Losing, Fighting, Back to Losing
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….
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
Gotta love The Flan.
I dig Flan. The dude is REAL. Cannot wait to see him open for Jerry Jeff Walker in August. He and his band Lunatic Fringe were awesome when Gail and I saw them a couple of years ago in Rocklin.
I got into the game last night on about a 45 minute delay, and it didn’t take long for me to lose interest (even with the prospect of some bad blood boiling-up). I have tried to stay positive about this team (I think the Clown and I may be the only ones not “waving the white flag”). I have been trying to keep a mindset that says there is still time (and there is) for them to right the ship, but I am seeing less and less that lends any credence to that line of thinking. Sigh…
I knew a drunk Flan tweet was coming. He never disappoints. Gotta love it!
Well, Flan’s post is about all that needs to be said about Strickgate 2017.
Even Bochy mentioned the beaning allowing a run there with team down 2-0 already. Smardz just blew himself up last night, 100 pitches after 4. tough work to get out only down 3-0.
Notice tho, 13 hits in 5 innings to get their 6 runs for the Nats and NO HRs. Yes they have power up and down LU and giants helped them out with errors but they just have a bunch of good hitters even with D-wad going 0-5 and leaving tons of guys on base.
giants have too many regs underperforming–Span Panik Belt at .240 Pence and Nunez under .700 OPS.
To Blade’s point, not unreasonable for FO to expect more out of them, Craw and his 2 HRs too.
Calixte can stay. Guy has been hitting well in Sac runs well and can play all over the place.
He had 2 knocks and great AB for the Giants first 2 runs on a double that one hopped the wall. Anyone else hit the ball that hard all night?
He was breath of fresh air (cue Quicksilver) out there.
Followed by first pitch groundouts by Nunez, back to mind numbing reality.
Strickland is just a convenient scapegoat. This shit’s been going on forever. The whole team including Bochy probably knew it was coming. Did anyone try to stop him? And if they had won last night and went on a winning streak, Strickland would be credited with getting the team fired up…
He’s quietly put up pretty good numbers this year and as you mentioned earlier seems to have more confidence (and success) with off speed stuff. Highly doubt he’s going anywhere soon; and he definitely would have certain amount of value as set up guy on another team.
Not like he’s first or last pitcher to have issues with Harper either and I think he realizes now he could have handled it differently and struck the guy out maybe like Smardz and Osich did.
Good points, Loo, and the more I am reading, it appears that Buster (and probably Bochy) knew before the game that this was going down. At a minimum, the word is that Posey knew, and Strickland said if Harper charges the mound, let him go. If this is true, Posey is totally off the hook.
You’re off the hook, Chi!
WHEW…last place I want to be is on ANY of your lists, brother! I need a beer…or a shot…or both…
So, at the one third mark the projection is 66-96. It would be kind of funny if Buster goes 21/36 and wins a batting title…
Sweet, just the record I was hoping for this year. It’s a prime symptom of my disease that I’ve been watching this long. This keeps up much longer and they’ll be impossible to watch.
Fuck it…I weathered 100 losses in ’85 AND rocked my Giant hat all fucking year. What the fuck is 66-96 other than just one more shitty year. There is always next year. It’s baseball, baby…even when they suck it is better than a lot of other shit that life throws at us…
Absolutely, Chi. Still feels good to put on any Giants stuff which probably makes up about 75% of my wardrobe…
You and me both. I cannot begin to count the number of Giants t-shirts I have (and some of them go back quite a ways). I also have probably 10 jerseys, but not an old gray flannel Marichal like yours. I do have an old gray with 44 on it…
In looking for a better way to store my huge collection of baseball caps last week, I put them all in a big pile on my bed. It turns out I now have 16, count ’em 16, Giants baseball caps of various flavors, not to mention the 20 or so tee shirts and 3 jerseys. Yikes.
LJ – I have so many damned Giants shirts that I rotate them between my chest-of-drawers and bins in the garage. It is kind of cool. Every year or so I will bust out the bins, and will see shirts that I had forgot about, and it is like getting a new shirt!
Will have to count my Giants lids…I suspect I have more than 16. I am a hat WHORE. My girlfriend gives me grief about my obsession with hats all the damned time.
I can’t think of anything sicker than Charlie Blackmon having 46 RBIs as a lead off hitter at this point of the season…
And our Buster has a mind-boggling 12. Fucking 12 and tomorrow is June 1st. I believe that averages out to about 36-40 for the season.
And batting .340. Not many ducks on the pond.
That’s one way to look at it, and it’s valid, but 12 ribbies is really unbelievable. He’s also left a fair number of men on base. I know what his BA is, but there’s an awful lot of singles in there. I’m not complaining because he’s clearly the best player on the team, but that number just leaps off the page. This whole season has been very frustrating.
Close behind that is the Dodgers bringing up Bellinger a month ago, and he has 11 HRs now.
Fuck them and Bellinger (I like the way the kid plays, but he IS a fucking dodger).
Kudos to WillieD with the Quicksilver (Fresh Air) reference…
This team sure as fuck could use a breath of Fresh Air…
Oooohhh…Have another hit…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUHlxBZMiqw
Speaking of drunk posting….
Trump’s tweet last night puzzled people.
“Despite the constant negative press covfefe”
That’s the entire tweet. Did he pass out mid-tweet?
What’s the problem, Zum?
The country could use a little positive press covfefe…
Makes as much sense as most of his other tweets
Tweet not what your country can do for you—
Tweet what you can do for your country…
Now Trump is a drunkard? I’m pretty sure he’s a teetotaler.
Anyone up for bangin’ some hookers down in Calixte this weekend?
Hell yes! Let’s go raise some hell, Loo!
Broxton was a shell of his former self coming out of the Cards’ ‘pen last night.. WTF is he even doing taking up a spot in an MLB bullpen?
There are 225 major-league relievers who are on pace to face 150 batters this season. Broxton’s opponent average of .371 ranks 220th. His opponent slugging percentage (.516) ranks 199th. His 2.17 WHIP ranks 220th.There are 171 major-league relievers on pace to log 50 innings this season. Broxton’s 6.89 ERA ranks 159th. He’s done.
That’s some pretty negative covfefe there. 🙂
Very good Rooster, baby.
Now why don’t you post it where someone might care:
http://www.cardsconclave.com/c70/
There is despair in Cardinal-land.
Fuck Broxton – he has never played for a team that anyone here would give a rat’s ass about…
Oh, and least I forget, fuck the fucking dodgers.
Sounds good on the Hookers Loo..
The new kid has a one of the largest yachts named the Calxite on YouTube , though doubt he can has the dinero to buy it,Maybe Buster are Cueto can chip in for a rage party!!
This scintillating series ends vs. Scherzer.
OK….
Wonderful. Anyone care to put a Pollyanna spin on this one? I saw him pitch a couple of weeks ago, I think against the Mets, and he was utterly dominant.
blade, re: late last night’s posts.
I’m not putting ALL blame on the FO. Most of it, though.
I was not for Cain’s monster deal, not at all. The guy had known bone chips, and he gets $120MM? No way and I said so. I wanted another outfielder this past offseason, like just about everybody else. Nope, go with Span, Mr. Hammy and a LF question mark duo. The thing I want most is that this organization develop outfielders, because the failure to do so has caught up and killing the team. The entire outfield is toothless at the plate, and not great in the field. You can’t win anything that way. The Dodgers may win their 5th division title in a row this year, so they are drafting low all the time. Yet, they pull a Dellinger out of their ass — 4th round in 2013, the kid is only 21 and raking. Where is that kind of outfield talent in the Giants organization? They’ve got only hope in Williamson and Parker in their late 20s, and AAAA quality. It looks bleak the next few years as this team ages and a FO that doesn’t want to undergo pain of a rebuild, because that’s not good for marketing and sellouts…
Well said.
The Giants sometimes surprise dominant pitchers like Scherzer. There will be no rational reason for it but I could see them hitting him much better than people think tonight.
They were like that in the WS years. I’m not so sure about this group.
The Amazing Flavor has spoken…
it’s happened a few times over the last 2 seasons. i’m not gonna look it up. I was at a game last May where I remember they hit Lester pretty good. So there’s that one that I can confirm. But there are others. They got DeGrom last year good. Can’t remember the month but it was the second half of the season.
And I wouldn’t call this a prediction that they will hit Scherzer, just that the Giants surprise great pitchers every now and again, even with a shit line up. Maybe tonight they do it again.
Any guy with 2 different color eyes 👀 is scary to begin with, so he has the advantage to me.Hell he might even throw a no-hitter, which wouldn’t be a eye opener to me ..
A win today puts the team at .500 for the month. Is that progress? Pfffft, the writing has been on the wall at the Flap for a while now. I guess it will be interesting to see who stays and who goes.
On the Flap as well?
I would love to see them get super creative at the deadline.
They’ll have to be if they want to move any of the unmovables…
The Astros despite their tremendous start (their kicking ass again as we speak) are going to need another arm. I would be shocked if they haven’t already started conversations with the Giants among other teams. If I am the Giants I ask for Jake Marisnick and Kyle Tucker for Cueto. One (Marisnick) is having a breakout season as an OF, but can’t get enough at bats. The other (Tucker) is one of the top OF prospects in baseball and was just promoted to AA yesterday. That might be an overpay for the Astros (especially considering Cueto’s bloated salary) but their lack of starting pitching (injuries haven’t helped) will catch up with them soon.
Me too, dj. Belt, Panik, Nunez, Strickland, Law should net something in return even Cueto, Smardj and Moore should be chips too.
I’m with ya, dirt. I just think they’ll have to take at least some portion of a bad deal (like Panda) in return for someone like Cueto or Smdzja.
Wilco: Do the Astros have any bad contracts on their books?
Nope. No chance of a salary swap with these guys.
Everyone ignores me when I say it, but if we could unload a current or future albatross contract on the Red Sox (Cueto, Smarj) and bring back Sandoval and a good OF prospect, I would absolutely do it…
I’d like to see them hold onto Cueto if possible but it’s the Giants so they’ll keep Smarj. Why Sandoval though? He’s sucked in Boston. You think he’ll perform again in SF?
This got me thinking of Duffy so I did a quick check on him. He still hasn’t played this year and his rehab keeps getting pushed back. Bummer for that dude.
i never, ever understood why everyone was so shook up about Duffy leaving. He was just a guy. A guy who can’t seem to get healthy….
Speaking of Sandoval….he’s back in the LU tonight.
I was always suspicious about Duffy who hadn’t homered since kindergarten until he got called up…
If you think the Giants are bad, here’s an update on the next opponent:
Phils complete miserable May with 10-2 loss. They went 6-22 in the month. Outscored 163-99. Struck out 15 times today. Have lost 10 straight series.
Loo, I’d be for trading back for Sandoval if it weren’t for how he left. He burned a lot of bridges with the shit he said on the way out. Bochy too old and tired to add another guy to the mix who either isn’t on the same page or who doesn’t fit into the clubhouse. Same reason we would never take Melky back. He burned bridges too by not saying a word to any teammates when he left not to mention that stupid website bullshit. How you leave does matter. That’s why you learn not to burn bridges in freaking grade school. At least, some people learn that.
Burn bridges? I prefer napalm but that’s just me.
The Phils are a good example of a bloated payroll due to hanging onto homegrown players too long.
There were 2 out and none on in the top of the 7th when Strick hit Bryce. Not exactly a horrible time to settle the score. That they couldn’t get another out without letting the runner score is an indictment of the pen anyway. And it isn’t like losing Strick is a huge blow to the shitshow that the pen is anyway. I just don’t think Strick should be suspended.
Point being, ‘playing baseball the way it should be’ is defined by exactly what Strick did. Settling the grudge on the field, right? I could give a fuck either way, I just think that Strick getting 6 days and Harper 4 is dumb when the poobahs think they know Strick’s intent behind the pitch. A pitch, mind you that was nowhere near Harper’s head. Harper’s intent was obvious. What if Harper, a guy who has been suspended 9 times in 5+ seasons mind you, hits Strick in the head with his helmet, causing a concussion? If I’m the Giants, I come inside al the time against him.
That’s what Gibson, Drysdale, Marichal, Carlton, and countless others would do. And they’d be chin-high.
Well done, Chuck..
Chuck, top of the 8th, 2 out. Giants still arguably in this one, they have 6 outs to get at least two runs, and they suck at scoring. So, it’s a good idea or even a neutral idea to plunk a dude on purpose, put him on, in the middle of a Nats loaded lineup? If they’re up or down 6 runs in that spot, OK. But, they were behind and still in the game. Ridiculous, selfish idea from the Musclehead…
I think it was an excellent idea in the midst of a lost season…
Well, if you can’t get one fucking out then you are not going anywhere anyway. I ain’t saying it’s a good idea, just that worse has been done by many many many others under the guise of playing the game the right way.
“I hate all hitters. I start a game mad and I stay that way until it’s over.” – Don Drysdale
“It’s a bottom line business where a lot of gray suits are brought in and then, within two years, these guys suddenly know everything about baseball.” – Don Drysdale
I have little faith in Bobby Evans doing any deal that could help this beleaguered bunch. What’s this dude really done since taking over? Seeing Michael Morse at a wedding who cons him during champagne toast for a look see, then gives him a job while capable prospects keep rotting in the minors!
And our starting RF in 2019 should be Yasiel Puig…
I used to think Pablo would end up back on the Giants. I used to even want it to happen. Now? Not so much.
If I were the Giants, my offer to reacquire Pablo would be similar to Michael Corleone’s offer to that crooked politician for a gambling license….
Mr. Cor-lee-o-nee.
Flav mentioned Giants got to deGrom last year, deGrom had probably his worst start since that game tonight vs. Brewers.
I guess y’all heard Harper’s suspension was reduced from 4 to 3, so he’s sitting out starting tonight. Don’t know about Strickland, but I guarantee he gets a standing O next time he appears at ATT…
1. Denard Span (L) CF
2. Eduardo Nunez (R) 3B
3. Brandon Belt (L) 1B
4. Buster Posey (R) C
5. Brandon Crawford (L) SS
6. Orlando Calixte (R) LF
7. Joe Panik (L) 2B
8. Gorkys Hernandez (R) RF
9. Matt Cain (R) P
Strick’s gonna get a standing O? No fucking way, I’d say 80% of Giants fans I’ve talked to out here over the last couple of days want him released or traded.
Maybe not the whole stadium but I bet at least half…
Nat’s color man implying Giants sellout streak is a crock.
I couldn’t agree more…
Jesus fucking Christ, I’m not even home from work yet.
No hurry BF, Already pounding Cain to the tune of 3 runs in the 1st.
Remember boys/ ladies, I’m predicting a no- hitter out of glass eyes till proven wrong!
Nat’s color man implying Giants sellout streak is a crock.
I couldn’t agree more…
it’s absolute total fucking bullshit. It’s an embarrassment. It’s something Trump would trump.
F. P. Santangelo?
I believe it is. Sounds like him…
What the deal with the sellout streak? Don’t the leagues have rules about it? I thought the tickets had to be sold to call it a sellout, even if people end up not showing up for the game (empty seats). Someone enlighten me.
I think the Giants made up their own definition of a sellout…
All teams are allowed to make up their own sell-out number. It doesn’t have to be the stadium capacity.
The Giants are probably using something like 35,000 as their sell-out number.
It’s cheesy, but MLB allows teams to do it, for some reason.
One of the Flappers posted an article about it several years ago.
Money is probably the reason.
Yeah, it allows them to create a false urgency. Get your tickets now!
good news bad news dept.; Cubs got swept on road trip to SoCal, losing first 3 to LA and 3 more to Pads including today. The WS Champs are “on pace” to go 78-84.
Um, bad news is Pads could be tied for 4th place if Giants don’t rally.
Well, kudos to F. P. for being able to turn a forgettable career as a player into a solid career as a broadcaster.
Yeah, he is not bad as a color guy.
Here’s an ump blowing a perfect game.
From an old SFGate article. I still don’t know what “distributed” means by their definition:
“Rather, a sellout is when the number of tickets distributed – including complimentary passes for players, employees and sponsors; tickets for seats with obstructed views; and standing-room-only passes – exceeds the team’s definition of seating capacity.
For the Giants, that number is 41,500 – not 41,915 – said Russ Stanley, the team’s head of ticket sales.
Standing-room tickets and obstructed seats – where fans have to look around a rail, past a sign or through a plastic-glass shield – don’t count against this definition of seating capacity, but they do count toward paid attendance.
So, in theory, 500 people could buy standing-room tickets or sit in seats with blocked views, and those would make up for 500 unsold seats in the far reaches of the upper deck.”
Is all they have to do then is “distribute”, i.e. give away all of their unsold tickets and voila, a sellout?
I guess, though it’s hard to imagine the money hungry Giants doing that.
So they can dump 10,000 tickets into McCovey Cove and it counts?
If that counts as an obstructed view seat, then I guess so. I would think it’s very obstructed.
F. P. was busted for a PED near the end of his playing career.
That should be on the back of his baseball card…
Ha! That does sound like something you would read on the back of an old Topps card…Did you know…
LOL. That’d be awesome. lol
Great work LJ,
The Flaps “due diligence ” reporting is unprecedented in a year when their sellout streak is on the line and it’s their only thread to hang on to..
You don’t see that every day.
They gave Posey a hit on that. LOL
He needs all the RBIs he can get.
A double.
Miller was talking last night about comparing Posey’s opportunities with RISP vs.others. He had 27 ABs I think compared to mid 40s for Harper and Zim of Nats.
Nice to see him pad stats with that one. What was CF thinking?
Hey I thought I saw Stix in the stands.
Sellouts for ball games are determined by tickets sold and distributed not the actual attendance. The NL joined the AL in using that figure sometime in the 90s. I think it had something to do with the revenue sharing calculation… I know as a season ticket holder during some bad years, I had to eat a bunch of tickets.
I thought of Stix the other day when I heard “I Shot The Sheriff” on the radio…
Second row to the left of home (at the O in the Oracle sign), maybe it’s his brother.
I see the guy you’re talking about! Good call!
great tune
reflexes got the better of me
and what is to be must be
Strick warming up in the pony league bullpen! I would stand and cheer enthusiastically for him if I were there.
FP’s partner Bob Carpenter is annoying as fuck.
Jeez at least the kid hit the ball.
Oh well if the DBax weren’t so busy trading him away (for Edwin Jackson among others iirc) Giants would have to face this guy 4-5 times a year.
Hey, FP just brought up the Nats trading for Strickland…Good match, IMO.
Strickland should drill Scherzer.
Yes!
How was his reception? The Nat feed didn’t show or tell…
Couldn’t tell, I got Nats feed too. Maybe he’ll get a standing O in NL East parks.
It was pretty low key. I didn’t hear any boos.
Miller was talking about Morse and how hard he worked to get here, career thought to be over yada yada til the wedding thing with Pence who convinces him to come to camp, “What’s the worst that could happen?”
Um well exactly what did happen.
I missed it. Just saw him pitching. Gawd, how boring is this team? I couldn’t even say ‘dp’ before Span hit the first pitch.
Mariners beat the Rockies.
Not that it matters much, but that was a bullshit strike call.
Last place with a bullet. ZZZZzzzzzzz………. Ho hum. Nice run while it lasted. This is officially shit on a shingle. Bad Penny. Odd year blues. Whatever you want to call it, but we are going nowhere fast. The only run we got was a gift.
man stuff always seems to happen before off day at Flap.
I don’t get how Harper appeals and it’s like automatic that it gets reduced by one game. What kind of kangaroo court is that? What, did he present compelling new evidence? Did he show great remorse? (Stix take note.)
No shit. Fuck Harper. The little weasel.
They’ll probably give the day to Strickland for a 7 day suspension. Tito’s quote below is too funny.
I can relate not knowing how many kids . . . So many countries, so many women.
Hah!