A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball

It’s pretty remarkable that Grienke and Kershaw haven’t given up a run in 72.2 innings. But they can have all the regular season stats they want. The Giants take over in the post season, that’s been proven.

Driving all day so keep track of the shop for me.

Kinda glad last night unfolded the way it did. I needed a reason to start hating the Padres. My favorite part of the night was the “Let’s go Giants” chant that broke out in their yard during the clearing of the benches. And nothing quite says “I’m a huge pussy” than being a grown man and throwing your gum at another grown man who isn’t even looking at you……

I’m happy for Sanchez, after all he’s been through, that must have felt awesome…..

As last off season progressed and the Padres added player after player, I predicted that it would blow up in their collective face and they’d be dead in the water by July. And that has come to pass.

Unfortunately, when we play these fucks they look like the team they had hoped they’d have when originally assembled.

The reality about the Giants is this: we don’t have the pitching to get to the post season. Our starting pitching is paper thin, comprised mostly of a coterie of 4’s and 5’s. Our relief core is a shell of what it once was.

I’m not sure there are enough bullets in Sabean’s trade holster to fix all of this……

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and tonight, we have to face The Cuban Alphabet. Could be a loooooong game.

Hector Sanchez has returned. I admit, I didn’t even know he was still playing. Thought he retired. Maybe he should have. This guy is playing with fire and you can’t help but wince every time you see him take one off the face.

Here’s what he said yesterday:

“I was scared after what happened last year, but I try to live with it,” Sanchez said. “Nothing I can do. If I play baseball, I have to be a catcher. It’s how I learned to play.”

That’s hardly a mindset that anyone should have to have when they go to work everyday. Every pitch that’s thrown at him is a risk. It’s hard to watch.

Nice trip through the desert so far. Bum today and maybe it’s just me but he needs a big performance to remind me of what a true ace this guy really is.

Now, back to the Open. The scoring today has been unreal…..

Panik, Duffy, and Pence put on a hitting clinic last night. Let’s keep it up.

Speaking of Pence…. 🙂

Managed to sleep in till 3:00 this morning. Looks like it rained like hell last night but the course is drying out and we’ve got golf! Who’s with me on starting an Open Blog?

But for those who don’t give a shit about this, we have baseball again. Cain in the desert. I’d like to think we could hit this Ray-guy. Ray Guy. Hell of a punter.

Now, back to my golf……

Well, I’ve been up for 7 hours……

The things I do to watch The Open live……

Tomorrow, we get baseball back again.

Yeah!

Might be time for a nap later. Glad I’m on vacation…….

Easily the best part of the all star game was Aroldis Chapman pumping his 100+mph fireballs at the hitters over and over. The reactions from the AL players in dugout was priceless.

This was the best tweet of the night in my opinion:

dan haren ‏@ithrow88 13h13 hours ago

Chapman’s fastball is about 15 mph harder than mine. That’s the same difference between me and mo’ne davis.

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The Open is nearly upon us. Without question my favorite tournament of the year. In fact, one of my favorite events of the year. It blows my mind that Tom Watson hasn’t won a major in 32 years. My favorite golfer growing up, this will be his last Open, a tournament he’s won 5 times. The winds will be howling and with weather like that it’s nearly impossible to predict a contender no matter how many picks you get. I’ll be getting up early on Sat and Sunday to watch…..

Have at it. 🙂

Thus begins the most boring 4 days of the Summer….

Does the Home Run Derby do anything for ya? It’s an activity that’s more than played itself out over the years. MLB knows this, that’s why they’ve shaken the format up. I don’t know all the details except that there will be brackets and outs don’t get counted but time does. Stuff like that.

If I was in charge, the first thing I do is can Chris Berman. Nothing sounds more exaggerated than an ever-fattening, half soused Berman *Back, Back, Backing” his way into a phony HR call. I think I’d even try going with no announcer. Just a counter that shows the distance of the home run and the total hit during that round.

The HR distance and the sound of the crowd should be enough of a draw. MLB uses juiced balls for this contest, why not juice them up even more? 500+ foot home runs would jazz everyone up–especially since the casual fan doesn’t know they juice the balls.

Those would be the changes I’d make.

You?

Who knew those words would excite me. We should pummel this chump into the ground. Sorry I’ve been out of pocket lately.

I am a 49er fan but as a kid I loved certain Raider players. I think I liked their names. “Casper”. “Branch”. “Guy.” And of course, “Stabler.” I’m left handed too and I remember fashioning my td throws after him to my buddies in the street outside my house. In hindsight, it’s weird I never became a Raider fan but 2 guys named Montana and Clark probably had something to do with that.

Anyway, I remember watching this play in my living room–probably my first memory of watching a football game at home. “Get yer big butt outta here….” RIP, Snake.

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Giants game tonight. There’s nothing like baseball in terms of a shitty team being able to beat you on any given night. The pitcher has everything to do with that. Cole Hamels v MadBum and I wouldn’t want to have to try to be a hitter in this game……

Is Posey hurt? Why is he out of the LU again?

Not really interested in hearing about our leaky bullpen today. When I saw that line up last night and Twin wondered how much it was “hated” I responded with one word: *resigned*. So getting shut out was nearly as predictable as it was disheartening. Watching hitter after hitter roll Jon Niese’s average offerings meekly to the left side of the infield was another reminder that the difference between our good offense and our bad offense is paper thin.

Whatever, they flew in from the east coast that same day. More excuses. I’m tired of the excuses.

Go win a damn game.

If you think this is rock bottom, take a gander at who’s starting for the Dodgers tonight….

Yikes.

Good chance that Niese is a Giant this year so leave a little love in your heart for him. Unless, of course, we keep losing and Sabean waves The Bad Penny flag again….

This trip is not going well. Gee, ya think?

Fortunately, today we get to let the entire world in on our misery with ESPN picking up the game.

Today, I’d settle for a loss as long as we play well. Don’t have guys getting picked off, the relievers hold sway, get a few hits, stuff like that.

A bad trip like this is hardly something that sinks the ship. I think it was 2012 when we got our asses handed to us on a platter on a similar sweltering July 4th weekend. So no time to panic.

But that doesn’t mean I won’t have my finger poised at the ready to click the channel to something else if we come out smoking copious amounts of pole……

Welcome back Peavy. Now don’t get hammered…..

Welcoming back The Horse today. My expectations are low. Even though he’s only 30 he’s got a ton of innings on that arm and when I think of him I think of a ghost more than the stud he once was. But we really don’t need him to be that guy anymore. Just be something hovering around a 3 or 4.

Sabean must look at his Cain and Zito deals and just want to punch himself in the face. Twice.

Speaking of getting hit in the face, is it time to consider Buster no longer catching? He seems like a pretty expensive target to set up behind the plate.

Not gonna lie, I enjoyed the story that broke recently about how much Dodger players hate Puig. And people that say, “team chemistry doesn’t matter, look at (insert team from the 70’s here) they used to fight each other and still won a World Series” are taking way too simplistic of a stance. Team chemistry absolutely CAN matter you just don’t always see the negative effects.

And now we are seeing those effects. Look, if Puig was actually producing I don’t think it would matter as much. But he’s not. And when a Dodger player is quoted as saying, “At this point it would be addition by subtraction” (if Puig were traded), that’s more evidence that the Dodgers would be better off without this chump.

Hopefully they don’t trade him.

And to answer a question that will likely get posed today, my answer is this: No, I would not take Puig, for free, on our team right now.

Flappers— been under the weather the last couple of days, sorry for no thread.

What do you get when you combine the ugliest new stadium ever built with the dumbest fuck pitcher facing us? Hopefully a good old fashioned trip out to the woodshed.

Voggy continues to shine and I was surprised to see that dumbfuck Latos is only 27. Feels like he’s been pitching for a decade+.

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Missed this on Friday– The Nats called up PK’s favorite minor league player Manny Burriss

I simply refuse to believe that Jake Peavy gets to slide neatly into the rotation if he continues to suck shit in the minor leagues. I don’t buy that “results don’t matter, how he feels the next day does” bullshit.

Look, if you aren’t missing bats in Triple A it’s likely you won’t be missing them at this level. Peavy got blasted again yesterday and frankly, when was the last time this guy had a good start? Maybe the end of the regular season last year?

If Timmy has a good start today (I know, I know) I’d like to believe he still keeps a spot somehow with Hudson, who seems to be at the end of the road, hitting the DL with “old man syndrome” or something less life threatening and Cain rejoining the rotation when he’s ready…..

They were kicking this around with Hank Diddy on KNBR this morning. He went with Crawford and while I think that’s a pretty pedestrian pick, it’s got merit. For me, it’s Heston, hands down. I don’t even want to think about who we would have trotted out there every fifth day if it weren’t for that dude. Aoki should get some votes. Buster, too. Panik?

Who am I missing?

Another day, another Buster grand slam. He’s hitting just enough of those to make him worthwhile. 🙂

Everyone ready to admit they were wrong about Voggy again?

Anyone? Bueller?

Heston vs Big Game (Regular Season) James.

Last night was just a joke. A bad, frustrating, “fuck your mother” type of joke. Chuck said “Why is it so hard to beat these guys?”

Agreed. But if you look up and down this sad sack line up, it’s not hard to see why we can’t hit. Our most productive hitter this year is out (Aoki) as well as the heart and soul of the line up (Pence). Pagan is just a shell of himself. No power, few stolen bases. His OPS is in the tank and he’s just not a difference maker at this point. Blanco is a nice player as long as he doesn’t play every day. Whoops, now he’s playing every day. Maxwell is worthless unless he’s running into monster moon shots. Buster and Belt are pretty hit or miss this year. Crawford has cooled off considerably.

The Duffman can only do so much….

So, we need some guys back and I think when that happens we’ll see the rest of the offense stop shitting itself every game. The bad news is, that could be a while……

Tonight we have to try to hit The Cuban Alphabet and as we have seen in the past, that’s not an easy thing for Giants hitters to do. Luckily, MVP is pitching for us. So we have a fighting chance.

The goal: scratch a run or two off a guy most other teams pound into the ground…..

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I had forgotten that Darryl Hamilton was traded for one of my favorite short-term Giants of all time: Ellis Burks. What a senseless tragedy. He and the woman who killed him leave behind a 14 month old daughter. Just so sad.

I don’t feel like talking about last night’s game. Embarrassing.

For you guys who aren’t from around here and don’t know much about what the Warriors winning the NBA championship has meant to Oakland, check out this 5 minute video of Draymond Green at the parade (see end of thread). He’s maybe got a few pops in him, but that doesn’t take away from the pure joy, the boundless exhilaration, that Green exudes on this wild trip down the parade.

Even though Green is from Michigan he’s a person that Oakland can relate to. Nobody ever believed in him, he had to work his ass off for everything he ever got. That sounds lame to say about a NBA player who’s about to sign for 100+ million. But as a 2nd round pick who most people outside of Michigan had never head of, he’s a role model for what the payoff for hard work looks like. Here’s what he said after he fell out of the first round and got drafted by the Warriors:

“That’s one of the things that has really driven me this far,” Green said, with a line that’s familiar to Spartan fans. “It’s always been about what he can’t do, ‘How far can he go?’ When I got to Michigan State, they said I would never play. Once I had a decent year, they said that’s the best I’ll ever do. They just keep going, keep going, keep going, they never stop (with their criticism). So, it just continues to light more fire under me and just keep on pushing me.

“One thing I did say about going in the second round is, first off, to go in the second round and go to an organization where the team picks you because they really wanted you and not just because you were there, I think that was one of the main things (that makes this a good situation). And then, whatever happens, happens. I didn’t go in the first round, so be it, it didn’t happen. But I’m somewhere where I’m going to fit in an where I’m wanted, and that’s a blessing for me.”

After reading that and then watching this video it’s impossible to not be happy for him and the city that adores him:

Yesterday, I want to say around the end of the 2nd inning, the camera panned to the outside of The Art Dealer Exhibit and showed the long line of cars waiting to get into the parking lot. We’ve heard about this for years, but what exactly is up with that? It was Saturday, isn’t traffic lighter on Saturday? And even if it’s awful every day in that god forsaken place, what’s wrong with those dopes that they can’t, you know, PLAN OUT THE TRIP so even with traffic they arrive on time?

Hey, it’s their money, if they want to spend it listening to half the game in their car that’s their right.

Timmy going tonight in one of the biggest games to start the Summer I can remember. Winner is in sole possession of first place in the NL West……

Happy Fathers Day!

Savvy ol’ veteran Huddy vs. youngster Frias.

I wish I knew a Red Sox fan. Actually, I do know one. Maybe I’ll call him. I’m truly interested in how the Red Sox fans are feeling about our beloved Panda. Besides sucking this year, he’s now slipping away from games to go check out the hotties on his instagram account. Think about that. So unfocused on the game, he’s not just thinking about the ladies he’s LEAVING THE GAME to go check them out on his phone.

He took some shit from Giants fans but deep down he was always loved and will be forever. But that’s due to the 3 World Series he helped us win. He’s bequeathed the Red Sox no trophies. But he is taking 100 million from them.

Anyone got a pic of the chick he was so desperate to click “like” on? Hope she was worth all the shit he’s getting now……

Big waste of a terrific start by Bumgarner. But, what are you gonna do? The King at home is not an easy task. I hope we can hit this kid tonight. Doesn’t look like a pushover.

With Pence looking farther away from playing and Pagan in a deep, deep slump, the Giants are in a lot of trouble right now. You can’t win if you can’t score and here’s a look at our run totals for the last 7 games:

4-0-2-0-1-2-0.

That’s not just a normal downturn that all teams see throughout the season. We need Pence and Blanco back and Pagan needs to sit or get healthy or do something to fix whatever is wrong with him…….

Still living the dream. The Bay Area dream. The center of the sports universe. Too much? I don’t think so. Three World Series wins in 5 years. A Super Bowl appearance 3 years ago. Last night, an NBA championship. And the Sharks are in San Jose, I think…..

I do think an NBA championship is the hardest one to win. There’s no luck in winning that thing.

The Golden State Warriors are champions of the NBA. If you’ve lived in the Bay Area your entire life, you know how weird that sounds……

Continuing my recent theme of not discussing anything *Giant* in the main thread until they stop playing like shitfucks, I’m wondering what all of you think about the all star team of Royals that the AL is in the process of assembling. If you haven’t heard, Kansas City currently has 7 starters slated to open up against the NL in the this year’s Summer Classic.

As a fan of the NL as well as a fan of the team that usually represents the NL in the World Series (since 2010), I am a fan of this ballot stuffing. Not that we need it, but home field advantage in the World Series is a nice perk. I also think it’s funny that this is upsetting so many people across the internet.

Newsflash: if you don’t want a bunch of Royals clogging up the starting spots of your AL all star team then VOTE FOR DIFFERENT PLAYERS!!!!!!!!!

Shit, we’re talking about the Royals fan base. I can safely say I have never even one time walked by a person wearing Royals gear. If the rest of the AL fans can’t out-vote the tiny Royals fan base then they deserve what they get this coming July 14th…..

Brett Butler turns 58 today.

I don’t like Brett Butler.

But I’d rather post about his birthday than discuss anything that happened this weekend at AT&T….

Am I missing any other notable birthdays today?

That is all……

Today we have the forces of two weaknesses colliding. Two broken titans unleashing the opposite of Hell on each other. A bad pitcher vs an offense that can’t score that’s also missing the only two guys who drove in runs yesterday. I don’t know what our line up will look like but apparently it will require Jarrett Parker to have the game of his life. He’s so unknown to me that I originally spelled his first name “Jarod” until I decided to look it up.

So a weakened, withered and bored fan base turns its tired eyes to Jarrett Parker et al for an unlikely power burst.

Still, Ruby De La Rosa….

time to take the shine off her……

Not sure about you guys, but I’m tired of the Giants under performing at home. 16-15 in our yard? Unacceptable. They have one of the best road records in either league. It makes zero sense that they can’t do even better at home. Form the hitters to the pitchers, this team, as it always is, is built to succeed at AT&T.

Starting tonight, it’s time to start playing like it.

this date in giants history: Cainer through his perfect game 3 years ago today.

In case you missed it, the Giants are none to pleased with the Mets scheduling an evening game yesterday. Of course, there’s no way you could have missed that. The Giants have been non-stop whining about it for going on 3 days. They say they’re complaining about it so mlb will change the way scheduling is done but my understanding is that’s something bargained between the players association and the owners. So what exactly do the Giants get out of boo-hooing to the press about this?

Will they be flat tonight? Every time we think that’s going to happen, it doesn’t. If they’re flat it’s probably got more to do with the ballpark than anything else. The Giants should focus their attention on the home field advantage they have instead of an unfortunate scheduling issue that hits all teams at least once a year……..

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also, how is Kevin Correia starting for the Phillies tonight? Did I just have a bad dream that he was in our minor league system?

When you’ve nicknamed your two best pitchers “The Dark Knight” and “Thor” you’re kinda setting yourself up for ridicule if they don’t dominate the opposition. If they both get their asses handed to themselves it might even be time to talk about a couple of new nicknames.

Heston was spectacular and Huddy gutted the job done, but the real story this series has been the hitting. I’m still marveling at that backspin oppo jobber that Belt blasted off Harvey. And Aoki and Joe Panik? What else can be said about those 2.

So what’s Jon Niese’s superhero nickname? *The Dark Loser*? *Thor-oughly Dominated*?

sidenote: my favorite cartoon character (and cartoon name) was Foghorn Leghorn. No close second.

Without question, the best thing about The Flap is the way it connects Giants fans around the world. As the no hitter was unfolding, and I was avoiding the blog for stupid jinx reasons that I don’t believe in anyway, I wondered if there were any Flappers in attendance. I thought I’d remembered MacDog was going, wondered if PK and DJ went as well. I always assume BuzzSaw is there.

Anyway, turns out but one lone wolf Flapper made it to the game. Considering we’re 2,906.7 miles away from New York, one ain’t bad….MacDog, take it away…..

Sorry I’m late with this. I gotta say, when Craw made that play to end the 8th and then Heston got those three punch-outs in the 9th to finish it off, I was as excited as I’ve ever been at any sporting event, and I’ve been to just about everything, except the Super Bowl, as far as team sports go. I’m still stunned — Chris Heston!!!, not someone like MadBum or Timmy. Ok, so that wasn’t exactly the ’27 Yanks he faced, and the Mets certainly helped with all those bats left on their shoulders. But what an amazing game: That homegrown infield making every play look easy, Heston putting it where Buster wanted it just about every time, and then throwing that hook of his to finish ’em off. And to be surrounded by Giants fans (yes, there were many) as it all unfolded. I’m just so very grateful to be a fan of this team and get a chance to experience in person one of the many special moments they’ve given us over the last five years.

This was my third no-hitter. The first two were against the Giants: Terry Mulholland in ’90 and Kevin Millwood in ’03, both at the Vet, the only no-hitters ever thrown there. So maybe I was owed one.

So we should have at least a few NY Flappers going to a game this series. Or at least threatening to.

Sydergaard/Harvey/Niese. Jeez, that is a tough line up. Well, the first 2 anyway. I feel a beat down coming on but that could just be the fumes from last night’s bbq still wafting through my senses.

Here’s a pretty good article on our new stud first baseman Chris Shaw. I had completely forgotten about the Sandoval compensatory pick so Chris Shaw, for free, sounds good to me.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/06/07/chris-shaw-poised-top-pick-mlb-draft/FkwXlaLC3WO7BOtqHHCiiK/story.html

People are tripping on what this means for Belt. It means nothing. If Belt continues to perform he’s our first baseman. If Shaw rakes like he’s supposed to, he’ll bring a shitload as a trade chip.

It’s all good unless they both suck.

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It’s funny how Bickford’s ganja bust knocked down his value. I bet half the first round picks smoke weed. Maybe all of them. I could care less that Bick lights up. I care about what he does when he’s NOT baked…….

Giants took a pitcher by the name of Phil Bickford with the 18th pick in the first round. He’s a right hander, 6’5 205 pounds. Internet says he went to College of Southern Nevada. Never heard of it, I’l assume that is a JC. But who knows. Any info you guys do on this cat, put it in the thread below.

I’m off to bbq in 100 degree weather.

WTF??????

Another day, another Philly ass to kick.

Show of hands of all those who believe Voggy will continue his dominance today in the Philly bandbox?

It shouldn’t matter, we oughta light this chump up…..

Lots going on today: Giants/Philly, then we find out if American Pharoah can do what no horse has done since Affirmed, then in the evening Joe kicks my ass in DFS again. 🙂

Not sure about Pharoah today. There’s got to be something to this recurring theme of a horse who wins the Derby and the Preakness only to get taken down by a rested horse who’s been laying in the weeds all Spring. Who knows, it has to happen some time, right?

So the Giants go back to back against Francisco Liriano and Jerome Williams? What year is this again? Hot tub time machine?

We should blast Williams, because he sucks, but I’m not confident about Timmy finding his footing on a foreign mound. I really do think there’s been something this year to his tiny ass slip sliding all over *away* mounds. Not sure why…..

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Zummie brought up Panda’s underwhelming year at the end of last thread and it got me to wondering what Red Sox fans must be thinking about him these days. I don’t read other teams blogs, mostly because I wouldn’t have a clue how to find a good one. And I don’t know any Red Sox fans. So while I could guess what they’re thinking about him, I don’t have any hard evidence………

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That Warrior game. Wow. I was at a graduation so I missed most of it but I caught the last half of the 4th Q and overtime. Moments are a trip, aren’t they? If David Bowie’s wife’s shot at the end of regulation was like an 1/8th of an inch longer, the game is over and Warrior fans are worrying about the series and talking *must win* in game 2. But her shot missed and then Irving got hurt in overtime and the Cav’s look basically dead at this point.

A day off to reflect and travel….

With 3 games v the Pirates in the books, no one could rightfully claim we got swept because of bad luck. The Pirates, quite simply, were better than us in all facets of the game. And that’s not the most humbling thing to admit in June. This is basically the same Pirate team we took to the woodshed in the WC game last October. So perspective is a good thing right now.

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and tonight, Game 1. Still having trouble processing the Warriors being in the NBA Finals.

Another frustrating loss. I can’t imagine what this will do to our power rankings. I can’t bear to look. 🙂

I think it’s fair to say that Hest-by-Hest is settling nicely into the number 4 or 5 slot in our rotation. And really, were we to expect something better than that?

Hudson vs Liriano tonight. Seems like a million years ago that he signed with us in 2000. In 2003, he was traded with Boof Bonser and Joe Nathan for AJ Pierzynski. Amazing that AJ is still playing…..

I saw the Giants had moved up to #2 on the ESPN *power rankings*. Normally I never click on something like that but it was embedded in an article I was reading. I was shocked to see thousands of comments in response to these *power rankings*.

Power Rankings, regardless of the sport, are so stupid, so inconsequential, so devoid of any value whatsoever I just couldn’t understand why so many people we commenting on a list that is just literally some dipshit at ESPN pulling team names out of a hat.

And then it hit me: of COURSE thousands of people are responding to that dumbass list. When your team HASN’T won 3 out of the last 5 World Series trophies, *power rankings* are the only thing to grasp on to. And the way the teams shoot up that list, usually for no reason, there are ample opportunities for fans across all teams to brag about their team or to razz fans of teams sliding down the ranking list.

We’ve lost 3 in a row. I can’t imagine we’ll retain our #2 ranking. Boo hoo. I’m sure the next update will have us at #28 or some shit.

I think back to that late April evening at Chavez Latrine and it still makes me shudder. Even quiver. Bomb after bomb, launched into orbit off Voggy—to be forever tracked by NASA’s most powerful satellites……

And yet here with are, with yet another Voggy reclamation project that he performed on himself. Again.

As usual, it feels like he’s going to get blasted tonight.

But who knows? He’s been so good for 5 straight starts, I’m starting to believe in him again……

Weeeeellllllll, that didn’t go very well. Yesterday’s game did not remind me of any warm childhood memories. MadBum should fix all of this today.

Hope no one missed the gold that is DJ Loo on the last thread. My man had it rolling last night.

Where HAVE all the good beekeepers gone?

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Kevin Frandsen just signed a minor league deal with us. Full circle.

I think it was 1978 but don’t hold me to that. I opened up the Sporting Green and my Giants were on top of the NL West. Back then, it was SF, LA, Cincinnati, SD, Houston and the Braves. I sat there marveling at *SF* being in first place. I think they tumbled down shortly after but they were in it all season long.

Fast forward to today. It wasn’t the same feeling, obviously. But it reminded me of the day when I was a kid and I saw my team on top for the first time ever.