A Nice Little Winning Streak
A surprising 1-0 victory over the Padres. San Dawg was at this game and will, hopefully, add a re-cap in the comment section.
All of a sudden confidence oozes from this leaky train. Will the SF bats finally flank the mighty contributions of Corn on the Cobb?
We’ll find out soon enough…..
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
OK, pitching and defense wins again. Dogs had shut down SD offense and swept them…maybe winning the trade deadline ain’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Z still short a RH bat in OF, which means Kap has to play 2 LHs vs. every LHP. Credit to Gonzalez for 2 fine plays, including one holding Machado to a single on ball he whacked off the wall in LF.
And nice coda by Doval who has added another pitch to arsenal.
A strike?
Hah!
If he can just stop walking people he’ll be money.
lulz. According to Baggs and Bart he is using 2 seam fastball with different type of movement than 4 seam.
Not much to report as there was basically one exciting play, which I happened to miss as it was the one half inning where I wandered around a bit. That was a bummer as our seats looked right down on home plate.
I will say that the days of Giants fans taking over Petco are over. The bandwagon has lost many members. Maybe 10% Giants fans there last night, when there was a time it was regularly 30-40% orange and black.
Yes, our team has many flaws, but I will take the win. Doval taking care of business with a one run lead facing Soto, Machado, and Bell was impressive. Soto was really staring him down and looked to me like he was trying to get in his head while Doval warmed up.
I’m liking JD Davis so far and cautiously optimistic about Bart as well—though I did not love Bart going down on strikes without ever (I think) taking the bat off this shoulder later in the game.
For whatever reason, many Padre fans were down on Hosmer and were almost as happy about him getting shipped out as Soto coming in. I’m not sure Bell is an upgrade, but we shall see. (I know Bell’s hitting stats are better this year)
Bell will be an FA after season ends, along with Drury and SPs Manaea and Clevenger. Darvish Snell and Hader (arb eligible) have only 1 more year before they can hit FA and supposedly SD is working out $100 mil deal with Musgrove. Soto is arb eligible and will surely get raise off $17 mil he makes now. Seems like after this season Pads have lot of uncertainty in near future, especially after losing all the prospects they sent to Nats and Brewers.
Comments in today’s NY Post…
It’s official! NYC is the most disgusting city in the world.
Reply:
Normally I would agree with you, but I was forced to make a trip to San Fran about 6 months ago and I think they have us beat. Not by much. But there were piles of excrement in the streets and crowds of people cooking up their heroin and shooting it up right in broad daylight in busy parts of town. We have not reached that point yet in NYC, but damn, we are close. Oh yeah, we do have way more gunfire here.
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Is the reply accurate?
I would advise anyone not to visit here.
It’s also been a brutally hot summer.
Regular gas is down to $4.25
Parts of the city are like that for sure. But not all of it.
Travis nails it right at 1:00 – and it’s 47 fuckin years later…
SanDawg’s scapespot the Tenderloin has stretches like that and south of Market, near Twitter’s HQs you’ll see it. For a while, when BART opened at 6 am the tunnel leading from the Civic Center station to the plaza filled with junkies who’d found their first fix of the day. Bill Graham auditorium, main library, city hall, trial court building, appellate court building — all right there. One day, 8-am-ish, a woman, early twenties, pushed the plunger and looked up at me with bliss in her eyes, as if to say: Isn’t the world a glorious place?
The City has always been a little crazy. I remember my Grandmother taking me down to Blums for some goodies she would do that a lot. We would always end up walking by the Bus depot on Market and it never failed that there was a gang of greasers hanging on the corner. This was around 1957. Every time a female walked by young or old they would always start yelling and cussing and there were always a few that would start humping the light poles. I just couldn’t understand why they would act like that. There were always people who were down and out visible for long stretches around Market St. But there was nothing like the homeless people that are in the City now. San Francisco is not weather friendly for the homeless. I think most of em are there because there are some services for em and money. It really is a political problem and it’s everywhere.
It’s important to remember that the NY Post has a political agenda. It’s a Rupert Murdoch newspaper. Taking pot-shots at San Francisco is a long tradition amongst Conservatives.
But I’d much rather live in San Francisco than Cowbutt, Idaho or Cornhole, Nebraska.
“Red state” cities have plenty of their own problems, including high numbers of people addicted to opiates and meth.
They also have just as much crime if not more. I think Florida is one of the highest crime states.
In other words, the New York Post is doing that thing called “concern trolling” when it talks about San Francisco. Pretending to be concerned, but pushing their usual agenda that everything liberal is bad.
Zumiee, the thing I pasted was a reader’s comment on an article about how disgusting NYC has become.
Not from the article itself if that matters…
San Francisco open your Heroin Gates
Crackheads&Meth heads are everywhere in this state
But nobody cares as they still yell out 4 dead in Ohio
Gotta get down to it junkies are cutting us down
What if you knew one just dead lying on the ground
Do you just avoid the broken glass&needles as you
get back in your homeless tent and get high and shake?
Historically, like NY, SF was/is(?) neighborhood oriented. I lived in SF from 78/79 (?) until the day after opening day in 2008. When I first moved from Humboldt to SF, the City was still reeling from the Moscone and MIlk, assassinations. A lot of blue-collar jobs had moved out of the city and families were moving to the burbs (white flight and Dan White flight). Some of the neighborhoods where those people were moving from were really fucked up, but in the meantime the punks and gays were getting their scenes going and taking over some of those neighborhoods.
Did I live in the Vats? no, but I rehearsed there for years in various bands, did I live in the Loin on Turk street? No, but I played the Sound of Music and used the rehearsal place across the street. I didn’t live on Haight or the panhandle but lived just blocks away and played the IBeam and other clubs on Haight. Played The Mab, Stone, Chi Chi club, On Broadway, Wolfgangs, Great American Music Hall, played a bunch of places in the Mission and many shows at the Farm and Bottom of the Hill. So, I found myself hanging out in what was once considered very sketchy areas of the City and yeah, they could be. Damn, I hated that 100 block of Turk street in the early 80s, but around the corner on Taylor was Original Joes, talk about stepping into another world.
In my mind what has changed the most is that those areas became populated with condo people, so the musicians and artists moved on, the homeless, drug addicts and various fringe people were pushed out into other neighborhoods which made that group more visible. So issues of shit, trash and needles, and violence, which have been part of various SF neighborhoods for years, just got pushed more into view of the tourists and the people that moved into the new condos in those neighborhoods and downtown area.
Fascinating breakdown
I moved to SF in early 79. To the Mission (25th, near Dolores). I probably heard you play in some of those spots.
TLoin is still bad. Persistently disgusting coverage of it is a local tv news staple. A good client had offices near Gough/Market, so I’d take BART to CivicC and walk — sometimes stopping either to or from for a meal at Zuni Cafe — and I saw the area change after Twitter moved into that ancient art deco building in 2012. Nearby condos rose, true. But the gentrification didn’t seem to spread well. Now, most tweeter employees want to work from home, I hear, which won’t be in that part of town.
If you were playing those joints back then, I prolly saw you. Used to go to the I-Beam all the time. South of Market was iffy but all the great clubs were down there. DV-8, DNA Lounge, Holy Cows, the Oasis, even The Stud. Great dancing.
Saw the Meat Puppets at the I-Beam there before Kurt knew what grunge was. Did a great version of No Quarter. 2 days later saw Etta James there. Or maybe the place right next door. Country something?
I played in a polka band called Polkacide, maybe we downed a couple beers together.
Friend of mine played in a band called Wig Torture. Another friend was in a band called Free Press.
We must have crossed paths at some point. I also played in a couple of jazz bands and some noise band things, but the polka band got the most press and air play.
Wait, I thought I was supposed to be nostalgic for the grittier, pre-Giuliani Manhattan. Have the flophouses made a comeback in the Bowery? Just across the river, I saw lots of fancy new condos surrounding Peter Lugers and the Hasidim. That was in summer 2019.
Excellent James!
People here are very selective about the level of grit they consider charming…
The original Skid Row is still going strong, nudging up against a revitalized (but not *too* revitalized) downtown LA. After a fine meal, daring bourgeois that you are, you feel pretty lucky making it back safely to an undamaged car.
But would you spend a night at the Hotel Cecil?
I stayed in S.F. a year ago last August and saw plenty of homeless people, almost as soon as we stepped out of the Bart station down the hill on Powell, but did not see piles of excrement or heroin parties. Maybe I wasn’t looking hard enough. Our stay was at the Marriott in Union Square, on Powell and Sutter. Most of the walks I took were in that area. One morning I ventured into a little bit of a sketchy area for no other reason than to get a picture of a Bryant St. sign and send it to a couple Flappers, since newly acquired Kris Bryant was off to a good start, but did not encounter any trouble. Walking from the hotel to Oracle and back, about 25-30 minutes, also had no issues. Other places I walked included the Embarcadaro/Fisherman’s Wharf, the Painted Ladies park, and Chestnut St. to eat at a Mexican place. So yeah, I only saw a fraction of the city, but I’d go back in a heartbeat no matter how troubled it is.
Loo, per Macdog, you can go to a game, see 95% of SF, and easily miss much of the shit you hear so much about. I’ve lived in the Bay Area’s Ur homeless homeland, Berkeley, for most of my adult life and will be delighted when Carol Christ finally kills People’s Park. Go, Carol! But that’s not because it has any day to day effect on my life. I could take you on a long walk around town that would make you believe you were in one of the tonier, well to do cities in the country. You wouldn’t be too far off . . . .
There’s a vast focus group of people who will never ever feel safe and rachet up support for tough on crime agenda. It was true in SF and suburbia during the time of 3 strikes and indeterminate sentencing and build up of massive prison industry, well populated at time. Sad to see it being revived in SF and elsewhere.
When I was coaching travel b-ball teams in spring during early 2000s, we were often in safer residential areas of West side, Sunset and Richmond parts of SF–Lincoln Wash Lowell and St. Ignatius HS. We’d play go out to lunch somewhere off 19th Ave or Geary yada yada. Funny that this part of town has most support for tough on crime agenda and shows up to vote these days. Doubt many of them spend much time in T Loin.
I spent some time in NY in Nov. 2000. Watched late-night election results on the screens in Times Square, worked in a perfectly presentable office tower, ate lunch at the Knickerbocker Club and dinner at a couple of ok places, one on the mezzanine in Grand Central Station. No problems at all. Even the limousine that took me back to JFK was spotless.
TLoin, some south of Market, Hunter’s Point, Sunnydale projects (went to work at a RR yard nearby for a while), West Oakland (same), East Oakland — watch out.
A martini on the mezzanine at Grand Central is a top NYC experience in my book.
I was drinking martinis back then. But even better was lunch at the Knickerbocker Club the day after the election. Final result was headed to the Supreme Court with a bullet, but the thin slice of the top 1% I saw that day didn’t seem to give a shit.
1. Tommy La Stella (L) 3B
2. Brandon Belt (L) 1B
3. LaMonte Wade Jr. (L) DH
4. Joc Pederson (L) LF
5. Thairo Estrada (R) 2B
6. Mike Yastrzemski (L) CF
7. Brandon Crawford (L) SS
8. Luis Gonzalez (L) RF
9. Austin Wynns (R) C
P: Alex Cobb (R)
Cobb deserves a break to win a game.
Dude has been pretty good, and snakebit.
Bad defense generally plagues his starts…
Gotta admit it’s funny to look at WC standings and see Phillies have moved ahead of Padres. When Giants took 2 of 3 from them June 1 they were 22-29.
Now they are 60-48 and cbs site gives them 85% shot to make playoffs. what happened over there?
They got rid of Girardi and caught fire.
Yeah, if you are looking for meth, you’ll find the shittier parts of SF.
Civic Center/Powell St. Bart stops, and the Loin are bad bad bad. My daughter Allison worked at an apartment community in the Tender Nob (Sutter and Van Ness) and one morning right after she opened the door a homeless guy pulled a knife on her, screaming mindless babblings. Luckily she was able to keep furniture between her and the guy until one of her co-workers got there, disarmed him, and hustled him out. This was way before COVID. The Loin has gotten tons worse. It does look like a 3rd world country.
But when I was working in the Financial District, it was fine. There were the same folks panhandling and everyone was pretty stable. It was a ghost town the last time I went to the Financial.
There’s only a few places I wouldn’t feel safe walking around late.
Some things you posted couple years back made me wonder if you worked for a while up Montgomery, close to Columbus. I was on Columbus for a while, at the point where Jackson Sq. meets Chinatown and North Beach. I could see Mr. Bings (being remodeled), Brandy Ho’s and the great City Lights from our balcony. Also, of course, the flags competing in the airspace over Chinatown — some Taiwanese, some PRC.
Yeah, I was across the street from the pyramid. They reopened that a little while ago. Before COVID. Had a shot and a beer one lunch for old time’s sake.
yeah, I know. My son apparently likes the place too.
Red Hook for happy hour tonight:
2 ozs Rye
.5 ozs Maraschino Liqueur
.5 ozs Punt a Mes
goddammit Marshawn.
if only he’d listened to some sound legal advice.
Yeah launch angle LaMonte!
Late night Wade getting things off to a great start!
Padres can keep reeling like last year with their Billion dollar team!
Yeah, baby!! Great stuff.
Mitch, is in the house.
Soto pulls, blasts a 96 mph fastball up above the zone 385 feet down the line? well. solo shot. no big deal.
Yaz grabs an errant can of corn at the wall. no big deal.
This game does not lack for excitement.
Estrada hangs with it.
On the rare occasions that they use the field level camera behind the catcher it reminds me how much I miss it.
For the last I don’t know how many years it seems like 90% of the game is televised from the CF camera, presumably to show the ads behind home plate.
It sucks, IMO…
It’s good for pitches not put in play. But when the ball is hit, give me the CF view every time.
Ohtani tonight, pitching vs. the a’s, got hit in the shin on a comebacker and limped off the field. fwiw.
I’m amazed that it doesn’t happen more often and with worse consequences.
Pitchers are sitting ducks out there…
Yeah especially the 105 Mph off there faces that end up behind home plate and they’re withering in pain with a broken orbital socket Armand several face fractures..
When is a ground rule double not a break for the defense?
But every fuckin announcer has to regurgitate the cliche…
Il cattivo.
Leone is like that gum on the bottom of my shoe I can’t shake off!
As the ball girl cheats death…
Fucking blind ump.
two bad calls in that Davis AB, one of them impossibly bad
Longoria with his cap off looks like he escaped from the zoo…
Gee, didn’t see that coming at all.
How’s that stellar work by Rodgers look like now James?
James isn’t the only one looking at the stats.
yippee oh ki yay Mr. Rogers
Tyler Rogers pitching in the bottom 9th, score tied?
Expect disaster.
Expectation realized.
DFA this dude, get anybody up from AAA or the waiver wire who throws overhand…
SHIT!!!! So done with Rogers. Must have some blackmail on Kap or Farhan. SHIT!!!
Crazy game in Seattle, 0-0 in the 13th inning. Yanks have made a bunch of blunders on the bases in extras, now the M’s get yet another shot to win it with just one run.
And the M’s win!