A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball

I woke up to this headline at mlbtraderumors…

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!

Woo, that was a good one. Spilled my coffee. Out my nose….

Hey let’s go BIG and throw in Melatonin with ‘Cutch and maybe snag Harper….

Day ball today. May the light from the Masterpiece guide our way to another victory….

I wouldn’t want to be Sabean or Evans right now. There isn’t a trade out there that could possibly get this team to start playing above .500 regularly. And they don’t have the bullets to fire anyway. They should be sellers but they can’t trade Bum because they think the fanbase would revolt. They’re probably looking at trying to get a guy like Dozier who would be a classic pick up for SF but he’s not going to move the needle enough to make a difference.

Here’s what’s going to happen: nothing is going to happen.

Watching Newcomb lose his no hitter with 2 outs in the 9th reminded me of 1990. I was in my mom’s kitchen on Tennyson Ave in Palo Alto making a triple decker salami sando listening to Scotty Garrelts try to close out his no no vs the Reds. With 2 outs someone (Eric Davis maybe?) lined a clean hit into the outfield and that was it. I screamed out *motherfuck!!!!!!!* and slumped to the ground. Got up. Ate my sando.

I feel like that’s a lu that will produce like 3 hits

See, that’s what I get for being such a doomer. The Giants were like “Fuck you, Flavor” and then promptly banged out 4 hits…..

Not much to say other than….Xoot, great post last night. I fast tracked that bad boy to the Flap Hall of Fame. #68. There will now be a mad scramble among Flappers to see who will get the coveted #69 HOF post. I don’t send too many posts the way of the HOF. There’s really no criteria I just have to read it and say to myself “wow, that was great.” Anyway, it’s easily the best part of this blog, I go there every few months and re-read all of them. I encourage all of you to do the same. If you put a gun to my head, I’d probably say #51, his last post that made it to the Hall, is my favorite……

The BBOTD–POTD(!) is also still worth a chuckle or two. Timeless.

It’s not even August and I’m already tired of this team. Boring. Slow. Weak. The pitching is better than last season but the hitting feels like it’s settled into last year’s squad. We’ve been lulled into a mild sense of belief just because they haven’t been on pace to lose 98 games. But .500 ball is nearly as bad. They are more competitive than last year but there is just a huge gap between how they play the game and how the rest of baseball plays the game.

I had secretly hoped that The Masterpiece would have acted as “Rally! Masterpiece!” but who was I kidding? It’s a house where people went to die…..

It’s time to wave the white flag on this season. Feel free to join me, it’ll make watching this shit a lot easier to tolerate……

Melatonin doing his best to put the season to sleep last night. The Giants really should be able to beat the Brewers. They’ve been playing over their head all season. And the fact the win went to that stupid fucking racist bitch Hader made the loss that much harder to swallow.

MadBum tonight. Again, this is a good spot for him. Will his command continue to elude him?

The Brewers have the second most wins in the NL? Not sure what that says about the NL. I’m not that worried about Milwaukee and I think D-Rod will pitch well enough for us to win tonight. Of course, our hitters look tired and ineffective lately so that could be an issue.

Bill Laskey, who I usually don’t like because he spends most of his show covering for the completely incompetent Vida Blue, brought up a good question on the radio last night: Who would the Giants realistically go after at the trade deadline? They don’t have too many bullets to fire. And if they did fire them, who would they target? The bullpen has been very good this year. Same with the starting pitching. I guess you could go after an outfielder but they can’t even seem to get Slater on the field so that tells me they don’t really want to add on there.

Longo coming back, Panik too. Doesn’t it seem like even if the Giants had a bullet they’d be willing to fire they wouldn’t do it because they don’t have any holes they are desperate to fill?

After Pence crushed that hanging curve ball that ended up RIGHT in the center of the plate, I wondered what he would say about it after the game. He’s a humble, positive guy. So this wasn’t unexpected:

“It definitely felt good to get one because, you know, I’m feeling strong. I’m hitting a bunch of balls hard. It felt good to finally get one up in the air. I feel really good, I’m in a good spot now.”

Wow. One home run goes a long way to fueling his fire. But all pro athletes are like that. That’s why they all say “I just didn’t execute” when they lose. The belief they have in themselves has to be higher than the belief anyone else has in them.

How many HR’s does Pence have left in him? I’d say that’s the last one but who knows? Any major leaguer can hit a bomb if it’s placed on a tee. My gut says Buster will hit more than Pence the rest of the way just because he’ll have more chances. But would it blow your mind completely if Buster didn’t hit one the rest of the year?

Hate to have to move on from *The Masterpiece* thread but we do have a game today. I don’t like playing AL ball but we play who’s on the schedule so….

By the way, here is the trinket I uncovered yesterday during the excavation that’s going on at my house right now. As I said last night, the perfect place for this is hanging in San Dawg’s RV so that’s where it’s headed.

Autographed early Cinderella photo. I’m assuming this was 1985 or so and I have no recollection of getting the band to sign this but here it is 30+ years later….

That was a weekend series we could easily have swept. I need something to take my mind off that…Hmmmmm….Oh I know, how about an exact replica of the Nightmare on Elm Street house made out of popsicle sticks?

And now one at night with the light on:

Our own DJLoo created this masterpiece. You would think he was inspired back in ’84 when the movie came out but you’d be wrong. He built this bitch in 2011. Claims it took 200-300 hours. It took Michelangelo 4 years to paint the Sistine Chapel. Sounds like good ol’ Mike coulda used some advice from Loo on time management.

Anyway, this is brilliant and it’s already taken my mind off the Giants losing the series to Oakland.

For those still in the Elm Street mood, here is Johnny Depp’s debut movie role. He died a horrific death inside the house you seem depicted above….

If any Flapper out there has built anything that tops Loo’s piece de resistence, please send it my way: bigflavor77@gmail.com. I’m expecting my inbox to remain empty on this topic but I guess we’ll see……

At this point, even if the Giants wanted to trade Bumgarner, even if they sold a team mostly on trading for his post season mystique, there’s no way they get an offer that would make any sense. Bum has nearly 1600 innings on that 28 year old arm and that’s even with sitting out most of the last 2 seasons. It’s entirely possible we are just seeing him in decline (or worse, just about to snap off an injury).

I just pray we play out the next season without giving him a new deal. It would be disastrous to sign him to another contract….

The day we’ve all been waiting for is here! Win today and we tie the series and you know what a tie means>>>>> it means we fucking win baby, hell yeah! I want that trophy more than anything I’ve ever wanted in my life and of course this .500 team is setting it up to take it down with a .500 record in the series…..

#mattharveyday #stillneedstwoqualitystarts #stilldrunk #neverhappening

D-Rod hadn’t thrown a pitch off a mound, in his life, until 2013. Trip out on that…..

As you know, that’s only a year before we won #3. And now he’s regularly dominating big league line ups. It is still inconceivable to me that the Twins just let this dude flitter off into the wind for nada. Every article I read about this just glosses over the question we all have: Why did the Twins let him go? The best answer I’ve found is that he was simply “blocked”. Respectful question, but by who?

Talking heads on KNBR were issuing caution saying “Remember Hesto Presto.” To me, that’s nonsense. Rodriguez has sick stuff, Hesto Presto had one lucky night. The obvious issue going forward is going to be number of innings of that arm.

If Bumgarner is going to anchor something, today would be a good day to start doing that….

And now my flappin’ friends, we resume the exciting pursuit of the Break Even Trophy. I still can’t get over the tie breaker. Whoever wins last gets it. What are we teaching our kids with this silly rule? You don’t have to win the most, just make goddamn sure you win the last. If the series somehow ends 3-3 they should have one of those bridge workers laser cut a hole in the side of the bridge and weld that bitch in there until next season when hopefully sanity takes over and the trophy is awarded when one team wins the majority of the games in the season series…..

Hot take and I believe this gentleman sets Cove Chatter straight….

The bottom line with LA picking up Machado is that it doesn’t effect the Giants much at all. SF just needs to worry about winning games consistently. If Machado slogs his way through the next 66 games or if he blasts the ball like Babe Ruth, it won’t matter if we all we do is toil around the .500 mark.

I think getting rid of Smargerine could be a big hidden add at the deadline. He’s hurt, he’s been hurt all year, it’s silly to keep trotting him out there and just praying for something that isn’t going to happen. I’m far more concerned about what the extra innings will mean for guys like Baby Pudge and Suarez. Cueto continues to be the tipping point for the season. If he’s gonna go the way of Smargerine and fade off into August we’re done no matter what Machado does in LA…..

Don’t get me wrong, I like home runs. But one of the best parts of a home run is how it can sneak up on you. There’s nothing more underwhelming than coming to expect a home run several times a game. Baseball has turned into a string of strikeouts and then whenever a dude puts the ball in the air, in play, it’s gone. What the hell is that?

When Barry played, I expected a home run. Every swing I expected a dong. But there were 8 other dudes mixed in there who would do something other than blast one out of the park. A triple is often more exciting than a home run. I love stolen bases. Double plays. Line drives that get snagged with the defender laid out horizontal to the earth.

Last night? Eh, I dunno. I was watching that and while Gennett certainly fueled some excitement into the game, the rest of them…..it just kinda cheapens the accomplishment when there are so many of them. It’s either strikeout or bomb.

I understand that’s how the game is played now. I just don’t think I like how the game is played now.

I didn’t see any of the HR Derby. I wasn’t trying to miss it, just busy. Nice to see Bryce Harper finally get his World Series ring. Well, he celebrated like that’s what he won. I actually give big props to him for doing it. Bonds didn’t do it in SF. And all these guys who sit it out are a bunch of pussies. They’re afraid their swing will get messed up? Nonsense. They’re just lazy. You think all the guys who competed last night really thought their swing would be screwed up for the next 2 weeks? If so, why would they do it?

The only way I can find interest in the AS game tonight is with several line ups at draftkings so if you’re struggling like I am to find reasons to watch, there’s that….

The thought of not having to look at that underwhelming trophy at AT&T has dulled the sting of losing 2 of 3 to The Men in White Shoes. In fact, I just heard that if the series is somehow split 3/3 after the next three in Oakland, the team that gets it is the team that wins the final game. Lol. That is the final nail in the coffin for me on this nonsense. Personally, I think they should go with Newman’s verdict.

The Giants looked like they needed a break and they got one. Breaks just keep going our way, eh?

This guy Canha…I don’t like this guy. Did you catch his interview after the game? He apologizes for the bat flip and then 2 seconds pass and he takes the apology back. I could care less about bat flips but this was a double barreled moronic dispute he had with himself. As many have said on Twitter, it wasn’t the bat flip that he should apologize for it was the “This is my house!” that this now .143 career hitter at AT&T shouted to his teammates after his bomb. Kuip ended it well with this exchange with Kruk:

Anyway, I’d encourage you all to read Daniel’s thoughtful blog post today about Matheny’s firing. I’ve never been a fan, he’s always just seemed to me like a former player just standing around and spitting seeds and hoping for the best. The long, blank stares he directed toward the infield after the 2012 and 2014 NLCS deciding games were an outrageous sight to behold. Here’s the link:

http://www.cardsconclave.com/2018/07/15/mike-matheny/

Now, let’s see Croatia win one for the motherland and then we can be done with soccer for a while…..

This picture is hilarious.

Why are both of these yoked out dudes trying to take a painful dump on the Bay Bridge? Actually it looks like the deuce might drop on their respective stadiums and in Oakland’s case, would they even notice? Baha.

Additionally, the trophy is invalidated by the “NBC” on it. That’s like when Papa John’s sponsors your little league team.

But whatever, I’m in. Gimmie another damn trophy. We’ll try to find some space for it at AT&T….

REALLY interesting game tonight. Brett Anderson sucks and Smargerine is looking to try to hang on to what little glory he may have left. This one could go either way…..

I mean come on, Edwina Jackson? Can our luck get any better? This guy threw a no hitter and sucked. Take a look at that walk to SO ratio:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/TBA/TBA201006250.shtml

Look, we got Bum going against the journiest of journeymen. Take Game 1 and the momentum and sweep these chumps…..

#rootedinOakland? more like #strandedinOakland

Taking 2 out of 3 from the Cubs was huge. All 3 games hung in the balance, all 3 games the Giants competed. You could quibble about the *competitive spirit* of their bats at times but what I saw was a team that competed, hard, against one of the best teams in the National League. Again, after losing 98 last year, I will take the effort and production we are getting this season.

I should be home later this afternoon. Looking forward to it.

If you were looking for offense, this isn’t the series for you. We scored 2 runs in 11 innings in Game 1. No runs, 3 for 28 in Game 2. Is Cueto for reals going today? I’m still out of town but am working my way back to California…..

Nice to see Diggity’s mea culpa on The Panda last night. More should follow his lead. Where would we be without The Panda or Hundley? Pence blasted that triple at the exact moment I was predicting a strikeout so that was mildly irritating. Got our hands full with their lefty today but I have a good feeling about tonight so let’s go.

I can’t remember a more invisible signing than Austin Jackson. And then one July afternoon he just flittered away into a warm summer breeze, never to be seen again…..

He is going to pick it up in Texas. Dude needs the American League and the Rangers will use him the way he was supposed to be used: strictly vs left handed pitching. It’ll be interesting to see if Duggar’s defense will make up for his “actionless” bat…

Kyle Hendricks is pretty lost this year, let’s crush him…..

Kinda need the guy holding that ring on the right side of the blog to step up big time today. We’ll see if the bats can step up, too. Did you guys catch the afternoon scores? Red Sox 15, Nats 18, D-backs 20! Now that was some bat porn doing its thing. *bat porn*. Man, good ol’ Twinner woulda given it to me for that one, eh?

I got a long drive ahead of me today. Maybe the KNBR connection fades in at the right moment, we’ll see….

Didn’t see the game but the box score looks nice. Panik’s hurt again? That’s not moving the needle for me–I never thought he was much. Smarge’s Launching Pad set to go off today. Remember WIlliam VanLaunchingpad? That was a great nickname.

Six teams in front of us in the wild card. Three in front of us in the division. We need a run at some point this year….

When an average pitcher like Luke Weaver is spinning a perfecto against you, at any point after like the 2nd inning, you got problems. I’m not completely down on the Cueto start. He did pitch very well in the minor leagues. I haven’t been able to see what his velo was in the rehab starts.

But come on, if this alternative approach to rehabbing his elbow doesn’t work, will anyone be surprised?

John Gant faces us tonight. They could pitch Ron Gant and probably get the same results.

Baggs had some incredible and depressing stats in his Athletic article today. We scored 3 runs at Coors. The previous low we’ve scored in a 3 game series there was 7. He also noted that, somehow, every Giants starter has a better OPS at home v the road. Think about that. They all hit better at AT&T than anywhere else. Except Longo, he’s got a higher road OPS. But he still isn’t swinging a bat so he’s not worth even discussing right now…

I’m deep in golf mode. If you want to find me I’m either playing Big Meadow or Glaze Meadow every day for the next week….

5 hits, 6 hits….11 hits in 2 games at Coors Field? Max Muncy has hit 18 bombs in the last 46 days. This is what we get when Bochy runs Hunter Pence out there instead of a good Stanford man like Slater…

It is the 4th of July, probably the best day of the year. Go eat 40 hot dogs, slams some beers and maybe somehow, some way the Giants don’t suck for a day and win a game in Colorado….

I’m headed to Black Butte this morning.

Tough one. A very winnable game that got away from us. Can’t win with only 5 hits in Nepal, though.

I’m headed up to Oregon today on a long and meandering trip up and down the west coast. I’ll have a laptop and will keep the threads humming.

Go Giants.

I actually don’t mind going to Colorado as long as both the Giants and the Rockies are going there at the same time. When it’s the Rockies sitting there waiting for us, it’s more dangerous. Tonight both teams are coming to Sherpatown with a similar visual memory index. It’s a more even playing field. Again, if VMI interests you I encourage you to read about it here:

https://www.baseballvmi.com/baseball-indices-sports-weather

I have found it to be an invaluable tool to assist in helping build daily fantasy baseball teams…..

I have some thoughts on Melatonin. Actually, the closer role in general. I feel like the Giants have been screwing this up since they signed Armando Benitez back in 2004. The A’s do a lot of lame stuff but their approach to the closer is something SF really should pay attention to. As Melatonin was unable to finish a game with a 4 run lead I thought of this text that The Bone (my A’s fan buddy) sent me a couple of weeks ago:

In baseball, free agent signings are a huge risk because the players are locked up like servants for so many years before they can leave their original team. Money changes people, not to mention what all those years of playing BEFORE they get to their new team does to the body, the arm, etc. Paying a closer a fortune doesn’t make a lot of sense and is, in fact, kind of a lazy thing to do.

The Giants need to be more like the A’s when identifying stud closers. Draft them, develop them, trade for them if they’re young and controllable. But do not, ever again, sign one to big free agent money.

With Smargerine and Cueto coming back soon, two guys gonna have to go. It’s a great problem to have. Neither vet can come back thinking they’re just sliding comfortably back into their rotation slot. If nothing else, that guarantees focus and effort. And look, none of these Fives are going anywhere. With the exception of Holland, they’re all young. And the best part: they proved they belong up here. If Smarge can’t recapture his magnificent strikeout to walk ratio the Giants aren’t going to keep running him out there every fifth day, there is too much at stake. Glory and destiny is still firmly within reach. And while we don’t have a bunch of Lincecum’s and Cain’s in their prime down on the farm we have multiple guys who can get the job done. In today’s game, I will take that….

I still don’t understand why Minnesota just cast Baby Pudge aside. Their pitching staff is painfully average and non-descript. They couldn’t use a guy like Rodriguez in the rotation? They just let him go for nothing? None of that makes a lick of sense to me unless the answer is, the Twins are just run by buffoons.