by
GreekGiant
Matt Moore’s Epic Performance
In what was a memorable day at Willie Mays Field, the Giants completed a three-game sweep of their rival Dodgers with a dominant 7-1 victory. Matt Moore was fantastic, pitching 8 innings and allowing only 1 run on 3 hits, striking out 6 and walking 2. For arguably his biggest start of the year the newly-acquired left-hander flummoxed the Dodgers with fastball darts and devastating change-ups. Getting ahead of most of the batters he faced Moore was able to induce weak contact when he wasn’t striking out the rivals from Los Angeles. He was efficient and ace-like enjoying many 1-2-3 innings and attacking the Dodger hitters with a variety of fastballs both up in the zone and on the inside corner. Once Moore retired the Dodgers without giving up runs in the top of the first one could sense the Giants fortunates turn from overcast menacing grey to sunshine and blue skies, mirroring the weather patterns over the course of the game.
Following up exquisite games from Madbum and Ty Blach, the pressure was on for Matt Moore to keep the Giants in the game on the final day of the regular season. The game felt like a playoff classic from the first pitch. With the season on the line the Giants smashed their way to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first on a Buster Posey single. The hits and runs kept coming with huge at-bats from Denard Span, a two-run triple, and a two-out run-scoring single from Buster posey in the bottom of the second inning to get the Giants jubilation flowing throughout Willie Mays Field.
The Giants and Their Fans Bestow Their Love on Vin Scully
I watched the CSN Bay Area telecast with Vin Scully calling the game for both the Dodgers and Giants in the 3rd inning. It was a lovely look at the broadcasting legend and the love bestowed on Scully from the crowd and the Giants broadcasters was nothing short of touching and awe-inspiring. It was another glimpse into what makes baseball so special and so unique in all the sports of the world.
Once the Giants rushed out to a 5-0 lead Dave Roberts decided to pull his starters one-by-one and essentially concede the game. The party was on and the Giants cruised into the second Wild Card with a convincing victory and sweep of their arch-rivals. The game accomplished more than clinching a playoff game against the Mets. It also continued the Giants’ momentum into the postseason after a trying second half of baseball. Now the Giants are a legitimately hot team gushing with a new-found confidence that is reminiscent of their championship seasons.
Momentum for October
The sweep of the Dodgers, which gave the Giants an 11-8 season series win, was crucial since the Cardinals won their game against the Pirates. While the Giants pitchers were excellent throughout the home-stand, their bats came alive in critical moments to provide superb situational hitting, timely singes and doubles, and constant pressure on the opposition. The Giants defense, arguably the best in the Major Leagues, played close to flawless baseball.
It turns out the Major League postseason arrived a week early in San Francisco and one gets the feeling that the Giants were waiting for this moment of urgency to shine their brightest in what was a mostly sullen and dreary post-All Star break sequence.
If there is one lesson to be learned this year it is that one never knows exactly what path our team will take to get to the postseason. Regardless of the path, the destination is all that matters.
Breckeroni says”let the real season begin.” I’m excited. Glad I could watch the clincher with Greek Giant
Damn you are fast Surf Maui! Good seeing you! Only 12 more wins to the promised land!
The game Wednesday will be by far the toughest game of the year– but if we can get past it (and we all know whose side the Lord is on) I like my chances to get to the WS and then who knows.
Another early GS by Craws, SO by Bum: no problema.
Craw’s got a WC reputation to live up to now.
Well it’s not exactly as if I have a life other than the Giants.
My guess at the 25 player roster:
Span Gorkys Pagan Pence Parker
Connor Craw Panik BB9 Nunez KT
Posey Brown
Bum Cueto Moore Smarge Blach
Strick Law Lopez Smith Suarez
Santiago Romo
Kontos for Suarez (or Blach).
Adrianza for Nunez if he can’t go.
I don’t see Parker on the roster. Not sure what Blanco’s situation is.
I was wondering about Blonco for Parker.
Interesting. I’d take Parker out and put Williamson in his place.
Williamson on 60 day DL
What? Damn….
Yeah.
EA will be in for Nunez
Agreed. Too bad EA can’t hit, but will probably be in for his defense.
For the Mets game, they may have one less pitcher and one more hitter.
Rethinking this for the Mets – they won’t need Cueto, Moore, Suarez, or Blach, although likely one of those would be on the roster for an emergency.
Dont need five starting pitchers for the one game against the Mets. Get to reset if they win. So Moore, and likely Blach and Cueto and maybe Blach are likely not on the roster for the Mets.
Likely Kontos, Gearin and possibly Casilla (though I wouldn’t put him there) Okert or Osich.
Nunez not on the roster for the Mets unless he can go full out, which leaves Adrianza.
Great win today and hopefully a deep and successful post-season run for this Giants team.
For the first time in a while, I listened to Lurie’s show this afternoon. I almost laughed when a caller compared him to Vin Scully. Vin Scully seems like a gentleman, where as Lurie sounds like a condescending and impatient jerk.
Tony Sanchez @Tony26Montana 7m7 minutes ago
Snuck our way into another champagne celebration… They never get old. @sfgiants #BeliEVEN @… https://www.instagram.com/p/BLFMtyojwYn/
Good for him.
Lol! The catcher they just brought up the other day!
Hilarious. Never touched the field, right?
pregame!
Mets or Giants? Jake Arrieta: “Who gives a s—?”
Ha. Right. After Syndergaard, it’s Who?
We’ll just have to make you care, Jake!
He’s a tool
Is he going to say that after his team gets eliminated by either one of them this postseason?
Just resupplied my Gs playoffs food cache with red-vines (red and black), Mike&Ike, Red Oval crackers, elk summer sausage, chèvre, and, Fat Tire beer.
I know there’s so much Vin Scully love these past few weeks, but I really enjoyed this video:
http://m.giants.mlb.com/sf/video/v1201655483/ladsf-scully-gives-an-emotional-final-sign-off/?game_pk=449288
That was nice. Thanks
Sure thing, Mateo.
I can see how Walt Weiss was thinking (with the primary competition out for the year). but if I’m a player I’d rather play everyday and let the chips fall as they may. I think in the long run, the manager needs to send a message to the team that they need to battle to the last AB.
http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/17698902/dj-lemahieu-colorado-rockies-wins-nl-batting-title-sitting-out
I got two words for Walt:
Ted Williams
I was thinking the same thing; it’s like we are connected! LOLZ
And when you look at DJ’s home/road splits, this is clearly an award for playing at Coors Field. .391 at home vs. .303 on the road. Home OPS is over 300 points higher than his .747 road OPS.
I’ve got mixed feelings about this team. Not quite ready for them to make me believe they’re OK now that they’re in the playoffs. Also don’t know what to make of the Dodgers performance the last 3 days.
Biggest concern has to be the bullpen. Is Romo the closer now?
Looks like he is until further notice. I think putting him in the closer role and serving as a leader has hopefully tempered the rest of the relievers and established everyone’s role when they go out to pitch.
I think Romo has looked terrific since resuming the closer role. He even looks sharp and confident against lefties (for example, striking out Seager for the last out yesterday).
This team reminds me of the 2010 team, of all the three championship teams. Bochy rode the rotation hard in 2010, and he did it again this past week. Make no mistake–the Giants are in the postseason because the rotation carried them there when the rest of the team didn’t show up for a few weeks.
If the Giants win the wild card game and are in a longer series, I think we’ll see what we saw today and yesterday–Bochy will keep going with the starter as long as he can. He’ll minimize how much he needs to count on the bullpen.
Yes… Romo calmly assumed the role down the nerve wracking stretch…it’s his, as it should be
Those 4 of 4 save opps in the last two weeks got us to this point just as much as anything else did. Romo’s been there, he seems healthy and confident, and he’s calmed everything down.
wonder if he and bochy had a heart-to-heart after the premature pulling, laughing/head shaking episode that ended in yet another 9th inning loss — never saw bochy do that again
They turned the page that same night. Amnesia. There is nothing to handle or talk about.
bet there was THAT night — am unconvinced there was/is not some clubhouse and/or leadership issue that caused the 10 weeks of collapse
If true, that makes this team even tougher than we know…
GS73
I do not disagree that there WAS that night. What I failed to clarify is whenever there is a game the next day or even two days later – there are some things Bochy does not prioritize especially with Romo. Boys—->Men will laugh at the darndest stuff where they should shut up, apologize or even cry but male nervous energy manifests itself in these little sh*t eating grins. I have coached boys and girls and girls will break down, cry and get over it. Boys will giggle, circle the wagons with their mates and embarrass themselves. Their coaches – if they know this – don’t classify it as showing people up. Are there exceptions ? Of course. But Romo broke out the I just look illegal tee shirt at the parade and was one of the first guys to jump off the trolley – against securitys wishes and walk along the parade route…..
I get what you meant however.
Romo looks flat out unstoppable these last couple weeks. Guy is out there like it’s 2012 and it’s glorious to see.
I guesd the turning point was Romo laughing at Bochy when he was changing pitchers every batter.
Whatever the reason was, it’s good to see Bochy get away from that. Like today, Romo gave up a single to the first batter in the 9th. THAT Bochy would have pulled Romo. This one didn’t.
The Dodgers lost 5 of 6 after clinching the West. They’re clutching a bit in LA. But luckily for them, they don’t have to face many lefties against the Nats, and Gio isn’t all that, anyway. He’s no Ty Blach! 🙂
I would consider starting Gio game 1 if I was Baker. The Dodgers are awful against lefties. I like Blach and all and called for him to start well before the series when Suarez was still listed as the starter, but the Dodgers just don’t match up well against lefties.
I don’t know their roster, but you have to wonder if they have any left-handed long men in the pen that they would consider starting.
The Dodgers beat the Padres Thursday night started by a LHP scoring 5 runs off of him .
PJ — I don’t know what scrub the Padres threw at the Dodgers but for the season, which is a slightly larger sample size, the Dodgers had the worst OPS in all of the majors against LH pitchers and they were under .500 against LH starters.
Noticed Alex Pavlovic’s tweet about eating at Shake Shack.
One word: DUH!
(although FUKU makes a damn good fried chicken sandwich)
Loooong line, though, right?
Shake Shack yes, Fuku not as bad.
If they beat the Mets on Wed… then the 2nd half season woes are over. The season doesn’t matter. Just get into the playoffs. That’s all that matters. I’m not scared of the Cubs and we are probably the last team they want to see. JUST BEAT THE METS AND THE SEASON IS A SUCCESS.
Not quit, but the playoffs are a whole new ball game.
Team still has the same holes it did during the 2nd half nose dive.
True and in that sense, Wed is Game 163. Really happy about this last home stand and this streak to end it.
“Just get in”
By golly, they did!
Everyone is jumping on the bandwagon. That is dooming SFG to loose. I am most worried about Wednesday.
If the Gs get by NYM, make room in the trophy case and call Tiffany for those small boxes…
so maybe not spend anytime looking at what the media is saying?!?!
just a thought to spare you the agita.
i’ve always like alex smith but the chiefs look BAD getting shut out in Pitts 35-0
It was funny hearing the announcers, during the game, talk about how smart and a nice guy he is. Doesn’t mean crap if you don’t win the big games.
Looking ahead…
Giants will draft 21st in the 2017 MLB draft (unless they sign a QO free agent).
Drafting late is a good thing.
There’s my Cuz , on top of drafts and prospects!
Tied for 9th best record in MLB.
Giants won. Michigan won. 49ers lost. A good weekend.
and raiders won !
Yeah. And they looked good doing it. Crabtree is great. Carr is legit.
Yippee
“Only 6” Giants qualified for the batting title. Posey led the team in average and hits.
Are you 75, Batting Average, Brian Kenny would laugh at you .
I’m 113 and feel just strong as ever, whipper-snapper.
When I saw you on the side of the road you looked about 16. That’s why I kept driving. I didn’t wanna contribute to your delinquency.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbSGMRZsN4Q
I’m sure this won’t be a popular thought, but I wouldn’t be having a champagne celebration for making the wildcard game. Winning the game and actually getting into a playoff series would be a different story.
No champagne for you then.
They did it in 2014, it seemed to work .
I am with you on that.
The Giants just dodged a bullet.
If they can beat the Mets then they are in the Gun Fight.
All #2 WC teams “do it and have done it”
If all the other #2 WC teams jumped of the Golden Gate Bridge, do you think I’d follow them?
I’m sorry this was the analogy you chose to use….
TO, while I have you, you’ve often equated that ball players making HUGE money should “come through in the clutch” and or “owe it to their teams to play really really good”…..
So if YOU made five million dollars as a Police Officer vs whatever it is you now make…would that make you any better police officer than you already are?
I’m most worried about a worn down Bum giving up too many homers, when all the Mets do is hit homers!
Mr. Live and Let Live strikes again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7aGAIWe3uE
I kinda agree but put yourself in the shoes of a MLB player, going everyday from February to Oct. the countless hours in batting cages, on trainers tables, media, hitter meetings, travel, video study and the daily grind with all of 4-5 days off a month.
At the end of it, you are one of 10 teams left standing to play on for a shot at the World Series that many dreamed of as kids and have a spot that all the other teams going home would swap with you in a second.
I can see where the players want to celebrate simply surviving the grind.
I didn’t watch the clubhouse celebration but they were pretty subdued on the field — I have seen teams celebrate more after a big walk-off win.
I would feel that way, esp. if I were Bumgarner – but the Boyz needed to let off some steam. Human nature. I wonder if there are some guys who retreated from the party to cogitate on Wed.
It’s a consolation prize. I remember when they did it in 2014, the same scenario: clinching the second wild card. I thought it was a bit much: HOWEVER — how did that turn out?
Also, we got Hunter Pence’s immortal speech from that celebration.
However you feel about it, the Wild Card IS the playoffs. It’s not regular season, it’s PLAYOFFS. If they lose, well ….. but if they win they get to play at least 3 more games. I can’t make any predictions but they are odds/even to me to get to the NLCS at this point.
The playoffs are the playoffs. After a long season and grueling couple of months, they made it. There’s 20 other teams that don’t get this opportunity. Let them celebrate.
Especially when you’ve already won three World Series. I would guess Buster would have been just fine with the normal handshake line.
Rd 1
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYN/NYN201605010.shtml
Angel Pagan.
I get the feeling his bridge will not be burned. The chance of Pagan coming back next year is significantly greater than zero.
Have to agree with you.
Pa-gone, might actually stay if nothing else materializes. Just wanted to put that out there so no one gets too sentimental about the potential of a last game in a Giants uniform.
I think its time to part ways after this year. Had some great memories as a Giant but he is too injury prone to give a roster spot. Very likely he will break down the next few years with injuries and his defense is deteriorating. Get as much you can out of him this year and part ways. We got young guys who can play the corners.
Whatever happens, it appears that he’s earned himself another 2-yr. contract somewhere, and – good for him.
I don’t think they “trust” the young guys enough to give them LF next year – Giants way and all that. I expect some kind of “pro” left fielder signed.
I wouldn’t mind a WIlliamson/Parker platoon in LF at all. Would much prefer it to Pagan. Might not be Giants Way as you say though.
I’d guess that Angel returning to the Giants hinges on how well he and the team fare jn the postseason. If they are bounced on Wednesday or before the WS then I would bet he’s gone. If the team is successful again and he contributes to that success, well, you know how they like to reward their guys.
badabing!
Pagan hits Kershaw. That alone may be enough to bring him back for another year or two.
Pagan body slams fans on field dressed in blue…
bingo…he’s a money player
Gillaspie went 7-14 on the homestand. Gotta hand it to him, he stepped up.
He even made great defensive plays, usually a stoneglove!
Most the people on this blog that do not like him, do not like him for his defense , this blog is over the top about defense at times, his at bats are very good, lots of loud contact, some bad luck more hits did not fall in, and since he PH so much his average is not better, Pinch hitting is very difficult .
I can see Gillaspie coming back. He seems to have the knack for PH, which as you say is very hard.
Type of guy that will give you a good series, but if you look for him to start for long stretches, his deficiencies will become more evident.
Have you noticed that CG’s body doesn’t jiggle as much as it did last year?
Gotta hand it to Bochy as well. They know when to trust a guy’s swing. I love the commando style. You play commando golf?
I haven’t worn underwear since 1996. So, yes.
I was freeballin’ today too! Did laundry though, so………
tmi boys;) hehe
Good read for all: http://m.mlb.com/news/article/204733654/giants-familiar-with-wild-card-game-pressure/
Bum vs Thor, doesn’t get any better than that.
As Pence said today, nothing like a WC game, like stepping right into a game 7.
Can’t wait till Wednesday. Nerves already kicking it. Love the way our club is playing. Wish the game was tomorrow, they are locked in.
how bout Cubs, Nats and Dodgers that have to wait until Friday!
Dodgers stumbling into the postseason…did not look good this weekend vs our southpaws. Did they peak too soon? Nationals not exactly a force right now either with all the injuries.
Kershaw v. Scherzer, probably twice in that series.
Should be good. Two best hitters for Wash are LH so that favors Kershaw.
Carpenter and Adams are LH and they hit Kershaw well in past post seasons, the player that hit Kershaw the hardest in his career is LH, Adam Dunn, Jay Bruce also hits Kershaw another LH hitter .
Not in October, it doesn’t!
Detroit had to wait to in 0 12.
I disagree with you, I need 2 days of no stress, Wednesday might kill me, unless the Giants score 15 runs in the top of the 1st, and I will still sweat out every time the Mets are up until the 27th out is recorded . The stress goes way down if they make it to the NLDS, then the stress returns if they get a game down in that series .
For me, the stress was unbearable for me and my family in the WC in 2014: that Grand Slam was incredible. The Mets are finishing well, let’s be honest, Wednesday will be a tough slog.
The good news is they ended the regular season like a great team, and the last six games — and certainly the last three — were like playoff games themselves.
But we’ll have to just relax and see what Wednesday evening brings.
I want them to play tomorrow because I like the way the team is playing. When a team is hot a day off can be a bad thing.
we’ll be yelling at each other , but don’t take it personally that day, Brother! It’s supposed to be “fun”, but it’s gonna be stressful
Can’t wait ’til I wake up tomorrow, absorb all the feedback on the great performances this weekend, and start getting sick about the game Wednesday!
Agree with you .
I know! Two whole days before game day, and it’s a night game. As Bart Scott so famously said…CAN’T WAIT!!
Now I’m really scared: both Bill Ripken and Ken Rosenthal picked the Giants to win the WC game on the MLBN postseason review special, citing the experience factor and Bum!
I’m a little nervous about Bum. Not overly nervous, but I just hope our offense can give him enough to work with.
But then he may just dial it up a notch and be post-season 2014 Bum. It is just really hard to know what we get. He got to a whole new level in 2014 and loves the big lights. So, will see what we get. I am very optimistic. Not, yes we got this. Everything is possible. Just optimistic.
Me too, seemed to be wearing down, giving up too many homers, when all the Mets do is hit homers! But Bum has always pitched well at Citi Field, so I hope that confidence and competitiveness (and a few runs) will carry him and us through to Chicago! 🙂
One interesting tidbit the MLBN folks discussed was the absence of Wilmer Flores due to injury, the Mets best hitter against LHP (.340) and that their lineup in general doesn’t hit lefties well. Of course, their power is, indeed, a “wild card”!
They have got a young kid , I think his name is TJ Rivera playing 2nd base and he is hitting great, and has been clutch, the last month are so .
Of the hitters they have left, Cespedes and Cabrera have been very good against lefties, but that’s about it. TJ hits right but hasn’t hit lefties at all.
I don’t know about the Mets. Lot of offense of late but look who they were playing.
Giants are going into the post season with the momentum and the heat just about as well as any team can expect to be, which is most certainly more than I could have imagined as far back as a week ago. If the hot pre all star break to the putrid post all star break to the getting fired up and about as ready to move on into post season form can get holds true, we should be just fine.
Not going to question any move Boch and staff make. The hays in the barn. Boys just need to play good baseball, and by that account, they look ready to roll.
Matt Moore:
“Having 87 wins heading into the postseason, some of these teams have got 100, but we’re in the same place,” he said. “What happened the last eight months, it’s all behind us. We’ve been pitching great and putting up runs, and the two months I’ve been here, the defense has been extremely solid.” http://www.csnbayarea.com/giants/rewind-giants-pull-it-together-right-time-reach-playoffs
Not quite the same place yet. They need another win to be at the same place.
Bay Area/Vin Sculley connection.
The Catch was immortalized by three dramatic broadcast play-by-play calls. Vin Scully described the play on CBS Television:
“ Montana… looking, looking, throwing in the end zone… Clark caught it! Dwight Clark!… It’s a madhouse at Candlestick.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Catch_(American_football)
Moore’s performance was particularly impressive because the curve and cutter weren’t there at all the first 4 innings and the changeup wasn’t much, he was throwing almost all four-seamers, and when that’s happened in the past it’s either been a complete catastrophe or at the very least an avalanche of walks and luckouts, but yesterday he was controlling the fastball well enough that he got by fine almost without throwing anything else, although the 4th inning could have been a disaster. And after the curve came around in the 5th he as mowing them down.
Bob Belt is one goofy mfer:
http://m.mlb.com/news/article/204733654/giants-familiar-with-wild-card-game-pressure/
Noah who is care.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e01413ab39bd003b0ab9955d77f228d0410ec0981499d4d9d74262ee571448a8.jpg
Have the Giants landed? Are the players sleeping right now?
They already traveled to NY? I would have thought they’d wait till today. Good for Posey and his tired back to get that long flight out of the way early though.
They have a “Travel-Sleep Consultant” that literally has this down to a science now. We will see their plan soon.
No kidding? I’ve never heard of that job.
Hey, what are you doing replying to this drivel? Don’t you have some MyGuy numbers to crunch?
In fact, I did plug in some last numbers this AM now that the regular season is over.
22sSweetSwing will take my data and crunch it on how we each ranked with our picks but that all comes after the real excitement is over.
A quick look shows YourGuys™ did okay: Pagan got a #1 rank; Smarj a #2 and Beede, Coonrod and Watson all came in the top 6 in pitchers. You will be in the Top Ten I think.
No, they’re going today. Heard Bochy say so on the pregame. He was asked whether he’d told them to bring luggage to the park, and he said yes–if they’d had to go to St. Louis for a tiebreaker, they would have left immediately, but since they don’t now, they could sleep at home (and are already packed).
Top Of The Heap!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=btFfXgUdIzY
Can still be an all orange and black October!
Big AL East WC game tomorrow to help pass at least one evening. The Orioles and Blue Jays haven’t officially named starting pitchers. Jimenez or Tillman for O’s, Francisco Liriano or Stroman for the J’s.
With that pen, advantage Orioles, maybe, if Adam-Duvall-Plus (Mark Trumbo), or Manny Machado come up with bigger blasts than the Donaldson/Encarnacion.
—
Anybody catch Kruk &/or Kuip’s MLB awards? Mostly consensus, I recall …
NL ROY – Seager
NL CY – Hendricks
NL MVP – Bryant
NL MOY – Roberts/Baker
AL ROY – Michael Fulmer
AL CY – Zach Britton
AL MVP – Mookie Betts/Mike Trout
AL MOY – Tito!
I think Scherzer is going to win the NY Cy. Other than ERA, he finished first in wins, innings, strikeouts, WHIP, and second in BAA (to Arrieta). Hendricks won the ERA title but didn’t put up the innings or other numbers.
A week or two ago it looked like a mixed bag, with different starters leading various categories. But if you look through them now, it’s Scherzer everywhere.
I think Roberts for MOY. Dusty didn’t really accomplish anything except win a weak division like he was supposed to with a good team. Roberts is a rookie manager who had to make a rotation with duct tape all year long and overcome an eight-game deficit to win a division.
P.S. Greinke won the ERA title last year but didn’t win the Cy.
Think Thor has a shot at the CY? I took him in a prop bet at +1800 to win the CY before the season started. Had a great year but looks like he is on the outside looking in.
He is the WAR leader. 0.3 ahead of Fernandez 🙁
Wow, had no idea Britton was a Cy candidate. Heck of a year…47 saves and more importantly 0 blown if I am reading right and an ERA of 0.54. Must be nice for the other Orange and Black crew.
That’s Eck-like. Unreal.
I heard it, too. When Kruk mentioned Boch as MoY, due to all his great decisions down the stretch, did some serious eye rolling. Unless down the stretch was only the last few games.
Channeling Elaine…
WAR, what is it good for ?
Who is care, but here’s who came out on top in 2016 fWAR (fangraphs):
Mike Trout 9.4
Kris Bryant 8.4
Mookie Betts 7.7
Josh Donaldson 7.6
Corey Seager 7.5
Jose Altuve 6.6
Manny Machado 6.4
Francisco Lindor 6.3
Adrian Beltre 6.2 (you believe this guy still producing like he is – 32 HRs, .300 avg)
Freddie Freeman 6.1 (34 HRs, .302 avg – wow, what a season!)
Robbie Cano 6.0
Adam Eaton 6.0
Brian Dozier 6.0 (42 HRS !!!)
Ian Kinsler 5.8
Justin Turner 5.6
Brandon Crawford 5.6 (.275 avg and another Gold Glove?)
Daniel Murphy 5.5
Kyle Seager 5.5 (30 HRs – these white bruthahs can play!)
Dustin Pedroia 5.2
Anthony Rizzo 5.1
Nolan Arendado 5.0
Joey Votto 5.0
Jean Segura 5.0
Carlos Correa 4.9
Miguel Cabrera 4.9
…
Branondon Belt and Buster Posey finish 38 and 45th with 4.3 and 4.0 respectively.
http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=y&type=8&season=2016&month=0&season1=2016&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=21,d&page=1_30
Crawford’s best batting average and OBP this year by nearly 20 points. HRs & SLG down (and OPS+) down from last year, RBIs exactly the same at 84. Overall a really good year for him.
He had a 4.6 WAR last year. None of us thought he would add to that but it looks like only AP16 improved more in this year’s MyGuy™. [Pagan did it becasue of his low -0.7 in 2015 and a +2.1 WAR this year.]
Those two Brandon contracts bore fruit as hoped, huh?
Definitely. Belt had a fine year, too. The year-to-year value of contracts is often measured by how much WAR they put up, and for both Brandons, they more than paid for themselves this year.
These numbers will likely shift a bit within the week, as there are still the final week of defensive numbers that have yet to be added. Not sure what the turnaround on those are.
they haven’t added those? DRS still needs tabulating, so The Fielding Bible Awards aren’t set?
During the regular season there is always a several day delay before UZR gets added in, which is why I thought those fWAR numbers may shift a little. DRS gets updated more frequently, but I’m not sure they use DRS in fWAR (except maybe for catchers and pitchers).
screw UZR – that’s for the bird 😉 DRS fits with the Jamesian view of the baseball universe.
fWAR is all UZR all the time.
Awards!
There are distinguished awards that have been decided, because a computer is the final arbiter.
The 2016 Fielding Bible Awards are decided by Defensive Runs Saved (free of the Gold Glove politics and batting/popularity influence)
P – Bartolo Colon! 8 DRS
C- Buster Posey 12
1B – Anthony Rizzo 11
2B – Dustin Pedroia/Ian Kinsler 12 DRS (Pedroia probably has fractional nod)
3B – Nolan Arenado 20
SS – Brandon Crawford/Addison Russell 19 (Craw advantage?)
LF – Starling Marte 19
CF – Kevin Pillar – 21 (remember that fake trade I made last week?)
RF – Mookie Betts – 32 (best defensive player in MLB by DRS !)
The Crawford question:
The media is experiencing a love fest with all things Cubs, so beware of Chicago awards sweeps
DRS doesn’t share those love fest prejudices.
Unless this particular android fails Bladerunner’s test. Hmmmmmm…
Emotion have you?
ps – Rizzo will win Gold Glove – and it will be deserved. But yeah, watch out for Russell. I’d think Crawfords incumbency helps his cause.
By Fangraphs data, Myers is #1, Rizzo is #4: http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=1b&stats=fld&lg=nl&qual=500&type=1&season=2016&month=0&season1=2016&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0
that seems to be combination of UZR & DRS and ??
can’t say that list passes the eye test
By Fangraphs’ data, Crawford is #1, Galvis is #2, Russell is #3:
http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=ss&stats=fld&lg=nl&qual=500&type=1&season=2016&month=0&season1=2016&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0
Maybe the year Buster dethrownes Yadman?
Seems like Buster has thrown out a good percentage of runners.
Who votes on GG?
combo of bbwaa voters and machines (DRS/UZR)
Thanks …
Back to real things that matter: How is your mom?
doing very well, thank you. half way through.
That’s good to hear, Ryan.
ty
Just want to say I’m sorry and ask how you’re doing as summer slips into fall, although maybe that’s not happening yet for you at your place.
ahhh, thanks. You don’t have to apologize. I’m the one that should apologize – I’m sorry.
Next time, tell me that I’ve been Ty Blach’d 🙂
Great fall weather, crisp blue skies – kinda the way Vin described ATT.
I do have to apologize. I’m relieved we’re back on friendly terms. I’m off to the gym to work out. Take care, Ryan.
have a great workout – keep enjoying that retirement and the fall weather which you must have
Vin Scully: “A superior catch, tumbling over the railing. Gillaspie refused to quit, eyes riveted on the ball … all’s well that ends well. The Giants are pumped.”
Is there a current MLB broadcaster who shares the same qualities as Vin: golden voice, interesting description of plays, and awesome stories?
I like listening to our four guys. My husband calls Jon Miller “mellow.” I really liked Jon’s call about “Buster Posey’s good friend Hunter Pence.” That was an instant classic. But there is only one Vin Scully, and his call about Conor Gillaspie’s catch is wonderful.
Still a shocker that his understudies are so bad? Maybe they do too much TV and forget people cannot see what is going on.
The best baseball announcers call games on the radio. I listen to a lot of games on the radio because I’m off-grid much of the spring, summer, fall.
Another PerfectThingAboutBaseball™ … it is made for radio and engages the mind/imagination. I am hoping it staves off Alzheimer’s in some way. Must be a study some where. Want to do that one in your Retirement?
No thanks, HaakAway. I’m enjoying my retirement, except for a certain Bushy-tailed Woodrat I’ve got to figure out how to trap.
Agreed. Vin Scully was in a class by himself and he transcended Dodger fandom. He always complimented the opposition’s players and showed a general passion for the game outside of his duties as a Dodger rep. I enjoyed listening to him.
Vin also has a very high opinion of Brandon Belt. Much higher than many Giants fans …..
Absolutely…thanks for reminding everyone of OUR Big Kahuna
I don’t even remember when it started. (I think it was the first year the Dodgers played in LA) My mom would be ironing or doing dishes or whatever, but in the background would be the voices of Vin or Jerry in the background. During the summer there was always the undercurrent of baseball. She never talked baseball all that much and never said much of anything during or after the game. The radio went off, but the next day, there was Vinnie on the radio making the game more alive than it ever was on TV.
Outwardly, my dad and I were the baseball enthusiasts. My dad managed LL teams. I was only on one of his teams and most of his teams were winners. He chose to coach teams where he wouldn’t be criticized for “playing his kid over others” but I learned the game from him. I learned to love the game from my mom.
My mom was always at my games, but what I remember most about her was the radio, always on during LA games while Mom was ironing; always with the familiar voices of Doggett and especially Scully. Even at the ballpark, if you can call the LA Coliseum a ballpark, there was always Vinnie’s voice from the transistor radios in the stands.
I hate the Dodgers as much as anyone here, BUT I’ll never hate Vinnie; to me he’s the voice of baseball, all of baseball.
Wow, Bapah. This is a moving portrayal and tribute to your mom and Vin Scully and baseball on the radio. I don’t think you’ve ever shared much about your growing-up years before. Your parents sound truly wonderful.
Here is something to think about as we enter the post season
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AyVdbfyvwso
Sumatra
Eggs
Giant Apple Sausage
Wheat Toast
Oracle OJ
Good recipe for runnung to the john lol! Peetes Dark Roast for yours truly and a fat bowl of Raisen Bran is all i need for a nice start to a beautiful Monday morning in the Delta!!
Encouraging Mets Debits on LHP…
New star #5 hiiter TJ Rivera is only hitting .228 … Cespedes and Cabrera both hit .340!
As Andres noted Wilmer Flores is on the DL.
The “Replace-Mets”
It would be a shame if they win and have to face the Cubs … Seventh Calvary at Little Bighorn comes to mind.
Whereas the Giants vs. Cubs is more 20th of Maine at Little Round Top.
Looks that way but don’t underestimate the ability of the Cubs to disintegrate against the Mets.
And nevet forget The Goat.
Agree with the 20th Maine sentiment as long as Chamberlain is on top.
I’m in Oregon on some business and it’s great watching the Giants games at a normal hour — something France does not afford. Perhaps my arrival Friday spurred the sweep. I’m going with that, anyway, and I’ll be present and accounted for throughout the postseason title run.
Also, I think Madbum will go after Cespedes. I’ll hold my breath, but the slanted rays of October will glint in our lefty’s eyes.
Thanks to all on TWG. Your posts are as much a pleasure in France as a glass of deep Medoc. Or is it as deep a glass of … OK, I digress.
a plus tard mes vieux
Stick around, GFrog. You brought it home.
Don’t even remind Gettysburg to a southpaw like Madison…
Cespedes is the guy we have to pitch around and not let beat us.
dont let Bruce get on the loose – and beware of Grandy-man, he’s clutch.
Also don’t sleep on Michael Conforto. All lefties, but still.
Conforto won’t play in the game I bet. He has been terrible this year and he is a lefty. Granderson is very vulnerable against lefties too. No, Cespedes is the main guy that worries me. I have watched a lot of Mets games this year and he is the man. He should get some MVP votes too.
stunned that Conforto had such a bad year – he’s a very talented hitter.
They found his holes….
Mets people say it all went downhill for Conforto after he faced Bumgarner when the Giants came to town, so you are probably right. Probably won’t start
Bruce is only 3/21 career against Bumgarner but he did homer against him this year.
Please remind Madbum of that because my mind tells me that he’ll try to be a hero and K Cespedes but instead Cespedes will launch a couple of bombs on him.
I’m on the phone with him now. I will tell him what you said.
UM K
Tell him i said hi to the family also.
Bumgarner will challenge him.
yep, when it comes to the Mets, he is the primary focus on offense. How he goes, so do the Mets.
Looks like Rivera is a 27 year old rookie that went undrafted out of college. I am seeing he has only walked 3 times in 33 games, so that might be something to keep in mind.
Doesn’t matter how anybody did in the regular season, This is a new season, a 1 game season. It’s fun to analyze this stuff.but we’re only killing time. With that said- is it game time yet?
About another 56 hours to go.
Yesterday i jumped into my car around 1:30 pm on my way to the local coffee shop i turned on my radio halfway there to KNBR and lo and behold Vin was on the air !!!!! I knew right then and there that yesterday was gonna be a grand day!
It’s October 3rd on a fine fall morning, and on TWG, we are all strategizing about a baseball game that our boys have Wednesday….
Let’s not forget how blessed a fan base we are.
It’s really quite amazing when we put that into perspective. Royals won 1 and didn’t make the playoffs this year and yet I am sure their fan base is very happy right now. We’ve won 3 and really since Dusty started managing have been in contention just about every year to every other year. The complaints are really just whining.
The Giants played their hearts out to wrap up the season. They won all the games they had to win and won spectacularly. Bochy made smart moves: Ty Blach vs. Kershaw, trusting Conor Gillaspie, inserting Belt into the #2 spot. Conor came through with offense and defense.
Yup. I was wrong.
Im getting very nervous thinking about this damn game on Wednesday WOW! Imvery hopeful yet cautious about this start for Madison because you just never fricken know whats gonna happen. Look for Kelby Tomlinson to play some sort of a starring role in this October matchup!
Clark Kent !!!
The reason I wanted to win the division this year is because the Dodgers won for the fourth year in a row, but also because I wanted something tangible for the season.
Now, I know we are all Giants fans, but, there’s a lot of teams and fan bases that envy us now, and I’m not greedy, so I have good wishes for most of the other teams in the tournament.
Therefore, evaluating the National League, I wouldn’t feel bad if either the Nationals or the Cubs won the pennant. I’d feel somewhat bad if they beat us to achieve that, but, again, we’re not the only fans in the world. On the other hand, I can’t wrap my head around the Dodgers winning the pennant. And, moreover, the Mets won the pennant last year, so they had their shot.
If the Mets beat the Giants on Wednesday, I expect the Cubs to rub them out. If the Giants beat the Mets, I expect a five game NLDS, which should be very entertaining. I actually think we could beat the Cubs.
The NLCS would be trickier, but, again, if it went 6 or 7 games, I’d be OK with the final result.
Over in the other league, I do not care, except that since SF is competing with STL and BOS as the team of the Century (only 16 years in), so I’d prefer someone knock off Boston.
” so I have good wishes for most of the other teams in the tournament.”
Not me.As far as I’m concerned they’re all a bunch of yellow bellied scum sucking low life…well, you catch my drift.
This made me laugh out loud. There’s really only one Michael Scott around here!
I keep thinking how many times can MadBum come through, but then I think, he lives for these moments. He may confuse Cespedes with Puig and approach this game with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind (apologies to Harbaugh).
My message to the Mets: Be Afraid, very afraid..
Bumgarner facing a LHB heavy lineup ought to be good reason to have a little bit of concern.
Bum has had 14 post season appearances, and has been excellent to outstanding in most of them.
But remember the NLDS and NLCS in 2012 …… Like I said, anything can happen …..
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.cgi?id=bumgama01&t=p&year=0&post=1
Speaking of Cespedes and WAR and all that jazz….
He finished with 3.1 WAR, behind the Giants Top 3. And just 1 WAR above Pence and Pagan.
His overall line: .280/.354/.530 and 31 HRs & 86 RBIs.
Defensive metrics had little love for his game – perhaps a take his WAR with grain of salt player.
ps – his K rate below league average and <20%.
This stats break has been brought to you by Fabiani Number Crunching. We'll pulverize your numbers to dust, fool.
pps- dark horse SF LFer in 2017 and beyond.
As much as I would like Bobby breaking the bank to watch Cespedes for a couple of years I just don’t see that happening.
this horse is dark indeed. oh gosh, this has racial undertones.
you familiar with lippizan stallions? (Gene Hackman voice)
Cespedes would be a good fit. We badly need to mix in some power in our lineup. He is ideal in that sense. Are they going to be spending that kind of money this winter though? The rest of the team is pretty set. Only major hole that needs to be fixed is the bullpen and I am sure they will get a closer and maybe another late inning relief arm if they can.
Cespedes would be a great fit, and they do have money to spend, but I just don’t think he’d come here.
MLB has a ranking of the 8 Wild Card Playoff Games to now, the 2014 Giants are #5, but KC vs Oakland in 2014 is rightfully ranked #1, and will probably stay there for a long time.
But the listing also reminded me how much these games tend to be decided by strong starts. And that’s something you just cannot predict. In fact, I have found that a starter will blow about 1 out of 5 starts; it may be because he doesn’t have his best stuff that day, it may be that he can’t locate his secondary pitches for strikes, it may be the umpire has a weird zone that can’t be adjusted to, whatever, it happens.
So I see three scenarios.
#1 – Bum has an A game, Thor does not. Giants should score half a dozen runs in this scenario, and while Bum may give up 2-3 runs via the long ball, Giants should win. The SF bullpen has settled down a lot so I am not very worried in this scenario.
#2 – Thor has an A game, Bum does not. Mets will score maybe 5 runs and the Giants will be hard pressed to catch them. Giants haven’t been good at coming from behind recently. Of course, anything can happen.
#3 – Both Bum and Thor blow. This means a high scoring game for both sides, which I frankly doubt, but you have to figure it favors the home team.
— There’s also the possibility of a walkoff loss. That’s one thing I really don’t want.
My best guess is that the Mets will score on Bumgarner, but the Giants will score more, and pull out the win. We’ll find out in a couple of days.
Then there is, in the spirit of HIllary and to clean up Jake Arrietta, ” What difference does it make?” Because, as the media has told us since before the season started, the Cubs are the best team, ever, ever, ever, and will surely win the World Series.
To that I say, ask Justin Verlander what it means do be a sure bet against the Giants.
So I’m going to channel my best HunterPence and envision a victory. Actually, lots of them.
There’s no question that Arietta’s comment is on both the Giants’ and Mets’ bulletin boards.
I thought the Cubs were unbeatable last year; we know how that worked out. Since the Giants split with them at a time when our team was collectively playing their worst ball, I have no doubts that the Giants could take 3 out of 5 against them.
But that brings up the other thing about playoff baseball: You just never know who’s going to get hot. That was brought home to me in 1971. We could have,and should have, won that series against the Pirates. We lost it, primarily because Bob Robertson decided to get super hot. So, who’s going to be hot this postseason? Bumgarner? Belt? Pence? Posey? Crawford? Cody Ross? Marco Scutaro? Or someone else on some other team? You just cannot predict this stuff.
Carl Steward: It could be Conor Gillaspie.
http://www.mercurynews.com/2016/10/02/gillaspie-carrying-on-tradition-of-giants-unlikely-october-heroes/
Bonds was injured too.
It would have helped if they had clinched early so Marichal could have pitched Game #1 at home. IIRC they won Game #1 at home easily behind Perry and could have won Game #2, but D’Acquisto didn’t have it and Robertson did. Then Juan finally pitched and lost 2-1. And so on.
In those days it was a 5 game elimination for NLCS. But as so often in that era it was our weakness in starting pitching that hurt us.
What did he say?
Someone asked him which he preferred in the NLDS: the Giants or the Mets. And he said “I don’t give a s**t.”
Speaking of Arietta, I read this tidbit in Jayson Stark’s ESPN piece: Over his last 16 starts, Arietta has a 4.14 ERA, and one NL exec referred to him as looking “ordinary” and said that if the Cubs were his team, he’d be worried about that.
Having shot off his big mouth, it will be lots of fun if Arietta is just “ordinary” or worse in this postseason. He wasn’t even all that great last year in the postseason, even though he won the Cy Young.
Don’t think that anyone has mentioned this, but today is the 65th anniversary of Bobby Thomson’s “Shot Heard Round the World,” when the Giants came from from down 4-2 in the ninth inning to beat the Dodgers in the playoffs and win the NL pennant.
Also, 11 years later to the day, on this date the Giants, having caught the Dodgers on the last day of the season, trailed 4-2 (exact same score) going to the ninth and scored 4 runs to win the playoff and the NL pennant.
Too bad we can’t start the playoffs on October 3.
“The Giants win the pennant, the Giants win the pennant, the Giants win the pennant.” Thank you, Russ. Signed, Lon.
Scully’s story on how that recording came to be saved was just great. Pure luck, and Hodges accessibility to fandom. It was recorded by a Dodgers fan and gifted to Hodges when the fan called him at home to offer it on a whim. Now, the most iconic recording in baseball history.
Here’s one from my son’s generation, not as iconic to us – but they quote it all the time:
“..been waiting a long f*^king time for this! All though the minors…now in the majors..! Whooooo.” Pandemonium.
What will be the timeless sound from this Giant generation?
That was a hilarious quote at the time because Will Clark was what, 22 years old, and in his second year in the bigs? It was kind of adorable, really.
Also:
Oct. 3, 2010: Giants win the NL West on the last day of the season.
Oct. 3, 2014: Giants win Game 1 of the NLDS behind Jake Peavy in Washington D.C.
We won’t speak of October 3, 1993, though. 🙁
In case you haven’t seen this:
http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=17700078
Schoenfield’s story on the Giants…and yes…I see that he’s mentioning Belt in the #2 spot 🙂
http://www.espn.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/74406/what-we-learned-giants-are-in-and-now-they-can-win-it-all
Great stuff, thanks.
In addition to Belt being successfully moved,
didn’t he also receive some sort of public calling out/rallying cry from the beloved former GM?
This tactic may have been panned on the blogosphere, but was it effective on the field?
Belt has always been streaky and he was beyond due for a hot streak. He might have had the same hot streak in the 5,6, or 7 hole, too.
It was a dumb and poorly timed comment by Sabean that actually got him panned and mocked a bit by national writers, and rightfully so. Any GM, or whatever he is now, who decides to diss the guy who’s leading the team in most offensive categories as his team is trying to get a playoff spot, deserves scorn.
I’ve always liked Sabean, but I lost a lot of respect for him there. What he said was flat-out stupid, and his timing was worse.
Mayhaps the timing is perfect and the proof will be in the pudding 🙂
Wrong. Whether the Giants/Belt do well (or don’t) in the postseason can’t be correlated with anything Sabean said.
Not scientifically anyway.
Nope. So there will be no “proof,” in the pudding or anywhere else.
Ok.
See Ryans comments above. Sabean called out his entire Starting Pitchers in 2010
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/giants/2010/07/11/more-from-brian-sabeans-midseason-assessment-including-his-challenge-to-the-pitching-staff/
I think you’ve got the issue upside down. It’s up to you to falsify it, not anyone else to prove it.
Bingo
It was planned
Sabean called out his entire Starting Pitchers in 2010
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/giants/2010/07/11/more-from-brian-sabeans-midseason-assessment-including-his-challenge-to-the-pitching-staff/
I like Belt, too, but I think you are being oversensitive. I think Belt is fine at #2 and the reason he was moved around so much earlier was because of injuries.
I think he’s great in the #2. I frankly don’t care where he hits. The only opinion I have about the Giants’ lineup is that Span is a terrible leadoff hitter.
What’s truly stupid about what Sabean said is that the #2 spot is where many teams put their BEST hitter, and that’s where the analytics say you should put your best hitter. Sabean was clearly characterizing Belt being moved to the #2 as a demotion, and that shows his ignorance.
You so want that gentler and kinder approach to managing ballplayers to be true. I’d argue more for a good guy, bad guy game by Bochy/Sabean. If we ought to have learned nothing else from the Giants approach to team management over the last 7-8 years, nothing is quite as it seems.
I think people should be treated with respect. IF Sabean/Bochy has a problem with Belt–and there’s no real reason to suspect that they do–it should be discussed privately. I have people that work for me, and if there’s a problem, I call them to my office for a chat. I don’t put my comments on the department listserv or on Facebook.
I don’t buy that baseball/sports are all that different from anything else. It’s still an organization and these are still human beings.
Okay. Epistle noted.
I’m gonna play devil’s advocate here and say baseball IS different because of its public arena, length of the season, and microscopic nature of its scrutiny. So Sabean criticized him publicly, big deal – maybe it lit a fire under his arse, and perhaps motivated him to succeed in a spot that’s a better fit for his skills. Or maybe he would’ve done just as well without the preliminary arse-kicking. Every player’s different, and responds to different kinds of motivation. Sabean’s not famous for his sensitivity, and imho, I think Bob is so thick it just rolled off his back.
I’ve worked in all kinds of businesses at levels up to directorship, and when people get taken to the woodshed it doesn’t have to be on facebook for everyone to find out. Most teams do it differently, and then you find out afterwards thru Heyman or Olney or that espn flak who used to GM the Reds. Or it’s not dealt with at all, and a player gets smeared and traded around.
Happens everywhere – here’s a (long) interesting article about back-biting in the H-P boardroom, involving the lovely Carly Fiorinna:
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/02/19/the-kona-files?mbid=nl_Sunday%20Longreads%20(56)&CNDID=24483680&spMailingID=9613650&spUserID=MTMzMTgyNTI5OTI5S0&spJobID=1020122397&spReportId=MTAyMDEyMjM5NwS2
As further proof of Belt’s gooberness:
http://m.mlb.com/news/article/204733654/giants-familiar-with-wild-card-game-pressure/
I have no idea how or if it impacted Belt. That’s really not my problem or my business. I’m just stating my own opinion that I think people ought to be treated respectfully and that I think Sabean failed miserably in that AND sounded stupid in doing so. As a Giants fan, I’m embarrassed by him. And I’d say that regardless of which player he’d decided to go after publicly. I just think it was a lousy thing to do.
Sabean is a good GM and even better person. I guess in full command of his faculties he went on KNBR and intentionally cut his own throat…. so he could be panned.
His exact quote is retrievable and he went out of his way to preface the comment by saying this is “not a reflection on Brandon…”
https://audioboom.com/boos/5101359-9-27-brian-sabean-says-the-bullpen-has-been-embarrassing-this-season?t=0
boom
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ydd38p2pm9s
But, if he saw it as both a dose of reality and a motivational tool, and it worked…then is it such a problem? It can be argued as “dumb” if you wish..but it seems to me perfectly timed.
I disagree that it “worked.” There is no proof that it had any connection to Belt’s performance this weekend–there is no proof possible. The exact same thing might have happened if Sabean never said a word. Correlation does not equal causation.
Put it another way: If Belt went 0-12 with nine strikeouts against the Dodgers, would you think it was fair to blame Sabean for that performance? Of course not. So the reverse isn’t true, either.
Dissing one of your players in the media during the last week of the season is just a lousy thing to do, period. And it IS dumb because (a) Belt was and is one of their best and most productive hitters, so putting him down publicly just makes Sabean sound stupid and (b) batting second is not a demotion, and anyone who knows anything about 21st century baseball knows that.
I think you are taking it personal. It’s my opinion that Belt is fine. You keep calling it dumb. It didn’t hurt…when we say it may have helped, you disagree. If it didn’t help or hurt, why not let it go?
It’s a big boy sport where survival of the fittest is alive and well. I don’t think it was a big deal at all. You feel dramatically differently. Serious question: why do you see it as such a big deal?
Serious question, so I’ll give you a serious answer. I truly, truly do not believe in public shaming. In any arena of life. I thought it was wrong when Sabean called out Sandoval in 2010 and Huff a year later in the postseason press conference. I’m not saying the team’s concerns were wrong in either case–just that it was wrong to make it public.
Someone brought up Sabean giving the starting pitchers a tongue-lashing during the 2010 season, but that wasn’t public. The story came out later, but the meeting was in private. Sabean didn’t go to Baggarly or Comcast or Henry Schulman to complain about the starters.
Anyway, I just don’t believe in it. Not for kids, not for students, not for anyone.
Thanks. I appreciate this, and it’s understandable.
I’m not sure why I feel differently, but I do. One: though he said it, I don’t feel his intent was to “publicly shame” whatsoever. He may have hoped to motivate through a Sabeanism…or it just spilled out as he kept talking. He is as frustrated with the 2nd half as we all are, and it so happens that he has high expectations for Belt.
Two: I honestly feel that for very highly compensated and famous athletes, it comes with the territory. Bochy is amazing at having his guys backs -as we explode on Casilla and call Bruce names for his stubbornness, he has the players backs. But, everyone associated wth a team in a sport is under public scrutiny, and now days, social media attacks. A guy like Belt is a lightning rod. It’s odd, but it’s real…look at guys like Efrain and Dave Amorosa. They mean it. In a roundabout way, what Brian said was a mosquito bite. Yes, it was his VP, but I really think Belt understands what Sabean meant. He’s a big boy. Whether or not it’s associated, he responded perfectly….
Now, I’ve seen you be frustrated with. Bochy having every players backs. That was upsetting. Sabean appears to not have Belt’s back. That’s frustrating, too. It’s an imperfect team that confounds…I still think it wasn’t a big deal.
By the way, thanks for interacting like this…so much better than so many folks on here.
I agree with Lefty. As we all know, Belt is very, very streaky. This could be a brilliant move that takes him to the next level *or* it’s one of his streaks and he’ll be coming back to Earth (hopefully not anytime soon).
The Sabean comment? As we all know, he’s not afraid to light that proverbial fire (see Starting Pitchers scold from a season or two ago), so it really didn’t surprise me.
Yup it seems like his numbers all come in bunches. When he is on, he can carry the team for a bit (like prior to the ASG), and when he isn’t we see a lot of him walking back to the dugout after another K. Doesn’t seem like a lot of middle ground. Hopefully he stays locked in
One thing I did notice, which may be scientifically verifiable, is that #2 Belt came out swinging aggressively early in the count. Seemed more aggressive on first pitch than before.
A propos of nothing – I was thinking about a couple of Bob’s drives this weekend – God I love the sound of a baseball clanking off a brick wall (even if I can’t hear it) – and I realized who that LH swing reminds me of. Darryl Strawberry.
That is Sabes in a nutshell: Huff – Pablo – The Pitching staff in ? 2010
Some think this may be Boy or Girl Scouts league where everybody gets a ribbon and a twinkie but there are @ 750 players in MLB and they all got there by sheer force of will because even everybody in the minors have drop dead skills but it is HOW players handle FAILURE that allows them to reach their final destination.
One could argue that Bochy is so crafty he waited until the end to make changes like moving Belt up to 2 and making Romo the closer so other teams couldn’t have time to counteract.
Fun with fungraphs…
And fun with our old friend, Adam Duvall, who was helpful vs. the Cardinals.
Adam Duvall finished the season with a .241/.297/.498 line with 33 HRs.
This was good for a wRC+ of 104, or 4% above league average. This is a bit funny because last year in a very small sample size his wRC+ was 111.
More fun: Angel Pagan finished the season with a wRC+ of 105.
Morer fun? In the months of May and June (221 PAs), Duvall hit about .260 and clubbed 20 HRs. Balls were flying off his bat and into the seats. The other 4 months of the season (387 PAs), Duvall hit a little over .230 with 13 HRs.
Somewhat fun, but not really: Josh Reddick finished the year with a wRC+ of 106.
This has been fun with fungraphs (& a little bit of stirring the pot with uncle footy).
Maybe it was just positive-negativism, but I was terribly wrong.
“Indeed, for Gillaspie, who’s seen the bottom of a few wells in an up-and-down major-league career, the 2016 season couldn’t have ended much more wonderfully. Stepping in for the injured Eduardo Nunez, Gillaspie went 7 for 14 with six RBIs over the final five games. Over a longer stretch, he’s hit .367 over his final 18 games.” -Carl
I apologize Conor (and to you folks as well). I haven’t been down like this on many players as I was on him. I’m just afraid that praising him may lead to his demise due the whole Pos/Neg thing..
any love for Spanakopita ?
ehh
He still has no arm. I’ve liked him for several years and wanted him when he played for the Nats. I think he’s hurt, so my only beef was Boch playing him when I thought Gorkys was playing better and had the arm to play CF.
Impressed with Gorkys play. Well done on his part. He’s earned a 2017 roster spot and some platooning action with my man, Denard Span.
I’d rather see Spanky in left.
With Michael Taylor in CF ! Good call, Bap.
Let’s rush Duggar ala Duffy-style right out of AA.
Nahhh. Unless he really pushes the envelope somehow. He may start the season back in Richmond anyhow. Not sure if he’ll have enough ST bats to impress. But you never know, if injury rash hits. But he has plenty of learning to do, most likely with offspeed pitches, of which he’ll see a lot more of in AAA.
I think if any outfielder makes a jump next spring it could be Slater…Duggar can go to AAA and be ready if there’s a need/injury. If 2017 goes as well for Duggar as 2016 did, he could be on the big club out of camp in 2018.
That WOULD look funny to look out there and see both Pagan and Span side by side – playing left field
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/d5599b465ceceedd1c65b40d7193ac669c7d4954f3ac05133d91e8464608811f.jpg
I love him unconditionally AND he let his guard down by high-fiving fans hanging over the CF wall…
That was pretty damn cool I thought too.
Did he slap skin with Dawg?
God, one hopes not.
Dawg does not have all his rabies papers current …
“It’s always something!”
Yes, Rosanna, Doth I complain too much?
Even Good Soldiers and Good Ball coaches like you sometimes get off kilter. The 57-33 to be 24 games over .500 had you a very proud fan and then came “incompetence” on several fronts. Then from the AS break on they go 30-42 and we had our souls rocked. You are one of the few on here that if something goes wrong on WED – you won’t revert to the shoulda-could-woulda about the first half.
As far as Conor goes, the ultimate compliment came from Wotus’s Saturday pre-game show with Marty. Wo alluded to how much work Conor and he have put in around 8am for a day game and around 1pm for a night game. PLUS Duffy and Nunez had won over our hearts with their range and charisma, of which Conor has neither.
Glad you hung in there with “us”.
http://www.sfchronicle.com/giants/article/How-did-the-Giants-go-from-the-best-team-in-9177669.php
BTW, this is just a very nice piece by Carl.
http://www.mercurynews.com/2016/10/02/gillaspie-carrying-on-tradition-of-giants-unlikely-october-heroes/
I suspect he is in the line-up Wednesday against Synderella the RHP.
Yes, he has changed many minds here. That said, Nunez would be welcome back for speed and defense.
You’re not alone. I’m in the exact same boat as you. But now I don’t have to post anything about it because you said exactly what I was thinking. Thanks.
For those who need a current read or will be shopping for friends over the Holidays
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/that-time-an-nfl-ref-really-really-wanted-steve-young-to-date-his-daughter-140115030.html
“Even on the field, I can’t escape the craziness. We play the Colts at home. Partway through the second quarter I’m in the huddle when the head referee taps me on the shoulder. “Can I talk to you for a second?” he says. I step away from the huddle. “Hey, listen, my daughter’s going to BYU,” he whispers. Next thing I know he starts trying to convince me that I should meet his daughter. “I’d like you to take her out,” he says.
I cannot believe this. We’re in the middle of a game! “Oh, okay,” I said. “What’s her name?’’ He tells me and I return to the huddle … Late in the game we’re down 31-23 and I’m trying to mount a comeback. I scramble out of the pocket and take a brutal hit. It causes me to fumble just before the whistle blows to stop the play.
I am lying on the ground when the defense recovers the loose ball, all but sealing our defeat. Suddenly out of nowhere a yellow flag lands next to me.
The referee whose daughter is headed to BYU calls a personal foul on the defense. First down, Tampa Bay.
I get up and brush myself off. Then the ref walks past me and whispers she likes Italian food.
538’s take on the Giants-Mets. http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2016-mlb-predictions/giants/?ex_cid=rrpromo
We love the underdog status.
Got them right where we want them.
Right, you’ll notice we were underdogs in most of last week’s games as well, when we were 5-1.
Those projections seem to be based purely on W-L, which is kind of stupid because anyone can do that.
On the other hand, the Giants have a 14% swing upwards (due to their last week of play) while both the Dodgers and Red Sox have plunged (also purely W/L based.)
At this point I don’t see any real eye popping favorites except the Bosox. Cubs don’t count. I will never forget how they folded against the Mets last year.
There model is a lot more complex than that, although 2nd half play is clearly a part of it. If you look closely, it all seems to be predicated on home field advantage.
just because the Cubs folded last year its ignorant to discount them so easily. You can argue their pitching is better and the younger players got a taste of the post season.
I am not discounting the Cubs “easily.” What I do know is that we were 3-4 against them this year, including 3 one run losses at the end of August, a series that could have just as easily gone 3-1 in our favor as opposed to 1-3 against us, which would have given us a 6-1 record against them this year. So we can clearly play with them.
In addition, the Cubs — and it’s not my fault — have a long tradition of choking. I remember seeing them in ’69, at the Stick, and I wanted them to win after it became clear that we wouldn’t catch Atlanta. I wanted them to win in 2003, too, after the Marlins eliminated us. And of course I wanted them to win in 2007, 2008, 1998 (after the eliminated us), 1984, and basically any other year when the Giants have been eliminated. The only time I wanted the Cubs to be eliminated was when we eliminated them, in 1989.
It’s not that I am a Cubs fan. I’m not. But I would like to see teams like the Cubs and the Indians get the monkey off their backs. But they have a well deserved reputation for choking.
The key to the Giants success for the rest of this season will be the same key as it was in the beginning of the season: Brandon Belt. All else being equal, and with a sorted out bullpen that can close games, we can go far. But if we don’t, I hope the Cubs win it all.
But they have to show that they actually can. Being swept in an NLCS inspires no confidence.
Please note that the Giants were underdogs– some prohibitive in the 3 Dodger games according to 538
It’s neither a question of cheerleading or disregarding models. It’s rather a question of looking at trendlines, and not stabilized statistical measures. It’s the point I wrote about last week, and the kind of ball the Giants play. A few months ago, we all discussed how the Giants seem to be able to play above their Pythagorean expectation. Whatever Bochy/Sabean/Evans/Giants do is tough to fathom from the numbers. 538 is absolutely right in their projections. The fault isn’t the projections, it’s the odd brand of ball the Giants play in short series competition. If you decode it, that’s really TO’s complaint…the Giants/Bochy don’t play by rules he understands. For that matter, anyone, including us, really understand.
The statistical projections are total BS in this context. Say you are a 10% underdog. If you win is it because you just happened to be in the 10% or because the projection was wildly flawed and inaccurate. There is never any way to say, so it is totally irrelevant
No, they really aren’t BS, they are just missing something important in their design. As a matter of fact, they work reasonably well for most teams. There is just something different about Giants baseball. In any case, lets see what happens Wednesday before we get too excited either way.
Span looked great yesterday, because he was rested (“locked-in”). So it’s officially a CF platoon – guess that had not sunk in to moi:
http://www.csnbayarea.com/giants/giants-notes-span-ends-high-note-giants-honor-scully
I’ve seen worse platoons.
Even if you’ve owned several Kitty’s at the same time – not every little pussy – makes you smile as much as the ones you love unconditionally…
3-3 versus righties 0-2 versus lefty. Splits are a 60 point difference over the whole season
This current group of Giants in truly MUST WIN playoff games.
2010 Game 162 – vs. SD @ AT&T – W
2012 NLDS Game 3- vs. Cincinnati @ Great American Ballpark – W
2012 NLDS Game 4- vs. Cincinnati @ Great American Ballpark – W
2012 NLDS Game 5- vs. Cincinnati @ Great American Ballpark – W
2012 NLCS Game 5 – vs St. Louis @ Busch Stadium – W
2012 NLCS Game 6 – vs St. Louis @ AT&T – W
2012 NLCS Game 7 – vs St. Louis @ AT&T – W
2014 NL Wild Card Game – vs Pittsburgh @ PNC Park – W
2014 WS Game 7 – vs Kansas City @ Kauffman Stadium – W
2016 Game 162 – vs. LA Dodgers @ AT&T – W
See a trend? All October must wins. All Giant victories. Some have been studly starting performances, 2010 Sanchez, 2012 Zito in St Louis, 2012 Vogey both Cincinnati & AT&T, 2014 Bum, 2016 Moore some have not 2012 Zito in Cincinnati, 2014 Huddy in Game 7.
Bochy will have a plan. Bum will get some rope because he’s Bum, but Marge will be ready to go and cover up to 5 or 6 innings if necessary.
The Mets have Noah and nothing else. Granted he purty spectacular 90% of the time….
The only trend I see is that you have to win the last game of any series to be successful in the post season.
Giants have two days off and should be rested. They have games where they can score on Thor and others where they cannot. They have to be patient, focus on anything to get on base, and then distract. Sort of like Game #1 in the 2014 NLDS. If Bum gives us a QS (3 in 6) we should be able to win.
they also have Cespedes who can carry that team for a month on his own.
who? 😉
I meant from a pitching stand point, but yes, YO! is a concern.
but that is the common perception on this blog, when most don’t bother to do any research.
Tell me, if the Mets had little else past Thor, how did they go 27-12 to close out the season at 87 wins???
Kinda hard to do with only one pitcher right?
Similar to ho many on the blog are dumbfounded how the Dodgers won their 4th consecutive pennant, and don’t bother to do any research, realize the Dodgers are more than just Kershaw, they have a lot of talent on the 40 man roster and in the upper minors.
Ur a real hard ass.
I am, as I’ve told Matthew, to know is to love me.
(my GF will agree with you lol)
when ya tying the knot ?
Uh, you left out 2014 Game 2 @ KC (2-7) and Game 6 @ KC (0-10). Any other cherries you left on the ground?
Game 2 a MUST WIN? They lost and played the next day right?
Those Games above were win or go home.
Off to NY they go…. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/32dee49619625ebee3783cb200d7573d28d77a7bc0d2a8610323cfa9e18a7857.jpg
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4d32bb432ff18794c81fb804b8915888815298254caa1448177d0f5a58a934d6.jpg
Sorry, for some reason the photos get turned on their side when uploaded
I took care of one for you Hac
Thanks! Teamwork
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/faa53120df6d0144becdb0e5518d7af191798e7c20b1a02dc3f1999e8e4e4d0d.jpg
Another trend I see is you must be laying down when you post your photos.
Disquis turns them on their side when I upload from the phone
Here’s one that came in right side up https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/21ca5176288ec10cc21e701b81a15909f2255462e14c57ee881b966f0be5c1f9.jpg
Oh they’re chartering Delta? Good thing the game is on Wed. may take them that long to get there….
Anyone notice the ump’s belt come undone during Gillaspie’s tumbling catch?
That’s another good catch.
You must have the Vision of a Sniper https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/06f99b31dfc05341e39d3f563f8b5fb0efa04c3ee1f8acb2ce7123f5001127dd.jpg
Those are some disturbing looking nails. 😮
No one helped Connor land safely except luck that the camera man was under him.
Need some training in those camera wells or they get a net on top.
Yep…Lot of teammates looking…. I think they can help him out vis-a-vis the actual dugout but not sure if they can venture “next door” into the camera well… ?
They were all racing over there as fast as they could…I saw Suarez for sure, and a few others
Yup – they were blocked by civilians, who just looked on. Fortunately the camera slowed him down and he got his hands out there.
Any updated word on Nunez? His absnce has been obscured by Gillaspie’s good play over the last week
Speaking OF …. did anybody even catch a glimpse of Nunez anywhere near the dugout railing during the last three games?
They don’t have to submit their roster for Wednesday’s game until 10 a.m. that day. They said they’ll decide then but probably not sooner.
He won’t be in the game. Giants said he might not be available till NLCS or World Series. It was in the news a few days back from official sources.
That sucks. That’s a pretty bad “Grade 1” strain then. I figured it would be multiple weeks with an absence of news about it. Hopefully Conor can continue to prove me wrong with his stellar play. He was fantastic these last six games. And his go ahead double on Friday night when he jumps up pumping his arms gave me goose bumps, it was awesome.
He’s up on a tread mill without pain, but they don’t want to risk him in case they make it beyond the Mets. It seemed he could PH, but base running would be a little chancy, given his style on the base paths.
I figured he’d miss the WC game but I’ll be quite disappointed if he misses the NLDS…if the Giants can top the Mets on Wednesday.
If its NLCS he can Michael Morse them!
Just saw this on Brisbee:
MLB Network Radio ✔ @MLBNetworkRadio
Evans said that he will let Eduardo Nunez “surprise us” with his availability “at this point I’m going to expect that he’ll be available”
8:41 AM – 3 Oct 2016
1 1 Retweet 2 2 likes
I wish to thank Forever Giant Vogey for pitching his heart out WHILE he was out there yesterday!
I know Timmy – Vogey and Duffman will be thinking about their boyz as will Andres who Matthew told me is with his wife in Texas – who is going through cancer treatments.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/970e8dba00f16fcb26984d300bc18a9da29f11a79f377d5c12e2ddd96ecd1744.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/9c58c282db9173c8b644784e6147b22b1511849e186c18853dca7cf2ea88a7fd.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/35b2beaf0a67c450253e7940dc72c8b9cbd271334071a144a0799a3ad2fe9ce3.jpg
Great Giants all.
I wonder if Phil Cuzzi will be behind the plate Wednesday?
Why Joe West is we’re going to pick horrible umpires. If Cuzzi is selected I wouldn’t take the field until I filed the protest. He has something against the Gs. And who can forget who called out Ishikawa out that almost cost us a post season.
Why does that slug have anything to do with the selection?
Spring gets a lot of credit, but I think Fall is wonderful…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCVSZU9jXyk
Fall is the best season! Playoff baseball, Halloween and beautiful colors…
Adult film only (TO said they never should have done the champagne bath)
http://newsvideo.mercurynews.com/San-Francisco-Giants-celebrate-NL-playoff-berth-31464681
The NY Post had a full two page spread on the Giants today, a great deal of respect for the team and Bum, folks should give it a read:
http://nypost.com/2016/10/02/mets-menacing-bumgarner-warning-like-drawing-a-bad-bull/
Hurdle’s comment is funny.
“It’s like drawing a bad bull when you are one of those bull
riders,’’ Hurdle, a big rodeo fan, told The Post Sunday in the visiting
manager’s office at Busch Stadium after his team’s final game. “Some
guys draw Wildflower and some guys get Widow-maker. That particular
night, the way it worked out, we got Widow-maker.’’
Terrific comment.
I like how his father told him, upon learning they drew Thor the year after Bum, it was happening again!
We are so spoiled as Giants fans seeing Bum and Kershaw lock horns every year that we take for granted we are seeing some of the best pitchers in the history of baseball in their prime.
The Bum vs. Thor matchup is one for the ages.
Yes and Yes
Scherzer vs Kershaw’s pretty great, too.
#2 versus #1
Collins deserves MOY votes.
Have to agree. The pitching staff completely fell apart with injuries. Harvey, DeGrom, Matz, Wheeler were supposed to contribute much more.
Thanks for this E
I dig this site – Bill James Starting Pitcher Rankings…
Bumgarner is #3, Syndergaard is 23.
http://www.billjamesonline.com/polls_ratings/starting_pitcher_rankings/
Hey Matthew (shout out), Ian Kennedy is #24 😀
Bill James.
‘Nuff said
Matthew, I am your father…
http://www.baseballamerica.com/images/bjames06240240.jpg
Thank God the nerd gene passed right by.
You’re sure?
I’d really like to say something. Does anyone know if Matthew has come out yet with the list of today’s acceptable topics?
It appears I’m in your head!
BOOM
Can you at least give me an estimate of what time the list will be ready?
No. The more I make you wait, the more I pull a Reverse Oracle
A reverse Oracle….hmmmm….just peachy will like that …
Anticipatory anxiety looks good on you.
Snark. The idiot’s version of wit.
How would you describe name calling?
Assuming there were 49ers who were tired of Harbaugh, I wonder if any of them are now a bit nostalgic for the days when they were winners? Donte Whitner said something like that last year. It’s no doubt easier to lose, but I doubt it’s as much fun.
Looks like it was talent that was the issue during the short Tomsula experiment. Chip and Tomsula have the same disease – zero talent thanks to Baalke. Scot McCloughan (who went to Seattle and now Washington) found Harbaugh the talent.
Jed will soon realize that Baalke is in over his head. The next 49ers GM will be current Senior Personnel Executive – Tom Gamble and then Mike Williams, current director of Pro Personnel will take Gambles current spot.
In other words: Bye Bye to Trent
That talent didn’t do a thing until Harbaugh arrived. The team wasn’t even viewed as particularly talented. Alex Smith was on his way out of town and about to try to become someone’s backup quarterback. The 49ers won as much as they did for one reason, and that reason got kneecapped and fired. Tomsula? Just a guy who was in way over his head and will be best remembered, fittingly, for a press conference fart.
http://deadspin.com/the-biggest-nfl-story-today-is-whether-jim-tomsula-fart-1734343790
Clutch is largely right. You are, too. Harbaugh was a great coach who had a talented roster.
The roster now? Void of talent. Baalke is a disaster. Plus, injuries. Plus retirements. Fastest fall of modern sports
But the biggest difference was coaching. If Harbaugh were still there, it would’ve been much less of a fall and a quick recovery. He doesn’t lose often or for long.
Agreed….
And I bet if he ever does return to the NFL, it’s going to be for a lot of money, mainly to make it more painful to fire him, and a big say in personnel.
I sit here an pine…and can’t let go of the thought of what would have happened if Jed picked the right way
Well then same with Bochy – Bochy=Harbaugh. Bochy replaced Alou.
As far as the male anatomy function sounds. I am sure when officers sit around their respective cubicles that a fart gets fired off every so often, or are yours silent but deadly, which are the worst if you get my (sniff) drift.
Tomsula was remembered as being one of the top NFL defensive line coaches.
Not soon enough
Fwiw… G’s postseason record On the Road in 2010, 12, 14 is 18-7. And that includes wins in 7 decisive games.
Gm 4 NLDS Atl 2010, gm 6 in Philly, gm 5 in Texas, gm 5 in NLDS Cincy, gm 4 in Detroit, WC game in Pitts, …and gm 7 in KC..
Hank Stram and Vin Scully….
“3rd and 3” – “Montana, looking, looking, throwing….in the end zone….CLARK CAUGHT IT….Dwight Clark ………………….. It’s a Madhose at Candlestick…..Dwight Clark at 6’4″….he stands about 10 feet tall in this crowds estimation ………”
http://www.49ers.com/video/videos/Throwback-Legend-Vin-Scullys-Call-of-The-Catch/bc29f4d2-a9d6-4b5c-8081-0f8dc1d40023
28 years – Balkin Bob calls it a career
http://www.closecallsports.com/2016/10/mlb-umpire-bob-davidson-retires-after.html
Way past time, Balking Bob. Won’t miss your schtick.
Wouldn’t want to be married and have him hanging around the house, scrutinizing your every move…
None too soon
I wonder when Jaba, Joe West will hang ’em up.
I wonder if Scully will do what Rd Barber did on NPR. Barber had about the best 1hour show on Saturday mornings back in the late 70s-80s on baseball and it’s history and the present day game I’ve ever heard.
Maybe if he could tape it, otherwise I think his bride wants to make up for lost time 🙂
All of Barber’s were taped, at his convenience. He was in Florida, and the NPR reporter who did them loved the weekly jaunt down to sunny Florida from DC.
Bob Edwards and Barber taped the show. Edwards wept when he announced Barber’s passing.
http://www.npr.org/about/specials/bedwards/red_barber.html
Classy Dick Enberg (OH MY) also left quietly yesterday.
Total class.
I’m surprised Will Clark is being re-nominated for the HOF:
http://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/article/Bay-Area-baseball-greats-Clark-McGwire-get-a-9627334.php?t=a3ecf4593c&cmpid=twitter-premium
Also disgusted that Steinbrenner and Slelig are up for consideration. If they let Slelig in they have to take McGuire, Bonds, Clemens et al.
The Hall of SHAME
Selig was an awful commissioner, one of the worst all time. He canceled a World Series! He also ruined the Expos!
9-9 Allstar game tie
Another one, another ignominious moment in the Selig reign! You are on fire today Clutch!
The worst was linking the W/S Home Team to the ASG. A ‘clown act’, to quote Harper.
That was bad but not the worst. The worst was canceling the World Series and fixing the strike in 1994. Eternal shame on his name and legacy and unforgivable.
Cancel the WS? Indeed? Are you kidding me?
Should have MADE the Brewers go back INTO the American League where they started instead of putting the vice grip on the owner of the STROS. But Selig’s past ownership in the Brewers made him even more corrupt when keeping the Brew Crew in the NL
As Pacman knows they should have a separate wing for Allan Huber “Bud” Selig
Yes, good point. That was another terrible move. Houston should be in the NL so Texas (the state) has a team from each league. Moving them so Milwaukee could be NL was very dumb. They should switch them both back.
I always thought the D-bags should have moved and they should have put the Stros back in the NL West.
Selig also screwed up the All Star Game. As Jon Miller once put it, “You know, that 2002 All Star Game, I just can’t seem to remember who won.”
Didn’t he sell the Brewers TO HIS DAUGHTER after MLB took the Expos into receivership?
Yes. It was a shady deal. Basically, Loria bought the Expos the ran them into the ground, then came running to Selig who developed a secret deal for Loria to buy the Marlins and for John Henry, the Marlins owner at the time, to buy the Red Sox. Montreal was left holding the bag because the city and team had MAJOR issues and were reluctant to dig in and find an investor or buyer. It was not all Selig’s fault but he was still a villain and he is the primary person responsible for the shame of the 1994 strike and canceling the World Series, which was, by the way, the best team the Expos ever had… They were likely on their way to the World Series that year. Funny enough, that’s when I became a Giants fan too and I went to games at Candlestick that season and before. The Giants had a big drop-off from 1993 sadly.
While, in the background, the dealing for a DC team was driving it.
Veterans Committee…doesn’t surprise me. He was an elite 1B in that era…turned the Giants franchise around…and didn’t take the PED-easy way out. Probably not going to get in, but he’s my favorite all-time player.
Me too. One of my favorites was when his peer Palmeiro got busted and he said “You got caught padner!”
🙂 “Potner”
me three.
I’m not. He got jobbed out on his first pass through. Sad thing is the Cardinals offered him a couple year deal after he lit the world on fire as a replacement for injured McGwire. But he opted for retirement, go out high. A couple more seasons of accumulating numbers could have helped him.
Thanks. 15 years:
Will Clark Statistics and History | Baseball-Reference.com
http://www.baseball-reference.com/…/clarkwi02.shtml
Baseball‑Reference.com
Career: 284 HR, .303 BA, 1205 RBI, 1B, 6xAllStar, GG, Giants/Rangers/… 1986-2000, b:L/t:L, 1x RBI Leader, born in USA 1964, The Thrill.
We all love Will Clark but he is not a Hall of Famer.
Weiss fired in Denver today.
Manfred was looking at all options to decrease the length of games. His mound visit pace was his death knell
No doubt he’ll walk thru 3 or 4 more jobs and wind up a 3B coach.
He sat a guy to win the batting title. You can’t tempt the baseball gods like that.
Pure cheese.
Resigned?
Contract expired and not renewed. So, none of the above. But same result nonetheless.
No. His contract expired and he was not asked to return. Basically he was a lame duck this year. Colorado Rockies manager has to be one of the more thankless jobs in sports.
Right after A’s Manager and 49ers HC
right!
190 Total Regular Season Ejections during the 2016 regular season.
Fewest since fewest since 2013 when they had 180.
Umps were 64.2% accurate on calls associated with ejection.
Blue Jays were ejected more often than any other team. The Pirates led the NL.
John Gibbons – Blue Jays led all managers in ejections.
Donaldson (TOR) and Yunel Escobar (LAA) led all players in ejections.
Umpires Dale Scott and Todd Tichenor led all umpires in ejections.
Chief Dale Scott’s crew led all umpire crews in ejections.
Most ejections occurred in the 8th inning; Ejections from 7th and on comprised 47% of all tosses.
Most ejections occurred on Sundays. Weekend series (Fri-Sun) featured 52% of all heave-ho’s.
The most common reason for ejection was Balls/Strikes, followed by Throwing At.
All else equal, a team tied at the time of ejection ended up winning the game 97% of the time.
Summary, Replay Reviews.
1468 Total Replay Reviews, of which calls were affirmed 48.3% of the time (51.7% overturned).
The Blue Jays used replay more than any other team, but were worst in the league at it.
The Royals were the League’s most successful team in review.
The Minnesota Twins experienced fewer reviews than any other team, and were average.
The Blue Jays were the worst MLB team in terms of Replay success.
Dan Iassogna had a league-leading 31 calls reviewed, and was fairly **** inaccurate. ****
Mike Everitt’s crew led all of baseball in replay activity, and performed at about league average.
Ump Quinn Wolcott led the league in accuracy with most of his calls affirmed by replay.
UmpToby Basner experienced the highest rate of his calls being overturned by replay.
The 7th inning had more reviews than any other inning. 41% of all reviews occurred from 7th-on.
Most reviews occurred on Sundays; Calls were most often overturned in daytime conditions.
The most common reason for review was Out/Safe, followed by Pulled Foot and HBP/No HBP.
– CCS –
HUH?
All else equal, a team tied at the time of ejection ended up winning the game 97% of the time.
If this makes sense to anyone out there, please explain it to me. Which team won? Which team had a player tossed?
http://www.closecallsports.com/2016/10/uefls-mlb-umpire-sabermetrics-2016.html
http://www.espn.com/mlb/playoffs2015/story/_/page/playoffs16_expertpredictions/espn-experts-make-their-predictions-mlb-playoffs
I was with Schoenfield until he picked Belt to be MVP. If that happened this blog would collapse.
LOL – that’s awesome. Why the heck not? The fitting finish to an extraordinary season. But first thing is first…
La Shana Tovah (where is Koufax)?
Belt is more than capable of it. He becomes a little more flexible, the sky is the limit for him. Picture Belt with a stroke to LF, and you’ve got a real monster at 1B.
I agree, I was half kidding.
LOL, kidding or not, you’re right nonetheless.
Turns 29 next spring. You think he has seen the mountain top, or not quite there yet?
I think he is what he is but he was finally healthy this year for a whole season and did well. That’s a good sign.
Career high in PAs by +84 – which helped the career high in RBIs and hits and doubles and triples and runs…
Zero stolen bases though. Where have his hot wheels gone?
His best OPS+ year was 2013 – hit .289.
I think his biggest flaw is the mental aspect. I’d like to think that’ll improve but you can, and some certainly will, argue that if it’s still a flaw it might always be.
Belt reminds me of Frank Howard but alas he hasn’t acquired the power stroke, yet. However, he should sacrifice his OBP or his BA to get it.
God I hope ne never does acquire a power stroke beyond what he’s got. IMO, with his zone command, and a Krate around 15-20%, he’s more Joey Votto.
I meant to say he “should not” but I can’t fix it now that you have responded to it. I mean he reminds me of Howard physically.
Ahh, my bad.
what K rate at 15-20%? Try more like 20-25%.
You need to read more carefully.
yeah I read the post, I found it a fairy tale belief of what will never come.
Darryl Strawberry.
I observe his 6’5 frame and peculiar left handed stance and swing and every so often I see a Darryl Strawberry swing into the gaps …
Schoenfield and even Nightengale have their peers respect and have even made some posters here damp in the pantaloons – but Schoenfield has always written as much minus crud as he has good stuff.
Those guys are NOT inside the clubhouse so they really do not KNOW.
An ample majority of “experts” predict the Cubbies as WS winners. That makes me think that The Goat will prevail once again.
If you mean Belt as postseason MVP, well, that’s kind of obvious.
The #1 element for the Giants collapse after the All Star Game was Belt’s slump (followed by the complete collapse of the bullpen.) He was the best hitter on the team, with MVP OPS well over 900, and even with his slump he led the team in OPS and several other categories (W, HR’s). The #1 reason they rebounded in the last week is that Belt is in a groove again.
If Belt hits well in the postseason, the Giants have a chance. If he doesn’t, early exit (I discount the single game, because anything can happen in just one game.) It’s that simple.
In fact, if not Bumgarner I think he could have been the MVP in 2014.
At least he and Caple weren’t sheep……..
I did not really now this Baldwin was THIS talented
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nQGBZQrtT0
pretty good stuff, I saw it today and laughed by butt off
He only had 1 line, Gyna
A must read for TO…just kidding.
https://www.quantamagazine.org/20160823-the-neuroscience-behind-bad-decisions/
Another 50 hours and 45 minutes to go.
Tick… tick… tick…
You are missing the…tock.
Brisbee has info on the Metropolitans’ pitcher while we wait:
http://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2016/10/3/13151846/sf-giants-noah-syndergaard-wild-card
“Is it possible for the Giants to win? Sure. They’ve won a Bumgarner/Syndergaard matchup in New York this year. Is it possible for the Giants to be humiliated? Sure. It happened on national TV just over a month ago. This isn’t Edinson Volquez.
At the very least, the Giants will have their ace going, so they’ll have a fighting chance. Now it’s time to kick back and wait for the next … 52 HOURS?”
This is funny but may pizz Pacman off
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVAL-cGCOfY
Whoa. A certain hitting coach with a long history with the Giants is being let go by his current employer…
Not Chili?
Hope, hope…
BLB25
THAT didn’t last long.
Cause given?
He didn’t look at Loria the right way during an investors glad hand meeting
Frees him up for a should be job opening by some brain dead Carribean hitter hacking at slop.
Miami was 27th in hitting.
Miami was 4th in batting average, 13th in OBS and 27th in runs scored.
reads like a Belt stat
You over here to see if the Cubs can beat the Giants, should the Giants be so lucky as to beat the Mets? 😉
That’s kinda weird. I’m sure some reasons will emerge.
It is weird.
This has to be the strangest season I’ve possibly ever seen.
Loria
Donny TT called Barry “out” …. lack of committment
Is that being reported or conjecture?
Reported
Just saw. That was my thinking all along, especially when so many were clamoring for his return to SF. Could he actually commit for an entire season, let alone for several? Seemed like more of a lark for him.
I agree – the lark part BUT especially as a hitting savant he now knows what Bill Russell, Larry Bird, Magic and even Frank Robinson found out. What comes EASY to brilliant players is NEVER grasped by the average player.
I’d love for him to be a regular advisor for the Giants every Spring Training. That seems like a role best suited for him.
Lot of cooks in the kitchen during Spring Training
JT
Will
Barry
Kent
↓↓
http://www.si.com/mlb/2016/10/03/marlins-fire-barry-bonds-hitting-coach?xid=socialflow_twitter_si
Yes, but until the facts come out let’s speculate and gossip. It’s more fun. The possibilities are endless….
Ok!! He hugged Cespedes too long vs the Mets?
http://www.si.com/mlb/2016/10/03/marlins-fire-barry-bonds-hitting-coach
Post of the Day
That is because Frank Menechino and Mr. Jeffrey Loria are really close and BB25 was most likely running the SHIP that Donny two trips was supposed to be running ….
It sure feels like they did better across the board….do the stats bear that out?
Peter? This one’s for you.
BLB25 was IMO running the show and the players loved him + Frankie Menechino and Loria are buddies.
Loria is an egomaniac…do you think it upset DTT? He seemed at ease with things. Too bad.
see above
Bonds, MLB’s alltime leader in home runs, was hired back in Dec. 2015 to work under manager Don Mattingly. Under the 51-year-old’s watch, Miami ranked fourth in batting average at .263, and 13th in on-base percentage at .322. Despite those figures, the Marlins finished 27th in runs scored and missed the postseason.
SiriusXM’s Craig Mish noted that Bonds’s “commitment level dwindled,” which led to him getting called out by Mattingly.
Outfielder Christian Yelich gave Bonds and Frank Menechino, who shared the hitting coach role with Bonds, credit for his breakout season in which he hit 21 home runs.
– Kenny Ducey
One of Bob Belts favorite and funniest videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3bomAI3YxI
Good stuff!
Curious if Metheny will be fired.
I really doubt that.
No. He did well with a team that has many holes and question marks. Hate to say it but Jason Heyward was right about the Cards: They are old.
In some spots but they have a bunch of young hitters.
Yes, but they are too green. They are kind of in a rebuilding mode with their pitching staff too. Don’t get me wrong. They have good talent and they could be a playoff team next year if they get one or two more good performances from their starting rotation. Wainright’s best days are behind him and Garcia is always hurt. Wacha is not what he once was. The Cardinals ruined him his rookie year and rode him too hard trying to win the World Series in 2013.
Diaz, Piscotty and Grichuk are a pretty solid, young trio.
Piscotty needs to come HOME and wear orange and black.
Acalanes HS – Stanford
My cousins went to Acalanes.
So did mine.
Mine didn’t.
That’s what makes you lame.
Do they visiting hours?
Footy smuggled in a file.
I don’t need a file, just a verb.
Ha
I believe he was hand picked one year before Tony left – so not a chance.
If Shulman hadn’t tweeted Gary Brown was on the 2014 Wild Card Game roster, I wouldn’t have believed it for a single second.
Also Adam Duvall!
Diamondbacks clean house, fire GM Dave Stewart, manager Chip Hale
…and still discussing Tony LaRussa’s role.
Head dog trainer.
http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/diamondbacks-clean-house-fire-gm-dave-stewart-manager/story?id=42542471
Matt Williams might get another managerial shot.
Bingo – absolutely
Is the Big Marine too serious and rigid to relate to today’s players? That’s my question.
YES and most likey NOW – not really. I bet he learned a ton:
(1) Mgr of the years (2) Fired
Big Marine will take to Brandon Drury. Lift him to impressive heights.
Good young talents to work with – not a bad gig at all.
Year around resident of ARZ
Good. It’s nice not to have to worry about a divisional opponent. You currently have Ariz, SD and Colo that can’t possibly win under current management.
Commish drinking the Koolaide
http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/17706532/david-ortiz-says-did-wrong-03-failed-drug-test
Official http://www.sacbee.com/sports/nfl/san-francisco-49ers/article105714321.html
1-15 is a real possibility.
yes. I had said 3 wins before season started, now that might be to much.
GO GIANTS!! Anyone else anxious for Wed to get here? heheh
Also makes the Warriors current structure so awesome. Otherwise it’d be a looooong winter.
Anxious??? OF COURSE – it will be torturous and the doom and gloomers would – if – continue to talk about the first half followed by the second half.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1bb12a3c9b02704ad6903f1f4384997115a25ec254fda8c1ae12b83cd1f8d28a.jpg
I like that ‘poster’. All of it so true!
Chip will be Three Bills by that time
We can always hope.
Here we go (UGH)
NL Wild Card ‘B’ Mets vs San Francisco
HP: Mike Winters -cc
1B: Jeff Nelson*
2B: Mike Everitt
3B: Jim Wolf
LF: CB Bucknor
RF: Quinn Wolcott^
And the rest of the worst – errr the best
2016 Wild Card Game and Division Series Umpires
Umpire crew rotation for the best-of-five Division Series is clockwise in the infield and counterclockwise in the outfield, such that Game 1’s home plate umpire will serve as Right Field umpire for Game Two, Left Field for Game 3, Third Base for Game 4, and Second Base for Game 5. The Replay Official does not join the on-field crew for any games of the Division Series.
AL Wild Card ‘A’ Orioles and Blue Jays
HP: Gary Cederstrom -cc
1B: Ted Barrett*
2B: Eric Cooper
3B: Bill Welke
LF: David Rackley^
RF: Will Little^
ALDS Crew A (ALWC Winner BAL or TOR @ Texas Rangers
HP: Chad Fairchild
1B: Lance Barksdale
2B: Sam Holbrook
3B: Hunter Wendelstedt
LF: Joe West -cc
RF: Cory Blaser^
ALDS Crew B Boston Red Sox @ Cleveland Indians
HP: Brian Knight
1B: Phil Cuzzi
2B: Tony Randazzo
3B: Paul Emmel
LF: Bill Miller -cc
RF: Vic Carapazza
NLDS Crew A NLWC Winner [SF or NYM] @ Chicago Cubs
HP: Todd Tichenor
1B: Larry Vanover*
2B: Marvin Hudson
3B: Alan Porter
LF: John Hirschbeck -cc
RF: Mike Muchlinski^
NLDS Crew B Los Angeles Dodgers @ Washington Nationals
HP: Dan Bellino
1B: Tom Hallion*
2B: Chris Guccione
3B: Ron Kulpa
LF: Jeff Kellogg -cc
RF: Manny Gonzalez^
Division Series Replay Officials (MLBAM): Chris Conroy, Kerwin Danley, Gerry Davis, Adrian Johnson
-cc denotes Game/Series Crew Chief, * denotes regular season Crew Chief, BOLD TEXT denotes first postseason assignment, ^ denotes first assignment for that specific round of the playoffs. Per UEFL Rule 4-3-c, all umpires selected to appear in the Wild Card games shall receive one bonus point for this appearance. Umpires assigned to the Division Series shall receive two bonus points for this appearance; crew chiefs shall receive one additional bonus point for this role (two or three points total). Officials assigned to replay review only do not receive points for this role.
Great…Winters hates Bochy.
:-(((((
Look at the near platoon of incompetent umpires giving post season assignments, including two of the commonly regarded worst. And people why the umpiring doesn’t get any better. Why should it? By the way, do you need outfield foul line umpires? No you don’t. Four competent umpires are not going to miss anything that isn’t already going to replay anyway.
…CU linked a funny tidbit from Steve Young regarding officiating. Funny…until you consider that it’s the same in baseball….it’s random, predisposed manipulation.
Winters doing home plate us the ultimate Torre “FU” to Bruce.
I’m reading Jamie Moyer’s excellent autobiography and if you remind me later, I’ll post a very interesting passage about the relationship between players and umpires.
Helloooooo? Where’s the link, Slooooooow?
It’s a BOOK! You know, those things with pages and stuff! I’ll have to look at it and then type the words for you!
Use a fountain pen….
Good story from the book: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/that-time-an-nfl-ref-really-really-wanted-steve-young-to-date-his-daughter-140115030.html
Even on the field, I can’t escape the craziness. We play the Colts at home. Partway through the second quarter I’m in the huddle when the head referee taps me on the shoulder. “Can I talk to you for a second?” he says. I step away from the huddle. “Hey, listen, my daughter’s going to BYU,” he whispers. Next thing I know he starts trying to convince me that I should meet his daughter. “I’d like you to take her out,” he says.
I cannot believe this. We’re in the middle of a game! “Oh, okay,” I said. “What’s her name?’’ He tells me and I return to the huddle …
Late in the game we’re down 31-23 and I’m trying to mount a comeback. I scramble out of the pocket and take a brutal hit. It causes me to fumble just before the whistle blows to stop the play.
I am lying on the ground when the defense recovers the loose ball, all but sealing our defeat.
Suddenly out of nowhere a yellow flag lands next to me. The referee whose daughter is headed to BYU calls a personal foul on the defense. First down, Tampa Bay.
I get up and brush myself off.
Then the ref walks past me and whispers she likes Italian food.
Whats the beef between him and Boch?
I believe there is something REAL there. Matthew may know.
Not sure the Genesis, but Winters has tossed Bochy more than any other umpire. Very quick trigger on Bochy, and my eye test is that Winters also has been unkind to us in key moments through the years
Read these comments
http://www.closecallsports.com/2016/10/mlb-umpire-bob-davidson-retires-after.html
Livefreedi
Read the comments section. They are from other umpires but some are in the know
http://www.closecallsports.com/2016/10/2016-wild-card-game-and-division-series.html
Read these comments
http://www.closecallsports.com/2016/10/mlb-umpire-bob-davidson-retires-after.html
The A– team.
It’s better than Joe West
GG has it tweetlinked, but yeah, I could see the Red Sox winning the whole enchilada again.
With Mookie as MVP.
A sox/Giants WS, or an episode of where is Pablo.
Texas and Cleveland both look very strong to me….so do Toronto and Baltimore now that i think about it.
Some good teams in the playoffs this year.
Btw, this sounds crazy but give me JBJ over Mookie in the long run.
That certainly does sound crazy. Betts is 3 years younger. What’s your reasoning?
I just enjoy the way JBJ plays on both sides. Have watched him since college. Not a whole lot of logic to it I guess except that I think JBJ will continue to improve and impress.
Whoa – you crazy. I’ll take either on my team, but Mookie is MVP caliber, and may get it over Trout – best defensive runs saved in all of baseball. Plus 30 HRs!
Wow, didn’t realize he was that strongly rated defensively by DRS..but still, JBJ plays CF for a reason and Mookie RF. His numbers at the plate were amazing this year. Speed and power
Let’s trade for JBJ ! Actually there was a time for that when his value was down, but I gather Sox did not want to sell low on his undeniable talent.
Get real Scout! The Giants are going to win it all!
Whoa – great tweet feed, GG. The RT from Baggs from Dennis Lin about the Reds keeping the #2 draft position which could have dropped to 5th if they won challenge and game. Wowzah. Can be difference between getting the Buster Posey or the Tim Beckham, you never know.
Or Ryan Leaf.
lmao
Jim Druckenmiller
Druckenmiller was no Troy Smith.
Troy Smith was no Cody Pickett
Brien Taylor.
Tim Rattay
SF Sporting Green http://tinyurl.com/Hank-The-Shoe
SF Green Sheet – John Shea http://tinyurl.com/John-Sey-Hey-Shea
Hank talking journalism and Vin Scully http://tinyurl.com/Hank-talking-Scully
Matt Kelly’s pick of an “amazing fact” on MLBdotCOM about the Giants:
“The Giants’ aversion to the long ball made them the first team to qualify for the postseason without featuring a 20-home run hitter since the 2014 Royals.”
It has been a WHOLE TWO YEARS since that happened! Like, “The Giants have not won a World Series championship since 2014.” Who would ever imagine that it had been so long!
I gotta be misreading something here. Who could come up with that line and make a living writing?
A silly child. lol
I see nothing wrong with the line if it’s factual.
Funny how many people on this blog get bothered by actual stats.
If they were the only teams ever that would be amazing (and maybe that is what he meant) but “since 2014” is like the local dinner bragging at being open “since 2014”. And, so what…. ?
It’s all in how you read it, with a biased or unbiased POV.
I think it’s telling the Giants don’t have a 20 HR hitter, helps explain the hitting issues this season, the downward slide, failure to drive in runs consistently, etc.
That 2014 Kansas City team was similar, lived on great pitching and opportunistic hitting. however, they had a great bullpen unlike the Giants.
You’re a smart dude…you know that it’s an interesting way to use the terms “have not won” and “since” for the Giants. Using it for Cleveland and Chicago, or even LA makes perfect sense.
How about” of all the teams in this years tournament, none have won since the Boston Red Sox won once, and the Giants 3 times in this decade”
That is a much better use of “haven’t won since”.
Don’t take the bone away from a karma dog testing his limits. He wouldn’t a stat if it bit him on the pencil.
You could just block him you know.
that’s no fun.
No…I don’t mind chatting with him.
Your charity is admirable.
Trumpian level
More like Mother Teresa!
rather block you, you never have anything new to add to the table, that’s for sure 😉
works for me!
Whoa….
I feel like the relationship just took a step forward. Once I get you to compliment Belt, my job will be completed.
You do realize of course that the sun hasn’t gone up since I got out of bed this morning.
That is also a noteworthy stat.
Good Night Allen, good work up there with you and the boys…Rod Beck, Jose Uribe, Jose Pagan and Jimmy
Davenport. Go Giants. Go TEAM.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1bb12a3c9b02704ad6903f1f4384997115a25ec254fda8c1ae12b83cd1f8d28a.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/03ef633b996dd5fc58e21744ba32696bcfd5aefec8c42b841dc740281e49a4ed.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2985d13b730528a1d70ff94e7909acb41ee268367c83409127b5897bca640098.jpg
Now that the regular season is over I have to face the music on a bet I made with Efrain that Duffy’s Road stats would once again be better than Bryant’s. But the results are in:
Duffy in 2015 was .301/.752 wRC+ 107
Bryant in 2015 was .243/.693 wRC+ 94
Duffy in 2016 was .258/.456 wRC+ 19
Bryant in 2016 was .308/.980 wRC+ 157
Hey E … How about “double or nothing” that Duffy’s numbers over five years will be better than Bryant’s?
Duffy is the Tortoise and Bryant is the Hare? “Nothing that good is meant to last.”
Ha! I’ll take that bet any day of the week. Are you sure you’re not letting your fandom cloud your judgement?
One guy is one of the best young hitters in all of baseball, the other guy may or may not start over the next five years.
Oh, for sure I AM letting my fandom cloud my judgement!
But I can’t shake a sense that Duffy has an enduring way about him while he looks like your friend’s little brother next door.
Oh, by the way I beat you on a minor side bet:
Posey started 122 games at Catcher; you said 110, I said 120. … So there!
You vs. all of NY for the Giants Wednesday … we are rooting for you!
yes you did win that bet, but not sure it was for the best for Posey, he looked really tired near the end of the season, until he got going the final week. Funny how winning and looking great that last week erases peoples memories. If they Giants had lost the final week and been out of the PO, many on this blog would be screaming about Posey’s lack of production.
It was Posey himself who said in an interview in ST that he would like to catch about 110 games this year. Many in baseball think that is about as much as he should catch in order to keep his legs fresher and this maximize his hitting.
The only thing that will happen for sure is the aging process will also dictate how many games he catcher moving forward.
So, Yes, you did win that bet, but I do not think that is necessarily the best for both Posey and the Giants.
Good point but … It is good for Me though and … It is all about me you know.
On that point I would have liked to see Belt out in LF and Posey at 1B those extra 12 times (and sit Pagan, even with his relatively good year). But now the downgrade at C is significant until next year.
Belt 2017 LF ! f
for 30 games?
sure if the Giants want to field a sub par defensive team for those 30 games. It was already a shit show with Pagan back there, and he is way better in LF than Belt would ever be.
Actually I do not think Belt in LF is any different than Pagan was this year. He even has a better arm so that is an upgrade at that level. The Giants need both Posey and Belt in the line-up as much as possible so you cannot put Posey at 1B and bench Belt 30 times.
exactly, the Giants put themselves in this situation once Susac was traded. They have to play Posey at catcher more, which most likely leads to lesser power numbers at the plate.
Not sure where you may think Belt in LF for 12 games actually helps, if anything hurts the team defensively. The giants will start the new year with a new LF and that may be Spann if they get a new CF this Off season.
Well I meant that putting Belt in LF this year so that Buster would have had only 110 games a catcher and be less worn down as you described. I think his bionic ankle accelerated his decline even if he is tough … it is just not a whole piece of equipment anymore.
Boom! Got him with a nice counter punch!
Genius…… Posey actually catching more, may not be good for the team during a long season.
Depends on your POV.
Hey pal, I’ve always been a proponent of preserving the body of the team’s best hitter (who happens to be batting champion caliber) and giving him more and more games at 1B. But no, do the Giants listen to me? Instead they increase his work load.
John Kruk out at ESPN…he outkicked his talent coverage. I won’t miss him , but he had a nice long run after a pretty fun baseball career
Yeah, Krucky is hall of fun for sure. He could hit too. Career .300 hitter – career .397 OBP. 100 career dingers on the dot too.
Man he could hit.
Always liked Kruk, as a player and then as a tv announcer. He will land somewhere such as Fox or Baseball Network.
He was funny at first, but that “babble-babble” act got old real quick, IMHO.
so Baggs sent his NL MVP vote – I do believe BBWAA rank 10 names.
Bryant, Rizzo, and who would the third be?
Lester? Or could it be Zorilla?
No Murphy love?
oh sorry – Baggs said he listed 3 Cubs on his Ballot. Murphy probably #2 on a lot of ballots.
Gotcha…Baggs is a Chicago guy, so his true colors coming thru. He will be better served to go home next season.
CC is ready to upvote you. Well Bryant and Rizzo both Top 5, wonder who the third is. I suppose Lester. But my guy Ben Zobrist did have another typical very good year.
Baggs. Baggs… Baggs who???
Joe Biagini on MLB Network right now….
Thoughtful kid…and funny
when I restarted my satellite, MLB network disappeared and I picked up Fox Sports 1. No Heidi for me.
No Lauren Shehadi…a much bigger loss…
Giants games will be on FSN against the Cubs.
Will they be on mlb.com?
IRRC they are all sold to Fox and those other corporate ho’s. Total blackout.
‘Course I only tune in every other year! :o)
crap
Not so sure. I think MLB-TV might have the postseason games. Those third world customer service people can tell you.
I love Joe Be A Genie
Chatting Cubbies with my buddy Matthew which lead me to check on Jason Heywards final numbers…
Defense was still great, but would you believe offensive #’s were way worse than Denard Span. His wRC+ was 76, down from 120 last year. The final line was ..230/.306/.325, 7 HRs. Yeesh, what happened to him and what’s to come in 7 more years on his contract?
Hellz yeah – just chatted my way to a 35 dollar credit on Verizon bill and changed my plan to save 20 bucks a month!
MONEY !!
This one goes out to my buddy Matthew…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NXBLxZcO2Q
I gave up Verizon. They were gouging me,
Sprint Baby Sprint
I recently got a new iPhone and all I had to do was pay the sales tax. It also lowered my phone bill by $36/month. I couldn’t believe it.
It must be a trick.
Trixy for sure. Bastardos get everyone hooked to wireless then get rich on our addictions.
It’s a damned phone FCS.
Computer 💻
PS. Rereading section on Boulder Dam construction in Cadillac Desert. You ever read this?
I’ll tell you what’s scary. I’m watching a series on the Vice channel called Cyber War. The current show in on Stuxnet and the vulnerabilities of US infrastructure to hacking and downright completely open attack of the systems by using easy vulnerabilities. It is the scariest thing I’ve seen in years. When US launched Stuxnet on Iran’s nuclear facilities it opened the world to attacking infrastructure (ours). And.. nothing is invulnerable.
Maybe the channel is Viceland, not Vice. This is a first for me.
There was an interesting (and seemingly very credible) New Yorker article last year (“The Really Big One”), about the liklihood of a 9.0 or higher quake in Seattle, long overdue because the tectonic plates up here have been ‘stuck’ for 300 years. Said it would make the San Andreas look like childs play, and essentially everything to the west of I-5 would be demolished.
Sure hope Bum is on top of his game Wed. :o)
First off… 9.0?? It’s a logarithmic scale, right?
However, I saw an animated piece on a possible Seattle quake a couple of years ago and it was very scary. The highways and rail systems are NOT built for a large quake. The building practices do not even come close to California’s in regard to surviving a quake.
Dude, I’d head back to PV.
Yeah, logarithmic.
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/07/20/the-really-big-one
Worried about earthquake down there with recent rumbling near Salton sea?
Was that a question or a statement?
?
I just looked at the SoCal Shakemap and there is nothing on it over 4.3 and that’s for Bombay Beach, CA over several days.
That’s the place. Go back a week I guess but in LA times over weekend
Nothing recent listed.
I’m looking at USGS site. Maybe you can find something else.
You should be able to find article at usgs as well. I did. Threat of major quake on southern San Andreas diminished
This is best site for list of quakes I have. If you can find the article you’re talking about post URL
http://earthquaketrack.com/p/united-states/california/recent
try this map:
http://scedc.caltech.edu/recent/
and this article:
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-earthquake-swarm-20160930-snap-story.html
Well, one thing that might relieve some of the earthquake “tension” is that nobody lives out there other than maybe some of Romo’s relatives.
Vikings are for real
Well yeah. Leif Erikson, Erik the Red, Greenland, Iceland…
Hagar the Horrible
BC
Don’t one up my comic strip you friggin Commie.
Sally Forth
Pearls Before Swine. I’m rat, you’re pig.
Rex Morgan MD
You’re more Calvin than Calvin
Clavin than Calvin?
Two people who have never been in my kitchen.
This entire thread is really funny!
Uff Da!
that TV series is really good.
Oh yeah so is Sam Bradford, really surprising a lot of people. But the again, its that D can make a lot of QBs look good.
Yep like Trent Dilfer with the 2000 Ravems 🙂
Bonds fired as Marlin’s hitting instructor.
You’re late to the party, CC.
Nixon resigns…
Hey everybody, we landed on the moon!!!
Kubrick…
No way?! You know that Revere went a bit rogue on the Whigs?
Sarah Revere?
Was she the one who created the competition to Tupperware?
I don’t know but did you hear about the walrus who went to the Tupperware party? He was looking for a tight seal.
Vintage Tupperware containers have embossed pictures of seals on the lids.
That makes that joke even funnier. Nice.
They absolutely should have used Wilfred Brimley as a spokesperson
Whoosh.
That was the sound of that comment going over my head.
Wilfred Brimley = Walrus….
Maybe, maybe not. My father in law is one of those serious conspiracy dudes, he’s certain that the moon landing was staged in Hollywood.
I am slowly coming to doubt it as well.
Grok discovers the rock
Lot of talking heads seem to be picking the Giants to win on Wednesday. Not sure I like that at all.
I hear ya but Bum’s 4-0 record and 0.62 ERA at CitiField makes me feel better.
Doesnt make me feel better because that was then this is now!
Mets are a good, scary team who is just as battled tested as the Giants. Should be a good game.
For Matthew – from “Just Tell Me I Can’t – How Jamie Moyer Defied the Radar Gun and Defeated Time” by Jamie Moyer and Larry Platt.
“..fans fearful that yet another inevitable Phillies collapse was on deck were already preemptively lining up their scapegoats. ‘Moyer’s great, but he’s done,’ one caller (Philly Salty?) lamented. Another wasn’t so diplomatic. ‘Put a fork in him!’ he (Chris) wailed.
The irony behind all the panic was that, though young Cole Hamels was commonly thought of as the Phils’ ace – given the combination of his fastball in the mid-90s with a world-class changeup – Moyer had been the team’s most consistent starter all year . . . (In the playoffs) Against Milwaukee, home plate umpire Brian Runge consistently squeezed him, seeming to call every close pitch a ball.
Moyer keeps mental notes on the umpires in the same way that he logs his experiences with hitters (though he doesn’t like to know who the ump will be until he gets on the mound, lest that information detract from his focus). He knew he had always done well with Runge behind the plate.
Always looking for an edge, Moyer would ride the umps in a good ntured way – it was his way of being friendly and, ever cognizant of the mental game, of taking up space in their heads. Runge would give as good as he got. They’d jokingly tell each other ‘F off’ before games; sometimes, Runge would write ‘F’ and ‘U’ on two baseballs and have the bat boy deliver them to Moyer in the dugout prior to a game. On this night, though, Runge wasn’t giving his partner-in-joking any calls – and when Moyer peered at him, as if to say, What the h-ll? the ump removed his mask and made a subtle shoulder-shrugging motion .
Moyer took the gesture to meanthat things were out of Runge’s control, that he’s been told to tighten the strike zone. Moyer wasn’t surprised. Through the years, he’d had umps essentially apologize to him, explaining that they’d been warned or put on probation by the league and were under orders not to expand the plate . . .”
Interesting stuff and a little disturbing, but sadly not surprising.
Dynamics I had never heard anything about before this (and I agree with your comment, especially the ‘disturbing’ part). VERY good book I picked up at the Dollar Tree!!
The fact that the League has any influence over the way a particular game is being called is probably the most conclusive evidence that robo-umps will never have a place in MLB. As long as umpires can be intimidated into “adjusting” their zone and the way they call a game, is evidence that the League isn’t ever going to change and relinquish that kind of power.
you say in a post above you have been around babeball all your life, but a lot of what you write is surprising in the nuances you don’t seem to grasp.
1) umpires have a strike zone to maintain in any game, and you should know that may be altered game to game depending on the starters and their tendencies.
2) The game will and should never relinguish the strike zone to a machine because it is a game of human error, if you do not like that, I have a Sony playstation game I can send you.
That being said, if you have been “in” and “around” the game you would understand that much more than you lead on.
Don’t be naive. I was talking about the League, not umpires. I was only talking about unrealistic expectations.
He’s a fricken know it all who doesnt know crap about ball!
Whoa…hey now. Bapah is an extremely intelligent dude about life and the game
Thanks, Matty, I love you too.
I’ve been asked to not reply to his posts; believe me, it’s a blessing.
Don’t like him at all! Know it all clown and plz tell him what i said thank you.
nahhh…he probably already knows how you feel.
True
On Monday morning Lo Neal unknowingly made up a new word. In one of his breathless yelling rants he referred to someone’s performance as “horrocious.” He had no idea but fortunately Dibly called him on it, saying “Dude, horrocious, you just combined horrible (or horrific or horrendous) with atrocious, nice going.” Maybe it will catch on.
“Horrocious.” is a great “word”, it should catch on.
Concerns me that so many “pundits” are picking us to win tomorrow. Syndegaard is every bit as solid as Bum, and without looking he’s surely thrown fewer innings than Bum. We’ve been scoring like we’re supposed to the past four games, but Thor could shut us down. Game Seven right out of the chute. Champions Blood: need a big dose tomorrow, fellas.
Madison also can shut the Mets down. Chi vivrà, vedrà (=Time will tell).
There’s no way I’m going to take the chance of being optimistic about tomorrow’s game. If I were to be positive about it, I’d upset the Baseball Gods for sure. The odds just aren’t with them. I will not take the blame for a loss, at this point.
Can’t believe you. A scientist like you cannot be a superstitious person.
I’m not superstitious. I have been around baseball most of my life…and I’ve learned one thing. Don’t ever get too confident.
So far, Negative-positivism has worked in my life. It certainly worked with Mr. Happy and I’m not changing now. The only way the Giants can win is for me to be as negative as possible.
I’m not being superstitious, it’s the pinnacle of empiricism.
Even the Baseball Gods are comprised in your concept of empirism? LOL. I was joking, of course.
Just how much baseball have you been around in your life? If it was as much as me or a few others here, you wouldn’t even ask that question.
Well, I must confess that your method DOES work also for some exotic sports I have been more accustomed with since my tender youth, soccer for an example.
How did you compute those odds?
Bochy and the vets on the team most likely give a crap what any pundits say nor do they most likely concern themselves with such things.
That’s why they play the game and not the fans and the writers.
Perhaps the pundits are just tired of being wrong about the Giants. They want to pick the Mets, NewYork, Thor, etc. They are just tired of Looking like fools, every 2 years.
Folks picking either the Gs or Mets to win this game really have no idea whats gonna happen! Bum can shut em down for 8 innings only to give it up late to Yo Cespedes or Thor could give up 5 runs in the first inning! Who in the hell knows whats gonna happen. Pundits dont know know one does.
Ohmmmmmm. Ohmmmmmmmm.
Syndegaard is very good, and has amazing stuff. He’s not yet “every bit as solid”. Not yet. And, our guys, when on their game, swat and flick pitches from a guy like him until they get that one…then they barrel it up. Faith.
The upvote was solely for the
“Ohmmmmmm. Ohmmmmmmmm.” part.
Resistance is futile.
This is where I wish I could fast forward time and just know already what happens. Syndergaard pitched in the World Series last year. He will not be intimidated by the moment. Neither will Bum.
It could go either way, and that’s the essence of a Wild Card game, I guess. If it were so obvious which team will win, that would take the entertainment out of it. (ANY baseball game can go either way. The Minnesota Twins could win A game against the Cubs.)
It’s what makes the 1 game wildcard so tough. But I guess the Giants deserve that for not winning the division.
If it were a no name pitcher just called up, I’d be worried. But against a big name like Thor? That’s right in the Giants wheelhouse.
See ya later. It’s time to go for some shades.
Will you be around for tomorrow’s game?
Mmm, dunno. My cardio wizard would kill me if I hadn’t been asleep from 2 am on. Too late (or too early) for me, I’m afraid.
Most of you folks rooting for Orange and Black two nights in a row?
Put me down for that.
Yuppers
With the exception of one player. I heard Be-A-Genie on MLB. The dude is really funny plus he’s one of our used-to-be guys. If he gets in, I’ll probably want him to succeed.
StillOurGuy™ … ?
Yah, yah … enough of the ™ stuff. I gotta pick up on a new trend but I am not here enough to catch the genius from you all.
First cup of coffee going down finally.
I woke up at 4. You need to catch up with your coffee consumption. This will be an interminably long day regardless of the fact that there is another wildcard game.
Side-note: I was informed last night that my water will be off from 7am to 7pm tomorrow (Wed.). Talk about long days…
We deal with that some times. Fill your bath tub so you can bucket that water to flush your toilet. Or leave the house and find some place to watch the game that has water!
Good idea. I’ll be over around 7:30am. I’ll bring the Späten.
Bring the Charmin
Great year through mid-August – then got dinged around his last 19+ innings of work.
I know I’m late to the party, but Stewart AND Hale are out in AZ? Whither Tony LaRussa? Stewart’s parting shot rather interesting as well. “…I’m relieved…I have better things to do.”
I heard that Tony’s roles and responsibilities were under review…. probably by Jerry Meals in the Umpires Den in NY
Stewart’s attitude just shows he wasn’t fit to be in baseball operations.
Bye-bye.
Giants are favored to win.
Crap.
http://www.csnbayarea.com/giants/mlb-capsule-giants-favored-over-mets-wild-card-game
The result of Post Season pedigree….everybody is guessing, and the only things they have to go on is what they’ve seen lately
I know. All the effort (or lack thereof) they put/didn’t put in to play terrible ball in the 2nd half just so they can be underdogs, and now they are favored to win.
The Giants like being called underdogs, so they can surprise everyone including their fans.
The consensus is that Gillaspie will be the difference maker
To whom it may concern: With the Giants on the verge of taking the field for the wildcard game, I want to make sure there’s no negativity here on TWG. For that reason, I’m posting the following list of very positive topics that may be commented upon until the game starts. Please restrict all comments to these areas:
1. That cute photo of Brandon Crawford taken at Candlestick when he was five years old;
2. How much you love and miss “Timmy”;
3. How amazing it is every time Buster Posey does something good, since he’s always so exhausted from catching and nearly died from a broken ankle in 2011;
4. How Bruce Bochy is a genius and that whole thing with Santiago Casilla was just part of his sly plan to cause opponents to become overconfident, thinking Bochy had gone senile;
5. Photos of Italian cats;
6. Photos of Matt Duffy’s cat;
7. Any YouTube music video;
8. The Oracle is an ass (although this sounds negative, many are positive that it is true, so it will be counted as a positive topic);
Note: Michael Scott will still be permitted to call anyone of his choosing “pal” or “bub.” ClutchUp will be allowed to post his baffling, stream of consciousness, free association-style comments, since even though they may sometimes be indecipherable, they’re probably intended to be positive.
I support item #8.
You may have a hard time selling #4.
As to #8, I’m sure that noun is wrong, but don’t have a good substitute, other than you are one of the interesting characters here. Keep on being TO!
You inspired me to take TO out of confinement. This coming from you carries weight. Every heart needs a second chance.
Welcome back into my life, TO.
Cheers, Scout! I think he’s interesting, unconventional, and isn’t mean to anyone else – I have blocked two A-holes and one deliberately annoying person – everyone else contributes to the Mosaic in one way or another.
It’s a Great Mosaic indeed.
http://65.media.tumblr.com/1c907b953389e24329e7c79ba995c68a/tumblr_mf34z5WJRb1r0ttw3o1_1280.jpg
That’s TO in a previous life, BTW.
Since you won’t be able to read this, I’d be interested in who the other two are? If someone will pass this on, I’d appreciate it.
Hey big B, you are one of my favorites. Your’re more of a crusty old fellow, although you’re about 20.5 games behind Mr. Scott in those standings (I dig him, too). Cheers.
Hey, I’m pissed you didn’t upvote my resistance reply!
What an incredible honor.
It’s the PLAYOFFS, I’m officially in full fanboy mode until elimination. That hasn’t happened since 2002……
I am heartened that you have turned the corner on everything I wanted!*^
(* – “Everything” is subject to change at any time by management**)
(** – “Management” is me***)
(^ – 9. Interpreters are on call for PJ)
I really cannot believe that this is a featured comment. (I hope this counts as falling in with #8.)
Greek is an equal opportunity featurer
Yes, which is probably a good thing for TWG. Still, I was hoping yesterday that Bapah’s comment would be selected.
Nah. It was more for me than anyone else.
Since I haven’t re-loaded in a while, I didn’t know it was. GG maybe should re-think his choice.
I am beyond tired of comments bashing Bochy.
Well, I’m tired of comments bashing Belt, but I don’t get to control what other commenters want to talk about.
Agreed. It’s an outrage. This is no time for frivolity or joking around.
Every culture needs its Don Rickles, pickles, you are ours..
TO – I am glad you are branching out in the comedic field. Free association comes from the Andy Warhol and Timothy Leary associations – but as your Pal/Buddy Gary Radnich says – “maybe you have to live awhile, Pal”. Your children are low-to -mid teens. Mine are in their late 30’s.
And to start off today’s free association- since you are about his age – let me ask you how your former co-worker – Derrick Antonio – happens to be getting along.
Toodles! https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e878c20eca515e6df006737c47d905f39d45b077e2f35e5a751d7ac834c9c7f0.jpg
ok so this was really good and I’m sorry i missed it 2 days ago
If Noah Syndergaard is Thor, does that make MadBum Loki? I’d like to think MadBum is the Hulk.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=advsN-DfY2k
Disgusting, but not surprising:
http://bluelivesmatter.blue/cnn-edited-video-charlotte/
I often rail against “media” on here and this is why: I truly believe they are the biggest evil in our country. Not cops. Not even politicians, though it’s a very close race. It’s the manipulative media…
It’s editors who proactively push an agenda of lies to fire up a population that trusts them and gets their information from them. It’s producers who edit videos to create lies. It causes death and destruction.
The news outlets lie. they are in it for ratings, subscription, ad revenue, clicks… On this blog, there are smarmy comments about Fox, and I get it. They deserve it. The places that deserve it as much: CNN, MSNBC, NBC, CBS, ABC, New York Times, LA Times, Chicago Tribune, Facebook, Salon, Brietbart, and so on.
We are collective idiots being manipulated. This story you posted is among the worst ever. Will people see it as the lead story on any of the outlets I listed? Absolutely not. Self preservation beats truth. the media is a large reason for the downfall of societies trust and fabric.
Rant over.
I think the marketing guys influence content for ad dollars way too much. This isn’t pointed at you for a change, just “news” people.
No doubt…Marketing and Sales. We could go on to an entire thread about the dangers of capitalism run amok…I am an ardent defender of it, but when people manipulate for gain, it gets ugly.
hey Matthew, being in marketing and media for year I agree there are a lot of irresponsible people out there that create bs just to follow the almighty dollar.
But please do not say it’s the media fault. They are not the once consistently shooting young men of color, many times in situations the the police call “justifiable” when there is clear cut evidence on the contrary, and still get away with it. Specially when it is not “justifiable” 100% of the time. The guns are not in the writer’s hands.
Also, as I always say about radio and TV, you are an intelligent person, you don’t like something on the air or on print, turn the channel or throw the newspaper away, simple as that.
Absolutely. That’s why the news media shouldn’t be required to be honest . We KNOW the truth, don’t we?
The population isn’t particularly intelligent. The young tend to have the attention span of a mosquito. The media manipulates and lies. I do blame them and will continue to until they change
You know, I saw the beginning of the link, “blue lives matter”, and I thought, WTF Dodger fans linking to this site?
Why are you posting this?
I’m watching Bernie Williams on Central and what a pleasure to watch a ball player speak that is so intelligent and well-spoken, and terribly talented to boot.
The guy is a phenomenal guitar player.
https://www.amazon.com/Moving-Forward-Bernie-Williams/dp/B001QSXIWW/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1475599285&sr=1-1&keywords=bernie+williams
for Oracle!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KdVmqbEGX0
for a black Latino right?!?! I’m sure it surprises the likes of you
You don’t know shit about me. But moronic is what I expect out of you 9 times out of 10.
tad sensitive ain’t you. I just be right, only reason its struck a nerve.
Trust me, moron and you belong in a sentence much more often than not.
No, I just expected some idiot would assume that.
Block idiot.
Bapah posted something positive about Bernie Williams. YOU made it into race. YOU created it out of nothing.
YOU.
saw this response coming – I kind of thought the same thing but maybe Bernie is a cut above all others in his ability to articulate.
He’s also a classical guitarist.
it’s all in how it’s written, isn’t it?
Funny how many here don’t catch themselves before the hit “post”
Please show me how that should have been written. I’m interested in your literacy.
More than just classical guitar.
Black,Latino, classical guitarist,world class chef,peace broker,
and the dude can get *down*…
For a baseball player.
Thank you. It’s so hard to write for the illiterate.
But just a heads up on cultural literacy :
saying “well-spoken” about minority speaker, in spite of honest intentions, does raise a flag.
youtube Chris Rock on this issue and enjoy the show.
No, it doesn’t. That’s stupid.
Chris Rock is a very talented artist, but he doesn’t get to make the rules about the English language.
it is when it’s consistently used in a negative tone. I’m sure you could bring it up in class at Davis and see what the response it.
By itself it may not be a flagrant statement, but because of the way it has been used for years by ignorant, racist bigots, then you have what what appears to be a benign statement be taken as much more by a large group of people.
Negative tone? For a tough guy, you are ridiculously sensitive and looking for “negative” when it clearly doesn’t exist
yes I’m really a softy at heart 🙂
Where did you get the idea that Efrain is a tough guy?
I didn’t think there was anything negative in my comment.
Well, anything “used in a negative tone” could raise a flag, right? You could find millions of examples of that adjective being used positively and without any agendas.
true I agree with that response.
I think the lesson has been made that certain phrases can strike a chord with sensitive groups in a given context. That’s just the way it is. Chris Rock didn’t make the rule – he articulated from experience.
That’s the most “PC police” statement of the day…the whole avalanche of trigger words, safe space, and the like…mostly now on campuses, is a sign of the demise of spine. People are HUNTING for reasons to be offended instead of getting on with life…and it’s a huge problem. Huge.
Life and language are complicated entities.
I’ve been called many things that upset me greatly.
I move on.
I’m a possession receiver
Horse pucky
Ok – use the phrase as much as you please, I’m just saying it happens to be one of those eyebrow raising phrases and perhaps Matthew is right below.
I will, and have. If it’s a written piece instead of a spoken one, I’ll grade on spelling, as well.
I said the other night that Javi Lopez looked happy and was well spoken at the Willie Mac ceremony. Our resident idiot commenter (and no, I do NOT mean Efrain, someone else) mocked me for the comment and implied I was a racist for saying it.
My comment meant that Javi gave a nice speech (better than Crawford, actually). Since when is that a dog whistle term for being a racist? And I have NO idea why “he looked happy” was objectionable, either. I meant it literally. He won a coveted award and he looked happy about it.
Javi Lopez, by the way, was raised in Virginia and has a degree from the University of Virginia. He’s better educated and more articulate not only than most baseball players but probably than most baseball fan commenters. How my compliment of his speech was twisted into a racial slur–well, I’m still puzzled about that.
Me too and I’m, too, worried about some people’s language skills, but more about they’re reading and listening skills, as this episode is demonstrating.
Psychology, irrc.
Whoa, Efrain. That’s not what Bapah said.
Knock it off…you always race bait. That makes you the guy that tries to hurt race relations…do you get it?
lol somebody has to do it! Can’t just be me and Slikk
It’s not. Scout is constantly race-baiting, too.
Whoa – Miss Characterize strikes again.
She hit pretty close to the mark in this instance. If anything, my comment could be construed as demeaning to ball players or maybe guitar players
‘LOL” now, but screaming like a banshee later. You are one complex dude
He’s not really that complex.
Your effect on racism/intolerance/bullying is the same effect that gasoline has on fire. You make it grow and expand it. You have no sense of your history of posts on these blogs. For a person with sadistic tendencies you are quite sensitive.
Never got past adolescence.
Exactly why he should be ignored.
He can’t spew his race baiting if he’s blocked
As a man. Ball players, of any strip, aren’t known for their ‘insight’.
Jackie Robinson was eloquent. So was another hero of mine Rafer Johnson, brother of 49er defensive back Jimmy Johnson.
Denard Span is very articulate and intelligent in his interviews.
YOU RACIST!!!
I know! It’s very surprising!!
http://img.memecdn.com/Cartoon-Of-2011_o_98418.jpg
I have to admit that the Giants 2nd-Half play has left me in state of mind that lacks the confidence felt in previous Post-Seasons. The Giants promised not to play stinky baseball again (kind of like a cheating spouse “promising”), but I’m not sure if I can ever trust them again in 2016.
This said, I have to keep telling myself:
1. At the beginning of the season, I thought this roster would be “right there” to win the World Series.
2. As much as I love the Duff-man, the Giants truly improved the roster with Matt Moore and Eduardo Nunez.
3. I would take the Giants Starting Staff against anyone in the Playoffs.
4. My comfort zone with Sergio Romo is infinitely better than Santiago Casilla.
5. The Giants lineup seems to turn on a switch at Playoffs time and their ABs become a treat to watch *and* a nightmare for opposing pitcher’s pitch counts.
6. Bochy is the best Manager in baseball (even if 2016 wasn’t his best).
7. They can put Jeff Samardzija in the bullpen at any time, if they ever need to enhance it. This isn’t exactly a luxury other teams have.
8. I truly believe if the Giants can win this Wild Card Game, the Cubs are in trouble. I can see them winning one of the first two in Chicago and then the doubt starts setting in with Cubs fans.
You get my vote for Featured Comment, KIR.
Taking first class starting pitching into the playoffs is an organization’s dream.
Just imagine if Joe Panik and Hunter Pence fully join the party started on the last home stand.
If the Giants win tomorrow, and that’s a big if given the opposition; they will win the whole enchilada….
I’m still queezy about beating Thor in Asgard
POTD
I agree, the play from second half of July almost through the month of September was so AWFUL that I can’t feel much confidence about the WC matchup. I felt more confident in 2014 going to Pittsburgh, and I didn’t feel much confidence then, either.
However, if they do win the WC tomorrow I think the sky’s the limit.
The thing about the WC game is that momentum and confidence don’t really mean that much. Last year, for example, the Pirates and Cubs won 98 and 97 games respectively, but the Cardinals won 100 games in the same division, so they were wild cards. One of them was going to lose, despite having both had great seasons.
Even if, for the sake of argument, the Giants had won 100 games but the Dodgers won 101 games and just barely got the division title–the Giants’ situation would be exactly the same as it is now.
Yes, I agree. I just don’t like WC games because they can decided by off the wall type things (remember that STL WC from 2012!) But the fact that the Giants had so many breakdowns in the second half only worsens the situation.
I think the Giants “can” win tomorrow. But I also know they could just as easily come up short. It helps that the Mets are on repeat from last year’s pennant; they don’t have quite the incentive. It won’t be soul crushing for either team.
Maybe I’m a PollyAnna, but I fastball pitcher like Syndergaard may be a blessing in disguise for the Giants about now.
Well done, KIR
Pretty much exactly agree with you including opening paragraph. Good post