A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball

The minor leaguers just keep on getting cycled through this 170 million dollar lemon and Calixte is the newest *guy* to taste the big leagues. I’d never heard of him before. He sounds like the name of a dusty town in Mexico you’d buzz through on the way to mas Bohemias in Puerta Vallarta.

Flannery drunk posted some pretty decent Strick thoughts last night. More of the old guys need to remember this mindset and the young guys need to look in the mirror and see if they can even have a mindset like this. If they Giants are going to continue to lose and be one of the worst teams in the league it would be nice if they could at least save a little dignity and honor their past and current World Series winners by getting rid of Strickland. He didn’t do much to help us win in 2014 as he was too busy serving up meatballs to Harper. And now his stupid vendetta is a huge distraction and a bad vibe for a team desperate for good ones….

Who was worse yesterday? Idiot Strickland for doing a slow burn on a thousand day old grudge that was his fault to begin with? Or Posey who watched men fighting the same way we did through our tv? There is also an argument that both were equally in the wrong.

Posey had to do something. Even if you don’t want to fight, you can’t just watch for as long as he did. He had to do something. It can’t be that he makes a lot of money and because of that he’s not allowed to go out there. Smarge has a 70 million dollar deal and he flew into that scrum like a linebacker playing in his last college bowl game. Smarge was Candy Maldonado reincarnated and it was fantastic.

If you’re Posey and 2 things happen immediately 1) you knew he was gonna do it and/or 2) you didn’t think Harper was going to go out there, it’s reasonable to assume he wouldn’t react immediately. But to just stand there motionless, for several seconds, and then jog out to the pile only to do an quick bee line jump to the left of it, I dunno….that’s pretty weak, man. Plus, he had on all his catchers gear. He couldn’t have been more protected if he’d gone out there in bubble wrap.

There is no defense for what Strick did. He put a stupid grudge above the team and above winning. Here’s an idea dipshit: try getting the guy out for once. He has now endangered his fellow teammates who are now targets for retaliation and he endangered the teammates who had to awkwardly drag him off the field. It’s disappointing we don’t have a bullpen that can withstand his demotion.

Frankly, if you are looking at who you want in your “fox hole” I don’t think you want either guy. One is afraid to fight and one is all about himself and simmering on shit that has nothing to do with the team or winning.

It was a stupid event that masked another embarrassing performance by our offense. As fans who want to see the team start winning consistently, yesterday was a complete waste of time.

It was fun to win a series but last time I checked there aren’t any 42 year old men playing for the Nats. This is going to be a much different test. We miss Stras but that really isn’t that big of a deal since pretty much anyone can shut down our offense. The task at hand will be to see if our pitchers can contain the best offense in either league. They did just have to fly all the way across the continent with no off day so maybe we catch them a little sluggish today. We’ll see.

For me, this is kind of make or break for Johnny Blisters. If he can’t carve up the Braves line up at home, any additional starts will just be given to him on a hope and a prayer. Our starting pitching really is kinda cobbling itself together. But without Motorcycle Man we need Cueto to step into something resembling an ace. I don’t think it’s realistic or fair to expect that out of Smarge or Moore but those 2 guys, plus Blach and Cain, could be reliable enough going forward.

But let’s get it going TODAY. Pop a bottle of Valtrex. Or two. Do what you need to do. It’s time.

As I am known for my silver linings and sunny disposition, I’d like to start the thread by noting that it took that journeyman pitcher 83 pitches to shut us out over 6 innings—well off his pace from 7 years ago. So we are getting to him. In 10-20 years I bet we hit the shit out of that guy……

We like to complain about the offense, I don’t know a fan base who doesn’t. But when I say this is the worst offense I’ve ever seen as a Giants fan, I don’t think I’m overstating it.

Worse yet, this team is boring as hell.

Do you guys have games you remember for absolutely no reason? Every time I see Jaime Garcia’s name, I think of this game:

Back in 2010, it was a hot day in St. Louis. Giants were coming off a long road trip. It was a Sunday. And Jaime Garcia went through us like a hot knife through butter. 89 pitches. He was positively Greg Maddux-like.

Of course, we won the World Series that year. But I remember feeling a great sense of disdain for our team that day.  Just for the hell of it I went back to the archives to gauge the mood of Flappers that day. It was not good:

Garcia is a guy who always labors! It’s one of the reason he never gets deep into games. Yet he sails through our line up in 89 pitches. Get-a-way day, looking forward to getting home, hot ass day after a night of boozing….all this = one thing: we mailed this one in. Too bad the media guys can’t tell us what the team really spent the night doing last night….

There were a lot of characters back then, take a look for yourself:

https://oneflapdown77.com/2010/08/22/l-incecum/#comments

Anyway, Jaime Garcia, the ultimate journeyman, is pitching against us again tonight. Different location. Different weather. Different team. Once a young man, he’s now in the twilight of his underwhelming career.

Just please don’t let him shut us out again in 89 pitches……

Yikes. 11 games out? Swear to God, today was the first time I’ve checked to see how many games out we are. Not good, but not impossible, especially since it’s still May. Surprisingly, I don’t see our ragged relief core as the main problem. Their collective ERA of 3.97/WHIP of 1.39 is right there with our SP’s ERA of 4.57 and WHIP of 1.30. Imagine if we had Romo and Casilla still on the team. You add their ERA together, you get 12.30 and anyone who misses them….come on, you don’t really miss them.

The next month is going to be all about Cueto, Melancon and our outfielders. Our place in the NL west will be determined by the health and success of those guys……

I’ve given up on our line up. I’m back to the *old days* where I just count on our pitchers to throw shut outs or give up no more than 2 runs. That didn’t work out so good last night for ol’ Johnny Blisters.

Matt Moore could step up or he could get blasted again. I’m choosing to pin my hopes on him stepping up, not nibbling and throwing the ball like a boss.

After calling the Giants the worst team in the league multiple times I think it’s time to come clean on that error. They aren’t the worst. I think they’re somewhere in the lower middle, possibly RIGHT in the middle. Two things have happened: 1) I overreacted to how bad our hitters were hitting. Probably the same with the pitching. 2) The team didn’t come apart when they played so bad for so long and actually seem to be coming together a bit. Joining.

I guess both of those things happening were inevitable, especially when you have a manager who doesn’t get too high or too low across the course of a season.

Personally, I’m just glad they aren’t embarrassing themselves anymore. The faintest of rallying cries?

I’ll take it.

Four of the last 7 World Series champions play this evening in Chicago. 🙂

The Cubs have been kinda fiddle-de-doin’ their way through this season. But they are too good not to snap out of this at any moment and engage in abject domination. We are throwing Blach, Cueto, Moore and Smarge at them and that actually doesn’t look that bad when I type it. The most worrisome game is tonight so if Blach can throw something *quality-ish* we might be able to give them a game.

There has been an *organic* movement on the last couple of threads to name your most hated Giants of all time. I am still still pouring over documents (and memories) to compile my list. In terms of non-Giants/non Dodgers I hate it’s pretty easy to put John Lackey on the board. He’s right up there with Curt Shithead.

No expectations for this series. I could see us losing all 4 and not being too surprised but I could also see us winning 2 games and not having my mind blown.

Speaking of things we hate, ads on KNBR are THE WORST. If you aren’t from here you won’t be able to vote with any confidence. But go ahead and vote blindly, you can’t be wrong.

The Cash Call ad features an obnoxious guy whistling away in the background while the spokesperson says “we’ll loan you money because we trust you” lol. Ok. Thanks. Suckers.

The Cars for Kids ad features kids singing the worst song ever written.

The Hanlery ad features a dude who likes to make stupid jokes and puns about visiting San Francisco. He’s trying to be funny. He has never once been funny.

All three are awful. Vote for the worst.

I’m a terrible guest. Before this series started I told Daniel to “enjoy all the W’s coming your way this weekend.” And now look what I’ve done. Lied to a man who’s been nothing but good to us here at The Flap. I feel awful. Say a prayer at church for me today, Shop.

As Arroyo’s hit soared out towards left center in the 13th inning, I was struck by how many empty seats there were at the game. Cards fans leaving early? On a weekend? Huh?

There is obviously something wrong with Mark Melancon. He looks done in Year One. I don’t know anyone who thought this deal would look good for 4 years but to come out of the gate looking so underwhelming, hitting the shelf to rest his forearm, coming back and not looking like he can go two days in a row….I dunno. It’s not looking good for him (or us). Say, maybe the Giants could swing a deal for Casil….nevermind.

There is actual rabble on twitter about the Nats trading for Melancon. Again, WHY would they do this? Because they don’t have a closer? They knew they weren’t going to have a closer as soon as they passed on Melancon in the first place. Now they’re going to trade a prospect for him AND take on that deal AND accept a guy who looks like he’s a few throws away from another TJ?

I think not.

Great two wins in St. Louis so far. The Giants aren’t playing like the best team but they are closing the deal and that is what a winner does. ABC, baby. “Big Old Double Back” Rick taught me that one back in the day. #BODBA4Lyfe.

It was completely shocking to me that we won that game. Giving up the lead late usually means we’re left for dead. Nunie awoke at the right time. And I’ll be the first to admit I thought Melancon was done for the year–really surprising he’s come back after just a week of rest. For being one of the worst teams in the NL, and for not being surprised by that, I sure am being surprised lately. :0 🙂 🙂

It’s Preakness Day so I’ll catch you guys on the flip side.

There’s a good chance we see a lot of rain over the next couple of days in St. Louis so expect delays. I know it’s a *way of life* for people out there but I couldn’t imagine living in a place where I was always having to run for cover.

It is time for “The Nunies” on this team to step up. The Nunies are different from The Bowker Gang in one specific way: they have more talent than those guys but possibly less drive. The Great and All Powerful and All Knowing and Sometimes Hustling Nunie is chapter president. Our entire reliever core as well as Moore and Samardzija are his disciples. Look, these guys are playing on the San Francisco Giants now, not the freaking Twins or the Rays or the A’s. They need to start playing like WINNERS. Scutaro and Huff and Burrell and Morse and Voggy and all those GREAT Giants from the recent past weren’t very good stat guys. But there were all winners when it counted most. And while this isn’t the post season there is no more margin for error. We can’t have any more of this fiddle-de-do bullshit and go 1-6 on this trip.

Show who you are NOW. If you can’t do it, you can’t do it. Greatness isn’t for everyone. When Pence gave his speech in Cincinnati back in 2012 I now realize it wasn’t so much the speech that was the catalyst but rather it was the guys who were effected by the speech. Those guys had it in them to be great.

Pence could *speech* Nunie up till the cows come home and the helmet would still fly off when he runs. But we need more than discarded helmets scattered around the infield…..

After laying down to Kershaw with that joke line up yesterday, we head to St Louis for a 3 gamer followed up with a 4 gamer in Chicago. This could get ugly.

I’ve been emailing back and forth with Daniel about the series. Here are a few from him, feel free to respond below. I’m sure he’ll check in regularly today. These are just questions he asked at the end of each email, I’m not including my responses but you can probably guess what they are based on his questions. Ha.

Pick a question or two and respond in the comment section. It’s always great to get a respectful opinion from a different fan base than your own.

1. All right, let’s go ahead and kick this off, if you are up for it.  The Giants have scuffled so far this year, though I’ll pass along thanks for sweeping the Reds this past weekend.  Back before the season I asked if this was going to be a pitching-focused, score-just-enough team.  Has that been the case and the scoring just hasn’t actually been enough?
2. So who is doing well for the Giants?  Is there a player or two that folks cling to as hope (or at least make the games more watchable)?
3. What about Bochy?  From the outside looking in it seems like he should be one that is always well-received.  Is that the case as the team struggles?  Does he get some of the blame for the retreads or is most of that ire directed upstairs?
4. If we’re talking rivals, the Dodgers seem to be off to a pretty good start. Y’all are hosting them for three games starting tonight–would taking two of three give some hope to this squad, especially after the sweep this weekend?  The Dodgers are still the team to beat, right–or is anyone buying into Colorado or Arizona?
5. That’s a tough sentiment to have this early in the year.  I’m not saying you are wrong, by any means, but it’s rough if that’s true before you even get to the traditional Memorial Day marker.  It’s not something the Giants are all that familiar with over the past few years either, given all their success.  How does that affect your watching and following the team the rest of the way?  How do you stay sane?
6. A great attitude to have. Is there a point where the club will start, in fact if not in name, start waving the white flag and bring up whatever is on the farm? The All-Star break, perhaps?
7. And, if nothing else, you get to watch Buster Posey all the time.  Looks like he’s off to another good start.  Does he still occasionally play some first base and are there still conversations about when he’ll move more to the corner and less from behind the plate?
8. It sounds like Belt is a polarizing figure, if your comments and this article are compared.  I remember when he was coming up as the hot prospect, then the guy that couldn’t get playing time.  Did the club not develop him correctly or is this more on the player?
9. So what’s your prediction for this weekend?  Right now it looks like Matt Moore vs. Michael Wacha on Friday, Jeff Samardzija vs. Carlos Martinez on Saturday, and TBA vs. Adam Wainwright on Sunday.

Nine starts into the season, the Blach/Bum tandem finally got their first W. Well done boys. Belt led the way and we need more of that unless you think a heaping scoop of Parmesan Cheese is what this salad needs. If Kruk’s got the morning show today I’m looking forward to hearing about all of the high fastballs Belt missed last night.

Here’s a partial list of the things I was wrong about this year:

1. Buster Posey is done
2. Matt Cain is done
3. The Giants are done…..

John Shea had a great tweet last night about these dopes in the left field bleachers.

I give the group props for organizing something that big but disappointed that it was allowed to happen. The Giants obviously sold them the section and I would have hoped that at least a few questions got asked before it was purchased. If ISIS buys up an entire section of the stadium do the Giants ticket sellers just merrily hand over the seats? Also, how did they get that flag in?

I’m just glad we don’t have to eat Rooster shit today. I can only imagine how long the concession stand line was for him last night.

Man, I should spend more time in Sacramento. When I left we were the worst team in the NL. I come back, now we’re 3rd worst—and out of last place in the West!!!!!

Cain with another opportunity tonight to cement his hold on Comeback Player of the Year (although Thames might have something to say about that).

I agree with Loo, the color pink has gone too far in these mother’s day games. These dudes aren’t barbie dolls dressed up by 3 year old girls. And why is it ok drape pink all over a guy in the batters box, something that HAS to be distracting for the pitcher, but the pitcher can’t even have a necklace dangling out of his shirt?

But whatever, have a great day, go be nice to the moms out there. They put up with a lot of shit.

Spam had a good game and Belt hit a rare bomb and yet we still lost. The Giants problem, I should say one of their problems, is that they don’t have enough guys who actual produce anything on a game to game basis. That sounds obvious as well as hard to measure. But tell me I’m wrong. Every single game the box score is filled with a bunch of zeros and ones across all categories.

Take a look at this:

That’s Billy Ham’s last 11 games. He’s scored at least one run in 11 games in a row. That is called producing. I know this is a hard concept to process for a Giants fan since we don’t have anyone who does this. Do we have a guy on our team who has scored a run in even 3 games in a row? Maybe Posey when he hit 3 bombs in a row in NY? That has to be the only one. Ham has scored in ELEVEN straight. You can’t win games if you don’t score runs. That is fact.

So blame last night on Strickland or whoever. The easiest thing in the world to do is find a player on this team to dislike. They are literally everywhere. We are going to keep having maddening games like last night, where one or 2 guys do ok, the rest stink and we finally lose because of two simple words:

We Suck.

With no travel day to lick our wounds from a horrendous road trip, we stumble back home to face the Reds who we probably have a better chance of hanging with in our yard.

We get B-Craw back and that might trigger a little something.

As always, Bronson Arroyo is awful so there’s meat to pick off this bone if the hitters choose to……

Interesting note: Of their last 9 losses, only one of them has been by 1 run. So not only are we losing but the 1.5 point spread that is pretty typical in baseball lines wouldn’t even help us.

Cain today vs one of the worst left handers in the league.

So I think we know how this is gonna go down…..

The Big Black Dildos hung another L on us and that should be enough to give any Flapper the wickedest of migraines.

That team can’t even locate all their goddamn pitchers and the ones they can find are hurt and refusing medical attention.

And yet, they beat us.

I’m nearing the end of my rope with Matt Moore. We traded for him to be a #3, if we were lucky a #2, and he’s pitching about as well as Matt Duffy might pitch if Bochy ordered him to the mound for mop up duty in a 20-2 thrashing.

First of all, you simply can’t drill a guy when you have him 0-2. That’s inexcusable. And to be completely oblivious to a pick off play tells me one of two things: Either he’s spaced out and not focused on the moment in the game or he’s overly tunnel focused on each pitch–the equivalent of gripping a bat too tightly.

Neither is preferred and he needs to figure his shit out. He was gifted a fantastic opportunity when he was traded away from the wasteland of Tampa Bay to the historic San Francisco Giants and their pitcher-friendly park. He needs to do his job and stop acting like he’s at Flopicana Field or wherever the fuck the Rays play…..

This will be a fun series. I’ve always wondered what happens when a shit product collides with a shit show. I guess today we’ll find out.

Stat check:

Giants are last in the NL in home runs and OPS. They are last in runs scored. They are 3rd to last in SB’s (but might as well be last now that Nunie doesn’t get on base or run hard anymore). And they are 1/100th of a point away from last place in ERA (4.81 to Atlanta’s 4.82).

Park factors and OPS+ get thrown around here sometimes as a way to defend our joke-hitters and I’ll counter with this: The Giants have played in 3 bandboxes this year–Colorado, AZ and Cinn. They’ve been outscored 86-34 (I heard this on the radio this morning, I may be off by a run or two). So let’s stop talking about our offense being stifled by big bad AT&T Park. Our offense SUCKS regardless of the venue.

Their upside is that they haven’t suspended any of their players lately and no pics of massive dildos in their locker stalls have hit the internet.

So there’s that.

I’m on board with the drunken ramblings of Tim Flannery posted by Zumiee at the end of the last thread. I listen to a lot of KNBR talk radio and the fans are pissed off. He makes a fair point to note that hard work goes into any success and failure the team has in a given year. And *the baseball gods* probably don’t get enough credit for our 3 in 5.

I’m trying to remember how I used to feel pre-3in5 when we would lose consistently. Probably the most recent years were just after Barry left in 2008. He was gone but we had been bad for at least 4 or 5 years. That was also right around the time I found blogging and I want to say the team didn’t piss me off nearly as much as Twinfan did at the Splash. lqtm. So back then it was really more about arguing with fans who pissed me off, not the play of the team.

Before that we were good for several years. The last bad stretch was ’94–’96 and I don’t really remember getting pissed off at the team. But that was a long time ago, maybe I did.

It seems like a sense of entitlement has taken over most Giants fans. We won 3 in 5 so now it’s supposed to happen every year. And when it doesn’t, fans get PISSED. I don’t have it in me to get pissed at the Giants sucking. Three in five took all that out of me. Why am I not reacting like the masses who call up KNBR throwing bitch-fits at the team being so awful? I don’t know.

I get irritated with what I believe to be front office hubris that failed to address obvious holes on the team. But I’m not getting irate or throwing a tantrum. So does that make me a bad fan? Or just different?

The Reds aren’t very good but as I said in the last two main threads, we were doomed to have trouble with them. They have speed and they have power, two things that elude us. Plus they know how to play in that park. And walking them 12 times? Sorry, but that is just pitching scared, pure and simple.

Derby Day. I have a fairly sizable outcome from the futures if Irish War Cry wins. So while the masses play him at what I think might be the post time favorite, I have him locked in at significantly higher odds. I also really like Thunder Snow. Who you like Trotter? Who you like?????

What a day this is. Favorite day of the year…..

Radar looking like a decent amount of rain passing through Cinn during the game. Sog up those bathpaths, might slow Billy Ham down a little. Cain vs Arroyo? 2012 revisited.

Derby weekend so I am going to be pretty busy but will always have time for The Flap.

Gotta give Smarge a huge amount of credit for last night. That is how we have to win games. It’s not realistic to expect our SP to go 8 shutout with 11 k’s but he pulled an anti-Moore out of the hat and for that he gets props.

Travel day before a pain in the ass series in Ohio. Not looking forward to that one.

You know, the Giants really aren’t so bad if you don’t watch them. Yeah, I discovered this last night while not watching them. The Warriors were in cruise control and it was nice to watch a pro team I like perform professionally.

My current problem is the box score. I was checking the box score fairly regularly and that wasn’t nice or fun. So I might have to cut that out. The Cardinals game is probably gonna get rained out today. We need more games like that on our schedule.

The calendar has barely crept into May and I’m already sick of this team. The idea of trading Belt was floated at the end of the last thread. Yes please! I doubt he’d bring much but I am ready to blow this half-assed play up. Preferably starting with the front office. Three championships doesn’t give you free reign to lackadaisically smoke the most copious amounts of pole the rest of your careers.

Anyway, try to muster up an argument that this isn’t the worst team in baseball. You can’t. With this payroll that’s a fucking embarrassment.

I give Krukow a lot of sh!t, I should probably give him credit, too. On his morning show yesterday he was blathering away about the calendar changing and what a great impact that COULD have on the team. Murph was nearly laughing at him but Kruk stayed with it and kept talking about the team’s fragile psyche and that if the Giants could just beat Kershaw it could change everything. For a second I thought I was listening to a Marty Lurie caller. Beat Kershaw. Harump!

And then they went out and beat Kershaw……

There have been so many great things about this blog over the years. I’m not going to make a list, you guys know what they are. Sometimes though, it’s just for the laughs. And when your team stinks or maybe you’re just in a rut in your own life, it’s good to just laugh. This made me laugh:

So Arroyo’s new nickname is Dough Boy and he looks like Pete Rose but only if an elevator landed on him. Got it.

And this season, for many reasons, just got a little easier on the eyes…….

I am generally a pretty positive person. I just don’t ignore reality. I’m trying to find something to hang on to that looks like hope for the 2017 Giants season and I’m just not seeing anything realistic to grasp.

Marty Lurie likes to do a show where he has caller finish sentences. I think he does this to focus them and lessen the chances they go on some dumb fan-tangent. One of the sentences he floated yesterday: “The Giants still have a chance this year because….” One person said “because there are still 136 games left.”

Sorry, that one doesn’t work for me. That’s just a fantastic opportunity to go 36-100 the rest of the way.

In order for optimism to bloom there has to be something the team is good at. Even one thing. Let’s take a look at what we aren’t good at. It’s pretty encompassing.

1. We are slow. We are last in the NL in SB’s with 11 and now that Nunie is jogging the bases instead of flying around like his helmet’s on fire I expect that number to sit quietly where it is.
2. We are weak. We are last in the NL in HR’s with 16.
3. We don’t get on base. We are 2nd to last in OBP checking in at a pathetic .289. We are ahead of only the Padres who have been kicking the shit out of us this year….
4. We are bad at pitching. Our team ERA is 4.45. That is 10th in the NL and behind the Brewers and the Phillies. Think for a second how bad our pitching has to be to be BEHIND those 2 homer happy parks.
5. We lead the NL in blown saves with 5. So even if we do some how luck our way into a lead we blow it.

And there you have it. There are 136 games left. How many would need to be left for us to win 90 games if these 5 points hold true? 220? 500? More?