June 26th, 2009
(Note: Because of travel plans, we are going to take some days off at West Coast Bias, and won’t have a new blog until next Thursday.)
When there is an idiot owner and inept front office in place, it’s easy for all of us to be cynical when it comes to the state of the affairs for the Warrior organization. When Larry Riley was introduced as general manager, nearly all of us were skeptical that he would be the one to turn this franchise around. We assumed that Riley, based on his track record, was just as inept as the rest of the front office, and that he would be acting as a puppet for his friend, Don Nelson. The trade talks involving Amare Stoudemire confirm our fears about Riley.
Despite Riley’s “I am not a puppet” claim, he is acting with Don Nelson’s best interests at heart. That means Riley is looking for a quick-fix to the organization so the Warriors are simply a playoff team, instead of doing what good general manager’s do: Build a championship team. This is why you hear quotes from Riley and Robert Rowell about making the playoffs. I can assure you that the Lakers, Spurs, and a other well-run front offices don’t talk about just simply making the postseason.
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Categories: Golden State Warriors |
Tags: A's, Aaron Rowand, Amare Stoudemire, Andris Biedrins, Anthony Randolph, Brandan Wright, Corey Maggette, Don Nelson, Eli Whiteside, Giants, Jack Hannahan, Jim Tracy, John Bowker, Kelenna Azubuike, Larry Riley, Marco Belinelli, Matt Holliday, Monta Ellis, Patty Mills, Robert Rowell, Stephen Curry, Stephen Jackson | No Comments
June 22nd, 2009
Sorry, I haven’t posted anything since Thursday. I got lazy. Maybe if I had the energy of those losers starting the wave in the upper deck yesterday, I wouldn’t have waited four days. Speaking of which, if you’re at a baseball game, are older than 16, and you’re trying to start a wave, you are pathetic. And, you’re not a Giants fan. Don’t even bother showing up again. We don’t need your short attention spans at our games. Sometimes, I miss the 15,000-20,000 die-hards that loyally showed up to the ‘Stick.
The Giants ten-game trip that starts tonight in Oakland is one of three lengthy (10 or more games) road trips remaining on their schedule. It might be the toughest road trip of the year because they’ll face two above-.500 teams (Brewers and Cardinals), plus the aces of those teams, Yovani Gallardo and Chris Carpenter. Considering Jonathan Sanchez will likely be starting twice, and the A’s will be looking for revenge, it doesn’t make things any easier. It could be a very pivotal trip for the Giants bullpen that has performed much better at home than on the road as you can tell by the numbers below.
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RELIEVER
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HOME ERA
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ROAD ERA
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WILSON
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2.14
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4.63
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AFFELDT
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1.29
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2.03
|
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ROMO
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4.15
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0.00
|
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VALDEZ
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1.59
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5.59
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MEDDERS
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1.76
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4.20
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HOWRY
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5.79
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3.00
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MILLER
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1.93
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2.81
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Only Sergio Romo and Bobby Howry have posted higher ERA’s at home, and Romo obviously has a very small sample size. Valdez’s splits are particularly glaring, although he wasn’t helped by that Washington disaster three weeks ago when the Nationals scored six runs in the eighth inning in the opening game of the last ten-game road trip.
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Categories: San Francisco Giants |
Tags: 49ers, A's, Barry Zito, Bob Bradley. Aaron Rowand, Bobby Howry, Brandon Medders, Brian Wilson, Bruce Bochy, Chris Guarnero, Dallas Braden, Giants, Jeremy Affeldt, Jonathan Sanchez, Jordan Hill, Justin Miller, Kasey Kahne, Kevin Frandsen, Lance Armstrong, Larry Riley, Madison Bumgarner, Matt Downs, Merkin Valdez, Nnamdi Asomugha, Pablo Sandoval, Raiders, Randy Winn, Rich Aurilia, Ryane Clowe, Sergio Romo, Sharks, Tim Alderson, Trevor Cahill, Warriors | No Comments
May 22nd, 2009
Tim Kawakami has confirmed that Warriors PR director Raymond Ritter wrote an anonymous message on warriorsworld.net yesterday, defending the organization’s conference call with season ticket holders.
First, let me say, that there isn’t anyone who values loyalty more than I do. I don’t have a big beef with Ritter because it’s his job to help the organization come out in a positive light. It’s not his job, and is a mistake, to post anonymously on fan message boards, but I don’t in any way blame him for the Warrior problems. Those problems lie with Cohan, Rowell, and Nelson, and bad planning and personnel decisions are a result of the current leadership.
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Categories: Golden State Warriors, Oakland A's, San Francisco Giants |
Tags: 49ers, A's, A.J. Hinch, Aaron Rowand, Bear Pascoe, Bengie Molina, Brad Ziegler, Brian Wilson, Dallas Braden, Dan Haren, Dre Bly, Giants, JaMarcus Russell, Jeremy Roenick, Jesus Guzman, Jr., Keith Davis, Ken Griffey, Ken Stabler, Larry Riley, Michael Crabtree, Michael Vick, Mickael Pietrus, Nate Schierholtz, Pablo Sandoval, Raiders, Rajai Davis, Raymond Ritter, Travis Ishikawa, Warriors | No Comments
May 15th, 2009
Don Nelson will go down as one of the most successful coaches of all-time, but he should be remembered by Warrior fans as someone who put his own selfish interests ahead of the franchise’s. The NBA’s worst-kept secret is how he has manipulated an organization into hiring his buddy to be a general manager. Now, all front office decisions are made with Nelson’s short-term interests at heart.
Nellie used to be a coach that was obsessed with winning a championship. It’s a goal that every sports organization should be obsessed with. Nelson was someone who always felt he was one big man away from a title. After the Chris Webber debacle, however, Nelson has become completely driven by money. That’s why he has been deep in lawsuits with Chris Cohan and Mark Cuban. He’s been so obsessed with money that he has looked for situations where he could more easily land fatter contracts. That’s why he has often ended up in places that were going through playoff droughts. Places that would be satiated because of a simple playoff appearance. Cohan is dumb enough to have been fooled twice by Nelson’s antics. At least Cuban only gave in to a Nelson contract once, and was smart enough to call out Nelson for what he is: A coach who’s good enough to take a team to the playoffs here and there, maybe pull off an upset, but not good enough to win a championship.
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Categories: Golden State Warriors |
Tags: 49ers, A's, Adam Kennedy, Andre Ward, Andris Biedrins, Anthony Randolph, Barry Bonds, Bengie Molina, Brad Ziegler, Brandon Smith, Brian Wilson, Bruce Bochy, Chris Bosh, Don Nelson, Dontrelle Willis, Ed DeBartolo, Edison Miranda, Emmanuel Burriss, Eric Chavez, Gary Sheffield, Giants, Jed York, Jerome Randle, Kevin Frandsen, Kurt Suzuki, Larry Riley, Mark Cuban, Melissa Harris, Raiders, Ricky Jean-Francois, Robert Rowell, Scott McKillop, Sr., Tim Brown, Tim Lincecum, Warriors | No Comments
May 14th, 2009
Chronicle Live, hosted by Greg Papa, is a great nightly show for fans because they’re always touching on the pertinent Bay Area sports subjects. Last night, the panelists included Joe Morgan, Bruce Jenkins, and Henry Schulman, and the first subject was where the Giants would find offense this year. Jenkins and Morgan both felt the Giants needed more power in the outfield, but I agreed with Schulman who said the Giants need more production at first base.
As noted here last week, I think the Giants need to stick with Travis Ishikawa for the time being because he is the best option in the organization. (Don’t get me started on the asinine idea of starting Juan Uribe everyday.) Eventually, however, the team will need more from first base. Even if Ishikawa’s numbers improve, and I think they will, they won’t improve greatly. He’s not suddenly going to become one of the better, or even an average, hitting first baseman in the National League.
In order to find that acceptable production, the Giants will have to look outside the organization and the best option is the Orioles’ Aubrey Huff. Huff may be a candidate for
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Categories: San Francisco Giants |
Tags: 49ers, A's, Alex Boone, Andre Ward, Angel Villalona, Aubrey Huff, Barry Zito, Cal, Charles Haley, Darrius Heyward-Bey, Edison Miranda, Frantz Joseph, Giants, J.P. Foschi, Jeff Tedford, John Marshall, Josh Outman, Juan Uribe, Larry Riley, Manny Acta, Merkin Valdez, Nick Johnson, Pablo Sandoval, Rachel Alexandria, Raiders, Ryan Zimmerman, Shairon Martis, Sharks, Terrell Owens, Travis Ishikawa, Vin Mazzaro, Warriors | No Comments
May 13th, 2009
Okay, no one player deserves a lifetime contract, but Pablo Sandoval, (and not just because of last night’s thrilling walk-off homer) is someone the Giants are going to have to keep around for a long time. He’s been with the team for less than half a season and already embodies the perfect ballplayer. Yes, I fully understand he weighs a little too much for a 22-year old, and he has the tendency to swing at pitches that are nowhere near the strike zone. As for intangibles, however, he is the player most fans want playing for their team because Sandoval is the ultimate team player.
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Categories: San Francisco Giants |
Tags: 49ers, A's, Andre Ward, Brian Sabean, Brian Wilson, Casey Blake, Chris Anderson, Chris Cohan, Eddie Debartolo, Eric Chavez, Giants, James Dolan, Jimmy Raye, Joe Nedney, Larry Riley, Matt Cain, Mike Holmgren, Nmandi Asomugha, Orlando Cabrera, Osiris Matos, Pablo Sandoval, Pat Misch, Raiders, Robert Rowell, Tim Lincecum, Warriors | No Comments
May 12th, 2009
I don’t think anyone could possibly run an organization worse than Chris Cohan has operated the Warriors. He always seems to one-up his terrible moves. Bad moves aren’t surprising anymore, but they’re still frustrating. Yesterday’s announcement that Larry Riley would be the general manager was just another in a series of terrible moves. Cohan has managed to make bad hire after bad hire, with each move somehow being worse than the one that preceded it. He’s placed Robert Rowell, a man who seemingly knows very little about basketball, in charge of the organization, and Rowell has managed to give Stephen Jackson an extension that NOBODY in the league would have granted. Rowell apparently also thinks Don Nelson is some kind of a basketball wizard. The same Nelson who has left his previous three organizations on sour notes. As for Riley, he isn’t basketball smart, but he’s smart enough to know that if he’s friends with Nellie, he can get the GM job that isn’t possible anywhere else.
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Categories: Golden State Warriors |
Tags: 49ers, A's, Adam Dunn, Andre Ward, Art Howe, Brian Wilson, Casey Blake, Chris Cohan, Chris Mullin, Don Nelson, Giants, JaMarcus Russell, Jesus Guzman, Jim Skaalen, Larry Riley, Madison Bumgarner, Mark Cuban, Mike Singletary, Randy Johnson, Sergio Romo, Sharks, Tim Alderson, Warriors | No Comments
May 6th, 2009
Most Giants fans have great reason to be frustrated with Travis Ishikawa. There weren’t huge expectations for the first baseman, but it wasn’t unrealistic to hope for a .270 average, .340 OBP, .430 SLG, along with maybe 15 home runs and 75 RBI’s. Now, if Ishikawa finishes with those numbers, Giants fans will hold a parade at 24 Willie Mays Plaza. Currently, he’s only hitting .210 with a .528 OPS. Awful production from first base.
The lack of power (0 home runs, .274 slugging) is very worrisome because Ishikawa was killing the ball in spring training with seven home runs, and because he hit 27 homers last year between Connecticut, Fresno, and San Francisco. He even swung the bat pretty well in the first couple games of the year, but since has been a disaster at the plate and clearly has lost a lot of confidence. (Maybe, he can get some confidence back against a couple of righthanders at Coors Field in the next two days.) But, he is the best option in the system (over 1.100 OPS last season in Fresno) and clearly hasn’t had enough at bats at the big league level to be judged yet. He hasn’t even reached 200 plate appearances in his career. Plus, he’s very solid defensively (even with the bonehead mishap with Burriss on Sunday), and good fielding has proven to be very valuable these last couple of seasons.
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Categories: San Francisco Giants |
Tags: 49ers, A's, Barry Zito, Bengie Molina, Billy Beane, Buster Posey, Cal, Dan Fegan, Dana Eveland, Giants, Jesus Guzman, Jimmy Williams, John Bowker, Kentwan Balmer, Larry Riley, Merkin Valdez, Michael Crabtree, Mike Grier, Mike Singletary, Nate Schierholtz, Raiders, Ricky Rubio, Sharks, Tim Lincecum, Travis Ishikawa, Warriors | No Comments
