Happy Birthday Will The Thrill!
He turned 58 today. I remember, and I have no idea why I remember this, when he came up he was 22 and I thought to myself “that’s cool, he’s the same age as his number.”
I have zero recollection of him being an Oriole.
He hit .345 for St. Louis once traded there and then retired.
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
I never made the effort to see The Thrill in Baltimore and only played some 70 odd games each of his two years before his trade. But he still .300 in his time as an O and would have averaged 20 homers if he played full seasons there. Still The Man!!! Watch for the Hokies in the NCAAs. Biggest win in school history last night he over Damned Duke and their first ACC tourney champ. Arizona looks like the real deal.
Yeah i remember Will Clark with the Orioles with there typical bad teams, but he looked good in that uniform ( maybe cause it was orange&black)compared to Rangers&Cardinals..
Still pissed the Giants turned out to be a Cardinal pipeline in trades..Orlando Cepeda MVP 1st year after the Giants traded him! Jack Clark and his huge playoff HR moment off of Dodgers reliever Nidenmeyer? was a real rad moment with his extra slow HR trot to run it in Tommy’s face who was dumb enough to pitch to him with a base open..
Will Clark just played out his career in St Louis but it still looked wrong, especially with the feud of the past with Ozzie&Will going for blows at 2nd base in the playoffs..
IIRC, Will went to Baltimore so his son could get treatment there. Also, Palmerio going back to Texas made that move a little easier (almost like Will and Palmerio just traded teams).
The Thrill my favorite Giant when playing..I can still easily picture that follow though. The hit against the Cubs my all time fav Giant moment. The best one since I started rooting in 76 or so.
Jack Clark, Will Clark, Barry, Timmy, Posey. Whos next?? I have criteria.
They have to be very good to great player, have some longevity with the team, and at least a few big SF Giant moments.
I valued Madbum of course but was never my favorite player. It helps if you are young, so I have more time to root them on. Webb has hope!
i agree with your first 4. And I also agree about MadBum. Love what he did for us but he doesn’t crack the top ten of my favorite Giants. Honestly, he was kind of a country dickhead. We wouldn’t get along in real life
“Zum, do you turn right to the Giants page before anything else?”
Yes!
I got the Athlon magazine and the Lindy’s one this year.
Both magazines praise the Giants mightily for an amazing ’21 season, but still kinda show a Dangerfieldian lack of respect by picking the Giants for third in the division this season.
The magazines are loaded with fun facts.
From the Athlon magazine:
Webb finished 11-0 with a 2.20 ERA over his final 22 starts.
When Sean Hjelle debuts in the majors, he will be the tallest major leaguer in history at 6’11”. (I would have thought there had been a 6’11” pitcher before.)
The Giants bullpen’s BB/9-inning ratio was the best in the majors. And they led MLB in bullpen ERA at 2.99.
And there was a reminder that it’s the final year of the Longoria contract!
Casali caught 9 shutouts, and had the best catcher ERA in the majors at 2.72.
The Giants set an MLB record with 18 pinch-hit HRs.
They set an MLB record with 406 pinch-hit appearances. (Previous MLB record was 359.)
Giants led the NL with 241 HRs.
The Giants set an obscure MLB record by having 17 players hit at least 5 HRs.
The Giants pitching staff allowed the fewest HRs in MLB last season with 151.
Belt’s OPS since the start of the 2020 season is .988.
You’re right, Zum.
This guy was 6’11”
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/rauchjo01.shtml
Top Giants prospects, according to Athlon:
1. Marco Luciano, ss, age 20
2. Joey Bart, c, 25
3. Luis Matos, of, 20
4. Heliot Ramos, of, 22
5. Aeverson Arteaga, ss, 19
6. Kyle Harrison, lhp, 20
7. Jairo Pomares, of, 21
8. Patrick Bailey, c, 22
9. Hunter Bishop, of, 23
10. Will Bedmar, rhp, 21
Really liking listening to the audiobook of “The Splendid and the Vile,” by Erik Larson, a book about Churchill and Britain at the beginning of WWII. Larson gives a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at things.
I went to Dallas in Oct. 98 to participate in a UT Sports Law conference and had time to kill in the hotel bar before taking a cab to DFW. This was the weekend of the UTex v OK game, which occurs in big D every year. I got along fine with the other conference lawyers, men and women, who mainly wanted to get so drunk they wouldn’t be able to think again until they chugged a few cold beers in the sun at the game the next day. Texans. Admiration for Will Clark was one topic we agreed on. The opening day leadoff HR at the Astrodome! The lipreading slam off Maddux! Yeah, they had to like those. But they asserted their own claims, too. I remember one guy extolling the way Will trained young Ranger players to swagger. The guy stood, pretended to tip a stetson, and then smirked and strutted around the table in a fairly good imitation of Will the Thrill.
I was watching some Baseball Tonight they had some chump i didn’t recognize and really don’t care cause he was an idiot , but he was paired with Tom Verducci who I do respect.
Anyway they were showing the NL odds on winning their division/WS.
Dodgers of course on top again Braves,Mets? hmm they did add some pitching arms) Brewers.
But who wasn’t even on the list was the No respect Giants!
The idiot just shined them off as one year wonders, with the vets came together and hit for one season but it won’t be substantial going forward..
Tom Verducci , Immediately jumped in and said:Why aren’t the Giants not on the list after winning 107 games?
He then said the Giants are one of the best organizations in baseball that gets the best out of their players.He continued on by how defensively the Catchers Posey&Casalli came through holding opponents to 151 HR’s while the Giants hit 241 a +90 best in baseball in both departments.He went on to say they have like 15 coaches are more? on the staff and their all giving great input.Now more teams because of the Giants success are starting to add more coaches on their staffs.
Verducci gets it even if no one else give the Giants any respect as usual..
RIP William Hurt. Body Heat, of course, but many other great roles. Not much older than I am. hmmmm.
Great actor, great movie.
Sucks…
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10015251-report-josh-donaldson-isiah-kiner-falefa-traded-to-yankees-twins-get-sanchez-more
My only problem with Will Clark is that he shoots (or used to shoot) squirrels.
At least he’s not a cat killer like Mitchell…
I think the Clampetts used to eat squirrels.
They probably stopped when they moved to Beverly Hills…
One of Anthony Bourdain’s early visits to Vietnam took him into the mountains in the north, where a local guide said they were going to eat squiggle. Squeegle? He tried to imagine what it is, maybe squirrel, maybe some other local thing. Turned out it was porcupine. Needles and all.
My mistake; it was actually called squeezle. That changes everything.
1st day of spring training done. These guys must be psyched. Looking forward to another move or two. Article says Bart is raring to go. Webb says: “I love Joey. He’s going to be awesome.” Let’s hope so.
Maybe the Giants will move from Posey to Bart the way the NY Rangers moved from Lundqvist to Shesterkin.
I’ll make it easier for you.
The way the 49ers moved from Montana to Young.
The way the Packers moved from Favre to Rodgers.
Get it?
It’s pretty rare, but it happens…
Real Cool the USF Dons are going to the dance for the 1st time since 1998!
They are a #10 seed taking #7 Murray St Racers ( tough matchup but in March Madness anything can happen)
In other news..Lasting much shorter then the baseball lockout, Tom Brady is coming back with Tampa Bay for season number 23, expect Gronk will return as well now..
mm yeah Bill Cartwright is at their games and practices. Saw Dons play couple times, but they couldn’t beat Zags or St. Mary’s, going 0-5 (conference Tourney L). Also split with Portland and BYU, neither of whom made NCAA.
Coach seems overhyped and arrogant to me; said earlier he was sure they’d get in, only question was whether to pack home (8th seed or higher) or road unis–well, they wound up seeded 10th so zero need for white ones.
Check out our friend Daniel’s latest Cards blog post for interesting take on state of the game. C70 At The Bat.
“It’s baseball, Jim, but not as we know it.”
nice pick up. As long as we keep getting these pitcher pick ups to take it up a notch, why not keep doing this?
And this last night:
Tatis Jr hurt again. Godson said it was scooter accident. Wow Pads gotta be pissed if that’s true.
When you are getting paid $30 mil per, not like you can say you were “washing your car.”
A scooter? Wasn’t Kent popping a wheelie on a real motorcycle? MadBum definitely was speeding on a dirt bike.
I’m hearing it’s a motorcycle.
The lockout meant Tatis could not see the team doctors, this happened in December, per reports.
So, he could not have the surgery until now. I’m on the players’ side mostly, but on this, he should be penalized if he breached the contract terms of avoiding dangerous activities…
I missed the Carlos Martinez signing last night. Another savvy dumpster dive. I daily be a long guy with Junis and step in for spot starts.
Huh. Rodon contract signed today sez MLBTR only guarantee’s his second year option IF he pitches at least 110 innings in year one this season. Even at 5 innings a start that would be 22 of them. see what happens.
If the guy is healthy even to a minimum level, this is basically a one year deal…
Giants sign Catcher Jose Godoy 27 LH hitter with a sparkling.162 BA with Seattle in 37 AB’s.
They have him on the 40 man roster guess cause he’s left handed? Sometimes I question Z man’s pickups but I guess I shouldn’t he always seems to hit gold..They now have to make a move to get Rodon on the 40.
Should I be nervous about my boy Jaylin Davis?Please Z I’m begging 🙏 to keep him on the 40!!
I dislike dumpster diving and shopping in the Brebbia aisle. No reason for Giants to be doing it. Off last year’s team they’ve lost Posey Bryant Solano and Gausman, to name a few. As comics guy used to say, “Times a wastin!”
Regarding squirrels, I once saw someone wearing a t-shirt that said “Squirrels, nature’s little speed-bumps.”
Seems harsh.
I think I could converse with MadBum OK, but I wouldn’t probably like being around Will the Thrill that much. I can see how his personality kind of grated against some of the veterans when he came in as a rookie in ’86.
His attitude was basically: “I’m here and we’re going to start winning now! This team is going to stop sucking.” I can see that rubbing some veterans the wrong way.
Between Timmy and MadBum, not even close.
I’d rather shoot the shit with Timmeh, see what he was about.
Still miss that guy a ton…
TF mostly didn’t like Clark as a person. TF believed the accusations of racism against Clark. Whenever a Flapper questioned that, TF went into full-TF mode.
I have both a squirrel pie and squirrel stew recipe from Leah Chase. I have never eaten squirrel, but if it came out of the Dooky Chase kitchen, I’d eat it.
I’ll gladly share the recipes if anyone needs them.
Oh shoot. Braves make deal to get Matt Olson. Hope that doesn’t mean Dogs sign Freeman.
I’m afraid that’s exactly what it means…
looks like we are gonna get the ghost runner rule reinstated soon. Unfuckingbelievable.
Does anyone know if any of the spring training games will be televised? And what channel or streaming service? Thanks all
HBD #34 to Steph Curry.
The thing twinfan did that pissed me off the most is he exposed what a jackass will Clark is as a person. I didn’t need or what to know that. Twin seemed to take pleasure in ruining my version of him.
That’s what’s so great about racehorses, with 2 notable exceptions that I’m aware of:
John Henry and especially Dynaformer.
They don’t make ’em any meaner…
Getting back to William Hurt, Altered States was a trippy-ass movie. Great stuff
Really liked that one. Just think what they could do with a remake now using current computer graphics tech.
William Hurt was a very good actor. Will never forget him in Body Heat. He perfectly played the sweaty schmuck dubious about being Matty’s mark, but nevertheless uncontrollably following his wrong head to his doom…
the Rule against Perpetuities did him in, too.
She’s alive!
and she’s relentless. that’s her special gift. (well, that and a higher than average body heat, . . . )
Oh man, I haven’t seen this in ages, may have to revisit that one.
Brisbee has a piece up on The Athletic about Junis and Martinez (one iffy fill-in five, one once-dazzling guy trying to regain his health and his AS stature, IMO, and really smart deals, both). Brisbee’s his usual slap-happy “comedic” self, but he covers a lot of good ground.
March 14 1996 13 seed Princeton upset previous season Nat Champs UCLA (seeded 4th) on back door layup by Gabe Lewullis 43-41. Coach Pete Carril had already announced retirement, which was one game away after Tigers lost to Miss. St and Erick Dampier. Went on to be long time assistant in Sac to Rick Adelman. Also wrote great book I still have, “The Smart Take from the Strong.”
The strong take from the weak, but the smart take from the strong always sounds smugly vicious to me. So he slowed the game down to a crawl despite the shot clock. Genius.
In story I read, Princeton players said backdoor cuts rarely worked in Ivy League because opponents knew it was coming. UCLA apparently not so much.
Stix was all over the signing of the two bargain pitchers, via email. If yous guys are going to take Stix to a Giants game in Minn. this season you might want to start making plans.
Tell it to the Flitters (former Flappers now on Twitter)…
Stix won’t get on tweeter. I’ve told him he can monitor the beat writers and avoid everything else, but he’s still skeptical. I thought Chuck and MacDog suggested the idea of the Minn game.
lol what’s he skeptical of?
he said that he’s avoided social media generally. He and I discuss and argue over so many other things that really didn’t seem worth pursuing. I see twitter as a practical convenience.
I used to give Stix bad time when I thought he was overly optimistic about some prospects in system. I think in the case of these two signings Brisbee is too. There are only so many guys coaching staff can fix; sometimes it just doesn’t work out. Z signed SP retread guys to AAA last year who mostly sucked. So did Hjelle who got lit up there.
Yes slowing game down isn’t fun to watch, especially when one team is more exciting and athletic. St. Mary’s does it with current team though, running lot of possessions down to last few seconds (most of their games are in 50-60 point range) with endless screen and rolls in half court O, and they took down Zags in Moraga game with that style, which they are very good at.
Slow it down, chuck a 3, make ‘em howl.
Matt Olson traded to Braves for 4 prospects including their number 1&2 rated prospects..
Bummer it clearly means Freddie Freeman will be a Dodger with a huge payday coming..
Since the A’s are in there 150th rebuild year in a row, Zman should atleast kick the tires about RH power hitterGG Mark Chapman since Longoria moves on next season.Longo&Ruf can both split time at DH while Chapman &Crawford upgrade the defense on the left-side..
Riddle me this: “Rodón certainly has a major incentive to stay healthy, as his contract allows him to opt out after the 2022 season if he completes at least 110 innings this year. If he falls short of that threshold, his 2023 contract is guaranteed with the Giants.” Maybe some Flap minds sharper than mine can explain this to me. So, stay healthy, pitch 110 innings, and you can leave after 1 year. Or, get hurt, log fewer innings, and you can stay another year. Not sure I see the benefit for either the player or the team with this contractual caveat.
Logic has no place in 2022, Paul…
In Vietnamese language, there is no word for logic. Going back thousands of years. Chinese, too. They’ve adopted the concept and call it “lo-jee”. But not really adopted the concept. At all.
If he gets hurt and doesn’t pitch much this year, he still gets paid on the second year. If he pitches well and thinks he can make more money elsewhere, he can leave. That’s part of the deal that convinced him to come to SF. He has the potential to be the best LH starter in MLB. Last year he pitched 130+ innings and gave up 13 HRs.
Wisler did that in 13 innings . . .
Never been to Minnesota but I did just spend 2 weeks in a Florida prison.
Work thing.
I assume it helps Rodon. He’s got a contract in 2023, even if he craps out with arm problems before he gets to 110 innings.