One More Day Till Ball
No baseball till tomorrow and that’s when my vacation begins. I’m headed to Portland then Black Butte and after that down to Del Mar. Will change out the threads as always but my interactions will be more limited.
If you’re itchin’ for some action it’s Opening Day at Saratoga so there’s that. I bet Loo has some fond memories of this day.
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
Isn’t Frank Mirahmadi gonna call races at Saratoga?
OK I’ve seen tons of Ohtani stuff ramping up lately from beat writers and different Giants sites.
What do the “deplorable malcontents” here think?
Go after him at deadline, or wait til offseason?
what do you think is fair salary offer, or should Z just pay whatever it takes?
Safe travels Flav. Enjoy!
I may have a “deplorable malcontent” t-shirt custom made…
Meant to post that on my blog. Oooops. Cool song tho.
Loo, if i make it out to Saratoga one of these years can I count on you going with me? We could wear Deplorable Malcontent tee shirts and tell Linda Rice to suck it
I would hope so Flavor, but I don’t know what I can be counted on for right now.
If it was this year, I definitely couldn’t…
Enjoy your vacation!
Hey have an enjoyable vacation Flav,golf, horse racing and more,visiting family &friends!
Will try and keep the children in line here while your away..
After two Cuban OFs started the AS game with excellent defensive plays I took a look at info on eight Cubans in the game. Then I looked into the system that develops and trains the Cuban players. Begins with good universal free health care for all from conception on and ramps up as teachers and coaches recognize promising athletes. The system seeks olympians and pan pacific competitors as well as, famously, baseball players. Training and nutrition are key; the country also runs an excellent sports medicine program. Players these days are able to leave the Cuban leagues when young, showcase their talent in places like Mexico and Japan and attract mlb deals. Expect many more of them. There’s more to the story, of course, but that thread jumped out at me.
In a vacuum, sure, I’d love Ohtani to be a Giant.
But, it’ll take a massive contract over a decade or something like that, with his opt out available after a few years. I’d rather spend that money spread across a small handful of all real contributors that beefs up the roster for both position players and pitching staff. If one of them goes down, that’s baseball. If Ohtani goes down for any length of time with that contract, it’s a disaster. That Baer probably would love it tells me I don’t want it…
What you said. Complete idiocy for our team to even consider it. “Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it.” Spanish philosopher George Santayana, whom I am certain was referring to the Giants acquisition of Zito, Rowand and Alfonzo.
Those “face plants” would be child’s play compared to Ohtani.
For Ohtani, you’re paying massive coin to get two players in one, but it cuts both ways. If/when he goes down, you’re really losing two players though only one body is on the IL or has undergone surgery. You can replace him with only one player who either pitches or hits, not both, so you end up with a roster deficient in one or the other when he’s out, and paying payroll arguably equivalent to 3 players for just 1 who is active…
A pulled groin fucks you twice.
lol . . . exactly!
Obviously, Barry Bonds is the free agent “gold” standard, not only for the Giants, but all of MLB. I don’t think you can argue that, as the Giants gave Barry Bonds a six-year $43.75 million contract in 1992, at that time the biggest ever. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say, Barry saved the Giants from moving to some hell hole in Florida or worse.
Just me, but I think luck does NOT strike twice, so forget about Ohtani.
I think we would be better off finding someone similar that we could hold onto longer. IIRC Ohtani kind of had the Giants as an afterthought when he was looking to sign over here. Pretty sure I have never seen the talent all wrapped in one package like he has but I would still pass on it and I don’t believe we would be serious contenders to lure him over. Plus it just doesn’t seem like the Giants way we do business.
Guy has a point
No more proof needed that MLB is a regional, if not in some cases, a metro area pro sport…
Funny thing I just discovered, and that’s before Tuesday’s win, the last NL pitcher to win the ASG was Matt Cain. NL scored 5 in the 1st and coasted to the win. Cain was the starter.
Yeah melky was mvp and Pablo hit a triple off verlander. As someone pointed out, Selig gave melky the mvp trophy knowing that he’d bd suspended within days.
10 years ago today:
Timmy throws 148 pitch, 13K no-hitter in San Diego.
Miss that dude immensely…
Anchor Steam has announced it has produced its last batch.
Quitting after 127 years in SF.
A real leader in the craft brew movement under Fritz Maytag in the ’70s – ’80s.
Generally considered the oldest craft brewery in the US.
Maytag sold out some years ago, then that buyer sold out to Sapporo about 5-6 years ago.
Supposedly supplies and SF costs rise + steam beer process inefficient/costly + relentless competition + usual Covid blame of some sort. I’ll admit I wasn’t a huge fan of its flagship steam brew, but iconic Christmas Ale will be missed.
Bummer for those who value the craft beer movement…
Fish market in Palo Alto closing too. Saddens me.
Nooooo! The one in Foster City is still there. My wife worked there in the early 80s and said the amount of cocaine going through that building was astounding.
She also worked at The Vans when the mob still had a presence there. Lotsa wild shit went down there.
I banged some.chick from the bar at the Vans once, it was quite a coup she was hot
The upstairs party room was a dangerous place if you were a waitress when the boys were in town.
Shit. Just read the San Mateo one is closing as well. Damn. First Vince’s and now this.
The 2023 NBA all star game was watched by 4.6 million.
Soto is 5 years younger than Ohtani. Pursuing Soto with a Bonds-like deal, adjusted for 2025 dollars and duration, would be my preference. He’s as sure a bet to continue on a long-term HOF path as you’ll find in the FA market.
I’m surprised my son hasn’t called yet to confirm our attendance at China Basin. mlb’s obviously banking on good Bay Area weather. (Oakland may have the best weather in the world.)
If they want to shorten the season, have one doubleheader a month. That takes a week off the season.
Watch it going up 5. I got my first speeding ticket in 34 years. There were a TON of cops on the road when we went to Orygun in early June. My wife turned down Waze for some reason and I didn’t get the warning.
He did gimme a break tho. He said 70+ in a 65 and I was going 90. Still and all, w/traffic school and the fines and such it was $350.00.
90 on 5? Fuck. I remember the first time I drove 5 north from LA in my college girl friend’s BMW. We hit a fucking dust storm, like something out of Woodie Guthrie, in the valley; strong wind blew blinding dust off a few large fallow farm fields across the freeway for about half a mile. I was doing 90 along with everyone else when we entered the blinding dust. I was doing 90 along with everyone else when we exited the blinding dust.
What stretch of 5 ?
Tehama County up north.
That stretch above/below Red Bluff is an EZ one to put petal to the metal…
Pretty much the stretch from Sacto (esp 505) to the Oregon border is pedal to the metal.
Pandemic closed all of the Fish Markets (labor shortage). I would usually frequent the Santa Clara one, which closed last year, but also on occasion, the Palo Alto one as well. Big tradition to visit during one of my trips from Colorado, where I would meet a high school friend(s) usually at the Santa Clara location. Always would scarf down the french bread and more times than not, order the linguine and clams. This is happening all over San Francisco – restaurants can’t survive without waiters/waitresses, but no one can live in San Francisco, except extremely well off individuals. Consequently, waiters and waitresses don’t want to commute to work. Sad.
SF economy has been clobbered by the work-at-home tech movement. Commercial office building vacancy rates are around 30% or so as of end Q1, maybe more now, and that’s probably under-reported and/or delayed. Availability rate was near 35%, which is leases ending soon + actual vacancy rate. That lack of human traffic downtown kills restaurants, and I’m guessing it has partly been the reason for Giants’ fairly lackluster attendance…
All because a duck sneezed in a Chinese supermarket or whatever the fuck started it…
Yeah, that’s also happening all over the USA, e.g., New York, Chicago, etc. Saw an article where they are trying to figure out how to use these massive high rise spaces. Indoor pickle ball courts are big in New York apparently.
If I ever play pickle ball, please shoot me. Sounds like the demarcation to the next stop – hospice or death.
Pickleball completely blows!
Pickle ball looks like something people would play before the backyard bbq where they’d play cornhole. What people I personally don’t know.
2024 schedule is out — surprise! Giants open on the road: 3 each at SD & LA before playing Pads at home.
Reduces the chance of rain on opening day.
Unfortunately not a surprise at all anymore Mac..
Baer puts in his request early every year to MLB so the club can end up at home to close out the season. Yeah it’s BS and going on far too long since atleast the 3in5 championships when it was a gravy train on sellouts.Well that doesn’t fly now days with half full attendants.
“Are maybe Baer needs extra time early for the Seagulls flight pattern arrival?”