Walked Off in Minnesota
I can’t think of anything that headline reminds me of. I’m just glad I didn’t have to watch that mess. More golf today, we are leaving the friendly confines of Black Butte and heading to Bend.
Have a great day, Flappers. Time for at least a little redemption with a win against one of our former allies, the withering Aaron Sanchez…..
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
Stix chiming in a little late today to become part of the main thread. I love the title to the email, captures everything perfectly.
Disaster
Inbox
Carstie Clausen
7:20 AM (14 minutes ago)
to Flavor
Flav: Looks like its only gonna get worse.
Last season Lady Luck rode all the way up to that face-off with the LaBumbos after one helluva run. April this year was like a false dawn. Seemed like things were back on track. Then the wheels began falling off the old go-cart. Last hurrah for the Bore Core had already happened. Injuries. Bullpen looked good from early-on, but then started sliding.
Lady Luck desertion. Friday night Wood was running well up to that fatal inning. His pitch-count was well below that of that of the Twins starter. But of course there was that first inning glitch. Hit batsman. Next up…the only guy who could hurt you early in the game like that, Carlos Correa. Get these premonitions and sure nuff. BOOM. HBP #2 set off the fireworks once again as the game progressed. The sky fell in. Logically, it was a failure to perform.
From another perspective it was the laws of karma, or whatever, catching up. Baseball’s a funny game that way. Football, you can pretty much predict. Though, the NFL is more balanced than baseball when it comes to salary caps and such, there still are at least a spread of three, with the ace teams lording it all over the also-rans and the category two bunch occasionally swiping one from their “betters”. Basketball is even more predictable. But baseball? Any thing can happen in any given game. There really are no givens.
Last night, not having stayed up for the finale, (case of heat-stroke running for four days) I was a bit surprised when K. replaced the Brebbia aisle with Doval. Statistical probability, I guess. It took Camilo only two pitches to get through that third out with runners on first and third. So I wasn’t tuned-in for the collapse in the ninth. Psychology of that young man is a bit unusual. He’s like that young girl. When he’s good, he’s very, very good. When he’s bad, he’s horrid. Two hits, two walks, two runs. Tied ballgame going into the tenth.
Tear It Down!
Any Giants fan can tell you that, particularly Flappers. No Matazz left in Yaz, as his B.A. fast closes in on the wrong end of the Mendoza Line. Crawfish is about parboiled. Belt may have donned his spikes for the last time for SF. Bad knee. Pederson, miffed at all those pinch hitter situations, has quietly stewed. No returns on that pickup. When he stays healthy Longoria has performed. But that’s the catch. So there’s no punch to the lineup. Will Rodon stay amidst all this mess? Kapler is no Casey Stengel or John J. McGraw. He’s all by the book. And then again, he’s not had much to work with.
Loads of cash on the books. Will ownership get tempted to go for a marquee Name? Hope not. Bonds resurrected the team with his heroics. But with no supporting cast, the team itself was a One Pony show. So the $$$ should go for the guys who quietly get things done. High OBPs and good RBI men. Giants were near the deepest cellar this year in base-hits while surprisingly good at drawing walks, long-balls and RBIs. Yet with a plethora of key injuries and a dumpster-diver bullpen, along with defensive lapses that at times were out and out embarrassing, the current state of affairs is the herald of a BIIIG drop-off.
Have a look at the September schedule. This flatlining team may be lucky to end the season with a 72-90 record. It’s not just the players. The administrative staff is due for a massive shakeup as well. Entering this series, the Giants and Twins were flailing away at approximately the same pace, with Minnesota at 62-61 and SF the precise obverse at 61-62. My hope had been the Giants would take two of three. Ha! Or as Gertrude Stein colorfully described Oakland about a century ago: “There’s no there, there”.
So a massive re-build is in order. Likely the strategy for 2023 will be to achieve a .500 record.
So your timing for dropping the Flap was spot-on, Craig. Still hoping that between you and a handful of regulars will at least be able to put together a weekly summary commentariat. We Giants fanatics need some platform where to bitch, bellyache and occasionally cheer. -Stix
as far as I know Chuck’s blog isn’t going anywhere.
http://www.ninersforever.com
I have no reason to expect today that the Giants will torch their former stiff Sanchez. Every starter they face ends up “boy, he really threw great today”. Wonder why that is…
Stix nails it and for him – he does it with brevity. I like most everything about this post. Particularly, I sense he is not blaming Kap or Z (correct me if I am wrong Stix, as I know you are lurking here). I say this because for example, he says this . . . “Loads of cash on the books. Will ownership get tempted to go for a marquee Name? Hope not. Bonds resurrected the team with his heroics. But with no supporting cast, the team itself was a One Pony show. So the $$$ should go for the guys who quietly get things done. High OBPs and good RBI men.” In effect, this is usually the template that Z employs. Regarding Kap, Stix says this, “Kapler is no Casey Stengel or John J. McGraw. He’s all by the book. And then again, he’s not had much to work with.” Folks seem to forget that last line of Stix’s. Kapler doesn’t have shit to work with and this situation reminds me of one of my favorite sayings, “You can put a silver saddle on a jackass, but it’s still a jackass.”
I get it why everyone is POed about Z and Kap, but the fact remains that the Giants could have gone further in the playoffs last year and even been crowned World Series champs . . . if not for blowing that 2 to 1 series lead against the Bums; and, getting screwed during that last at bat by the ump. Did last year’s epic season delay Z and Harris’s rebuild due to the last hurrah of the bore core? Dunno, but it’s possible. I just know one thing – too many of those outstanding performers from last year, have completely disappeared this season, yet astonishingly, the team has hovered near or at .500 most of this season. I find that amazing quite frankly because this team is truly putrid.
More brain dead Defense by SF; unusual it didn’t end up costing them. Guys playing Unfamiliar positions And pitchers just flat having no clue defensively…
Blade I agree this is a Near talentless Team and old. I am still on board with Farnham, but not forever. There has to be real prospects coming from his drafts, but I’m not hearing /reading That as a reality. Giants need to get some real players in here in the off season FA market. Going on 5 years of dumpster diving and platooning dudes on this turnstile roster isn’t going to cut it, with big contracts off the books and this team one of the Top revenue teams in the league…
If ownership is hamstringing him with tightwad budget, then he needs to let media know on the sly and media must start hammering Baer or whoever is really running this operation for its white supremacist majority owner…
Joe Lacob has been in rumors about buying the Angels. I can only dream about what he could do with the Giants. He took the sad sack Dubs and built a juggernaut. The Giants would be a force every year if he owned them…
Met fans are in heaven with their new owner…
I don’t have much faith in billionaires. the a’s Fisher is one of the worst, but a friend is convinced he won’t sell the franchise because his capital gains tax hit would be so huge. Better to use it as the anchor tenant in a whole new high-rise neighborhood on the Oakland estuary. Giants owners know what makes financial sense to them, I bet.
I said it was a dream. Giants are now a Real Estate company with a baseball team. I have no idea what the new home office paradigm has done to the Giants real estate empire projections. But, office rent rates are way down in Sf as techs go more virtual office, and quit space in the high rises. If you’re in tech and don’t offer virtual office, you’re non- competitive for moat personnel. I haven’t worked in my former Tri Valley office in 2 1/2 years, and I’ll never return…
And back here I wonder who the hell they think is gonna occupy all this office space…
https://gothamist.com/news/penn-station-project-gets-key-approval-by-ny-state-board-moves-to-next-phase
the Giants development includes the new Visa world HQ building (which may or may not pan out, I guess), much biotech lab space, and a lot of condo/apt/housing. The a’s plans for Howard Terminal are heavy on condos/apt (and a hotel).
“Giants need to get some real players in here in the off season FA market.”
Agree. I just hope it isn’t splurging on one guy. Particularly, some 30 plus old player whose best years are in the rear view mirror, e.g., just about everyone the Giants have signed since our glory WS years.
Nice shot for Wade Jr to drive in a run, breaking 0-22 slide.
This guy was the highlight of ST for me. Don’t hear about him much. Struggles at the plate in AA, I guess. But he may make a helluva back up (at several positions).
Ha. the tv people saw Baggarly’s tweet.
Kid looks / has body-type like Yogi Berra.
Great timing/athleticism for a catcher…
Miller:
SF hits with RISP is 11 for last 79 = . 140 …
I figured we’d do something. That last game was atrocious.
Third time through the order not going well for Junis. 9 hits for Twins/loud contact for XBHs.
So pen will have to cover for SP again, same as last 4 starts going back to Webb (whacked by Tigers) Wood (whacked by Twins Friday) and Cobb, who was fine but spent 100 pitches to go 5.
Giants have 1 day off coming in next 16.
No one is into 3 outcomes ball but worst thing is all the walks. Doval (again) plagued by walks and wildness, Leone unable to throw even 1 strike with sacks loaded yada yada.
Now reliever Young walks first guy he faces and then gives up double and Twins extend lead to 6-3.
Giants just imploding in all phases, and unlucky with that ground rule double, to boot. This team is just lameass…
Shocker.
Longo pulled.
Suspected aggravation of hammy..,
If I were a kid just getting into baseball, I doubt I’d be a Giant fan unless I was copying my dad or something like that.
Just nothing going on there…
I don’t see baseball appealing to most kids. Too slow, costs too much To get into it. Black kids are almost immune to it, doesn’t appeal to them, no role models in the sport. MLB is clueless at promoting stars. Rod Carew basically just told Manfred that he’s killing the game with all this stat crap based play…
Can still make me feel like a 7 year old…
well, that was a dismal afternoon
Maybe there is something to this “kaps lost the team”. They weren’t playing like this for the first 1/4 of the season. What happened?
I would assume the players heard or heard about Farhan’s knbr Interview with Tobert where he basically said the lineup is scheise. That wouldn’t motivate me if my contract is up, except to get ready to move to a new organization around Mid October…
Forgetting all the shit that has changed in the game I still prefer the concept of throwing a ball at someone and having them try to hit it. It appeals to me more than basketball and football though I like those sports a lot, too.
Yeah, I still think it’s the best game we have but they have slowed things down so much that the only way I could watch a whole game is if I was there.
At AS Game, Giants had taken 3 of 4 from Brewers and were 48-43.
Right after that came losing slide, first to LA and then AZ. Each SP lost a game and Leone blew a couple, plus a Sammy Long opener L. There was the 5 game winning streak mid August, and now they are at 61-65. So post AS game, 13-22. Hard to pinpoint one specific game or thing that happened, but I’ll always point to pitching.
Giants get pitching they can stay in games even without much offense. Webb Junis and wood getting whacked on early, no. Last year had enough pop in lineup to overcome that, this year no.
Other sports have changed too, and while athletes are better the game itself, no. Goes for NFL and NBA. Love to watch it, but…
It’s almost 40 years since The Catch and yet NFL still hasn’t figured out what a catch is in btw penalty flag on every punt and endless commercials. NBA isn’t any better, with athletes who need “rest” games during season, which has been too long for decades and phantom foul shots given to stars only.
I’d like to put a 25 year old Wilt Chamberlain into a computer and see what he would be in today’s NBA. I have no idea…