1.0 Mania!
Man, Flavor’s 1.0’s were flowing like a fine wine yesterday. Pillar got another one (of course, he seems to get them for just showing up at the ballpark lately). Posey got one because he received one (1) RBI yesterday, his first of the year! Bum got one because he was efficient and secured his first W. Duggar and Parra got one because they each had two hits. And what the hell, I’m doling these bitches out this morning, Dyson gets one for slamming the door!
It’s nice to pile on Colorado a little, they will smash us in return when we visit them up there….
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
How about Moronta for K’ing the side and stranding leadoff double off Bum in the 8th?
Morning at the Masters, Tiger within 1 of the lead.
Didn’t see that! On a jet ski for most of the game, only checked boxscore after. But what the hell! Give him a 1.0! They are coveted!!!
All those FWARs were deserved. We finally won a series and if we sweep today, dat dere is da lagniappe my friends.
I saw on FB where the owner of the brewery up the street is hand labeling 1,200 bottles of beer, since I can’t party with Loo this morning (something that has to happen at some point), I think I’ll head up the street and see if they need a hand.
He should change his name to Pi1.0ar
And just like that, Tiger’s 3 back.
Dodgers tried a pen game last night and saw the 2 guys who were in there first 4 innings give up 4 runs and lose game, 6th in a row for them. Only run they scored came on bomb by Bellinger, his 9th. As a team they have 33 which leads everyone. Their offensive numbers are all tops in league, runs HRs BA OB Slg OPS.
However, they are only 8-8 because their pitching has sucked. Buehler in 3 starts has an ERA over 8.00, Urias the pitch count kid has ERA over 5.00 in 3 starts. The reliever from Sox J Kelly has an ERA of 12.00 something.
They are next to last in NL for runs hits and bombs given up (24). Ryu is on DL and Opie still hasn’t started real game yet.
Their pitching has sucked and they still have a better record than us.
They are .500 team despite leading all of baseball in HRs. Just more evidence it takes more than that to be a winning team. And they are grand total of 1 game better than SF, team you are convinced will lose close to 100. Don’t think this is how they wanted to start.
everyone knows it takes more than just hitting. But you can’t do it WITHOUT hitting
and by the way, don’t trick yourself into believing that the team we started with, the one WITHOUT Pillar, would be in anything other than last place right now
I know the Love fest this blog has for belt and I’ll never try to change that. But so far this year Pi1.0lar has to be your second fav Giants so far, right?
Pillar is awesome so far, nice blend of speed and power, plus added intensity in how hard he plays.
Like to see Z’s other additions Solarte and Parra do more with bat and of course IF not named Belt who have been historically bad so far. If they don’t hit Giants are screwed, agreed.
Pillar is having a really nice run at the plate right now after a very slow start in his first 10 games (3 for 32, all singles). In other words his outburst was almost as inevitable as Chris Davis’s two-run single :-). Pillar’s OF play has been as advertised, so overall he certainly makes the team better. I don’t put much stock in the following one way or the other, but two of his HRs have come in losses and the team is 5-6 with him and 2-3 without. At the end of the day or season or career, no player can be consistently more valuable than what can be quantified about him.
HOLY SHIT! TIGER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’m not a fan and was rooting for anybody but him to win, but I gotta admit that was a cool moment seeing him get it done.
Surprised he finally got another major, but this is the only major he can win.
Forgiving fairways, no rough, local knowledge is critical on the greens.
I stopped giving an S about this Dbag years ago.
Highly suspicious during his career.
Lots of joint injuries, hung out with Dr. Tony Galea…
The British Open is always a possibility.
i’m with BF on the sweep thing.
Let’s sweep the Rocks, because they usually kick our butts in Denver.
Go Holland, let’s get a solid 6 today…
I actually have a Giants mini stack in DK, with Holland as my secondary pitcher.
Congrats to Tiger. I’m not a fan either, but this absolutely is a big-time comeback story. And unlike his glory days, when he would bludgeon the course and the rest of the field would cower in his presence, this time Woods played well and then needed some help. Molinari and Koepka certainly took care of the latter.
Posey looks hapless.
A case could have been made to not let Holland face Arenado that last time, but that’s not Bochy’s style.
Marquez with a no no and 7 Ks through 5. Pathetic outing by Gmen. Craw with the highest season BA (.232) in this line up.
Basically no starter other than Pillar and Belt is producing at a MLB level after 16 games. Even below average performances would have SF looking a lot better than it does.
Agree. Although Pillar has had his moments as a hitter – his line of .158/.150/.385 is pathetic. In other words, I’ll stick with traditional analysis versus FWAR. đŸ™‚
His overall line is pathetic, true. But he’s helping us win games, sometimes almost entirely by himself. If all you guys looked at was his ops you’d thumb your nose at him— and not even consider the possibility that he’d he carrying our team this season.
Pillar got off to a really terrible start, but his OPS coming in to today was 715 thanks to the offensive burst over the last few games. 715 is right about where he should end the season, with a far more realistic balance between OBP and SP.
Either way, his current ops, .715 lately, whatever. Her be someone you would completely discount just based on ops. Admit it. And he’s been carrying us.
Of course, he’s been carrying us. But Flav, you could come out of retirement from softball and probably manage the same with this crew surrounding you.
Pillar’s not the first player to get hot for a week or so. Does anyone expect him to hit 40 HRs and for the rest of the line up to continue to suck as bad as it has so far?
Of course nobody expects that. My point was, Pillar is a guy you OPS elitists look at and never consider. This guy has been carrying us while your main OPS boys have sucked dick all season. It would be nice if you would acknowledge one of the *underlings* now and again. While you lamely compared him to Gorkey’s I said from from Day 1 you’d love him. Has he not been someone to love so far???? That’s cool, just keep beating off to Posey and Belt, I know that’s what makes you the happiest.
Funny, I was listening to a bunch of radio on Thursday and heard about 4,000 pundits say that there is no way in hell that Tiger can win the Masters. Pretty fricking cool to see him with his son when 22 years ago he hugged his dad. He had some help but he also hit some clutch shots. Good for him.
As far as Pillar goes he’s the $20.00 you find in the washing machine. Found money. What’s not to love? Didn’t see any of the game (planting and weeding, major bitch), and I thought I’d read this to see what happened, and sans Clint, I’m figuring a shutout loss. I’m assuming Posey eithert batted 4th and did nothing, or got the day off.
Pretty much the same thing these days.
Lol. One hit.
so much other far more interesting sports stuff going on right now. About once through lineup with extended ground outs to the IF and I’m off to something else. Or Scottish noir from Alan Parks:
“The Land was just like every other shitey pub in Glasgow. Worn out lino, few tables and chairs, two dirty wee windows and a couple of striplights in the ceiling illuminating the faded wallpaper and the line of no- hopers lined up at the bar.”
Loo asked yesterday if the win meant the Giants don’t suck.
Well, looks like Giants are back to sucking…
I forgot about the Original Sin of comparing him to Gorkys. Pillar is obviously a better player than Maximus, although the latter’s awesome name never did quite receive as much attention as it deserved and the difference between their 2018 offensive numbers was just not that great.
The diff between their offensive numbers were not great. The impact one had on the individual game tho has been great. That isn’t even debatable. And my original point stands: you thumb your nose at any player who doesn’t have an .800 ops. Newsflash: you can win games for your team with less than that. Just look to the Fwar for answers. I leave Costa Rica tomorrow, we can deep dive into this on Tuesday
In the dorms, I was labeled an elitist for playing The Sex Pistols and The Vibrators by the rich LA kids who got stoned listening to The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. OPS is a really, really dumb stat that tells the truth in a very simple, basic way. You just aggregate 2 old school stats that cover all the important elements of how a batter can help a team score runs. There’s nothing elitist about it, actually.
In today’s world it’s completely elitist. Not because it’s complicated, it’s the simplest dumbest math mashed together. It actually is beneath you if you think about it. The elitist part of ops lovers is that they discount anyone who doesn’t have an .800+ ops as anyone who can help a team. Kevin pillar was free. And he’s carried us. Show him a little fucking respect.
There’s nothing elitist about it. OPS is simple and useful. WHIP is too.
The smartest thing Twin ever wrote on a blog was that the All Star teams should be chosen according to WAR by position, at the break. (Yeah, it cuts both ways.)
I think you got that backwards, James. Genesis was the epitome of elitist rock and roll, Jethro Tull, Moody Blues, David Bowie. Like comparing Yes’s Fragile album with BTO’s Not Fragile and saying BTO was elitist.
The Sex Pistols themselves were lashing out against the mainstream middle class snobbery of those bands.
I still like batting average as an offensive metric.
Is that wrong?…
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Well, I remember 2008 when the Giants as a team batted .270 but couldn’t drive a run in to save their lives.
Sure, it’s a useful metric, along with a couple others. RBIs, runs. slugging %age.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/SFG/2008.shtml
They batted .262, good for 8th in the NL. Unfortunately, they were 13th in OBP, last in SP, and last in OPS. That translated into the fewest runs scored in the NL, too. Hitting with runners in scoring position had little to do with the offensive inefficiency (for the record, they batted .260 w/ RISP). The lack of plate discipline and power were the problem. OPS combines all of the important dimensions of an offense into one simple stat. The rest, like batting avg., are of interest only in analyzing where you might be deficient.
To put it another way: it would be nearly impossible to be 8th in OPS and last in runs scored. It can happen pretty easily with batting average.
Pillar does have .525 slugging pct. That uh does stand out quite a bit.
Loved the early Tull stuff. Aqualung was monster LP not bad cut on it great guitar work drummer too.
Locomotive Breath
Long time since I’ve heard that one…
That band ALWAY put on great shows.Saw them 3-4 times over the years. Martin Barre was (is) an outstanding guitar player. Thick as a Brick (the long version) is killer. I bet most people haven’t heard it.
I’ve got Aqualung on vinyl.
I need to pull it out on a weekend and turn up the volume.
Don’t know of any other old rocker band where flute was a key instrument…
Pillar isn’t going to hit 4 HRs every 10 games all year. But, it’s nice while it lasts.
He better catch everything not hit out of the yard if he’s going to have a .625 OPS or whatever he usually rocks. And, bring the energy all the time. The fact that this guy is being treated like the second coming of Mays just shows how bad this outfield has been…
OK, here it is . .
Last time I read some stuff about Ian Anderson was that he was running some salmon farms on northern Scotland coast or some such…
No kidding. Martin Barre played at the Mystic Theater a little while ago in Petaluma. Wish I woulda seen him, but I had gone the week before to see Robin Trower there.
Thick as a Brick was the first album I ever bought. And I bought it at a mall in Toledo during a family summer vacation road trip from NJ to Colorado. Why I bought it there, in Toledo, with still a couple of weeks of travel ahead, I have no idea, but it was always one of my favs. And couldn’t stop looking up that girl’s skirt… ah, being 13 years old….
I don’t see our hitting improving much, if at all. Especially true for our “over the hill gang” aged 30 or more. Why would it, especially after the downward trend of 2.5 plus seasons? That’s just silly in my mind.
Conversely, I’m actually quite positive about our bullpen. Yesterday’s game is another example (like the 18 inning game was), i.e., Bergen and Gott’s performance continue to impress. These blue chips, along with Moronta, Smith, and Watson will be beyond valuable at the trade deadline. Shit, with numerous contending teams already looking upon their bullpens as Zippo lighter fluid, we have two guys (Bergen and Gott) that were essentially found money. Other teams will be sniffing around our plethora of bullpen pieces sooner or later. Book it.
Pitching and defense are not the problem, for sure.
We all knew this going in, going out, whatever. This team hasn’t hit well for over a decade. The championships had spotty, timely hitting with absolutely lock down pitching.
I can get down with enjoying good pitching, but the nearly utter lack of scoring, constantly, is just boring. Much as I like Belt, he needs to just start swinging. Taking walks is normally a good thing, but for what? Nobody else can hit, pretty much…
Tom, I tried to call you, but your phone answering message system indicates that it’s full. A couple of questions regarding my fire/water mitigation issue, specifically involving my insurance carrier. Thanks in advance . . .
Blade, the only one I really had hope for before the season started was Longo. I figured he would get somewhat near his old self. Belt will be Belt, but Posey, Crawfish, and Panik I figured to be dead wood. As well as the OF.
Pillar is a revelation, but Farhan needs to throw some more chum into the water to see what he can catch.
Kratz needs to go for Garcia, and shit, please drop Posey down to 7.
Pillar hit .231/.241/.731 over 7 days with four bombs and 12 RBIs. The Giants scored 22 runs over that time, and Pillar was responsible for 55% of them. One dude. Think about that a bit.
No Pillar and the winning week of 4-3 disappears. Easily. The suckitude goes up exponentially. This is just one example of why I love Zaidi and endorse all of his moves unequivocally. We’ll continue to see nobodies like Pillar, Gott, Bergen, Joe, Kratz, Austin, Solarte, et. al., for the next couple of seasons until we clear out the dead wood contracts. Some will turn out to be “found money” under the sofa cushion and others will be slugs. I have zero problem with that.
It’s our only way out, but I hoped that the dead wood would provide SOMETHING. As we are showing, the team could be decent now with any kind of hitting.
Just read the Giants haven’t swept a team in a series since May 15, 2016.
Not at all surprising, since that was about the start of the suckitude. All star break 2016. Was that Duffy trade really that tough on this team? Seems like it’s been all downhill since then.
“I don’t see our hitting improving much, if at all.” Duggar, Panik, Posey, Crawford, Longoria, and Parra are at OPSs below 600 right now. That each one of them wouldn’t improve by at least 100 points is unfathomable. Note that if they did each improve by that minimum, they would still be hitting below an acceptable major league level. You may as well just swap in the River Cats . . . .
Let me repeat about Pillar: the dude went 3 for fucking 32 to start the season with 3 singles. If he’d hit his 4 HRs during the first week in Toronto, and then gone on that pathetic run in SF, Zaidi’s rep would be shot on the Flap right now. Which would be silly. Pillar is a very good defender in a position that requires at least adequate defense, like shortstop. He’s got some pop. He was a good acquisition — hey, maybe he’ll even put up numbers comparable to Aaron Rowand’s from that 2008 team.
Well, he didn’t hit those in Toronto. No one is expecting miracles but he has done a lot in his short time to win some games. I mean, is he better than Joe? Reed?
Can anyone on this team consistently hit a baseball anymore?They can have nearly the best pitching staff in baseball (what currently 3rd in era?) but if you can’t hit a lick especially against the 4-5 pitchers out there, it just tells me you can’t hit anyone,which is frustrating with all the years of experience in this LU, that they all have sucked at the same time..
Fricking Cousins looks like he may be out the duration. Guy gets 1.1 games under his playoff belt and goes down with a quad injury. Waiting his whole career to make the playoffs and this. Feel bad for Boogie.
Then there’s this :
Dubs about to blow a 31 point lead. Unreal.
Clips tie it~~!
Warriors down 2. Biggest collapse in NBA history if they lose.
And I thought the Nets giving up 51 to the Sixers in the third quarter tonight was bad . . .
Dubs lose. Ureal. It likely won’t matter, but shit 31 points?!?
And Joc hits a walk-off for the Dodgers to turn Puig’s bomb into a mere footnote. Damn.
Clips scored 85 points in the 2nd half 85!
The greatest NBA comeback ever was in November 1972 at MSG. Knicks down 86-68 to Kareem, Oscar and the Bucks with under 6:00 to go. Knicks score the last 19 of the game and win 87-86. Monroe was magnificent. Lucius Allen who was like a 90% FT shooter missed a couple near the end. The only place they were shooting 3’s was in the ABA. You could look it up. I didn’t have to…
Awesome. A comment was made during one of those Oakland col remembrances by a guy who went and saw Knicks vs. Warriors game in that era that (including coaches Holzman and Jackson who was playing then) there were 10 HOF there, most of them from NY.
found the box from Nov 4 1972. Warriors blew Knicks out that night in front of 12 thou.
and the total is actually 11 HOFers adding in Attles who was coaching them then.
Barry and Thurmond
Frazier Monroe Lucas Bradley Reed DeBusschere
Jackson (not as player of course he sucked) and Holzman
each team had a Barnett, warriors broadcaster jim and of course fall back baby Dick Barnett from Knicks who got in few minutes off bench
Wow. That was when I first started watching the Warriors. Friend of mine had a team autographed ball (72-73 I think) that I thought was the coolest.
Outscored 85-58 in the 2nd half. Shit, we should leave Bogut and Looney in to slow THEM down.
Lou Williams just killed us last night. The Warriors led 94-63 with 7:30 left in the third quarter and were outscored 72-37 the rest of the way. Ouch.
That is unbelievable. This team is a little more fractured than previous versions of this team. And I’m sure Boogie is out for the rest of the playoffs.
Looney had the game of his life all for naught.