A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball

Xoot’s updates on Stix are more interesting than anything I can find about the Giants and their attempt to improve the roster….

Here’s a #freestix! RPOTD for you music fans. While he sings the blues, you get to enjoy this epic post. There’s also a pretty rad typo in this, see if you can spot it.

Dylan was born in Duluth, probably within yards of Highway 61. It has long struck me that the “God said to Abraham, kill me a son” line was referent to his own Bris. Zimmerman in ’65 was the kinda guy who would have questioned even that foundational aspect of Jewish culture. Also on the Highway 61 album appears what i consider to be the greatest single English language poem of the 20th Century, “Desolation Row”. It may have been a bit easier for me to understand than for most folks as i spent that summer of ’65 hanging out in the Village and thus was able to catch many of the nuances which slip past most listeners without that cultural baggage. At a later date the late, great Lou Rawls captured something of the same essence of the NYC scene of that era which, in some senses, was a precursor to SF’s Summer of Love in his “Walk on the Wild Side”.

For like 3 seconds I actually considered the Giants signing the recently non-tendered Chris Carter. I slapped myself back into focus but I DID consider it.

#FreeStix! RPOTD

If i wanted to go skiing it would be simply a matter of walking out the back door and strapping them on. That is one advantage of living here on the edge of the tundra. Disadvantages too. This morning at nine it was two below ~ here, not in Tupelo. Though i did see recently where a Mississippi town set an all-time low recently. Yesterday, so did Weaverville, Cali, wherever the eff that is ~ probably in the Sierras or somewhere near. Been one crazy winter.

The Niners have now lost 10 in a row and it blows my mind that the radioheads are finding positives in yet another loss. There is no way to fix this. Draft picks? Hahahaha!!!!!! TB will just draft more shit to stain the great legacy of the 49ers. I mean, “The One and 10ers.”

#FreeStix! RPOTD (change it to “Looking forward to being on the lamb…” and the post gets funnier)

Still kinda chilly for baseball in the desert. Teams there are lucky though. We’re expecting 18 below zero tonight up here in the northwoods as March blew in with a bitter NW wind. Looking forward to the lamb at the end of the month, as well as Lincecum’s first victory of the season down in LaLaLand.

This makes a lot more sense to me:

Contrary to Drellich’s report, the Giants have not talked about reacquiring Sandoval, according to Chris Haft of MLB.com. General manager Bobby Evans expects Nunez to serve as the team’s primary third baseman next year and is focusing his efforts on finding a closer, writes Haft. Club executives aren’t allowed to discuss acquiring players who are under contract elsewhere, but Evans did address the Sandoval situation, telling Haft, “I’m not aware of any consideration of a reunion, but we’ll never forget all that he meant to the Giants organization.”

Now maybe Evans is engaging in damage control, not wanting “internal discussions” to hit the papers. Or maybe they discussed it internally the same way they discussed what sandwiches they should get for their Monday afternoon meeting. Who knows? I would take Pablo back for depth and if Boston picked up most of the rest of his deal. But it seems everyone is forgetting the bridges he burned on the way out of here. I doubt Bochy and everyone else forgot about that.

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Had to go with this post for #freestix! RPOTD. Instead of torches and pitchforks you could substitute “fake gun fingers and rakes”….. lqtm.

STRIKE ONE on the new commissioner. If he backs the Dink Hitter rule for the NL that will be strike four and time for torches and pitchforks.

This was a pretty funny tweet I ran across this morning:

Gonna take a break from the musings of our license plate makin’ maestro and talk about something I’ve always wondered about: where do you guys go? I’m not talking about leaving the house, walking the earth, that kind of stuff. Where do you go when you leave town? I’ve been around the world but as I’ve aged I find myself sticking closely to the west coast. This slice of the earth is my favorite and I will never tire of visiting my west coast cities and towns.  I’m hoping one day I get to travel somewhere with San Dawg and Harvey. Here they are yesterday. Diggity, let’s toss our sticks in the back and head north to Bandon. That would be a fun 2 week trip……

This is what I’m getting from mlbtraderumors.com these days:

The Giants haven’t had serious talks with relievers Javier Lopez, Sergio Romo or Santiago Casilla, CSNBayArea.com’s Alex Pavlovic reports.

In a related breaking story, the Giants also haven’t had serious talks with relievers Big Flavor, Snarkk, Zumiee or Blade’s new bride…..

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#FreeStix! RPOTD

djloo: Betcha yer not old enough to remember Arnie Johnson of the R. Royals. He was from my hometown. One of his nephews owns a huge chunk of Bosch and Lomb as an inheritance from Arnie who married into the family.

Whattya gimmie for an NFL Sunday? I have been grinding through this season. Part of it is that the Niners are nearly unwatchable. The rest of it is the putrid product across the board. And the penalties. I can’t deal with some of these penalties. The celebration flags are the worst thing in all of sport. If it weren’t for DFS I doubt I’d even watch. NFL would be like a step above hockey to me…..

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Decided to pull a Stix post from the Summer. Enough of all that cold, freezing shit.

#FreeStix! RPOTD

Were the Giants actually bored with winning all the time? Seeking to develop more drama? Bochy has, indeed, fallen into his old personal trap of playing the veterans at the expense of younger players who may represent the future for this team and have been winning their chops lately.

Flapper analysts are almost in perfect accord of doubting on regularly playing both Blanco and Span and wondering why at least one of the Parker/Williamson prospects are not seeing daily starting assignments. Something’s gotta give. If we can see this can’t management and upper management also reason out the obvious? They are paid to do that.

Said it before over a period now extending out for several years: Seriously hoping that somebody in the front office has the sense to assign one of their up and coming staffers to regularly monitor fan blogs for depth insights into what the base is thinking about the team and the way it’s run. Big Flavor’s blog is laden with up to the minute insights from the perspective of the most committed Giants fans on planet earth. If the front office does not avail themselves of this free sounding board they are, in the inimitable usage of Twinfan, “stoopid”.

As nothing continues to happen in our baseball world, I want to take this opportunity to congratulate Blade and his new bride. I believe they got married today. It’s shocking how many changes have occurred in his life over the last couple of months. They both look very happy to me…..

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#FreeStix! RPOTD

I read “Bighouse” where it says “Cathouse”.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holly Daze to all the Flappers and many thanks to Flavor for keeping this blogsite going and happening. Life in the Cathouse on Echo Ridge is pretty warm and cozy with two wood stoves going and temps outdoors actually up in the 20’s a bit. About 4″ of snow on the ground and colder weather soon to ooze in from westwards. Now it’s wash up a bit, don the outdoor boots n’ stuff and gather in some more firewood and cookstove wood. Daily chores help keep things from getting too stale. Not possible to become a total couchpotato ~ even in the most tempting time of year for such slacktivities.

As we bide our time waiting for Sabean and Evans to do something to improve the team, I continue to scour the archives for Stix posts. I started wondering what if Stix actually had no internet and in order to post here he had to write a letter to his buddy in NY (the guy who sends him cross word puzzles) and THAT guy actually is the one who uploads Stix posts. Could it be?

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#FreeStix! RPOTD

Blade: Good post. Great sentiment. Nice, the Heinlein quote.

This bunch keeps amazing me with their generalized erudition, common civility and generally upbeat attitude. Three reasons for my continued Flapperization.

I’m surprised @KateUpton took time away from fucking @JustinVerlander long enough to tweet about being the only one *allowed* to fuck him. But from their hiatus, a new thread topic is born…..

Is there a problem with the CY voting process? Maybe making the voters list off 5 pitchers is the problem. I mean, guys like Tanaka and Happ had decent years but should they be getting votes?

The other question is the number of writers who get to vote. Maybe 30 isn’t enough. Maybe they shouldn’t be writers. Or add managers?

I don’t have the answer and I’m really not that interested in the topic. Now I’m starting to wonder if she was tweeting during and THROUGH all the fucking?

So maybe they never stopped fucking?

Mind = Blown…..

#kateupton #justinverlander

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And of course it is now time for some solid gold from our potato-peelin’ pal.

#FreeStix! RPOTD

Merry Christmas to all the Flapzoners. Looking out my Northwoods window there is a sea of white flocking on the lilac bushes and the ash and apple trees. Sky is a light grey. A few lazy flakes are taking their good ol time establishing a landing-pattern. It’s nine above zero outdoors. Dogs are out on an Oouffspedition, running free around the countryside. Outdoor cats are coping after breakfast and will get some treats later. Couple of the housecats got put out, one cause he wanted out and the other to chill. Woodstove is keeping the house cozy. Breakfast was cake and icecream with hazlenut coffee. Cuppa tea and a clementine next the keyboard. Ready for a lazy day, mostly indoors.

Basking in the warm afterglow of the WS win. Last evening, driving home from a birthday party for aunt Mary Christine, her 91st, a Queen tape was playing. As i neared the driveway “WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS” was pounding outta the speakers of the ol’ pickup, distinguished by its hacker axe poised in the left front stakehole, with steel grainscoop snowshovel nearby and the 1976 Huskvarna-65 chainsaw perched between a couple small logs and some ballast rocks towards the rear.

Ahh, country living. Late afternoon lunch/supper will, according to current hankering, likely be venison-based spaghetti, with onions and jalapenos from the garden ~ or maybe, if ambition strikes, it will be based on some very nice looking scallops purchased at an old-fashioned butchershop only 25 miles from home. But the laziness may overcome the fascination, as i have zero experience in preparing scallop dishes.

Back to the woodcarving in a few minutes. Flavor, i haven’t forgotten about the ‘One Flap Down’ piece. Creative types are not as reliable as most folks. The right mood has to hit at the correct time. Will know it when it happens. Thanx again, for all the energy you have put into this site, Craig. Really did dig the “Area 51” hook for the countdown to stage one of the next SF championship.

Watching Dubs game, for some reason Steph is staying in after hurting his foot/ankle. Thought it was time for a new thread. December 2010 was a fun time to post at the Flap.

#FreeStix RPOTD!

Party down everyone. Party scene is a bit limited in my neighborhood tonight with 7″ down and blowing all over the place with a 25mph wind and temps hovering just above zero. Didn’t have plans anyway, though, so i’m sitting here, full of spaghetti, staying warm with the radiance of wood heat and basking on.

Vegas and the other oddsmakers do not seem to favor the World Champs to repeat. That’s nothing. Last year most of em figured the Giants to finish 3rd in the NL West. Maybe they’re getting into the habit of throwing their money away? Last January, i predicted the team would win 94 and play in the NLCS. Bit off in the win category and a tad conservative in the other one. It’s a bit over 3 hours to January, here, but looking at a better team going into ’11 than ’10 and weakness in the rest of the Division, i say the Giants win 100 this coming season.

Yasiel Puke elected to keep his guarantee over the next two seasons rather than opt into arbitration—confirmation from him that he agrees with me: he sucks.

Does this do anything for ya?

2 topics that will rocket a Stix post to the RPOTD: 1) any reference to his backyard and 2) any work he did back in the 60’s…..

If Chin Music is a go, will Acorn Ale be next? Jeeze how times change. When i was a tyro ad-writer in downtown Minneapolis in the Spring and Summer of ’68 I tried to talk my agency into doing the leg-work to create an entire merchandising system for a domestically-produced DARK beer. Yes, Maxine, such suds did not exist in the U.$. brewski scene at that time. Creative director was somewhat ok with the idea, but the sales side considered it a no-go. So i ended up as an ink-slinger editing a suburban newspaper a couple months later.

Creative ideas are rarely if ever appreciated by conventional minds. Thinking outta the box tends to get one boxed in.

Nothing much to report except we are favored to get Melancon which is about the least surprising development of the post season so far. If it were my money, I say fuck the left fielder and just start stacking the bullpen. Melancon AND Jansen. Why not?

Stix really had it rolling in December 2013….

#freestix! RPOTD

Greetings from the frozen North where the current temp is twenty-six degrees BELOW zero ~ almost professional level cold with only four more to drop. Both stoves going here so my league is one of the hottest around. Wood cookstove sporting a stovetop ‘bread’ or loaf containing several types of grain flours and grinds as well as onion, apple, peppers, spinach and one can from my slowly dwindling stash of pre Fuck You Shima (3-11-11) canned Alaskan pink salmon. Also a decent glop of minced garlic, salt and a dash of balsamico. Base is a blend of butter and olive oil. Cooking it slowly. Needing to flip it every now and then cus the mass is over 3″ deep. Will eat it with a raunch dressing dip.

Earlier today necessitated the rescue of a 6 month old outdoor kitten who had evidently thought a pan of warm water i’d set out for them last night was the place to warm up a bit. Her tail-section and back legs were frozen in when i wondered out there. Thawing-out process was gradual, with judicious use of stove-top and hot water. After the release i left her in a shallow pan of warm water. Not too afraid of that cause she was holding her head up strongly. After about half an hour i took her outta the now cooled water and wrapped her in a thermal longjohn bottom. She passed out for a couple hours. Incredibly, she is walking around just fine and is both eating and drinking. Curiously she tends to wanna sit right by the stove.

Life in a Cathouse is adventure enough. The outside pussy can sometimes throw you a lefthanded scewball. Amazing creatures, wot?

Connected with Dirt in Reno yesterday. Got to catch up for about an hour. Very cool dude.

Thought is was time for a new thread and this Stix RPOTD is solid gold from start to finish. Enjoy:

Damn! Whacked out weather most everywhere this season. Here in the wild, frozen Northwoods of Manysnowta i’m currently looking out at clear skies and the landscape is basking in +35 degrees of ABOVE zero temps. My head even started working a bit again. But hold your hats gang…

Low tomorrow night is projected for 29 degrees BELOW zero. That 36-40 hour switcheroo is more bipolar than a room full of yo-yos. Even in nice winters we almost never get thawing days between Christmas and New Years. 64 degree temperature variations in that short a time span. Think about it. Oh, we get steady-state stuff for a few days at the turn of the year. High Sunday will be around 9 below and all nights through New Year’s Eve will go past twenty below. Eases up some with the New Year for a few days with mostly above zero days and nights at low double-digits minus.

Is this all from geo-engineering (HAARP/chemtrails et al) working overtime, or is Mama Nature herself getting peeved and petulant? Only your hairdresser knows for sure and he/she ain’t tellin. My woodpiles suffer and so do the outdoor cats. Macouzho loves it, though. His fur thickened out this Fall into a magnificent pile and he’s always right there when i venture outdoors. Good day for that today. Maybe get back on board here this evening. Meanwhile there are shrubs to prune and more snow to heap against the walls of the old shack. Free insulation, dontcha know.

I’m out for a few days. Just checked and 580 already had protesters crawling around on it a few hours ago. Still praying those idiots stay off 880. If they shut it down, I have to drive to Millbrae and take BART to the airport. LOL. I’ve never taken BART, that would be interesting…..

Any time Stix references something in his backyard I am fucking posting it. lqtm.

#FreeStix! RPOTD

Amazing, those flips in this game. Yesterday afternoon i was in the south garden pulling out weeds and hilling the potatoes with fresh compost ~ battling all the way with the ladies of the night who were out in full force as it was a coolish, cloudy day up here in the Northwoods. Down on the knees a lot of the time and i mean to tell you Minnesota mosquitos, though not known as carrying any pathogens, are some of the nastiest ankle-biters around~ especially when one is wearing sandals. Finally got through the potatoes and it was time for a break. Knew the game was on but with those two previous mismatches between the Giants and Padres, i was in no great hurry.

Tuned into the Yahoo feed and wow! Giants up four zip. Then glanced at the lines and gasped. Seven innings and San Diego had TWO zeros posted. After another bases loaded, one out and no runs scored there came the usual reversion. Opposing team AB and switch over to the in-box to deal with what’s going on in the world and all those good causes who absolutely need my signing in on some petition or another. Dealt with some of that and then very cautiously nosed into the game feed again. Giants batting in the bottom of the 8th and same line for San Diego. Whew! Good through 8.

Curious as hell but no way was i gonna upset Jobu and break our little compact. Giants went down in the bottom of the 8th and it was now crunch time. Back to the e-mail inbox. Went through some more business but mind was not really on it. Finally got up the gumption to return to the Yahoo feed. Final score SF 4-SD 0. YaHOO indeed. Timmy!

Saw that Ian (Who?) Gardeck was added to the 40 man. Checked the 40 man to see who else I didn’t know. I saw Daniel Carbonell still on it. The lesson at the time, and it’s still a sound one, is to not try to sign a Cuban player on the cheap. Maybe 10 years ago, but scouting is too strong now. You aren’t going to find a diamond in the rough for a couple mil.

Ray (Who?) Black is on the 40 man. Checked his stats. They are a wild ride. 31 innings last year at Richmond. 32 walks. 53 K’s. lol. He’s on the 60 day DL.

Disappointed in the protests last night. Those dunderheads are literally protesting against free democratic elections. I have to fly out of Oakland tomorrow morning. If 880 is fucked up because of some stupid ass protest I am going to be pissed.

Still not even beginning to get over the incomprehensible developments from last night but I thought I’d pop a new thread up anyway. Radio guys are pushing hard for the Giants to sign Chapman. I personally don’t think Sabes would ever pull the trigger on him (lqtm) because of the area we live and the sensitivity most people here have for domestic violence issues. But who knows, I could be wrong. Did Chapman ever serve any time or lose any money or anything? If he paid some sort of debt I could get on board. But you have to think he’s going somewhere else for much more money than we offer….

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#FreeStix! RPOTD! I’m starting to run out of steam on these so brace yourself for the most recent one you read to be the last one you read….

Icelander genome is roughly half Norwegian and half Irish. Pawlie, you should run into some stunning redheads as well as the blondes. Place was founded by a bunch of Vikings whose king Harald of Norway lost out to Irish chieftan Brian Boru at the battle of Clontarf. They hoisted up their colleens, boarded their Langskips and headed off from the island they had named Ireland to the island of Iceland or “Island” in the native tongue.

I really wanted to find a good Stix post about politics or voting (or conspiracy or corruption) but a quick scan of Nov 2012 didn’t yield much. Gold Glove awards announced today. I have a hard time mustering up much enthusiasm for individual awards but I’m assuming Crawford gets one, maybe Buster finally nudges out Molina at catcher.

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#FreeStix! RPOTD

stixwiz said, on October 28, 2012 at 9:28 pm (Edit)

Several minutes ago an incredibly fast moving object was briefly tracked by radar scopes bearing WSW from Sweep City. Knowledgeable observers have surmised that it is indeed Broomhilda tracking from the scene where her boys and their Halloween Machine responded perfectly to her smallball blessings. She appears to be making a beeline for a well-known bay on the West Coast of the continent.

Broomhilda will appear in full-drag as one of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, but with one alteration to the habit. Instead of Black and White, her colors will be readily identifiable as Black and Orange, a more seasonal look and fully calculated for one Helluva party she is expected to hold an undisclosed location in the near vicinity of China Basin.

Keep your eyes to the skies, gang. Following Broomhilda’s flight a slower-moving flying craft will track a similar flight-pattern and the occupants are expected to make various public appearances to “Hallelujahs and Hosannas”. As is her wont, Broomhilda will be present, though that presence will only be known to the cognizant.

Is there any buzz about the Giants and Cespedes out west?
Back here, I’d say the media vibe is he ain’t comin’ back…

Not only is there no buzz about this but I can’t recall there being a less buzzy start to an off season. There is NOTHING getting talked about, Giants related, in the Bay Area media. I’m not actually sure what the media even does out here. The Niners are so bad the radio talk show guys seem to be actively avoiding discussing them. The Raiders get a little buzz but for a team that just took over the AFC lead, you’d think there would be more. The Dubs get most of the airtime on KNBR these days.

I will be shocked if we get Cespedes. Can’t see us being anything more than a bargaining chip for him to get a little more money somewhere else…..

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#FreeStix! RPOTD. Not a very old one or a very long one but this is a “Stix” post from beginning to end:

Z: Got my little 97 GrandAm through some half melted snow on my long driveway with the help of some wood ashes for added traction and drove to Brrrrmidji (40 miles one way) to catch a shower and do some grocery shopping. At one of the stores i checked out all the baseball mags and noted that Sporting News piece projecting SF at 97 wins in an Even year. Mucho Kewl.

Also the only other mag which did projections and predictions noted that the Giants would win the NLW. May be a bit hard to slip beneath the radar after all that, but the respect is long overdue and much welcomed.

The only good thing that came from last night is that some of those pompous Cavs fans can finally eat shit.

What a moment presented by Rajai Davis. I still can’t believe he did that.

Now please, no more tv shots of Cubs fans. Ever again.

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Stix used to get high as fuuuuuck coming up with wild trade ideas. In this one he slowly meanders his way to a haul for Carlos Quentin.

Chisox may be in teardown mode once again as Jerry Reinsdorf seems to be getting the financial jitters. Major trade just went down with Toronto. Wonder if Sabean isn’t burning up the phone lines to Chi-town to ascertain what kinda package would be needed to land Carlos Quentin. It appears he is available. Before Zito’s two latest melts, a straight swap of Sanchez for Quentin may have made sense. Now i could see Wheeler going in such a trade. Might take a B prospect or two boot money. Rowand would do okay on the southside. Maybe something like Rowand, Verdugo, Gillaspie would get the job done.

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And with that, another baseball season is in the books. I am fine watching this one go. Too many “what ifs” for me to be missing baseball right now. Hot stove season is upon us. This was always a great time for Stix. I’m gonna miss his posts about freezing pussy and all the rest of it. I’m out of town till next Mon so this thread will probably stand strong till then.

No better time for the Cubs to extend their record of suckitude. Maddon is riding Chapman harder than Stix riding hoes in the whorehouse after he finally gets released. Ok, I reached for that one…..

Anyone watching this game tonight? What sweet irony it would be if Cleveland blew a 3-1 lead….

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#FreeStix! RPOTD

That image of Huddy’s “balls dancing in the dirt” could be sold to some porn maker, featuring a Miss Pigpen rolling around in the mud and Huddy jumping into the action.

There are a lot of things I’d like Hunter Pence to stop doing with that wacky chick he’s been engaged to FOREVER but this video made me laugh.

Of course I’d like to see his focus get back on to baseball, something that seems to take second place in his life since he started making stupid videos with his goofy girlfriend, but that was gold. Solid gold. Great movie, too.

Here’s a family man with a lot of shit going on but it’s nice, normal shit. And he still has plenty of time to focus on his craft:

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#FreeStix! RPOTD–probably not feeling in the catbird’s seat these days  😦

Consider the fate of the Yankees fans. They were on top of the world for decades, to the point where they all took it for granite and became blase about the whole matter. Now that the Giants may be virgin on being the dominant team in baseball those of us who went through nothing less than DECADES of futility and floundering finally find ourselves in the catbird seat. And it feels good.