A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball

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……..

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(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………

This break is interminable…..

It was great to see so many Giants taking up spots in the dugout. Seeing Bochy running that show of all stars really hit home for me that we are the center of the baseball world this year. And for once, our players actually performed well and contributed. Pablo hit an impossible pitch for a double and Bee-Wheezy stepped back on to the national stage without breaking stride. Bochy outmanaged  Washington (again) and the final score really wasn’t as close as it looked…

I missed probably about a third of the game and unfortunately I missed Wilson’s line up read as well as Heath Bell’s slide into the game. Both sounded classic. After Wilson’s comments about Beltran in the LU Read I think the writing is on the wall: Beltran is going to be a Giant……

That’s what the all-star game has become. I’ll probably watch the game but I’m not building it into the schedule or anything. If it’s on, it’s on. The all star game has sucked for many years now and it isn’t because of all the low scoring games. And it won’t be because of all the stars who sat home this year (go take a look at those line ups, there are studs up and down each league’s line up). What the all star game has missed (and will probably miss this year)  is some spontaneous fun. The last all star game moment I remember off hand is the 1993 game when John Kruk faced Randy Johnson. Both of those guys were just having fun with the moment and everyone watching it, fans, players, etc, just kind of fed of it. And that’s how all star game moments are born, that’s how the game becomes interesting. Lasorda dodging the bat was another great moment. Obviously you can’t plan for things like that–there’s no way to “vote a priceless moment” into the game.

The players need take the field with the idea of having some fun out there–maybe even have a few scripted things prepared like TO’s sharpie game (how classic would it be if Fielder hit a bomb and then knelt down and signed home plate? Bobby V could auction it off for Tsunami relief). If moments like that unfold, I think the game tonight will have a chance to be quite entertaining. Baseball is a lot of things but *funny* isn’t one of them. So when something funny does happen you notice it, you enjoy it. I’m not saying they should go out there and turn the field into a Rooster T-Feathers stage. They need to try to win for the WS home field advantage thing. But take the field with a mindset of having fun and good things will unfold and this game will actually end up being entertaining. Do I think this is going to happen? Unlikely…….

I actually found the HR Derby contest to be quite entertaining and not just because I picked the longshot Cano to win the whole thing. As I sat there marveling at the 450-480 feet home runs that each player blasted out consistently it hit me that they were using juiced balls for the game. In fact, I thought it was obvious, especially with A-Gon and Cano still hammering them to the moon in Round 3. Then I check the internet this morning and there’s no article even questioning the balls. I still think they were juiced. Selig needed to get some interest pumped back into this event and what better way to do that than use balls that fly a million miles?

I’m not feeling too hot today so I’m gonna let you guys take this one.

UPDATE**********

It’s 4pm. Get your Derby picks in before they start. You get to choose 2 guys……..

How great will it be when the Panda makes the all star game later today? Supposedly, if Polanco doesn’t play today then he won’t play in the all star game. He shouldn’t play regardless. He’s got a bulging disc, why wouldn’t he take the all star break and use it to rest? If I’m a Philly fan I wouldn’t want it any other way.

And how great will it be to see Timmy and Pablo side by side, two of the great characters in all of baseball, representing us at the all star game? And Pablo would be the perfect pick to stir up the national uproar you get every year about someone *undeserving* making the team. Screw that. The all star game is all about entertainment. If it were only about stats then just let a computer pick the team. But that’s not how it’s done, the fans pick the majority of the players. they don’t want to see a stat sheet they want to see an entertaining game.

Who’s more entertaining? The Panda or Polanco? There’s no question about it: Panda should be at the 2011 all star game…….

I know it should just be about impossible to be upset about being in first place but I’m having no problem whatsoever getting there. Aubrey Huff needs to sit down for at least a week. He’s got 2 RBI’s in his last 11 games—and both of those were in that 15-3 laugher when they weren’t even needed. He hasn’t hit a home run since June 2nd. He has ONE extra base hit since June 23rd. That’s almost impossible to to believe and he’s making me miss Molina’s dry spells as the clean up hitter…..

Marty Lurie has been talking about picking up Beltran, non-stop, for about 2 months now. I want Sabean to acquire him for no other reason than I can’t listen to Lurie talk about it anymore. But seriously, I am totally on board with a Beltran trade. I suspect you wouldn’t have to give up as much as you think since he’s an unbelievably expensive rental–you lose him at the end of the year plus he’s still owed 9 million for the rest of this year. Not a lot of clubs are looking to take on 9 million more for a rental. You wouldn’t have to give up Dirrrrrty or Belt. It’s not gonna get done with Burriss, Gillespe etc either. Maybe Nate and a B-room pitcher………

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(Pawlie continues to dominate like “mall tits on a hot Summer afternoon”. Kevin reaches for the gas mask with a 5.5 point drop and picking up my cast off Matt Capps ain’t gonna help you much.  He’s the Dr. Kevorkian of closers)

While I am of course happy the Giants won last night I’m not going to starting singing Zito’s praises. He deserves some credit for pitching 3 good games in a row. But I am sticking to the facts: the first one was against the Cubs who swung at everything he threw up there, the next game was that weird rain delay game, and last night he handled the Padres, a team that might have a worse offense than we do. So I am not a believer of any of this. He still sucks.

I will give him credit for pitching in the strike zone better than I’ve ever seen him do it. There’s nothing more infuriating than watching Zito pitch and be deathly afraid of contact….

While I’m happy he’s not imploding, I will never trust him before one of his starts. I might be the last one shaking my head *no* but I will never believe in Barry Zito. Call it *hating* or whatever, but I just don’t believe in any of this right now…….

Yes, I did stay up till the end. I have a friend in town and he would have called me a huge pussy if I had gone to bed before that one ended. I would argue that was one of Kuip’s worst home run calls ever. Not sure if he was watching that one on tv when he called it but he didn’t really get into it till it clanged into the stands…….

What a great game for Torres. Of course he had the hits but his catch (can’t remember the inning) was fantastic—every bit as good as the overrated Willie Mays catch. It was a game that perfectly gave 2 middle fingers to Chad Qualls and his gay bounced ball……..

Panda’s game tying hit was one of the sweetest swings on a tough pitch that I’ve ever seen. Not that it matters much who is hitting clean up but I don’t understand why it’s Huff and not The Panda. Huff has absolutely nailed down and patented the 3 hopper to 1st or 2nd base–not sure why that qualifies him to bat clean up…….

I gave Panda POTG for 2 reasons: 1) there is no extra innings without him and 2) it was an impossible pitch that he hammered. The bullpen did a great job but striking out a bunch of Padres is what everyone does. NOT everyone can hit that Adams pitch the way Panda did…….

With nearly 3000 team at bats in the books, it’s pretty hard to argue that we have some “slow starters” on the team right now. This is who they are this year. A team that is hitting .242  collectively, with a .671 OPS. We are missing a few pieces from last year (Uribe, Posey and Sanchez), but is this a result of the subtraction of those guys or something else?

I had an “ah ha” moment during the game last night when the camera panned to Burrell and Ross chewing seeds on the bench. I know they are hurt but they looked quite content–like they could do that the rest of the year. And when you think about it, they already have something that they didn’t have last year—a World Series ring. That was a magical run they went on last year. It was partially fueled by something most of them didn’t have–a ring.

Now, I’m not saying any of them are dogging it or mailing in their at bats. But they simply can’t be fueled by the same fire they had last year. I think it would be normal to expect a decline in motivation this year. Or maybe I’m talking about passion. I don’t know.

What I do know is that we are past half way through the season and no one (except Pablo) is stepping up. I have a new appreciation for Miggy, mostly because I feel like he’s the only one busting his ass on every play. He’s also the only one without a ring. Obviously, his stats aren’t reflective of the effort he’s putting in on the field. But he’s driven by the same desire that the rest of the guys were driven by last year. If he could somehow share that with the rest of the guys we might be on to something. But he can’t, they already used it last year…….

The bottom line is that we didn’t have any margin for error last year. It took every single guy performing at their peak in critical moments to make 2010 happen. Any drop off, and we lose that edge. And that’s what I think is lacking this season. Short of a trade or 4, I don’t see this offense doing enough to get back to the playoffs this year…….

I don’t know why we can’t hit Richard. He was lucky last year and he’s been imminently hittable this year. THis guy has a WHIP nearing Tyler Walker Territory. Whatever, it was just a bad game, I guess. Maybe we had a bit of a hangover from the road trip….

Timmy sucked again. In fact, the entire team (except Pablo) looked flat. I hope we don’t fall into a rut against the Padres again, we play 20% of our remaining games against them this year……

Anna is offering up her July 7th tickets. There are two of them. It’s a 7:15pm game. Email me if you want them. They’re free as usual and as usual ANNA RULES……

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(Haven’t posted them in a while. Not much has changed. Pawlie still rules our world. Blade is making a little noise. BB’s has settled nicely into the mid 40’s)

Hey Flappers— July 4th, my favorite day of the year, for many reasons. I hope you guys eat, drink and do whatever it is you do to celebrate this great day. Here’s hoping Timmy goes out there and pulls a “Righetti” today v the Padres……..

Ugly. Hot and Ugly. Around the 7th hole I thought I was gonna lose San Dog and had no idea how I was gonna break it to the blog that he died from heat stroke during a round of golf. But he bounced back and we had a kickass time. Looks like the Flappers nailed it…….

15 runs? 5+ hour game? Just another typical W for this team. Offensive contributions from unlikely offensive sources. But really, when you look at this line up, who among them strikes you as a *likely* source of offensive production? That’s actually one of the things that is hindering Sabean making a move—there are so many positions he could fill with a trade but each game one of the current guys pops up with production that makes him go “hmmm, maybe he’s turning it around.” But, it’s never real and they slip right back into a prolonged slump. But really, Sabean could trade for an OF, a 2nd baseman, a shortstop, a 1st baseman and/or a catcher and on paper it would be an instant upgrade……..

TedSpe has won the contest. He didn’t even need today’s stats for the win. Truth be told I was kinda rooting for San Dog a little bit. He and I are playing golf today and I thought it would be pretty amazing to also had him over tickets to a game. But it was not to be, Ted stole that from me. Goddamn you Ted….Ha.

And now to a new contest that really is just a poll, you will get nothing from me for winning. To handicap it for you, I haven’t played golf in nearly 3 years (though used to be able to shoot in the 80’s consistently) and  the round is at my dad’s club (home course knowledge). I’ve got no idea if San Dog has game but I’ve met him before and he looks like a player…….

After Burriss bungled that ball I was preparing myself for this loss. In a weird, dysfunctional way, I was almost asking for it just to be pissed off. And when Bosch (not interested in how to spell his name) hit that liner I was certain the game was over. And then *poof* we win. Crazy.

Here are the players for the tix. I know it was short notice and if you win and can’t go I’ll give em away.

Giants Runs                                      Tigers runs                             total sbs

Me                                      7                        13               5

MacDog                             10                      12              3

BillBill                              10                        7                3

Kevin                                 9                         4                2

Chuck                                 8                         7               3

San Dog                            13                        7               4

Dennis                              10                       11              3

BirdDog                            9                         14             5

BigSarge                           8                           7              2

Kokonuts                         11                         7              4

Ted                                       14                       9              4

Sorry about the formatting, I could have *snipped* it or done some word doc, this was easier but it looks like the columns aren’t lining up. I’m not sweating it………

Quick contest but it will keep our misery away from certain painful realities. That could be baseball or life, you pick………

Again, thank you ANNA for offering up your tix for this game. She gave 2 to a buddy of mine last week and they had a great time. One thing about this blog that I will never get over, the generosity of everyone is something to appreciate. It’s human nature unfolding before our eyes; often it’s the human nature that is the exact opposite of your usual anonymous angry blogging sports fan……….

Hi–So it’s not going to be a contest for one of Twin’s kickass units. But one of our bloggers (Mailorderbride) wants to give her tickets away for the July 6th game v the Padres. The 2 seats are right behind homeplate in the view box section of the park. Even if you can’t go, enter the contest, you can give the tickets away if you win and can’t go.

Here’s the contest: How many runs will the Giants score in their 3 game series v the Tigers? First tie breaker is how many runs the Tigers will score. Second tie breaker is how many combined stolen bases the 2 teams have. So, submit 3 numbers to me at bigflavor77@gmail.com

I realize the game is starting in 3 hours so we might not have too many contestants but let’s see what we can get and have some fun. Thank you, in advance, Mailorderbride for this generous offer……

Pitching match ups:

Bum v Penny

Zito v Sherzer

Voggy v Porcello

they’re both pretty slow, Giants are 21st in league in SB’s, Tigers near the bottom at 27th…..

Can you imagine if a guy like Carlos Zambrano was on out pitching staff? His head might literally explode after a while of pitching with this offense behind him. Guys like that don’t fit on this team. I believe that our starting 5 thrive off the badge of honor they wear out to the mound every time one of them takes the hill. They’re probably almost embarrassed if they get more than 2 runs scored for them. I fully believe that they are all better pitchers because they accept the inevitable, that this offense is never going to get them a lot of runs on a consistent basis. And I bet they would each be a worse pitcher if they pitched for another team…….

I didn’t see the game, so it didn’t crush me like the rest of you. There’s something about looking at a box score that doesn’t sting as much as watching the horror unfold with your eyes.  I think it’s time for Rowand get some starts against righties. Either that or let Torres bat against some lefties. Andres is lost right now and trotting him out there at bat after at bat isn’t working. He is the gas that fuels this bus. Without him producing, that Badge of Honor our Starting 5 wear is only going to get bigger and shinier. And probably more meaningful to each of them……..

I really do. I don’t know why, maybe it’s his name. I have know a couple of hot women named Ryan in my life and I don’t like dude’s named “Ryan”. One of them spells her name “Rian”. That’s almost more annoying than Dempster’s dominance tonight……

I haven’t read anything tonight, I just saw a random rumor on the last messed up thread about us re-acquiring Uribe.

I would be 100% in support of that. This team needs something. It’s needs his mojo. And his mojo doesn’t work unless it’s connected to AT&T Park. He can play SS this year or 2nd, whatever. Just bring him back. I know what his numbers are, they are about what I thought he’d do away from AT&T. There’s magic inside, and Juan gets that NOW  it’s got nothing to do with pussy white and blue. Black and Orange, baby. That’s where your colors are………

Unfortunately, I don’t think Juan would want to come back. That story that leaked about the 45K he owed his landlord didn’t come from the landlord. Someone in the org leaked it. He left over a million bucks, there were other things going on. But both parties should put their petty differences aside and remember what made them both their strongest: each other.

I want Juan Uribe back on this team………..

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(At this point in the year, dropping 7 on us is huge (Blade). BB continues his assault on his next victim)

The dream of seeing Zito’s re-worked mechanics producing more velocity died early for me last night. Instead of 83-84mph he was going 84-85mph. Sorry, that still ain’t gonna cut it. And his curve ball was average. Reed Johnson leading off the game and striking out swinging on a ball above his eyeballs, kinda told you what their game plan was going to be against Zito. Over-anxious hitters combined with some luck and a fantastic defensive play by Crawford allowed us all to exhale safely after Zito pitched 7 serviceable innings. Ironically, he did go 7, something Dirrrty Sanchez has managed to do only once in his last 7 starts. And hey, securing your 2nd win in nearly a year had to feel good, too.

I don’t hate Zito, I believe he is putting in maximum effort expected for a guy who’s making 126 million. I just don’t believe he will ever be able to be consistently serviceable as a #5 with his current velocity. He simply doesn’t have the command necessary to do it without a ton of luck, which he had going for him yesterday. Unusual, since paragraph 3, line 7 of *Zito’s Law* clearly states that “at no time will Zito ever benefit from any luck during a start.”

I am imagining that there will be another fallout from Zito’s return, and we may have seen a prelude to it yesterday. The aura that Voggy carried during so many of his starts while Zito was on the shelf seemed to evaporate yesterday. One bad start does not a regression make, but it could be a warning to heed: Zito is back and all the good mojo and vibes you once had can be taken away in an instant by the return of “Zito’s Law”………

The best thing we can hope for is that Sanchez has a re-birth coming off the DL similar to the one he had when he went to the bullpen in 2009 and he can be counted on to take over for Zito before he does too much damage to that impressive team ERA/WHIP……

Sierrra Nevada’s post at the end of the last thread was too good to let die there and I am interested in all your thoughts about the way McCourt was running the team. I honestly didn’t understand everything he was doing but the basic gist of it was that money that was supposed to be shared with other owners was getting diverted back to McCourt. Here’s the link to the rather complicated flow chart: http://www.dodgerdivorce.com/2011/06/mechanics.html

And here is SN’s post. Thanks for doing my work for me today, dude. I could have discussed the irony of Zito and Voggy pitching today’s double header but most of it would have just been obvious observations:

Getting back to the question Flavor asked of “are other owners getting away with the same kind of arrangements?”, I would bet that the answer is yes and no.

Yes, in the sense that the league expects a team with attendance and revenue issues to do whatever it takes to stay afloat, and is happy to dole out revenue sharing to such teams as a way of keeping team values up and always on the rise.

But teams like the Yankees and Dodgers are expected to make money and be feeders of the revenue sharing system. So for them, the answer is No. The sin that McCourt has committed is he took a team that owned its own stadium and could be reasonably expected to be a profit center for the league in perpetuity, and turned it into a revenue sink. What McCourt has done has basically fucked the league’s basic economic model. You can bet that the other owners, particularly the ones that count on revenue sharing to fund their “lifestyle” are not going to be too keen on seeing that happen. Not to mention the players association – if the other cash cows of the league get hollowed out like the Dodgers have, the free agent market collapses, because there will be no “profitable teams” to spend lavishly on FA’s and the small market teams will have to live within their means, which means no big free agents for them at all.

The only question is, can McCourt take the league down with him? When betting on legal outcomes, the rule is “bet on the side that has the richest guys”. Normally that means that the rich guys who own the rest of the teams in MLB win the day. But McCourt has borrowed a lot of money from a lot of rich guys to fund his scheme, and they will be on his side if a league victory means they don’t get paid. If McCourts debt has reached “too big to fail” territory, the league is fucked.

I know it’s probably not good for baseball, but seeing the Dodgers file for bankruptcy had me smiling a bit over my morning coffee. After being morally bankrupt for years this is a fitting compliment…….

Nice to have an off day today. With 6 games in 5 days we will need it. I’m not sure who takes the extra start this week. Mota? Probably. There isn’t anyone to call up. What worries me is the Zito start. Once he goes his usual 4.1 the bullpen will be taxed for that game and then I’m not sure how we go Mota/Affeldt on the extra game. I guess we’ll see what happens……

I took the time to appreciate that start from Bumgarner last night. After a total fail the start before he bounced back big time on the national stage. The Tribe left here beaten, broken, dazed and confused……..

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(I only dropped 2 pts and it could have been worse. My pitching staff went 1.1 innings yesterday with a tidy 60.75 ERA and a sleek 8.25 WHIP. It wasn’t all bad, I think it prepared me well for Zito’s start this week)

Lost in all the commotion of Dirrrrty heading to the DL, Zito returning and the clever ways we have developed to score a run is this nugget: Since The Mad Bum Implosion Inning our pitching staff has pitched 44 innings and given up 6 runs. When your pitching staff is dropping a 1.22 ERA on teams you can tolerate having a horrid offense–possibly the worst in either league……

So let’s assume Dirrrrty isn’t hurt and there isn’t any question whatsoever about his health. What is his trade value right now? It’s not hard to see that it’s a little on the low end but some of you might argue that his value is always pretty high. I’m fine with that for the sake of this next vote. Because he’s a FA next year I highly doubt that the Mets would agree to this deal. Another thing to keep in mind as you thoughtfully consider where to assign your single precious vote: assume that Reyes walks at the end of the year so we are only getting him for the rest of this year and the playoffs. Also assume that if we didn’t trade Sanchez he would sign another 1 year deal with us for approximately the same as he’s making this year (4.8 mill)

I know it won’t happen right away since they need him to pitch in one of the extra games added next week, but Bochy made it clear that Zito replacing Sanchez in the rotation would be a distinct possibility. It actually seems like a no-brainer to me. Dirrrrty has been awful this year. When you lead the league in walks allowed there’s really no way you’re going to be able to pitch deep into a game consistently. He’s wearing on the bullpen and the defense who has to stand out there motionless as he continues to offer free passes to the hitters. Ironically, he’s been a lot like Zito–a guy who you hold your breath with every time he takes the mound….

But there is precedent for some hope right now. Someone here will correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Dirrrrrty turn his 2009 season around when it was at it’s lowest? I can’t remember if he was yanked from the rotation or if he had just been pitching poorly, but his no-hitter v the Padres was a turning point for him in his career. He might have had a good start before that, too. I’ll let you all remind me of the details…..

But right now feels a lot like it did back then—-he was at his lowest and then……boom. He took off like a rocket ship……

Watching Jonathan’s body language, it’s obvious that he’s got a lot going on in his head. Honestly, he never really looks happy to me. I’m sure he’s spending all his emotional energy on trying to figure this out. It’s just not happening for him right now. But I do believe in him and I have faith that he will rebound in a way similar to the way he did in the Summer of 2009. One of my favorite blog moments of that season was immediately after the no-hitter when Mr DJ Loo re-posted a collection of posts that many of us had recently made about Dirrrrty–obviously all negative.

All I know for certain is that Zito is coming back. He will be returning to games with his usual inglorious aura of negativity and failure. Hopefully, it will last just long enough for Jonathan to get his confidence back. Be careful what you write about him during this down time in his career–it will come back to haunt you later. 🙂

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(Pawlie continues with his beatdown and surges to a 10 point lead while Ferretball tries to right her rudderless ship)

I’ll be honest, I don’t follow the Indians all that closely. But when I look at their roster, I have a hard time understanding how they are in first place. Their starting pitching is painfully average. They don’t have an ace on the staff. Perez is an ok closer, I guess–certainly not dominant. And their best hitter (Hafner) hits the bench for this series. I like Michael Brantley a lot, he’s a nice young hitter to watch. All in all, I think our pitching is going to completely shut down the Indians this weekend. They’re going to leave here dazed and confused, wandering through the rest of their inter-league trip racking up the losses……

Weird offensive series for Minnesota. They drop 8 on us in the first inning of Game 1 and then score 3 runs over the next 26 innings……..

Torres needs to get it going this weekend. He was given 2 days off to clear his head and it’s time to start producing. He’s not injured as far as I can tell. Our outfield production is just a joke this year. In fact, if you’re Sabean you could make a case to make a trade for a new starter at the following positions: catcher, shortstop, second base and outfield (maybe 2 outfielders). He might only end up doing a deal to fill one of those slots but it really is discouraging to look at so many gaps in our line up……

I’ve run out of words to describe my man-love for Ryan Vogelsong. His ERA sits at 1.86. He’s 2 innings away from qualifying for being the league leader in ERA (Jurrgens is next at 2.11 followed by Tommy Hanson at 2.48). Trip on that, he’s more than half a run AHEAD of the dude in 3rd place. His stat lines actually remind me a lot of Billy Swift’s time spent here in SF (low ERA, low WHIP, low SO total)…..

No comment about the offense. Nice night for Whitey but when he’s the dude driving in your runs you are not going to win too many games. Way too many guys still not driving the ball…….

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(Pawlie dominates as I close in on him and The Bombers cut it to single digits on Dirt…)

There are actually a lot of positives…..

1) We outscored them 2-1 over the final 8 innings.

2) Mota was brilliant and kept the pen as fresh as you can possibly keep it considering the circumstances he was faced with……

3) Bumgarner learned a little about pitching. You can’t throw pitch after pitch straight down the middle over and over again. It would be nice if Whiteside had a clue to try to disrupt that but he doesn’t. And as weak as Bum looked on the mound he was 10 feet tall in the dugout. Sticking around showed me a lot about his character……….

4) I finished some projects around the house……

Voggy goes today. He’s got 8 straight starts of allowing 0-2 runs. I fully expect him to keep that streak going today……

I had a buddy call me yesterday wanting to know if I thought Burriss or Ford were worth picking up off his waiver wire  in a fantasy baseball. He’s desperate for sb’s and isn’t much of a Giants fan so he was wondering if I thought they’d be able to pick up a few random sb’s in the coming weeks (he called me before Ford got sent down). Anyway, I told him I didn’t think either can get on base enough to ever get the chance, though Burriss might get his pinch run vulture sb opportunities now and again. At least before he gets sent down to AAA, which will probably happen soon.

It got me to wondering, why aren’t more of these super-fast guys good at baseball. I mean, they obviously are good enough to make it to the major leagues, but their speed doesn’t seem to ever translate into something dominant or even playable at this level. Why is that?

My theory is that speed is like a drug for scouts. They see it, they love it, they take it in even though they know it’s probably not good for them in the end. And the Fords and Burriss’ can definitely use their speed to motor through the lower levels. But I think it masks certain major gaps they have in their overall game–they can’t hit for power (or at all), they have no intuition or baseball knowledge, they can’t bunt or take a walk. Why can’t they at least learn how to bunt or take a walk? Basically, the game doesn’t come easy to them; except when they get to kick that gift into high  gear. The problem is, they don’t get the opportunity to go full speed that often. Put another way, once they get to first base they turn into Rickey Henderson. It’s the “getting on first base part” that’s the problem….

It makes me think that when you are talking *best player of all time* you almost have to include Rickey in the discussion. Ok, maybe not *Best Ever*. But 297 bombs coupled with 1,406 stolen bases, man, that’s a mind blowing exacta…..

XOOT actually won the vote for “Post of this Voting Period” but I gave it to Bill2 because I didn’t think Xoot would want his call out of Murph on the main page for such a long period of time. Of course, if he doesn’t mind I will slap it up there, it would just need a few edit corrections….

and just for the hell of it…

I think Mr DJ Loo has taken over Bagg’s Blog. His Soriano/Zambrano for Zito/Rowand has his finger prints all over it. Of course, I don’t see any team ever trading for Zito, regardless of how much salary they get to dump. About the only way I see a trade like that going down is if the Giants paid most of Zito’s contract, too. And that would just be idiotic. Plus, Sabean would never take in a lunatic like Zambrano……..

Why don’t we see more of those bad salary for bad salary deals? Does it ever happen? I can’t think of any. The only two reasons I can think of is that most of those high salary guys have no-trade clauses and they kill the deals and/or GM’s are afraid of how the  deal will turn out. Not only do these GM’s look like idiots for giving out mega-deals that fail but can you imagine how dumb they’d look if the bust player they traded turns it around on his new team? That would be *double* the reason to fire you. In fact, the Angels GM, Tony Reagins, is probably looking at the unemployment line at the end of the season if his mindblowingly stupid acquisition of Vernon Wells continues to look as bad as it does today……..

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(a slow Sunday with not a lot of movement except a couple of big point drops from yours truly and Chuck)

How about we settle who the POTVP is going to be. Look to the right and click on the link that says “This Voting Period’s Posts of the Day” and vote for your favorite. There are five to chose from.

If you haven’t read it yet, go check out Stewart’s fill-in blog post for Baggs today. Wow, I guess this guy doesn’t have to walk into the clubhouse ever. He second guesses Bochy and then skewers Sanchez. Then he goes on to rip the entire offense. Hey, we can do it on our fan blogs but I was surprised to read someone do it in an established media outlet like the Merc. I think he went overboard on Sanchez………

Last night’s game was bad, probably the worst we have played all season. And yet we still only lost 4-2. It felt like 14-2 but with our bullpen we will almost always be in a game to the end. I am hoping that Bochy is finally starting to realize that Nate is more valuable coming off the bench late. We should have had BOTH Burrell and Hall playing in this series, especially with the DH option–they represent some pop and this line up is desperate for it. And yet they both languished away on the bench last night (besides 1 ph for Burrell). Dumb. They should both be in the LU today……

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(Dennis and Blade slip back while Orbo re-starts his engines and sets his sights on Dirt)

Gawd, have we really been tolerating this gig since 1997? When I looked it up I thought it was going to be closer to 2001. Inter league play was fun when it started. It’s not fun now. How can the Chronicle label this “The Bay Bridge Series”? It’s just a random series against a truly boring team. Who do we have next? Minnesota—the worst team in the AL.  Then the Indians. Wow, can’t wait to see Michael Brantley in person. Unless you’re getting the Red Sox or the Yankees, inter league play is one giant bore. And it dilutes the World Series a bit, too. I love that the DH is in the American league, it’s the only thing that really differentiates the two leagues. But after watching 9 or 10 games ALREADY in the season, you get to the World Series and just go, “huh. I saw all this already.” Get rid of inter league play…….

Last night’s game was like almost all of our losses–nobody stepped up late to win it. It would be nice if Bochy stopped batting Huff in the 4 hole. I realize it won’t make that much difference since it’s always random who steps up for us late, but just on principle I’d like to see someone different. Put Ross in there, he’s hitting the ball harder than anyone. Bochy gets locked into wanting to put a proven, RBI guy in that slot but that’s the WRONG approach t0 take since almost all of our late inning hero’s come from just about any other spot in the line up. But, like I said, it would just be for looks, I don’t think it really matters where our hitters hit in the line up……..

I’m lovin’ me some Dirrrrty on the bump tonight. He usually pitches well against them. Keep Bill Hall in there at 2nd base for a while. Burriss has blown his chance and Hall at least gives you a chance to run into one……….

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(Blade sharpens his tools with a 4.5 gain, Berra’s Bombers seems to have slipped into a low-40’s rut. Wither Orbo?)

I don’t know why, but I’ve always thought of winning a series as “dusting” a team. It’s kinda *sweep* related and it sounds like a fairly disrespectful thing to do to someone. Anyway, that’s how my tortured mind works……By the way, the Snakes are clearly significantly worse than we are. Despite how boring and uninspiring our offense is, there just isn’t a team in the NL West that even remotely scares me……..

Timmy needs to get it going tonight against someone named “Godfrey”. His velocity has been fine, but his location has been crap. I wonder if we’ll see Stewart catch him tonight? I know Whitey got a hit this week, but it’s possible that Tim is just a little out of whack with El President catching. It’s possible and it probably doesn’t take much of a jolt to disrupt that complicated delivery. Anyway, Lincecum is the #5 right now so I’m gonna cut him some slack if he doesn’t do well tonight 🙂 ……

It’s possible that Fontenot is going to replace Burriss when he comes off the DL. That would be disappointing but not totally surprising. Burriss has not taken advantage of his opportunities to play. He might bring more to the team with his skills but Bochy will want a guy who isn’t going to make mistakes as often and that’s Fontenot.  And we will likely get an upcoming opportunity to see what Bill Hall is going to bring to the table. If it’s an occasional bomb that might be enough to get him a lot of playing time at second base……..

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(FerretHead has had ENOUGH and drops a 3 spot on us. Pawlie stands proud at the top of a mountain he’s known well this year….”

I didn’t see the game, I was busy playing softball getting the be-jesus kicked out of us. I read at Baggs blog that Hall is exited to have found a mechanical issue in his swing that he thinks will yield new results. Hey, I guess it’s possible. The dude has really only had one good year and I just assumed that was a *steroid* year. But if BamBam has found a flaw and he corrects it, then we could be looking at “Burrell 2011”. I am in a wait and see mode on this, though…….

The Snakes are who I thought they were: decent team, nothing to be afraid of, though. They are in pretty big doo-doo if Putz’ back stays balky. He’s been lights out this year but not last night. When Eli Whiteside is driving the ball you might not be pitching at your physical peak….

Read that Baggs thinks Cervelli would cost a “Wheeler or more”. That is absurd and I refuse to believe it. Maybe Runzler but I bet you could get away with 2 B-grade lefties from the farm system–Hinshaw and ? It just CANNOT be this hard to find a serviceable catcher and if it is then it was idiotic to not find a competent back up back stop last Winter……..

So I really nailed that Pablo prediction, didn’t I? He was fabulous. He doesn’t look like he’s put on any weight at all. And that 10 pitch at bat was incredibly welcomed. In fact, I was surprised at how patient the entire team was. Of course, Nate didn’t get it going till his hit in the 7th inning but that’s nothing out of the ordinary. Pablo hit the ground running and the team played inspired by his return. It’s nice that the offense finally got some good news for once….

I was unimpressed with the AZ starting pitcher that Murph and Mac were drooling over. He throws WAY too many change ups and made it easy for our guys to drop high pitch count at bats on him……

And I don’t think Cain pitched as badly as everyone is saying. He had that one dumb pitch to Montero but otherwise I thought he threw the ball really well……

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(Crazy Diamonds continues their charge while Dirt Bags tries to locate inner peace and ultimate knowledge….)

I’d like to believe that he’s going to storm the batters box like a Dragon Warrior and abuse the baseballs thrown his way. I’m hoping so, anyway. I also believe that he’s feeling a mountain of pressure to perform. For a guy who normally  is bursting out of his cleats to swing at  pitches, I’m not sure that’s the right kind of pressure for him but it’s unavoidable. It’s not like he can just slide through the back door of this line up and quietly resume his season. ALL EYES are on him and the fact is, this offense needs him desperately. One good thing about his return is that it will likely give the team a huge emotional boost and maybe Huff, Ross, everyone else will use it to kick start their own game……..

The idea of Pablo catching is really more talk show fodder than a reality. Catching requires a different type of conditioning as well as a  much broader focus on the game and again, he doesn’t really need something else to focus on right now. If it meant we were going to be able to utilize another stud 3rd baseman then it might be something to consider, but Pablo’s replacement (if he went to catcher) would be Miggy and that’s an underwhelming option at best…….

Prediction: The Return of The Panda will have a positive impact on the LU but I don’t think he’s going to start off hot. Even so, lighting a match to this offense with his return will be just what we need and Pablo will get straight soon enough even if it takes him a week to 10 days to do so……….

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(Unca-Chuck continues his slide into the abyss of mediocrity, BB finally takes a day off from a green number and Pawlie takes another run at No Talent)

Considering how he ended last year it’s amazing how excited we all are to get the Panda back. The obvious concern is that he comes back trying to do too much for an impotent offense and he swings at every pitch thrown to him but I guess that’s hardly a new approach for him. I haven’t seen him recently, at least not a full body shot, but I am assuming he kept up with his conditioning program while he was on the DL…….

One of the ESPN guys (I think it was Bobby V) thinks that Tejada is going to slide over to 2nd base now that the Panda is back and Crawford doesn’t seem to be going anywhere at SS. Please say that isn’t being considered. Tejada can play ONE infield position decently right now: third base. How in the hell is he supposed to just “slide over to 2nd base”, play a position he’s never played before and be expected to meet even low expectations? I like the plan of starting Burriss most games at 2nd base. Last night we saw what he can do defensively if he’s allowed to play his natural position. His bat is obviously a concern but so is Tejada’s. I’d rather go with lockdown defense up the middle and just hope that Crawford/Burriss hit enough to be “one of the guys”…..Bill Hall? He’s probably going to get a few games at 2nd. I guess he needs to prove he sucks first before they ditch that plan. We’ll see……

I wonder what Sabean is realistically considering for the catcher position. He can’t actually believe there is any combination of El Presidente and *Vice-Presidente* that would result in anything useful. I have a secret hope that Benjie has been getting back in shape since Posey went down. We know the pitchers love to throw to the guy. And he wouldn’t come off the shelf and bat clean up so the expectations of his bat can be lowered to realistic levels. I dunno, I just like the idea of Molina coming back. It could be a great story. And who doesn’t love all things Molina?

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(I would not want to be Dirt Bags this morning. He’s coming for you, dude)

In order of who I listen to on KNBR (in order of frequency), it probably goes Razor and Mr T, Murph and Idiot, Marty Lurie and Byrnsie. I almost never listen to Radnitch or Bob and his side kick. Mostly my KNBR time is dictated by when I’m driving around so that’s why I don’t hear the mid day guys too much. Anyway, of the shows I listen to here’s a list of the players the callers seem to want to acquire the most:

1) Reyes. This seems to be a constant. The callers don’t seem to realize that he’s not a run producer, he’s a run scorer. Having Reyes die at 2nd base 3 times a game ain’t gonna cut it….

2) Carlos Beltran–this is really more of a Lurie dream but his callers don’t seem to argue with him. I agree Beltran is having a good season but he CANNOT stay healthy. Risky rental…….

3) Jorge Freaking Posada. As I posted yesterday, this one might be my favorite (since half the reason I listen to callers in to shake my head horizontally and do my best Johnny McEnroe “You have got to be KIDDING me!”). I watch a lot of Yankee games and maybe some of these guys actually have to see Posada’s swing to see how done he is. He’s had a decent June but it’s all a mirage. He’ll be back into the .100’s before the 4th of July. Acquiring Posada is always linked to trading the Yanks Zito and again I don’t understand why callers think the Yankees would want Zito. The prevailing argument always seems to be “they don’t care about money”. Yeah, that’s a reason to acquire him, dumbasses…..

4) Pudge Rodriguez. Everyone seems to want him for his leadership and experience–how he manages the game, all that jazz. Hey, I’m ok with that, anyone but El Presidente who is embarrassing himself right now. The pitchers HAVE to be getting worn down by this guy’s play behind the dish…….

There are others, but those are the main 4. It’s the same story as last year (and the year before that and the year before that and….). Everyone says we are “1 big bat in the middle of the line up” away from a good offense. I’m not sure if that’s true. First of all, you have to be careful about how big that bat is. If the Giants traded the moon for Pujols, how many strikes do you think he’d see? This team will always be built around a bunch of guys who just manage to do enough—a revolving door of players who step up with that big hit in the last couple of innings. However, if we don’t get the catcher situation figured out our pitchers are probably going to start giving up a lot more runs that we are used to seeing. Then, the “timely hit near the end of the game” won’t matter much if we are down 6-1 in the 8th………

I’m not that worried about Franchez going down. Panda and Posey were infinitely more critical. Freddy has gotten some big hits this year and he’s played good defense but he plays a position that isn’t usually super productive for the offense (unless your name is Cano) and seems to spend most of his waking moments dreaming about and trying to go to right field (or bunt a guy over when he should be swinging the bat)…..

So, of all those guys listed, if I had to choose one, I’d probably go with Pudge just to try to keep the pitching staff from falling apart. Right now, our realistic hope should be getting back a healthy Panda and getting Huff and Ross to start hitting again………

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(The top guys take a step back, the middle guys make a move and BB’s jumps 3.5 monster points as he continues his quest to pass Irish Giants)

Uh, just saw this. Bill Hall sucks. If he couldn’t hit at MinuteMade Park he is done-zo. Right handers ABUSE that left field wall (and beyond). He could barely hit it out of the infield. He’ll be worse than Tejada. Idiotic signing……..

I think everyone is starting to notice that Nate  is a different hitter late in the game (as I pointed out last week.. Kuiper discussed it on his show, too). I’m fine with him starting because the alternative is Rowand or Burrell starting in his place and that just won’t do. But he’s just the perfect secret weapon to bring off the bench to win you a game late. As I said last week, I think Nate is our MVP this season. In fact, time for a poll…….

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(things are getting wild with NoWhitey taking a precipitous drop, NoTalent showing he’s got ALL the talent with a 5 pt jump and a stranglehold on first place, and BB’s hits the 40 pt mark for the first time in a month. With the bounty he just secured from our BLOCKBUSTER trade, there’s no telling where he might end the season).

So I think we all know “The Plan” by now. Have the pitchers pitch lights out and have 1 of our non-pitchers get a timely hit in the 7th inning on to win the game for us. It just didn’t happen last night. But despite our disgustingly impotent offense, I think we all have confidence that The Plan will get executed successfully more often than not…..

I didn’t share Kruk and Kuip’s love-fest over El Presidente’s 3rd gunned down runner of the year. He needs to do that consistently. If he’s not going to hit at all he’s got to be able to at least stop opposing runners from running wild on him. Pudge Rodriguez wouldn’t be my first choice but if he’s the only one available I will take him on the cheap since ANYONE would upgrade that position. “ABEP” is the way to look at this…….

Voggy’s turn to shut down the opposition. He’s facing “T-Wood” and this guy has been awful this year. Still, I fully expect we are going to have to scratch out a single run in the 7th inning or later to beat him. Pretty much every pitcher who goes against us is going to be lights out this year…….

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(things get crowded at the top while Irish Giant’s is the next team to feel the icy glare of Berra’s Bombers…)

Winning the World Series had to be the biggest baseball high any of those players have ever experienced in their careers. From that type of high there’s really no where to go but down. They all got paid. They all got their rings. The mountain had been conquered.  At the very least, entering 2011,  it was probably hard for many of them to maintain that same killer drive instinct that so many of them rode through the playoffs last year.

In fact, we’ve seen a lot of Giants this year kinda stumble out of the game. The only player on the team who was having a better 2011 than 2010 was probably The Panda.

Then Buster went down…….

I can imagine that maybe this was one of those watershed moments in a season where everyone looked around at each other and basically said “Barry Bonds isn’t walking through that door to save our offense. Somehow, some way, we have to get it done”. Either they were going to overcome the adversity or succumb to it.

And from that moment on  I think everyone on the team recaptured a focus that was missing to start the year. Maybe they’re taking an us v world mentality, maybe they just don’t want to be embarrassed on this World Series tour. Whatever it is, it seems like this team just knows that one of them will step up and do whatever is needed to win the game.

Everything happens for a reason. We might end up looking back at the night Buster broke his ankle not as the death of the season but as the moment the match was lit. And if you’re trying to repeat as World Champions, is there any other way to look at it?

Well put, Franchez…..

The line up and the offense wasn’t really any different than usual, we just didn’t have any late inning heroics. Not much else to say about the offense….

However, the bullpen is another story……..

I haven’t had any coffee yet and I did this without jotting any notes down so excuse me if I missed a run, but by my count the bullpen has now gone 19 straight innings without giving up a run. The last run they gave up was June 2 (2011) in St Louis–Mota gave up a 4 spot.

That got me to wondering what the record is for most scoreless innings by an mlb bullpen. I did a little light internet searching and came up with nothing before I was distracted by a spontaneous bikini-babe search…..

The Flap Fantasy Baseball Standings

(BB’s continues his *Arazi* like move around the turn, Kokonuts slaps a 5-spo on us, and last year’s champ BLADE sinks further into the abyss)…

I missed most of the game but I see the bullpen was lights out with 8 innings of no run ball. In fact, the last 10 innings we pitched were shut out innings. I ran out of adjectives a long time ago to describe the heart and soul of this team…

Do you think the Nats are looking forward to getting another shot at Dirrrrrty today? He put up one of the weirder lines of the season the last time he pitched against them: 5 innings, 6 walks, 7 k’s, 0 ER’s. I think he is probably going to steamroll them today–that loss last night had to have taken a little wind out of their sail…….

Only 2 teams (Philly and St Louis)  in all of baseball have won more games than us and no one in the American League has more victories. Bizarre……

Zito had a good line last night. No surprise, a bunch of single A batters aren’t going to the plate to coax a walk out of him (he walked nobody). I bet all the Ports batters went up their wide eyed and aggressive trying to get a hit off a former CY-for most of them, that’s as close as they’ll ever get to facing one again…….

The Flap Fantasy Baseball Standings

(there’s a new sheriff in town, at least patrolling the dregs of the standings. Berra’s Bombers, once so low they had a point total of 12, have risen from the ashes and planted a flag at the top of Mount 13! Giant head makes a monster 12 point move and No Talent clings to his once great lead)