August 13th, 2009
Whether it’s been Ryan Sadowski or Joe Martinez, the Giants are 1-5 in the last six games started by their fifth starter. Considering the Giants have four off-days left, counting today, shouldn’t Bruce Bochy make sure that Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain pitch as much as possible and also limit the number of starts made by whoever is in the fifth spot? If he does take advantage of these remaining off days, Cain will make 11 starts, Lincecum and Barry Zito will pitch in 10 games each, while Jonathan Sanchez will make 9 starts, and the fifth starter spot will come up in 8 games.
What is concerning me, however, is that Bochy doesn’t plan on pitching Lincecum in New York when Lincecum should pitch Monday if he receives his normal four days rest. Even worse, by pitching Cain Saturday instead of tomorrow, Cain will miss the four games in Coors Field against the Giants greatest wild-card competitor. The Giants are 2-3 in the Rockies home park this year, and both wins were games started by Cain. He is 2-0 in Colorado and has allowed just one run in 13 innings. Bochy should make sure that Cain pitches in that series, and all he would have to do is push Zito back a day.
Zito has been pitching very well, but if Bochy is worried about hurting Zito’s feelings, then he’s missing the boat. He’s also missing the boat if he is worried about Lincecum or Cain’s right arms. There is no harm to Cain and Lincecum because they would be pitching on their normal four days rest. Bochy needs to give his team the best possible opportunity to reach the postseason.
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Categories: San Francisco Giants |
Tags: 49ers, A's, Barry Zito, Brian Wilson, Cal, Giants, Guillermo Mota, Joe Martinez, Jonathan Sanchez, Juan Uribe, Kerri Walsh, Matt Cain, Michael Crabtree, Nate Davis, Pablo Sandoval, Raiders, Rich Aurilia, Ryan Sadowski, Stanford, Tim Lincecum, Vin Scully | No Comments
August 12th, 2009
As much as I am annoyed by overly pessimistic fans, I must say that was a swift punch to the gut last night, and places a ton of pressure on Tim Lincecum today to shut down L.A. As bad as this homestand has been, every Giants fan has to be a little bit nervous, even with the ace on the hill. A loss, and many will be panicking before the longest road trip of the year.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m still optimistic. I was just pumped up for this series, thinking the Giants were ready to beat L.A. on our home turf. Losing the first two is so deflating, I didn’t even want to wake up this morning. I can’t even look my dog in the eye anymore. Gawd, I hate the Dodgers… and although, I’m not giving up on catching them, I’m disgusted because we were holding that card, the “6 of the 9 head-to-head games left at AT&T”, in our back pocket. Well, now it’s 4 of 7, and the Giants HAVE to win today to have any long-shot at the division
And… Then… There’s the wild card. “Wild Card” is a couple of dirty words that are tough to acknowledge for any die-hard baseball fan (McCovey Chronicles notes as much), but we do pay attention to it. The Wild Card is like a drunk relative that no one wants to talk about or confront, but we know of their presence, and we know in the end, that drunk relative is capable of some very solid entertainment (or in the wild card’s case, a postseason).
Okay, maybe I’m reaching… but I’m still optimistic.
On to last night’s notes: (more…)
Categories: San Francisco Giants, Uncategorized |
Tags: 49ers, A's, Aaron Maybin, Alex Smith, Anton Peterlin, Barry Zito, Bill Hahn, Cal, Dallas Braden, Dodgers, Eugenio Velez, Giants, Hiroki Kuroda, JaMarcus Russell, Joe Torre, John Marshall, Justin Duchscherer, Kory Sheets, Matt Kemp, Michael Crabtree, Nonito Donaire, Pablo Sandoval, Raiders, Randy Wolf, Rich Aurilia, San Jose State, Stanford, Thomas Clayton, Thomas Howard, Tiger Woods, Tim Lincecum, Trevor Cahill, Willie Mays | 1 Comment
August 11th, 2009
Maybe it’s because they haven’t won a championship in San Francisco. Maybe it’s because of all the heartbreaking conclusions to seasons past. Maybe it bugs me more, because I’m too optimistic. (I even joked about the negativity just a few weeks ago.) Whatever it is, Giants fans are, by and large, pessimistic, and the 2009 Giants deserve better. The Giants play the game the right way, and has positioned itself for a pennant chase, despite mostly low expectations.
Sure, I’m as disgusted with Edgar Renteria’s at bats as anybody else. Bengie Molina’s inability to take a pitch drives me nuts. Randy Winn’s plate appearances can take away the optimism from even some of the most ardent fans. Jonathan Sanchez’s inability to get out of fourth and fifth inning jams, despite great stuff, is maddening. The Giants aren’t the only team with problems, however. The Dodger bullpen and rotation depth has been frustrating for their fans. Rockies fans have just about had it with Chris Iannetta, and Jason Hammel certainly doesn’t make them feel any better. You think Cardinals fans enjoy Rick Ankiel, Todd Wellemeyer, and Kyle Lohse?
As said before, every contender in the National League is flawed. There is no reason for Giants fans to feel worse about our problems than anybody else. It’s okay to point out the various inabilities of the team when at the office or the bar, but I have a problem when a packed house, in what is the biggest game of the year to that point, seems to lose all optimism because of one swing of the bat… in the fourth inning! Understandably, this team hasn’t mounted many comebacks this year, but they did come back from two runs down eight days earlier, and from three runs down just five days earlier.
While perusing the McCovey Chronicles Game Thread last night, you’d think the game was over after the Matt Kemp double (which, some would say, it was). There was even an “Open Depression Thread” started in the later innings with the team only down three runs. While I don’t care as much about what is said by those who aren’t at the game, it does give you an idea of the pessimistic nature many, and maybe most, Giants fans have about this franchise.
The Giants are probably the underdog in this 2009 playoff chase. However, that’s a major reason why they the fans to give them that extra adrenaline. Think of the 2007 Warriors upset of Dallas. The Warriors were the underdog, and it might have been a little hyperbole, but the players did say they couldn’t have done it without the fans. For that series, the Dubs had the greatest home-court advantage the NBA had seen in the last ten years. The Giants have a lot of these same types of fans, who try to get the crowd riled up. The problem is for every 7,000 loud die-hards, there are about 20,000 fans who are waiting to jump at the first sign of trouble.
All I ask, as a die-hard Giants fan, is for all of you who go to every game, or just go once in a while, to throw total support this team’s way for these final 21 home games. As an underdog, this team needs it more than others. Sure, the offense will be frustrating, but when we groan about it, we’re not filling in the Giants players on anything they don’t know. In a baseball world that has been obsessed with home runs, this team is still refreshing because they play solid defense and thrive on good pitching. Not to mention, this is still a mostly young team, that is going to need our full support for the next several seasons, when they are consistently in pennant races. So why not cheer as if we’re starting our rebuilding success a year early? After all, whether your optimistic or pessimistic, as die-hard fans, we’re going to be equally disappointed if this team misses the playoffs, right? (more…)
Categories: San Francisco Giants |
Tags: 49ers, A's, Alex Smith, Bengie Molina, Bill Hahn, Bruce Bochy, Buster Posey, C.J. Watson, Cal, Cardinals, Casey Blake, Dave Dravecky, David Forst, Dodgers, Edgar Renteria, Eugenio Velez, Giants, Gio Gonzalez, Jahvid Best, Jonathan Sanchez, Kirk Morrison, Kory Sheets, Mark Ellis, Matt Kemp, Mike Johnson, Mike Nolan, Mike Singletary, Nate Schierholtz, Orlando Hudson, Raiders, Randy Winn, Rich Aurilia, Robert Gallery, Rockies, Shaun Hill, Stanford, Stephen Jackson, Terry Donahue, Travis Ishikawa, Trevor Scott, Warriors, Will Clark, Zach Miller | No Comments
August 10th, 2009
I hate the Dodgers because that’s what I was born to do. But, there are plenty of other good reasons.
I hate the Dodgers because Tommy Lasorda is an uncoordinated, obnoxious fat ass.
I hate the Dodgers because of Eric Gagne. Remember those retarded Gagne “Game Over” shirts? Funny, I don’t see anyone wearing those these days. Even more hilarious, is that ebay seller wants $13.99 for that shirt. Do you get a free bottle of HGH with that shirt? Amazing how nobody was making suspicions on a guy who’s fastball jumped 10 MPH after a failed career as a starter.
I hate the Dodgers because their organization has welcomed a “Raider Nation” fan mentality at Dodger Stadium. Actually, that’s a major insult to Raiders fans because they aren’t even this bad. If you wear an opposing team’s colors, you could get stabbed, or get shot, or, at least, have a beer poured on your head. The stands in the upper level and bleachers are filled with gang-bangers. If you look at the story of the stabbing from this year, you’ll find that the stabber, Arthur Alvarez is an unemployed gang member. Is there any other kind? And that wasn’t the only incident. When fans complain to Dodger security, security asks the threatened fans to leave instead of disciplining the hoodlums who are causing this mess. I can’t believe this isn’t a bigger deal because most Dodger fans do act in a civilized way, and they are disgusted when they hear about these antics.
I hate the Dodgers because some of their fans, again these hoodlum types, are so ignorant that their most used comeback for Giants fans is “faggots” or “homos”. Amazing how these morons apparently have never visited West Hollywood.
I hate the Dodgers because their fans also use the “at least we won a championship” comeback. Admittedly, this one hurts, but isn’t there a statute of limitations when you haven’t won one in 21 years? Or have only won one playoff series in 21 years. The Rockies have won more playoff series than the Dodgers in the last two decades.
I hate the Dodgers because of Ross Porter. When I was going to college in L.A., a buddy (dodger fan) and I were heading to a friend’s house to watch the Giants/Dodgers on TV (the Bonds 2-run homer and pirouette game in 1997). While listening to the pregame on the radio, Porter is discussing who should be on the Dodgers playoff roster. Even my friend said, “Why is he talking about this right now?” You have a two-game lead over your rivals with two weeks left in the season, and a huge two-game series against your rival, and you’re talking about the playoff roster and whether Eddie Murray should be on it? It was sweet, not only because the Giants swept the series and won the division, but because Murray hit into the rally-crushing double play that turned the pivotal second game around. Thanks, Ross.
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Categories: San Francisco Giants |
Tags: Andruw Jones, Barry Bonds, Brian Johnson, Bruce Bochy, Carlos Perez, Casey Blake, Chad Billingsley, Chan Ho Park, Darren Dreifort, Delino DeShields, Dodgers, Eddie Murray, Eric Gagne, Eric Karros, Eugenio Velez, Fred Claire, George Sherrill, Giants, Guillermo Mota, Ismael Valdes, James Loney, Jason Schmidt, Joe Morgan, Joe Torre, Jose Offerman, Journey, Kevin Gross, Kevin Malone, Mark Sweeney, Matt Kemp, Mike Piazza, Ned Colletti, Pablo Sandoval, Rich Aurilia, Rockies, Ross Porter, Scott Proctor, Steve Perry, Tommy Lasorda, Trevor Wilson, Vin Scully | 4 Comments
July 22nd, 2009
Okay, maybe not, but you have to think the A’s would be reluctant to make any deal that helps the Giants considering the teams’ fight over the San Jose territory. I mention it because the A’s do have some players the Giants should be interested in, even outside of Matt Holliday.
Holliday, of course, would be a major help as a big bat, and as someone who is much more comfortable with major league pitching, but Orlando Cabrera, Adam Kennedy, Mark Ellis, and Justin Duchscherer would also help the Giants. While Cabrera is a shortstop, you’d think that he could do just fine at a lesser position, such as second base, and is someone with world championship experience. Plus, he’s grossly underachieved and could be had for cheap. Of course, Ellis and Kennedy are the “true” second basemen, but Ellis has the bigger deal and a no-trade clause (huh?.. why?). As for Duchscherer, Buster Olney mentioned him yesterday as a cheap Roy Halladay-alternative. Even though he hasn’t pitched a game this year, he could be a worthwhile gamble. This is a guy who led the league in ERA for the first half of last season. Considering Sadowski’s struggles, the Giants may be in the market for a starting pitcher by next week. (more…)
Categories: Oakland A's, San Francisco Giants |
Tags: 49ers, A's, Adam Kennedy, Andrew Bailey, Angel Villalona, Anthony Randolph, Billy Beane, C.J. Watson, Cal, Dennis Green, Giants, Gio Gonzalez, Jeremy Newberry, Justin Duchscherer, Kevin Frandsen, Lew Wolff, Mark Ellis, Matt Holliday, Orlando Cabrera, Raiders, Rich Aurilia, Rickey Henderson, Ryan Sadowski, Santa Clara, Stanford, Warriors, Zach Follett | No Comments
July 21st, 2009
I love Rich Aurilia and what he’s done for the Giants organization. I loved his unexplainable 37-homer season in 2001. I enjoy his team-first attitude and the fact that being a Giant means something to him. At some point, however, that only goes so far. The Giants have to let go of Aurilia. He’s not a major leaguer anymore.
Most of the season, the 37-year old Aurilia has stolen at bats from younger players who are more deserving. In his 116 plate appearances, Aurilia has struck out 22 times and he’s produced an awful .544 OPS and a .240 wOBA (.340 wOBA is average, so .240 is terrible). Aurilia is barely hanging on to a job, so I can somewhat understand him blaming his poor performance on limited at bats. But, that’s not the case. Aurilia is old, and he is just a bad hitter. I don’t expect him to admit it, but the Giants are the ones who have to admit these shortcomings.
Defensively, Aurilia does a pretty good job. He hasn’t played enough to really analyze it, but the UZR numbers on FanGraphs say that Aurilia has been slightly above average at first and third base. However, I think we’ve seen enough of John Bowker to suggest that he can be okay at first base. He certainly looks a lot more comfortable there than he did a year ago. Bowker would be a downgrade defensively from Aurilia, but he is obviously more capable of bigger things offensively.
Still, Bowker will probably be the one to go, when the Giants bring up Ryan Sadowski for today’s start. It’s a shame because I think the 2009 Giants should have been about getting as much at bats possible for the unknowns such as Bowker, Travis Ishikawa, Kevin Frandsen, and Nate Schierholtz. The team has already failed to give Frandsen many opportunities. Now, I worry, that the 2009 handling of Bowker will be go down as a missed opportunity. When this season is over, we likely won’t know much more about Bowker’s major-league potential than we did when the season began. And, it will mostly because of the team’s loyalty to an old, unproductive hitter like Aurilia.
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Categories: Uncategorized |
Tags: 49ers, A's, Aaron Rowand, Buster Posey, Giants, Jason Giambi, John Bowker, Kevin Frandsen, Matt Holliday, Michael Crabtree, Michael Vick, Nate Schierholtz, Raiders, Rich Aurilia, Rod Woodson, Ronny Turiaf, Ryan Sadowski, Sergio Romo, Tim Lincecum, Tom Watson, Travis Ishikawa, Warriors | 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.
|
RELIEVER
|
HOME ERA
|
ROAD ERA
|
|
WILSON
|
2.14
|
4.63
|
|
AFFELDT
|
1.29
|
2.03
|
|
ROMO
|
4.15
|
0.00
|
|
VALDEZ
|
1.59
|
5.59
|
|
MEDDERS
|
1.76
|
4.20
|
|
HOWRY
|
5.79
|
3.00
|
|
MILLER
|
1.93
|
2.81
|
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
June 18th, 2009
The Giants are leading the wild card! Woo-hoo!!
What’s that? Oh, okay. Not anymore.
Leading the wild card doesn’t mean crap in June. It seems that this “wild card race” is making people forget about what this season is supposed to be about. Yes, the Giants want to make the playoffs and probably believe they’re good enough to be a postseason team. I still think they have a good chance to make the playoffs.
This season, however, is about playing the young players and determining whether or not some of these guys are going to be good enough to go forward, beyond 2009. In the offseason, the Giants will sign a couple of position player free agents and that will take away a couple opportunities from younger players in the system to establish themselves. 2009 is an excellent opportunity to evaluate young position players such as Emmanuel Burriss (although he was certainly given great opportunity), Kevin Frandsen, Travis Ishikawa, Nate Schierholtz, Fred Lewis, and John Bowker (when he gets his chance). It was my understanding that the main goal of 2009 was to find out exactly what the Giants had in these players. This was the year to give them the at bats and the experience, so we can have a better evaluation before the Giants really try to make a run in 2010 and 2011.
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Categories: San Francisco Giants |
Tags: 49ers, A's, Alex Boone, Andres Torres, Bob Geren, Cal, Don Nelson, Emmanuel Burriss, Fred Lewis, Giants, Jack Cust, Jahvid Best, JaMarcus Russell, John Bowker, John Bryant, Jonathan Sanchez, Juan Uribe, Kevin Frandsen, Kevin Love, Kevin Riley, Matt Cain, Michael Wuertz, Nate Schierholtz, Pablo Sandoval, Patrick Christopher, Patrick Willis, Phil Jackson, Phil Mickelson, Raiders, Rajai Davis, Rich Aurilia, Scott McKillop, Shaun Hill, Tiger Woods, Tim Lincecum, Travis Ishikawa, Warriors | No Comments
June 9th, 2009
There’s no question that the A’s and Giants are organizationally short in position players, but that doesn’t mean they should spend their first-round picks on position players. The general consensus is that any non-pitcher, other than North Carolina’s Dustin Ackley, taken in the Top 10-15 would be a reach. Considering Ackley won’t make it out of the top five, the Giants and A’s should both draft pitching.
In the Giants case, that likely means high school lefthander Tyler Matzek from Mission Viejo. I’m not an expert by any means, but supposedly, Matzek throws hard and has very good command for a kid his age. Obviously, it sounds a lot like Madison Bumgarner. As for the A’s, based on where players will fall, they should probably draft a college pitcher, such as Arizona State lefty Mike Leake, North Carolina’s Alex White, or Missouri’s Kyle Gibson.
You always draft the best player because trades can always be made down the road. If the A’s really need a good position player in the offseason, there will be teams banging down their door asking about Vin Mazzaro, Brett Anderson, Trevor Cahill, and maybe even Josh Outman, with the season he is having. There are ALWAYS many teams that need pitching. Think about contenders such as the Yankees, Mets, Brewers, and Dodgers. They are all inquiring about pitching. As long as there is that kind of demand, there is more reason to stockpile your system with pitching. They don’t want to trade him, but the Giants could receive a pretty good position player for Bumgarner. Pitching can always be traded for good hitters. That’s why you can never have enough arms.
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Categories: Oakland A's, San Francisco Giants |
Tags: 49ers, A's, Aaron Cunningham, Adam Jones, Alex Smith, Andres Torres, Aubrayo Franklin, Barry Bonds, Bengie Molina, Brett Anderson, Brett Jackson, Bryan Anger, Cal, Charlie Frye, Daric Barton, Dashon Goldson, Drew Storen, Dustin Ackley, Giants, JaMarcus Russell, Jennifer Azzi, Jerry Jones, Josh Outman, Justin Smoak, Kentwan Balmer, Kyle Gibson, Madison Bumgarner, Matt Cain, Michael Vick, Mike Leake, Mike Singletary, Nnamdi Asomugha, Pau Gasol, Raiders, Randy Johnson, Rich Aurilia, Stanford, Stephen Strasburg, Tiger Woods, Tim Lincecum, Tim Wheeler, Trevor Cahill, Tyler Matzek, Tyreke Evans, Vin Mazzaro | No Comments
June 2nd, 2009
It’s been so long since I actually wrote anything, I figure I might as well dig deep into a topic that I think is very interesting for Giants fans. It’s not that I think 2009 is hopeless, but everyone can agree that the Giants should be a better team in 2010 and 2011. For the purpose of this post, we’ll focus on 2010.
The offseason between 2009 and 2010 is so interesting because the Giants have $37.25 million coming off the books between Randy Winn, Dave Roberts, Noah Lowry (apologies to those who have Lowry T-shirt jerseys), Randy Johnson, Bengie Molina, and Bobby Howry. Plus, another $2 million with Juan Uribe and Rich Aurilia (let’s pray this is the last year of Aurilia). The contracts of Aaron Rowand, Edgar Renteria, Jeremy Affeldt, and Matt Cain will go up a combined $8.6 million in 2010, and there will be other raises for guys like Tim Lincecum and Brian Wilson. Nonetheless, the Giants should still make a decent mark in free agency, especially when you consider the payroll should rise since the team basically admitted they had money to spend but didn’t this season (considering the courting of Manny Ramirez).
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Categories: San Francisco Giants |
Tags: 49ers, A's, Aaron Crow, Aaron Rowand, Angel Villalona, Aubrey Huff, Bengie Molina, Bobby Howry, Buster Posey, Dave Roberts, Dre Bly, Edgar Renteria, Emmanuel Burriss, Giants, Isaac Bruce, JaMarcus Russell, Jason Bay, Jeremy Affeldt, Jonathan Sanchez, Juan Uribe, Justin Duchscherer, Kevin Frandsen, Kevin Pucetas, Kurt Warner, Madison Bumgarner, Manny Ramirez, Marquis Grissom, Matt Cain, Matt Holliday, Merkin Valdez, Mike Singletary, Nate Schierholtz, Noah Lowry, Pablo Sandoval, Patty Mills, Raiders, Randy Johnson, Randy Winn, Rich Aurilia, Roger Federer, Santiago Casilla, Tanner Scheppers, Vin Mazzaro | No Comments
