Brock
One of my favorite things about horse racing is the language. A tie is called a “dead heat.” A horse that’s never won before is called a “Maiden”. A day when the track is closed is called a “dark day.” It goes on and on.
Baseball is like that, too. Single, double, triple, home run.
And the *stolen base*.
I’ve been fascinated by people who are fast my entire life. To me, speed is the ultimate human coordination. I would give anything to be fast. I’d rather be fast than have the ability to fly although to me it’s kind of the same thing. Rickey Henderson is my favorite non-Giant player of all time.
There are a lot of things I miss about the way baseball used to be played. The stolen base dissolving in importance is the thing I miss the most.
In 1974 Lou Brock stole 118 bases. He was 35 years old. That stat will forever blow my mind.
RIP
Only game 42 but today is a big big game. Gausman’s moment to earn his stripes…
Awesome thread, Flav. I have mentioned multiple times that I grew-up in Oklahoma and was a huge Cards fan as a kid. Loved watching Lou Brock play. He was always one of my favorites right up there with Bob Gibson and Curt Flood.
RIP, Lou Brock.
The stolen base created excitement in the sport, but the stolen base didn’t survive the analytics revolution.
Lou Brock had about 900 steals and got thrown out about 300 times.
I’ll agree that analytics makes the sport less entertaining. And it’s turned NBA basketball into a worse product, IMO.
Awesome leadoff hitter. 3,000+ hits and walked a good amount, many seasons of great on-base %. And the speed.
Way back when, speed killed on my block in Brooklyn.
How fast you could run was a status thing – followed by how well you could climb.
One of my best friends was a notorious front runner, although I didn’t know that expression at the time.
He was all over LA in ’63, but jumped on the Cards in ’64.
Every other word out of his mouth was “Brock.”
He would mimic the PA guy announcing him as Brock every time he came to the plate.
Baseball, stickball, punchball, whatever – he was Lou Brock.
In 1965, he returned as Maury Wills…
Seeing what Wills could do for Dodgers was eye opener. Once he got on, a SB, bunt or productive out (another analytic casualty) and there was Tommy Davis to drive him in, with a hit or not.
Always loved speed guys, Vada Pinson Willie Davis Brock Omar Moreno. Ron LeFlore 79/80 was fantastic with high pct of success rate, always the key for how valuable stealing bags can be.
Today it’s lost art. Once someone like Joe Morgan saw a pitcher’s move a couple times he had it figured out and just went if situation called for it.
Other side of coin of course: 2016 maybe Belt’s best season (beside this one) at plate. He hit 41 doubles had 100 walks slash line .275/.394/.474 for .868 OPS. Stole 0 bags and was caught 4 times.
Mays of course could have stole more bags and got into 30/30 territory easily but he didn’t want to take bat out of McCovey’s hands hitting behind him. More important than a stat was playing winning baseball, and with Mac up being on 1b meant he was already in scoring position. Mays did score on single from there too, and from 2b on IF out.
True. Mays exercised superlative level of restraint in his running game from first, knowing that Mighty-Mac Covey had his back.
Matt Kemp hit 2 run HR in 8th at old stomping grounds at Chavez to beat Dodgers for Rox last night.
Looking at box, Cody Bellinger went 0-4 and is now batting .216 with OPS of .739.
giants starting lineup had 6 guys doing better than that—Slater Solano Yaz Wilmet Longo and Ruf (.813) plus 2 off the bench Belt (1.117!) and Dickerson (.886).
How does this happen?
Magic. We learned a lot about that in ’10, ’12 and ’14. Z has had a lot to do with that as his analysts feed him data on MLB trash-heaps, where he is then able to delve out the diamonds from their matrix in those coal-beds. Of the 6 guys you cited, only Slater and Belt were products of the Giants pipeline.
There was a great drought in Giants magic from that fateful October day where that little religious freak, Bobby Richardson, stabbed Willie McCovey’s scoring liner there in the ’62 series, through the downfalls to the A’s in ’89 and to the Angels in ’02; right on up to its reincarnation in 2010 when scrawny little Timmeh wowed all the baseball world with his then magisterial powers on the mound.
Call it what you like. Be rationalistic if you like. I call it magic.
A big criticism of the stolen base era was that the constant throws to first by the pitcher (to keep the runner close) slowed the game to a crawl…
Brock was one of the greatest of all time and a continual thorn in the Giants side. He was fun to watch. RIP
The fewer throws to first are a blessing. I prefer the SB as it is now: a strategic gamble you employ from time to time. It makes the game better, IMO.
Anyone know who the catcher is in the Brock picture? I had to look it up to find out who he was.
Elston Howard?
The question mark was fake humility, pal…
Yes! I didn’t know Howard finished with the Red Sox. Funny thing, Paul had that great Brock story last night. Howard was one of the first autographs I ever got when he came to my middle school (junior high back then) back in the 70s.
My guess is the picture is Game 7, Brock scoring on a sacrifice fly.
1. Mike Yastrzemski (L) RF
2. Alex Dickerson (L) LF
3. Donovan Solano (R) 2B
4. Brandon Belt (L) 1B
5. Wilmer Flores (R) DH
6. Evan Longoria (R) 3B
7. Brandon Crawford (L) SS
8. Joey Bart (R) C
9. Mauricio Dubon (R) CF
P Kevin Gausman (R)
Win today and the team is back to .500. They have not been there since they were 5-5.
Humm Baby!
Isn’t the game like 7 hours from now?
Kotter must get to the park awful early…
Looks like a much stronger lineup than yesterday’s. Was hollering here about taking Longobardo outta the cleanup spot and batting him sixth. I doubt that K reads the Flap.
How great would it be to know if anyone in the Giant organization reads the Flap?
How likely is it?
Do they have something better to do with all their free time?
No clue why stolen base isn’t a thing. For a rare few. Example billy hamilton. Or a brock or a henderson..but I digress.
A guy with no power? Every walk or single. Steal EVERY time. I mean EVERY time. So a very fast guy with 100 singles in a season gets caught lets say 25 % of the time. So that means his .270 average plummets to .200 to..220 or so..
Isn’t a guy who hits .200 with an astounding SEVENTY FIVE DOUBLES valuable? Add in that he scores literally ever time there is a hit later, vs the power guys who often have to stop at 3rd. HELP explain this to me
This is a James question…
PS..add this..Right now our top 4 guys in todays lineup measure up to the top 4 in almost any lineup in baseball. Crazy considering last year.
Craig you need to gets James to be aware of the flap!
I vaguely remember running 100 meters in 13.2 or 4 in high school. Having someone outrun you when you simply can’t go any faster is one of the more helpless feelings . . . .
Especially when they’re chasing you with a blackjack…
It might have been nunchucks in the mid-70s N. California suburbs.
I forgot walk! So a guy with 100 singles and 25 walks now is a low ave hitter with ONE HUNDRED DOUBLES!!!
I was referring to Bill James:)
The analytics say that, in the long, the runner on first scores more often if he doesn’t try to steal second base.
People such as Bill James crunched the numbers on this.
Actually, the argument is more that SBs are a big cloud of dust signifying nothing.
The Lou Brock trade was not thrilled originally with the Cardinals players.
Ernie Brogoli (sp) was a well liked mainstay in their starting rotation, winning 21 games in 1960, 18 in 63
Lou Brock was a só só hitter at the time who showed some HR power but also K’d a lot. Still he was young and the GM must of seen something in him and he sure was right!
Biggest heist in Cardinals history as Brogoli struggled ( might even have been hurt prior to trade but never revealed)and was out of baseball 3 years later?
Meantime Brock was the tablesetter for many years of fantastic ball and quickly got the respect of the players, and his postseason/W/S numbers were off the charts on the big stage..
Just shoulda slid in ’68 WS…
Yep that’s for sure!
I couldn’t stand Maury Wills he was such a little pest, being any Dodger gets under my skin, but he was the worse for me..I was at the Stick early watching batting practice and after both teams went back to the clubhouse before the start, I noticed the ground crew really watered down first base ground and I was thinking to myself they did that to slow down Wills which put a smile on my face.Teams came back out for the start and it looked like a monster truck mud track at 1st.The Dodgers were pissed off, but the umps said play ball we have a schedule to keep on time …
I think it was Bisbee who said yesterday Brandon Belt is só hot his OPS actually went down when he hit his HR yesterday.Is that possible? James? anyone?
He was joking.
mrsportdude:
https://vault.si.com/vault/1982/09/06/so-whats-all-the-fuss
Elaborate marriage proposals are annoying and have even been deadly.
And now baby “gender reveal” events are a thing, and just as annoying.
And this happened:
“A fast-growing wildfire east of San Bernardino was caused by an explosive used during a gender reveal party, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. As of Sunday night, the fire had burned more than 7,000 acres.”
When every part of everyday life become a social media event, this is what happens. They should be fined $100,000 and jailed for the duration of the pregnancy. People are so fucking stupid.
Derp.
https://nypost.com/2020/08/05/mans-romantic-proposal-burns-apartment-down-but-she-still-says-yes/
Agree Chuck throw the book at these idiots!
Who the fuck cares about a baby’s gender and need a party to show off about it!
Didn’t some grandmother die in one of these stupid ass events awhile back?
I looked at Jarrod Dyson stats from last season. He hit .230 with mid .600s OPS over 450 PAs/400 ABs and did steal 30 bases vs. 4 CS, so net add of 26 bases. According to B/R that added 7 runs above average player.
However, because he didn’t actually hit very well, or get on base above average (.313 on base pct) and made a lot of outs without much power, he was -21 below average runs as a hitter.
the speed guys like him can add value with superior defense, but there is a reason they are dying breed in analytic era.
He’s got a great SB success ratio over his career. I doubt that he’d be able to sustain that, if he tried to pile up as many steals as possible.
Watching some of the Phillies – Mets game. Zack Wheeler has turned into a pretty decent pitcher (Giants could use an arm like that). He’s having a nice year.
Yeah especially how the saga of Carlos Beltran turned out!
The walk of shame along with the Astros players will always follow these bums the rest of their lives!
This guy was fined over $8 million. What a fucking idiot. What could go
wrong with high explosives in the middle of acres of dry grass?
https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/27/us/arizona-gender-reveal-party-sawmill-wildfire-trnd/index.html
Gender reveal party. New one on this ol’ guy. Is that when someone goes tranny?
For an expectant mother.
People are real hard up for entertainment these days!
Hey let’s go out in dry to the bone field, setup a pyromaniac situation
to see if the color turns blue are pink when lit 🔥?
Yeah what could possibly go wrong? Morons! Some people are just dumber then fuck, they probably think there is a built endless supply of water that will put the explosive device out automatically afterwards..
Four years ago today in the Box of Rox. Met Chuck, and Blade wrecked his back and didn’t make it! Of course the pen cratered after Bochy put in 9 pitchers for the last 9 outs.
Fuck facebook. It’s my fucking video.
Ah yes, I remember that game. I was in Denver on business. Giants were cruising…and gave up a heart-breaker. I was with a handful of associates from our Denver office, and boy did I get an earful that evening.
Longo scratched. El Gordo in. Apparently.
Thanks james. Great article!
You’re welcome! I’ve recommended his “greatest hits” compilation before:
You won’t find a smarter or funnier baseball book. Well, maybe Joan Ryan’s latest is funnier.
Yes, James link at 10:43 is great read. Interesting how power and steals co exist as how best for teams to score. Until juiced ball in unjuiced, speed guys seem toast.
billjamesonline is fascinating site. There is a ranking for SPs, based on game score his stat that counts innings pitched, runs allowed, earned runs allowed walks and Ks. And of course factors in park etc.
Giants best of 100 I scrolled through is Gausman @40. Cueto is #69 Webb #87.
Opie is #6 and Greinke #8.
Steven Brault of pirates #84!
Lineup with the Longo – El Gordo switch:
1. Mike Yastrzemski (L) RF
2. Alex Dickerson (L) LF
3. Donovan Solano (R) 2B
4. Brandon Belt (L) 1B
5. Wilmer Flores (R) DH
6. Brandon Crawford (L) SS
7. Pablo Sandoval (S) 3B
8. Joey Bart (R) C
9. Mauricio Dubon (R) CF
Craw moves up to the 6 hole.
wow Sandoval must have convinced Kapler he could handle it. According to B/R he’s played all of 3 innings there in 1 game this season.
https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/player-scroll?player_id=592332#radial
This one is clearer: https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/player-scroll?player_id=592332#spray
Based on what’s happened so far in 2020, if they keep Pablo anchored close to the bag, he’s unlikely to see a ball hit his way. 🙂
Be interesting to see how much they shift tonight. Or how they shift.
Longo scratched with a sore glute. What a pain in the ass…
Backfire. He downed a plate of Mexican jumping beans.
I don’t know why they just don’t start Robertson at 3rd, other than the lefty/righty matchup..
114 in the Creek and our power just went out.
That sucks, brother. Be safe.
Wilmet can also play 3rd…
True, but who has the better glove?
Keep Wilmet at DH..
Speaking of DH, even though I’m totally against it coming to the NL permanently,
it’s not like this team would be in shortage of candidates meaning the spot.Flores,Solano,Dickerson, Bart,Posey, Belt,Ruf,Slater and só on. And if Belt finishes out his contract next year( likely since he’s the hottest hitter on the planet)and you want both Bart&Posey in there everyday that DH slot will be even more valuable!
Guess Belt could get some more shots in LF? But he’s way too valuable at 1st then a só só LF..
It isn’t IF the DH will happen in the NL, but when. Hope I a, wrong, as I hate the fucking DH.
I remember vs. A’s in the preseason games he made couple nice stops at 3b and I thought he’d be fine…
Not part of the scheduled outage either.
Yippee.
That truly sucks. I can remember some rolling blackouts. there are just to many people in the bay area.
We lost power Friday for about an hour early afternoon. Unannounced. Thankful I telecommute full time. Had my generator up and power on in a couple minutes (run everything EXCEPT the AC).
Another thing to like about Wilmet is that he rarely if ever leaves the batter’s box during an AB.
Sometimes he’ll step out with his front foot only, but he doesn’t wander off or dawdle…
Bummer Chuck, it’s only been 108 the last 2 days in San Carlos Lol 😂, but No power outages!
Hope you get your juice back on soon!!
Bring back Doug Eddings!
Have NY & SF officially become the 2 worst cities to live in?
If that becomes a permanent reality, it’ll be time to go back to the Old Country.
the dumbest rule in baseball is when the hitter swings wildly at strike three, usually misses the ball by a mile, but because the catcher doesn’t catch it he’s allowed to run to first base. Talk about being rewarded for sucking….
Cost Brooklyn Dodgers a World Series too.
And usually is thrown out by the catcher who pads his assist total, right?
strikes out then gets picked off in the same at bat. I would submit that is one of the worst plate appearances of all time…..
How did joey lose track of a ball that bounced straight up in front of his face? Same way he lost track of a ball fouled straight up in front of his face the other night? Great pickoff move from Gausman to bail him out.
Because both plays were difficult.
You did ask.
the mask and taking off the mask, it probably makes it hard to find the ball. I don’t know, i never caught but that’s my guess
I don’t think either play was difficult.
Gallen looking like a good pitcher. Inducing that double play and then a quick third out. This could end up being a low-scoring game till latter innings.
Bart was drafted for his offense. He’s OK defensively. He might develop into a plus defender. He’s a good athlete, and by all accounts is working hard on his defense.
He has a good arm. His instincts behind the plate seem suspect to me. And that easy pop up he dropped the other day was a hand eye coordination flub. If Cueto lets him catch a game again maybe that’ll be a sign he’s sharpening up.
Another way to speed up the game some, go back to balldudes instead of looking at a cardboard cutouts down where there stool is,let them go get the freakin foul balls that a LF/RF have to go get which can take forever, cause no player in any dugout is going to help out, it’s beneath them to do.Yeah the COVID thing and old dudes that can barely get off a stool I guess is the reason why but it’s just stupid thinking..
Ball dudes would have to commit to some isolation and not be a danger to the players.
Dubon’s AB was very similar to Solano’s, except the 3-0 to the latter was outside. Throwing off the plate to the free swingers, then coming back w/o giving in at all. This 4 eyes looks like the real deal.
He starts his wind-up from the same position as Bumgarner…
Without concerts and theater, a lot of big cities lose some of their draw.
Not being able to attend sporting events is a factor, too.
I hate when a pitcher’s duel is declared, you strongly suspect your guy isn’t going to be as good as theirs, and then it plays out that way.
No one is touching that change when it is at bottom of zone. Or he gets dribblers like the ones in both ABs to Marte, the one hit too slow to double him up for the rbi.
A few more of them could find their way into the K zone to avoid the long counts and walks. This dude is no Jason Schmidt.
few were.
Dickerson at the plate reminds me a lot more of Old Yaz than New Yaz does…
Dickerson could play Walter Brennan in “The Real McCoys”
Are even Uncle Fester in the Addams Family..
Dammit. This pitcher is nasty. Fooled Dick.
What happened with Dickerson?
He fouled an inside pitch off his leg, maybe his ankle, hard to tell, but he limped out of the game withe count two two
Looked more like just below the kneecap, either way quite painful.,
Could be another callup for GraveDuggar since Jaylin Davis is never the answer..
oh fuck yeah. Grave Dugger time.
I didn’t realize Puig never signed with anyone. All the teams took a pass.
Boy this Zac Gallen kid is a very good pitcher.
Curious how the D-backs discovered him.He grew up in Jersey and went to some prep highschool out there,Eustac Prep Catholic School are something like that.Any of you East Coasters heard of it? Inquiring minds need to know..
Bishop Eustace HS, that’s south Jersey.
Had he faced a different opponent Gausman could have done 6 at an even 100 pitchers and walked off with a probable W. He struggled mightily, particularly with that bases loaded situation, but got through it with only damage being the run scored on the force play. Gallen appears to be for real. He’s hardly broken a sweat through five.
Pablo with the walk!
If things were going well for Joey, it’s 2-1 Giants.
Ruf inning for Gallen.
Let’s drop a 5 spot on 4 eyes
That’s the way to keep a big inning going Ruf Man!!
Ball was smoked past Gallen’s ear.,
YaZmaTaZ !!! Gausman cannot lose. Maybe could do a bit better.
Kid got hit hard that inning, go figure he was dominant before that!
Maybe we put the hoodoo on him by our extravagant praise. More likely he was a bit gassed, even though up to that point he was totally on cruise control.
Great camera shot of Ruf’s hit knuckling on its way to centerfield.
Looked like he hit it cricket-style…
Looooooong inning
Our in-house ump, BB9, KNOWS how to draw a walk. Timing for that was perfect. Chorus line dances on.
this is a big fucking game. Putting wins like these in the bank are enormous at this stage of the season. Finish.
We’re about a week away from serious scoreboard watching…
Bases loaded, no outs, zero runs . . . they shoulda ended this.
Yep they need this one and the next 2 against a suddenly hot Seattle team,Then have 4 straight in San Diego which will be brutal with there even more improved pitching staff..
Could of been more without the DP ball by Flores.Just getting greedy..
Nothing greedy about it.
Should’ve been more…
Pablo gets tome a hero once again for the first time in a while by initiating that chorus line.
Selman has locked in the 8th inning role imo..
Bonermance Rogers&Watson can handle the 9th inning with matchups being in play..
I am still not averse to giving Coondog another shot to close a game.
Donny Barrels is also Donny Brickhands….
Kruk and kuip mentioned feeling a breeze kick up a while back. Strange miff as he seemed to see it.
Crawford has to take that ball. What the fuck, Solano.