A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball

I was hanging in there till LLovera Boy took the stage. That band got tired in the 80s

At least Cobb made it through 6 for the second game in a row.

That’s something I guess.

It’s been a while since he guest-posted.

Carstie Clausen	Sun, Jul 10, 11:56 PM (4 hours ago)
to Flavor

Flav:  It’s been a confounding and confusing several weeks as the Giants prospects have seemed to be on the edge of going down the Big Swirly.  So here’s my present take.

  Shit or get off the pot.  That is the question.  With the apparent collapse of the bullpen, the offense and the defense, all adding up to a seeming crumbling of team morale; the question of whether the Giants should be sellers instead of buyers during the great garage sale looming with the trade deadline fast approaching.  A sell-off of valuable pieces for a combination of replacement parts and quality prospects appeared to be in the works right up to this series in San Diego.  Today’s 12-0 humbling of the Padres, featuring a complete game gem by Carlos Rodon and a full-on 17 hit attack by a virtual exclusion of the “Bore Corps/Sore Core” ,is giving me second thoughts.  After those first two defeats by the Padres, a sell-off appeared to be the only logical approach. Now, just maybe, it’s time for re-consideration.

 Positives:  Though we ultimately lost Webb’s sterling performance to yet another bullpen breakdown and shaky defense, as well as Machado’s three-run opener against a non-rotation starter; game three featured an excellent start by Wood and then today’s Ace performance by Rodon, whom several suspect once again reached his peak to enhance his trade value and a huge salary resurrection.  Cobb’s latest start was a major improvement over his post D.L. re-entry efforts.  Jacob Junis looks to return in a matter of days. So all of a sudden, the Rotation solidifies.  Also, soon to possibly begin earning his 6M salary, Boyd looks to return in a short while.  So just maybe, the Giants have them a reliable rotation.

 Second positive was the first explosion  in many a week of base-hits, including Wilmer’s pair and Thairo’s blast, from just about right across the lineup.  Villar may not be the flash in the pan which so many of the dumpster-dive acquisitions proved to be.  He simply was a much overlooked 11th round choice of the Giants, who no longer could be kept quiet down on the farm.  Hell, even Bart got a piece of the action.  Yaz did his thing and Gonzales keeps upping that batting average, continuing to prove that Zaidi’s pickups include a genuine gem here and there.  Slater is solid.  He sports the second highest OBP right after Pederson.  Another much overlooked development of the team’s evaluation, scouting and farm system.  Wynns has a surname that simply begs for some surprise clutch delivery before the season concludes.  A walkoff RBI would make for a nice headline:  “Wynns it for the Giants”.

 Maybe team morale has finally gotten past that extreme case of the heebie-jeebies.  Just maybe, but hope does spring eternal even though half the season is in the books and the All-Star game is upon us next week.  With an uptick in team spirit, it may be in the books of the future that those deadly defensive lapses will quieten down.  Wait and see, I guess.

 Needs:  The big one is fairly simple.  Bullpen.  McGee has been dropped like a hot potato and Littell is back to Sac-town.  Fortunately for the Giants, there is a virtual host of decent to really good relievers who will be on the market over the next three weeks. Generally speaking the price should not be prohibitive.  High-end prospects are almost never sacrificed for bullpen help…even for late-inning effectives.  Some of the “going nowhere” teams, such as Detroit and Cincinnati sport some pretty good late-inning specialists.  MLB Trade-Rumors just posted a listing of no fewer than 50 possible trade availabilities.  Close to half of them are relievers.  Giants need two reliable relievers…plain and simple.  Maybe even three.

 Could be that the “Bore Core” vets will not have to carry a heavy load.  Occasional starts and pinch-hitting roles may suffice for Belt, Crawford and Longoria.  Ruf’s value is mainly as a pinch-hitter and occasionally as an outfielder.  Perhaps if some team with even a slightly above average first-baseman, maybe now likely to be replaced by a hot rookie, could be had for the price of a second-line prospect and a throw-in, a guy who would also be good to go for next season, could be added to two or three bullies.  It might be a tall order to pick up an overlooked spark plug.  What I’d like to see in an added hitter would be a high OBP guy who hits a lot of doubles.  The team is weak in that category.  Guy could hit sixth, right after the Enforcer.  Today’s RISP record looked decent for a change.  Gotta keep that line a-going.

 Kapler needs to get his shit together when it comes to that over-analyzed, data-driven right-left pinch-hitting situational mania.  Addition by Zaidi/Harris of two or three quality relievers could relieve the manager of incipient hemorrhoids or something similar. He needs to study up on Casey Stengel when it comes to managing by the seat of his pants, as well as intuition.  Maybe he has that capacity, maybe he doesn’t .  If not, “hit the road, Jack” if he keeps on over-managing.

 Splitting the series with the Dagos tells me that with a few adjustments, this team is capable of getting it’s act together and at least become a spoiler come the Post-Season.

You know, with Rondon and Webb we really do stand a chance to make the post season. Disco is gone (thankfully) and Wood still needs to recapture what he once had. And goddammit Cobb really does have great stuff. I had counted on Matt Boyd to help this year and I’m not giving up on him yet and Junis is serviceable if he can get healthy.

I dunno, I woke up unusually positive today.

Could our starting pitching get us to the post season?

Tired of the Giants.

Let’s talk coolest Niners. You guys got my Niner love going last night with the Rathman talk. Without question the coolest Niner I ever met was Tom Rathman. He was a fixture at the Bay Meadows clubhouse in the off season back in the day. Totally approachable, just one of the guys, he loves horse racing. Bobby Bonds was there all the time too but he spent most of his time on the porch smoking cigs. And he’d never talk to anyone when he was inside. But Rathman? Just an awesome dude.

Speaking of football I read an article the other day, I can’t find it now I think it was in the Chronicle, that said flag football is inevitable. All football will be flag some day except pro and I didn’t really understand how that would work. Like you’d play flag growing up and through college then all of a sudden go to tackle in the pros? Didn’t make sense.

Well another horrendous ending. At least we were competitive this game though in a rather boring way. My main man Luke made the trek down for the game.

San Dawg had 4 tickets to the game but had to ditch them as he has to go to a wedding up here this weekend….

Luke said the stadium is quite handsome in person.

Keeping in mind the competition and the obvious unfillable holes we have on our team that was a nice comeback win on the road. Pride and energy were both on display.

Lots of trade ideas gonna get proposed between now and the deadline. If they give up, it’s gonna look like Loo’s Smith/Andujar pick ups. GH wants Josh Bell but that’s only if we go for it and pay through the nose–an unlikely move.

I do trust Zaidi in situations like this. He’s got an eye for talent and if he wants to wheel and deal at the deadline I’m all for that. As was the convern when it happened, when you re-sign oldies like Craw and Belt with no one behind them in the system you’re going to need to find their replacements via trade and free agency. Z, go do your thing.

How stupid were we last year? Just a bunch of giggling dunderheads agreeing with everything Farhan and Kap did. “I don’t get it but these guys are geniuses man! Everything they touch turns to gold! Bat paths! Woo Hoo!”

Reality has hit hard this season. It turns out you can’t just plug a bunch of shitty castoffs into your line up and win games. Huh, who knew?

Honestly, in a way I’m glad this happened. Hopefully Z hasn’t gotten so big for his britches that he can’t admit there isn’t just one single way to build a winning team. I’m worried though that he’s so stuck in “A’s Mode” that he can’t do it any other way. And ownership probably loves it. Spend no money every year, that’s great for them.

Anyway, this is who we thought they’d be last year.

Travis, you’re a year too late….

It’s interesting to hear Kap and then Rodon go public with their calls for more energy and a different attitude form the team. In the “old days” that would never get said. We’d just hear about how these guys are pros, they’ve been here before, never get too high or too low, etc…There is some truth to that in baseball. It’s 162 games, you don’t need to blow your entire load every game.

But I do think there is too much “trust the process” with this team. They won 107 last year. That’s great. We knew then they weren’t really a 107 win team and I don’t think anyone thought they’d win close to that this year. But now everyone just seems to be looking around waiting for something to happen. Belt/Crawford/Longo….those guys are NEVER going to be the guys to shake up a team with their energy or an attitude change. It’s not who they are.

So…..who’s going to do it?

July 4th is my favorite day of the year. Not because I’m overly patriotic. I am to a point but I hate approximately 40% of the people who live here so it’s not really about the flag flying though I do love those colors on this particular day….

But really, it’s just an awesome day. Sun. BBQ. Community. Baseball. Hell, Joey Chestnut. I love all of it. Katie and I are going to a town picnic today, I hope you guys do something that makes it a great day.

Kokonuts and I play wordle together and text eachother our results daily and I was lamenting how random the words have been lately and the convo turned to our Giants.

Just a quick new thread to give you guys the opportunity to kick around how terrible this team is. Have at it.

The White Sox are one of those low-key AL times I alway kinda liked growing up. Chet Lemon. Lamarr Hoyt. Great names. Didn’t they have Rusty Kuntz too?

Of course they inexplicably re-hired the terrible Tony LaRussa making them currently and completely hateable.

Anyway, Chicago is predictably playing underwhelming baseball with the usually drunken LaRussa at the helm. Countering that, we are playing terrible baseball.

No idea where this series goes…..

Well, at least we got one…

I don’t have the biggest problem with the fact we only scored 6 runs against the Tigers, they actually have a very good bullpen. But what I can’t tolerate is that the worst hitting team in at least the last 10 years (possibly more) outhit us in our own yard 19-14. That’s embarrassing.

We are going to look back on that 107 win season someday and not believe it happened. It must have been a dream. But how could we all dream the same thing, we’ll say.

I am actually starting to hate this team right now.

They got a win. I mean, barely, against maybe the worst team that MLB has seen in a decade (or longer). This season already feels like a tired grind and it’s not even July yet.

Ok we saw what we do against the NL’s worst (click at .333 win %) and now we get to see how we do against the AL’s worst. But man listen, at least Cinn can score runs. Detroit is truly pathetic. They’ve scored 216 total runs this year. That’s so far last the terrible A’s, who are in 2nd to last, have scored 240 absolutely dwarfing them.

So Rodon should absolutely shut this team down tonight. No pussyfooting around. Wipe them out.

Two Wins. Four Losses. To the team that is TRYING to lose games. How do you click at a .333 win percentage vs a team TRYING to lose games?

Also, this: Disco died twice. The first time in 1980 and then again in 2022. The Giants can’t keep running that joker out there. He’s an auto L.

Making a note “cannot beat the Reds”….

I’m not ready to call what the Bore Core did an anomaly. I do think Kap’s coaches helped these guys with *bat paths* and all the other new age stuff. Maybe the extra year of life is just the beginning of the end for them. They certainly LOOK old. Hey, it happens. It’s weird that the bounce back year and the shit year are something they are doing in tandem but the facts are, they look and are old.

I’m really gonna miss that dude. Not so much for the bat but definitely the nickname and how funny it was to tout him and watch so many Flappers freak out about it. Sadly, Gonzalez has really made GD unnecessary at this point. But speed goes a long way, even in a Hell, and that’s exactly where many of you will meet up with our hero again. If you ever doubted his powers, even for a second…..you’re doomed. Sleep soundly for now but a fate far greater than a trade or even a DFA awaits you….

The biggest problem with a numbers guy like Kap is that his decisions can go spectacularly wrong on a game to game basis. And that’s extrememly frustrating for fans who live and die on a game to game basis. The bottom line is, I think we’ve seen all the evolution we’re going to see from Kap. He’s changed a lot since he was managing the Phillies, and all for the good.

But when it comes to pitching decisions, man buckle up, he’s going to continue to frustrate the bejesus out of us.

Busy day today. 12-10 win yesterday.

Let’s get another one!

Outside of Webb’s solidification of his general studness that was just kind of a “meh” game. The bats don’t have the magic they had in them last year. Losing Posey and Bryant will tend to have that affect. I see a lot of low batting averages up and down the line up. And the bombs we hit with such regularity last season, they are fewer and farer between.

Still, on pace to win 90 and that should be fine to get us into the dance. Another deft mid season pick up by Z (hopefully a bat or two) will have us singing “a song, a real song”, deep into the post season.

Anyone going to the parade today? I’m not a parade guy but if you go send me pics.

Roadie continues, today in Atlanta.

in an attempt to console MacDog I sent him this:

but it turns out that wasn’t correct:

“It’s just unbelievable,” Suwinski said. “To do it on Father’s Day with my dad here, I know it means a lot to him and it means a lot to me, just the amount that he’s done for me. He’s always been there. Just being able to share that, knowing he’s here, it’s awesome. It’s hard to describe.”

I’d say Suwinski has wrestled the NL Rookie of the Year lead away from our boy Gonzo

MacDog sent me some pics from yesterday’s game. That park really does have some incredible landscape views. That was an entertaining game, bring home another W today Mac!

ok I’ve been meaning to get to posting these but had to work through all the Dubs Drama first. MacDog send me some pics from the game today.

Here’s Blade’s family taking up the 3rd row behind home plate. I understand his mother is going through some serious physical issues right now so we wish her the best in that fight.

This is a pic of Blade and his cute daughter who I hear is picking her up right now in Vietnam and bringing her BACK to the States to live with him full time. Wow! That’s exciting, good luck my man.

And finally here’s a pic of Blade AND the great PaulinAsia who is fresh off ball sack surgery here and looking none the worse for wear!

For a 54 year old guy like myself who’s lived basically his entire life in the Bay Area, my list goes like this:

1981

1984

1988

1989

1994

2010

2012

2014

2015

2017

2018

2022

Just sit back and bask in that. In all it’s glory and destiny.

For me nobody can or will ever pass Joe Montana on the list of greatest Bay Area sports heroes. But Steph is right there, man. Two Kings. All the other players who contributed to those 12 flags are great and I love them but they are court jesters and disciples to those two kings. The feels those two give me, it’s like looking at the sun, man. Can’t do it. Just for a second maybe. The love I have for them, its just too overwhelming.

Imagine having the power of Steph Curry. He has given such an immense and meaningful gift to millions and millions of strangers. Just think about it for a second to be nothing but a human being but having the power to do that……

If I die 2 seconds after hitting “publish” on this thread from a sports fan perspective I’m good. Complete. Satiated.

I will never ever stop appreciating the moments these heroes have given me.

Do we get Game 6 Klay? I dunno. It doesn’t really feel like it’s building up to that. But who knows? This run, like all the runs before it, has reminded me how hard it is to get to this moment. Never take it for granted. The next one is likely not around the corner.

That’s what dumb fans of loser franchise’s don’t understand (and I didn’t understand before like 1981 or so). It isn’t about how good your players are or what random stat you can find about one of them that makes yourself look smart (and them good). To win it all is so much more than all that bullshit. How much heart does your team have? Character? DNA? Leadership? Selflessness? Luck? All of that is how you get to the point of winning it all, not how many good players you have.

In the Bay Area we have been blessed.

“Hey Big Flavor, you excited to watch Game 5 later tonight?”

“Hell yes. Who are you?”

“I am from the future. And I’m here to tell you that tonight Steph, Green, Porter and Wiggins will go a combined 0-19 from downtown. Still wanna watch?”

“Yikes. Thank you Man From Future, you just saved me a few hours of misery….”

This is why we love sports. You just never know what is going to happen.

One thing that was painfuly clear was that Brown and Tatum, who got no rest in the second half till they were yanked for scrubs, were totally gassed. Tatum was missing everything short and both came up ant-small in the biggest game of their lives.

Two hilarious moments amid all the drama: Tatum refusing to give Green the ball into a time out and Wiggins with a thunderous dunk that landed right on White’s dumb ‘ol head.

Oh, and the Giants won again, too.

Man I am STILL feeling that weekend all the way down in my plums! I’m gonna make the call right now: That was the best weekend for bay area sports (that didn’t involve winning a title) in history! That’s right I said it. H-I-S-T-MOTHERFUCKING-O-R-Y!

Prove me wrong.

The Giants weren’t playing very well going into this series so what do they do? Take 2 straight from LA.

Still one more sleep to go before Game 5.

The Belmont unfolded with a sense of predictability that sound handicappers like myself appreciate. Though I didn’t bet him there was a small part of me that wanted to see Rich Strike run well. Sadly for him, history will put him in the same category as Mine That Bird and Always Dreaming. Everything lined up on 1 day and 1 day only…..

Ho ho ho…I feel this one all the way down in my PLUMS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Look, this Dubs win ranks right up there with the all time best in the franchise. And the Giants are winning right now too. This is shaping up to be one best nights inbay area history! Finish it off let’s go!!!!

Letting this Senzatela chump have his best start of the season vs us was irritating but at least we niggled out a win. It’s frustrating to watch this team right now.

But not as frustrating as it was to watch Golden State get absolutely rolled by what is looking like clearly the better team—younger, more athletic and they hit a lot of 3s when they aren’t being guarded. Good for them. I don’t see a clear path to winning this series.

Just a terrible loss to a bad team. How quickly did Rodon go from CY candidate to shit in a matter of weeks.

And now we have to play in Boston. Celts a 3.5 fav. I wouldn’t bet on this game with free money and even if I lived in a state that allows it legally.
Two Flap salute for our friend Paul (in Asia). Hang in there my man we are keeping good thoughts for your recovery.

Still got another sleep to go before Game 3. Until then I guess we watch Rondon completely shut down the crappy Rockies?

Still testing negative. I just took what I THINK is my 100th covid test since this all began. It’s within 1 or 2 of 100, I have tried to keep track. 100-0. That’s pretty fucking good, mates.

Honestly, I’m thankful that they even got 1. I was preparing myself for the embarrassment of a four nuthin’ skunkin’. On the bright side, if Klay can be that awful and they can still win maybe they have a shot if he drags himself out of the gutter? Also if Game 1 Smart/Whoreford/White stay the 1 and done we know them to be…..maybe?

I dunno. Boston is younger and they do what we do as good or better than we do. With the series heading to Boston this could get ugly.

Another Sunday is here, another Sunday I will likely not win Marty Lurie’s Original Joe’s contest. Just pick the exact score. It’s easy they say. Oh, and the kicker: even if you get it right if there’s a tie some random dude who works for Marty picks a winner out of a hat. And now it’s not even a weekly win. It’s monthly. #rigged.

Anyway, I won’t stop till I hit this.

very nice bounce back from the team last night. Hope they can play today. I guess the only thing that would disrupt that would be if they couldn’t get to the ball park safely?

I’m not even sure what to say about that. The Warriors got steamrolled in their own building by everyone BUT Boston’s main man Tatum. That’s one reason I fear the Celtics. They aren’t like Denver or Dallas who just have one guy. I guess you just hope they don’t catch 4th quarter fire like that again? Still, that just seemed too easy and the Dubs had no answer. Nobody would have an answer for that, tho.

Embarrassing loss by SF. Miami was in maximum energy output in the rare air of Denver and then didn’t even make it back to Florida till 6am. With everything going in our favor we lay down meekly in a 3-0 loss. Truly awful performance.

That was an infuriating way to lose especially after taking the lead against a quality pitcher like Nola. The silver lining was that Rodon looked dominant again as well as McGee not looking terrible.

Warriors tonight….

What are the odds Luis Gonzalez wins rookie of the year? Too much of a stretch? Maybe. But he’s at least sentenced the Grave Duggar to 6 feet under—for life. Buried alive. Lqtm. Ok, enough Grave Duggar jokes.

Have any of you guys had the pleasure of listening to Will Clark’s KNBR spot Wednesday mornings? It’s refreshing. He talks about himself nonstop and you can tell he’s always one uncensored comment away from being canceled for life, but it is fun to listen to him talk about the old days.

I turned the game on yesterday the moment Webb threw that dinger ball to Schwarber. Irritating. I do appreciate Kap giving him the chance to get his first career complete game. I still think Kap needs to get his shit together regarding his protest-plan. But whatever, I honestly don’t really care what he does—just would appreciate it not being a distraction for the team.

Honestly, nobody in sports has a more slappable face than Joc except maybe Patrick Reed. But Pham, man, that dude has to chill. As I suspected it wasn’t simply a dispute over a fantasy football waiver wire claim. But still, this was nothing more than Pham not liking a marginally funny gif Joc sent out to a group chat. Who knows, maybe he was just looking for a reason to slap the second most slappable face in sports…..

Not too sure how I feel about Kap sitting out the National anthem for…..ever? I totally support his right to do this I just feel like this is going to get put more on the players than is necessary. They’re going to get asked about this in every town they’re in. It’s gonna get old. And why not go out there but take a knee like the first Kap who started all of this?

Nothing’s gonna change, it’s just some added press pressure for his players….

After the Niners won the Super Bowl in ’94 I didn’t really appreciate it until all those years went by AND they lost 2 Super Bowls AND 3 more NFC championship games. I can now fully and completely appreciate the run they went on in the 80’s.

And when the Giants won 3 in 5 I stupidly bought into the “even year bullshit” and actually expected another in 2016.

Then the Warriors went on their run and again I bought into idiotic claims like the one from Lacob that said the franchise was “light years” ahead of the rest of the NBA. When they moved to SF I thought “we are all good, Lacob would never make this move and allow anything less than a 70 win team to enter that buliding”.

LOL what an idiot I have been…..

I am truly in shock and appreciative awe at this group of HALL OF FAMERS getting back to the NBA Finals.

I will never not appreciate a moment like this again. Their are way too many seasons past (and seasons to come) that will end in miserable failure. We are blessed.

I kept hearing about how great the Mets were heading into this series–sorry, until they get back Scherzer and deGrom (unlikely) that rotation is a joke. Yeah, they can buy at the break but this still seems like east coast over-hype to me.

“Dubs in 5” he said. Tonight’s the night.

Stix was inspired by last night’s great win…..

Carstie Clausen	12:51 AM (4 hours ago)
to Flavor, carstie

Flav:  Enough with the lurking through all the pain and humiliation:  Old Stix got stimulated by those sizzling sticks.

 After being beaten, battered and bewildered by superior pitching and offensive explosions by their opponents;  the Giants revealed their inner essence as giants.  They simply refused to lose.  After whomping up run after run in support of a very nice effort by our Webb slinger; it  looked like the thunder of doom was once again the recipe for a team deep in the doldrums, as the Mutts went to town on Tyler Rogers’ submarine frisbees, highlighted by Francisco Lindor’s six RBI rampage in a disastrous top of the 7th.

 Yet another dire defeat?  Not quite hardly.

 Lindor’s heroics were more than matched by the guy who seemed to have totally fallen off the wagon after his return from the I.L.  Eight Ribeyes on the night may not have been a Giants record; but the breakout night by Jocktivities will go down in Giants history as a night to remember.  Three home runs, including a splashdown blast into McCovey Cove set the pace for Joc Pederson, who had to have channeled his inner Viking to spark a once-again relentless offense which managed to come back from the bitter taste of probable defeat when the Mutts rallied against  the 40 MPH offerings of Luis Gonzalez’ after he had garnered three quick outs in the top of the ninth.

 Sending a young outfielder to the mound in the top of the 9thi is generally a sign of desperation, of throwing in the towel.

 Not tonight.

 More impressive for me than that Royal Flush of taters, was when Pederson (can’t tell from the name whether Norwegian or Swedish surname …here in the Northwoods of Minnesota I’m acquainted with Pederson of both persuasions ) was not tempted to swing away in that telling bottom of the ninth, rather simply meeting the ball and dinking that looping single into shallow center, plating that all-important tying run.  That feat was a sign of baseball maturity, finally achieved at the age of 30.  Jocktivities has long had the reputation as a wild-assed free swinger…a musclehead Jockforbrains.

 Well, some guys do need  a bit of time to finally grow up into fully mature manhood.  Pederson reached that plateau tonight.  It was not about ego, rather playing for the team and for honor.  Hats off to him and to Kapler who maintained his faith in the slugger.  Perhaps his May 24 heroics will have successfully turned the corner in his somewhat talented but checkered career.  Just maybe, Jocktivities will have transformed himself into that fearsome Big Bat in the cleanup position which every successful team needs to overcome the horrors of a pitching staff that suddenly lost track of its mojo.

 But don’t think this was a one-man show.  Nineteen hits for Los Gigantes as against a dozen and a half for the N.L. New Yokkers.  Thirteen runs to an even dozen.  Baker’s dozen does it.  Tommy LaStella was also stellar with his three-run tattoo.  Perhaps sensing the swift rise of Marco Luciano, the Giants #1 prospect and a fellow shortstop; CrawDaddy let the world know that he’s not yet yesterday’s news by batting in that winning run…opposite field, even.  No wild swinging away, attempting to pull the ball with some oomph behind it, but going inside-out and plating the Winnah.  Yes, a professional for sure.

 Missing Late Night Wade and BB9 (El Capitan) , plus #1 catcher Casali;  the Giants were saddled with pipeline callups who had recently been acquired in seeming desperation moves by Zaidi.  So in part the Giants had to make do with a chunk of the squad suddenly getting the call to The Show and a bit nervous in the spotlight.  No problemo tonight.  The pros, the vets, also relative newbies like Estrada and Gonzalez, took up the slack and mounted a murderous attack, coming back twice, thanks to the Man of the Hour as the pace-setter.

 So the Game of the Year, as Ms. Guardado called it on her coverage, got the team off the shnoid.  Hitting can become contagious.  So can winning.

 John Brebbia made some atonement for the rest of the bullpen, by quieting the Mets in their last hurrah of the evening to win his well deserved second game.  That could not  have come at a better time.  Maybe Brebbia too, can become a pace-setter, this time for a badly battered bullpen.  If the offense can maintain the hitting contagion for two or three more weeks, the return of Disco and the appearance of Boyd may bring in a couple of reliable starters.  Tonight’s victory may jell the team once again.  After the Mets, the upcoming opponents should not be quite as formidable.  A much needed winning streak could be exactly what the doctor ordered. 

 Could be that Zaidi will explore the trade-winds among teams who have little or no chance at the Post-Season for some bullpen help.  Lit-Up has done Littlell for the team lately.  He may go the DFA route unless he gets his shit together like pronto. One or two others are also slightly shaky.  Bullpen repair may well happen before the trading deadline.

 Team morale should have gotten one helluva boost on May 24, 2022.  Check out those numbers.  A  total of four deuces in that array.   A Full House trumps three aces.  Nice showing by Webb tonight.  Too bad those frisbees Rogers flipped fell like a failed quiche or a collapsed cake.  The Webb-slinger deserved the victory.  Oh well, it’s not all about the starter, or any single player.  Seems like the Giants are not much into super-stars.  When they cohere and play like a team, they turn into a monster.

 They simply refuse to lose….just maybe, tonight’s thriller was the classic game-changer.  We needed that…desperately. Let’s make it two in a row tomorrow…er, later today.

When you look back on it, it’s really incredible that the Giants let Matt Williams play and suck so much as they did in ’87, ’88 and ’89. I mean, those were hardly rebuilding years. And yet though he was patently awful he had nearly 700 at bats during those 3 seasons.

Which brings us to Joey Bart. Do we just keep running him out there over and over watching him strike out about half the time. HALF! Shit Williams at his worst never hit the 50% strikeout ratio. He had more power, too. And was a stud defensively. So why exactly do we keep Bart around?

Because there’s no one else? Because we’re hoping he “blossoms” the way Williams did? The whole “blossoming” thing is funny to me. Like, they are completely different people, why should one be linked to the other? Isn’t it entirely possible that Bart is just another complete whiff in a long line of first round draft whiffs the Giants have made over the last 30 years?

If you want to read something completely hilarious take a look at like 1988 onward. They’ve hit on like 4 guys in 34 years. That’s a *Bart-like* average.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_San_Francisco_Giants_first-round_draft_picks

Andrew Wiggins with his “Baron Davis” dunk moment. It’s really incredible how he’s elevated his game this series. I know he was an all star but he’s had long stretches in the season where he was invisible. Now the question is, will the series go the 5 i predicted or just get shut down in four?

Giants are tough to discuss after a game like Sunday’s.

That was their chance, right? Up 14 at half, banging in their 3s….and they still lost by 9. I guess they might get one in their house but as I said before the series started, Dubs in 5…..

It is Preakness Day. Talk to you guys later….

I will never be a fan of both the slow and the weak but Joe Panik played an intergral role in 2014.

Will always qualify as a great Giant because of what he did for our last World Series win.

…and that’s how this series is gonna go. Even with the Dubs shooting like shit from 3 and the free throw line they still run Dallas out the building by 25.

The only way Dallas is even gonna win a game is if they take a big lead and control the pace of the game from there. They play too slow and they don’t have enough fire power from 3-land to mount a comeback vs a team like Golden State in the playoffs.

This is totally over.

Again, if you’re gonna bring it this hard at 3am you get the thread.

Carstie Clausen	3:50 AM (2 hours ago)
to me

Flav:  Giants win so why complain?

  Was Kapler smoking in the boys’ room?  Almost seems that way.  Consider the Coors Field effect.  Cobb had thrown five fine innings, giving up only a couple of runs.  Low pitch count. Then , cue the sixth and the Sherpas slapped out a couple of quick hits starting out the frame. Okay, a nice fat lead and the bullpen a bit stretched out lately.  Understandable in a sense.  But a mound visit taking as long as possible, following a call to the pen  to start warming up should have been  in order.  Why?  It’s the Box of Rox, for Gawd’s sake.

  Of the guys in the rotation, Cobb is good, but perhaps slightly fragile.  With nobody out and a pair on base, a third consecutive single and another long, slow saunter out to the mound along with a considerable jawing to take up more time should have been the strategy.

 Then the hand extended for the ball and a pat on the back. Most managers would have done that, I suspect.  Didn’t happen.

  Perhaps Grichuk’s three run dinger was positive in one sense.  It did add up to five tallies in the inning and the apparent blowout now reduced to a tight contest, but the positive effect was it gave Brebbia a clean slate.  Nobody on base.  He promptly took care of business, albeit, mostly facing the bottom of the order.

 Gotta hand it to the bullies.  Three and two-thirds innings giving up grand total of two hits, two walks and zero runs.  Besides the showcase by Brebbia, Leone and Rogers got it through the eighth.  Despite giving up two walks…  fingernail chewing time… our young closer managed to slam the door with no further damage being done.  But it was looking like a close-call…the venue being a long drink of Coors.

  Doval has yet to keep it simple…ala Brebbia.  He labored through twenty-plus pitches.  With 100 MPH heat, it should have been no problemo.  With a well-stocked staff of pitching coaches, the kid should mature into trusting his stuff and not tending to try and get too cute.  Should happen over time.  Hopefully this season.  Preferably commencing versus the Mutts and LaBumbos.

 Enough for the kvetching.  We won.

 From the get-go with LaSteller’s lead-off bomb, the offense was relentless.  Wearing down the starter and then the relievers has become the lineup’s specialite’ de Maison…even while not playing at home.  Funny thing is an uncanny inability to capitalize on those long pitch counts, highlighted by foul after foul and a trio of out of the zone pitches such as was the case with Longo in the top of the ninth.  The ninth pitch was a called strike, though.  Too typical.  So El Capitan was not the only offender in that category.
Tells you something about the relentlessness of the deep lineup, though, as SF plated ten while both Belt and Pederson were stinking up the joint.

 Yeah, two of the biggest power-threats mired in nasty slumps would stymie most offenses.  Not Los Gigantes.

 LaStella shouted “I’m baaack”, with not only that game-opening blast, but also a pair of those devastating doubles. After last year’s so-so performance by a dinged-up hitter, that three-year contract for a batter featuring good contact …and the occasional tater… may not be looking too bad.  He wasn’t alone in that.  Team had no fewer than six doubles for the night.  Except for three run blasts and Salamis, doubles spell rallies. They can quick start a rally inning, keep one going, or cap it with three plated, while bedeviling the pitcher with a runner hanging out at second.

Who knows…had Grichuk’s blast had been a double instead, perhaps Brebbia may not have stayed calm enough to shut them down.

 Yeah,  I love doubles.  Giants were waaaay down the scrotum pole in MLB in two-baggers going into the game.  After last night’s performance, they have begun to look mildly respectable in that category.  Oh yes, and CrawDaddy got him one of those rare triples, a deflection deal, but hey…it counted  as a three-bagger on the scoreboard. Team ended up with a grandiose total of 8 XBHes on the evening.  Coors Field effect once again.

 Not only did our stellar second sacker stand out on the evening but so did YazMaTaz and RufStuff.  Banged them all over the place.

 Take a gander at these stats.  Giants are second in MLB in homers and in bases on balls.  That combo is deadly when combined, a bit like mixing nitric acid and glycerine.  Explosive.  Oh yes, and their OBP is also second in The Show.  In RBI’s they drop all the way down to being only third.  Sad case out of 30 teams.  Slugging pctg. is merely #10, meaning that their OPS is  in the seventh spot.  Their batting average is sixth.  Not a bad lineup considering the fact that it is totally without a Stanton or a Judge.  Relentless, in a word. No holes, in two more words.

 How do they do it?  Balance, gang.  Tight infield defense. In most games a shut-down bullpen. Above average rotation…and that lineup without a significant hole.  It’s so crazy-assed loaded that our leading man in  batting average stats, Luis Gonzalez, got deported…probably for awhile only to Sac-town. Injuries do happen.  After the fiasco in St. Louis, this team, only #10 in powerhouse ratings this week, has a nice Postseason look about it.

 Oh, and it’s not unlikely that Kapler will learn from his mistakes.  He is a bright guy.