games.
But I think you are right, they figured there was enough already here with Romo Strick Kontos Lopez plus new guys like Law Osich Gearrin Suarez. See how many of those remain.
Lopez had a good outing the other day, in Chicago. But he is definitely done after this year.
Even tho it was hard for me to root for either team, the ND-Texas game was really entertaining.
Both those teams will see Stanford and Cal; should be interesting.
Cal is an underdog to SD St. Aztecs. Not a good week for Pac12, with most teams underwhelming unless they were playing cupcakes. And in one case Wazzu, they actually lost to sub division team Eastern Wash.
You’re all right. This chimp could throw a dart at a board showing our players, coaches, manager, GM, and ownership and he would likely be spot on wherever the dart landed.
OBC = our beloved chimp. If he’d have been in charge of drafting OFers the last two decades, we wouldn’t need to know that Blanco is now in Phoenix hitting off a tee…
The latest desperately-seeking-a-spark-as-the-season-unravels lineup:
Nunez 3B
Pagan LF
Posey 1B
Pence RF
Crawford SS
Tomlinson 2B
Hernandez CF
Brown C
Samardzija RHP
Oops…didn’t see you post, Mac. Great minds think alike…
Hey Chi, hope you guys have better luck tomorrow in Denver than we had in NYC.
No shit, Mac. Hoping to bring us a win that is the start of a string of ’em!
Good thread Flav. I agree with WillieD and others, the majority of the shit play this year is not on Bochy, IMO. Has he had a few brain farts when he should have gone and got a pitcher, etc.? Sure, but overall, I think he continues to do a great job. I would not trade him for just about any manager out there.
I agree with your synopsis on Buster. I think the dude is pretty banged-up. Not enough where you cannot play him, but enough where it is having an effect on his power stroke, etc.
Blade – I sent you and email re: tomorrow’s game.
1. Eduardo Nunez (R) 3B
2. Angel Pagan (S) LF
3. Buster Posey (R) 1B
4. Hunter Pence (R) RF
5. Brandon Crawford (L) SS
6. Kelby Tomlinson (R) 2B
7. Gorkys Hernandez (R) CF
8. Trevor Brown (R) C
9. Jeff Samardzija (R) P
Let’s see our boys kick some Billy Goat ass!
That LU is more about facing the lefty Anderson than any spark seeking ingenuity. Gotta stop pressing to make up for the month plus of suckitude. Just win today. Go Giants!
One day, one game at a time. It is all about punching a ticket to the dance…
There’s that, although there haven’t been many lineups, if any, where Span, Panik and Belt have all been available to play and didn’t start the same game.
True. Tomlinson has 1 AB over the last week and has to get in there somehow so I guess that’s why Panik is sitting. Span and Belt sitting due to suckitude.
Here’s a downright disgusting stat..
The Giants have blown 20 games this year with the BP lead by Casilla’s 7, Stickland 4, 2 more chumps forgot who add 9 more..
KNBR mentioned it with 23 relievers included, so 20 blown saves with 4 giants in the top 10 add up to around 20% which stinks …
If Nunez provides a spark at the top of the line up in this one game audition, how can Bochy not leave him there – at least against lefties?
the only reason would be if he just chalked it up to a Coors Field special. But I agree with you. However, I can’t believe he would switch him out after 1 game (NOT the Giants way)
Bochy seems to have finally broken the habit of batting his 2nd baseman second…
He’s the fastest guy on the team and the only one who seems to be hitting the ball hard. This is long overdue.
I heard at least 3 different announcers in the last week comment that the Giants have won 3 of the last 5 World Series. No big deal, but shouldn’t they know better?
Randy Winn sounds like the detective who’s not gonna fall for a banana in the tailpipe:
Stone IPA and the game. Order of wings on the way. Let’s go Giants!
Deadbirds up 5-2 in the 5th (not that I am scoreboard watching, or anything!
Bucks now up on the Deadbirds, 7-5, 6th inning.
Is it too early to be scoreboard watching in relation to the WC?
There’s no one here, Chi…
In general, there are 5 basic functions of a business manager: Planning, staffing, organizing, leading/motivating, and controlling/fixing. Obviously managing a department is different from managing a baseball team, but it’s still *managing*. I’d say Giants management did an ok job for the first 2: they planned well for the kind of team they wanted, and they got mostly the right pieces (players) to implement the plan. Organizing is determining which players do what and when. Not sure that was a strength, as we’ve all discussed the head-scratching move of keeping the likes of an injured Blanco in the lineup while Parker remained down in Sacto. Leading/motivating? I humbly disagree that it’s not the manager’s to motivate the players; the team has not looked well motivated during its slide. Of course, winning is the greatest motivator… And finally, controlling/fixing…. well… a lot of apparent sitting-on-hands during the last 2 months where not much was changed in approach, eliminating weaknesses, etc. As Tom said above, any changes in lineup, etc. that might be coming, might be coming a month late….
For Satan’s sake, how do you not challenge that????
GH, I saw that movie, Hell Or Highwater . . . Excellent flick as you noted a few days ago! Only one issue – it was too short and I had to come back to this “rerun.”
Blade, didn’t Jeff Bridges steal that movie????
I thought all 4 characters were great (two brothers, Indian Texas Ranger and Bridges). Sheesh, all the minor characters were unique too. I know one thing, I ain’t moving to Texas anytime soon. (sorry Joe).
Movie was very well written. A friend from back home in SJ and I were ranting for the last few weeks about HBO’s Night Of show and all the loose ends contained in the show, the meanderings and things thrown together and I think that was a full 10 episodes.
In an hour and 40 min, you got the 4 lead characters very well developed and tight story line. Even the side characters like the waitress who is in two scenes and on screen for maybe three minutes and there is more depth to her character than what you got in that HBO show for the person who was the killer…
These games lately have me dozing in a chair like a 90 year old…
i can barely watch. I have it on in the background and I often walk far enough away from *the background* that I can’t see or hear it anymore.
Loo, someday, somehow, someway – I am going to get you to explore SE Asia.
In Colo drinking heavily and not watching. I think I’m on the right path
And the Cards tie it top of the 9th with Carpenter homer with I think two strikes and two outs and then Grichuk homer in the 10th. NOTHING seems to be waking up these Giants. Don’t think a Bum locker room freak out will even get this team to turn on some electricity..
Rally time!
I’m still hopeful about these last 3-1/2 weeks. They are, afterall, still in position for a WC slot. … But now I know we’re in trouble: Craig’s knowing dude head nod has been replaced by a *stoic, staid glaze*…. 🙂
Could this be the season?
Mac, this is almost exactly the same time of year last season when the team was not statistically “out of it” but I knew it was over. This season at this point, they’re still even less statistically out of it, obviously, in fact they are quite statistically *in it*. Gotta still hope they wake up and see they’ve got the WC and starting playing well enough to hold onto it. But man, how many times can we say “time to ramp it up”? I’m done saying that.
Yeah, a tie wasn’t exactly what I was looking for there.
The start of that song by the Zombies is so perfect. Love that song.
It is not unreasonable to see this game as pivotal to the season, as Macdog says. Hey, John Shea just tweeted the same. Hey, Macdog, ever do Robert Treman State Park?
Oh yeah, back in the college days. Beautiful spot.
some good hiking….steep!
I stopped by there a couple years ago on one of my trips up your way.
Fuckin Will Smith should just stick to acting and forget about pitching.
Watching the Nepal broadcast, so not certain you guys can hear the “Lets go Giants” chant.
I hope Pence didn’t tweak anything when he hit the bag…
Un-ex-Spec-ted!
Insurance runs, pls.
Tomlinson comes through! Let’s hold on and win this bitch!
Gimme a look a like for Specs…Radar from MASH?
Ready for Cantiago?
No pressure, boys. Here’s your season, right here.
No bloody walks Santiago…
I’m elated.
He’s on the Tonight Show…
First win in Coors Field history won by keeping the ball in the infield…
Specs-tastic.
74?
Damn! A late rally to win it! Utterly SPECtacular! O=O
Who was that masked ball club?!
Unca, Blade, and I will do our best to bring the series win tomorrow!
G’night girls…
end of the clip….
What?
Giants won? 3 runs? And, they got 8 hits?
Why wasn’t Specs up here sooner?…
Because Agent OOO is so awesome.
Hey, run the same lineup out again tomorrow. 8 hits is double the usual. See what happens — Flappers will be in attendance, so there will be some good mojo going…
Flappers attending Giant games are probably under .333 this season.
Suarez vs. Lemahieu, Arenado, CarGo? Yikes…
It’ll take a lot more than one scant victory to shake the cloud of negativity around here…
It’s tough to get an optimistic hard-on when they’re .333 over 2 months…
Apparently Samardz pitched very well, and mixed up his hard stuff with with curves and changeups. Who knew that mixing up speeds on your pitches helps get batters out?…
Some talk recently on how Baalke has drafted guys with ACL injuries in higher rounds, and almost all have turned out badly, wasting the picks. Have the Giants drafted any guys already with TJ surgery history before getting out of college? I can’t seem to remember any, but not sure…
Snarkk,
That question should be directly answered by the crack staff medical team..
Maybe it is the start of something?? In the 8th a run scoring groundout. The Ninth error? (Posey), infield single, strikeout. Not exactly murderers row with the heart of the order, but specs came through. It’s a start!
The way this team has played of late, I will take ANY fucking win! Looking forward to tonight’s game and meeting up with Blade and UncaC. My wins while attending has been about as good as the Giants since the break. But WTF…no time like today to break outta this funk!
Thursday will be only day off before 17 days straight.
3 in AZ (thx for playing dodgers so hard you slime)
3 at home vs. SD (see AZ above)
4 at home vs. Cards
3 at Latrine
4 at SD
WC down to likely 3 teams battling for 2 spots.
Pirates have lost 8 in a row, Marlins 5 in a row 9 of last 10. Ouch.
Giants Cards Mets; Mets 2 back in L column.