A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball

One thing has been established: Having a group of Flappers get together doesn’t bring any luck to the team. It’s not very good for your liver, either. My head hurts. I imagine that the Giants *team* head, if there was one, hurts today, too….

I’m sure a lot of you remember the Ali/Holmes fight in 1980. As a boy watching that fight, I remember marveling at the fact that Ali refused to go down, despite being battered by Holmes. Today’s game might feel a little like that. Ali just couldn’t make a go of it in the 11th (nor should he have). Had he gone out there, I suspect he would have been leveled with one last, powerful blow.

That’s what today’s game might feel like today for us. One more loss and it would be difficult to even *imagine* the Giants coming back and winning this thing. I’m not afraid to watch the game and I’m not worried about about facing the fact that the season is effectively over if we lose–I waved bye bye to confidence and reality a few days ago. It’s hard to even muster up any feelings of regret since I think we did about as well as we could have with the players we had this year. Last year was our year. This year appears to be the D-backs year. It’s not the end of the world or anything…….

I was going to fill this thread with several questionable decisions from Bochy and one huge one by Beltran but I’m just not in the mood. I feel like I talked that all out last night. I’ll tell you, even though we lost the game, I declare the First Ever Flap Party to be a huge success. We had a great time watching the game, getting to know each other and talking baseball literally the entire time–San Dawg challenged us with a few unreal trivia questions (ex: what unusual word is stitched into Tim Lincecum’s glove?), we took informal polls about in-game decisions, we talked Giants history and by my count our waitress DeeDee bent over and flashed us her cleavage approximately 372 times–it was a  great night and it made the loss slightly easier to tolerate. This is a photo taken from my phone, I think there’s a better one floating around out there taken from an actual camera. From left to right you have: WillieD, James, San Dawg, Flavor, and Ewisco. I would guess that screen names were used about 75% of the time over actual names when referring to each other in conversation. That’s gold, baby……

While the D-backs were busy polishing off the finishing touches on that 9 game win streak, I doubt they ever had to face anything like they faced last night. They brought a strut into our yard and we gave them a smack-down reminder of what it takes to win at the *next level*. I’m hoping this is the reality-test they needed to break up the confidence they had generated over the last month or so. It’s one thing to sweep a dead team going through the motions in your own yard. It’s another thing to play baseball in a playoff atmosphere in a hostile yard…

Last night’s game reminded me a little of Kobe who would cruise through the regular season and then ramp it up in the playoffs (at least, minus the *cruising* part). Beltran absolutely took his game to another level last night. Burrell transformed the dugout into shades of October, 2010. Cain miraculously got through 8 innings of man-work and if you’d have told me in the 3rd he was gonna go 8 full I would have called you insane……

The team needed that game last night. We needed that game last night. And the D-backs found out last night that there’s a big difference between playoff baseball and dog-days of Summer baseball. I was so proud on my team last night……..

I’m not sure what I’m more surprised by, the fact that we are 6 games back of them or the fact that the D-backs have won 9 in a row. I remember when Stephen Drew went down. I thought they were done. Drew wasn’t having the greatest year but he was one of their leaders, if not their main leader. And it just never happened. They got BETTER after Drew went down. I look up and down that line up and I still see a bunch of free swingers hitting .230-something chumps. They’ve obviously got a stronger line up than we do. I was on a Little League team that won the PA City Championships that could probably outhit this current crew. Montero can hit and is an obvious upgrade over whatever the Hell that is that we trot out at catcher. But mostly, they’ve got a lot of guys who can run into one on any given swing. And we can go 6 games without someone running into one. That’s a huge difference when the pitching on both sides is so good. And while I don’t really fear any of their pitchers and feel like we have a better staff across the board, the fact is, the D-backs have put together a nice team ERA this year. It’s mid-pack in the NL but pretty much every pitcher on that staff has an ERA in the 2’s and 3’s. That’s solid and a huge difference from what they did last year…..

So I am going to remain hopeful that we sweep this series. I still say 2 out of 3 keeps us with a pulse since we have 3 more vs them late in the month. If they stumble a bit after leaving SF and we start winning again, that could be showdown time in Arizona. But that’s a long way off. Tonight is all that matters…..

And I want to ask you guys a favor: If tonight is the same old stuff let’s try not to direct the venom towards each other. Everyone single one of us is frustrated by the output of the team this year. It doesn’t make it any less frustrating to have the blog turn on itself. If we do suck tonight it really shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone so prepare yourself for a “big league hang with ’em”. Keep your expectations low and your hope high, if that’s even possible. But I really hope we win tonight, if for nothing else to keep the Flap Party tomorrow evening a little more interesting, at least in terms of the outcome of the game. If we lose, it is highly likely that The Flap Party could turn into a Wake and the irony of that is just stunning to consider……

Probably not much. The bloggers will have 2 fewer targets to direct their venom. But there are still plenty to take aim at as Beltran will be finding out soon enough. He’s probably at the front of the line with Dirrrrrrty and Zito on the DL and Row-ada getting let go yesterday. Ross, Huff, Torres and Burrell did too much for us last year to ever end up taking on the bulk of the fans furor…..

How will the loss of those guys effect team chemistry? Not as much as consistently winning would have effected it. Everyone talks about this magically 2010 and how all the guys came together with a common goal, arm in arm, etc…But that happened for one reason: a bunch of guys, many of who were outcasts and unwanted by their previous teams, all came together to have career years (or months as in the case of Ross) and they were winning games consistently. THAT is what builds chemistry. And I’ll tell you something, almost everyone is good at winning. Winners come together pretty easily when they were all thought to be losers and they are proving everyone wrong by winning. Consistently.

Then the off season came. Who knows what went down. Lots of celebration and extended partying. Maybe some of them weren’t working out as hard. A few guys got some very nice, “take care of your family” contracts handed to them (deservedly so). A couple of guys got married and/or had kids. Their priorities might have changed a little as they had crossed off “winning the world series” off the list of  things they wanted to do in their lifetime. Then 2011 starts with high expectations but the core guys all get injured and last year’s miracle guys all took 3 giant steps backwards at the exact same time. New guys get brought in at the break sending a message to the guys currently playing that management is moving on from the magic of the 2010 guys. Maybe a little animosity about those moves. More losses pile up. And the guys that are so good at handling winning might not be as good at handling losing. Presto: you now have some shady team chemistry.

So losing Row-ada was nice. I enjoyed both of those designations immensely. But I don’t think for a second that the current team chemistry is going to improve much. That will get better when one single thing happens: they start winning consistently. And could there be a better opportunity than a weekend of Sept games against your division arch rival (at least this year) as their strut into town carrying a nine game winning streak (along with some fabulous team chemistry)? We’re going to be trying to beat them without the magic of 2010. And they have found the same magic in 2011. It’s gonna be tough……..

Anyone can be good at winning. How you act when you win doesn’t impress me. It’s how you act when you lose that shows me your true character. Learning to lose with class and dignity is something you are either good at or you’re not. If you’re not, it’s very likely that your team starts turning on each other. I don’t think that’s happened in SF. But the good vibes from 2010, even for the guys who still here, have been washed away by a season of losses and injuries and a National Media that is now collectively writing  “they are who we thought they were.” That’s a misguided notion considering all of the key injuries we’ve sustained. But it HAS to have an impact on the attitude the players take day in and day out. Again, this is where the bad chemistry comes from, not from 2 guys like Row-ada……

6 out with 26 to play? No problem!  I have stayed as confident as is Giant-ly possible over the last month despite the seeds of desperation growing into something that feels much larger than me this morning. I dreamed of August 23rd. That dream came and went with me staying confident. I dismissed 4 out with 28 to go as not a problem. Still confident. I bragged about The Knowing Dude Head Nod knowing more than you.  I affirmed great confidence that we can beat the Cubs since they are built much more like we are than the scrappy, speedy (L)astros are. We promptly lose 2 straight (and neither game has been close) to this team supposedly “build like us”. Meanwhile the Snakes forgot how to lose and have won 8 straight putting us currently 6 back with 26 to play. In yesterday’s thread I said we had to win 5 straight or the season was toast. We lost 5-2. Snakes won easily…..

And here I sit trying to figure out how to back track out of that “toast” sentence from yesterday. My hands are folded together with my index fingers forming an upside down *V* tower that I am tapping gently against my lips. I have the faintest “knowing dude head nod” going right now……

And what I’ve decided is this: I was wrong to use the *toast* comment, it simply isn’t over yet. Do I feel confident in this team or any of my countless predictions that we would win the West by several games this year? No. That confidence is as dead as the bloody, shredded dead bunny that one of my cats brought in this morning. I have been forced to face who this team is and it is not who I thought they were. But it’s not over. Yet. We play the Snakes this weekend and if we sweep them we are still in this. Could that happen? Absolutely. Do I think it’s gonna? Well, I’ll just say this: I am lacking confidence that it will happen. But I will root for it to happen and in a fan’s world, *rooting* and *reality* don’t ever have to intersect for even a moment. But in a *moment* rooting can overcome reality enough to make a dream come true. That’s not some corny bs that I just scribbled out of my keyboard. Stop and think of sporting events in your life time where the result didn’t make any sense. Where the winning team didn’t *deserve* to win. The Cardinals went 83-78 in 2006 and won the World Series. Did their season record indicate *deserving* to win the World Series? Of course not…….

There will be something painfully perfect on Saturday night as The First Ever Flap Get Together goes down and I get to watch the game with some true Flapper fans. It could all end that evening. Or it all keeps going. Who knows. I am holding on to one last desperate shred of hope that we somehow luck our way into the playoffs this year. I don’t care if that looks pathetic and it’s a far cry from the confidence I once proudly owned. But I am a fan of this team till I die and there has been and will continue to be many times where my rooting doesn’t intersect with the reality of the situation. I imagine many of you feel the same way. Go Giants……..

For most people, it’s a lot of work to get to and afford going to a Giants game. Maybe some people are season ticket holders who don’t work and who have no family responsibilities, but for most fans, there’s a lot of effort put in on their part to attend a game. I continue to marvel at the number of people who keep turning out for these game. The announced crowd is clearly less than the number of fans in the stadium. But there are still a lot of fans in the stadium……

Last night I wondered how many innings over the last month the Giants have scored 2 or more runs in an inning. I don’t have the time to go through all those box scores right now but I just went through this current homestand’s box scores. We’ve played 66 innings on this current hommey. The hommey that was supposed to be the beginning of the steam roll that I saw so clearly in my mind’s eye on August 23rd. Of those 66 innings we have scored 2 runs in 3 innings. We exploded for 3 runs in one single inning—the 8th inning of game 1 of this home stand. That leaves 62 of 66 innings where we scored 0 or 1 run. And I didn’t count them up, but most of those 62 were zeroes. That is an awful lot of futility to sit through. The kids and the female fans have their panda and giraffe hats to amuse themselves with. The dudes have their beers, at least until they are turned down when the bottom of the 7th ends. There are the views and the pretty concourse to walk along. Lou Seal is there to giggle at you. Day games offer ample racks in tank tops to slyly glance in the direction of….. But after that? Not much. My hat is really off to the fans who make it out to the games, at great time and expense, to watch the utter boring failure that this offense produces game in and game out…..

They have to win the next 5 straight games or this season is toast……..

See, the problem was, the Astros are just too bad for us to play. Now they are running around playing all their kids who are wide eyed with nothing to lose and they did all the things that most major league teams can do: work a walk, steal a bag, bunt a guy over, sac flies, stuff like that. The truth is, we don’t match up very well with a young team that has wheels. I said this last year when SD was beating us regularly: when the other team forces issues with their speed we usually play slow and cautious. And defensive. And not the good kind of *defensive*….

Now we get the Cubs. They’ve got a little bit better record than the Astros and they’ve got a different team—old, slow and overpaid. This is a team we can relate to. And really, it’s a team we can beat. Hopefully the D-backs stumble a little vs Colorado—the Rox are playing fairly inspired ball these days. And then on Friday we sink or swim. We need 2 of 3 and preferably a sweep. We lose 2 or 3 and I will stand up strong and admit I was wrong about the Giants in 2011. But let’s see what happens. Despite only splitting the series with the lowly Astros we were at least playing inspired ball. There was heart shown and that is what they had last year. Take that up another notch and who knows what could happen…….

We’ve now scored 7 runs in the last 4 games and have improbably won 3 of them. If we had won all 4 you can bet that the guys at Elias would be trotting out a stat about least runs scored over 4 straight wins since 1897 or whatever….

I’m a little surprised that The Panda is the favorite for September MVP. He really hasn’t been hitting since he hurt his shoulder and the fact that he still can’t swing from the right side is a huge concern. It’s also a testament to his resolve that he is playing through all these injuries…….

Surkamp’s debut was noteworthy not because of his pin point control, which he didn’t really show last night, and not for dazzling stuff, which he doesn’t really have except for his curve ball, but rather for his ability to gut his way through 6 innings giving up a single run that really should go to Huff’s ERA, not his. It’s got to be so much more difficult for a starting pitcher to make his debut than for a position player to make one. All eyes are on you for every single pitch you throw. A dude making his debut in right field can pick daisies for half the game and really only get noticed at the plate or when he makes 3 or 4 plays a game in the field. The kid probably had some normal butterflies. His debut is out of the way and he finished it on top of a dog pile win. How great must that have felt for him?

And finally, welcome back Andres Torres. Ross has not been boss in your absence. Rowand has been…..well, you know. Here’s hoping that your presence in CF and at the top of the LU has a propelling effect on a team in desperate need of a jump start….

And now for a shout out to a great Giants fan, here a 2 pics of BLADE’S 2nd cousin Victoria as she met both The Panda and The Belt at an autograph signing down in Santa Clara.

4 hits yesterday. 6 hits the day before. 8 hits the game before that.  We scored 5 total runs. Yet somehow, we win 2 of those 3 games. The historic, epic failures of this offense are no longer an issue. If we can win 2 out of ever 3 games we’d have the best record in baseball….

It’s funny, last year the guy I didn’t want up at bat was The Panda. He was fat and flailing at (and missing) everything. He didn’t belong in the LU. This year? He’s like the only at bat I look forward to seeing. Others might say Belt but right now I find Belt’s at bats tough to watch. Not all of them, just the ones where he, you know, forgets to swing. Or in last night’s game he forgot to run. It’s inexcusable for a rookie to ever not run as hard as he can every time he hits a ball that has a decent chance of landing fair……

That shot of Bochy holding the bat was classic. He looked like a crazed man holding an axe that he’d just used to massacre a small village. Good thing Kepp got that hit or Bochy might have turned around and laid waste to a water cooler or two…….

Should be a fun game tonight, everyone is looking forward to seeing Surkamp pitch. A corresponding move still has to be made. Do they do the safe thing and 60 day DL someone? Or do we wave bye bye to a vet? That scoop by De Rosa last night basically saved the game for us as did the unbelievable grab by Miggy. That play was unreal on both ends…….

I like a pitcher’s duel as much as the next guy but Giants games are now teetering on the cusp of *boring*. I can enjoy a pitchers duel because of who is pitching. Kershaw vs Lincecum. 1-0? I’m down, I’ll watch that and be riveted because they are 2 guys at the top of their profession dominating no matter who the line up is. Henry Sosa? He threw a ball straight down the middle with no movement on it whatsoever and Ross made 2 outs swinging straight through it. Huff absolutely mailed in his at bats last night. That’s not riveting, that’s flat-out boring……

Krukow said something mid game about how spirited the Astros were playing and that they came to play. Christ, they came in here on a 4 game losing streak and they have the worst record in baseball! That’s not spirited that’s showing more spirit than the team they are playing. Last night, that wasn’t saying much.

Baggs is on his blog calling for some “The time is now” moment. That’s just hogwash. Bochy has tried every different LU he has available to him. And Brett Freaking Pill is not the answer……

These guys are World Champions. Well, the 2010 guys were. I don’t know who these guys are. They have EVERYTHING in their favor right now. Home schedule, playing bad teams, some injured guys have come back. And this is what they are doing? It’s inconceivable to me that a collection of major league hitters with a track record of success at this level could score so few runs game in and game out.

With September approaching I’m resigned to the fact that this is what these guys are going to produce this year. I still think it will be enough to win the division. But we should be destroying teams like the Astros. And yet, we are all-fucking-OUT to beat them even a 1/4 of the time.

At this point, it’s time to get Torres in there and just hope for the best. The “Rowand against a lefty” or “sitting Huff for a few games”—I just don’t see the point. In fact, it’s entirely likely that Torres continues his poor year when he comes back. There is just something about him though that feels slightly different than the other two moves. I don’t know what else Bochy can do. If Brett Pill hits the line up, we are absolutely waving the white flag…….

My friend Luke hates it when I predict a win on the blog. Says I’m always wrong. Says it’s a jinx. Ok Team Lukie, I won’t predict a single win. But I will predict a 4 game sweep of the Astros. At a minimum I guarantee 3 of 4 but I think a sweep is likely….

Question for you: Would you trade Dirrrrrty Sanchez for Heath Bell? You get Bell for Sept and the playoff run. Since I think Wilson is done for the year I think you almost have to try to make this trade happen. The Padres would do it, I think. Dirrrrty is usually tough on them. No hit tough. They probably over value him because of that game. If you give ’em Dirrrrty you wouldn’t have to give up 2 prospects, something Pads will look for since they get 2 picks for him when he leaves this Winter. I think Dirrrrty has at least one more and maybe 2 years of arbitration left……

The Flap Fantasy Baseball Standings

(Berra’s Bombers slides past Dirt and takes aim at The Clown)

Well, there’s “August 23rd” and then there’s “August 23rd!!!!!!!!!”. Turns out I put too many exclamation points in that bad boy and it turned into an earthquake on the east coast. Didn’t know my own strength……

But seriously, if yesterday’s game knocked you out then you are basically *Michael Spinks*.  Come on, did anyone appreciate that comeback? Ramirez completely failed but that’s going to happen over the course of 162, you are gonna have your gut punched a bunch of times. Do you go down like Spinks or do you get up and git after it?

August 23rd was not a day that I predicted a win. It’s a day I marked as an opportunity for change. And as I pointed out last night, only to the dimmest of the dim does change happen overnight. I reserve the right to stand up like a man and admit being dead wrong about this team but today I stand strongly behind them. We will win this division and we will win it fairly easily. If you doubt me all I can say is that The Knowing Dude Head Nod knows more than you……

I went to a wedding years ago where the bride’s dad got drunk and by about the middle of the reception he was running around to everyone he could find and screaming “July 28th!!!!!”.  Most people didn’t know what he was talking about. It turned out that was his birthday and he was inviting everyone to to the party on his boat. As the evening wore on, my buddies and I all joined in the fray and pretty soon the entire wedding was drunk running around yelling “July 28th!!!!” to whoever was near by. The evening ending at some bar and I have this perfect image of this dude stumbling out the front door of the bar and wandering away into the night all the while mumbling “July 28th” to himself……..

The girl I took to that wedding 14 years ago, who’s married with a couple of kids now, will still send me a random text every year or so that simply says “July 28th”. I respond in kind…….

Without quite the purpose and repetition as Mr July 28th himself, I give you the following battle cry:

“August 23rd!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Not sure what this is an ad for but it’s a place in Wisconsin…….

Finally, that day is here. Who knows if we win tonight. That’s not the point. The point is that we have broken through to the other side. A 12 game homey. The rest of the way we play teams who are under .500 and I am lumping Arizona in there because I think they peaked and are going to continue their spiral downward for the rest of the way. Not to mention, we are getting healthier………

I’ve got no idea if we have what it takes to advance past the first round in the playoffs. As I’ve patiently pointed out many times, we are missing all the fire power from last year. But if Beltran starts hitting and Huff and Pablo stay hot, who knows? Cabrera could be last year’s Renteria. So could, gulp, Tejada.

By the way, none of us ever went to that birthday party or ever saw Mr. July 28th ever again. Maybe the equivalent here happens and we miss the playoffs. All I know is that if it’s ever gonna happen for us this year it starts today. August 23rd. I’m extremely confident and positive today. Bring it……

And by the way, my *list* of fans who have given up on this year has been torn up and thrown away. If you were on board last year you’re on board this year. I might have to strap your screaming ass into your seat but you are coming along for this ride. And this ain’t no bus you’re on a goddamn F-16 cause if you’re a Flapper you got wings and today it’s “2-flaps Up” baby……

And here’s an update on the Flap Get Together I am planning. As of right now it will either be Sept 3rd or 4th. Sat is a 6pm game, Sun is a 1pm game vs the Doosh backs in our yard and I fully expect to have a firm grip on first place when we play them. It will be somewhere on the Peninsula between San Jose and SF. E mail me if you are interested in attending and if one day is better than the other for you. Right now, it’s me and San Dawg. I am keeping the details of it in email since there are lots of unknown people who read this blog and never post. But all of the regs are invited. WillieD, I can tell you San Dawg is simply bursting for you to attend this……. bigflavor77@gmail.com

I was discussing this 3rd place finish with Pawlie yesterday on the phone. I know the players and coaches vote 0n this esteemed award, I’m just not certain how the votes are cast. Do they just get to submit one name? That would be tough. Looking at the list of past winners since 1980 is a wild ride down memory lane. Clark won it the first year. Krukow won it back to back. Speier won it in 1987 and I only remember him playing for us in the 70’s. Tiny Felder in 1992, I loved that guy. Mark Carreon who I dimly remember playing for us at all won it in 1995. The 2 time winners are Krukow, Snow and Molina. It’s awarded to the player who “best exemplifies the spirit and leadership consistently shown by McCovey throughout his long career”.

I think Pablo wins it this year fairly easily with Vogelsong and his long road back to the big leagues snagging him 2nd place. And I don’t know how else to honor Mota’s thankless contributions to the team this year so I am handing him 3rd place right now. This is a guy who didn’t get an offer from a single team last Winter. Think about that. With pitching staffs torn up across the league, Mota didn’t even get a major league offer. The freaking Giants didn’t even offer him an MLB deal! He had to come back on a minor league deal. He’s making $925,000. This is a guy who’s made a little over 16 million in his career who is hardly doing this now for the money.

I’ll spare you all the disgusting details of Zito’s contract. One of them is that it calls for him to get a luxury box on every single road game the Giants play. Meanwhile, Guillermo Mota is busy saving our bacon time and time again. When Zito went down with his owey foot, Mota comes in to eat up innings and get the win. When Bumgarner gave up 137 runs in the first inning against the Twins, Mota comes in and saves the bullpen (as well as the next couple of games by resting the bullpen) and pitches nearly 5 innings. And yesterday, after Runzler did his best impression of a scared 3rd grade girl, Mota comes in and rights the ship with 3 scoreless. There are 39 other games he’s appeared in that will go unnoticed by everyone except Mota and his friends and family.

His contributions to the team this year can’t be understated. And while I don’t know if 3rd place in the Willie Mac Award is the proper way to honor him, I’m doing so anyway. So take your cap or use a pretend one and doff it to this man today. He’s never going to get paid market value for the games he saves for us. He’s 38, he might get another year deal with the Giants if he’s lucky. But while Zito is packing his whores into those road luxury suites, Mota is quietly waiting in the bullpen for Bochy to call on him. He almost always delivers the goods…..

And speaking of delivering the goods, I want to give a huge public shout out to WILCO JOE. While I am pathetically titling the  main thread “To Watch or not To Watch?” my main man in the state of Texas was busy doing  it all this weekend: He went to all 3 games giving us live game time updates. He had a player toss him a ball (not his first) as he was congratulating the team from the rail. He tracked Bow Tie’s every move, and ultimately got his picture taken with him. He even took a break from the rum and cokes and took his family to a game. And this is unconfirmed, but I think he’s the first double-POTD we’ve ever had. You, dude, are one hell of a Giant’s fan and an esteemed member of Flapper Nation. Well done……

I thought about skipping the game today. I don’t have anything else to do but I’m just having trouble gathering up any interest in anything baseball related pre-August 23rd. I am slightly interested to see the pitching match up. You have to think that Sosa will be pretty geeked to pitch against us. And Runzler starting is at least slightly interesting.

Interesting that Belt got the start vs Sosa. He seems to be much tougher on lefties. I think Bochy has finally waved the white flag on Rowand……..

Ever try to hold your breath under water? I’ve tried lots  of times. I’m not very good at it. Tonight’s game reminds me of what one of my Summer night’s might have looked like if I ignored the time continuum. I’m imagining that I’m trying to break the under water hold-your-breath record at Lake Lagunitas that BILLY MAYO held in the Summer of ’81. Now I’m under water, determined to finally break this epic Summer record. It seems that several minutes have now passed by. I have fucking GOT this. Except now a panic attack is setting in. A legitimate panic attack is setting in and I’m under water and I am going to fucking die! What are my friends going to tell my parents? That I died trying to break some dumbfuck under water record at the local lake? Ok, my lungs are literally about to explode. Don’t freak out, just think about 1 or 2 more things to pass the time and then the record will be secured, it will be yours. Glory. Destiny. Hmmmmm. Ummmm. Ricky Waters used to say some funny shit. “For who? For what?” Shit! New subject!!!!! My insides now feel like they are on fire. Not like some stupid ass “Building 7” fire, but a legitimate raging forest fire that’s torching the entire side of a mountain. Mountains are nice. I like Lake Tahoe. And bacon…..That’s fucking it! I’m coming up!

Oh my God!!!!!!! Air rules!!! It fucking rules!!!!! And so do I!!!!!! Under water holding breath record 1981, baby!!! Ok, give it to me, tell me what my time was. How long was I down there? I thought I was gonna die…….

“Dude, that was like a minute. You missed Billy’s record by a mile. Idiot.”

I glumy pulled myself from the lake; mud stuck between my toes, my chest still on fire. The magnitude of this great record engulfing me is only eclipsed by how incredibly stupid my attempt was in the first place. I suck…….

My best friend strolls by and offers a half assed condolence:

“Don’t sweat it dude. You can’t hold your breath for shit. But at least you have something to look forward to: August 23rd, 2011…….

That one was fairly easy to swallow. The 4th game of a hot ass week in Atlanta–I think our bats were a little flat. Same thing happened last year when Jaime Garcia went through our line up in like 82 pitches (or whatever it was)….

And now, we reach a door that opens to a Nirvana of sorts. The only team we face with a winning record the rest of the way is Arizona. And being only 2.5 back of them, I believe us to be be basically in control of our destiny no matter what the doosh-backs do. In fact, after this 3 game diddy with Houston we start a 12 game home stretch against crap teams….

I’m going to enjoy the furor over this series with the Astros. We are a pretty tired and beat up team right now. Not playing well in Houston won’t surprise me. Then we come home and find the ledge pretty empty. We look around and say “Hmmmm, that’s odd, the ledge should be full right now.” Then we find out it’s because most of you jumped. We’ll give them a few knowing dude nods to honor their short life span as fans of this team and maybe send down a cleaning crew to wipe your asses up. And then we’ll head back inside, grab a beer, turn on the tv, and watch the Giants reel off a 9-3 homestand, cruising past the D-backs by the early part of September….

Romo is coming back. Looks like Beltran is even coming back next week. We’ll probably miss Bee-Wheezy for this series in Houston. But August 23rd is the date to circle. That is the date that we shed all the weight and the sludge we’ve been carrying around the last 3 weeks. You guys can all jump after the ‘Stros series if you want. But you might want to check the schedule before you do. Things are looking up, not down. Violent knowing dude head nod as I type these last words. My head’s about to snap clean off at my neck. Don’t say I didn’t warn you……..

I had to pick someone up at the airport in San Jose yesterday evening so I caught the last inning in the car. It was unfolding towards a perfect storm of torture. You could just feel a loss coming. And then somehow, Affeldt gets that last K and I couldn’t stop myself from reactively banging on my horn a few times–this practiced is frowned upon in stop-and-go traffic on the freeway so you can imagine the ire stoked in the driver in front of me–I fired off a “my-bad look” followed up with a few solid  *knowing dude nods*.  He gave me a fuck-you look and  a “what-the-hell?” throw-both-hands-in-the-air. Changing lanes fixed that problem…….

I am worried about Brian Wilson’s elbow and that would be an injury that would absolutely dampen my enthusiasm about the rest of the season. NO ONE visits Dr. Andrews and comes back with good news (despite the diagnosis of inflammation), He’s the Dr. Kevorkian of Baseball. Wilson has barely pitched the last couple of weeks. Now he has an inflamed elbow? Ominous……

Maybe I’ve simply gone insane, but I really like our chances right now.  Yes, lots of injuries, everyone knows that. But look who is getting injured. Our hitting has sucked all year. The line ups always look bad. I’m not worried about our ability to score runs because we have scored enough all year, no matter who we trot out there, to win most of our games.

This team wins or loses not because of who’s swinging the bat but because of who’s throwing the ball. And when you look at that side of the game, our strength is largely still in tact. Currently, we’ve lost Zito, Sanchez and Romo. Losing Zito is actually a plus. And Dirrrrty, while pitching decent last night, has hardly been critical to the success of the team this year. Romo is a hit, but we have the best bullpen in either league, I feel confident that his single inning can be replaced.

Lincecum, Cain, Bumgarner, Vogelsong, Panda. These 5 guys have been most responsible for the team’s success this year. Last time I checked, those guys are rock solid (stretching it a little with Panda but he looked good to go last night)….

I admit we are thin and there’s a lot of negativity and bad luck following the Giants right now. But the strength and the core of this team is in tact. As long as those 5 guys stay healthy and keep doing what they’ve done this year I will keep the faith and believe. My knowing dude nod is in full vertical motion right now……..

Did the players look like they were giving up last night? You shouldn’t either……

Weird, last night’s epic fail is bothering me more this morning than it did last night. It’s usually the reverse. All I’ve got in me is a “knowing *dude* nod”. But it’s not vertical, it’s horizontal. You want a few heaping servings of bad luck? Not only does our best hitter foul a ball off his foot but he hits a grounder to third that he has to run out as hard as he can! I’m sure the foot felt great after that…..

And now, with great irony, we turn to Dirrrrty to right this wayward ship. Only because I feel certain that he will fail today do I have hope that he will pitch masterfully. It’s upside-down day. And faced with nothing but more injuries, players healing slowly and wins being  ripped away from us, there’s nothing else that can possibly happen except the impossible. I need my knowing dude nod to get vertical again…….

Yesterday was a breath of fresh air from a team with an offense that is bad at, really, everything. With Beltran still out, it shouldn’t be hard to find Belt regular playing time. He’ll play left field, Ross in center and Nate in right. I have to believe that the end of the road, outside of pinch hitting duty, has finally come for our *good friend* Aaron Rowand. Our offense is so bad, Rowand’s recent failures have gone largely under the radar. I just looked up his split stats and was pretty surprised  at what I saw.

For the entire month of August:

RBI’s: 0

Runs scored: also 0

Walks taken: hasn’t had a walk since July 5th!!!!!!!!!!

OPS: .455

That is really a shocking failure at every offensive level…..

When (if) Beltran comes back, then there will be a decision to make and it will come down to 2 questions: Is Belt hitting? Is Nate hitting? If Belt is hitting and Nate isn’t (and really, he hasn’t been. I think that it’s quite clear to everyone that Nate is best used as a secret weapon off the bench) then Belt might find a regular spot in RF….. I suppose if Nate and Belt are both crushing the ball and Huff is in a deep slump, Belt *could* get more playing time at first base. But Huff has been quite good lately, hitting .333 in August with an excellent OPS of .925. I don’t see Ross leaving the LU or center field (or leadoff) unless he’s completely useless. In fact, that’s probably Rowand’s best chance to start regularly again.

Belt has somewhat of an opportunity here. Bochy HAS to play him while Beltran is out. Really, Bochy has to play ANYONE who is exhibiting signs of human life at the plate. Showing up and banging 2 hr’s in your first game back is the right way to start…..

That core was about what I thought we’d have to do to win the game.  I’m tired of rooting for runs. Just get 1 or 2 and we’re going to usually be good to go. The solo HR streak is intake. I love it. Gotta run, I’ll catch you guys later today………

Not much of a thread today. It’s tough to muster up different ways to call something ugly. Pathetic. Worthless. Feeble. Impotent. I’m numb too it. Ricky “Batting Practice” Nolasco shut us down. Vasquez goes tonight and he’s actually pitching pretty well this year.

If you are Jack McKeon don’t you just walk Pablo every single time?

At this point, I don’t give a rip about the number of runs we score. 1-0? 2-1? Fine. We need wins badly no matter how many runs  they can dribble out of hose that’s tied in about 4 knots right now……..

Do most of you guys remember the year he played for us? It wasn’t really a *year*. He signed with us in June of ’94, had 113 plate appearances, hit 4 bombs; played kind of a non-descript right field. While I remember him being on the team, I can’t quite see him taking a swing or doing anything of importance. It’s been 16 years and it’s just sort of a random, hazy memory of an ex-player. And in the year 2027 this is the same way I will likely be remembering Carlos Beltran, minus the 4 bombs of course……

I can’t stand playing Florida. Especially in their weird, empty yard. Nolasco goes for them tonight and he is a complete coin flip on who shows up to pitch— the ultra talented stud or the batting practice machine. In his last 2 starts, he’s given up 22 hits and only 3 runs. On July 20th he did a *Bumgarner*, going 1.1 innings/9ER. He nearly threw a complete game against us back in May and then his next start he gave up 15 hits. Think about how hard it is to be left in a game long enough to give up 15 hits all by yourself…..Not a lot of his pitches miss bats and he’s usually right around the strike zone. Florida is reeling and going nowhere this year. And they apparently leave Nolasco out there to get hammered if he’s not having a very good game. This is one of those rare games where I hope the team comes out swinging out of their shoes—drop 10-15 hits on this chump and start the roadie off right…….

The Flap Fantasy Baseball Standings

(Tizzle and I are going Ali/Frazier on each other and Berra’s Bombers has quietly slipped into 11th place, a masterful showing considering his start to the season)

I started compiling all of these disgusting offensive stats and then just stopped jotting numbers down. Everyone knows how bad it is, looking at the details of it isn’t going to change anything. I think it SEEMS worse than it is because we had such underwhelming pitching over the last 3 series. It wasn’t all bad, Bumgarner pitched beautifully the other night. But if we don’t hold the opponent to 3 runs or fewer we likely lose….

Thank God for this off day. Actually, it will be tough to tell it’s an off day since we will score right around our run per/gm average whether we play a game or not…….

I’m glad the wild card isn’t going to be within reach for us (likely out of reach, anyway). If we can’t put the crap d-backs away I don’t want to have to watch this team get swept in the first round of the playoffs. The way things are going, even if we win the West, who has any confidence at all in this team? As I’ve said for months now, this offense isn’t close to last year’s offense and with almost no power threat to go along with Beltran’s one arm, I just don’t see any hope right now at all……..

I know I shouldn’t ever be surprised about how inept our hitters are but I was struck by at least one small thing last night: We miss Freddy Sanchez. I used to be frustrated like many of you with his constant opposite field approach but we just don’t have a single guy in the LU who takes an at bat with that mentality WITH MEN ON BASE. Maybe Keppinger. Pablo can go opp-o but he’s not usually trying to advance a runner, nor should he, he’s trying to drive them in. Watching Cabrera bat last night was painful. There’s talk of moving him to 2nd and Kepp down but how would that change anything? Despite hitting 6th he was stil coming up in situations where, at the very least, you have to move the runner over. It was clear he didn’t try to do that in the slightest. Freddy, we miss you baby….

I’m not judging Beltran’s bat for a second, I’m sure, if healthy, he will come around. I do wonder if he wants to be here. He’s one of those vet-professional guys so it’s impossible to read anything from his body language or words, since he says nothing with both. So the thought did creep into my mind last night: Is he just some big New York star rolling through the end of the season not caring about the team but focused on next year’s big deal with a glitzy big market team? Again, it’s tough to tell. But I do wonder a little, just based off his production, his body language/interviews and now a wrist that seems to have nothing seriously wrong with it except for some pain. And again, I know about wrist injuries but not all of them are disastrous. Sometimes pain is just something you play through. There’s also this “Me first in right field” thing that’s is at least something to question in terms of his character and his desire to play team ball….

If he continues to do nothing or if this wrist is worse than the MRI is letting on I won’t sweat the loss of Wheeler. Sabean took his shot like any GM would do in this situation. So far, Atlanta and Philly have gotten the best end of the deadline trades but they did the same thing Sabean did, they took a shot now by trading some future away.

Anyway, I’m out for the day. I will try not to think about this stunning, historic, across-the-board offensive failure………

Hats doffed in the direction of Jeff Keppinger who got 4 hits yesterday. When we picked him up I noted that he had no speed or power, a bummer combo for a baseball player. But it looks like he’s going to hold together a .300 batting average  and that has automatic value on any team. And you know who else doesn’t have any speed or power? Freddy Sanchez. So far, the Kepp pick up has been quite serviceable.

I haven’t heard anything about Beltran today but I read the xray came back clear. The possibility of him missing the game tonight is a little easier to tolerate when you look at what we’d be missing–a guy who has been marginally better than some of the coldest hitters on the team–I could have singled out one guy until I realized you can’t single one guy out on this team when it comes to being *cold*.

I watched that replay 3 times and I never saw that ball hit Huff in the leg that he grabbed on successful steal. Not sure what to make of Huff right now. He’s clearly in a *one-off* year that is his pattern. He’s probably got about 16 injuries going at once at this time of the year. He’s our starting 1st baseman, no questions asked. I sure would like to see him perusing a Victoria Secret’s catalog at his locker today……..

By the way, if you haven’t seen it BawBagg (I honestly can’t remember how he spells his screen name) has started a new Giants blog. the address is:

http://jondowdsrevenge.wordpress.com/

It’s still in construction phase but I always liked that dude and expect him to ultimately develop a great new giants blog. And anything that takes traffic away from the Splash and creates another place for us to yammer about this team, I’m all for. I’ve got no clue who Jon Dowd is but I’m guessing there’s some connection to baseball or the Giants. My first impression, based off the name of the blog, is that you aren’t going to get a lot of bikini babes there. Lots of erudite stuff. No problem learnin’ something every now and again, right?

This morning, Mark Purdy is educating us all that the Giants offense isn’t working. Hey, thanks dude. I’ve been adding up all the pieces too and just couldn’t seem to come up with an answer. “Not working” is the answer? So, what is the solution….

His big ideas are DeRosa and Belt. Um. No thank you. DeRosa? Before his wrist snapped clean off he was grounding more balls to 3rd/SS than Rowand did in his worst stretches. I appreciate DeRosa for working hard to come back but I hold out zero hope that he will contribute anything other than ground balls to the left side of the infield…..

Belt is obviously more interesting but the Giants have mismanaged this kid so badly this year that I don’t think bringing him up with a move that wreaks of panic is something that will work out…….

I did like his idea of giving CF to one or the other and dropping the platoon. Honestly, Id probably give it to Rowand. Torres is just trying to hard this year (or something). I don’t doubt his effort for a second but the results just aren’t there……..

In short, it will be difficult to fix this O with what we have. The bounce I had hoped they would get from Beltran never happened. Last year, if you look at the last 2 months of the season, the Giants were winning games with the long ball. Most of those guys are gone or on the DL now or just plain sucking this year. So if the blue print to success is the 2010 version than I think it better if we didn’t try to follow it. We just can’t, we don’t have the offensive firepower in 2011. And if any of you disagree with this opinion, please start by explaining how Orlando Cabrera is a #5 hitter on a major league baseball team…….

When you look at the losses and you want to rant about them it’s actually pretty difficult to do. There isn’t ONE guy to focus your rage on. Even if you say *the offense* that isn’t enough to get a slow burn going since we’ve become numb to it this year. If you bang your toe with a hammer ever day, after a while it stops hurting. That’s how I feel about this offense right now…

As much as I dislike El Presidente for his mounting failures, I have to say that his fighter-bounce-bounce thing in front of the plate was awesome. Victorino wanted NO PART of Whitey or Ramirez. And hitting him on purpose, which was obvious, was absolutely the right move. Maybe it lights a fire under them…….

By the way, a buddy of mine is doing some work for the Giants–sound system/video stuff. He could care less about baseball. The Giants gave him a dvd on Willie Mays that he gave to me. It’s called “Inside the Clubhouse: the Say Hey Kid”–22 minutes long. It’s brilliant. I’m a Mays fan just because I’m a Giants fan. But for those of you who really dig him (Pawlie comes to mind)  I’d be happy to send it to you as long as you promise to send it on to the next person who wants to see it. Either that, or just send it back to me and i’ll send it along. You might have already seen it, it was something that was produced in the off season and it looks like it was made for airing at some point in the season. It centered around his 80th birthday party with lots of great interviews and behind the scene stuff. I had always heard Willie was sort of an ass but when you listen to the interviews from all these different people it seems that I couldn’t have been worse informed. Anyway, Pawlie if you haven’t seen it and would like to check it out just email me. Anyone else, email me to and I’ll put you on the list….bigflavor77@gmail.com

Yesterday was a good example of why I’m not worried about the Snakes. When your big free agent pick up is Jason Marquis, you’ve got problems. Marquis sucks. He’s usually good against us and he sucks against everyone else. But yesterday we slapped his ass around. And Voggy showed once again why he’s the MVP of this team. Ha, kidding. No more MVP talk from me. But he’s been lights out at home and how critical will that be come playoff time?

Cabrera has been fine. Nice to see him hit something. Really, anything was going to be an upgrade over what we had. And, Cabrera does have the *experience thing* going for him. I never doubted his attitude on his teammates, he seems to be having a ball out there. Who wouldn’t after getting traded to the World Champs? It’s possible he’s going to ride that high all the way to and through the playoffs. It’s possible. I still don’t like the bad karma of picking up the arch nemesis of our World Series hero. But whatever, we have a title to defend, I’ll worry about that curse if it ever comes to pass. (Notice how I never use the word *jinx*????) 🙂

Last night was brutal. Upton’s catch was astounding. I’m not sure if Beltran can hit a ball much harder. After he got brushed back with that high fastball you could see it in his eyes that he wanted to pound the ball. He did, that’s just *tip your cap* and move on. The Snakes have one thing going for them: confidence. I think they’re just too young and clueless to know any better and I guess that’s a good thing, right?

Voggy at home is usually a pretty good bet. Will someone other than Sandoval and Beltran be able to get a hit?

Ok, let’s see how this goes if there’s a game to watch. I’d like to think that I can leave town for a while and not have to worry about the blog that we all collectively built go to sh!t overnight…..

I feel bad for A’s fans–their most important time of the year just came and went with very little to celebrate. The next 2 months is a dead time for them….

On the other hand, the Giants are just getting started. This is when they take their game to the next level. I think it’s possible that the trade deadline got into Torres’ head a little. It’s sink or swim with him right now. Same with Beltran. You’re one of the guys now dude and that doesn’t mean you’ve forgotten how to hit. Huff? It’s time for him to sit until this *back problem* clears up. He’s only hurting the team right now…

I didn’t really sweat the Cincinnati series. We got down early in all 3 games and it makes it very difficult to come back on the road when you put yourself in a hole like that. Just chalk it up to a weird series with the trade deadline approaching and being on the road in a weird ball park….

Now we come home to play the D-backs, a team that is wide eyed and clueless as they head into this post-trade deadline season. I think experience really will help guide us from here on out as there is something to be said for *been there–know how to do that*. And as much as I hate the Cabrera trade, at least he’s got that going for him…

I’m over the no-trade for a catcher thing. The fact is, we were never going to trade for a young catcher like Iannetta with Posey coming back next year. And all the old guys are only marginally better than Stew-side. I really would just go with Stewart primarily since he can at least throw and block balls. Plus, he’s the best bunter in all of baseball so that’s gotta come in handy at some point 🙂

The rest of the season starts today…..

There are an awful lot of Cabrera’s out there and this one is probably my least favorite. Forget his stats, they are underwhelming across the board. And besides his magical run with the Red Sox in 2004,  his post season stats are better left unspoken as well….

My question about this suspect pick up is rooted squarely in superstition. As many of you know, he and Edgar Renteria despise each other. When you read the verbal attacks it’s actually difficult to see who is telling the truth and who is lying–could be a mixture of both. But the fact is, our great World Series hero Edgar Renteria loathes this guy and that alone should be enough for the Karma Alarm to be going off loudly. You guys can google the Renteria/Cabrera feud, it’s long standing and easy to find on google……

I don’t care about what we gave up. Neal isn’t going to do anything at this level. But I DO care about acquiring a guy who makes Tejada, Crawford and Fontenot all look like better alternatives.

Bad trade. Dumb trade. And if Sabean was trying to rattle the cage of the post season God’s, he has done so……..

And if Sabean has one more deal left in him can it please be for a catcher? I can live with Torres the rest of the year in CF but we can’t go into the post season with “Stew-Side” behind the dish……

Well, that almost never happens. Our stud MVP bullpen went another 6 straight before finally giving in. Fontenot was abominable last night. Beltran is 1-9 since joining us. I enjoy seeing D-Train back in the league and surviving, if not dominating.

Vote time. Let’s get another POTVP in the books. Take a look to the widget to the right. Click on it. If you’ve mastered this 2-step direction you should be reading 6 *posts of the day*. One of them is more brilliant than the rest.

We have absolutely gotten inside the collective Philly dome. Can’t you just envision what last night’s food spread looked like? “It’s ok guys! We, uh, we got the first game! Yeah! We beat the hell out of ’em in Game 1! No problema! Uh, yeah, we beat Barry Zito…..long pause……And then we…..”

Reverted to form……..

What’s funny is that they might think this is psychological but as I noted before the first game, the Phillies are not exactly spring chickens anymore. Their hitters don’t inspire the same fear they once did. It’s nice to take 2 of 3 from them but the main thing I wanted to see was the character of the team and how it would hold up against the bombast of the Phillie fans, the glare of the east coast media and the overall aura of the team with the best record in the National League. Well, we started off with a Zito pearl and ended with our newest pick up doing his best Aubrey Huff 2011 impression. And yet we still took 2 of 3 from them in their yard……

The Beltran trade has meant everything. I’ve gone from envisioning this team losing in the first round of the playoffs to picking out who we are going to face in the World Series (Boston). Beltran is going to transform this offense all by himself. Besides stepping up and being the run producer we so sorely lack this year, he is going to make every hitter better by relieving the pressure each has felt to be THE GUY in this otherwise impotent line up…..

The only thing I question is Krukow’s claim on his show yesterday when he said “Beltran is a certain hall of famer.”  Huh? I don’t see how you look at Beltran’s career numbers and call him a *certain hall of famer*………

This trade is epic in the history of the SF era. Ellis Burks? Negative. Burks got a little better when he got to SF, at least that season. He was a bronze or a silver medal when he was acquired. Beltran is a gold medal. He was the main offensive player available on the current market. And Sabean went out and got him, sending Atlanta, Texas and Philly scurrying for whatever might be lurking in Room B. And he basically got him for free, only having to pay 2 million or so on the rest of the deal. I don’t sweat the cost for a second. Wheeler is a guy who *might* be our 4^th or 5^th starter in 2013. He’s no Alderson but he’s not guaranteed to be a Bumgarner either….

If people haven’t figured it out yet, the Giants are a level below the Red Sox and the Yankees in terms of the money they can spend. They’re above everyone else. The World Series win has taken the financial handcuffs off. If they have to buy an expensive #3 or #4 in 2013 they will do it without blinking. Meanwhile, we have just taken dead aim on defending our crown…….

This pick up will have direct, positive implication on several batters. Torres idolizes this dude. Huff and Sandoval no longer have to feel like they have to be THE GUY—a much better role for both of them. Not to mention the effect it will have on Beltran. Dude, you just went from a me-first clubhouse to the best player clubhouse in all of baseball. He’s going to thrive, we’re going to thrive, and if I had a hat on I would doff it with great deference to Brian Sabean for pulling off a deal I didn’t think he had in him………

Kruk’s KNBR Show hits the airwaves in a little less than an hour (usually around 7:30). He’ll be in full Zito-Defense Mode. Here are my guesses for some of the sh!t he’s gonna throw against the wall:

1) Zito was pitching well out of the wind up, it was only when he went into the stretch that he had a problem

2) His WHIP was actually quite good, only giving up 6 hits and 2 walks in 7 innings

3) He only found out he was pitching 90 minutes before the game. We should be honoring his *gamership*, not condemning the results

4) The wind was blowing out

5) The Phillies LU is outstanding, they hit everybody

Well, those are my top 5 guesses. His analysis will probably include these 5 as well as 20-30 more. The real fact is this: Zito is poison to this team. He always puts our guys on their heels by giving up a 4 or 5 spot early on. This deflates the bats and gives the opposing pitcher a ton of free confidence to go after a LU that really needs all the help it can get to begin with…..

I hope Timmy feels better today…….

I’m excited for this game tonight. Mostly, I want to see if that bat is still attached to Ryan Howard’s shoulder. I don’t watch Phillie games because I don’t have a single position player of theirs on any of my four fantasy teams. So, literally the last time I saw Howard live was when I was streaking out of my friend’s house, into the rain and down the end of the cul-de-sac with my daughter trailing behind….

This series is about one thing: pitching. The Giants and Phillies are 1/2 in ERA in all of baseball. Who’s going to blink first? I believe the Philly line up to be getting a little long in the tooth, in both age and production. Guys like Howard, Utley and Rollins, eh, they just don’t inspire the same fear they once did. And yet, the Phillies have the best record in the National League. You can’t take anything away from a 3 game series. Three games is nothing over the course of 162. I’m mostly interested in seeing how the Giants carry themselves during this trip. We are The World Champions, a fact that was magnified for every member of the organization during their trip to the White House yesterday. And now we walk into a hostile stadium to play arguably the best team in the league with the full glare of the collective east coast media. How will it turn out? Really, the anticipation is the great drama. That, and wondering if that goddamn bat is still stuck on Howard’s shoulder……..

Kidding, but I didn’t see either of the weekend games so I’m not qualified to comment on them. The box scores suggest our usual blue print for victory. After all the back and forth talk about who our team MVP is I think it’s not a single person. And no, I’m not going with the *team* nomination. It really is our bullpen. There isn’t another team in either league that comes close to the quality our bullpen. Atlanta? Sure, Venters and Kimbrel are great. That’s 2 guys. We have SEVEN (7!) arms that get called on and they almost always perform. And I credit Bochy, Raggs and Gardner for a lot of it. There are definitely some castoffs on that staff. But Bochy is as master and using them and whatever Raggs and Gardner are selling, they are buying…….

I just read Kawakami’s blog about Sabean saying “this LU needs a lot of help” and how we would likely lose to the Phillies in the playoffs. That was encouraging to see his correct take on the reality of this team. But when he says that we have “3 or 4 prospects” that he will not trade, he’s closing the door a little on getting a deal done. He could stack the LU full of “Keppinger’s”, that ain’t gonna get it done……

Sorry I was out for a few days, I’ll keep the blog running a little better from here on out……..

The Flap Fantasy Baseball Standings

(Pawlie free falls, No Talent takes the reigns at the top, and BB’s learns there’s more to just waiving Aubrey Huff if you want to dance with the big boys)

Working with some substandard equipment here so this will be quick. I caught the game from a poker table last night. The Kepp Era has started off slowly, yet predictably. I declare Milwaukee to be better than us, as we are currently constructed. I didn’t sweat the Morgan thing the way the rest of you seemed to. He’s crazy, everyone knows that.

The NL Central is a hodge podge mess right now. There are 4 teams who could win that bad boy. My guess is that The Brewers will be the team to win it in the end. Marcum is a stud but he’s dealt with a myriad of minor physical issues this year. If he’s not feeling ouchy tonight he could be tough…..

The question I have for all of you is this: We’re more than half way through the year and we’ve got some guys who have passed *scuffling* and entered *bad year* zone. Torres, Huff and Tejada are all off from last year. I would include Ross but he’s not that far off from 2010. Of these three guys, who is most likely to rise above the dregs of their sh!t year and start leading this team so desperate for offensive output.

Man, I thought I had seen a gruesome replay when I saw the Posey injury. Then I saw Stephen Drew’s injury at the plate last night. Wow, that was significantly worse. And the sick bastard that I am, I think I watched it about 10 times slowing it down frame by frame. I also watched the 2 girls/1 cup thing. That one I actually regret watching…..

I was never worried about AZ for a second, I figured they’d come in at or around .500 this year. With the loss of Drew, who actually has been hitting like crap for a while, my feelings on the D-backs haven’t really changed— at or around .500 by the end of the year…

The Dodgers are done, the Padres were done as soon as they traded A-Gon and the D-backs were never a threat. That leaves the Rockies and the only way they make a game of this is if they go on one of their 2nd half runs. Does anyone see that coming? Well, we didn’t see it coming when they did it before so I guess it’s possible……

I appreciated Sabean’s honesty yesterday when he said, basically, that this team is lucky to be where they are, that the offense sucks and he’s looking to upgrade any position whenever he can. Now THAT is a GM who isn’t content to sit back on last year’s laurels and who realizes we have little to no chance this post season if we go into it with the offense we have now. Keppinger is a start, though a slow one. Baggs mentioned Cuddyer but I am not that big of a fan. Again, he’s better than what we have and maybe that’s all we need, but I am leery of guys switching leagues mid season—that can always go either way and I don’t think he’s ever played in the NL. Regardless, he’s on the phone and he’s totally clued in to the upgrades that are mandatory if we are to get through the first round of the playoffs and beyond…..

While it’s nice to see him working a deal, he’s going to have to catch up to the fact that he can’t trade the Henry Sosa’s of the system and get anything more than the “Keppinger’s” of the world. I know he doesn’t want to trade Wheeler but he needs to consider it. At the very least send a *Neal* or two somewhere. As long as we bump the quality of this offense up a little more we will have a realistic shot at repeating. And who wouldn’t trade Wheeler if it meant another run like last year?

As I noted early on, Vogelsong is nothing if not gritty and gutty. You can see it on his face and in the way he pitches. He’s been a revelation this year, there are no more words to describe him. We wouldn’t be in first place without him…..

With the rumor that the Rockies are going to become sellers, I think we can safely wrap up the western division right now. Arizona is a paper tiger. Sabean can concentrate on adding a middle infielder or a catcher at the break. Or later. I’ve crossed outfielder off our list of needs since Nate has solidified his role as clean up hitter and obvious team MVP. And Ross is doing enough to hold down the other corner spot. Torres and Huff continue to fail but they aren’t going anywhere so just buckle up and get used to it……..

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(Dirt makes a big 4.5 point move and at 12:29am The Aubrey Huff Era ended for BB’s. He hit the waiver wire. You think he cares about contracts? Baha. You produce on that man’s team or you stand in the freaking corner with your head down!)

Coaxing walks, stealing bases, bunting….Yesterday’s game had it all. For a team that rarely does any of those things, well or otherwise, yesterday’s game was a pleasure to watch. They played a side of the game they usually ignore and I hope we see them do it more often…..

Yesterday’s game was loaded with *moments* and it’s the reason this team keeps on winning more than they lose:

If you think about it, Zito’s Law unfolded perfectly last night. After 3 promising starts off the DL he must have made believers out of at least some fans. In one of my fantasy leagues, where he has languished on the waiver wire for the better part of the last 3 years, he was one of the most picked up players last week from the waiver wire. So he tricked a few lost souls into believing in him and he broke their hearts last night. It happens…….

We can’t do anything about Zito except take our medicine. Dirrrrrty will be out at least 10 more days–wow, can you imagine the chaos Zito could inflict on those 2 box scores?

Here’s the thing I really want to know about Zito: Did last night’s implosion cause him to lose all of or part of the faux-confidence he took from those first 3 starts off the DL? It’s a tough thing to gauge since no one has the faintest clue of what baseline is for Zito’s psyche…….

I like the move to bring Sanchez up. Even though he isn’t hitting for power in Fresno he’s got to be a better offensive threat than either of the guys we trot out there these days. Sabean is taking a look at this kid NOW, maybe it’s one less piece he has to go get before the trade deadline. No harm in seeing what’s in-house. I’m a little worried about his game calling ability but we’ve got a vet staff that SHOULD know how to call their own game anyway…..

Nice to see Ross get going a bit. He’s been hitting the ball much better lately, though he has only the one HR in his last 7 at bats. I think Bochy sees that Ross might be entering one of his hot streaks and will play him more over the next week. Rowand will start today in place of Torres. His average has come down a bit vs lefties this year but he’s still hitting .350 against them with an OPS near .900–that train gets ridden until it runs out of coal……..

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(things have gotten awfully bunchy in the 5–9 spots. Berra’s B’s continue to impress and surprise…)

What can you say about last night’s win? After Tejada and Torres failed miserably with the bases loaded and nobody out, our ol’ fallback (the other team making a mistake) came to the rescue yet again. Thank God for Gregerson, he actually should have been player of the game……

Timmy going tonight. I don’t know much at all about Moseley. His 2-8 record is offset by a 3.21 ERA so apparently he’s got a little “Bumgarner” luck in him….

Short and sweet today, see you guys……..

I was surprised to see only 7 games scheduled for today. Luckily, we are one of them. I can’t wait, it feels like a month since the last game……

Tim Kawakami actually wrote a decent piece today in his blog. Because of the $ still owed to Beltran this year there aren’t that many teams willing to trade for him. And Kawakami is right, this deal shouldn’t take Wheeler or Belt. The *Neal/Culberson* range is more like it. Throw in Hinshaw just cause lefties are always valued and I’m tired of seeing him wear that stupid, over-sized hat.

But here is the deal: Sabean is a little out of his league when it comes to adding a high profile rental. I don’t think he has any idea what to offer or how to negotiate this. I’d say the last deal he did like this was probably picking Winn up, but Winn didn’t have the resume that Beltran has. You could argue that he hasn’t pulled off a big mid season trade since the ’97 deal for Alvarez, Darwin and Hernandez. But those were all pitchers—that’s his thing. Trading for a stud hitter mid season? He’s never done it before…….

And we absolutely need to do a deal for another hitter. I would agree that this division is probably won with no moves made but don’t kid yourself, this offense is significantly worse than last year’s playoff team. It’s not even close, actually. If we started a playoff game today we would be missing Posey, Freddy Sanchez, Juan Uribe and Edgar Renteria. And we would essentially be missing Burrell,  Ross, Huff and Torres as well since those guys are shells of what they were last year. Replacing all those guys with Tejada and Whiteside and Fontenot and Jesus Christ  I can’t even type another name! It’s hideous. This team would hit .150 against the Philly pitchers in the playoffs. With no home runs…….

Our playoff batting average wasn’t too hot last year. I don’t have the number, I think Twin cited .235 but I don’t remember if that was WS or total playoff average. But what our hitters did last year, really from Sept 1st onward, is come up with the big home runs and timely hits that this crew just doesn’t have in them. We don’t have a hitter on the team with a double digit home run total. That is a staggering stat and an embarrassing one at that……..

So go get Beltran. And while you are at it go get a catcher and a 2nd baseman. And a shortstop. Succeeding in the playoffs this year demands aggressive moves for the offense BEFORE the trade deadline………