Playing A Real Team
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.
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
Nats lead NL in run HRs BA OB SLG and OPS. 2 guys over 1.000 and 2 more over .900 Harper Zim Rendon and Murphy. Day game should be nice weather like yesterday, park plays smaller. Up to Moore to keep ball in the yard and from bouncing off walls.
Despite blip in the Windy Giants are 11-9 last 20 and have won 3 (I think) series in a row at home. This one will be taller order…Dirt in the house today, right?
i think he is at the game today. Wonder when the Nats got in last night? Had to be super late.
1. Denard Span (L) CF
2. Joe Panik (L) 2B
3. Brandon Belt (L) 1B
4. Buster Posey (R) C
5. Brandon Crawford (L) SS
6. Justin Ruggiano (R) RF
7. Christian Arroyo (R) 3B
8. Mac Williamson (R) LF
9. Matt Moore (L) P
Overkill update:
They are using baseballs with green stitches today.
I wonder if they are using them in Toronto…
That’s just stupid, and I’m a vet.
Latest injury update: Nuñez being evaluated, Bochy said. Had blurred vision last night. Won’t play today. Calixte only would be active today if Nuñez goes on DL.
Matt Moore stinks.
The Dodgers are pounding the Cards into a .500 team today.
I’m not watching the game, driving home, but judging from the box score Moore seems fine. Am I missing something?
He looked shaky early, but seems to have found his rhythm.
Man, Arroyo needed that.
Terrible AB from Williamson. Our outfield is so lame. I know it’s not news.
it’s still outrageous that Sabean and Evans, who get paid a lot of money to make these decisions, decided our OF was good-to-go heading into the season.
Yeah, but Parker and Pence are coming back in a week. It’s all good.
Maybe Belt should get in Posey’s face about hitting the fuckin’ ball.
Stay awake, Giants fans.
that was too much, Gif King, had to delete it.
Over-the-Hill with a weak pop out.
On second thought, a good nap would have been better.
Strickland, what a dumb-a##.
Shit! Bummed I missed this. Was it a real fight or just half assed pushing and shit talk?
REAL fight.
Looks like Strickland got a hand slap on Harper’s face, and Harper sorta landed a punch on Strickland’s cap/head. The best part was Moore and Samardzija colliding into each other.
Meant Morse.
A guy’s head doesn’t snap back from a slap. Harper got punched. Harper’s punch was a pussy shot.
To me, a punch implies hitting with a fist, looked like Strick hit Harper with an open hand.
That livened things up.
Morse and Smarge with a hell of a collision!
I think Harper WAS trying to throw the helmet at him and it just slipped out of his hand. Miller thinks he tossed it aside on purpose. I have TV sound off.
Well I think we can all safely name our “most hated Giant”
This team is fucked up.
Well, that was exciting.
Yeah, Strick fighting his own teammates 2/3 of the way to the dugout was weak shit.
He was trying get back into the fray. I didn’t see him “fighting his own teammates.”
You’re right, but I think he took it a bit far.
Lmao, Smarge and Morse ran right into each other, knocked each other flat.
Shouldn’t you be haunting a Dodgers blog?
What does that say about Posey leaving Strickland out there to take Harper on one and one???? Crawford lolly gagging over as well. Morse took the biggest shot frpm Smard’s head…
Posey not stepping in to protect Harper won’t be a popular move among his teammates.
Posey is getting slammed by the ESPN guys for not protecting Strickland. Tells you what Posey thinks of Strickland.
Posey showed absolutely no interest in mixing it up
I don’t think Strick needed or wanted any help. He obviously drilled him on purpose and was totally ready to fight. I do give him credit for not throwing at his head.
The veins were bulging on Strickland’s red neck.
Yeah, he was pissed and he’s a big dude to begin with.
This team is a disaster, broken all the way around. What a joke. I’m so pissed at everyone involved in putting this piece of shit together.
Buster getting roasted on national tv. Correctly. Strickland an idiot at times, but the catchers job is to have his pitchers back. A weak ass effort to jog in after it already over. then run away with all his gear on. I’m glad he didn’t get hurt in a stupid brawl, but not backing up a team mate is weak even in little league.
Totally agree…it is a revelation. Revelation may only be that that the the regular vets don’t care for Strickland and weren’t going to stick their necks out. They should have 5 guys swinging for Harper’s head…
I wish Morse went in there to take out Harper instead of just trying to separate the combatants… moments like these could rally a team…instead watching the body language of Posey and Crawford they couldn’t care less about defending their teammate…after the Posey and Belt issues, I wonder if this team actually cares…
I think Struck got a decent shot in as did Harper…
HS will be traded before the break…
No one will give up much for him…
I don’t blame Posey for not getting in the middle of that idiot fest.
Strickland is one of the stupidest players I’ve ever seen.
Harper did get a good right to Strick’s face. I think Strickland was emabarssed Harper got the better of him. As he should be.
Harper’s was a glancing blow at best.
Remember all those years everyone always thought it was Bonds who was the jerk, when many now say it was ClarK? Same with posey?
Bonds’ attitude and Will rightly thinking itbwas his team lead to instant dislike. Wasn’t there also a woman issue between them???
I have no problem with Posey staying the hell out of that. And I really don’t mind Strick drilling him either.
Do you guys think the helmet slipped out of his hand or he tossed it aside on purpose. Again, I think he wanted to drill him with it and lost his grip.
I think he tried to throw it at strickland
Looked like he was trying to drill Strickland with it and it slipped out of his hand
I actually think Harper flipped it to the side on purpose as he rightfully should have. In the heat of the moment, Harper came out on top. Strick is the cancer, we all figured he was. Posey’s immediate reaction tells you what he thinks of him. I don’t know whether to applaud Posey or be upset for not protecting his pitcher. I am leaning towards the former.
C’mon, Strick’s not a cancer. He’s a meathead who occasionally does stupid shit like that. He can take care of himself. I think you guys are getting carried away with the symbolism that this is a team in disarray.
We’re not a very good team, but I think are problems are that we can’t hit and our pitching often ain’t so hot either—not anything to do with personalities.
With all due respect, sandog, how can you know that? And what about the infielders, including Arroyo, mind you, just standing there while Harper charged the mound?
He definitely attempted to throw it and was comical how it slipped out. Morse could have body slammed Harper without throwing a punch…
So now Posey’s going to get drilled with a pitch because Strickland’s an idiot.
Nats probably happy Posey showed no interest in protecting Strickland, they won’t hit him.
Best part was madbum watching quietly from the dugout
Miller talking about how he was at the Campy Campaneris bat-tossing-at-the-mound game.
That is one of the first games I can remember watching as a kid.
Pence was one of the guys trying to drag Strickland away, and Strickland was shoving Pence around.
Crawford, UCLA BRUIN!
Too bad that we don’t have Conor Gillaspie healthy…that would have been his moment with bases loaded and two outs in the 8th…
Harper’s hair was outstanding in the fight.
Smarge and Morse’s flowing locks in slo-mo after impact priceless.
Yeah the Smarge-Morse meme’s will be pretty good.
Again, I didn’t get to watch any of the game today. Did Strick hit him just as payback from those bombs he hit off him in the post season a couple of years ago? He can’t be that petty, tell me there was something more…..
1st pitch of the AB – it was a 98 MPH FB, straight at him – good location, below the belt. Yes, he can, and was that petty. There was nothing more to it.
Harper will have a nice welt – might even be able to read “Rawlings” on his thigh.
Yeah, no other reason than payback.
what an idiot.
Andrew BaggarlyVerified account @extrabaggs 55s55 seconds ago
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Upon super slo-mo, Strickland landed open handed slap and Harper mashed Strickland’s hat bill with his fist. No Rougned Odors in this fight.
I don’t have a problem with Buster sitting that one out. Fuck trying to stop Harper, this was Strick’s stupid vendetta. Plus, Buster’s probably gonna get beaned for it anyway. Why try to stop Harper where he would likely get hit or pushed to the ground or hit with that helmet he was whipping around? Strick is a dumbass, pure and simple. And how’s he gonna feel if Pence got hurt again trying to haul his dopey ass off the field?
It’s just a little odd that no one on the field moved to help Strickland, whether it was a stupid move or not. Hitting a guy for hitting a home run off you is a chickenshit move, no doubt, but the lack of unity from the on-field guys was strange. Morse and Smardge were the ones that charged in.
And Baggarly is blind. He got Harper’s part right, but Strickland snapped his head back with a decent punch.
Completely lame on Buster’s part. K & K said he has to protect his ankle and stay out of a scrum, but he had to at least grab Harper from behind before the pile-up. Remember Whitey getting in front of Victorino a few years ago? And later in the game they showed the clip of Barry Foote saving Krukow’s ass from Winfield.
Buster lives up to his last name – not his first…
Yeah, he could’ve gotten between the two or put Harper in a bear hug. Something. Whether you like a guy or not, he’s your teammate. I just hope it’s not indicative of wider strife in the clubhouse.
Buster is still in the catcher’s box as Harper and Strickland are fighting…
The replay of the start of the fight with really all the infield and Posey just staying still is really shocking. Has anyone here ever see a fight break out on a baseball field and no one in the infield save Morse move. But especially the catcher. Buster could have made a move to try and stop Harper.
There was no coincidence that Posey was in the dugout getting talked to by Strickland. I am sure Hunter was saying where the fuck were you Buster?
I would expect Arroyo at least to rush in and prove his colors to his teammates but Posey did not bat an eyelash until punches were thrown. None of us have ever seen a catcher just stand there.
I don’t care if Posey wants to avoid any head bump. He is the team leader for a reason and when he blames Belt for perceived mistakes or he watches his pitcher getting charged at the mound, what he does and does not do will create an impression on this team…and Strickland did land a punch and Harper got a good shot in as well…
I would like to hear Posey’s explanation for his lack of action…
yeah, you guys are making some good points. I actually need to see it again, I’ve only seen it once. I didn’t notice how long Buster stayed in box, just noticed he didn’t jump right out there immediately. Also, aside from Buster didn’t a bunch of guys show up with a full head of steam? I saw Smarge and Morse crash into each other, there looked to be a bunch of guys in the mix from the Giants side.
It was hard to tell who was who since everybody was wearing the same uniform and cap…
Yeah, Fleming was doing the game on ESPN (what else is new?) and he was in complete disbelief. His partner (Eduardo Perez) immediately noticed the lack of inlvolvement by Posey and the infielders and called them out on it.
I hope Flannery gets shit faced tonight and drunk posts on twitter. That will make for a good read in the morning.
Posey sounds like a girl here:
“There’s some big guys tumbling around on the ground,” said Posey, after the eighth-inning brawl enlivened the Giants’ 3-0 loss to the Washington Nationals at AT&T Park on Monday. “Mike Morse is as big as they come and he’s getting knocked around like a pinball. It’d be a little dangerous to get in there sometimes.”
Yeah, that’s weak.
The only explanation as to why Posey and the infielders froze (and that is exactly what happened) is that no one on the Giants saw this coming. I would imagine in most beanings it is discussed ahead of time, so their somewhat prepared. I mean hell, this all went down three years ago in a first round game, in which we would go on to win the World Series, and this meathead hasn’t let it go?
I take back my 5:47pm. Posey exposed himself today. Even when he ran in (very late) he jumped way to the left of the pile, actively avoiding any contact whatsoever. Shit man, you’re the one wearing all the gear. What are you afraid of?
I wouldn’t be surprised if Strick told the guys in advance of this series he was gonna drill Harper if he had the chance and dont worry about getting between us if Harper charges the mound.
While I agree this is ultimately on Strick, there is more to it than Haroer simply homering off him a couple of times. Harper screamed at him from the dugout afterwards both times. I got no problem with Strickland having a long memory on this one.
Hell, we often bitch on here about how the Giants never respond in these situations, and now we did do something for once.
We need some Saran Wrap around here stat!!!! The Buster Bashers FINALLY have something to bitch about this year! (Even though I think you are all full of crap).
I’m actually kind of happy for you guys as I know it must have been KILLING you to see Buster play this well this season and somehow avoid being singled out as the main cause of this crap season.
come on, there are like 10 valid directions to go when placing blame on this season and I don’t put Posey in the top 10. He’s been fine this year. But today’s little dance around the pile of men fighting was unacceptable.
Awesome post.
I was talking about S-Dawg’s post.
Bring back El Presidente!
kruk and kuip live for this shit
Bottom line Flav strikes again. “…maybe we catch them a little sluggish today.”
Like Loo says, absolutely uncanny even if that’s not quite what he meant by sluggish.
Nice catch, Willie – It’s unreal…
to “slug” someone is an underrated term. Very 70’s. You don’t hear guys get slugged anymore.
The stupid baseball brawl was instructive today on Memorial Day as a kind of object lesson on how millions of people in world history have been killed in some of the stupidest and selfish wars imaginable. How do most wars happen? We saw it on the baseball field today.
Great post Zum . . . Analogy is spot on in my opinion.
interesting point.
Seriously?
By the by, read this . . . http://edition.cnn.com/2017/05/29/politics/ivanka-trump-champagne-popsicle-twitter-memorial-day/index.html
Callous, thoughtless brat.
Chi, LJ, Loo and other veterans (sorry if I left your name out. My bad I forgot) – in remembrance of your service and sacrifice I salute you.
All I have is a draft card, Blade.
I was never called to serve.
Twin certainly did…
Ahh. Apologize. Twin and I had our moments, but I miss him here. Related, Craig’s post from 2010 had me laughing out loud. So many funny moments from that thread. Read it last night in bed at midnight. Was going to hit the sack, but the thread was hilarious and kept me up.
I agree with SanDog, I think they all knew it was coming and perhaps even kind of dreaded it ’cause it was just so stoopid to do that. Players react; if they didn’t know it was coming, and then friction is instantly created, they jump, they react. This one reeks of everyone knowing Strickdumb was going to do it and just kind of hoping it would quietly go away. Strickland is a fool and really shouldn’t even be on this team. It’s quite possible that if that was any other pitcher out there, Buster would’ve stepped in. I’d like to see a few more of these things, then I’ll decide about Buster…. 🙂
at the 1:10 mark you really get a good view of Posey and all the infielders just standing there.
Weird.
http://www.espn.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/79885/by-hitting-bryce-harper-hunter-strickland-stupidly-puts-teammates-at-risk
As some of you know, I’m a counselor at a public high school. THis is going to sound awful, but every now and again we’ll have 2 guys get into a fight and I will turn to one of my colleagues and say “That was a good thing. Those guys needed to fight.” (Of course, my counseling peers are mortified when I say something like that.)
I only do say that when both guys have been talking crap, they can both take care of themselves, and ” talking it out” wasnt gonna get it done.
I put today’s fight in that category.
With that, i leave you to go play some pickup hoops and then take what im pretty sure is my first shower this weekend.
Peace Out.
lol, great mike drop.
That’s not a good approach in HS s where kids carry knives. And I attended such a HS in socal in the mid 1960s. Bet there’s more of them now.
Harper gonna get 8 games for that. Posey should get 4 games for being a huge pussy.
Is it possible that Strickland hadn’t faced Harper since 2014?
Posey would not go over well in prison. I’ll just leave it at that.
All kidding aside, you can’t be a big league catcher and be a pussy. Buster either zoned out or just didn’t think anything would come of it, since it usually doesn’t. Regardless – and to use the latest stupidly popular expression, his lack of action was “bad optics”…
Organically so.
We can try to read things into this whole event, but I must admit that immediately upon first seeing a still photo where Harper is throwing his first punch, and there’s Posey still at the plate, and there’s Crawford still at his position, my first thought was, “Damn, Harper must be FAST to get out there before anybody reacted”…. haha…. In the end, it was probably just 2 immature meatheads going at it, with everyone else not really wanting anything to do with 2 meatheads going at it….
If the catcher’s surprised by the pitch everyone else is too. And they’re all probably focused on trying to win the game, not on taking revenge on a guy who hit two bombs off of grooved FBS years ago. Madbum and Posey are under strict orders. (the dollar values of penalties are not unimaginable) to avoid unnecessary collisions etc. Also, Strickland’s an asshole.
If Harper had charged Lincecum buster would’ve ripped his head off from behind, order from above notwithstanding.
Good one, Xoot…
“Posey would not go over well in prison.”
Posey’s not dumb enough to end up in prison.
Prisons have lots of guys like Strickland.
Harper’s going to have an awesome baseball bruise on his hip, stitching and all. Maybe even the commissioner’s name visible.
Harper had a good quote after the game. It was something like: “I don’t get it. He got the championship ring that season.”
If Strickland was angry that Harper took him deep twice in 2014, Strick should have wound up and thrown the ball squarely at himself, at his own head. He gave up the homers. What — Harper was supposed to miss to make Strickland happy for throwing dumbshit pitches?? It’s beyond moronic, and zumiee’s 7:51 is apt. Dreadful wars with millions dead have started owing to the same macho reflex. I hadn’t scene the comments, but when I saw the video I thought to myself, Posey, you’re smart to stay out of this nonsense. And the gif on Twitter with MadBum staying in the dugout made me think: Great, you’ve learned something since your last foolish move. I’d like to see the comments if Posey did break his ankle, or Crawford his wrist, or Morse his finger, or Smarj his arm, or Belt his toe: “But they had their teammates’ backs.” Puhleez. Are we in the 8th grade playground? The heroes are the guys holding back teammates from going berserk, the peacemakers (cf. Mays in the Roseboro fight).
*seen
Great post.
Like xoot’s 8:27