by
GreekGiant
Well… I remember when we played stickball as kids. When there was an odd occurrence, a ball hit into Mrs. Ford’s geraniums that was kind of in that nether world of fair/foul in our imaginations… we would stop and look at each other and yell “Do-over…” Not much to say about this desultory loss. The Cardinals made Alex Reyes look like Bob Gibson. Could it be a disappointment hangover from last night?
I don’t feel like mentioning how many games behind/ahead we are for whatever playoff consolation prize. I just want another drink.. This incarnation of the Giants will test your will to live, your patience and your commitment to fandom. What can we say? The team was downright awful at the plate. Albert Suarez pitched well enough to win, giving up 2 runs in 5 innings.
I really don’t know where to go from here. I want to wait till the season is over before I dissect decisions, personnel moves, strategies and such. Right now, believe it or not we still have a solid chance at playing at least one postseason game and you know what? Millions and billions of Major League fans would be thrilled if they could utter that last sentence…
Tomorrow Madbum faces Kershaw in Los Angeles and we get a new day to start a new winning streak.. I’m tired. I want one of those baseball cake pops on a stick…
I disengaged so hard I just now saw that LA came back from their 7-1 deficit. Of course they did. Tied in the 10th. Only thing that could salvage this day is them losing in 22 innings. And that probably still wouldn’t improve my mood.
This season, post AS break, has been pretty much silver lining free.
I don’t think that the second half will be getting any Emmy’s tonight.
That’s a Bippy bet if ever I heard one.
I was listening on the radio after passing over Tejon pass and for the first few innings Robbie Ray was eviscerating their lineup. Then the comeback…
Those cake pops look good.
The picture on this blog is really cool. Madison out pitching Clayton will be even cooler.
Since this what we do here- here are the boyz who get the blame today:
1. Panik-also gets the rare weekend double goat award- congrats, Joe
2. Pence- the crappiest swing of the day, 2 men in scoring position division
3. Osich- and I’ve defended you, duckweed.
4. Bochy, Span, Casilla,Kelly- -no matter where, no matter when- it’s always their fault.
Note- of course some here are putting this one on their fave whipping boyz. it was last night that done ’em in today.Those folks get the “kick your instead award.”
I think we can default to Group Fault 2016
It’s game by game now.Suck today, get the heat today.
what did Berto do wrong today?
Who’s Berto?
Kelly
Nothing. Do you really think that it matters? He’s on The List.
Bummer that the G’s threw out the B lineup today. Did Reyes look pretty electric?
Which guys are in the “B” LU?
Depends on when you ask.
I guess just the absence of Posey makes it feel so.
Did you tip your chef cap today?
i tip my cap to anyone here who realized that Span was only allowed to go to third on that overthrow. I saw some serious editing going on .
I told the culprit who posted it and she got three thumbs up on wrong info
You’re awesome. Keep correcting people.
It sounds like a rule that you should know about. See-now you know.
Thank you for your reply;;;;
Wasn’t a correction,
Everybody saw what happened at the time;
“Someone” SAID Span didn’t hustle to third;
The ball was in the camera well and the umpire had both hands up in the well known time out position;
He was on third eating a late lunch and waiting for the game to start again.
Reyes was electric and eclectic
Big 98 FB and a CU that was 12 miles slower
Where do they get these guys? Can Evans find the DR on a map?
He was in on it until he saw that you know who was from the DR.
btw reyes is from new jersey — born and bred
I heard that. Then he went back to DR. Signed out of DR as IFA.
They have double the area scouts
These guys couldn’t hit a changeup if they knew it was coming, CU. They’ve set records in that skill.
Listening to the game on KNBR…out on the road…and a car is stopped in front of us with a 2015 WS Champions – Kansas City Royals license plate frame.
Mrs. KIR, “How are the Royals doing this year?”
My response, “Not good and they’re not making the playoffs this year.”
Mrs. KIR, “At this rate, they may not be the only ones.”
Someone ought to construct a ironic ditty with Cassilla on the rubber instead of Casey at the bat.
that would be Pacman
The core stood 2 to 4 at Willie Mays Field that sunny day.
The Giants held the lead with one half inning left to play.
The sound man frantically searched for Tony Bennett for game’s end
‘Til he saw but one man warming up in the ‘pen . . .
Very good!
Bueno
Posey has to break out his Spanish skills and help SC undersatnd it is nothing personal. When you fail too much people get tired of the Results; you become almost incidental.
Dodgers lost
That they did. I checked and dad gum it- you were right.
Is it final?
Yay! Cake pops for all.
Sorry, I ate them all.The picture you see is a screen saver.
Billy Country Breakfast Butler wearing number 36 for the Bronx Bombers,
Surprised that number was available
My guy Brandon Drury did the Dodgers in today with 4 hits including walk off single and 15th HR. I highlight that name because Christian Arroyo has some prospect similarities to the Dbacks rookie.
love Drury
Former Brave prospect as well. Strong top hand.
It’s what that low hand is doin’ that’s mighty suspicious
Hambone’s connected to the……
Hamate bone?
Heath Hembree ready to enter the mess
Where does Chris Sale pitch in 2017 ?
Boston
Our seats for Robben Ford
crooked
Our Jeff Beck seats were a little further back. Am wearing my concert shirt right now.
Play some awesome air guitar free of shame 🎸
How deep in the blues do you want to go?
really liked Dr.Lefty’s review of the year’s blown saves and the hang-over effect. i had been pondering almost the same but wanted to look at everyone’s blown saves as specifically what happened since the ASB collapse
so here’s my info….
total Blown Saves by Reliever -> 7 on the roster have BLS
Casilla – 9
Strickland – 4
Gearrin – 4
Lopez – 3 {NONE since ASB]
Oseich – 3 {NONE since ASB]
Kontos – 2
Nathan – 1
since the collapse began [July 15] the Giants are 22-37 .352 ball
– only Nathan’s was followed by wins but there was an off day after his BlS
– all others had at least 1 loss immediately after the BlS
– 3 of Casilla”s 5 BlS since the ASB resulted in runs of losses; 1 was the extra innings ultimate win in AZ and the today’s hangover loss
– Gearrin’s loss on 9/1 had 1 hangover loss but also was followed by a run of 4 in 6 losses
I’m wondering how a team looses its resilience ? To my way of thinking that’s what the hangover losses seem to be representing. there is something about the “blown save” that just knocks the wind out of them. On the bright side is that sept blown saves have not resulted in runs of losses – so there’s that
There can be more than one blown save in a game but never 2 saves in a game, that has to be accounted for. And is the “hangover” effect to blame for the batting slumps? Just questions.
i used baseball ref and actually went to each of the relievers game logs looking for that; they also are tracking “holds” now also. I’m wondering if those slumps have more to do with this resilience thing – I always saw the Giant being a team of grit — now i’m starting to wonder if they are loosing some of that too. but i’m very curious as to how this happened to this team in the course of a season. the ASB is such a differentiating mark and now they have a 9 week trendline of B.A.D. – I’d be shocked if they can somehow overcome that.
A guy doesn’t hit for a couple weeks because Casilla blew a save?Please.
And it’s way too small a sample size to establish cause and effect. One would have to do the whole league to see if there is any of that cause and effect. Interesting stuff, though
Don’t misunderstand ,i have great respect for Lefty and the work that you have done , i just don’t think that any conclusion can be drawn from what has provided.
It’s really hard to hit a slider with sore gonads.
Well done.
We will have to someday do a league wide matrix;
Thank yo for doing thus;
Baggs nice post-gamer
http://www.mercurynews.com/2016/09/18/wild-card-position-is-perilous-after-giants-are-blanked-by-cardinals/#comments
Hanley 3 RHR off CC
BALDHEADSLIKK1’s cousin
cousin in law
Mea culpa, mi Amigos, mea culpa. I attended today’s game. It was the tenth game I attended this season. Six at AT$T, two at Fenway, two at Yankee. My record at games that I have attended this season: 0-10. OH AND MATRIARCH FORNICATING TEN!!! I am sorry. I know, I know, it’s not all about me. And how could I rationally believe that my simple purchasing of an over-priced ticket on StubHub be in any way related to poor or flat or snake-bit play on the field? Clearly, I can’t. But just as clearly, my attendance hasn’t helped. If I can figure how to do it, I intend on changing my handle to John the Jonah-Jinx. Or perhaps “Schleprock.” Wowzee, wowzee, woo-woo.
Your great handle gets you a pass on all things; reat-grandson of Charles?
good grief charlie brown !!! that is one bad run of juju – i’d light a candle for you but i think you are actually beyond that : ) can you do us all a favor and NOT attend another game this year even if by some miracle they get into the post ?
So you made that bargain, and the Giants get the blow back. Well, I never. 😉
I feel your pain. In 2015 I watched the Giants go 0-8 and 1-9 in the first 10 games I want to including the fisrt home stand of the season.
Ugghh, I’m so sorry. We were 0-4 on the East Coast trip, too, but at least we were at the three-game sweep in Petco in May. I’m 2-2 at AT & T this year.
According to my ballpark check-ins, this year I attended 12 games and the Giants went 8-4.
6-2 pre-ASB/ 2-2 post-ASB (surprisingly not 0-4!)
I had worse juju in 2015, it was 5-5 🙁
Hope in 2017 you go 10-0!! 🙂
Did you post your game photos anywhere? I’ve been gone.
I did! But I’ll post a couple here too (not much to look at, I was either busy screaming or drinking beer plus my phone camera sucks after having dropped it several times and cracked it 😜)
I got lucky. I’ve only been to one second half game at AT & T, and it was the one where the Giants hit four homers and four triples.
Are you willing to attend all the rest of the games if we chip in for the tickets?
That is some bad bad luck Mr. Faust. That’s the breaks. This year I am blessed to be 8-4 in games I attended. I applaud your honesty and may the Gods grant you many wins in future games.
Clearly your fault.
John Loss Faust
You need a Croix-de-2016 badge.
Sad
http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/17575691/padres%C2%A03b%C2%A0yangervis-solartes%C2%A0wife%C2%A0dies%C2%A0at%C2%A0age%C2%A031
How it ended
http://www.espn.com/mlb/recap?gameId=360918129
Below, CC requested a poem. I enjoy helping people.
Things were looking very hopeful for the Giants on that night,
They took the lead in extras, when Posey hit one out to right,
All Giants fans were happy, some even felt a stirring in their pants,
But then they all remembered that the Pads had one more chance,
So as quickly as it came, the joy came just as quickly to an end,
For Santiago Casilla was warming in the pen,
And they all knew just as surely as the sun sets in the west,
That the melon-headed Bochy thought Casilla was the best,
But the fans knew better, they’d seen him pitch, they knew Casilla sucked,
And they knew that if he pitched the tenth the team was surely fucked,
But in he came, it didn’t matter, Bochy didn’t seem to care,
And Giants fans will always remember what happened then and there,
Three quick singles tied the game, there were men at second and third,
Casilla, as expected, was bringing forth a turd,
But Bochy made no change, he couldn’t tell which way the wind was blowing,
All he thought about Casilla was “we got to get him going,”
As Casilla threw the final pitch, the fans made not a sound,
They just watched in abject horror, as he fell right off the mound,
The winning run came skipping home, the Giants had lost another,
And Chris, to my delight, told us all about his mother,
Awesome!
On Marty’s show today, they (Marty, interviewees) are STILL talking about “getting Casilla going” because they’re “going to need him.” For what, the Thanksgiving Day softball game?
Ha!!!
How long did that take you? Did you skip dinner for it? And do you mean “our”Chris?
I spent about 20-30 minutes of my life on that. Yes, the very angry Chris. If you missed it, he immediately responded with an awesome comment explaining how she had recently passed away, that they enjoyed watching Giants games together, and that mom hated Casilla as much as he does. It was the perfect follow up to one of the most bizarre games ever.
I don’t buy that his Mom hated Casilla. Sounds like an add-on.
“See, even old folks hate him”
No. He was sincere.
Still don’t buy it.
What Mom really said “Now just behave yourself, young man.There’s too much hatred in the world as it is.
Go to bed.”
Ha..That sounds about right.
Nice! Thank you Mr. Oracle. I am always a sucker for rhyme..
Quick limerick after my concert:
There once was a man named Bruce
Some thought he had a screw loose
His thoughts seemed slower
He kept pitching the save blower
The Baseball Gods responded like Zeus
I’ll do better tomorrow
At least you didn’t play the Alzheimer’s card.
Give, give, give, T.O.!
Top tier, as of today:
Law, Smith, Lopez,Strickland (iffy call)
Second tier:
Reynolds, Gearrin, Kontos,Romo,Nathan
Third tier:
Casilla, Okert, Peavy,Osich, Cain
Blach,incomplete
No data, just an opinion.
There is no Top Teir. They all suck in the ninth….
They are the top tier here.Low bar.
You’re right, I just have to remember 1985 and lower my expectations.
Cordon Bleu for yeu.
What are the odds of protecting a 1 run lead for 3 innings in MLB? If the Giants scored their first half average of 4.7 runs per game instead of their Paltry 3.9 runs per game of the second half. Heck league average is 4.4 runs a game. If they would hit and score like the first hald, they have had more 2, 3 and 4 run leads rather than having to protect instead of a 1 ,2 run lead.
The success of holding a lead and getting the save goes way up with each run. If you have to hold a 1 run lead for 3 innings, the odds are you will blow the save 68% of the time. The same is true for the 9th inning. Casilla has blown a 1 run lead 35% of the time. He has blown a 2 run lead 5% of the time. He has never blown a 3 run lead in the 9th this year. Give the closer a 2 run lead and the Giants will have won many more games.
Yeah I know, elite closers will be more nails yada yada yada, but the closer does not come in for 3 inning saves and very rarely for a 2 inning save.
As Yesterday shows, the second half has been a nightmare for run scoring. As I have stated Buster and his lack of power and RBI production for a 3/4 hitter is THE major issue. He is the star of the team but has been producing like an average Joe. He is the person that carried the team in the past succesfull seasons and has failed to do so this year. When he hit recently, they won 2 games in a row, then his silent treatment. They have a runs cring issue. The pitching is giving up almost the same amount of runs in the second half per game as the first half.
Posey has been a disappointment offensively for sure, hard to believe he’s still hitting around .290. He should have moved down in the order a long time ago but then again, who would take his place? The offensive funk is teamwide, a mess from one through eight.
Not really. This half’s team has a penchant for getting one hit an inning and leaving the poor soul on first second or even third, yes they leave players who hit triples on the base for an entire inning. It is sad.
But that all changes today. Final push, defensive substitutes, hit and score, effective pitching. It can be done!
Considering how well they did in the first half, what is the explanation? I know Pence and Duffy were injured as well as Panik but Panik and Duffy were not doing well in the first half while the Giants scored lots of runs.
Exactly… Any and every weakness in a bullpen is rendered more significant when the offense goes south. They say pitching and defense wins games. But for that to be true a team must first score some damn runs. Scoring above the league average makes everything easier.
The Bobby Evans Outfield whiff;
Denard Span : $31 million / 3 years / .260 / 10HR / no arm
Khris Davis : $540 thousand / 1 year / .252 / 40HR / no problem
Uhhh, how was the concert?
GM whiffs would be last thing on my mind but hats off to Billy, I guess. Cost would have been Arroyo plus.
Australian kid : Joe Robinson. He blew Robben off the stage. Great show. I’ll link one of the kids songs tomorrow. 25 year old virtuoso…no closer potential for our boys, but plays an incredible Gretsch White Falcon.
Robben is lookin’ and sounding a bit Javi Lopez career arc level
Some country dude was not good. Lee Roy something.
Great scouting report, scout.
Khris was not available.No one could pry him loose with a thousand crowbars.But not to worry- he’ll be a free agent in 2020.Hang tough.
How about Dexter Fowler? 1/$13 with option for 2017. Currently sporting a .827 OPS.
Fowler wasn’t available to SF for that cheap. While SF was negotiating with him he was still seeking 4 years, most had him at 4/48. Giants tried talking him down, he chose to wait out the market, then every team that wanted a CF got one, and he was left going back to the team that made him a QO. Like Khris Davis, it’s a deal that looks great in a vacuum, but a deal that the Giants couldn’t have gotten.
Ah, gotcha. Thanks for the clarification. I just recall Larry Krueger harping on them not getting Fowler but definitely wouldn’t be the first time he’s barking up the wrong tree
Fathead Larry Krueger has diahrrea of the mouth! Jumps to conclusions at the drop of a hat.
Didn’t Fowler miss a bunch of time this season too with injury?
Don’t expect Beane would trade him to the Giants, at any price, unless they open up San Jose.
Nope…he won’t. But we went after Span before the season, and Davis was out there too
The A’s traded for Davis. And Span was a FA, big difference there. I think the issue is more that Span was a big whiff rather than a terrible mistake not to trade for Davis. As Radicalpro points out below Fowler would have been the much better sign. Not sure why the Giants balked at that after signing Samardzija (and then Cueto) because they had already lost the draft pick. So it appears like the Giants felt Span was the better option than Fowler. And THAT is a big whiff.
ClutchUp was pining for us to make a trade to get Davis, who was being offered…we had the chips…but we spent money on an injured guy instead. To me, it’s a whiff. I just brought advise up because of our power shortage. It could have been almost anyone, but the Span decision has been a bad one for this season…and I don’t see it getting any better: he will not grow an arm. He will get older, slower, and it will be an albatross contract the next two years: too expensive to sit, too under talented to help
So the season will last 3 more games. After Wednesday it’ll be all over but the crying and analysis of how a bad closer implodes a baseball team. This will be compared with the Red Sox collapse for decades.
Why waste your time? Skip the Dodger series and go on a bender,
Good idea!!!
Casilla says:
认证的中文学校 – 教育 – 文化 – 软实力 Now now, Santiago, I don’t believe that they can do that. It’s anatomically impossible,
He’s multi-lingual, you know.
See you all in a week.not doctor related.Just a get away.Feet in the water, fish in the pan.
Go enjoy, Chef!
He’ll still post under an alias.
Get refreshed for the final push becasue this is not over by a long shot.
Bring us a List too.
I hear a lonely coyote cry deep into the night as the big moon shines on the late summer breeze slowly emptying leaves to bring in another autumn and as I stare into the lonely sound, totally unable to relate with it all, because my gut is wrenched and wretched at the thought of a Giants team that appears to have bent over and become content to take it without humiliation or remorse. It almost appears to be a peaceful state of confusion. I mean really. WTF. Why has it become so effin difficult to win, no wait, let’s take a step back and say compete, so damn difficult to compete. When we lose, the front lighting highlights a complete lack of effort, no, hold up, a sluggish display of going thru the motions, barely. Some, not all, have made it extremely real clear they’ve checked out. So before the season ends, let’s get upright. Lose like men, not like someone curled up who just had their gonads stomped in. Put up a battle and take that into spring training, not some hapless sack of deflated groin beans. Com’on man. We need some damn reassurance going into the off season this debacle can be corrected. And no. Please don’t use Mercurys retrograde as an excuse. Not buying it. Now let’s go put up a good show against those Dodgers.
The Giants are now 0-58 this season when trailing after eight innings.
Are they going to set yet another record for futility?
I was thinking about Armando Benitez, who’s been the poster boy for the Worst Closer Ever. Of course, with Saturday’s mess, Casilla has now passed Benitez (2006) for the most single-season blown saves by a closer in SF history.
The numbers in Casilla’s and Benitez’s two seasons are comparable. Casilla’s had more appearances, which makes sense–there are more save opportunities on a winning team than on a losing one. Benitez had a 4-2 record and Casilla’s is 2-5. Benitez’s ERA+ was considerably better than Casilla’s.
When Benitez was traded from the Giants in May 2007, Tim Kawakami published an all-time great Benitez moments piece: http://blogs.mercurynews.com/kawakami/2007/05/31/armando-benitezs-greatest-giant-hits-and-balks/. It’s an amusing read if you don’t mind wincing occasionally, both because it evokes bad memories and because some of the quotes and scenarios are similar to what we’ve observed this year.
It’s also a “be careful what you wish for” memory. Benitez was signed as a premium free agent, three years, $21.5 million. In 2004, that was a lot for a closer. He’d had an excellent 2004 season, with a 92% save conversion rate, WHIP well under 1, way more strikeouts than innings. He never was any good again after that. For those hoping the Giants hand out a huge contract to a free-agent closer…well, remember it doesn’t always work out well.
I’d hope that after time passes, Giants fans won’t remember Casilla with the vitriol they remember Benitez. After all, Casilla was a good Giant for six years and on three championship teams. Benitez came as a high-priced free agent and did nothing for the Giants.
But as to the balk games: Casilla wins. Benitez’s famous balk game–his last as a Giant–did not involve the winning run. He balked twice in allowing the tying run to score. The manager, then in his first year at the helm of the Giants (Guess Who?) let him continue, and Benitez gave up the game-winning HR. Who could have seen that coming?
Great to get back to facts as you do and burst the bubble of “Go Get Melancon and our probelms are over”. Every move is a calculated risk and sometimes they go wrong.
Bochy has said he likes a closer with a variety of pictches and killer heat is not required therefore Casilla has been hanging around. I think that opens the door for Law although going after The Closer for next year will be a big theme.
After this, they have no choice.
I would be fine with Law getting the first shot at closer, but I’d also be fine with signing a good free agent and having Law be the 8th inning guy for a couple years. He’s still pretty young for a reliever (just turned 26 a few days ago), and I’m concerned with his arm health. If you put all your eggs in that basket and he has to have a second TJ or has more inflammation episodes, you leave yourself pretty exposed. The problem with Benitez was that they didn’t have a good replacement when he crashed and burned.
There you go. I was underestimating the 8th inning spot and that would be the place to put Law. That was Romo’s spot when WIlson went down right?
We have solved 2017’s bullpen then. What next?
I remember #3 on that list pretty well. “I did my job”. Ralph Barbieri was ripping him on KNBR after that. Kind of makes me miss him. He was maybe the only guy that didn’t mind asking the tough questions. So many on air fights with Sabean 🙂
Getting into MyGuy@ also slants me toward the Farm. Last closer that came out of the Giants minors?
Romo and then Wilson.
Ironically Joe Nathan is one too… The Giants just did not recognize it.
Derek Law (9th round 2011) may be the next one. Strickland is partially from our farm (we picked him up off waivers from the Pirates, but he debuted with the Giants), and Osich (6th round 2011) and Okert (4th round 2012) were draftees, both from the top six rounds.
Others to keep an eye on (and where they finished):
–Rodolfo Martinez (AA)
–Reyes Moronta (A+)
–Tyler Cyr (A+)
–Ryan Halstead (A+)
I’d mention Ray Black and Kyle Crick but I’m getting tired of waiting for them. 🙁
Excellent post. Let’s remember that prior to this season, Casilla was statistically the Giants most successful reliever when examining ERA, hits per innings pitched and other metrics. That’s what makes this year so hard to take for me. He was very very good before 2016, if a little rocky in some outings. His stuff still looks good but that focus and confidence are in trouble. If Casilla was your teammate Lefty what would you say? How would you handle him? It is such a tough call to see a player struggle so mightily and cost your team games.
I’d say he could still have a valuable role in the bullpen (7th or 8th inning guy, where he excelled previously) but not be the designated closer. The Giants have history of replacing closers who weren’t working out–Casilla himself was replaced by Romo and then Romo was replaced by Casilla–so it’s not like it hasn’t happened before.
If I were his teammate, I’d be telling him to focus on helping the team and not on the ego boost of being “the man.” I’m not sure what happened to him because a few years ago he was saying and doing the right things–“just use me whenever”–and this year he’s gotten petulant and prideful about it. That disappoints me even more than his actual performance. That’s why the article and the quotes from Benitez kind of resonated. Casilla isn’t as bad about that as Benitez was–there’s been a fair amount of “I did my job” but no real finger-pointing–but it still hasn’t been a good look for him this year.
EDIT: By “valuable role in the bullpen,” I mean THIS year, not in the future. I would be devastated if they re-signed him.
Perfect. I would also add: “You have the stuff to close and you just need to relax, believe in yourself. We might need you for closer again…”
And so we begin the last two weeks of this most bizarre season. While there’s a small part of me that wants this entire nightmare to be over, my 50+ years as a diehard baseball fan brain knows that our Giants still have a shot to make the postseason.
The division is gone. The six games against the Dodgers are only six of thirteen remaining in the battle to stay ahead of the other WC teams. We play all these games in California, against NL West teams we know well. We finish at home. We can do this.
Play good baseball fellas. Go with “our TEAM”, Bochy.
“fan brain” gives you the Phrase Of The Day.
You are speaking for me here too.
I’m with you TF. What a strange second half. Let’s hope for a successful final 6 weeks!
To damn hot for coffee this morning hell im burning up.
Make iced coffee, bro! That’s what I order when it’s hot like this damn, annoying late summer that should be early fall.
Another reason to get into the ColdBrewCamp™.
You store it in the fridge as a concentrate and it goes easily in the iced coffee mode.
FYI: In case any of you had comments held up, I had to change email accounts since I arrived this morning to find 3,129 emails! We should be good to go. Apologies for any inconvenience.
One more note: No cussing please. I am guilty as charged too.. It turns out, it could unleash a bad torrent of hate and misunderstanding. Secondly, Comments with invective, standard cuss words, etc. are automatically screend and prevented from being published.
Can you prevent folks from disagreeing with me please? Screen them for me will ya ! Just kidding.
I will work on that Slikk!
thanks
This comment has been removed by the moderator.
And this one ,too!
Sufferin’ succotash!
Uff dah!
By the way Matthew. Good points on busting my cojones concerning the assumptions I made about the Republican Party in the whiteness post. It was a questionable move on my part and you were right to take me to task for it. Politics are always a dangerous path to tread, particularly when they bleed into things we love like baseball…
You da man, Greek: together we’re Giant Friends
Yes Sir!
Dag Nabbit. Phooey. Shoot.
That’s a good thing. Thank you.
My Pleasure.
No cussing!?! That’s a tall order considering the performance of the G’Men these days. It’s gotten to the point lately where every time I see Gillaspie coming to the plate, Bochy shuffling to the mound, Casilla warming up in the pen or yet another runner stranded in scoring position all I can do is swear a blue streak. It’s a good thing I dont have a voice-to-text feature.
No Kidding!
Wholly profanity Batman, the Joker has a soap bar for our language.
Good rule GG.
Oooh. My grandmother once took me into the bowels of a department store and washed my mouth out with a bar of Lifebuoy, not the new kind, the old foul stuff.
Ralphie?
i’m guessing that you didn’t cuss when grandma was within earshot ever again. just a guess
No, but once, when around 4 or 5 , I stopped an escalator in a dept. store in Cincy.
not a lifebuoy infraction, i hope. sounds like you haven’t changed much in the last 50+ years..
As I had my morning rotgut and brown banana, I took a quick look at how our laddies fared after a Casilla save in the second half-he’s had 10 saves since the ASB. In the game immediately following a Casilla save, they have lost 7 of them.Now I didn’t account for the tornadoes in the Midwest or if we had 5 guys out for the next game ( hangover effect from celebrating that rare second half win)
My study has yet to be published in the Norcal Journal of Worthless Statistics but I’d say that it does prove that we pretty much sucked the day after Casilla saved a game or not.
My ride will be here at 9, so I’d better pack….OK, that’s done. I travel light.
I’ll be home Sunday.I should know by then if it’s safe to enter here.
Have a great trip Michael. Thanks for the stats. I like your take on it and I think I am going to add to the statistics too with my own worthless varieties from time to time.
Have a great trip. It makes me happy to think about you getting away just for fun. You deserve it.
My own trip down the blown saves path showed me that the “hangover” effect of the Casilla meltdowns isn’t as bad as it seemed. It’s there–three times after one of his blown saves, the team’s been shut out the next day, twice just this month, and his blown saves have been followed by losing streaks several times–but even then, correlation does not prove causation (they might have been shut out or had a losing streak anyway). That’s why it’s good to actually look at the data instead of going on gut feelings (/cough cough “Belt doesn’t hit in the clutch” Truthers).
However, they did lose 10 of the 12 games I catalogued, and 8 of those 12, including the two wins, led to extra innings. So there is a cost to that, as well.
Also, there’s the non-quantifiable additional benefit of not being kicked in the gonads when Casilla doesn’t pitch in the 9th inning.
p.s. Yesterday there were rumors of K.T. and Gorks starting tonight. What about Ehire, who ‘owns’ Opie?
Thirteen games to go. So hard to figure out how this will end. If we’re realistic and accept that basically we’re up against the Cardinals for one of the wild card spots, I’d say the schedule favors the Giants. Yes, we have six games against the Dodgers, but they have two series vs. the Cubs, are playing the Rockies at Coors starting tonight, and also have series against the Reds (a very pesky team since the ASB) and the Pirates (still a good team).
The Cardinals are not very good right now–sloppy defense, suspect rotation–but neither are the Giants (lackluster offense, unreliable bullpen).
I could see it going either way, frankly, though I’d say the slight edge objectively goes to the Giants just because of schedule.
I don’t like a Citi Field matchup with the Mets at all. Unlike our wild card game in Pittsburgh in 2014, we won’t be facing the opponent’s 3rd-best pitcher: we’ll be facing Syndergaard. And yes, we’ll have Bum, and I’d put him up against anyone in a big game, but…it would likely be a tight, low-scoring game and anything could happen, including You-Know-Who bringing in You-Know-Who to protect a one-run lead in the ninth…shudderrrrrr….
Well said but I still think the Giants can get home field advantage for that game. Facing Syndergaard scares the bejesus out of me though…. Bottom line, The Giants will show us what their made of in 13 games. I don’t think the Cards are that good either really. If, and a big if, the Giants can simply solve the question of closing games and get into the division series, I will put our rotation against anybody’s. Regarding the Cubs playing the Cards, well they may cruise. They don’t have to fight for anything anymorel If I am Maddon, I tell my team to play every game like its a playoff game and I don’t provide many days off to my starters. Keeping the edge will be a big challenge for them since they clinched so early.
One more thing: Stop writing such interesting comments! I am trying to get my week started and this blog keeps pulling me back into the black hole of Giants baseball. I can never seem to get enough escape velocity to gain momentum… to run my business!
Done. I have to go to work, too. First official day of fall quarter–faculty meetings all day. 🤓😐
Watch out for newbies on the bike path.
Seriously. It’s scary this time of year. Driving around town, too–all those kids who haven’t been on a bike since junior high…international students who don’t know the rules of the road…aarggghhh
That’s a little comforting, but match ups are a tricky thing, as the Padres have shown. Would have expected them to have won at least 4 of those 6. Now those 4 in SD especially after a draining Dodgers series……
If LA sweeps….could be very tough.
Wonder if the Cubs will rest their players to give the Cards an advantage? Think they’d rather see the Cards in a playoff series.
No one wants the Giants rotation in the playoffs….
I honestly think they should convert Marge in the playoffs. He’s closed before. Jus’ sayin….
If they go the WC route I think they need a #4 at least once.
Yeah they would, Game 4 in SF. Which according to the playoff schedule would be 14 days after Marge last started.
Throw Marge in the ninth. Band aid, 1 if you get that far with Suarez.
Interesting decision to ponder, MadBum of Cueto in one game. We know how good madbum has been but Cueto has arguably been better this second half. Highly doubt they choose to go with him over what is proven but the conversation could at least happen.
The Cubs seem to have gone into glide mode, so who knows how hard the Cubs will play them, but going into the playoffs kicked back, as the Cubs seem to be now, might not be the best approach to a post season run.
If I were the Cubs, you play for who you want to meat in the first round. Do you want the Giants or the Cards? My guess they would rather play the Cards because the Giants pitching can beat anyone any day. Thus cruise mode for Cards
I don’t know how it will work out, but the Mets and Cubs would be worth the ticket price.
Being that 5 of those 13 are guaranteed losses against the Bumbos….. I don’t see the playoffs even happening. But perchance they luck in and get the game vs Syndegaard. As I predicted last week, Bum will go 8, give up 1 run, and hit a go ahead bomb in the 6th and be leading 2-1. He’ll throw 132 pitches and Bruce despite know he has no one else left will ‘mix and match’ in the ninth.
Fittingly, Cespedes will take Casilla deep for a Granny… 6-2 Mets.
Ninth-inning, one-run lead, ‘gotta go with our guy’:
http://www.chonday.com/Videos/cathormovij4
I think Bochy has to retire Gillaspie as the go to PH. JUST NOT WORKING. Adrianza Parker..anyone. Please.
Having been out of touch for a few days, I was just wondering if anything significant has happened in my absence. No phone service. No radio or TV. And one of the most beautiful camping areas I’ve been to since leaving Canada and NO technology connection. So, again, anything new?
Nope
If nothing else, I admire your brevity.
PJ would like me to expound my comments
PJ would like to borrow your brain. Be a pal, and give it some thought.
It’s already been checked out from the Wassamatta U library one too many times!
Digital or analog format?
It’s on 78
So snail male with special packaging…ever the drama queen.
Very brittle. Need a lot of bubble wrap. Can only trust Baldy with this package.
Baldy is definitely a knock, knock, sign here purveyor.
Good Moose reference there. Classic humor that is now rare [OldGuy™ comment or fact?]
Nevermind. I wish I hadn’t asked.
Shoulda just rolled with “nope!”
I knew I should’ve gone camping with you. Then swam out into the lake with a cinder block tied to my ankle.
Two beautiful lakes (too beautiful to drown in) and a stream running next to the campsite. One guy walked by that had two fifteen inch Rainbows and three fingerlings 5-6 inches, he caught a hundred yards up stream. Everywhere else I hear was up in the 90’s. There it was 43 at night and 78 during the day.
Sure, rub it in. I caught a lunkfish Saturday night and then realized it was our bullpen so I swatted it with a hammer and threw it back.
But how many baseball stories did you tell the grandkids? That is the stat I want.
Not a one. Some survival stories and Boy Scout adventures (like cooking a rattler) and fish stories. Not one baseball comment.
Saving the best for last is a good approach.
I know that all life stories end up shaping our little “Time Capsules” to the future whatever we can pass on.
I did get to play some “real baseball” [as he called it] with my 4.75 year-old grandson Saturday. He [switch] hit off a Tee, ran the bases and tagged me out many times. Priceless.
threw the fingerlings back and kept the fifteen inch Rainbows for dinner right.. A little bang on the back of the head slice the belly cut the back of the head yank and rinse and ready to cook.
Reading comprehension scores a little ahead of writing ability. I think you might need remedial tutoring in both. I’m sure there is a writing professional around here somewhere that might help and I believe nearly everyone else here might help with your reading.
If I might suggest, try reading once again and we can start over.
“New”?
Nope. Repeat.
Most significant on-the-field: see above.
Most significant overall: the return of our pal Alvise! :o)
Yes. I heard from him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufc0Ox9MDgA
Of all losses this retched stretch, none was a brutally important as Saturday night.
We hashed through all of the craziness of the decision to put Casilla on the mound…but now that we pick through the wreckage, it’s my belief that loss was the worst of them all for its ramifications.
We needed to put St. Louis away, and we were 2 outs away from it. It would have put the distance needed between them and the Cards.
Looking at the path for here to the end of the season, the Giants schedule is tougher by FAR than the Cards.
Some of you disagree about the Casilla move, thinking Bruce had no other good choice. Well, he had no worse choice than what he made, and it snatched away what was going to be a 4 game lead over the Cards.
That choice and subsequent failure stands to be the most critical of them all. And, no matter how much I appreciate all Bruce has done over the years, no matter how much we owe him so much gratitude for all of the fantastic memories we now have, he wrapped this entire season of craziness into that absurd decision that predictably backfired.
Many say “they wash it off by the next day”. Some of you did great work recapping the follow ups to the litany of blown saves. To me, Saturday’s blown save is in a class by itself.
How many times is this team expected to get past having their hearts ripped out?
After Sunday, what could have been a 4 game lead is now 1 game. Yikes!
It was brutal. Something I was wondering about after that game was how much input Bochy gets from Buster. I always assumed those two had an open dialogue because they seem very tight and always expressed mutual respect. He made a point of saying that he consulted with his coaches in regard to Saturday’s 9th inning decisions. You would think over the last month he would’ve gotten Posey’s opinion of how the closer situation should go. I find it hard to believe Buster would’ve said they should stick with Casilla. The fact I’ve given this that much thought, once again, makes me wanna punch myself in the face.
Had similar thoughts. Not about self immolation or anything like that, but Buster giving positive feedback on Casilla’s stuff.
You’d think he would’ve tried to sway Bochy in another direction just due to the sheer frustration of having Casilla repeatedly shake him off.
Or it becomes part of the “Amazing Comeback of 2016”?
Put me down as putting the majority of this slump on bad breaks. Yes, trying to use Casilla after so many failures has piled on. I suspect even Bochy is now done with closing with him.
MyStatEvidence™ is that the Giants are 4th in team Hitting and Pitching and 1st in Defense; they are dead last in leaving the most RISP. Logic says that cannot stay that way; the Breaks will even out … hopefully this week our in October if they are still in it then.
Nice Post.
I am generally an obnoxious optimist.
1st in blown saves. I am not heartened whatsoever with “I suspect even Bochy….”. He should have been before that inning.
No inning all year meant as much. (Brisbee’s take was spot on after that one)
It dug a Bigger Hole no doubt and it might be their Grave but they are still in a playoff spot albeit with plenty of work to do.
The son of the son of the son of the son of the son of the late Doctor Norman Shumway have been summoned by the Giant Investors. Apparently 111 Charles Johnson made the phone call.
The Shumways are/were pioneers at Stanford University. He/his sons are widely regarded as the father of heart transplantation.
I watched the 9th out of the corner of my eye – guests for dinner – fortunately I was not allowed to jump up and down and foam at the mouth. Really, it was more awful stupefaction at the sight of Casilla on the mound in the 9th, and the slow drip-drip-drip of the season slipping away.
I really no longer trust Bochy, and if they reeled off 12 straight I still wouldn’t.
Maybe time for the HOF now. Why wait? They will need some serious rejuvenation in 2017 to take advantage of the tremendous talent that’s been wasted in 2016.
Johnny Cueto “hitting on” Sexy Suarez. Javy Lopez out-does himself again with garments.
If they dressed up the rookies at least the clubhouse isn’t acting like its 2011…..
George, Good work on the Twitter front, but why only yours? No AP, Baggs, Henry, or some others, like players, etc.?
Yeah, you Greek egomaniac!!!
It was the wellspring of Western civilization and inventor of the ‘apostrophe’.
hahahaha!
Funny, I just offered something along that idea yesterday. See, even without the tech there is a cosmic flow of good ideas between baseball fans/addicts.
Ok, Gang, I will integrate more twitters since the people have spoken. I have to look into the technical details. No promises till I see how difficult it is…
All of us should understand that you own and run your own company full time, and this is a labor of love for you. Whatever we get, we’re happy with it!
as long as you do what we say..
Exactly. Thx for the site and all that but follow the goddamn group orders.
and nobody gets hurt..
Or everyone does. Together We’re Hurt.
Oh man! This is worth the work just for all you wise guys and gals! I feel like I need to take you all out on tour and get you a TV show. Let me be your agent!
Maybe a 4chan link?
Man that was fast – u r hawesome!
You’d probably complain about a free meal.
Depends on what it was.
Pavs https://twitter.com/AlexPavlovic
Baggs https://twitter.com/extrabaggs
Schulman https://twitter.com/hankschulman
Slusser https://twitter.com/susanslusser
McCauley https://twitter.com/JanieMcCAP
Haft https://twitter.com/sfgiantsbeat
Amy https://twitter.com/AmyGGiants
Nice article in the NY Times about the Smithsonian Museum collecting artifacts from Latino and Hispanic baseball players:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/19/sports/baseball/smithsonian-highlights-latino-players-as-part-of-baseballs-racial-history.html?ref=sports
http://tinyurl.com/z9h9jzh
Who would the Cardinals start in one game? Wain-o, I assume. The Mets = Syndergaard.
Pray for Wain?
Martinez has been by far the Cardinals best starting Pitcher this year .
so true PJ
http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/STL/2016.shtml#team_pitching::none
If he’s good to go, maybe easy call. Maybe not easy call with big game Adam.
if i’m matheny, i’d be very tempted to think outside the box, and go with the kid, reyes. giant’s hitters weren’t close to squaring him up all day. it would be a ballsy move though. are you down by your mom?
This will not be an issue because the Giants are going to sweep the Dodgers, win 12 of their last 12 and prevail for the division!
i like your optimism pal
Yes. At hospital and she’s hooked up with drip but doing well.
tell her that there are people praying for her that she doesn’t even know!
Awesome. Thank you. Everything gonna be alright like Bob says.
Since I’ve been gone, I was wondering if anyone had heard from Alvise? I have and will post a follow up if it hasn’t been done yet.
He posted yesterday
Thanks
Yes he came back speaking of his 4th-5th battle with his heart. Was in good spirits.
Thanks, C.
Happy to say, Yes!
New Post: http://fe0.84e.myftpupload.com/pregame/game-150-preview-its-madbum-vs-kershaw-in-la-la-land/
You’re a machine!!
Will Bochy cosset Angel and Mr. Happy tonight?
cosset
KOS-it
verb
1. to treat as a pet; pamper; coddle.
noun
1. a lamb brought up without its dam; pet lamb.
2. any pet.
Quotes
Mrs. Dhondt is like Mrs. Crommelynck but ten times more so–in truth, a dreadful creation who heads the Belgian Equestrian Society, drives the Dhondt Bugatti herself, and cossets a powder-puff Pekingese called Wei-wei.
— David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas, 2004
Taken just four days before his Major League debut, this photo of Willie Mays, taken on May 21, 1951, captures the young slugger during his time with the Minneapolis Millers. At that time, the Millers were the AAA affiliate of the Giants and in just 35 games with the team, he put up a batting line of .477/.524/.799, with 8 home runs. I think it’s safe to say that he was more than ready for the big leagues.
During the Millers’ existence, many notable players came through Minneapolis on their way to the big leagues. In addition to Mays, alumni such as Ted Williams (1938), Monte Irvin (1955) and Carl Yastrzemski (1960) make the Millers one of the more celebrated minor league teams of yesteryear.
I can see Hunter Pence giving each one of his teammates this gift
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Would-you-attach-these-glowing-testicles-to-your-9232288.php?cmpid=nl_top
Still looks WEIRD in Blue http://m.mlb.com/video/v1108245983