Final Series
I am really looking forward to this season ending and we can get on to the post season. I guess I enjoyed this season more than last because of Pillar, Yaz and some of the new pitchers who weren’t terrible. But this season was still a grind. Not Orioles or Tigers-grind, but it was long and the ending was predictable and lame. Now, I did say “last place guaranteed” and that didn’t happen. But when you’re 21-26-33-35 games out of first place, man, that’s all the damn same. The team did get better after the beginning of the year with all the new blood. The old blood was what they thought they were—slow and weak…..
Still, Young Z is in charge and I trust him. He’s got the team headed the right direction.
Can’t wait for us to take the next step…..
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
I think most everyone feels quite a bit better about team than I did in May. Lot of new blood, some power in the OF finally, rebirth of smrdz, Giants about to get younger and more athletic.
still feel pitching most pressing issue—even if Bum comes back they still need 2-3 SPs plus host of pen guys.
Sure Giants will hit more HRs but until pitching improves to better than bottom half of league getting back into playoff fight will be uphill battle.
Zero interest in post season and unlikely to watch til LA/NY knocked out. I’d like to see Stros win it all.
Boch farewell tour will finally end. I hope he transitions into FO here and we’ll see who Z comes up with to manage but prepared to be unimpressed..
I give you props Flav for pointing out you were wrong about your guaranteed last place prediction. And props to Willie who was one of the few if not only guys on here who consistently said we wouldn’t finish last.
Great article on The Athletic about Pillar and his status. Such an odd deal as he is much more of a classic Sabean style player than an analytics player. I belive it said 4th worst OPS in the league and 5th worst strikeout to walk ratio, but put up solid RBI and Runs Scored numbers which the anayltics crowd doesn’t give a rat’s ass about.
Also graded out league average defensively using the current metrics. Sounds like the price tag could be 8-10 mil to keep him and then he takes away AB’s from younger guys. I’d keep him (and try to keep Bum as well), but I think a true tear-down fan would say goodbye to both.
Well, going in hard to figure Rox would be this bad after pushing LA to 163 last year and Pads were a trendy pick especially after signing Machado. Giants have winning record vs. West and won season series vs. both of those who will finish below them. Pads have lot of young talent and Rox have very good mgr., though GMs have made some moves that didn’t work out and both have $$$ commitments.
End of May I couldn’t hardly watch Giants at 21-31. since then 56-51–Cubs and AZ are currently 5 over and Mets 7. I think that’s where giants sit, right outside that bubble of playoff teams. Hey Phils spent all that “stupid money” and are a game under .500. rather be in Giants shoes.
I’m torn between bringing Pillar back are not.
Yes 21 bombs 86 ribbies look good plus his all out Pence hustle is great and his defense some Superman moments some how do you screw up that catch? Then his 618 AB’s with 17 walks? He swings at everything,which accounts for his .296 obp which stinks..260 career hitter meh..
With a unsettled OF maybe Z brings him back but not sure if he fits his overall analytics measurements…
Wow Kat, I had no idea Pillar has so few walks. Yeah, that’s not good. I’d still like to see him back, he’s a fun guy to watch play in CF.
Yep, its been a grind but as mentioned there’s encouraging signs heading into the off season. I think Pillar is a great glue guy and they should bring him back. I’d also like to see Bumgarner signed.
Who gives a shit if Pillar doesn’t take walks? We have guys who do that who do shit else.
(cough cough Belt cough)
If we had anything resembling stud OFers lined up in AAA or AA I’d say bye bye to Pillar. But we have nothing but the guy we traded for in Jaylin Davis. Same with Yaz.
The only guy that looks mildly promising is Jason Heyward’s younger brother Jacob. He’s 24 and made a late jump to the Rivercats this year.
Yeah, it was easy to predict 100 losses with the likes of Connor Joe from Kokomo and Michael (.000 .000 .000 .000) Reed.
But Farhan did a shit-ton with limited resources and little patience for suckage. The team went from unwatchable to entertaining by the time the Flap Nation came together to bring the team over the top.
Sadly the effects wore off and we sank back, but the epic July allowed us to trade Pomeranz Dyson and Black for much needed young talent.
And not to mention Z’man moving Melonface to the Braves and having them pickup the 20 mil the Giants owed him, that was brilliant!
AK, if that was the ONLY move Farhan made, I’d still be singing his praises.
What do you guys think of Bochy last LU card will be?Im going HEAVY CORE!!
1B Belt
2B Dubon ( only cause Dan Uggla isn’t available)
SS Crawford
3B Longoria
C Posey
LF Vogt
CF Pillar
RF Dickerson
P Bumgarner
Yes..Yaz&Davis should start but it’s Bochy call and what Bochy wants Bochy gets in his finale game..
Soft core is what it is . . .
lulz!
Vogt in LF???? Jesus. Bochy thinks if you add up the ages of the players, you win.
Generally speaking, when you mostly fail to contend and no one has an especially outstanding year, the season becomes another of many forgettable ones. I didn’t get the MLB package for the first time since 2002. Didn’t even miss it. Like Flavor said, 3 in 5 ruined some of us as fans in a way…
yeah, I was pretty heavily involved in fantasy baseball this year. Kept me more interested in the season.
Is tonight Willie Mac night? I’ll go with a tie between Pillar & Vogt.
They’ve had ties before…
this will be the first one since his passing. That’s a big one.
Anyone going to the yard tonight? Managed to get out for the game.
Mostly concur with a lot of Flap viewpoints here on needs to address in the offseason. OF is at a good starting point, at least: I’d be content with Yazz-Pillar-Davis as starters and see what Z could do to fill in the rest. Infield received great shots in the arm with Dubon and possibly Solano but the IF needs upgrades big time at 3B and 1B, large tasks for Z. Starting rotation needs 1 maybe even 2 good starters (no confidence Smarge picks up where he left off). Catcher and bullpen will likely take care of themselves somehow. Also time for the likes of Shaw and Slater to perform or be gone. So that ain’t too bad: a couple of front-line corner infielders, another OFer, and another starting pitcher. No problem. ……..
Kinda funny, for all the heat bochy gets around here for overplaying his core, Pillar is definitely one of Bochy’s guys. That’s Baggs who is writing the column in The Athletic questioning how an analytics mgr (and staff) would look at Pillar.
The low on base pct. is a red flag; he runs well and can steal a bag, so more times he can get on base more it would help the club, let alone one that doesn’t hit lot of bombs to begin with. Bloggers on MLBTR ran gamut from: him and Yaz are only reasons to watch/he’s likable guy just never gonna be much of a hitter.
And I gotta wonder what was Baggs motivation for putting this out there? Is he on Pillar/Bochy side, that he’s worth SF giving him an arb raise for another year, or on the side of analytics and playing the (less expensive) kids?
My hope is that in this age of analytics, there’s still room for the occasional “I don’t care what the numbers say, this guy contributes to winning” player, and Pillar appears to be just that. His numbers aren’t great, but he always seems to be in the middle of something good happening. I seem to remember David Bell having less than stellar numbers but his hits always seemed to mean something. I look at Longo’s 20 bombs and think “isn’t that nice” but I don’t remember ever viewing one of his at-bats as being meaningful. I think Z has the smarts to balance both.
yes makes a lot of sense. I don’t think Z figures SF is in good enough position where he can go out and pay for someone for OF like M Ozuna as FA. Let in house guys fight it out. There’s plenty enough of them, plus Ramos.
Fucking awesome that 1.0 won it. I’m sure that pisses off the fan base that still yearns for gorkeys out there instead of 1.0
Good job, BF. You were on him from day one.
Are there really people yearning for Gorks?
No. It’s BF’s favorite myth.
it’s not close to a myth. At least 2 people here compared him to Gorkey’s saying they were the same player. I don’t out them because it would make them look so so lame……
You used the phrase “fan base,” implying it’s a lot of people.
well it’s two people here. I’m assuming there was a section of the fan base at the time that didn’t like the Pillar pick up.
He is adored by the fan base.
Plus, “at the time” is a harsh standard. People grew to love him. You made a great call on him, but I don’t see why it needs to be rubbed in. Just my opinion.
the digs against Pillar, at the time, were also digs against me. It was obvious at the time, go re-read them if you think I’m FOS or too sensitive or whatever. And the offending parties never took it back or apologized because they are entirely too fucking stubborn to do something like that. I don’t like that.
I don’t think you should have taken it that personally. That’s my opinion. Nobody here doubts your very high sports IQ. You were right about Pillar, but I’m sure you’ve had moments of being wrong, too. We’re all friends here. But we’re going to disagree sometimes. We’re all posting opinions in real-time. Everyone makes mistakes. But it’s fun posting in real-time and having opinions.
you recognize that you aren’t one of the two dudes I’m talking about, right? lqtm. It’s all good Zumiee I just like to hold grudges and talk shit. I admit to being wrong all the time. More people should be able to do the same, it’s a good quality to have as a man (or really just a person, right?)
It’s deserving for Pillar, he was out there every-game, im sure Willie McCovey looking down with a knowing nod that he was the right pick..
Cal game starting. Want to see Evan Weaver. He’s a tackling machine. Cal’s defense is now top notch. Don’t know anything about their QB or offense though. Chase Garbers? Gonna have to check out a game one of these days.
Pillar won the Willie Mac? Totally coo with that. Yaz and Vogt, and even Pablo were good stories but Pillar played hard every day and did well for himself and the team.
Batting practice Bombs back to back off Cueto..
maybe the Giants need to figure out a way to move the walls back some.
Looks like the cove isn’t far enough back to move the fences..3 Bombs 💣 and counting ..
Pontoons, Kat. Just think of the marketing angle for the Giants floating right field wall.
I like it Bozo!
Cueto is a tomato can tonight. The Dodgers crush tomato can pitchers.
Shaw looked like crap vs. Beuhler.
It’s so funny that we whine about the park being too big as we watch our weak core hitters do nothing all season and the Dodgers come in and just blast the ball out of there like it’s a little league field.
I don’t think Belt or Crawford could do 100 sit-ups…
No shit. Yaz is 5’11” 185 and he blows Belt away in power, all 6’4″ 235 lb of him
Belt is running like an injured horse.
More like a baby giraffe.
they would not be winning any speedo competitions, dats fo sho
I miss the days when Belt and Crawford were 2 of my favorite Giants. Doesn’t seem like all that long ago…
BTW, Stix has been transferred to a Fed prison in Ohio.
I’ll post some details tomorrow…
is that good or bad?
Really don’t know.
They list his release date as 12/15/20.
That’s longer than he told Chi, I’m sure.
This is where he is:
https://www.bop.gov/locations/institutions/elk/
If you click the inmate tab and then “find an inmate” and type in his name, it comes up, but no real info.
This is a big joint they moved him to…
Hard to say. It sounded like he was in a pretty bad place, and fed prisons are usually better than state prisons. But that ain’t no guarantee of anything.
Tues/Wed dark days for visiting. Just had to work that term in there….
Lux’s hair looks like he let a 10 year old cut it.
I’ll give credit to Bochy for getting Cueto out of there way early.
It should of been a no brainer, Cueto was serving up meatballs..
such a great pic
I remember when Torres was traded for Pagan. Man, that just about did Twin in. He was livid. And when scores of Flappers took the (correct) side that it was a great trade for the Giants it just sent him into a tailspin. Of course he was wrong about that trade. But Torres was a special player for us, too
Torres was so juiced up in 2010…
Twin is spinning like mad.
he was also completely high on adderal.
I don’t think Pagan has officially retired yet. Nor Timmy.
It probably only matters for starting to receive pension checks.
According to wikipedia, Pagan hasn’t yet officially retired.
What’s the over/under on how many pitchers Boch uses tonight?
8.5
Thanks Loo, I just need 6 more.
20.
Garber out of the game with a right shoulder injury from hitting the fake grass. Don’t know why Cal doesn’t play on real grass. It was good enough for Chuck Muncie.
Looks like Cal’s early run is over.
No one seems to complain about Cueto’s contract.
It sucks, too…
He has a chance of at least giving us something.
Pollock takes a pitch on the knee. He won’t appear in this series again.
TIme for the Dick to get hard.
Nope, limp noodle.
this guy has a crazy story and look at him now.
TF had a big issue with Giants fans not loving Torres. We liked Torres, but we didn’t love him.
TF loved him, and that’s fine. But you can’t make fans love a player. It has to happen on its own.
Imagine Twin on Trump…
It would have been epic.
Torres’ fashion choices these days aren’t appealing to me.
Bellinger is a slam dunk for MVP. The writers will want to reward the Dodgers for their great season.
Tim has to show up for Bochy’s final game right?
He’s been ghosting long enough since he’s left the game..
At the most basic level, Craw and Belt just aren’t fun to watch anymore. Very little entertainment value watching those two.
By “little” I mean none.
I always thought Twin kept a notepad full of crib notes on all of us.
.
Are you kidding? He had comprehensive computer files on all of us.
The front of the notepad would have had “F-wads” written on it.
hah! too funny.
Yaz!!
12 baserunners in 5 2/3. and 2 runs. There’s your Giants replay.
Fumble.
Giants get 5 outs and can’t score.
13
Yeah depending who was on posting Twin had his dickwad raring to go!Because he knew everything and we all knew “SQUAT”.. He was the cartoon character Col McBragg who’s seen everything been everywhere in the world..Drove me nuts at times,especially when I was right but he mostly would never give in..
TF had a subtle tactic. He would pick the sample size that proved his point. If I went longterm, he went recent. If I went recent, he went longterm, and so on. You really can’t win against that kind of thing. We all do that tactic to some extent, but he was kind of a master at it.
Soon to be LOB. Or DP. Or struck by lightning
Craw with the ridiculous error. Does he even give a rip anymore?
And now it’s a butt-kicking. That’s kind of embarrassing.
We get 2 errors and don’t score. We give 2 errors and they score 4.
Congrats to Pillar, a Pence-like Ironman who plays hard every day, what more can we ask? He even got a walk tonight! (As has just about every Giant). Speaking of Pence, looks like he had an injury-filled second half, and hasn’t played since last August.
A’s clinched. Congrats.
T-shirt win of the night . . .
Doesn’t everyone?
Great line about chuck Muncie and natural grass that was funny.
You can leave 27 men on base in a 9 inning game. The Giants only left 17.
Slackers.
Huh. Boch just said that Bummie isn’t gonna start on Sunday and that they’ll co-manage the team on Sunday,
“Bochy said he spoke with Bumgarner on Friday and decided against deploying his longtime ace one final time. Bumgarner, who logged a 3.90 ERA over 207 2/3 innings in his final season before free agency, will instead watch the game from the dugout alongside Bochy.
“He’s been out there every start,” Bochy said following the Giants’ 9-2 loss to the Dodgers on Friday. “He’s pitched enough. The game is not going to determine anything. He has a lot of baseball left. I’d just like to take care of him, so he’s not going to pitch.””
also say hindsight being 20/20, return of Cueto wasn’t such great idea. Giants had concerns about this start, he threw a good bullpen session and was ready to go. sometimes it’s hard to trust players, like Dickerson this year, who just want to play after being out.
Well, well, well, interesting thread. Missed the game last night. I guess that’s a good thing.
Couple things . . . I was wrong too San Dog about last place. I also predicted 65 wins and obviously they did way better than that. Regarding Pillar, he was great this season – he made some really unbelievable plays out in the field and carried the team during many parts of the season (sheesh, one man wrecking crew in early April I think). That being said I know one person that you are talking about Flav, but have zero clue about the other one. Who knows it may have been me, as I like OPS too. However, I despised Gorkys, so I know I never said that or wanted him back. Similarly, I have liked all of Z’s moves, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Anyway, I hope this thread gives you an idea how much Flappers appreciated Kevin 1.0 Pillar. 🙂