I Love Houston
It’s funny how a couple of games can completely change your mindset. After the Dodgers steamrolled two tired, handicapped teams (both their pitching staffs were burned up prior to facing LA) we finally got to root for a team that was locked and loaded from the beginning.
And now it seems like this is in the bag….
Every Astro hitter that comes to the plate I’m like, “this guy can rake. I love this guy.” While their pitching is suspect, I had total confidence in Peacock, a guy I always thought was better suited for relief anyway.
And now I see we get Morton tonight. Hmmmm. He’s a little like McCuller’s in that I *could* see him pitch a great game. And why not? Just as I look at the Astro line up and give a knowing dude head nod to every single guy 1-9 I look at LA now and see nothing but a bunch of castoffs having career years but who are peetering out now, fucking Puig, and young superstars who just swing too wildly to be successful enough to beat a great team like Houston….
I’m telling you, my mindset has changed and it’s in a real good spot right now….
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
Puig’s best talents if you want to call them that are attitude and charisma with athleticism power and speed distant seconds.
Perfect for a drag queen too.
What a drag it is getting uuuup…
theatrics are best things he does. skills, sure. how best to use them in team game, no. Freaky behavior drove mgrs. and guys assigned to him like Hanley and AGon crazy and with kissy face stuff obviously ain’t over.
Astros have a home field advantage in the PS like the Twins used to at the 4H club. If the series goes back to LA it ain’t gonna be easy for them…
Was I dreaming yesterday or did I see where Stanton has ID the Giants as his preferred team?
Must have been a pipe dream.
OSF
I’ve read nothing that indicates Stanton saying SF is his preferred location. In fact, I think he’d cross us off the list first– huge park, no protection behind him. That would cut deep into his HR total— besides posing down and banging the ladies, his#1 goal in life is HRs
might be open season on few other Marlins, like Yelich, that could be of great help to Giants without enormous salary burden of Stanton.
Meaningless, but…
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2740931-giancarlo-stanton-trade-rumors-giants-reportedly-among-preferred-destinations
https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2017/10/26/16550888/sf-giants-giancarlo-stanton-j-d-martinez
with Wood the lefty going tonite, gotta wonder how long Roberts will choose to stick with him. Part of the reason Roberts had quick hook with Hill was how well Houston top 4 hitters, all RH, did vs. LHP during the season. Maeda threw 42 pitches last night, so he might not be able to go even tomorrow.
He’s kinda run out of options. The Dodgers are FUCKED and I’m loving every minute of it!!!!
Rooster gonna be at Denny’s for the rest of his life..
IF there was a Stanton trade, I don’t see what package the Giants could put together to get him.
I don’t mind cleaning out our farm system to get him. There’s nobody in our farm system I’m real attached to. As for players on the major league roster, who would the Marlins be interested in?
Plus, Stanton’s salary causes luxury tax issues, and the Giants are treating that as a hard salary cap, regardless of what Baer says to the media.
Probably Shaw and Beede would have to be in the package. I don’t have a problem with that.
I’d love to have Stanton on our team.
I don’t see it happening, though.
I don’t see how we could put together a valid package for Stanton either. We could offer to give them every player in our entire fallow farm system and they’d still justifiably turn us down.
I still see the Dodgers winning the series, but good for the Astro’s for making them sweat a bit.
That dumb-ass move by Gurriel will no-doubt go down in World Series lore as the “turning point,” much like Dusty giving Russ Ortiz the ball. Only difference is the Dusty deal was fake news, while Gurriel’s racist bit was the real deal. What an a-hole.
A case could be made that Gurriel should be suspended for a game in the Series, but I doubt the Commisioner will do that.
If it was the regular season, the Commisioner probably would.
I predict Gurriel will be asked to apologize to Darvish in person. Darvish has already offered forgiveness publicly, which was an admirable thing to do.
What Gurriel did was racist. It was stupid. Maybe he’ll learn something. Part of racism is ignorance.
What Gurriel did with his eyes was bad enough, but to call Darvish a “chinito,” a “little Chinese boy” is infuriating. And sad, too. A reminder of the curse of racism in our world.
Those Cuban defectors are something, aren’t they?
I love baseball, but I don’t necessarily love lots of the players. Lots of ’em are undereducated, and dumb, basically. The beauty and symmetry of the game on the field isn’t always reciprocated by the players’ off field behavior and communications…
Hell no it’s not in the bag. That kind of cockiness is a recipe for disappointment. With Wood and Kershaw coming up, it’s hard to see the Astros winning in 5 games. But I’m pulling for them almost as hard as I did for the G’s in their WS years. The Astros winning = Rooster’s Kryptonite. lol
Yeah, Roberts has cooked his bullpen and Hinch hasn’t. That could be what costs the Dodgers in the end, even though LA has the better pen.
Heard something interesting the other day on KNBR.
The first game umpire, Cuzzi, is the absolute worst umpire in MLB in terms of calling as strikes, what are truly balls. The second game umpire is the absolute worst at the opposite — more than any other ump he calls as balls, what are truly strikes. How is it possible that the WS teams get the two worst umps in the entire MLB at calling balls and strikes?…
Cuzzi and Laz Diaz are two names that always set off alarm bells, for any mlb game. How can they both be on the WS crew?
Kreuger’s tweet is the one that’s shameful. This fucking guy is gonna weigh in on racism? hahahahahaha!!!!!
How about nominees for MLB player, past and/or present, with greatest combination of ability, leadership, class and intelligence ? Doesn’t need to have been on a champ team, nor even a regular winning one. Off top of my head:
1. Lou Gehrig
2. Hank Aaron
3. Stretch
4. Tom Seaver
5. Koufax
If other sports were included, I’d add Abdul-Jabbar.
…and Bogdan Bogdanovich needs to be on there too.
Snarkk…In what way do you feel Mays fell short of making your list?
Obviously, you considered and rejected him. Just curious…
you beat me to it, but knew I was thinking it
It’s a west coast thing. Mays and the SF fans never fully embraced each other and a little bad blood lingers to this day. (At least that’s what my big brothers tell me)
Penn St.’s football program bounced back a lot sooner than I thought it would.
Based mostly on what Henry Aaron has said about him, the very overlooked Eddie Mathews belongs on the list…
That Barkley dude is really good.
Penn St. guy, not Charles.
Ohio St. is wearing D-Backs “janitors in space” uniforms.
Kreuger hammering someone else for racism is ridiculous.
If Kreuger had added a comment about his own history, that would have been powerful and admirable. Just something like: “Believe me, I know.” We’d be applauding him.
Looking at HOU: they’re going to be very good for a long while. A team put together properly and groomed for success and managed well . . . and having fun! I look at their hitters and we look like class AA minor leaguers.
Kellogg’s got in some trouble this week when someone noticed that one of their cereal brands had a cover with a big number of light-skinned cartoon characters walking through a mall, and there was only one dark-skinned character: the janitor sweeping the mall. Kellogg’s announced the cover will be changed immediately. How did it happen in the first place? Stuff like that just blows my mind. The capacity for blind-spots.
It all comes back to cereal…
What Gurriel did proved that racism isn’t isolated to the US. Gurriel has lived in the United States for just over a year and doesn’t speak a word of English. He even said the “Chinito” comment is quite common in Cuba when referring to someone of Asian descent. I think Darvish’s response was classy and profound. Learn from it and move on.
Cubans need to stop calling all Asians Chinese. And the “ito” part turned it into “little boy.”
I didn’t realize what the “ito” part meant. Yes, that does make it worse.
Manfred announces Gurriel’s suspension is for 5 games of the regular season. Either suspend him a game from the WS or don’t suspend at all. This negates Darvish’s comment about “learning from it and moving on.” To use a couple worn out cliches, “Let’s wipe it under the rug now and open up the can of worms in April.”
This reminds me of when Campaneris threw his bat at a Tigers pitcher in the playoffs. He was suspended for 6 games…..at the start of the next season. Campaneris played on in the playoffs, and the A’s won the World Series. The Tigers and their fans were livid.
3 of my earliest sports memories are the Chiefs/Dolphins Ed Podolak game, the Immaculate Reception, and the Campaneris bat throw.
I should google and see how far apart they all were. Within 18 months maybe?
It was a very memorable bat throw.
…and pretty damn accurate too!
Dang, that bat came pretty close, real close…
By the way, I wish networks would use the behind-the-catcher angle more. It’s a cool angle.
FYI for anyone that cares, those 3 events came within 12 months of each other:
Epic Chiefs/Dolphins game (aka “The Day SanDawg Became a Chiefs Fan) 12/25/71 (I had just turned 7)
Campy Bath Throw 10/8/72
Immaculate Reception 12/23/72
Duke Sims co-starring as Buster Posey…
I always thought “Duke Sims” was such a cool name. I’m not going to put it up there with “Bobby Valentine,” which I think is the coolest name ever—but Duke Sims is good one in my book.
I always had a thing for Midre Cummings…
The only postseason suspension I can recall is Dodgers reliever Jay Howell getting suspended during the ’88 NLCS vs. the Mets for having pine tar on his glove.
Mays is not on my all around on/off field player list due to often wearing his ego on his sleeve, being pissy with the press and fans in his day about perceived slights and not getting his due. Plenty of anecdotes about his prickishness. He still brags about how he was the “leader” of the team in his day, and told guys where to play, and what to do, and how to hit, etc. OK, yeah, we get it, he was a pseudo manager, a baseball savant. It’s probably mostly, if not all, true. But, do we still need to hear it even now? At some point the interesting old stories blend into the old, rehashed “me, me, me” stuff. If it’s Aaron v. Mays in the dignity derby, Aaron wins IMO. As Sandog above said, Mays was never the favorite to most SF fans out here including me; Stretch was — a quiet leader that intimidated at bat, always acted with total class. Mays was a NY guy, he never got over that out here, he was respected, but not loved like back in NY…
I’ve witnessed Mays’ surliness in person. While not always a valid excuse, fans can be inconsiderate, moronic, pains in the ass at times. I try to be good to mine…
I don’t dislike Mays. He’s the greatest living player, and all that.
But, if I had to choose for a dinner companion, I’d pick Stretch. I’d get the great stories of the Golden Age of NL ball in the ’60s. The old ballparks, the ’62 Series, the great players he played against and with — including first hand Mays stories. I’d get to talk BALL. If Mays were the dinner guest, I’d get a lot of the NL stories, and a LOT about Mays…
Talk about egos, Seaver was quoted in his prime as saying he can throw the ball within a quarter inch slot any time he wants…
We’ve been over this, and I’ve said it before: My encounter last Oct 21 with Mays on the phone could not have been more gracious, warm, and cordial. Dan Valenti, who did my intro, had the same experience in person at ST. Granted, small sample. I totally disagree about the ego thing. Mays was great and knows it. He goes out of his way now not to stir that pot, witness him at the trophy thing in NYC in January 2015. Mays is a superb game raconteur. He shines. He’s at ease. He gets surly when he is out of that milieu. Hey, Paul Newman stopped giving autographs after someone asked for one at a urinal. Did Mays leave his heart in NY, but SF has its own blemishes in how he was welcomed (housing bias). There’s only one titan. Willie Mays.
I forgot Billy Martin was the Tigers manager when Campy threw the bat. Martin wanted in on a potential brawl.
I bet we’d be shocked to know how much racist shit got spewed out during dust ups like this one.
Billy was probably half sloshed at the time…
I cared. I was betting the Immaculate Reception happened closer to the mid 70s. And I didn’t even know what the Campy bat throw was. That was a pretty impressive accurate throw he had with that bat.
sandog said, on October 28, 2017 at 1:39 pm (Edit)
FYI for anyone that cares, those 3 events came within 12 months of each other:
Epic Chiefs/Dolphins game (aka “The Day SanDawg Became a Chiefs Fan) 12/25/71 (I had just turned 7)
Campy Bath Throw 10/8/72
Immaculate Reception 12/23/72
Though I’m no longer a Raider fan, I was then, an I’m still fairly pissed about that Immaculate Reception. Total rip off. It sent the Steelers on a decade long dominance, and delayed the Raiders a Super Bowl win by half a decade. The Catch for the Niners did the same launch thing for them in the 80s, but it was legit…
In some way there is some racist shit going on with the way Gurriel is being treated—like he’s just some dumb Cuban and he should be severely punished for his actions. Meanwhile, the Chief Wahoo logo is just as racist if not more so. Why is that fucking thing even still around? We (Americans) seem pretty quick to go after others for being racist while tolerating it within our own culture just fine.
The logo stuff with Cleveland and Washington is organizational level; it affects ownership. MLB office doesn’t go after that. Same with NFL and this anthem stuff. Goodell pays lip service to free speech, Park Avenue doesn’t go after the owners. NFL management just wants the inmates to shut up and stand up so the owners don’t keep losing TV share. At least Silver actually got it together and booted out Stirling from the NBA…
That’s a great point.
Both of you.
It’s hard for me to comprehend how a superstar Cuban defector views the world. The recent defectors in particular came of age and developed under peculiar circumstances. Chapman, Puig and now Gurriel all have engaged in unusual and offensive conduct as mlb players. Cespedes has been very odd, if not offensive. Being a superstar in Cuba is a strange life. Also, the best Cuban ballplayers develop in the international leagues, where each team shows up for games not only in two different uniforms but also (generally) in two distinct ethnicities. Far different from the USA minor leagues, or the pro leagues in Japan and Korea. Personally, I cut the Cubans (even Puig) some slack if they don’t meet mlb’s current standards of propriety. I am glad, however, that Chapman apparently hasn’t gone on any recent shooting sprees.
Kellogg’s is introducing cinnamon frosted cornflakes. This will be me at the grocery store:
I realize this probably shows what a racist I am, but if the Darvish thing would have been done by an American—say someone like Springer or Bregman, I think it would be a much bigger deal.
I think Gurriel gets a little bit of a pass being from Cuba—which most people view as a screwed up country.
I hadn’t read Xoot’s post thoroughly before posting mine. He basically made this point before I did.
I thought about that, too. Went back and forth on it. I bet a lot of people that are mad at Gurriel would have thought it was funny if a white player did it—while admitting it was racist, too. The bottom line is that a white guy from Alabama, as dumb and insensitive as he might be, knows better than to do that with cameras around. I would bet anything they do it in the locker room, though. And that’s kinda my point. Everyone is guilty of being Gurriel to some degree. And to heap all this condemnation on this guy, I think it’s over the top. It’s warranted I guess but where is the condemnation for the racist logos? I don’t care if that has to do with the players or not. The same institution that levied the suspension for Gurriel could do something about the logos and yet they do nothing. That’s bullshit.
Remember working with Hispanic gal from Mexico who would use the word for Chinese as a bad epithet in describing someone/something. In other words, not limited to Cubans.
Well said Flav.
Chief Wahoo is but a single example. We elected a fucking blatant racist to be President. Gurriel probably should have been suspended. I just think it’s bullshit that we feel better about ourselves as a society for ostracizing Gurriel. We have all been Gurriel at some point in our lives. Busting him 5 games next season seems pretty hypocritical in a way..
Another reason I want Girardi is that it’s way past time for Giants to bring in an outsider with an objective view of talent level and how it plays out at their yard. Girardi has seen top AL rivals Houston Cle Bos up close and personal. And I think he’d tell mgmt. in no uncertain terms what he thought of what they had and how competitive it would (or not) be.
he’s got no ties to the west coast, I’d imagine someone of his stature would wait out the right spot on the east coast, probably the American League
also Giants vets need an experienced guy no Alex Cora who’d have to learn on the job. Craw and Posey ain’t listening to that BS.
if LA wins one bright spot is that Rooster’s dinner will probably end and he’ll come back. He’s easily the least offensive Dodger fan I know, and for an SF blog, if we have to have one, he’s probably the best LA fan we could get….
least offensive Dodger fan lol…reminds me of how you feel about Belt/Posey being best Giants hitters.
Posey and Belt would be more valuable on a different team. Might be able to say that about Rooster at a different blog, I dunno
They’d be more valuable in a different stadium. #FIXATT
Loo found the box score 8/8/95. Me and godson saw Midre Cummings blast one off top of the deck above the field for a HR off Terry Mulholland in 2nd inning. Bonds homered in first Giants took 2-0 lead and Pirates exploded for 9 in second off Sergio Valdez and Mullholland. Deion was Giants leadoff and in CF, Jay Bell at SS for Pirates.
Attendance 9600…warm day too we went underneath overhang after a while to cool off.
Glad to hear you had a special “Midre Moment”
I went to a convenience store today and saw a car with a confederate sticker prominently displayed. As long as such a hateful and racist symbol continues to be accepted as normal and acceptable, I hold out very little hope for this country with regards to race relations. As an aside, a car two spots over had a Trump sticker. Welcome to my world in the Jersey sticks.
the day after the election a lawyer on my floor brought a life-size smiling cardboard Trump to the office. How he won the memento at his local Trump HQs I don’t know, but he sure enjoyed dancing that thing in my doorway for a while.
Saw this on Twitter: So let me get this straight…MLB doesn’t want to punish the 24 teammates so they will punish players next season who weren’t on the team?
The NY Daily News used to print a one box “comic strip” called Ching Chow buried in the sports section. It was widely believed to contain hidden horse racing tips. About 20-25 years ago they changed the name to Meet Mr. Lucky and no longer used the Asian caricature…
I had forgotten that. My relatives who ran the numbers racket always said the number that hit was in the News.
Lost in all this is Yu Darvish. Count me now as one of his fans. Read his comments. Won’t find a classier guy, in my view.
We don’t hear about those NorCal fires. Are they still burning? We might get 4 or 5 inches of rain before Monday.
Over/Under on career homers for Midre Cummings? I would set it at 33.
Attaway Taylor, make an out on the bases vs. Morton.
That didn’t hit him. Bad challenge
Nice job Puig!
paint it black, Charlie Morton. Go Stros!
Let’s see if Roberts sticks to form and removes Wood before the lineup turns over for third time. That would be classic.
Great play Bregman!
Bregman did that same shit v the Yankees.What a play!
Springer Dinger!
There’s a hit!
And Roberts pulls him out are you fucking kidding me?
Roberts was out of the dugout before Springer crossed home plate. The Dodgers are basically managed by a fucking computer.
on twitter @ cbs site, one guy said Morrow was up specifically to face Springer. So now I’m sure everyone will ask why he didn’t bring him in and quoting stats on how his OPS goes up 3rd time around…despite Wood having a no no.
mother fuck let’s go!
Ken Giles is like a castrated Brian Wilson.
Get Giles out now!
Saw that coming.
I don’t follow closers at all, no use for them in daily fantasy. Who is this fucking guy? Has he been the closer all year? That was just pathetic.
Wilco, what do the fans think of this guy? Obviously I know what they think about him now, but how about through the year?
No one has trusted him all year. The Astros had such a big lead from day 1, they never had pressure moments until the PS. We all saw this coming. The question will be, will Hinch remove him from the roster? They have a couple guys that easily could replace him and be more effective.
there is no way in hell he can bring him back in. He skipped him last night, tonight was a total fucking meltdown. There isn’t a scenario he can be brought back into a game, IMO
Giles has good stuff. He’s a classic lightweight pussy. He doesn’t trust his slider to throw it over the plate so he gets fastball happy and the hitters just sit on it.
plus he was obviously visibly rattled even to start that inning. Dude has zero confidence.
The Astros are better off letting their long men (McCugh, Peacock and Musgrove) start innings and ride them as long as you can. Like they did with Peacock last night. I don’t like Musgrove coming in with runners on base but they have no choice now.
Mother Fuck. Paly High. Again!
If the Astros hitters had done something earlier the game might not have broken apart like this. But damn the Houston pen seems weak.
shockingly. How do you win that many games with a helpless pen?
StubHub is like the stock market. Prior to that inning the cheapest ticket for tomorrow was standing room only for $1000. Now it’s down to $700.
Shit–Musgrove is one of the guys my kids know from high school. That sucks.
my high school beat Matt’s high school. I will take that as a victory tonight. I needed one.
2-2 in games is too early for a struttin’ Cock o’ the Walk…
Pawlie, on your 5:04, the major fires are all either totally contained or darn close…
good football game in desert as UA giving Wazzu all it can handle (and helping Cards out) up 30-27 3rd Q.
Stanford-UW probably decides their half of conference. UA is fun team to watch, QB Khalil Tate is awesome runner went for 82 yd run earlier.
Opie tmw? this one probably his biggest. He’s had great postseason so far, chance to get LA back ahead and heading home for last 2.
You guys are probably all asleep . . . Flavor’s take on racism is most accurate in my opinion, i.e., no race, country, culture, etc., has a monopoly on racism.
Having traveled all over the world, my experience has been that 99.9% of the time I have been treated with respect, kindness and generosity. However, I have experienced less than this, even outright hostility – not attributable to my behavior or to someone I was with (wife, friends, etc), but due to racism and ignorance. Let me explain with an example . . .
My wife Linh is a very attractive woman, with a high moral character. In Vietnam, most women are like this and will NOT even consider a casual sexual relationship without the man making a commitment to marriage. Hard to explain, but they literally will not pursue a relationship without the man agreeing to meet their parents/family and same giving their approval of the relationship.
So what does this have to do with prejudice and racism? A few Vietnamese, especially the men, think Westerners are only interested in sex and have little or no interest in a relationship beyond this. Consequently, when they see a beautiful Vietnamese woman with a Westerner, some of them – usually the poor, ignorant, resentful, uneducated types – will say something like, “Another Vietnamese slut with a rich American . . . ” Of course, I have no idea what they’ve said, as I do not understand Vietnamese. I only have Linh’s reaction to go by and man, oh man, is her reaction fiery. She will immediately tell them to fuck off, facing them, daring them to do something, adding something along the lines of, “This is my husband you idiot and we have 2 children.”
The aforementioned has occurred 4 times. Same exact scenario each time. I asked a male Vietnamese friend of ours, Haoi, what I should do when something happens like this (usually, I’m laughing, as it never has escalated beyond Linh unloading on them)? Hoai said do nothing – as these assholes are cowards and although they likely wouldn’t kick my ass one on one, they would definitely gang up on me.
Again, my experience overall has been consistently outstanding everywhere I have traveled. That being said, there are parochial and small minded folk everywhere. In my opinion, the best way to combat prejudice is to practice what Gandhi said, “Be the change you wish for the world.”