Playing Winning Baseball
What’s this? We took a lead and then…..held the lead? And won the game? This is an exciting time to be a Giants fan. Sarah and David were both rewarded for their faith. Maybe it’s true. Win or lose the Giants always play with pride and determination. That is certainly something to be proud of.
Speaking of not playing with either of those things the A’s lost 18-3 and already have a -100 run differential! That is DOUBLE the next worst team. Wow!
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
Ah was well played game for most part. IF D was good, Estrada showed good range and hustled his way into a run. they beat LHP and Craw homered off one. Mets were the team that threw ball around yesterday.
Giants are second NL for bombs though only 10th for runs and more middle pack and below for OB slugging OPS. Get Joc back plus Slater/Haniger that should change. Bart hitting .300.
Hopefully pitching does too. Bright spot in pen so far has been Tyler Rogers, unscored upon in 8 outings over 9 innings. Stripling vs. Megill today…
Noticed Cards who are in town for 4 next, are only half game better than Giants. also Daniel’s blog in widget has nothing going. Be good to hear from him hope he checks in.
Any Flap chatter about Bum?? With Wood hitting what looks to be longer term, no surprise he is hurt again, IL, should the Giants bring the Bum back and keep him to four innings per start max or maybe he can be used in long relief mop up duty.
He can’t be worse than Stripling and good karma at least generates some fan interest. Given game one was same night as Dubs playoffs, there were a lot of empty seats Fri night.
NYT story noted games are so far running half hour less than last year at this time, and BA also up. When TV cameras show IF, middle infielder is right next to 2b. For RHs not too much looks different. For LHs, other than lack of short RF 3b is still playing normal SS and SS is few feet to left of 2b. More singles more baserunner more SBs. Still think Manfred juiced ball too.
It’s all about Sarah and David for me now.
Gotta stop living in the past…
LMFAO!
A thought from the last thread. It’s gonna be up the the kids to save what’s left to be saved. It is the height of human arrogance to believe that humans were made in God’s image Imo. When in actuality we are the most stupid, greedy, immoral species on this planet. I guess I should slow down on current events. Hopefully the younger people can do something about it. Not holding my breath. Glad we got the win yesterday.
Sorry for the rant. I know this is a sports blog. I was outa line.
Nah . . . You were just as spot on as anyone here w/an opinion.
Sarah&David both need a reality check about Giants Baseball if you ask me..
Andrew Bailey is a good pitching coach who if anybody could get the best out of Bum’s mechanics tweaking this are that,and for 700K it’s chump change for this cheap spending organization.Just some fire in the clubhouse and dugout would be an upgrade even if Webb is still terrified to play with him.Get over it!!
Not certain how to link this, but I get the NY Times synopsis of the news each morning via email and they always have one article or in depth analysis included about various topics. Too cheap to get the actual online NY Times, so this suffices . . . Anyway, this is their take on the recent baseball rule changes (apologize for the length):
“More excitement
America’s oldest professional sport looks different this year.
For the first time in M.L.B.’s 148-year history, clocks in stadiums now count down between every pitch, forcing pitchers and batters into action. It’s a radical change for a sport defined by its leisurely pace — but one that league executives believed was necessary to grow baseball’s popularity.
The sport has gradually become less central to American culture over the last 50 years or so, as football’s popularity has skyrocketed and other sources of entertainment — like video games and on-demand television — have become more available. Even dedicated fans have grumbled in recent years about games being longer and less exciting. To an extent, M.L.B. executives say they agree, and they believe that this year’s rule changes will help.
So far, they are right. The changes — including the pitch clock and others meant to increase action — have led to much faster games with more hits, more stolen bases and less down time. Whether the changes will increase interest in baseball is another question.
Today’s newsletter will explore how different this new version of baseball really is, with some charts from my colleague Ashley Wu.
A quicker game
When it comes to game duration — the amount of time between the first pitch and the last — M.L.B.’s new rules have been a smashing success.
For decades, outings at the ballpark had been getting longer and longer. When Babe Ruth played in the 1920s, nine innings of play lasted less than two hours. Over time, as it became more common for at-bats to last longer, the average game time ticked up. It ultimately peaked at 3 hours 11 minutes in 2021.
That trend has sharply reversed this year. During the first three weeks of this season, games lasted 2 hours 39 minutes on average — 29 fewer minutes than they did during the same time frame last year. That means at a typical game beginning at 7:05 p.m., fans are heading home around 9:45 p.m. instead of 10:15 p.m. It also means that all of the runs, hits, strikeouts and errors occur during a shorter period of time, making the game feel more action-packed.
The time reduction can be mostly credited to the implementation of the pitch clock. Here’s how it works: After a pitcher receives the ball at the mound, a 15-second clock starts to count down (20 if a runner is on base). If the pitcher waits too long, the umpire calls a ball as a penalty; if the batter delays, the umpire calls a strike. The timer means that at-bats now move faster — though fans who are scrolling through social media or are in line for a hot dog are now more likely to miss something.
“I felt like I was at warp speed,” New York Mets pitcher David Robertson said after his first appearance this year.
The second, and more important, goal that baseball is trying to achieve with its new rules is to make the games more entertaining.
The M.L.B. commissioner, Rob Manfred, told my colleague Michael Schmidt that baseball’s problems were at least partly a result of the sport’s recent obsession with analytics. Teams over the past two decades have raced for a statistical edge: They use more pitchers, and those pitchers throw faster, while batters have tuned their swings to hit the long ball — leading to more strikeouts and more home runs, but fewer balls hit in play.
“Baseball changed,” Manfred said. “Fans wanted the game to look like the way it used to look like.”
The sport’s new rules, including requirements about where certain defensive players can stand, were designed to increase the game’s action — and entertainment value — with more hits, more steals and more impressive defensive plays. Through the first three weeks of the year, the M.L.B. has gotten the result it hoped for: Runners are stealing more bases, runs are up and batting average has risen modestly compared with the same period last season.
An increased leaguewide batting average, up to .247 from .231 last year, means that at-bats more often end with a hit now. Statistically, it’s a significant jump from last year’s historic low, though hits are still less common than they were in the mid-2000s.
Though the changes have already had an impact, they still may not be enough to solve baseball’s troubles. Hitting a professionally thrown baseball has always been incredibly hard. In the modern era, when pitchers are stronger and more informed by data, it is only getting harder.
“That’s the one thing that could really derail this,” my colleague Tyler Kepner, who covers baseball, told me. “Pitchers are only getting better, and I don’t know how they’re really going to limit strikeouts.”
Does it say where we can get any of those better pitchers?
NYC gotta be rocking, as I’m watching R j Barrett and Brunson on postgame as Knicks go up 3-1 sweeping Cavs at the Garden. Impressive.
Like the guy who threw 7 shutout innings with 11 Ks vs. Yanks today?
Jeeeebus. Warriors throwing the ball around like blind idiots.
Awesome story . . . Congrats to this 13 season minor league player for joining the show with the Pirates!
GS getting zapped on boards again, yikes. 7-1 edge offensive rebounds for kings. both teams shooting 50% from floor.
Don’t think Loon gets away with that one.
2 minute drought for Kings . Fox had Klay on him and missed pull up, 3 misses at rim yada yada. Kings needed this one imo. GS would get back to even and gotta feel better about getting one in Sac
wow clutch Fox 3 and then Steph shoots early, Kings get board.
Wow, Barnes misses open 3 to win it, Curry off the hook for his Chris Webber moment.
Never a doubt right?
Dubs 126-125 victory!
Who ever loses a home game will win this series..
Crazy win. 1st a lazy pass with a 5 on 4 for an turnover any easy Kings layup, then Steofh Webber moment. WOW what a win. Kings gonna lose game 5 now.
Go Giants. I used my positivity from yesterday today and it worked. I’m a volatile fan, so me being calm and enjoying the joy is a new me!
Green D on Fox, forcing the ball to Barnes is what won it!
PS..just my 2c, but no MadBum. It will kill me to have him suck ass for us. And he will he’s done.
Jeeezzzussss. Steph with the Chris Weber special. The pass before that was equally stupid. Shades of that Utah game where they blew a 5 point lead with 14 seconds left.
Got away with it though. Dray had a great game on D, and they slowed Fox enough in the 2nd half to take it. Kuminga not getting much action but I don’t really like him just hanging out in the corner. Getting him 1:1 on the weak side would seem to be a good idea.
I understand why these espn guys are interested in Nimmo’s Cheyenne childhood. I don’t think I’ve ever met another person, except my sister, who was born in Cheyenne. It’s relatively rare. Lights of Cheyenne, James McMurtry, is a great song. Sober, I always think the narrator is a suicide; after a drink, I’m sure she shoots her abuser with the deer rifle.
Giants are suddenly playing like professionals.
I saw James M. perform at a music festival. He performed as a trio with bass and drums, and his set was very good. The crowd was really into it.
Get Stripling out now.
Clankforto.
Well. Conforto. Yaz has mastered that RF. But no. AI says otherwise.
Yazman!
Yazz daz – Disco jazz
You ain’t old enough…
A much needed series win.
Doval does it, it’s a split!
Yer right Mac, how sad is it that I already wiped out Thursday’s game from my mind.
OK, a much needed split?
yeah nice clean inning from Doval to wrap it up. 2 game winning streak!
Haven’t they hid every Left Fielder there for the last 20 years?
Oh yeah. that would be quite a list Kat!
First time this year
With Slater and Haniger coming back guy on MCC site said Conforto can be regular LF…where Giants used to hide guys like Morse Ishi and Fred Lewis.
Funny interview with Joc after game as the gal Nicolle asked him about that crazy slide at home plate? Joc well I was safe atleast…Maybe so but your pant’s blew up with a hole in them lol 😂
That was a pretty impressive win.
How great is it to have the Flap back?
Like we all have something better to do…
Loo..Guess we can burn Flap Jacks 🥞waiting for the Hot Stove Giants exciting waiver news..
At least we’re all still in touch.
Flavor is a uniter of people…
AMEN!