by
Greek Giant
Today’s game: Royals (29-34) Vs Giants (26-40) at Willie Mays Field, 12:45
Jason Hammel (2-6, 5.43) vs. Johnny Cueto (4-4, 4.33)
It’s a good day for a Giants win.
Joey Baseball returns to the line up today!
The Line Ups
Royals
Merrifield 2B
Bonifacio RF
Cain CF
Hosmer 1B
Moustakas 3B
Escobar SS
Gordon LF
Butera C
Hammel P
Giants
Span CF
Nunez 3B
Belt 1B
Posey C
Crawford SS
Pence RF
Panik 2B
Slater LF
Cueto P
Five Questions
- Will Buster win the batting title in 2017?
- Why is Aaron hill playing over Kelby in Panik’s absence?
- Who has been the most consistent member of the Giants bullpen this year?
- Should the Giants give MadBum the rest of the year off from pitching and keep him as a pinch hitter?
- Who was the most surprising player taken in the 2017 Giants draft?
#5 Should the Giants preserve Buster Posey by giving him a lot more starts at 1b (I mean what’s the point of wearing him down and subjecting him to injury in a tanked season and it should help with pursuit of said batting title)?
I think I might have said “next year” if the Giants were going anywhere, but maybe a more sensible answer is the following. If Slater falters at all, use Belt in LF half the time, and move Buster to 1B much of the time, and get Federowicz back up to share/compete with Hundley.
Stan, this sounds like a plan.
1) I would not be surprised if he does, has the swing for it
2) That is a mystery, unless they just don’t trust KT on the daily.
3) Sad to say that it’s Strickland
4) Yes, they need to see if Beede is worth keeping or trading
this is kind of stunning:
https://twitter.com/BNightengale/status/874978798072188928
My Mom is not at all happy with her Cubs this season. Bapah’s trade news makes a great deal of sense, as they’re under pressure to do much better than this.
Fortunately for your mom and the Cubs, they only have to catch the Brewers to move atop the division.
See above
#4. (since #2 is clearly inexplicable). No, I think both the Giants and Bumgarner need to know what that shoulder is going to be like. Both of them are sensible enough not to stress the situation out any, but they do need to know what there is to count on next year. Maybe 5 inning outings, no matter the pitch count? ANd they might as well look at Gregorio and Beede and so on during the expanded rosters of September.
But heck yeah, use him for a PH as often as possible!
@MLBNetwork trade Justin verlander to the astros for derek Fisher/kyle tucker and forrest Whitley
Wait, Astros, I thought you were talking Cubs?
I was. appears to be mistake.
Is that “nose grammar”? (I am riffing on Matthew’s ‘nose typing’ characterization of some of Surf’s posts).
Wheel Sea.
Well at least now AJ Hinch won’t be the next head coach at Stanford University
I think statement was wrong. I heard Cubs.
Where are you getting this information?
I heard it on MLB Net And this was from a tweet.
are you on the dark web? Never heard of “MLB Net”
MLB Network, Dufus. Kelly and that other guy.
Your fake trades are fun. That’s a hell of a haul for expensive Verlander! We want that for Cueto!!!
That’s what I said, Copycat.
If true, seems like madness to give that up for Verlander who has a lot of mileage and a massive contract. Don’t know anything about the prospects mentioned.
I heard Almora, and that’s Cubbies, if I recall correctly.
Oh, yes, that is ChiCubs. I’m happy you’ve now left open the possibility of raiding the Cubs in exchange for Cueto.
HELIOT RAMOS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muSSMDvZbfA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgWyxu13Gng
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEayb91baLA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rL0PXssEXYU
#1 He could, #2 Bruce Bochy #3 Strickland #4 No
Refresh your browsers for line ups and all 5 questions!
#5 answer: no real move to draft a catcher. Poor planning, Imo. Need to find via trade.
They have an All Star in A ball ,if he can stay healthy he has a bright future .
“consistent” and “bullpen” give me a visual of trying to connect two magnets with like poles.
My question could also be read as one that asks for “consistency” as in consistently bad….
Ah, good point.
awesome metaphor!
1) no
2) 1,500 career hits ( not that I agree…but that’s why. We’re offensively challenged)
3) Strickland.
4) He wants to pitch. He earned the right
5) ask Ryan…I don’t pay attention
Good to hear we agree on something. Strickland has been a relatively bright light in this dark year.
I’m sure we agree on quite a bit, John. Baseball makes little brother battles all the time. It’s cool
I think I found the source of Bapah’s alternative news :
https://twitter.com/MLBNetwork/status/875006175296847873
Ahh, makes sense now. Some fake GM tweeted this trade out which would be insanity for stros
hey, we traded Nunez and Cueto to Yankess for a few stud prospects!
I just can’t imagine Cueto cutting his locks though.
I agree that is why Boston or anywhere not the Yanks makes more sense.
but does Cueto have a no trade clause? with Yankees on it? He could have easily had that put in knowing their hair policy.
Lol, i saw that in the thread. Kaprelian looks interesting, don’t know about the others. I wonder if Nunez and Cueto could net us a young high end pitching prospect which would be great.
I say focus on premium OF talent – preferably CF. Astros Derek Fisher seems like a ripe target and within reason for both sides. Cueto’s contract is strange and it is really hard to say how that impacts any trade. He could be a rental or could be on hook for remainder of contract.
Yeah, the option probably lowers his trade value. A team may not like the uncertainty of being on the hook for remainder of the contract. Great point on OF talent. Badly needed.
Get to work, Tal Foots…
You’re right. Enough monkey business. Back to work!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNY8eYmzdH4
I hadn’t heard from MLB Jesus in a long time, was wondering if we’d been forsaken. But alas, Jesus is always present and alright with me, oh yeah!
https://twitter.com/MLBJesus?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
1. No
2. because he has about 1400 more hits
3. As a group consistently bad. You want good?
4. Seriously?
5. Frank Rubio – thought he’d go much higher. They were thrilled he was still on the board.
I dread Milken Face
Waste of time with both these slugs.
They need to ask him if he’s popping by Pleasanton to visit some old friends
Jail was not kind to him. Back when we actually jailed bankers.
Dang it. I wanted to see that shark scoop up that ball. WTF. Gotta be quicker buddy.
TG, that’s over with.
To all of you on KNBR, beware, here comes Radio Face Milken!
How insightful, Amy
Ugh. That is all.
I just heard my mother call me.
Geez.
Maybe they can catch the Phillies.
HR Derby? I thought that’s in July.
Park is a bandbox in day games, Giants just do not have the hitters to take advantage of it , the Royals do .
Oh yeah. KC has been an offensive powerhouse this year.
Power wise they have, 77 HRs to the Giants 49
Not helping the trade value
C’mon Belt. Feed the shark.
No, he’s inthe water.
Went downtown, hit a tater, go yard, and so on are good colorful expressions. “feed the shark” is fantastic!
Did you watch last night’s game? There was a leopard shark swimming in the cove.
Yes, and that it was on the big screen. And also, that you now like sharks almost as much as your cat and Duffy?
Atta babe Slater.
The kid has nice balance and a beautiful swing
Too bad he can’t pull the ball.
No one knows slappy like My Pet Deer I named Kevin
SWOOOSH (right over my head, after the ‘slappy’)
There was an exchange in the Warriors game…you had to be there!
I love a nice exchange.
aaa, then I should have said SWIIIIISH?
Except that HR that went 461
So he can? That’s a relief.
Ratchet up the Literal Meter…some folks aren’t keeping up
Well, at least once, at Lefty’s Rivercat outing last month he hit one to dead left.
I was channeling my inner Peter. Cuz I’m juvenile like that.
Yes you are…we Scots are more sophisticated.
Us Irish/Mexicans are children. With bad livers. And height impediments. But SUPER tough.
an awful lot of that would seem to apply to venison.
It doesn’t have to be awful. Not if we care about each other.
I hereby crown you Kevin O’Ciervo ; Drunk Midget Macho
Who is this Kevin person?
Slappy The Doppleganger
Yeah. The toughest guys are usually the ones that talk about how tough they are.
Fight!! Fight!! FIGHT!!!
It’s no picnic. I have to avoid mirrors for fear of shuddering at my sheer ferocity.
Slappy Hosmer goes the other way
Do the coaches need to skip Cueto next time through the order?
Yes. And Moore. And Cain. And Blach.
Well, glad I could set you up!
Pitcher bats with runners on 1st and 3rd with 2outs,makes the 3rd out, gets shelled the next inning and gets yanked, has happened many times in the the Bochy ERA .
I must be on a time delay. My feed has the score 4-1 still.
Just wait .
You’ve got a good point. That 1st and 3rd situation was a decent chance at the game.
The suspense is killing me.
Umpire helping, that was inside .
It’s a huge conspiracy to make you look bad.
It was way inside , nothing to do with me, you just a homer, I guess, can not be honest .
Sorry but I’m Slappy the Doppleganger.
The suspenders killed Chris Cornell
Too soon.
WAY.
Sorry. He set me up.
Ummmm….
Your powers of interpretation are staggering.
Good he got out of it, hope the Giants win it for him .
You’d rather have seen the wonderfully effective bullpen take over in the 5th with 4 games next at Coors?
Cueto has nothing, Park is playing small, need to score runs, lots of them .
It was a good question, PJ…you should answer him
Part of the answer might be really burning through Strickland, who’s not yet suspended, but might well be before the next game.
Should have had Strickland start under the circumatances
Struck out the side after your brilliant prediction.
One didn’t count. It was way inside. You must be a homer, can’t be honest. I feel sorry for you.
Strike zone is huge, bottom of the order, good for him .
Dad, I graduated!!
Yeah, son. Weak school, easy curriculum, good for you.
Yep– Cueto had nothing
3 HRs , 8 hits, 3 walks, in 5 innings , has thrown 94 pitches, give him the cy young !
Please predict that Posey wont hit a 3 run homer
I agree. Usually the team that scores more runs than the opposing team wins. But there have been a few cases where one team may score more runs than the other team and lose. How you ask? Easy. You’re down 7-3 going into the top of the 7th and you score 9 runs to take a 12-7 lead and then a monsoon comes in and wipes out the field so the umpires call the game because of rain and the score reverts to the previous inning. But no need to worry about rain today. Just need to score lots of runs.
Should add, Moore has been brilliant in 2 starts at Coors. 11innings, given up 16 runs..
Calling Bapah…I wanna post a pic on here to cheer everybody up, but I can’t rotate it from vertical to horizontal. Help me, Bapah. I know you know how to do this…
You on an Apple? Use “preview” application, and the rotations underneath the ‘tools’ menu. If you’re on Windows, lotsa luck!
I am on Apple, but it is already framed the right way on my computer. When I try to post it on here, it rotates it the wrong way. Stupid technology…
I can’t manage that either. I’ve given up. Much like my life.
Hahaha Calgon take me away…
No, Colgan. Common mistake.
It was an intentional mistake to see if you are on your toes. Very good, sir.
Save it to a different file name after you rotate? You are right, Bapah is good at this, in addition to being the Font Meister.
But I’m not rotating it. It’s fine on here. When I go to post it, it is automatically rotated the wrong way by Disqus in the preview before you hit “Post as”
We can plank to look at it
Hammel getting shelled!!
He is ?
Just wait. You must be on a time delay.
Must be at least an inning behind — :).
Craw isn’t a middle of the order guy. He was great in the WBC batting 9th
Tough to lay off pitches you can’t hit.
I’ve seen enough of him flailing with runners on too. Just flat out a singles hitter
Batted 8 most of his career until recently, shows how week the Giants lineup is, Belt batted 7th most of his Career, Giants expecting to much of both of them .
Belt has 274 PA batting 7th. That’s 9% of his career PA. What are you even talking about?
Last yr he was money in that situation about .290. This year he’s about .200 w/risp and @ .150 w/2 outs
When was the last time we cut the lead by 25% and needed to follow with a shut down inning?
Need to keep that sell out crowd engaged.
last inning .
My bad. When was the last time we got the shut down inning?
Last inning, the Giants scored, and the Royals left the bases loaded in the next inning , Giants did not score last inning , so this could not be a shut down inning .
Bochy giving time to look at replay, looked safe .
Hahahahaha!!! They have 30 seconds to challenge, Peter. Stupid Bochy.
Glad you know the rules, thanks .
CC told me. His use of fangraphs comes in handy.
What a bunt !
Posey no 3 run HR !
This season, nothing works.
Today is a different kind of hitting meekness. Eight hits … scattered.
So are these guys going to keep playing uninspired ball for the remaining 90+ games just because they don’t have a winning record? Show some more fight, Jesus.
They just don’t have the horses. Bullpen is terrible. All starters except Nunez and Posey in career funks. Starters, even Blach, have ERAs well over 4, some (Cain) over 5. My concern is that I don’t see how the MiLB system lends a hopeful, long term outlook. The payroll is going upward but the organization isn’t.
There’s something people need to understand about building a winning team.
It’s about building and establishing a CULTURE.
Talent matters but if the team doesn’t have a culture, then the talent doesn’t blend in.
You build team culture through the way you play each game. Just being a professional and playing hard even when the team is struggling.
They have a winning culture, only losing year before this year since 2009 was 2013, just not the talent anymore, you have it back words .
Wrong. They have the talent. Just not the belief.
Not one of these guys again, they are last in almost every offensive category, and Pitching is mid pack and getting worse by the day .
Their starting rotation is the best it’s been in years, they have a legitimate closer, they have 2 gold glovers in the infield, and a future HOF catcher and manager. More than two-thirds of the team are champions. They don’t have enough bridge guys in the bullpen or outfield depth but they should be more competitive than this. There are other teams with less talent than the Giants that are playing much better.
NO WAY !
Those are facts, not my opinion. Go look them up
They have the talent? Have you looked at the OF lately?
LF has 32 RBI
Awesome
More then any player on the roster .
That says more about the Giants than the talent
I know it does, that is the point, LF to some is the problem, the y give the core players a pass .
Throw in the entire OF
Crawford , Belt .
Who?
Players that played in LF have combined for 32 RBI .
I’ll take your word. Still lacking talent there.
My word is gold, I actually do my homework, and looked it up, 31 starting today, Slater #32 in this game .
Woefully lacking in talent.
I agree. Three WS titles can spoil players when there are no huge holes in the team’s pitching/batting arsenals. The Giants are now in a situation where players have to pick their comrades up. That’s not happening.
Why would they change?
Geez, yeah, Guys should just dress up for the game. Watch some balls go past them. Take a few swings and come back home, and cash their checks. Why give their best effort when things aren’t going their way right?
It’s gone on for almost a year now. These guys get paid. They’ve made it clear they don’t care … Unless you think a whole team of starters who should be in their prime have lost physical ability. They’ve just been blown out twice at home by another losing team.
Alright, so you tell me what’s wrong with that and why they would or should change.
I didn’t know that Brewers were leading the division because they flat-out had better talent than the rest of the teams.
Brewers have a lot of young talent, lots of speed and power, the pitching is probably not good enough to keep them in a playoff spot .
Talent-wise, I could make the argument that they’re the worst team in the NL Central
By the post below, you need to do your homework .
It’s true. Brewers are a good team but they don’t have as much talent as the Cubs, Cardinals or even Pirates or Reds. They’re just gutting out wins by playing with more heart and consistency. That’s it.
The Colorado series might just be the final nail in the coffin of this Giants season.
Final nail long ago
The coffin was nailed up, dropped in the hole and covered with dirt a while ago.
Ever seen Serpent and the Rainbow?
Haven’t seen it.
Whatevs.
Giants have a questionable bark and definitely no bite.
#Top5Pick has been my mantra for a while this year. Hopefully they will bring up more youth as the season goes along — at least Blach (defense was awful last night), and Slater are interesting to watch.
Let’s see if any of the other younger players could be usable pieces in the future.
# 2 overall pick? #3?
Still gotta see Hwang. Have seen Calixte. Waiting for Parker’s recovery and I’m sure Mac will see the light of day again. Last I checked , Chris Shaw has been struggling under the AAA lights. How about Slade Heathcott?
this Giants team has quit on Bruce Bochy it is so obvious it’s not even funny they’ve given up
Bochy quit on them last year
Oh
These Royals are going to think they are in it. They came in today just 5 games back of Minnesota. If they concede, they can get back nice pieces for Cain, Hosmer, Moustakas, and that Herrera guy in the pen. What in heavens will they do?
Whit Merrifield is the best name in baseball. The last time they played the Royals, Lefty said he sounded like one of Lady Mary’s suitors from Downton Abbey, which was very good. I’m going with President of the Augusta National Golf Club, the guy who hands you your green jacket after you win The Masters.
I’ll go with Angela Channing’s high school sweetheart. It’s all about “Falcon Crest” all the time, pal. Unless it’s “The Office.”
You are an interesting guy. I’m always amazed at your love of Falcon Crest.
Hahaha me too. It’s quite intriguing.
TS is SUPER tough.
I have no doubt.
Tuffy Gosewich is Head Caddy
Dansby Swanson as assistant to the head caddy.
Good one – An F Scott Fitzgerald vibe to that one
I think Dansby Swanson and Judge Smails were members of Lambda Lambda Lambda.
Always wondered if he was in the 2nd grade with Buster Posey and Homer Bailey.
Chase Headley anyone?
I still gotta go with Socrates Brito, even if he’s at Reno (DBack AAA) right now.
& his good friend, Arquimedes Caminero
This stuff about names is fun. Jhonny Peralta deserved a DFA based on spelling talent alone.
Honorable mention to Johneshwy Fargas.
How do you know that’s right or wrong? I like it, chose him for MyGuy this year, 50% just for the name.
It’s gotta be wrong. If it’s right, then that’s all wrong.
I was thinking more of dance partner for one of the Bennett sisters.
He was always very graceful, for a boy.
Nunez keep hitting so they can get something for you — way to go. Someone will want him.
Cueto is kicking the org in the nuts.
For sure — he needs to string together 4 nice starts or else he may opt in. If he does that hopefully he finds himself. i still wonder if the blister issue is causing problems with command b/c his velocity seems fine.
Good interview aka Listen or read the transcript if you choose – John Salley on all things Warriors
http://www.957thegame.com/media/audio-channel/john-salley
Anything a Detroit Bad Boy says, it’s gospel.
BADBOYS4LIFE
He considers himself a Chicago Bull though 🙂
He’s wrong. Once a Bad Boy, always a Bad Boy.
You like the Bad Boys?
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ac1e8e0bc087baa7426a87821f0f5c3ca55d083424d6727edf299fdb35a9cdba.jpg
Deer mask?
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b05e99b40e668cf0000ae2c46226dc8ea8ff1c2846b3bd2d70693633c29822fa.jpg
I adore you.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9uWwvQKGjLI
Would it be a stretch to say that Corgan (not Colgan) is going for the Nosferatu look?
Not at all.
The Padres won today, so the Giants are now alone in second place.
It’s embarrassing that they’re playing .3xx ball. Anything below .400 is a really bad team.
They are a really bad team .
I think they are a decent team that doesn’t care enough to play well. But you can’t live it either way. Maybe they are washed up at a young age, but that would be weird
Another one, you always under rate Giants opponents and over rate them , so no surprise , numbers do not lie .
The Giants are currently in a tie for the third oldest team in baseball. None of their top players, with the exception of Panik, can be considered young any longer.
http://www.espn.com/mlb/stats/rosters/_/sort/average_age/order/true
Well Bumgarner isn’t exactly old.
Belt, that day off after a great game, did it again, Bochy knows how to cool off his hitters .
Sometimes we expect too much of players and when they regress to a career mean it looks like a disaster. Case in point: Brandon Crawford. Crawford did not hit better than .250 his first four seasons with the Giants. He was a defensive infielder who never hit more than 10 HR. He then had a couple of outsized seasons with 84 RBI each. Long term, what is his real identity? I think it’s as a superb defender with an okay, but not superlative, bat.
Law will either stop taking his eyes off his destination and refine is command of his location or possibly become a 7th-8th inning guy for the Toledo Mud Hens
It’s a very short list of guys who can pull that off…Valenzuela, Tiant, and a tiny bit of Cueto ( Juan kept his eyes on the prize).
I can’t see Law joining that pantheon.
When a young hurler emulates other pitchers idiosyncrasies before first mastering his control and command – only bad things can happen.
Control and Command are separate from one another.
I don’t see how a closer–any relief pitcher for that matter–can start with a windup then switch to the stretch with men on base. And yeah–Law’s release needs major work IMHO.
GREAT observation TF62. He is gonna have to have only one at the beginning of an inning. Pitching coaches call the windup a “glorified stretch” and thus over the winter he should morph into one motion.
I think everyone has now reached the acceptance stage.
You’ve accepted Bruce?! Atta babe
Next step: Posey. Then maybe Curry. Baby steps.
He’s going to Saturday classes on anger management and How to Bully at the highest level.
No, no. I’m the angry one. I sometimes go to the pound and kick dogs then leave whistling a merry tune.
If I ever hear of you kicking a dog, it’s going to be me, not The Oracle, knock knock knocking on Kevin’s door. You hear?
Jesus, Peter, stop being so literal.
As always – as you rock back on your recliner at work or home it must feel so good for you to say that with a smirk on your face. Chief JR Gamez would be so proud of his fellow colleague, knowing you haven’t changed.
Of course, really what is new. You’ve never been a Giant fan, only succumbing to enjoying watching Crawford play with his flowing and enticing locks-of-hair. Remember you’re the dude who quit rooting for the Niners because Jed is a golden-spoon-fed-incompetent CEO of the Team. Heck even my grandmother would chastise you for having your rooting principles in the wrong spot.
So I guess you have a problem with reality? Actually, I know you have a problem with reality, but in this case I’m talking about the Giants. So you think they may still contend this year? Ok, I’ll amend what I said. Not everyone has reached the acceptance stage. And you’re right, I can’t close my eyes and blindly root. I can’t stand Jed York and won’t root for his team, so your grandma can get herself an account and chastise me.
All you need to do TO is loosen that belt of yours – pour about 5 inches of water in your bath tub – step into said tub and realize you cannot walk on water like you did earlier in both your careers. Your two daughters will enjoy the newer version of Pete Malloy. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8a478572e0dcd039fc232b0bc3c4a2eeb1c0cbe67bbf4b70e143ca853fd9c876.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/02f9adbbc0e3616763bdf0d2fb31c661a7eb71ae5a3abc4248b038f556bbb9d4.jpg
Brilliant.
I view professional sports as part of the entertainment industry. Therefore, my problem with the G’s is that they’re no longer entertaining. Eventually, I just stop paying attention and just check in on the standings once or twice a week. I’m not there yet but rapidly approaching. That’s why I’ve disappeared from this blog for all but about a dozen games this year. I want rich players to give output. Think of sports like a TV show like Breaking Bad. Breaking Bad was like a batter who hit .900. When sports isn’t entertaining, it’s usually a huge time suck only to reach a bad mood. Call me a hedonist but I like to avoid bad moods.
It’s almost impossible to contend every year. The bill is just coming due for all the success they enjoyed in the recent past. It doesn’t like you’re going to be paying much attention for the next couple of years.
That’s fair to say because with the weakness of the MiLB system, I view the Giants as being at the START of a rebuilding process and not nearly at the end. Our FO guys did so well with rent-a-stud in 2012 and 2014 that they extended that process to Smarge, Moore, and Cueto. After 2010 with Buster, Timmy, and Bum, we’ve gotten precious little from our farm system and certainly no stars. We have to start there and it’s a very long haul. Yes, I doubt I’ll be paying much attention for the foreseeable future.
I think it’s a combination of poor draft position for quite a few years, some poor draft choices, deadline trades they made because they were contending, and the fact that their best players are now older. It probably shouldn’t be that surprising.
Age has been at work as a destructive process on the Giants for a few years. Need we look farther than Romo/Lopez/Casilla/Affeldt all being gone? Among the starters, the years have trimmed us down to Cain and Bum. Veterans like Belt and Pence seem to be fragile and streaky with passing years. Rent-a-stud came with a big cost and, as you say, that bill is coming due.
Yeah? How about the Dodgers and Cardinals? They seem to be in the hunt every year. There are others as well. Like any industry you have to stay current and have a long range plan. Our Gisnts faltered badly on the latter.
Neither team has matched the Giants success over the past few years. There are also other teams that haven’t won for many years. The Giants haven’t been perfect in their choices, but on balance it’s hard to argue with the job they’ve done. Now, the job starts over.
I view baseball as the holy grail of sports, and no matter how bad they might be I’m with my team every day in season. I don’t think I’m alone in that sentiment.
You’re not alone, TF!
you’ve got company, pal
I have no bias against people who are baseball-centric because it was my first sports love as a child and is now only second to Olympic Track and Field. You are certainly not alone as this very blog attests. I’ve never been quite as single team-centric as you and others here seem to be. I like a number of teams in all the major sports. However, I certainly wouldn’t punish you for single team loyalty. It’s the nature of fandom.
Never! You roll with the highs and roll with the lows. Even go down with the ship if I have too.
And the Maker Upstairs gave us another Odd year’d Warrior team to stem off the disappointment that is Gigantes ’17. The SF LLC will figure it out. Bum’s dirt bike accident changed the landscape both mentally and physically on how the tough boy Giants would respond.
Just-Peachy representing at the parade tomorrow. Allen would have loved this team in 17.
#FightOn
http://www.espn.com/nba/sto…
Durant:
1. Averaging 35 ppg in finals
2. Unanimous finals mvp
3. First guy to avg 35 ppg and 50/40/90 in finals. 55% from the field.
4. First guy to hit 70% of shots in a clincher, min 20 shot attempts.
LeBron averaged 50+ % fg in his Heat wins too, but not a 50/40/90.
And not including KD’s stocks (steals and blocks).
He most definitely wasn’t the cupcake, but the coattail that the Dubs rode home on with #30 and company
Who is the only player in NBA history to average 40+ ppg for one postseason?
I remember watching the Warriors vs the Lakers in 1977 Playoffs , and Kareem and Rick Barry both averaged about 40 in that series .
Either Magic or Jerry the Logo?
Actually an ill conceived question posed by me…Logo, MJ and Rick Barry.
Allen went to the Warriors parade in 2015. He lived near the parade route. I remember he posted his photos in his online gallery.
Ha no parade for me tomorrow. I’m working from home just to avoid my BART commute and all the parade goers. Besides, not in the mood to get poked by people’s elbows in the rib.
I’ll just wait to run into Curry at Whole Foods again.
Here is the extremely early 2018 mock draft:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2715249-2018-mlb-mock-draft-early-predictions-for-top-1st-round-baseball-prospects
Ironically, the best hitter in the draft is drawing comparisons to Pat Burrell. Give me some Beer.
Perfect!!
Some Beer, indeed!! And an outfielder, too, which part of the field desperately needs restaffing.
The other great about having a top 5 pick is that your 2nd pick is top 5 of the 2nd round, or 30 something. There’s usually some pretty good talent there also. That’s about where Chris Shaw was taken and Kyle Crick years ago.
You’d be especially happy with #2 or #7 on that list.
Brothers?
I like beer. Oh! you mean with a capital B.
Cueto is not doing any favors to his trade value. He needs to shut it down until his blisters heal because his numbers stink this year.
I give him a pass because he’s had bad runs before in his career like the second half of the season with the Royals in 2015. We saw last year what he can do when he’s right. I don’t know why he’s pushing himself through blisters if a couple of weeks off would do the trick. A mystery.
Bob Costas typically uses 463 words when 12 would do, but I think I got the general idea: he wants to marry Joe Maddon
I liked the talk Smoltzie was having about developing and utilizing pitchers to have 10-15 year careers. Where have those days gone? And Smoltz was neglecting to mention his own stuff. He had plenty of it. Wasn’t he typically low to mid 90’s as a starter – like a young Matt Cain, or maybe a little bit more. Then as a closer he was consistently mid-90’s, IIRC.
Higher. At his peak (1996 CY) he sat at 95-96 MPH consistently and humped to 98-99 when necessary. He was dominant before the arm problems took him down. He missed all of 2000 and most of 2001 with TJ, then came back as a high 90s closer. Saved 50+ games three consecutive years.
Yeah, that is more like it. Thanks for the recall. His stuff every bit and better than Harvey and DeGrom and Wheeler.
S.T.U.D.
I believe we have reached, what is commonly referred to in the annals of the anals…
The Tungsten Age of Sports Broadcasting
Does anyone really want to talk about the Giants game? I could tell y’all about the lamb curry stew I made for dinner.
that sounds delish.
Just had dinner watching this amazing ESPN Celtics/Lakers documentary.
Oooh, the 80s version? I remember watching every bit of that. Will have to look it up.
It’s really well done, two nights, 4 total hours. Worth streaming when you get an opportunity.
I will; thanks for the tip!
It is excellent. Very well done. Five hours of must see TV.
Three hours last night, two tonight.
Looks like they’re showing the whole thing back-to-back tomorrow night. Got it DVR’d now. Thanks, guys!
Graduation tomorrow, quarter ends Friday. Alllllllmost there.
Coming off that Warriors title game, these two Giants games just felt Less Than Meh
I’m pretending it’s not happening until the parade is over. Still Warriors Week.
Too painful. Pretty hard to win when starting pitching ERA in the stratosphere, bullpen is a grease fire and all veteran hitters on whom we depended except Posey and Nunez are producing 20- 40 points below expectations.
Johnny Cueto third in the NL with 16 home runs allowed. Other than the stunner of Bum getting injured in a stupid dirt bike accident, Cueto’s fall-off is the biggest single shock of the season to me.
Tough choice with Moore. Just the though of him pitching at Coors Field tomorrow should make the Rockies orgasmic
Moore’s a big disappointment, too, but he was erratic enough last year that I can’t say I’m entirely shocked. I never thought Cueto would be this…not good, especially after last year and with it being a walk year for him.
They are preparing for his performance at Coors by adding more digits to the scoreboard
On the other hand, Shark actually has an excellent career record there. I remember him having a great start at Coors last year. Blach grew up there and made his (successful) major league debut at Coors.
I also remember Cain having a ridiculously great start there late in the 2010 season–like a two-hitter or something. And the Rox were good that year–they were in the NL West mix until the last week. But that was a very long time ago.
Cain had a 1 hitter I believe, but you might be right
Here it is. Nine innings 3 H, 2 R.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/COL/COL201009260.shtml
Who remembers why Cody Ross was leading off at that point?
Also, bonus if anyone can pick out of the box score the guy who’s currently in the Giants organization. Not counting Posey and Cain, of course.
Torres in the DL with appendicitis. Cody played a lot of CF for those two weeks. Ahead of Rowand.
Yep. I knew you’d be the one to get it, TF.
Gillaspie?
Hoona and Ry got it–Matt Reynolds, who was on the Rox at the time. Lefty reliever who pitched briefly in SF last year and is now in Sac. Hadn’t realized he’d been around since 2010, though I remembered he was with the Rox.
Pat the Bat?
Is he still working for the Giants? Haven’t heard his name in awhile.
I think he is a scout.
left handed reliever stashed in Sac
Oh, Matt Reynolds.
Yep
Zito had a good start there once, too. It’s practically a pitcher’s paradise!
Who could have possibly expected Pence, Panik, Crawford, and Belt to all be hitting this poorly? How much better would the Giants be if those four were hitting their norms?
we saw on Sunday
Crawford, Panik and Belt, were not starting Sunday .
Yes Braniac. I knew that, but Pence equaled his season double total in one game.
Insult, tell your boy to ban You, Ryan mentioned 4 players not 1. BOY !
Settle down Peter. Remember that re-read before you post promise you made.
Pence is old, Panik is hitting like he hit last year.
Moore has a 12.34 ERA in 3 career starts at Coors. This will not be must-see TV tonight.
Also – is it not time to realize that Derrick Law is not the heir- apparent as a closer, or even the 8th-inning guy? Jaysus he’s just getting hammered. Nor Stricknine, nor Gearrin. It’s a tire fire out there.
A friend of mine runs a 4H project for those who want to raise lambs. They just had their auction at the fair, 62 kids and the lowest bid was $8 per lb.
I might sell my kid for $8 a pound (maybe fatten him up a little bit first!).
Yes , I want to talk about the Giants, this is a Giants blog, not a cooking blog, you have to take the bad with the good, living in reality is good, when they are lousy you can not pretend it is not happening , that is living in denial, and that is not good .
I was kidding, PJ. Lighten up.
No anger, just reminding people this is a Baseball blog, not you but some use it for everything but that ., I thought no Politics, but it is posted about all the time .
Just wondering Peter, when I write on the blog I pretty much talk like I do when actually speaking live. What about you, do you always get so irritable when you disagree in person or just on the anonymous internet?
I’m not sure that Peter talks to actual people.
To hell with you and your food blog, Lefty Child!!
On the up side think how great the Las Vegas odds will be on the 2018 Giants winning the WS
I don’t know you all. I’m starting to think we might not make the playoffs this year.
I mean like the Diamondbacks just keep winning games. Keep assuming they will fall back from the LAD and COL, but they keep putting up Ws behind the magic combination of scoring runs and good pitching. Robbie Ray has been outstanding, almost 12Ks per 9 and 2.62 ERA. And Gregor Blanco leading off and doing well in Pollock’s absence. Old Dude Rodney and his hat has 18 saves.
Ray is nasty. Nice pickup of Tajuan Walker who has great stuff. Even Corbin has pretty wicked stuff despite bad year.
Taijuan Walker hit Buster in the head. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
But yeah their team is so much better with healthy AJ Pollock.
I predict all 3 NL West teams make playoffs with Cubs and Nats .
Looks good from here. I figure Cubs will make a run, make a trade, make another run…
Yes the Giants would love a .260 hitting outfielder that swipes bags(5 of 6) and plays every day
Astros are a fun team to watch this year. That’s one team that understands the team concept of baseball.
And knocking the sense out of the ball with a lineup of potent bats. Even old man Beltran serves his purpose. They are the IT organization in drafting and player development.
They may be the baseball’s version of Golden State Warriors.
Drafted Dallas Keuchel in 2009, George Springer in 2011, Carlos Correa & Lance McCullers in 2012. And on top of that, Jose Altuve is under a dirt-cheap contract for the next 3 years. His base salary is only $4.5 million this year. Talk about getting your money’s worth
Don’t forget the episode of espionage between St. Louis and Astros a few years ago.
because of that, Astros scored a couple extra draft picks this year – not exactly fair for the rest of the league. They also get competitive balance draft picks.
Moze built 2 powerhouse organizations???
Luhnow?
Whoa…Hoona. Easy there. Pre-July superiority is a yearly thing for teams…let’s let it ride out.
I’ll let you repost this in November if it comes to pass.
What!!?? They don’t pick the playoff teams in June? Since when?
They’re clearly not at the Warriors’ level of dominance, but I just meant the way the rosters are constructed is similar.
Having said that, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them make it to the WS. They’re still consistently winning with 4 of 5 SP in the rotation on the sidelines. That lineup is as deep as they come.
ps – I think it would be awesome if it came to fruition that they are “baseball’s version of GSW”
Jeff Luhnow = Bob Meyers?
I think so too but let’s see how the Astros finish it out.
I greatly respect and appreciate teams that build through the draft instead of spending big bucks on top FAs. It’s why I envy the Cubs more than I despise them.
Of course, that’s how Giants created a dynasty as well, and I can never stop rooting for them for all the great memories. Bad contracts, and bad drafts in recent years but I do believe it’ll be a quick turnaround.
Lots of draft reviews giving the Giants a bad grade but I think Heliot Ramos and Jacob Gonzalez will be special talents in the future.
The world gives the Warriors to much credit for their drafting. They have 3 starters in the lineup from 7 years of drafting. in Green, Curry, Thompson. Those are 3 starters. They have a backup in McCaw. Looney was a bit player and Jones a center did not play. They basically have 4 players on the 12 man roster that were drafted and reasonable contributors. The rest were free agent acquisitions. You know the first man in and 6th man Iggy, Livingston, Durant Pachulia, West, Clark
The Astros lost 100+ games 3 years in a row, so they had a draft bonanza thanks to smart drafting and look where they are now. Good for them. I’m not sure the Giants fan base would take losing 100+ 3 years in a row, get the #1 pick 3 years in a row and wait for their prospects to blossom. Not saying it could or couldn’t happen (losing 100 3 straight years).
Sure they would. Giants fans are very patient and appreciative of the success they’ve had. Just look at the remarks made here on the blog!
Not sure what to make of your last sentence, but I have patience. I saw what happened in 1985 and saw it come to fruition two years later.
Fk beltran.
Hey Ry, Matt Krook’s your guy, right? Boy is he coming along nicely. 8 Ks, 2 BBs tonight. Cutting down the walks, turning things around.
Me, I just really, really, really want the Giants to someday have Crick and Krook. I’ve wanted it since 2013 when Crick was a stud prospect and Krook was a possible high school draftee.
We don’t have much to look forward to right now. I WANT CRICK AND KROOK.
DJ SNELTON! JACK SNODGRASS!!
DJ is in AAA. Jack is…elsewhere. Dunno where.
Sounds good. I have to imagine Crick does make his debut sometime soon.
This Krook could really be a 4th round steal. Reports on his stuff are definitely more first roundish. Giants were aggressive with him as well, sending him to San Jose.
And how about Mighty Quinn with his 8th already and Ronnie Jebavy with 2 more hits ! He must have figured some things out at the plate. These are the kind of developments that inspire hope!
Something may have happened to Arroyo tonight. He came out after one AB.
Baggs Tweeted it may be a hand injury via HBP, ugh! 🙁
Welcome to them not trading Nunez
He has so many MyGuy’s, he’s a closet Kardashian
Krook’s a lefty, so he’s a default MyGuy™, too.
Then you’d have Crick and Krook and Kruk.
I find it terribly disconcerting to look in on this blog and, at 8:15 on a game day, to be able to keep up with, and in fact wait for, posts.
The team is just so bloody boring. I’ve had to miss much of the action this season just due to logistics and circumstance but even when I’m available I’m not terribly interested in watching the endless parade of lame at bats. Even the box scores are boring.
Time to dis-attach, Bap. These guys are B-A-D, much to our surprise.
If you can watch anyway, more power to you. I look at the 2010-12-14 memorabilia, and the Timmy bobblehead, and just get depressed.
Nothing lasts forever. That is for sure.
Anyone think there is a correlation between the teams goofy and unintelligent promotional commercials and their play on the field? Just sayin. I don’t mind some of the older ones that were smart, but they’ve been severely dumbed down. Maybe that’s just me, but they just seem to get too goofy, or stupid if you like. If they could back it up I’d probably be ok with all that sophomoric silliness. But with this toilet bowl season, not so sure. I want to see them with some attitude, confident and nasty, ready to fight. Show some action plays, get the fans hyped up to see some good baseball instead of trying to fill the seats with giveaways and events, still do the giveaways but don’t make the players look so utterly silly in those commercials. I think they’re smarter than that.
This correlation definitely implies causation. Too goofy. Brandon Belt needs to actually rebrand self as a bad ass hitter. Buster Posey needs to slow his roll on all the ads.
Buster is hitting about 350 and playing his usual terrific D at C. He can do as many ads as he wants.
See it’s about demand, it’s not as if Buster is out there pitching himself.
Foots is a socialist at heart
I heard him once advocating for a chicken in every pot.
That was me advocating fried chicken after everyone smokes pot
He might hit .375 if he did fewer ads and played more 1B.
drop the ass in Brandon Belts rebranding. Oh wait he already has that brand
Same as it ever was ( I think I said that earlier about something else)…. but when they’re losing, it’s a rough look….
Can we bring up everyone we just drafted right now?
The Giants are going to be 20 games out of first place before the All Star Break. WOW!!! Heads need to roll.
If I ran the Giants, the first thing I’d do is call Posey into my office, tell him that this team needs really serious rebuilding, Bochy is gone, Evans is probably gone, the team is not going to be a contender for 3 years at least, and ask him if he wants to be traded to get some serious pieces to rebuild the team. Remind him that if he isn’t traded, rebuilding the team will be much harder (tell him that trading Bumgarner isn’t an option, he’s only 27), so there’s a good chance he’ll never play for a championship contender again. Give him 2-3 months to think about it. If he says yes, to the right team, start to work on trading him as soon as possible, keeping him in the picture at every stage of the process.
And tell him during the rebuilding, he is the first baseman
I don’t know about that. It shouldn’t sound like a threat. The only way trading Posey can be acceptable is if it’s done with the utmost dignity and class. Even telling him trading Bumgarner isn’t an option feels a little dirty, but I think he respects Bumgarner enough to understand.
“It is with the utmost class and dignity that I tell you I have fired everyone involved in the building of the great dynasty that you grew up in, and you are about to be traded. If you don’t agree to a trade, welcome to hell as we gut the place.”
Sounds like a fantastic plan
He isn’t about to be traded unless he wants it. The team will suck for a few years in amy case. Posey would be given an opportunity to be on a better team.if he wants. He could even help choose which team, since he can veto any trade. How is that nasty to posey?
You’re acting as though there’s a choice about rebuilding.
You’re acting as if you have no idea how teams are built and maintained. You’re a stat guy who thinks players are commodities…I don’t think you’ve ever been in a team situation – you know, bunker mentality – or in a business where you’re personal performance meant keeping the doors open or not. Posey is not getting traded unless he says so
Well if you are looking to trade him, then suggesting he will do a backup job instead of the job he wants will get him thinking
Not going anywhere.
I vote “no” to quite a bit of that, especially the part about trading Buster the Fantastic.
If you were running the Giants, the first thing that I would do is kill myself
Yours is better than mine!
He will apparently give this speech with the utmost dignity and class
Before or after he told him that every single person running theGiants for the last ten years, including the people who drafted him was a moron?
So you don’t think the team needs rebuilding?
(PS…can i have the shoes?)
yes, I’ll let my executor know
I like the part where you send Bochy and Evans out of your office beforehand, to build the tension, and make Posey feel uncomfortable, like some mafia-style shit is about to go down.
Have to be honest with posey. He should know the facts before he decides. But he’s the boss. He has to approve any trade.
Don’t worry. Mathematicians don’t get hired to run a baseball team that is built on hitters failing 70% of the time.
Now I’ve seen it all. There’s something called “Alternative Science” sneaking its way into U.S. HHS policy. What the hell is Alternative Science?
Is it anything like Alternative Baseball where ineptitude, futility, and listless offense are tantamount to winning?
I prefer to think of it as celebrating losing by ONLY one run.
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