Winning Any Way, We’ll Take Them

Posted in Uncategorized by Flavor on May 23, 2017

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.

103 comments

103 Responses

Subscribe to comments with RSS.

dirtnrocksnomo said, on May 23, 2017 at 6:52 am

Maybe Posey should yell at Belt more often.
- Flavor said, on May 23, 2017 at 6:56 am
  
  I imagine it happens plenty when the cameras aren’t rolling. Dirt, next Reno trip is July 2-10 if you’re up there,hit me up
  - dirtnrocksnomo said, on May 23, 2017 at 7:10 am
    
    Poor Brandon, so misunderstood. I’m actually impressed with Bochy putting him in the 3 hole despite his early struggles.
    
    I’ll be in south lake during that week. Hitting Reno in august sometime.
  - Flavor said, on May 23, 2017 at 8:02 am
    
    possibility we will go to South Lake for 4th so I’ll stay in touch
Bozo said, on May 23, 2017 at 7:15 am

I’m saving you a seat on the bus, Flav. Plenty of room for the rest of y’all. Come on down, it’s going to be a fun ride.
willedav said, on May 23, 2017 at 7:15 am

Posey was FOS. Meaningless base with 2 RUN lead and 2 outs. Best hitter up thereCarpenter, LH. 1b do this all the time, routine play.
Since Posey had enough time to motion to Belt, he could have easily called time without disrupting Melancon’s delivery and gone over it with Belt and pitcher on the mound.
And if Giants bench was upset with Belt’s positioning (Wotus job right?), they’d be the ones responsible for yelling at him to hold runner on. This whole thing is BS and I’m sure was handled in house.

Melancon with another save, 9 for 11. Don’t like him? Tell me who closes. Guarantee you Cubs would love to see more of Gomer.
- chipower9 said, on May 23, 2017 at 7:41 am
  
  Gomer. LMAO…
  
  And assuming you are referencing Law? Thanks for the early humor, WD.
- Flavor said, on May 23, 2017 at 8:01 am
  
  I agree Posey overreacted but think about how many times Belt must fuck up for him to finally blow his stack like that in front of cameras.
- xoot said, on May 23, 2017 at 10:02 am
  
  http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/05/23/what-we-learned-from-the-buster-posey-brandon-belt-spat-and-how-the-giants-are-already-better-for-it/
  
  apparently Posey anticipated Piscotty’s intent to steal and aimed to gun him down. Posey’s throw was perfect; the huge jump off 1B beat it. I guess the message is clear. If Posey decides to overrule Wotus then do what Posey says.
chipower9 said, on May 23, 2017 at 7:40 am

John – I have been with you on the bus, all along. Now, I was frustrated as all hell and let that show in my posts, particularly when they could not “put it together” (good pitching and could not score, or vise-versa – would score enough runs to hypothetically win a game, but pitching would come apart at the seams).

But, I have never thrown in the towel on this season. Too much ball left to play, and I just know how fucking streaky our hitters are. The bullpen still gives some pause for concern, and there is still some dead wood on this 25, IMO, but I think this team will be OK. Can they dig outta this hole and punch a ticket to the post-season dance? Time will tell.

Keep winning series and everything will be fine. I’ll take a split in Chitown, which translates to a winning roadie, in St. Looie and Chicago, too boot.

Don’t Get Your Dauber Down, FU. Humm Baby!
- Bozo said, on May 23, 2017 at 8:44 am
  
  You’re riding shotgun, Chuck. Hold on, the ride could get a bit bumpy at times but I’m betting we have a full bus load once things smooth out a bit.
  - chipower9 said, on May 23, 2017 at 9:20 am
    
    Locked-and-Loaded, Brother! Giddy Up!
chipower9 said, on May 23, 2017 at 8:17 am

I forgot to add my most hated player: There are a lot who I really dislike, but AJ Pierzynski has to take the honor for me.
djloo27 said, on May 23, 2017 at 8:26 am

They were one swing away from disaster last night.
Strickland getting the DP was gigante…
eddacker said, on May 23, 2017 at 8:27 am

AJ Pierzynski hands down for me.
djloo27 said, on May 23, 2017 at 8:28 am

Add Don Carrithers to my list from the other day which is all pitchers for some reason…
dirtnrocksnomo said, on May 23, 2017 at 8:43 am

Hate is a strong word but Dunston has always bothered me. Dude is a Cub gravy training in black and orange.
unca_chuck said, on May 23, 2017 at 8:46 am

I’ll say it again: Rennie Stennett.
unca_chuck said, on May 23, 2017 at 8:50 am

For THIS season’s hate list, I’d have Merrero, Gorkys, Hill, Gearren, Federowickz, Morris, Morse, Stratton, and Ramirez . . .
unca_chuck said, on May 23, 2017 at 8:50 am

And Rigatoni? You are on deck . . .
- zumiee said, on May 23, 2017 at 8:58 am
  
  Come on now; the Cheese went yard again yesterday! 🙂
  - djloo27 said, on May 23, 2017 at 9:27 am
    
    Technically, he went “basket”…
- chipower9 said, on May 23, 2017 at 9:26 am
  
  Williamson is right there. I am willing to give him some rope, as he only has 162 ML ABs. But so far this year, he sucks:
  
  .167, .286, .167, .452
  - djloo27 said, on May 23, 2017 at 9:35 am
    
    When was the last time the Giants called up a guy who just came in and stormed the league from day one?
    Bobby Bonds? McCovey?
  - dirtnrocksnomo said, on May 23, 2017 at 9:36 am
    
    Sandoval?
  - unca_chuck said, on May 23, 2017 at 9:39 am
    
    Posey?
  - chipower9 said, on May 23, 2017 at 9:56 am
    
    I am not expecting him to storm the league. I did say I am willing to give him some rope due to his limited ML ABs…
  - Bozo said, on May 23, 2017 at 11:08 am
    
    Will Clark started out pretty good, so did Posey.
  - djloo27 said, on May 23, 2017 at 2:13 pm
    
    Sometimes, I post things just to see if anyone reads them…
  - Lurker John said, on May 23, 2017 at 5:27 pm
    
    Larry Herndon.
alleykat69 said, on May 23, 2017 at 9:16 am

You can bet AJ & Brett Tomko don’t exchange Christmas cards…
unca_chuck said, on May 23, 2017 at 9:38 am

AJ is definitely high on the list. Was it Mark Grant that got pissed about aids awareness day?
- alleykat69 said, on May 23, 2017 at 9:45 am
  
  Probably so Chuck that guy was such a dumbshit…Krukow once said million dollar arm 10cent brain…
chipower9 said, on May 23, 2017 at 9:57 am

RIP, Roger Moore.
willedav said, on May 23, 2017 at 10:36 am

Morris guy might turn out to be all right. The one Kuiper calls Morris, um no.
More shuffling of deck chairs to come soon too. Hill and Gameface doing rehab ABs in minors, Pence supposedly a week away. Specs in CF at Sac btw.
alleykat69 said, on May 23, 2017 at 10:43 am

OO7
- alleykat69 said, on May 23, 2017 at 10:44 am
  
  RIP.. Also good in “The Saint” as Simon Templer!
zumiee said, on May 23, 2017 at 11:19 am

Xoot, thanks for posting the link to the Baggs article. Great stuff. Baggs is just flat-out willing to write the things that the other beat writers won’t.
Macdog said, on May 23, 2017 at 11:47 am

Good story from Baggs, but wondering about this line:

“If there’s anything left to discuss about Saturday’s 13th inning, it’s the fact that cameras have caught Posey twice this season letting out frustration about a teammate.”

Anyone know what the other incident he’s referring to?
- dirtnrocksnomo said, on May 23, 2017 at 11:50 am
  
  He’s referring to another extra inning game at home when Belt didn’t score from 2nd on Posey’s single. I think it is all overblown but Belt is the org’s whipping boy so whatever.
  - Macdog said, on May 23, 2017 at 11:57 am
    
    Ok, thanks.
- willedav said, on May 23, 2017 at 12:04 pm
  
  that was the one Nevin held him up, with the blame mistakenly being placed on Belt not getting a good jump.
  
  What’s most interesting to me was how Posey handled it in Chicago–there was a conference on the mound and everything was fine. My take all along was he could have done same thing in STL.
unca_chuck said, on May 23, 2017 at 12:08 pm

Yeah, that was 100% on Nevin. Belt had a perfectly fine jump on the ball. What was telling to me is how shallow the RFer was playing on Posey. Still and all Belt would have scored.
zumiee said, on May 23, 2017 at 12:16 pm

Posey did express himself strongly to Nevin in the dugout after the inning was over. That was caught on camera. I don’t think Posey was putting much blame on Belt on that play. That’s the way I read it, anyway.
alleykat69 said, on May 23, 2017 at 12:34 pm

As many times Posey’s been thrown out at the plate he shouldn’t bitch about Belt..
willedav said, on May 23, 2017 at 12:38 pm

As to what Baggs is willing to write, I think what he wrote in that column cited is way wrong on multiple counts.

First, “…Belt was inattentive or uncooperative.” Which makes Belt out to look clueless here when apparently he was only following orders. What is Baggs trying to do here other than make Belt look bad? Sounds more to me like Baggs has a personal agenda/train of thought he is trying to reinforce–in this case that Belt is a f-up waiting to happen.

Second, “..Angel Pagan was barely tolerated during most of his 5 seasons as a Giant..”
What? By whom, and for how long? Mgmt/coaches? Teammates?
Surely no one will publicly back this up so it can’t ever be refuted, but even if there is any grain of truth to it, why say this in first place?.
Again other than the fact he is trying to put the player in a very bad light for all to see, personal agenda head trip.
- Flavor said, on May 23, 2017 at 12:42 pm
  
  Pagan is the one who was publicly blackballing Baggs a couple of years ago. So I guess he’s settling the score.
  - djloo27 said, on May 23, 2017 at 12:51 pm
    
    Wasn’t that over Melky?
  - zumiee said, on May 23, 2017 at 1:56 pm
    
    Pagan didn’t like that Baggs reported the clubhouse fight between Dunston and Romo. Romo ended up with a big scratch on his face. We never learned what the fight was about. It’s an odd pairing up for a fight. A relief pitcher and a video replay coach.
  - gianthead said, on May 23, 2017 at 1:58 pm
    
    I missed this…that was my memory…
  - gianthead said, on May 23, 2017 at 2:01 pm
    
    Wasn’t that fight in 2014 when Romo was particularly awful???
  - zumiee said, on May 23, 2017 at 2:14 pm
    
    Yeah, I’m sure Romo was on edge, and who knows what set it off.
  - xoot said, on May 23, 2017 at 2:28 pm
    
    In 2012 Baggarly reported Melky’s test failure before Melky’s time to try to cover up, I mean, to appeal confidentially, had run. Melky forced Baggarly to retract the news flash. For something like two weeks.
  - djloo27 said, on May 23, 2017 at 3:10 pm
    
    Right, Xoot…
dirtnrocksnomo said, on May 23, 2017 at 12:55 pm

I have read in a couple of places that Pagan more than wore out his welcome. For me Baggarly has sort of taken a step back since getting bounced from Comcast or whatever it is now and returning to the Mercury. Maybe he’s too busy writing books or trading Tweets with Shea and Schulman or something but his pre and post game notes, which I used to really enjoy, are practically nonexistent and lacking the humor that he had before.
alleykat69 said, on May 23, 2017 at 1:36 pm

Think we need to cue up Allman Brothers “Whippin Post” for Belt”
dirtnrocksnomo said, on May 23, 2017 at 1:44 pm

52% chance of rain

Panik 2B
Arroyo 3B
Belt 1B
Posey C
Ruggiano RF
Crawford SS
Nuñez LF
Hernandez CF
Cueto P
gianthead said, on May 23, 2017 at 1:57 pm

I found that line about Pagan a cheap shot…what evidence was there? Never seen any reference that he was not liked in the clubhouse. Did Pagan start the anti-Baggs move among the team?
- zumiee said, on May 23, 2017 at 2:00 pm
  
  Pagan was a leader in all the players boycotting Baggs, because of Baggs reporting a clubhouse fight between Dunston and Romo.
zumiee said, on May 23, 2017 at 2:03 pm

If Posey is allowed by Bochy to override Belt’s positioning on defense in certain situations, then that has to be on Belt for not cooperating. I’m not saying Posey should blow his stack; but on the other hand, Posey’s a team leader and he was tired of the Giants being the worst team in major league baseball for almost two months. He was embarrassed by that.
alleykat69 said, on May 23, 2017 at 2:22 pm

Pagan just started turning into an enigma that even Bochy ( although he never knocks his players publicly) I suspect often never knew if he could play are not.But it worked both ways cause he was out their when he should of been DL’d and that ticks me off when they end up playing 1 down for a week. They still do that today…
djloo27 said, on May 23, 2017 at 3:08 pm

The fact that Pagan is not on a major league team is very suspicious…
alleykat69 said, on May 23, 2017 at 3:20 pm

You could say that about Colin Kapernick as well..
zumiee said, on May 23, 2017 at 4:03 pm

“Wise men say
It looks like rain today
It crackled on the speakers
And trickled down the sleepy subway trains”
djloo27 said, on May 23, 2017 at 4:04 pm

The tarp is on the field. Could be a while.
Don’t rush home…
djloo27 said, on May 23, 2017 at 4:20 pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ta_Is9Hl5C8
djloo27 said, on May 23, 2017 at 5:17 pm
djloo27 said, on May 23, 2017 at 5:25 pm

I didn’t know a watermelon could travel 470 feet…
Flavor said, on May 23, 2017 at 5:31 pm

Last year Cueto threw 153 pitches at 94mph or faster.

This year he has 11, and just one since May 1st.

— Ahmed Fareed (@FareedNBCS) May 24, 2017
djloo27 said, on May 23, 2017 at 6:04 pm

Cueto serving more meatballs than Olive Garden…
Macdog said, on May 23, 2017 at 6:12 pm

Johnny be not-so-good.
- djloo27 said, on May 23, 2017 at 6:39 pm
  
  Blow, Johnny, Blow…
Flavor said, on May 23, 2017 at 6:13 pm

I'm gonna be thinking about this for months pic.twitter.com/eyKkBFpmFd

— Damn☆ちゃん✨ (@YareYareZawa) May 23, 2017
- djloo27 said, on May 23, 2017 at 6:33 pm
  
  Amazing to see Mookie go first to third in person.
  Juan Samuel, too…
  - alleykat69 said, on May 23, 2017 at 6:47 pm
    
    I liked Mookie best when he the 17 hopper thru Buckner’s 5 hole..
  - djloo27 said, on May 23, 2017 at 6:54 pm
    
    A lot of people forget that the game was already tied when he hit that.
    It was a great AB…
- xoot said, on May 23, 2017 at 9:36 pm
  
  I was astonished to see mookie wilson show up in Paul austers first novel. Poe’s William Wilson brought it on. But that was an excuse. austers a Mets fan
alleykat69 said, on May 23, 2017 at 6:16 pm

That a boy Crawford!
Posey scores to show Belt up!
Ya see I can score from second on a double!
alleykat69 said, on May 23, 2017 at 6:18 pm

Your killing me Nooner!
Can’t get a jump off Lester wtf?
- djloo27 said, on May 23, 2017 at 6:29 pm
  
  I thought he got a half-decent jump.
  Catcher made a great throw, but I was still surprised by how much he was out by…
Macdog said, on May 23, 2017 at 6:20 pm

I didn’t see it, but could Crawford have scored on Nunez’s single? With Gorkys on deck, why not take a chance?
- djloo27 said, on May 23, 2017 at 6:26 pm
  
  It was a bloop that he didn’t get a good read on…
  - Macdog said, on May 23, 2017 at 6:43 pm
    
    Ok, thanks.
alleykat69 said, on May 23, 2017 at 6:58 pm

I’m already sick& tired of the broadcasters latest word “SCUD”
- djloo27 said, on May 23, 2017 at 7:33 pm
  
  Affeldt beats it to death…
alleykat69 said, on May 23, 2017 at 7:02 pm

Inspiring 8th inning 😴 zzzzzz
Bozo said, on May 23, 2017 at 7:16 pm

Damn pothole.
djloo27 said, on May 23, 2017 at 7:18 pm

At least it was quick. Two men LOB combined according to Cub announcer…
Flavor said, on May 23, 2017 at 7:30 pm

Every time I see our line up posted it looks like we’re gonna lose so games like this shouldn’t be surprising.
djloo27 said, on May 23, 2017 at 7:31 pm

Our Ron Santo is down to .204.
I would trade Cueto straight up for Sandoval if I could…
Macdog said, on May 23, 2017 at 7:32 pm

Dear Jon Miller/KNBR,

After another shit start by Cueto and feeble showing from the hitters, the last thing I want to hear is the goddamn Cubs victory song.
alleykat69 said, on May 23, 2017 at 7:37 pm

Wrigley sure is super old.
Looks like Boch’s post game interview is in a freakin run down bathroom. Guess it doesn’t matter since they played like a bad bowel movement coming on..
Flavor said, on May 23, 2017 at 7:46 pm

Johnny Cueto repeated he didn't want to make excuses, but he now has TWO blisters on throwing hand, so it's tough to get late life on his Ps

— Chris Haft/SF Giants (@sfgiantsbeat) May 24, 2017
djloo27 said, on May 23, 2017 at 7:49 pm

Marv Albert – another one who doesn’t know when to walk away…
zumiee said, on May 23, 2017 at 8:15 pm

What if 3 teams from the NL West make the playoffs, and the Giants aren’t one of them? That wouldn’t have been believable before the season started.
zumiee said, on May 23, 2017 at 9:15 pm

Cards’ Lynn is pitching a 1-hitter and losing against Kershaw.
snarkk said, on May 23, 2017 at 9:23 pm

Amusing to me how the post game talk generally is on the pitching. Well, Cueto gave up 4, which isn’t great. Still, it’s not like he gave up 8. The weak hitting is killing the Giants, and apparently they can’t seem to get anybody up to help in the OF…
PaulinAsia Banh Bao said, on May 23, 2017 at 9:35 pm

Yeah, Tom, Craig said “Every time I see our line up posted it looks like we’re gonna lose so games like this shouldn’t be surprising.” Hard to believe that the likes of Gorkys and Rigatoni (and even Morse) are still “the answer” in the OF. Granted, only because Span and Pence are hurt, but hey, these days, they’re often hurt. FO should’ve known that and planned for it….
alleykat69 said, on May 23, 2017 at 9:38 pm

It really is a comedy act everyday the Giants outfielders are posted..Alittle Rigatoni,a scoop of Spam,a slice of Gork,a pinch of Pence,throwin a morsel of Morse and toss it on a salad 🥗 Your SF Giants outfield of outcasts for 2017…
zumiee said, on May 23, 2017 at 9:41 pm

Kershaw blows his lead with a wild pitch. That’s kind of fun.
- Macdog said, on May 23, 2017 at 11:17 pm
  
  Cards aren’t too good at these 13-inning games.
  - zumiee said, on May 24, 2017 at 1:23 am
    
    Broxton blows it again.
  - theroooster said, on May 24, 2017 at 12:29 pm
    
    Broxton losing it in extras even funner