April 2004 Archives

Viewers advisory: the following post is not suitable for small children and season ticket holders. Going into tonight's game, Barry Bonds has walked 36 times and hit safely 15 times (not including home runs). In other words, he's been on...
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Boy, it sounds like A.J. Pierzynski would've gotten along great with Milton Bradley....
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The Giants just lost today to the Marlins, and you can blame either a bad scouting report or the inability to follow a good one. The Giants had just tied the game 3-3 in the bottom of the 8th by...
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I just turned on the game to hear Pedro Feliz hit into a -- surprise! -- double play with one out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the first. Then I turn on my computer to find out...
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In the post-game (w)rap last night, Krukow mentioned that Barry Bonds before the game had decreed that the game would show what the team was made of. I didn't realize Barry reads El Lefty Malo. Welcome, Barry. Turns out that...
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It's probably folly to read too much into one game, but I won't be surprised if, two months from now, we look back on tonight's game versus the Braves as a touchstone of the season. The Giants need a long...
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In the midst of this grim period, one needs some comic relief. Seeing how he can't contribute with the bat, Neifi Perez figures he'll help cheer Giants' fans up with his sparkling, mischievous wit. (In the Dominican Republic, he's known...
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*That was pretty sneaky of Felipe to put Edgardo Alfonzo (BA .200) in the two-hole last night. It wasn't sneaky at all for Alfonzo to go 1-for-6, though. *Jeffrey Hammonds batted sixth and walked three times. Behind him were D.P....
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Boy. Now that it's fashionable to suggest that Barry try to hit .400 this year, just like I did last month, maybe it's time to mention the familiar feeling I've been feeling this spring. I lived in Baltimore during the...
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I wrote yesterday morning that Aardsma needed to be demoted, and boom, he was sent down to Fresno, where he'll have to change his name to Aaardsma. Sometimes comedy happens in the subtlest of ways. So let's see if we...
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I listened to last night's ballgame on the radio, so I couldn't see the specifics of David Aardsma's pitch selection or location when he gave up two insurance runs in the ninth inning. But having seen him pitch a couple...
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Cranky SF Chron columnist Bruce Jenkins writes today about the disappearance of the African-American professional baseball player. From comprising 25 percent of all MLB opening day rosters in 1975 to 10 percent this year, African Americans are becoming scarce on...
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As Marty Feldman tells Gene Wilder in Young Frankenstein, it could be raining. And then there'd be no baseball at all. As I pack my rain gear for tonight's game at the yard, I cheer myself with these thoughts: from...
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Remember Chris Brown? A Giants 2nd round draft pick, he was their starting third baseman at the age of 23 and turned in a decent year for such a green kid. But things went downhill fast, and he was included...
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Much has been blathered about Johnny Damon's new 'do, which has upped his drag coefficient so much he can no longer steal second base. But the new look has also reinvigorated El Lefty Malo's hackneyed love for "Separated at Birth"...
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I just got back from the game. Now, I don't want to sound mean or anything. But when it comes to in-game smarts, the Giants should have a ton with all their veterans, right? And no one is more veteran...
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*Kirk Rueter's first strikeout victim of the season was Alex Cora. Thanks to everyone who participated in The Woody Pool. [[No one won the pool.]] *A.J. Pierzynski finally got his first extra-base hit in a Giants uniform, and he did...
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That's how Barry Bonds described the reportedly 101-MPH fastball from Eric Gagne that Bonds deposited in the center field bleachers last night. As Gagne might say, "Incroyable." Watching that guy pitch is awe-inspiring, even if he's a Dodger. To toggle...
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We're at la Casa de Elbo, who's broasting a pork tenderloin as we watch the Yanks-Sox on primetime Fox. Tim McCarver is in post-season form, which is to say, unlistenable. Bill Mueller is 3 for 3 with a two-run homer....
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Buried in Scott Ostler's column today, Felipe Alou says Barry Bonds will be walked no matter what, but the key to success is the two guys hitting behind Bonds. That's funny. Brian Sabean likes to say that the key is...
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I just got back from the yard, where the Giants' bats slept soundly against the mighty Wes Obermueller. Obermuller actually hit better than any of the Giants' starters--he cracked a single up the middle against David Aardsma and drove a...
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Looking past the Brewers for a moment, which we've all been taught never to do, there are a couple things in particular to watch this weekend as the Dodgers come to town. First is the return of Jason Schmidt. Press...
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The boys of Fogball are wondering if Felix Rodriguez is really throwing a two-seam fastball or just throwing his four-seamer inside. Camera angles can make lateral pitch movement hard to see on TV, so if Felix takes the hill this...
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Congratulations, Barry! And thanks, Ned Yost. You're a brilliant tactician. FYI, a half-inning after Barry hit the big one, Jon Miller was hyping a "Barry Bonds 660" commemorative hat + T-shirt package for the low, low price of $42. I'm...
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One week down, and here's how some of those lovable ex-Giants are faring: * Shawn Estes, once my favorite Lefty Malo, then just another lefty headcase...I wish him the best except against the Giants. Two road starts for the Rox,...
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Kevin Towers reportedly joked that Petco Park (aka "The Litter Box," or maybe "The Doghouse") was built to be "Bonds-proof," with its distant right-center field fence. He may have been kidding, but a few moments ago it certainly appeared that...
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As my old friend Steve Goldman notes, "[t]he main function of the batting order is distributing playing time." Although we're all familiar with the traditional roles of a speedy leadoff hitter, a slugging cleanup guy, etc., the new school of...
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The Sac Bee's preview of the RiverCats is a nice piece on the progress of the A's 2002 draft, ie, "the Moneyball draft."...
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Four games into the season, and already the Giants bullpen is exhausted. Matt Herges ran out of gas last night, couldn't get his breaking pitches down, and still Felipe ran him out there for a second inning. It soon became...
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Buried in today's reports on the Giants' 7-5 victory over the Astros last night, in which the offensive hero was Neifi Perez (4 for 4, 2 doubles, 4 RBI), was the tidbit that the Giants have talked to Perez about...
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It's an hour before game time today, and I'm curious about a few things: 1) Will Felipe Alou go with a standard platoon against the lefty Andy Pettitte tonight, i.e., Mohr in right and Feliz at first? 2) Will Pettitte...
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Jimy Williams, you are a silly little man, you work in a silly little stadium and you have an M missing from your silly little name. Let me tell you a story, Jimy. Have you ever heard of a guy...
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Here we go. Hold your noses, we're jumping in and there's no going back. The Giants' opening day roster is set, but it will no doubt undergo changes all through April and May as the team gets players back (Hammonds),...
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It's the morning after an evening well-spent in section 139. A few observations: *Leo Estrella: Bad introduction. You could hear Byrnes' helmet crack 380 feet away. Probably everyone in the park heard it. Thank goodness that wasn't worse. *The fans...
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In the latest example of why ballplayers are generally not the most reliable sources for objective information about their own professions, former Cy Young Award winner Jack McDowell was quoted on a Chicago radio show and in the Chicago Sun-Times...
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Having digested the Giants' moves of the past couple days (urp), what's most apparent is that Sabean, when backed into a corner because of injuries, has continued the strategy of the winter: when in doubt, stockpile. It's sort of a...
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