Emotional Week
You’d hard pressed to put together a 6 game streak that had so many mood swings.
Tues: Epic, gut punching loss
Wed: amazing comeback win
Thurs: Unreal comeback win maybe the best game I’ve ever seen
Fri: amazing comeback win
Sat: amazing comeback/extra inning win
Sun: epic gut punching loss
This isn’t how baseball typically goes. No duds. All of them edge of your seat chaos.
It is Memorial Day. Never understood why people say “Happy” Memorial Day. A day to honor, respect and remember those who were lost fighting for our country.
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
An appreciative shout out to all those veterans who served our country with distinction, courage and honor, especially those who paid the ultimate sacrifice. We are in your debt.
As for our incomprehensible Bay Area warriors, I admit up front my sports focus this weekend was centered 10 miles west of Citi Field watching another enigmatic team replicate the Giants with back-to-back head scratching OT wins on ice. But social media makes it all too easy to watch replays and read up on any game you missed.
Couple of thoughts as dust settles from Giants wild journey through Pittsburgh and Big Apple. No question: as wacky and unpredictable six game stretch as imaginable. Six consecutive games where team entering 8th inning with lead lost including 4 9th inning blown leads. Elias Sports Bureau must be working overtime to find prior precedent.
Perhaps past week best exemplifies who Giants really are. Exciting, frustrating, consistently inconsistent. Capable of stellar defense (thank you Chapman and Wade) and clutch hitting (Bailey, Wisely, etc.). Also susceptible to perplexing miscues in field and ongoing relief pitching roller coaster performances (more focused on Doval near meltdown Friday night than Rogers fiasco yesterday). Agree with many in Flavor nation that Doval should have been permanently anchored to bullpen when Giants had 5 run lead in 10th inning Saturday and available to pitch yesterday. But Doval must learn to value 10-12 pitch shutdown 9th inning and save mileage on his arm.
Everyday lineup eclectic mix of young talent with promise and aging vets trying to prove their ongoing relevance. I still believe strength of team is starting pitching. Giants need for Blake and pick one (Cobb, Ray or Wynn) to support Big 3 and go deeper into games.
Two best teams in 2024 and two World Series combatants in 2023 over next two weeks. May the wacky ride continue.
Looking a lot like Igor against the world, Dean. Year 60 for me with them…
Got you by 5 years Djloo. Born in ‘58. Old enough to (gulp) attend 1st Ranger game when I was 7 or 8 at old MSG at 8th & 50th. Igor unbelievable but needs support.
That was helluva win. Only saw OT, but lot of chances by both teams. Did game winner go off Wenberg stick or middle of his body?
Dean, who was Rangers goalie when you first started following them?
He bunted it in, Willie…
Doval had to get 6 outs in the ‘near meltdown’. Yaz and Lucky’s errors contributed.
Wonder if Melvin would consider using Walker, probably his second best reliever, for more than one inning. Unfortunate the idea of Proven Closer Must Finish the Game for the Save! is still ruling pen usage. If you can pitch the 8th, which is often more difficult than 9th per batting order or game situation, you can pitch the 9th.
Yeah, esp when a guy throws 7 pitches in an inning. Put him out there again.
Willedav…I believe off top shaft of Wennberg’s stick but your guess is as good as mine. First two Rangers goalies I remember are Giacomin and Villemure. Candidly have vague recollection at best of 1st Ranger game at old MSG. Memory based on Dad’s retelling of game over years.
Do you remember that occasionally Villemure would drive harness horses at Yonkers and Roosevelt Raceway on non-gamenights?
I don’t. Your memory better than mine. And unca chuck makes valid point about Yaz & Lucky’s misplays prolonging 9th inning Friday night. Still burning about yesterday’s loss. Sweep of Mets would have been sweet.
Retro Rangers; Reminiscing with Gilles Villemure – Inside Hockey
Ooooh that Snell on the bump today. Unless his wife has their baby.
If I were his wife/girlfriend, I’d be concerned he’d only be around for 3 hours of the labor…
Hope the baby at least has a quality start…
With Acuna out for the year, Soler is one of many being rumored to be traded to Atlanta, where he was their WS MVP in 2021…
Make it so.
Bill Walton, dead at 71.
Cancer.
Sheesh…
The very last time I heard Walton, he was on the KNBR afternoon show. Tom Tolbert asked him a question at the beginning of the interview, and about 25 minutes later, talking his stream of consciousness way constantly without any interruption whatsoever, he finally finished answering the question. Amazing…
College basketball broadcasts were amazingly funny and thing is when he just talked ball he was spot on about lot of things. As others have said, his death comes 2 days after death of Pac 12 as final league baseball tournament was played out.
conference of champions.
Great column in TA from Tyler Kepner about Negro League all star game w bygone stars of Eddie Murray Junior Griffey Tyson Ross (there w Dad) CC Sabathia etc.
Curtis Granderson donated $5 million to local college Ilinois-Chicago, and scout told him that with 79% of draftees now coming from college this is where black ballplayers w potential need to be these days. Good luck to them…starting early and having access seems to be so important.
the Ross family is terrific. When he was at B ODowd HS, Joe helped coach one of my sons ll teams.
Damn. Bill Walton died yesterday. What a legacy of basketball and life. His book is very entertaining. Talked to him tripping g balls a few times back in the day.
Phills are the type of tough hitting team that the Giants are paying Snell to vanquish. At least for a few innings. It’s past time for this guy to get his S together…
Phil’s won 90 last year but were only 2-4 vs. SF including getting swept all 3 here last May. Have to look these up further but winning pitchers for Giants were Alexander Rogers and Brebbia.
Grateful Red Bill Walton an amazing life.2 straight 30-0 championship season at UCLA 72-73 86-4 overall in 3 seasons, and it could of been better but NCAA did not let freshman play on the varsity team back then.
Goes to the Trailblazers and wins a title in 78-79! Foot injuries and other nagging stuff derailed him, but when healthy he was a FORCE!
Eccentric,Zany Broadcaster but always entertaining with a zest for life, always pulling pranks with his broadcast crew we’re hilarious! Walton was asked what was his favorite Grateful Dead song? He said “All of them” ..He just always lived in the moment! RIP Bill “Deadhead”Walton..🙏🤙🎤🎸🎼🎧
Out of 50 alltime Broadcasters lead by top 3 Vin Scully,Mel Allen,Red Barber,Walton ranked 39th.. Others on the list Keith Jackson (8)Jon Miller (19)TWINS father Ray Scott (28) the overall list is the cream of the top in Baseball ⚾️,Football 🏈Basketball 🏀
knowing dude head nod at Trader Joe’s today. Been a while. Young guy, no more than 30.
Nice Xoot that the newer generation can still respect the original stoner era which of course still will always be the best generation of music growing up!
well straddling the late 50s and full 60s was a privilege. LSD. psilocybin, et alia, too. My G’s fan sons (26, 33) listen to some of that music becz they heard it growing up. Hendrix, Dylan, Stones. They still laugh about the way I crank the car radio when SftDevil shows up.
They also have taught me a thing or two about rap and hip hop generally.
Sit down Harper.
Snell got through the top of that lineup in the first. Exactly what he’s paid to do.
7 pitch inning for Walker, probably most vulnerable of Phil’s SPs. Snell mixing in off speed w 96 heat for couple Ks.
yeah our LU should do more damage in the first. I remember JH Lee. He could be hitting lead off HRs right about now. Matos did hit the ball hard, tho.
A third of the way into the season K & K still constantly use the term “slow start”…
Heads-up base-running by Bailey…
Heads up by Bailey and Yaz gonna drive him in plus Chapman!
Wisely gaining fans…
Good news for Luciano is Phils throwing LHP Wed. Otherwise might as well get comfortable.
When Phils came here mid May last year Schmitt was up and hitting over .400, which as we know did not last very long.
el Cubano has a .1 WAR now. I hope to see him approach Bengie Molina level success at the plate.
Snell can’t fucking settle down. He has to fall behind everyone.
And a pitcher shouldn’t wear #7….
Weeeeeeeeee! Snell forgot to cover home.
Sweet.
Cards had Sosa and traded him to Phils 2022 for pen guy. At time in STL he was hitting .189. Last year .251, now he’s at .324.
Shouldn’t Snell be with his wofe?
wife
Both…
one of my father’s older brothers died at the battle of the bulge in Germany. My 18 year old father was also in combat then, nearby. Another of the older brothers came back from years of combat in Africa and Italy totally ptsd’d. His life was ruined. My father did well afterward, but he never answered questions about his ww ii combat time. He became very adept at humorously deflecting the subject.
We’re paying this guy $62 mill? He mibbles the .182 guy to 10 pitches and he drops the Texas leaguer. And the walk.
Hopefully he’ll come around by August. Joke.
Give him 17 more pitches to get rho=rough the 4th for an even 100. This guy is unwatchable.
Has a chance to lower his era today. Yes!
Down to 10.80!
By August we may see single digits.
i thought there was a decent chance for some regression this year from Snell based of what we’ve seen in his career but this is just ludicrous.
23 runs in 19 innings for Smell’s but hey yes his ERA went down from 11.40 to 10.52!90 pitches in 4 innings Damm he continues to suck!!
Krukow continues to smoke pole saying Smell looked the best he’s seen all year he’s getting close!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Long reliever next???
oh shit.
See Lamont in 6 weeks…
Goddamit can not afford to lose Wade! 10 day coming up unfortunately on that same hamstring sigh 😔
Great AB Bailey getting that sac fly knocking in speedster Eddie for the lead!
2 things.
2) Remember when we all played little league and we all had a kid on the team who couldn’t play but their parents kept sending the kid out there?
Lamont Wade sliding in to 2nd brought back that memory! If he was a player on another team I’d be laughing at how pathetically awful that slide was:(
Damm they can’t afford to lose Randy Rodriguez either! That shot off his ankle reminds when Dizzy Dean took one like that and was never the same pitcher again..
Rodriguez is fine. Wade? Doubtful.
Wisely!!! Nick who?
Man, this guy’s on fire.
Do they develop DHs in aaa now? Luciano needs some training in Sac. El Cubano may never get lit this year. But Wisely sure is.
Wisely taking all the bats left are right pitchers right now! Another scorching line drive double for an RBI..Luciano’s been Pipped..
Bohm has the reflexes of a corpse…
Ole’d that last one
Bohm having rough day at 3b. Gotta make Phils pay.
yaha Heliot . Clutch knock
Shoulda tagged…
But he didn’t cause he knew Heli-Ott would knock him in…
Yeah, I was gonna say. …
2 errors and finally it paid off Ramos Fizz delivers a 2 run RBI hit! Bottom of the order 5-10 and a walk nice!!
The problem for Yaz is his talent level has a hard ceiling. He never gets better than what he is.
Maybe Manfred will juice the ball again since offense is still down.
Mlb has that juicing/deadening tech down to a precise craft now.
the best defensive RF to ever play at China Basin? Yeah, what a dud.
He’s not really much of a hitter playing a position that teams generally want impact on offense.
Teams can be balanced. Cf. Nate in 2010. Yaz is better.
Zum RF at Oracle is harder than CF. Who else among Giants OF can handle it better?
8 more runs today. Offense really coming together up and down lineup.
Ramos and Matos have made their case. Directed verdict. Later, Slater. (But thanks for the taters.)
It would be crazy to send Ramos back down…
Pretty cool that the umps didn’t call the infield fly rule on that botched pop-up. That was probably in their 50/50 zone.
It glossed over that Soler failed again. What’s happened to that guy? He had strong numbers last year.
Nice turn all around for GIDP on Castellanos. Man I wish Melvin would leave Walker in for 9th.
Even in a non save situation, I guess it’s too radical for Melly-Mel…
No Walker when he can use his bromance boy Tyler Rodgers lol 😂
for whom the bohm tolls. Clank!
Bohm getting eaten alive today like a “Hannibal Lecter victim!”
Melvin got burned on that 4-run thing a week ago. He’s not taking chances.
Phuck yeah!
Giants Win theee Giants Win!!
Nice comeback and the bottom of the order did the job!!!
Great bullpen work as well..
Phils most unlikeable team within 3000 miles of LA. Position players almost entirely from FA market and fanbase most consistently obnoxious as they were in 2010. Chase Utley is still an a hole.
Giants getting some payback for earlier visit back there.
Yeah, “great fans” that boo their own players at the drop of a hat, like the fans of the other East coast teams.
Donald couldn’t’ve said it more obnoxiously.
I’m impressed. The team flew home from NY last night after a disastrous loss and rose up early today to whip the best team in the NL in the fashion we’ve become used to. Great team win. (But, Wade.)
I agree. Long flight home. Aft game. Fall behind 4-3 and lose Late Night LaMonte. Rally and win. Wisely, Matos, Ramos & Bailey each with 2 hits. 9-2 past 11 games.
Good solid win.
Offense getting more consistent, productive, thanks to the younguns.
If there a start # that panic starts re: Snell? Now? #10, #14?
Farhan should go back to Borasss for a refund, this guy is better for the team when he’s on the IL…
so Doval isn’t our closer anymore?
Yes, he is.
so he doesn’t pitch in save situations?
Lqtm, Chuck. I don’t think you needed to explain. .
I always liked Bill Walton. Great basketball player, great music fan, and, yeah, a little goofy sometimes when broadcasting, but I considered it still entertaining.
One of the sports channels did a documentary on him, and showed the inside of his house. Seemed like there was way more music memorabilia than sports stuff in his home.
well he’s a pretty well known dead head. Easy to spot at shows that’s for sure.
A good friend of mine had 2 idols – Mickey Mantle and Jerry Garcia.
They died 4 days apart in August 95…
BoTard couldn’t pitch Doval in a save situation yesterday and then uses him in a non-save situation today?
wtaf?
Doval wasn’t available yesterday.
but he’s I. For a no save situation today.
some 4 dimensional checkers there.
I hope we don’t need him tomorrow. Oh yeah we have Tyler Rogers for that.
Why wouldn’t Doval be available tomorrow?
whatever.
Isn’t the usual rule of thumb for managers to only pitch their closer or other relievers three games in a row at maximum?
Come on Chuck.. Doval wasn’t available. Period. Today he was. last time we were up by 4 and Melvin brought in someone else it went south and everyone complained. Can’t have it both ways!
Lets be happy! 9 wins in 11 games:)
This. Team is on a roll, pls. Like Melvin or not they play hard and pick each other up. Jeez even Flores was hustling home at full speed today.
the ferocity and grit in this team must have some of its source in the culture Melvin and his staff have fostered.
the ferocity wasn’t there when comfort and slater were playing
Early? Yeah. Now? Fuck yeah!
Hey I hope so.
Rogers in 25 IP has a whip (hits + walks / innings pitched) of 1.16. Borderline elite. True not a closer, but only because of his weird pitch angle leads to a lot of infield hits. By comparison Webb is 1.26…Doval 1.41
Any prop bets for Blake Snell’s girlfriend to give birth to a baby over 11 lbs which would be higher then his 10.42 ERA?
I’m taking the under and hoping he will too going forward.
Cubs lost 5th straight today at Brewers 5-1 to fall back to.500.
Angel Hernandez retiring from the umping ranks, as of tomorrow.
One less argument available for the robo-ump…
That umpire monitor site will enshrine him.
105-102 Celtics move on to the finals sweeping 🧹 Pacers 4-0. Jaylen Brown easy The MVP…
One and done at Cal Berkeley. Very intelligent well spoken young man who knew what he wanted to do, and has done it.
Pat Burrell’s resume looking lot better these days. Giants are up to top 6 NL in lot of offensive categories.
Padres edge Marlins 2-1. Donny Barrels homers as DH w Bogaerts on IL.
During my Boston years, I played in a fast-pitch softball Cambridge city league, often playing on a field just up Mass Ave from Harvard Square. Bill Walton was often hanging around that little park, riding his bike with his kid, just watching the games, etc. Talked to him a few times hanging out by the backstop. Great guy, interesting, wise, funny, humble even. 71 used to sound old to me, but not anymore….
How great is this homestand, Phils and Yanks. My 2 boyhood teams. Kinda loving how the Giants have gotten it going, without Conforto, Slater, Ahmed….. unfortunately, also without Lee.
Oh, they’ll be back. Ramos, Matos, and Wisely have options.
Hope not. Conforto started well this season, but he’s blocking the “youth movement”. Trade him. If the team continues to win, I don’t see any way they keep Slater either. Wisely may or may not have Pipped Luciano for the moment, but Ahmed probably has no place. If they start losing again, sure, they’ll decide the young’uns aren’t ready to carry the team, but I’ll be very surprised if the Ramatos brothers are sent back down. That would just be stoopid…