I Love Playing Arizona!!!!
Nice to get back on the Win Train. Thairo announced himself with authority. Wood showed he might be able to do this without the sticky stuff afterall.
Don’t forget what tomorrow is>>>>> the 100 year anniversary of this classic party:
I’m going through old photos looking for something from ’88 and I stumbled upon this old pic. I’m guessing 15 year old Big Flavor?
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
Already got a bunch of texts from the Yankee dude who touted me on Thairo.
For comparison purposes, he was indifferent about losing the Sock Man…
he should be playing every day.
Funny thing about Thairo is, he made 8 errors in Sac, mostly at SS I think.
Mac, wow didn’t know Gausman was part of Braves Marlins war. I’d just tuned in yesterday when Acuna got hit and Snitker ran out and started waving arms and yelling what’s going on. Then after they tossed Marlins SP Mattingly blew up and had long rant. think he thought umps were giving in to Snitker and ignoring him because he kept pointing over at Braves dugout while screaming at ump.
he’s a better second baseman. But with Longo out for who knows how long I’d like to see him at 3rd too. Dude can hit we gotta keep his bat in the LU somehow
he is still only backup SS. But yeah let him fill in anywhere to give Flores and Solano rest.
Btw good review (including Gausman part in things earlier) on Braves Marlins stuff on mlb.com with couple minutes of vid from last night argument. It is tweeted from Marlins feed and announcers, so they take their side on whether pitch was intentional or not, ejections yada yada.
3 hours 40 minutes game time last night. Again, props to East Coast that stayed to end…more than I could do.
32 of Yaz 52 hits are XBH.
Is that an unusually high percentage?
He’s just constantly dinged up and can’t get on a roll.
Highest BA this season was .237
James’ 3 month POTD still hovering around…
Singles are a dwindling thing across MLB.
Look at it this way: if a lot more of those XBHs were singles, he’d be Donovan Solano. As it is, he’s more like the 2020 version of Solano. While it’s not the Yaz everyone wants, if his stat line isn’t any worse than it is right now by October, that would be a very solid season — 25 bombs, 40 doubles, good OBP. Relative to the rest of the league, those numbers look that much better.
But James, he’s hitting 100 points less than the 2020 Solano…
But the walks and XBH’s make him just as productive as 2020 Solano. Most singles aren’t hit with RISP or any runners on at all for that matter, and runners fail to advance from first to third on a 1B more often than not.
Looks like Morroco Mole heisted the right Yankee out of NY this time with Thario instead of worn out holes in my socks Mikey..
And fill me in why we’re still hanging on to the Mendoza boys Tauchman&Slater?
Defense value only goes so far with those 2.
Besides Wade &Davis can cover that area and hit the shit out of the ball as well.
Time to cut bait with them, they’re untradeable only use for shagging fly balls back in in batting practices..
you cut bait on a good Stanford lad like Slater you better have a goddamn good reason……
looking up at Mendoza line after last night. Slater does have options too. Dumping him would put dent in Kap’s platoon for OF, especially since better hitting Ruf has to cover 1b with Belt and Longoria out.
Dickerson in LF last night 1-3 with bomb and a walk.
Slater last night 0-2 and K, now hitting .199 OPS mid .600s. OK vs. LHP maybe, otherwise no.
Giants OF is musical chairs.
There is not one OFer out there that anyone can say is a sure thing player to consistently be an all around top performer for the next 3 years. Not an all star, just a consistent, solid all around player. Not one. If it’s supposedly Yaz, I say too soon, and he’s hurt a lot, and he’s not ascending, he’s old. After Bonds left, the Giants OF has been populated by just a merry go round bunch of dudes that transit through with some good runs here and there, get hurt, don’t come back, end up getting traded or DFA’d, whatever. Ramos looks like he might break that streak, maybe Hunter Bishop, but I’m not bettin’ the house on that…
Slater hit 5 bombs in 48 ABs May, but June was awful. He’s hit none, 0 in 38 ABs, with 4 hits total since May. He’s currently in 1-17 slump. Vs LHP for season he’s .700 OPS guy with .313 OB, maybe league average-ish.
But hasn’t been part of solution to Giants issues with LHP lately mentioned by Baggs in Athletic–more like part of the problem.
What’s the story with Long? Keeper or chaff? Going to slot him into one of my DK LUs today, hoping he is more of what he did against Philly . . . less what he did against the A’s.
I’m wondering if other teams have started figuring him out. Estrada will go through that, too. The way teams get a “book” on a player, and it’s up to the player to adjust if he wants to make it in the big leagues. Both have shown great potential.
I hope Long has a big return to form tonight. We really need him to nail down that spot in the rotation.
Apocalyptic photo of the day: the Gulf of Mexico on fire.
If the water is on fire, and the pipeline rupture continues to spill fuel, how will spraying the water with water put out the fire?…
Great question.
I’d ask Richard Feynman, the famous Nobel prize physicist, but he’s dead.
He’s the guy on the Challenger commission who during/after a bunch of CYA testimony, put a small rubber O ring into a twist using a little vice and dunked it in glass of ice water on the conference table for a few minutes, then pulled it out and showed that the O ring, released from the vice, didn’t pop back into the original circle shape, it was crimped…
I did some work for a propane storage/transfer facility over on the suisun/Fairfield border that had water cannons aimed at the huge tanks. In the event of a fire they would have sprayed like hell, not to put out the fire but to cool it down, contain it. Otherwise, the explosion might take out highway 80 and huge chunks of the cities.
Bump bump buh, bump bump bu-nuh, bump bump buh bump buh
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/opinion-trevor-bauer-must-sit-until-mlb-dodgers-can-find-right-result/ar-AALJefB?ocid=msedgntp
Flavor looking like a teenage Kingman!
Good job by Mets broadcaster Gary Cohen calling out whoever decided that tomorrow’s day/night, separate admission doubleheader should be converted to 7 inning games.
There’s no legitimate reason for it…
Dirty secret is that most fans don’t care. They just want to say they were at the game.
I’m not so sure, Dog.
A regular season game that’s not even sold out?
Isn’t this part of the push to save wear and tear on pitchers after a short season? I’ve heard this rant from Cohen a couple times now, and he never mentions that.
Reading up on Bauer, I saw Sam Dyson was suspended for all 2021 for assault on his girlfriend in late 2019, after the Giants traded him to the Twins during the 2019 season. I wonder if Giants had a hint of something ahead of time, and shipped him out?…
dyson was a raging maniac shagging flies in CF before one day game I attended. Shawon Dunston was out there with him, chuckling, talking to fans, enjoying himself. He tossed a ball to my son. Dyson meanwhile didn’t seem to realize that early fans were watching him. He screamed with anger when he failed to snag a drive he’d decided to chase. Pharmaceuticals might have helped; or, I suppose, pharmaceuticals might’ve been to blame. Strange guy.
Bauer was scheduled to pitch in Washington, D.C. on the 4th of July. That could not be allowed to happen after what was revealed.
Yeah, DC is so virtuous.
Well, for whatever shred of integrity MLB has left.
1. LaMonte Wade Jr (L) 1B
2. Thairo Estrada (R) 3B
3. M. Yastrzemski (L) RF
4. Alex Dickerson (L) LF
5. B. Crawford (L) SS
6. Donovan Solano (R) 2B
7. Steven Duggar (L) CF
8. Curt Casali (R) C
9. Sammy Long (L) P
Grant Brisbee from the Athletic
Buster Posey will start the 2021 All-Star Game, and nobody is surprised. He currently has the best on-base percentage and slugging percentage of his career. He’s already hit as many home runs this season as he did in 2018 and 2019 combined, all while playing brilliant defense. He’s catching a starting rotation that’s a huge reason for the Giants’ success this season, and he’s also managing a bullpen that’s transitioning from problem to asset. He’s been the best catcher in the National League thus far. Of course he’s the All-Star starter.
Posey will start the 2021 All-Star Game, and it’s still incredibly surprising. The last time we saw him, he was hitting .257 with hardly any power, and he was transitioning into the part of his career where his contributions would be less and less quantifiable. You had to hold them up to the light to appreciate them fully. The question “Is Buster Posey still a valuable player?” had an obvious answer, but there were more contrarians willing to argue on behalf of the other side. Then he opted out of the 2020 season for understandable reasons, and he was supposed to come back as that same player, just one year older and rustier.
It’s been a remarkable half season for him, and it’s worth remembering that we’re still talking about a half season. The full story of his 2021 hasn’t been written yet, and it’s hard to imagine that Hall of Fame case can be won or lost by a half-season.
From here, though, it sure feels like a tipping point. The little “AS” on the side of his Baseball-Reference page in his age-34 season will be a feather gently placed on the scale for several voters who might otherwise have been on the fence in 2030 or whenever. The neat, tidy arc of Buster Posey — from Rookie of the Year to MVP to elder statesman to punchless-yet-valuable field general — is suddenly a lot messier, but in the best possible way.
If you read this headline with some measure of surprise, assuming that he was already a lock for enshrinement, it’s my duty to inform you that Hall of Fame experts/aficionados/nerds have been debating this very question for a couple years already. The de facto leader of this sick, interesting bunch is is Jay Jaffe, and he’s been wrestling with the question for a while. Here he is talking about Posey in the context of missed time before we knew what Posey’s 2020 season — or anyone’s 2020 season — would look like. The conclusion: Close, but his career probably needs a little more longevity.
That might seem harsh to someone who has watched Posey’s career under a microscope, to someone who has appreciated every last one of his Buster Hugs a lot more than the average baseball fan, but there were numerical components to this debate. The average Hall of Fame catcher had 53.8 career WAR; Posey was more than 10 behind that before the season started. I am intensely skeptical of WAR for catchers, to the point where I wonder if it’s worth referencing at all, but it’s a nice, tidy number, and it does a great job of showing the company that Posey is keeping.
At the top of that ranking, you have the inner circle. Johnny Bench and Carlton Fisk, for two, with Gary Carter and Pudge Rodríguez rounding out the top four. Take a gander at Mike Piazza’s offensive stats when you get a second, and remind yourself what that dude was like. Adjust for his defense as you see fit, but there’s no denying that he was a freak for the position. Yogi Berra’s WAR might not match up with those players, but consider that he played in 14 World Series. The first was in 1947. The last was in 1963. He won three MVPs in between. Posey’s career can’t compete with that.
No, statistically Posey has more in common with the players below that, with Gene Tenace, Ted Simmons and Mickey Cochrane. The problem with this is that only two of those catchers are in the Hall of Fame. Tenace, catcher for four championship teams, owner of a .388 career on-base percentage and a career adjusted OPS of 136, is not in. Posey was the catcher for three championship teams, has a .372 OBP and an OPS+ of 129, by comparison. Which isn’t to say that he’s worse than Tenace — it would take more than a couple numbers to make that argument — but there’s precedent for someone with Posey’s numbers not getting in.
Catchers will always get hosed by the Hall of Fame. In some ways, induction is a reward for a brilliant career, but in another, very real way it’s a reward for having a durable skeleton and soft tissue that doesn’t tear as easy. Craig Biggio’s 3,060 hits and consistent MVP peak are why he was a Hall of Famer, but they exist through the grace of second base (and center field). A Biggio who dons the tools of ignorance and squats 200-300 times a day for 140 games every season probably isn’t getting 555 plate appearances when he was 41. And he probably isn’t hitting .309/.415/.501 and playing in all 162 games when he’s 31. Catchers take more punishment than any other position, and it’s reflected in their offensive statistics and general longevity.
Which means it’s harder for catchers to put up the kind of career numbers that crawl through the eyeballs of a voter and directly into their brain. Before the 2021 season, Posey had one unquestionably brilliant season (2012), four or five tremendous, upper-echelon seasons (2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017), two very good seasons (2016, 2018), one what-if (2011), a season that looked like the new normal (2019) and the opt-out year of the pandemic. It likely would have been enough to get my vote if I had one, but he started the season with fewer career hits than Tito Fuentes and Denard Span, fewer runs scored than Jeffrey Leonard and Jeff Francoeur and fewer RBIs than Dan Uggla or Marlon Byrd.
I know why Posey’s contributions have been more valuable for his team. You know why. And, give the voters some credit, they know why. But when you start counting his unambiguously great seasons before 2021, you run out quickly. And it’s not like there was a glut of very-good seasons, like either of the Pudges built up over decades. If Posey’s 2019 was the new normal, he didn’t have any of that, and his counting stats couldn’t make up for it.
Posey was probably going to be a Hall of Famer if his 2019 was a new normal. A Jason Kendall-like finish to his career would have been just enough, when combined with his championship runs, award-winning seasons and face-of-a-franchise bonus points. But on paper, his career looked an awful lot like Kendall’s, right down to the horrific early-career leg injury.
However, consider the parallels between Posey and Thurman Munson — both MVP anchors of multiple championship teams — then consider that Munson topped 10 percent in the Hall of Fame voting just once. Munson still leads Posey in career hits, WAR, runs and RBIs, but the voters just couldn’t get over the tragically shortened career. He also still leads Posey in games played — 1,423 to 1,313 entering play Friday — so if you still think that Posey was a shoo-in before this season, don’t underestimate just how seriously voters take longevity. (Munson should absolutely be in, by the way, but nobody asks me anything.)
It’s this one season, then, that can push his candidacy over the edge. It shouldn’t. But there would have been more voters than you might expect who would have had a perception of Posey as a player with a fine peak that was just a little too short. Now there’s another peak to break up any valleys, another tentpole to hoist his case. The narrative is just a little more complicated. It’s possible that this is the new normal, too, with a much more gradual decline. Instead of Posey going from the .688 OPS from 2019 to a .650 OPS to a couple seasons of .620 to a dull finale as a backup catcher, maybe the drop from whatever his OPS is this season will be far more gentle, which gives him more time as a top-tier catcher.
More than any of this, though, is that Posey’s predictable, familiar career arc is suddenly less predictable and familiar. “Player with a great peak and a swift decline” is a movie we’ve seen before. It’s a movie that voters have watched hundreds of times. Now there’s a twist toward the end that changes everything, and suddenly the story stands out a little more.
The Hall of Fame is about measuring a player’s career, but it’s also about perception. Posey’s surprising renaissance season is changing that perception, and it might have already done enough to shift his candidacy from “maybe” to “probably.” And getting from probably to “definitely” seems a lot easier from here, with Posey hitting like this.
One half of baseball shouldn’t be this powerful, but to be fair, it’s been one heckuva half. And it’s probably been just enough to tip the scales.
Thanks! Excellent!
Brisbee did real well on that.
the E Coli is full of red sox fans today
Great article about my favorite Giant! Thanks Kevin!
Posey is no HOF yet if his stats are essentially like those of Gene Tenace.
He needs several more seasons like this one.
For one, he needs at least 400 more hits; he’s just below 1500 and that isn’t going to do it…
I’ve been comparing Buster to Munson for the better part of a decade.
Because it is by far the best comparison.
The sympathy vote wasn’t enough to get Thurman in.
Buster has other things in his favor.
Mainly, he is universally liked and by all accounts, a really good person.
Munson was a very different type in a very different world.
He may have a shot if he can sustain this rebirth a little longer.
I still doubt it, but WTF do I know?
HOF vote has lost all credibility and predictably…
Good stuff. Your longest post ever?
Sometimes I use a ghost writer…
Nice set of table setters!
Wade&Estrada can hit 1-2 all the time with they’re youth and energy the rest of the year!
I’ve posted the list of HOF catchers about a half dozen times before. Munson, Ted Simmons etc., yes they’ve been screwed, maybe. The stats for HOF catchers are underwhelming. Posey is pretty easily in the mix among the best of all time, whether the voters acknowledge it or not.
Solano doesn’t even get a few extra pitches out of the starter. Wotus isn’t used to having speed on the bases.
Looks like it’s the stupid hats all weekend.
The DBs are the worst team in baseball and they still carry on with that moronic hand gesture when they get a hit. Way to go team spirit.
I got a kick today out of Judge hitting a solo HR down 8-0 to the Mets and still going through with all sorts of celebrations with his teammates.
Long seems to fare better when he doesn’t try to throw too hard…
Hawks down 9 to Bucks with 4 minutes to go. Young is playing too.
Not so sure Wade Jr. really runs all that well.
I’m not either. Do you know he doesn’t?
No. Don’t think Wotus made a mistake there though.
The lousy throw from Peralta colored my take.
Romo just led the a’s thru the top of the tenth though the Red Sox attempt to steal third with their free runner backfired. I’ll always revere Sergio.
Meanwhile, Long doesn’t look much like a long man so far. His best pitch hasn’t shown up at all yet. But it’s diamondback town. Anything is possible.
Romo and now Rogers, the scary guys who just scrape by until they get exposed for what they really are every dozen games or so.
Scrape by? They’re both sharper than that. Steppin razors, until they aren’t. But then they’re back.
Sergios back for the 11th
Without the ‘stache, Wade kinda looks like Tre from Boys n the Hood….
Hawks down 10 with minute and half left.
27 for Jrue Holiday, oldest of 3 brothers in family from LA all playing NBA.
Hawks are done. bucks in NBA finals, gonna bring back painful memories for Warriors fans.
Hawks had a chance, but Young tried to do it all with other capable scorers out there, I don’t get it.
Yaz AZ bomb!
Yazzz!
YAZ! fucking reddick climbs the fence the way he always has vs the Giants since his Oakland days. That asswipe really hates sf.
Sergio out in Oaktown but still tied. My interest flags there. Meanwhile, anything can happen in diamondback town.
Barrels gets that run in. But man, that play in OF is an error. Hope Long has enough to work with.
Another pitcher with another double?
These red hats are confusing if you don’t stay focused.
Looks like Arizona vs. Arizona…
When I first tuned in yesterday’s game, the D-Backs were batting and I was momentarily confused.
Luckily the team that wears the red hat every game suck every game..
Ohh fuck.
Oh double fuck
One thing for sure pitchers we face are a hella lot better then are’s..
Threw to the wrong base…
Yes. Isn’t Ms. Nakken an OF coach?
I’m always happy when throwing to the wrong base doesn’t matter.
Sammy’s giving it up.
Krukow overanalyzes everything…
flemms talking up donut shop on Clement St. SF.
One of last dates I had with b-ball lady who lived in SF 15-20 yrs ago or so was at Bill’s Place, which according to phone is still there. Her son who played for Lowell and I went to Warriors game vs. Jersey, during J Kidd days.
Used to be a place further out Clement where 3 man group devoted to music of Thelonious Monk used to play too.
I like that part of the city too. Green Apple bookstore is a cool shop. I was just there my last time in the city.
Don’s Donuts?
think that’s the one flemming mentioned, at 10th.
The plough and the stars. — great pub out there
man cannot remember name of this club that featured the group led by pianist Si Perkoff called Monk’s Music. I remember asking my friend to drive us by there (on Clement) so I could check the place out during day time but name of it escapes me. arrgghh
Maybe you’ll find it here.
I wouldn’t know…
https://www.sfgate.com/music/article/San-Francisco-shuttered-nightclubs-music-venues-13035332.php
Coulda been worse.
And it is…
And the whole lead is Long Gone..
Wonder if they’ll hit for GD and who it will be…
Doubt it Loo. Kap has left him in before vs. LHP, and he’s best OF too.
I must be behind
It’s Mr.199 and now less for The Slater Mobile.
Krukow is really getting more unnerving every broadcast now..
If Crawford doesn’t hit his line ground single it would of carried out with top spin.. Top spin another way overused phrase as well..
Meanwhile…Cueto went 5 Thursday gave up couple bombs and took L. 3 innings from pen.
Last night Wood got through 5 giants exploded late, 4 innings from pen.
Long has short leash in bottom 5 I’d imagine so pen guaranteed another 3-4 innings at the least.
Zero days off until after Cards leave on Wed.
Followed by Mr.170.
Love those 0-2 floaters.
Strike 5?
Remember in the beginning with Crawford, Twin would say he won’t amount to anything, can’t hit,terrible fielder yada yada .. Missed that one badly as he’s easily the best SS in the history of SF baseball..He is just remarkable, even keel, not to high, not to low, just a solid big league player..
TF was a bit miffed that the Giants hadn’t re-signed Renteria.
Renteria played in 96 games for the Reds in ‘11, and then that was it for his career.
Great hat catch by the fan!
Not easy to do…
Their cheapies are falling. Ours aren’t.
If ever Slater needed one …
Pfffffffffffffffffffffffffft.
Slip sliding away
Slip sliding away
Can’t buy a hit
As my average keep
Slip sliding away
Mr.196
But wtf
He’s a good Stanford Man..
Lol.
Slater’s got options.
Time for him to hit the bus to Sac…
Have the Giants ever this season put on a hit and run? Even once?
I can’t remember one…
Maybe in the players parking lot when they’re all trying to bail out fast?
OK, let’s go.
As my boy Rots on the bench as Slater took his at bats and into the field!
Free Jaylin Davis!!
I’m telling u all Kapler hates this kid for some reason..
fuuuuuuuck. Why isn’t craw running?
At some point, you have to try to move the two runners over somehow, when there’s no outs. Get a runner on 3rd so you put pressure on the D to make a play on a ball put in play. Giants cannot seem to put 3 hits together, unless the hit is an HR. The continual inability to push runners home with RISP is finally showing the weaknesses of this lineup and bench…
2 on 0 outs and they give you 4 and you still can’t score. Slater and Casali are fucking worthless. The interstate boys need to hit the road.
Posey and Davis still left on bench.
Baggs on twitter, after Slater hit for Dickerson: “Giants have to turn him into an asset again.”
Steve Louchis responds, “giants need to turn him into a rivercat again.”
Bingo.
Wilmer hoofed that one.
Isn’t Slater something like 5 for the last 40 — or worse. Why is he here?…
yes. 4-38 coming into tonight and 1-17 (10:16 above earlier today).
Until he proves otherwise:
Jaylin Davis = Steve Hosey
Sorry, Kat…
It’s darkest before the blackout. Come on, man. We’ll get 2 more hits
and a walk this inning and not score
Ponched out at first.
Slater should be doing everything here to take a walk in front of Craw…
Just playing a downright shitty game!
3 errors, first time all year, picked off runner, questionable decision by Wotus holding up Wade at 3rd with 2 outs and the pitcher coming up?
this is why Slater is in there though–Kap’s platoon vs. LHP. Might be to his advantage to um succeed in that role.