Bombs, Bad Breaks and Beatles
They hit 13 home runs in the AZ/Philly game last night. THIRTEEN. In a 9 inning game with the wind barely blowing out. Nearly half their total hits were bombs (13/27). This has gotten beyond stupid. The game has been changed to unrecognizable. The Giants are light years behind how baseball is played today and there’s a weird part of me that’s cool with that…..
As I suspected when it happened, it now looks like KD has torn his achilles. That is terrible. This guy comes back with what we now know was a badly injured leg and literally blows his career. I know it was KD’s decision to play but I hope the Dr’s warned him of the risks and didn’t say anything like “you can’t hurt it more than it’s already hurt.”— by the way, that is one of the dumber things I’ve ever heard. Of course you can hurt something worse. If you weaken or injure a muscle or tendon it puts all the muscles and tendons around it at risk. Achilles are especially vulnerable.
My top 5 worst Beatles songs:
5. Strawberry Road
4. ObLaDi, ObLaDa
3. Sargent Peppers Lonely Hearts
2. Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds
1. Love Me Do. Nothing but word salad nonsense. They should change the name of the tune to “Love Me Do Not Play That Song On The Radio Ever Again”.
Feel free to list your TOP 5, I know there are people out there who like the Beatles and maybe I’ll gain some perspective on the reasons why if I hear about some of their good songs.
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
I’m a big Beatles fan. In general, I like John songs better than Paul songs. Here are 5 of my least favorite Beatles tunes. I WILL change the channel if they come on the radio:
Hey Jude
Let It Be
Michelle
All You Need Is Love
Hello Goodbye
Also not a big “Strawberry Road” fan, but it does not make my Bottom 5.
I could go a lot of directions on a Top 5, but on this day:
I Am The Walrus
Hey Bulldog
Paperback Writer
Ticket To Ride
Dear Prudence
….Just remembered Eleanor Rigby, which is in the hunt for my Bottom 5 as well
..and the 13 homers is ridiculous. Its turning into softball/college baseball home run derby. Aluminum bat-like bullshit. Just stop.
Diggity thank you for the paperback writer mention. I would like to replace strawberry road with paperback writer as 5th worst Beatles song
Elanor Rigby is another terrible one. I think I need to start a top 10
It wasn’t exactly SRO at Eleanor Rigby’s funeral…
Strawberry Road, lulz.
yes, one of funnier things I probably read today. No one can ever convince me ’60s were not best era for music, in almost any genre. Beatles were a part of it. Us 3 kids had all the records; my sister still does. Her b-day falls on Dec. 25. A year ago I got her CD by Hot club of SF (jazz group ala Django Reinhart etc.) doing Beatles songs, which she quite enjoyed driving from visiting my parents.
Had to look it up but Abbey Road had a great tune covered in inimitable fashion by Joe cocker, She Came in Through the Bathroom window.
Strawberry Road? I nearly spit my coffee out laughing.
Isn’t ‘Bathroom Window’ a Dylan song?
Hey, I took it off the list and replaced it. That’s gotta count for something with you.
FIELDS, not Road eh. Oh man y’all are wonderful, much respect Big Guy. Different eras/different tastes. Or as was said in my day
“different strokes for different folks.”
lol, thanks. See? If I get the proper tutelage from you guys I might figure out how to make it through a couple of songs in a row.
Wasn’t Strawberry Road a great turf horse?
Beede’s last 5 starts, BB/SO:
4/5
3/4
3/5
3/2
He is not going to last at this level with those ratios.
Funny how your life gets informed by childhood. What I remember is radio always being on during the day in summer—KSFO, from morning til whenever Giants game came on, which wasn’t missed even during dinner. One of the DJ was Al “Jazzbeaux” Collins, who used to play Basie Jimmy Smith (one of first LPs I ever bought).
Then we had radio in room I shared with younger brother, and we bounced back and forth over the 3 main pop stations. “satisfaction” you heard all day when Stones were going. The SF sound was just getting rolling, Doors/Cream and the Brits, Motown Muscle Shoals. KDIA out of Oakland had those last 2 and then some.
Jazz blues latin (Oye Come Va the old tito Puente song from ’50s) came later and that’s mostly what I listen to today. rock, no.
Strawberry Road might make a good name for a Beatles cover band.
The estate of Charles Manson has his copy of the White Album on e-bay…
Some asshole stole my White Album printed on white vinyl. Not sure if it’s worth anything but it was COOL.
Beede for 20 starts is what you get when you trade Bum. On prospect page are some other Giants pitchers I don’t know much about but…this is what life will be like once the Hollands and Pomeranzes are axed and other vets traded away. SPs are pretty dang important part of any team and usually involved in 2/3 of most decisions off what I see in boxes every day.
I remember Tom Glavine from superstation Braves era when they were awful (and on every day), and he was too. First year in ML ’87 his ERA was 5.50 in 9 starts. Next year he went 7-17 with4.56 ERA and 2 years later it was still 4.28. Eventually figured things out, rest is hist. Braves weren’t going anywhere, stuck with him and it paid off.
And on Sunday, the Nats hit 4 straight home runs in the 8th inning against the Pads. Crazy shit.
Most of the better teams today have acquired (and have to pay) top vet SPs–Houston Cubs Dodgers Boston Yanks yada yada. Finding good young ones like Buehler are tough, great find for them. Hopefully Z can find one or two for SF.
When it comes to music, I have a lot of trouble distinguishing between liking a song itself or just liking the memory it brings to mind. There are many songs I despise, but love to hear…
Why isn’t Moronta ever mentioned here as trade bait?
I think most of the pen is trade bait. They’ve all done pretty well. Watson, Gott, and Moronta should get something. Vincent Black Shadow went into a ditch, right?
Cause he’s to fat, other team owners are thinking they have to double up on the clubhouse spread if they aquire him..
You forgot Rocky Raccoon. Frankly Paul’s stuff kinda drives me nuts. Fluff. John at least bared his soul.
I will say, Helter Skelter and Paperback Writer rock pretty hard. Glass Onion is cool.
Still think they sold out for fame. First boy band and all . . .
I will say, I rarely listen to an entire Beatles album like I listen to, say, Quadrophenia. Or Beggar’s Banquet. Or Electric Ladyland. Or anything by the Doors.
Yep, Rocky Raccoon would get my vote.
I don’t know anyone who has ever said, “Hey, could you put on Rocky Raccoon for me?” or “Alexa, play Rocky Raccoon by the Beatles”.
Beatles top 5
A day in the life
Something
While my guitar gently weeps
I want to hold your hand
In my life
Beatles worse bottomfeeders
Octopus garden
Blue jay way
Inner light
All together now
Revolution 9
Obla di, All you need is love, yellow submarine, etc etc—Paul McCartney’s oompa oompa band. Terrible stuff. One After 909 always surprises me. Nice turn back toward Carl Perkins. Otherwise, nothing but curios. Meanwhile the Stones just got better and better. I’m sure I’ve never turned off Gimme Shelter or Sympathy.
While My guitar gently weeps isn’t really a Beatles song. It is George Harrison and Eric Clapton. Great song though.
Shit songs? I mean who listens to the first 4 albums? It’s Osmond Bros schlock.
Rocky Raccoon
Yellow Submarine
All Together Now
Eight Days a Week
Octopus Garden
Good ones?
Happiness is a warm gun
Helter Skelter
Paperback Writer
Glass Onion
Norwegian Wood
Taxman
USSR
Coincidentally, Strawberry Fields Forever is the Beatles song I play most often on my acoustic guitar these days. A beautiful song with cool lyrics. You hit that A chord hard at the beginning with one big strum, sing “Let me take you down, etc.” Then to strumming the E minor 7 chord, very nice, and then that absolutely wonderful F#7 diminished chord, singing “where nothing is real.” Genius use of that chord by John. When you play that song for people, that F#7 diminished chord at the beginning often brings a smile from them. It’s as if you see them being reminded of the genius of the Beatles all over again.
The versus are great, too, but kind of tricky with the chord changes. I never tire of playing it. John’s original acoustic demos of the song are now on YouTube. In one of the demos he’s still working out the chord changes on the verses. What a “fly on the wall” experience for Beatles fans.
A friend and I are thinking of performing a few songs at an open mic night at a local coffee shop later this summer. Strawberry Fields will probably be in our set.
I would never claim Paperback Writer is a great song, but George’s guitar riff is great, and the song is a fun Beach Boys tribute. Here’s a guy playing George’s wonderful guitar part on the song. I wonder which Beatle came up with the riff. Maybe George did.
Five Beatles faves:
I Want To Hold Your Hand
A Day In The Life
Rain
The Ballad Of John And Yoko
Here Comes The Sun
“I mean who listens to the first 4 albums? It’s Osmond Bros schlock.”
Wow. Where do I even start? Lulz
All I can say is, learn to play guitar, and play through those songs. The inspired genius of those songs will jump out at you. Those albums are still enjoyed by millions of people, and still to this day inspire people to form bands.
Plus A Hard Day’s Night is still a fantastic movie to watch. Brilliantly done. Roger Ebert had it in his top 25 movies of all time, and rightfully so.
Rocky
How’s that first chord of HDN, Zum?
As far as the Beatles go, George Martin really was huge for them, that dude did some pretty amazing stuff for that time. Their vocal arrangements influenced bands like the Beach Boys (I’m not a fan of them at all) and the Byrds (huge fan) probably CS&N as well. The tunes John and Paul wrote were huge for that time, some continue to be relevant and others, like the the pop ones, are not. The Beatles became a studio band who could afford the likes of Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, Bernard Purdie and probably others to play without credits. I gotta say, after seeing some of their solo live shows, it was probably a wise move for them not to tour. I do really like some of the solo stuff put out by George and John and hell, I was watching some of Ringo’s All star band the other day because of Dr. John, but I can’t recall the last time I put on a Beatles song.
Queen was a live act, because Freddie Mercury was made for the stage. I wouldn’t call them a great band, but damn, what a show they put on. Still, I also can’t recall the last time I put on a song by Queen.
Now if you’re talking Exile on Main Street, I still play the shit out of that.
KD’s Instagram post
I’m hurting deep in the soul right now I can’t lie but seeing my brothers get this win was like taking a shot of tequila,I got new life lol
#Dubs
We lived in Stinson Beach when I was in 5th and 6th grade. The only elementary school was across the pond (literally) in Bolinas. We called the teachers by their first names and our school performance one year was the Magical History Tour (the Magical History Tour is coming to take you away…). Our music teacher could have been Tommy Chong’s twin brother. Music class would consist of us listening to his favorite vinyls from the 60’s and 70’s. Nothing too radical, mostly the Beatles, The Stones, CCR and the like.
My sixth grade teacher, Don Jolley, was good friends with Mickey Hart. One day he had Mickey come in and taught us to make homemade bongo drums. Huey Lewis’s mother was a part time librarian and she lived a few houses down from us. Huey would hit golf balls from the sand into the ocean.
When my parents realized that my fellow sixth grade classmates were picking shrooms from the hills of Bolinas, they decided this lifestyle might be a tad too relaxed. That was the end of my West Marin lifestyle. Suburbia and Catholic school, here I come.
Ouch. From peace love and granola to the Reichstag.
Wow- very far from my Central Valley upbringing. 🙂
Rocky Raccoon would make my bottom 5 list, too. It’s not terrible musically, but that lyric isn’t as much fun as Paul was thinking it was.
It was a good song to fire up a joint with.
Not the worse, but certainly not their best..
Loo, no one could really fully figure out that opening chord of Hard Day’s Night until Harrison explained it years later. It’s basically 3 (!) chords put together. Gotta love those guys.
Someone wrote this in a guitar magazine:
“Harrison’s Fadd9 (or “F with a G on top,” as he said in early 2001) played on his 12-string Rickenbacker, Lennon’s Fadd9 played on his Gibson J-160E and McCartney’s single note (D) played on his Hofner 500/1 bass.”
And Martin plays Harrison’s chord on piano, too, I think.
Who concocts these things???
Day in the Life is probably their best single artistic creation…
My other personal 4 favs after Day in the Life..
1) Nowhere Man
2) Norwegian Wood
3) Help (the movie was so ahead of its time)
4) Ticket to Ride
Part of Day In The Life sounds like a slower version of Deep Purple’s “Hush”.
Or is it the other way around?
Think other way around I think
I just caught that Stawberry Road line…hilarious…honorable mentions to Penny Lane and Tomorrow Never Knows.
Then compare that to my Top 5 Stones songs…
1) Paint It Black (saw Echo and the Bunnymen do a cover in 1986 at Henry J. Kaiser that was AWESOME)
2) Street Fighting Man
3) Miss You
4) Angie
5) Waiting on a Friend…..
And could probably go another 6 deep and think this kills overall over the Beatles.
There are days where I have to hear the intro to Monkey Man in order to leave the house.
It is incomparable…
And the diversity of the Stones…
I had a girlfriend in college who thought Nicky Hopkins was the best musician in the band.
And given the Stones were relevant into the early 80s…their music has more staying power than the Beatles today…another great Stones song that may be unheralded is Undercover of the Night. Saw Judas Priest Summer of ’84 Cow Palace and the Stones were not thought of as relevant then and certainly not in the heavy metal scene.
So lights go out, Priest is coming on and fans are going nuts and we are in the floor trying to surge to the front of the stage and on comes Undercover of the Night. Priest fans were not expecting a Rolling Stones song let alone that one to come on as the Priest’s walk up song. Well that song is hypnotic in that environment as the energy of the crowd is surging and the music playing at 11 and you are in a mass of people and your buddies lost in the moment. Incredible memory. Then song ends and onto to the stage comes Halford through a trap door on his Harley!!! We went fucking nuts!!!
Mac shoots, he scores.
Stones top 5
Gimme Shelter
Bitch
Street fighting man
Brown Sugar
Sympathy for the Devil 😈
good list
Everybody loves SFTD. I think I was about 40 when someone finally explained to me that they weren’t referring to St. Petersburg, Florida. I’d always wondered why Satan would waste his time on mah jongg and early bird specials with that crew…
The Stones never did as much for me. I did see them in concert once and it was a great show. Obviously a great band, and hugely influential. . That build-up intro to Gimmee Shelter has been used in a lot of movies and TV shows and always sounds great.
You all will remember I went on quite a bit about the Altamont concert on the Flap a while back, having just read Joel Selvin’s great book about it.
I don’t see the Beatles and Stones as rivals, in the sense that they weren’t really traveling the same musical path. They’re both great in their own way.
they were all buddies too and used to confer on when their bands would release stuff. Key for the Stones was getting Charlie Watts to join the band. They’d admired him for being able to play in any style and adjust to what they wanted to do and provide structure. Kind of posh guy too as opposed to Richards more modest upbringing.
I disagree that the Stones have more staying power than the Beatles, plus history will decide anyway.
The Stones are “compilers”…
(JK)
I can still listen to stuff off that first Stones LP, Out of Our Heads. their version of sam cooke’s good times is fabulous, though no one can touch what he did. In the bio Richards said all they wanted to be was best blues band in London. And yes Kinks of that era I can still watch videos of their hit singles, Animals too great band in early days.
The brits were into blues before it hit home here with likes of original Fleetwood Mac on tour, wonderful stuff. Once I heard what they were doing I got more into the originals, Robt Johnson Jack Dupree James Cotton Muddy Waters yada yada. And the white guys that followed them around and learned to play it.
One guy I can still listen to today is Frank Zappa. Great guitarist, bandleader/songwriter. After he got some of the craziness of early days over with, his drummers especially–Bozzio Thompson et al– were great musicians and band was top notch. His tune “Oh No I don’t believe it” is direct response to Beatles love is all you need.
I notice, GH, that you tend towards John in your favorite Beatles songs. I’m the same. I’m a huge Paul fan, but I tend to play John’s on my guitar.
A Day in the Life
Strawberry Fields Forever
She Said She Said
Those 3 I have fun with. But many others too.
Paul has so many great ones, too. I love some of Paul’s lesser known ones, beautifully constructed pop songs. “Mother Nature’s Song” and “Blackbird” for example. Both written while the Beatles were in India. John wrote the lovely “Julia” while in India, a song for his mother, who died young in a traffic accident.
Have you heard that interview with John where he trashes their time in India? “We were supposed to be experiencing a higher plane or something and here I was writing depressing crap like I’m So Tired.” (I paraphrase.)
I never distinguished that preference…very interesting.
Stray Cats Blues is such a nasty song. A fave. Exile is just flat amazing.
I kind of liked what Paul McCartney did after the Beatles when he formed Wings. Band on the run, and Wings over America great stuff imo..
Forgot Wings Speed of Sound Album with a killer song “Beware my Love” another solid LP…
Brisbee’s weak, but this opening paragraph is probably him at his best.
“It’s possible that we’ll look back on [this] last week of baseball fondly. It’s true! I’m not setting up some dumb joke. On the night that Buster Posey was drafted, the Giants were 25-35, and they had just lost four out of their last six games. Matt Cain’s ERA was at 4.67 and he couldn’t stop walking batters. In their last game before the draft, Fred Lewis was hitting leadoff, Aaron Rowand was hitting cleanup and Travis Denker was hitting sixth, and yet they still lost.”
Travis Denker. No memory of that guy.
42 PAs, OPS over .800, goddamned WAR of .1 — yet he apparently never played in the big leagues again.
2,000 light years from home
Stray Cat Blues
Midnight Rambler
Tumbling Dice
Sympathy for the Devil
To me, the Beatles are Zeppelin. I can’t listen to either very much as they were overdone for so long. For the beatles it is all about the obscure Glass Onion type songs. Polythene Pam, Mean Mr. Mustard.
For Zep, I’m down to Physical Graffiti and Presence as they both got so little airplay. Despite Kashmir.
!0 years gone, In the light, Sick Again, In My TIme of Dying, PG has some of Zep’s most ambitious stuff. Achilles last stand was their last great song. From Presence of course. Tea for One. Hots on for Nowhere.
About a week ago I heard Stones “Playing with Fire” in the gym one morning. Great tune from early days.
Loved Sweet Virginia song too, Hip Shake…good addition for them adding reed player Keys
Jumpin’ Jack Flash
You Can’t Always Get What You Want
Can’t You Hear Me Knocking
Rocks Off
Little T&A
Starfucker?
Forgot Do do do do do do.
In ’73, my gang thought the lyrics were “Heartbreaker, with your bowling ball”…
Sgt Pepper is probably only Beatles stuff I have though haven’t listened to it in ages. Still, Fixing a Hole is nice cut. the message of She’s Leaving Home, about breaking away and getting out on your own always struck me.
. that last line, background voices slowly saying she is having fun/something inside that was always denied for so many years
I think I posted this once before:
Thanks! A little different than the magazine. Harrison had forgotten that John was playing a D suspended chord on that. Interesting.
The sheer pleasure Randy Bachman has sharing this is all the testimonial you’ll ever need about the Beatles.
1. Joe Panik (L) 2B
2. Mike Yastrzemski (L) RF
3. Evan Longoria (R) 3B
4. Pablo Sandoval (S) 1B
5. Stephen Vogt (L) C
6. Brandon Crawford (L) SS
7. Tyler Austin (R) LF
8. Steven Duggar (L) CF
9. Tyler Beede (R) P
Help!
Lulz!
Great!
I saw the movie Rocketman today, the Elton John story. Great film. Very entertaining and very moving, with a lot of raw emotion. I’m a huge Elton fan, but somebody wouldn’t have to be a big fan in order to like the movie. The actor playing Elton is terrific. It’s an acting performance of great depth. The ending of the movie is very creative and very moving. The narrative structure of the film overall is more creative than I was expecting. I don’t know if the movie will win awards, but it should at least get nominations.
All the actors are great in it. The movie is basically a musical, and it’s not really being advertised that way, so some folks might be surprised by that; but it’s also got lots of scenes that are not musical. It has a nice balance.
Taron Egerton (who I’d never heard of) plays Elton in the movie. Excellent performance.
Yeah I’ve heard good reviews on Rocketman,
I’ll have to check it out, unlike Bohemian Rhapsody…
Do they show him at his famous concert at Doghair Stadium?…
Yes, the Dodger Stadium concert is part of a pivotal scene in the movie.
Back in ST the impressive thing about Beede’s new approach, they said, was his ability to spot the hot four seamer. Helluva spot there, first pitch.
Speakin’ of Tumblin’ Dice, I like this version.
Tight band with Waddy Wachtel.
Linda at just north of 30, at maybe her friggin’ hawwwtest.
I had a poster of her in my dorm room.
Shoulda’ had Saran Wrap in those days…
Speaking of the Beatles, the movie previews showed clips from a movie called Yesterday that has a very promising premise. A guy somehow slips into an alternate universe where the Beatles never existed. No one knows the songs. So the guy has the opportunity to pretend to be the singer who is writing those songs, if he wants to exploit that. Looks like a fun zany film.
My younger snarkkette showed me the trailer this past weekend, she wants to go with me to see it. Looks kind of cool, if you buy the suspension of disbelief premise. She likes it because the girl in it was Rose in Downton Abbey…
Have you ever seen “The Hours and the Times?” Better than “Quadrophenia.” There’s a scene with Lennon dancing to a late Little Richard tune with a fan girl stewardess he’s not going to fuck that’s just perfect.
I have not seen that film yet.
“Backbeat” is a great film about the Beatles early years before stardom.
It’s only 40 minutes or so, you will not be disappointed.
Yaz goes Zep with his walk-up music.
this is funny
Center fielder must have been asleep…
Did the right fielder go for a hot dog?
Dugar with a dinger.
Dugg it!
Aha, I wondered what happened to that other g.
That was no cheapie by Duggar!
A.lead for Beede, but can he throw a shutdown inning coming up..
Not the start of a shutdown inning you want..
Hey Kruk,
If hitting is contagious, then why have the Giants hitters all been in quarantine all year??
Beede pitching his way out of the game.
Can’t stand the lead.
Wow. Did you see this DJ? Just a tad bit early, eh?
I don’t think it’s fair to be too hard on Love Me Do. It’s one of the first songs John and Paul wrote together. Their growth curve would be incredibly rapid. A few months later they recorded Please Please Me, and they had grown by leaps and bounds. A few months after that they had 15 songs in the American Top 40.
I moved to England in 1962, at age 11, the same week the Beatles released Love Me Do. It was all over the radio, immediately, which seems odd looking back. The Giants lost the WS to the yankees that week, too, after long rain delays. Tough to follow the box scores from that place. I saw all the brit bands rise on tv. The music shows were lip-synced shams at first, but eventually they went live. This is what the Stones looked like, promoting their first single, a good Chuck Berry cover (the Stones covered CB, Buddy Holly and as WD noted Sam Cooke really well). Love Me Do always sounded weak to me.
Great play by Panda,Beede not fooling anyone now, kid can’t handle a lead that’s for sure..
Fuck this. Why pull him? Who cares in the end? Let the guy win ot or lose it on his own. Stupid shit, Boch.
This is how you learn how to pitch.
“I Saw Her Standing There” is a great early Beatles song, although the opening line “She was just 17, and you know what I mean” has not aged well.
Every English band wrote about banging underaged chicks.
“It’s no hanging offense. It ain’t no capital crime.”
“You’re 16, you’re beautiful, and you’re mine.”
Beat the Meatles, eh? They were innovative, a thousand hits, blah blah blah. I still think a lot of it was pablum.
The long and winding road? Sappy AF. Abbey Road is abiout the only album tht I can listen to end to end.
Fuuuuuuuuck. How stupid can these guys be? a 2 run infield hit??
Beede seems mentally weak. Cruising along, hits some chop, and can’t deal with it. Starts thinking too much and walks people. That’s his MO. I agree, Bochy should have let him try more to get out of it. The season is lost, let’s see what these young guys can do — how else are they going to learn and get mentally tough? Gott gives up 2 more for Beede anyway with a dumbass play. Bochy is not a good manager for a young team. This is how a bad ball team loses, finds new ways to screw up…
It’s amazing how a bad team like the Giants can find so many different ways to be bad.
Beede’s ERA has to be pushing around 8.5 now, I suppose. If Beede were a vet, Bochy would have given him rope to see if he could finish the 5th ahead, for the win…