Backs Up Against the Wall, Our Baseballs Not Going Near It
Down 2-0 is not good. Not only is it the score of the series it reminds me of the score of every goddamn game we’ve played this year. But we are in these games. The mlb dyed hair jobs were noticing that the Giants don’t have a hitter who can carry the team. Wow, that’s some sweet analysis.
The argument that we are up against it because our hitters have to face lights out pitching game after game in the playoffs doesn’t even wash because we got Hendricks out of the game and then couldn’t hit their bullpen. And having their relief pitcher hit a bomb was just good comedy in our sad faces.
This tweet from Kuip’s son is good comedy too. I was thinking the same thing. Cubs fans over-celebrate lazy fly balls like each one is a game winning Super Bowl touchdown.
The Cubs fans and batters get fooled by outfield fly balls more often than my dad does on radio.
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
Well we have to recognize reality. Cubs are legitimately the best team in baseball. We needed to steal that first game as we did against the Nats in 2014. It would have been an implosion in Wrigley Land if we had.
We all smelled the stink that Smardjaramjam would leave if he started Game 2. Bochy is starting to lose his sense of smell…
Just the smartness of going righty Cueto to lefty Moore would have just been smart baseball common sense. I am not saying it is over yet…yes Germans bombed Pearl Harbor…we could easily win the next two and Cueto showed he can keep the Cubs off the board.
Hey here is a free agent idea…instead of a left-fielder…how about Encarnacion for first base???
He is just 33 and may have more legs on him than Cespedes and Bautista. Over spend on him for 4-5 year deal to keep away from the Blue Jays. Posey is not going to agree to a move to first yet in his career.
Belt goes to left (not sure we get that much trading for him in the off-seasom at least) and can be a defensive sub late in games at first.
Cain getting almost $21 mill next year and Smardjaramjam at $19.8 are both hard to swallow. We better see Smardjaramjam with a new pitch next year…Jansen is the closer we should make a huge play for just to keep him away from the Fodgers…
he has a new pitch, he’s just dumb and stubborn. He threw way too many fastballs yesterday to a team that blasts the fastball……
Good point. But if he does not effectively learn to use it next year he is going to be a bust…
Sundance: What’s your idea this time?
Butch: Bolivia.
Sundance: What’s Bolivia?
Butch: Bolivia. That’s a country, stupid! In Central or South America, one or the other.
Sundance: Why don’t we just go to Mexico instead?
Butch: ‘Cause all they got in Mexico is sweat and there’s too much of that here. Look, if we’d been in business during the California Gold Rush, where would we have gone? California – right?
Sundance: Right.
Butch: So when I say Bolivia, you just think California. You wouldn’t believe what they’re finding in the ground down there. They’re just fallin’ into it. Silver mines, gold mines, tin mines, payrolls so heavy we’d strain ourselves stealin’ ’em.
Sundance: [chuckling] You just keep thinkin’, Butch. That’s what you’re good at.
Butch: Boy, I got vision, and the rest of the world wears bifocals.
Yesterday we had a couple of hiccups, but we feel good, and we’re close.
We all know Bochy isn’t saying anything controversial over the air or for publication. And his players love him for it and respect that. He’s not going, “Well this guy swung at bad pitch/this guy didn’t swing at good pitch/Posey called a crummy game” yada yada. Surprised this still bugs people after all these years.
Dean Smith was an excellent coach for a long time. After his team won NCAA championship (with frosh guy named Jordan), he said words to effect, “All of a sudden I’m a lot smarter.” Feel the same way about Bochy—when the moves don’t work out, easy to second guess and say he doesn’t have a clue.
He didn’t throw the pitch Wood hit out, Kontos did. And he doesn’t have a bat in his hands either.
Willedav’s right!
Fair points, but let’s see how many starts Cain gets next year. Bochy’s managing in the second half helped cost the Giants the division title and put them in this Wild Card pickle where Smardj is pitched in game 2.
I predict Cain is allowed to go 1-5 before he’s shut down with a real or phantom injury.
In other words, we’re going to spot the Dodgers 5 games right from the get-go next season because of the $21 million.
I’m with zum.
No free pass to Bochy for crap management the second half. FO had their hand in it, too. Big contracts rule the Giants lineup. Not saying it doesn’t happen elsewhere, but after 3 seasons of crap and injury, its time Cain gets cut loose, and move on. And, where the hell was Blach, throwing pitches in Sac while PeavaCain stunk out the joint in the second half? And, Casillalater endless 9th inning “confidence” boosts till the ATT crowed had to boo his ass coming IN before Bochy got the message. Still, Bochy brings him in last night while theoretically the team is still in the game, and almost almost gives up an immediate dinger. Nuts.
I hope Bochy manages his ass off to another WS right now, then retires to his boat in Diego…
Go Nats today!
I’m not saying Bochy didn’t do some highly questionable things, relying Casilla as closer far too long being one of them.
But what about bringing Lincecum out of the pen vs. Reds with zero warning? Or starting much maligned Zito vs. STL?
When the players make it work you’re a genius. when you bring Osich in to get one LH out and he beans him, you’re a dope and all the second guessers are all over you.
I was wondering the same thing BF did — Samardz supposedly has this great mix of pitches now, and wasn’t using them. Krukow said the same thing while the BS was in progress. WTF? He doesn’t want to show the changeup and curve until he’s out of the game? I’d like to know the pitch planning on that — and where is Posey on it. I get tired of Posey getting ass-kissed constantly for calling great games, and then when this kind of thing shows up — hey, no mention of maybe he’s not calling a very good game, or waking up the pitcher to get his head in the game…
If the team was hitting, most of this stuff wouldn’t be an issue…
Bochy managed the second half team like it WAS hitting…
Or maybe like he was expecting them to start hitting?
I think many of us did. I just can’t get mad at Bochy…
Sorry, several paragraphs here… Steve, thanks for that, one of my favorite films. I use that line in real life from time to time, “You just keep thinking, it’s what you’re good at”…. George Roy Hill (who also directed the Vonnegut novel Slaughterhouse Five into a tremendous film, as well as Garp and The Sting) was great.
Willie is right, as is everyone else who keeps saying that it’s up to the players, which it is. My favorite Bochy quote ever was in response to a reporter’s question during a time of inconsistency, under-performance, etc., which really could’ve been any recent season, and the question was about which players Bochy thought might be playing more, or less, just trying to get a read on the team’s strategy, and Bochy said something like “The guys who will be playing are the guys we put out there.” End of story. Can’t argue with that. And generally, he’s been right a lot.
What seems to be different this season, and now already this post-season, is how “we”, the fans, have questioned his moves more this time around, and mostly been more right. Obvious example, Casilla… more recently, Smarge in game 2 instead of Moore.. I think Bochy has had enough and won’t be back as manager, but it would be great to see him go out a winner again.
In the meantime, game 3 looks like a win, right? Has to be. After that, winning 2 more, 3 in a row AGAIN, would be just amazing, and I love the pitching set up with Bum, Moore, and Cueto again. Fucking pull out all the Saran Wrap if that happens. But, kinda feeling like it’s probably the Cubbies’ year, and good for them.
I hope Hill gets hit with a liner on the kneecap after he does that annoying kick thing.
Or a Lobaton 3-run HR will do.
Well, we survived a Cantiago appearance. That might be not so good, if Bochy is tempted to ask him out on another date. The replay review is stooopid. I’ve said it before. A runner loses contact with the bag for a nano-millisecond and he’s out. Human eyes are for human plays. But, hey, it saved Casilla’s chorizo.
it’s just an awful part of replay. I’m not sure how you can fix that tho
The great Aaron Pryor has passed away at age 60…
Sorry to hear that. He was a fine fighter.
We need offense. I like GH’s idea of Encarnacion at first base. Whether he’d sign with the Giants or not is debatable, or whether he’d be a good fit for an NL club, but this ridiculous dearth of offense has got to be addressed.
If not Encarnacion, then another free agent bat of some note. I just can’t believe how hard it is, and has been most of the season, to score runs. With mostly good pitching this season, it’s maddening. So many wins left on the field, either because of shit bullpen work or lack of runs. With the franchise flush with cash it’s time to open up the purse strings.
Agreed about offense. Imo, Giants seriously overvalued many of their players. Duffy and Panik sucked, CF combo of Span and Blanco was a fail, Pagan was OK but is basically done and you have to wonder how much Pence has left and how many games he can play in a season. Time to make some changes.
Haven’t even gotten near SPs and pen guys Evans and team thought they could win with. Smith Moore and Nunez good pickups but not earth shattering.
Loo, you posted last night about Wrigley looking like shit at night, which is something I was thinking from the first pitch of game 1. It’s like it’s half dark there. Day games should the norm in that park. The lighting sucks.
I’m glad you agree. It looks awful on TV…
It makes you wonder if it’s harder for the hitters to see the ball.
Losing a game like the one Cueto pitched the other night is pathetic. The dude was brilliant, better than Lester if you ask me. The Giants just couldn’t cash in on the early hits. You get performances like that on a playoff run, you should be winning WS. He was lights out. And I also would’ve preferred to see Moore last night. He’s been very good lately. Bum, Cueto and Moore should get you a long way IF you can score some bloody runs.
If you really get real about this, guys like Blanco and Gorkys Hernandez — it’s a joke these guys are counted on for serious playing time. Gorkys Hernandez? All glove, not much hit. Giants need a large overhaul in the OF in the offseason. They’ve got one of the weakest ass hitting outfields in MLB. Pence, maybe due to injury, has been pretty much a nothing this year. He’s been awful at the plate recently. — 2/12 in October, with .167 OBP. Throw a slider into the dirt in his area code, and he swings at it. Blame his chick, blame him or his Paleo diet, whatever, he’s been a real disappointment…
Greg Gumbel’s Real Sports show had a piece the other night about going full time to automated balls and strikes calling. Eric Byrnes was the guy they talked to most about it and he’s all for it. They also presented a lot of eye-opening statistics compiled by a stats guy that don’t paint the HP umps in the best light. A LOT of pitches are missed. Using the current technology would all but eliminate balls and strikes controversy.
I’ve always fancied myself a purist and before watching that show I would have pooh-poohed the idea big time, but the evidence is compelling. One big point I took away from it is that the home team has a decided advantage in getting close calls and this from analyzing thousands of calls.
I don’t know how it’d be implemented and the umps are 100% against it, of course, but with replay now a part of MLB games, for better or for worse, I was wondering what you guys thought about it, and I mean thinking about it on its merits alone. Just curious.
FWIW, Gumbel was vehemently against it on the grounds of tradition alone.
I am totally for robo-ump behind the plate.
They used one in Marin last season in an independent league game, and Bruce Jenkins said after a few innings, it was perfectly fine, and nobody cared. I don’t need a sample game or two, I’m fine with umps going away right now. I wouldn’t miss for one second Cowboy Joe West making bad calls behind the plate. These ridiculous calls, totally inconsistent, need to go away. Let the player’s play. Time for these phat phuck egomaniac umps to disappear, along with their own personal strike zones. The view of the umps on this is totally irrelevant, IMO. BF would he pleased so he wouldn’t hear Kruk pull from his rear end the lame description’s of each ump’s zone before every game…
Baseball needs to use it as a teaching tool to the umps. Last night the low pitches weren’t even close to a strike, and the players new it. If they use the technology to teach and then institute a demotion if the umps don’t improve, like sending them down to the minors then it would work. As long as the umpire union has control, we as fans and the players get to see crappy calls. In the NFL if an official consistently makes bad calls they get sent back to the college ranks.
Right now they do, Kevin, at least to some degree. But an average of around 15% of balls and strikes calls are wrong, and this depends on the source you’re referencing. With the camera tech it would be near 0% (as I understand it). Some of these calls are affecting the outcomes of games and really there’s no case to be made for that happening, especially in the post season.
This article is a coupe of years old, but still relevant. Some of what snarkk mentioned is talked about, e.g. the individual strike zone:
http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2014/1/27/5341676/how-well-do-umpires-call-balls-and-strikes
A follow on article that is really good.
http://grantland.com/features/ben-lindbergh-possibility-machines-replacing-umpires/
It raises a scenario of an ump having a red/green light inside his mask, that will help “guide” him to the right call. Very interesting. Though I’m not sure I agree with the conclusion that an ump is correct about 95% of the time calling balls and strikes. My point is we now allow teams to question virtually all calls by umps via replay. We could allow that as well, for say 3X a game, where the Fx machine would be questioned by a team on a big call strike three or ball four…
Snarkk, the 95% sounds like the numbers put forth by MLB in defense of the umpires. Independent studies put it closer to 85% right.
If you think about it, you’d still have to have a body behind the plate for foul balls, plays at the plate, etc. So the green/red light in the mask is intriguing, because not much would change from a spectator’s perspective.
If it wasn’t for the advancement of technology, none of this would be an issue. The umpires aren’t getting worse, the technology is just so much better than in the past. With the “k zone’s” and all the other improved camera angles, we’re just now noticing how “wrong” umpires actually are. To continue using humans when the alternative is so much better, it just doesn’t make sense.
Alright Nats tie it up. Woulda been toast going to L.A. down 0-2.
It would be fun to see Bumgarner stare down an electronic robot…
Nats winning is a nice development today.
Why is the Tex-Tor game in Spanish?
Ah, the English version is on TBS. I am guessing the Canadian version is on FS1.
Awesomely bad make-up job.
And I’m talking about the debate moderators. Oh snap!
I watched 5 min of the debate and turned it off. Same stupid shit over and over. And I can’t stand Trump’s face.
my dad calls Angel Pagan simply “pagan” but he pronounces it way you would use it as a noun with the heathen definition. And he has a super thick country drawl and he can’t stand Pagan and every time he says his name I laugh out loud.
That is all, good night.
It’s his Pagan ritual.
Ouch!