A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball

KNBR yesterday, they were discussing the high number of new, young managers in the game today. They argued that there are so many newbies because the owners can pay them less than the “Bochy’s” and the “Scioscia’s”. And if you’re not making much money you can basically turn your manager into a butler for the numbers fellas upstairs. If you look at the managing landscape you can’t really argue with that take…..

Happy Halloween.

As an autumn moon begins to light my way, it’s time to shut down a few peripheral wings of Big Flavor, Inc. Let’s look back on this incredible year….

It began with the sad news of discovering our old friend Twin had passed away. The season always felt a little incomplete to me knowing that for the first time ever that damn bastard wouldn’t be stopping by the Flap to tell us all what’s up. I’m guessing he enjoyed last night’s outcome but maybe not. He was never really a vindictive guy when it came to the game. He loved it too much. He probably would have spent last night spouting off flowery bullshit that would have been fast tracked to the POTD Hall of Fame…..

Soon after we found out about the news of Twin passing I sent McClain’s bat to Loo in New York because I thought it was a tribute Twin would have liked. I’d rank that move as one of my best of the year and I did a lot of rad shit this year so that’s saying something. 🙂 And if that was the best gift I gave, the best gift I GOT was the framed picture of Zenyatta and her brilliant past performances. Thanks again for that, buddy.

There was an ongoing dispute about Matt Harvey that led to a bet that led to me losing a bet that I won back in precisely 36 hours courtesy of the Boston Red Sox. Diggity worked methodically all Summer to win those beers. And it was wiped out in a single weekend. Kenny Rogers once wrote a song about that, I think…..

Let’s see, what else? Oh, in August, I picked up some free swag from AMPM…..

All in all, a very typical, predictable year. The Giants stunk and will continue to stink for many years. The Dodgers fell apart again, as they always do. They are the easiest of teams to dislike. Take your pick. You’ve got Puig licking his bat like a fool and running around the bases kissing his biceps in a game they ended up losing. The rest of them are constantly grabbing old coaches by the neck and smothering them with kisses and punches them in the arm. Hey Manny, why don’t you go find that lady and have her braid your fucking hair again, idiot. What a fun group of guys they are. lol.

A more modest, more honorable man might take the high road and congratulate the Dodgers on a season well played. But I am not that man. You can’t win it all without a heart. You cannot have a heart without a soul. LA is a barren wasteland. I choose to celebrate their misery and toast to 30 more years of upcoming failure for them. Join me in this toast…..

Our idiot Liar in Chief decided to chime in on baseball last night:

Look, fans always want to have it both ways. And if Trump is saying it you know it’s a fools take. But when a guy has pitched 10 innings in 4 weeks you don’t just leave him out there until it all falls apart. Cora took a ton of shit for leaving Rodriguez in TOO LONG. And Roberts literally just watched that blow up in his face. Hill had thrown more than 100 pitches 3 times all season. They had a commanding lead. To top it off, Hill literally told Roberts he was nearly done. And while the bullpen was gassed from the night before, if you had told Roberts before the game he was going to get Hill into the 7th inning he would have thanked God and confidently gone to his bullpen. Now, you can argue with his bullpen choices I guess, but that’s lame. The bullpen is there for a reason. You have to use it and these guys either perform or they don’t. That’s not totally on the manager.

Ugh, defending Roberts just took a lot out of me. Time to wrap this thread up (as well as the series later tonight).

My favorite image from last night:

Fuck LA. #4lyfe

I’m honestly not even disappointed about the LA win. That was one for the ages. Cora trying to break the neck of the Dodgers by burning up Eovaldi is the type of ballsy move I like to see a manager make. Unfortunately it didn’t work out and now that may have cost him today’s game, too. We will see.

At this point in the series the thing that pisses me off the most is having to watch so many Dodger fans celebrating and whipping their dumbass blue towels around. I don’t like seeing people in LA happy, ever. And then I remember that despite what I see no one is happy in LA, ever.

And that makes me happy….

Look, this series is over. But if LA is going to dodge the embarrassment of getting swept they need to win tonight. And it’s not a crazy thought to think they could niggle a win out of this back of the woodshed treatment. They are at home with their best pitcher going. Of course, the pin heads puppeteering Roberts might still screw this up.

It must stink being the Dodgers manager. You’re nothing but a message carrier. A butler. A yes-man. Did he know what he was getting into when he took the job? Probably. Baseball really has gotten worse when the manager is too scared of his own shadow to make actual in-game decisions.

The expected beat down of this second rate franchise is unfolding predictably. The Red Sox aren’t the Brewers and LA is getting spanked. Again, this is what always happens to this team—a team that likes to celebrate early, usually looking like jackasses on the base paths, when they have won precisely nothing.

If you are want an early celebrator or an over-celebrator, LA is your team. If you want a team that actually wins a championship first and then celebrates, look elsewhere…

There are a lot of things I don’t like about how baseball is played today but the main one is that post season stud pitching performance seem to be a thing of the past. What has happened to the dominant starting pitcher? Last night was absurd. And the Dodgers are finding out they aren’t playing the Brewers who had about 20 holes in their team. The Red Sox aren’t fucking around and LA is screwed.

Hank Greenwald. He is, without question, my favorite team announcer of all time. I loved his voice, his sense of humor and he was a part of the first wave of winning Giants teams of my lifetime. I was so sad yesterday when I heard the news of his passing….

Sale and Kershaw certainly don’t have the post season record or the greatness of Madison Bumgarner but this is still a match up of 2 excellent left handers. So Game 1 is kicking off with a bang.

The over/under is 7.5. That’s pretty high considering who is pitching. But I guess the boys in Vegas couldn’t ignore Kershaw’s weakness in the post season. Probably a smart move. With a gun to my head I’d take the over.

Anyway, for the first time ever in my lifetime, I can honestly say LET’S GO BOSTON!

“People who don’t know baseball say if they don’t win it all it’s a wasted year.”— Rooster

Now that’s an epic spin job.

It’s been so long since you guys have won anything reality is starting to peck away at your brain. Loser fans grasp on to bullshit like that. They get giddy if one of their players wins an MVP award. They try to invent ways to remember the season as a success even though they didn’t win, same as 29 other teams.

Hey, I used to be the same way. I got all excited about Barry’s bomb crowns. I’d beam at the single all star game rep we’d have. But then we won 3 in 5 and I realized all of the moral victories, the individual medals or how hard my team tried, none of that shit mattered. There is NOTHING like winning it all. For Giants fans it’s the only barometer remaining. And it should be the only thing a Dodger fan cares about, too.

Don’t listen to any bullshit from Dodger fans about how many flags they fly in The Latrine. 80% of the people alive in the world today weren’t born the last time LA won a World Series. Nobody remembers anything about 1988. Seriously, go think about that year and see what you can remember–nothing but a few hazy memories—dreams of things that may or may not have happened. The mind can play tricks, you know.

If they win this year it will be amazing for their fans. If they lose it will be crushing. Another loss on top of so many recent losses—failures in the highest leverage games in front of the most people watching.

And make no mistake about it, they will be losing again. Dinner is coming. And it lasts all Winter…..

I don’t know about Craig Counsell or any of you guys, but I think it’s high time we see how many innings Josh Hader can pitch.

How bout those Brewers, eh? They give up a first inning bomb to post season magician Freese, and come on had that been the Giants giving it up it would have been game fucking over, and then they storm back and STOMP Loser Angeles.

Anyway, Game 7 let’s Go!!!!

____________________________

When your 12th guy is tipping in the game winner it’s a sign that another flag is flying your way. Jonas Jerebko, COME ON DOWN! Screwing his old team too, that had to have felt good…

Well, my team is out. Not *my team*. The team I picked. I don’t care anything about the Astros. It is easy to like their good young core of talent. It’s almost like they have a different species playing for them. We have….old, slow, weak…..nevermind, it’s too depressing.

Are you guys lit on the NBA yet? LeBron in LA has got me goin’ more than I thought it would.

Dodgers lose tonight, then see what happens. The question tonight: Does Miley face more than one hitter? I dunno, he might be pretty taxed from that last one he pitched to. Counsell rolling the dice….

I mean, to me, it looks like those fans are crossing the line.

I love the dude all the way to the left in the red shirt, Houston cap. He just missed that bad boy, eh?

But to the larger issue…..their hands definitely look past the fence line. And even though Betts’ glove closes immediately before the ball gets there, it’s clear that a fan’s hand touches the glove and with the force he’s traveling I can see how that would cause the glove to close.

In this shot you can clearly see the dude on the right is IN the field of play, his hand is on the fence. And the 2 guys who interfered with the ball look to have hands just past that guy.

To me, these fans were all in the field of play. They had all crossed that imaginary line. This sucks for Houston but I think West got the call right and there wasn’t anything in replay that supported reversing it.

I don’t think those fans were as bad as Bartman. He’s farther into the field of play and fucks with the ball more.

I’ve never been in a situation like this, I’ve never even caught a foul ball. But I really truly believe I would have the presence of mind and body awareness to stay clearly back from the play. I might be yelling like a motherfucker for him to drop it but I’d stay out of the play.

That’s my take anyway….

I’m assuming that if you bullpen a game you’re praying it doesn’t go extra innings, right? They could have gotten more than 6 innings out of the first 3 guys but Brewer bats couldn’t hit so they got stuck with Guerra for infinity and while he pitched well it’s always just a matter of time before he settles into the losing side of a game.

The story right now: ice cold bats. Cain, Yelich, Mousy, these guys are coming up ant small.

Dubs taking care of business and making me feel ok about The Bay for just a minute….

It would be more fun to watch LA fall apart in the World Series but I guess this will do. Another long winter of pecking away at his feed is awaiting The Rooster. He knows it. He’s ready for it. It happens every single year…..

I would be sweating the Niners epic loss last night a little more but there is something else to focus on. Something else on the horizon. No, it’s not the mega millions jackpot.

Dub Nation. Rise up!!!!!!!!

I must be some kind of a sicko because even with the option of watching an mlb post season game I’m still gonna choose to watch the Packers dismantle and embarrass the 49ers.

Tough loss last night for KC. You can’t really blame that loss on Brady brilliance. He got the ball back with 3+ minutes to go against a bad defense. Of course he was going to niggle it down the field and set up a game winning field goal.

KC is like mlb Brewers. New, fun, exciting…..everything our Bay Area teams aren’t….

They’re gonna squeeze a baseball game into a tiny window of no football this afternoon. Still, there is football still going when they start and a new game beginning while they’re playing. Does that matter to you football nuts? I admit having a hard time gearing up for baseball if there’s a prime NFL slate in full swing. I prefer baseball to football but it’s a mood thing. Just as it’s impossible for me to watch football in the Summer it’s difficult for me to *rev down* to watch baseball when football is on. Dig?

But it’s a good one, Cole vs Price.

I caught a lot of that game on gamecast and missed most of the commentary. So….what are the Brewers doing? Are they really gonna try to bullpen their way straight through the post season? Who’s available today? Everyone? No one?

I don’t like this mostly because it’s new and I don’t like change. But just from a tactical standpoint this isn’t making sense.

Lotta pressure on Ryu today…..

Very interesting game tonight in Milwaukee. One outcome sees Kershaw and his experience shutting down a Brewer team that’s been off for a while and don’t have any players with experience in games of this magnitude. And I’m sorry but Gio starting Game 1?

Another outcome sees Kershaw tossing another one of his patented post season clunkers and the Milwaukee bullpen shutting down the Dodger hitters.

So I could see either team winning 8-1.

You?

Well, now that it’s been mostly agreed upon that Harper would be a terrible mistake for us, let’s move on to the next topic: We’re down to four teams left. Pick one. Who is your lock to win it all?

I’m going with the Astros because someone has to take the boring pick….

With no baseball and no football and no real NBA yet….I thought we could kick around Bryce Harper….

I dunno man, a lot of times these deals simply come down to who offers the most money…and I think we’re gonna offer him a boatload.
Would it be so terrible to have him in orange and black?????? We’re a horrific offensive team and we’d be adding one of the very best offensive players in the game. Of course he’s not gonna solve all of our problems, but it would be a helluva step in the right direction wouldn’t it?

“Would it be so terrible to have him in Orange and Black?”

Considering nothing else, of course it would be fine. He’s a semi-prolific power hitter. The more of those the better. But there are giant flashing warning signs. He hit .249 this year. I think that is directly related to banging the ball into the shift over and over. And the only way for a LH hitter to beat the shift is by hitting the ball over the wall. Bryce would do that at an alarmingly lower rate in our joke ballpark.

So let’s say that instead of 34 bombs (which isn’t even prolific if you look at what the other monsters are putting up) he hits south of 30. And still hits .249. Does that seem like a guy we should be giving 30 million dollars a year to?

Next problem: As our only legitimate power threat he wouldn’t ever see a strike. He led the NL in walks this year with 130. Barry Bonds thinks that’s cute. In 2004 Barry walked 232 times. He walked more than 130 in seven seasons. But Barry had the temperament to deal with that. He’d wait for the one pitch he’d see every two at bats and launch it. And I’m sorry, Bryce Harper is no Barry Bonds.

Besides being frustrated by balls constantly thrown out of the strike zone, Harps would be turned off by how hard it is to hit bombs at AT&T. I can already see him blast one, he goes into a trot, and….. the ball lands harmlessly in a glove in right center. He’d take off his helmet, toss his locks high in the air and think to himself (again): “I came here because The City is pretty? What the fuck is wrong with me?”

Finally, everything I’ve read about him is that he cares about his stats and wants to climb the HR ladder as high as he can. He’s gonna need a lot of help to make that happen. He won’t be signing for a team who might as well be playing their home games at a high school field with no fence line……

And FINALLY finally where exactly would they come up with the money for him? I’m assuming the could cobble together the dough but then say “that’s it, we’re tapped out.” And the new GM would continue to paste together a roster with as many Gorks and Blanco’s as he could find on the bottom of the scrap heap…..

It all adds up to a huge NO for me. We need so much more than one Bryce Harper to become competitive again. Hell, he was on a team THIS year that dwarfed the Giants in terms of talent. And they won 82 games. Simply put, Harper ain’t enough.

Not feeling real good about the Brewers chances in this one. Everyone is calling them the hot team but all I’m seeing is a team that beat a completely done Rockies team. Milwaukee doesn’t have the starting pitching to continue this streak. I suppose they could keep their epic bullpen running shit through the post season. That wouldn’t be a shock. But if LA jumps out 3-0, 4-1 what good is the bullpen? The Brewers don’t have a single starting pitcher worth a damn.

Sadly, I think we are looking at LA in the World Series again and that’s only cool if you’re into watching them blow it again. And since I’m into that sort of thing, I’m ok with the Dodgers rolling the Brewers….

Good to see Folty getting the ball tonight. I don’t know what happened in Game 1 but he’s a stud and he deserves another chance to show the world what he can do.

Let’s go, win tonight and then put it all on Kershaw’s shaky shoulders in Game 5.

Finally we get some games without any bullpen bullshit. Four contests today. Interested to see how Sale does, he’s been carefully protected the last month or so.

I’ll say the games go Cle, Milw, NY, LA. Feel free to parlay the four teams they’re playing for a nice score. 🙂

The A’s laid an egg last night and that’s a bummer for them but I still love the wild card format. Give me two Game 7 sudden death games to start the season and if a team like the A’s have to gimmick their way through the game then they have to suffer the consequences when it doesn’t work out. Bullpening the game was the best chance they had. If they couldn’t set it up to have one reliable starter take the mound then they really didn’t deserve to go much further than they did anyway. In the off season they should focus on building a legitimate pitching staff.

Winning the division should be a big reward. I like that the division winners get to kick back like kings and watch the surfs battle it out in the streets. The other option would be to realign the divisions to 4 in each league but you’d need to add a team to each league. Then you would have two leagues, 4 teams in 4 divisions. I actually would be fine with that. Get rid of the wild card that way and just go back to winning your division like men to make the post season.

But since that isn’t going to happen….

Some mentions at the end of the last thread on the difficulty of winning 3 in 5 and how quickly it can all start to slip away. I still don’t understand what happened to Chicago. That line up is stacked and yet….they really can’t hit. The Cubs have a lot of guys who over-clap loudly after getting a walk or a basehit and they have guys who have gold chains flying all over the place after they strike someone out. But after that….

Regardless it’s nice to see a new team strutting their stuff. Good luck to the Rox.

Tonight we get a bullpen game! Lot’s of complaining about this on twitter, I think it’s cool. Look, the A’s starting pitching sucks. Why not go with your strength to get to multi-game series. THIS is the best *guy* they have. THIS IS their best shot.

Sadly, we’re going to pay the piper for a long, long time for our incredible 3 in 5 run. Time to watch other teams chase the dream that is our forever reality. I’m not bitter about it, actually it’s the opposite. I’m incredibly thankful for the run we had and if that’s the last time I get to watch the Giants in the World Series I’m ok with that.

Idiot Puig predicted the Dodgers will win the WS this year. That’s awesome, his dumbass just confirmed their 3rd straight decade of losing…..

Thirty years since those dopes won anything. What were you guys doing 30 years ago? I was traipsing through a Parisian meadow with the fair Dawn-Marie. That was another lifetime ago.

How great is it gonna be when the A’s slap the Yankees around tomorrow? Gotta think the Rockies lose today, right?

While the Giants have been left for dead for what looks like many years of wandering in the wilderness, the rest of the baseball world is humming along at an exciting rate. We get not one but TWO epic Game 163’s to determine the NL Central and West division crowns.

I see the Dodgers and Brewers both winning but I want to see Milwaukee’s pitching plan first before going all in on them. If I were them I’d go bullpen game, they have the arms to do it. Starting Chacin doesn’t feel like they’d be firing their best bullet…..