When the Giants Come to Town, It's Bye-Bye Baby

February 2007 Archives

02.01.2007
Whistling Past the Graveyard
Two weeks until pitchers and catchers report, or, as a recent New York Times headline puts it, until pitchers and Molinas report. (It's a piece on the Molina brothers and their hometown of Vega Alta, Puerto Rico; turns out Bengie...

Continue reading... "Whistling Past the Graveyard" »


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# posted by E.L.M.: 8:36AM


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02.02.2007
What's Cooler Than Being Cool?
Whatever you may think of his managerial skills, Dusty Baker is still the coolest dude in baseball. Quotes Ludacris and John Lee Hooker in the same interview? Likes to cook at home with his wife? Goes fishing with Elvin Bishop...

Continue reading... "What's Cooler Than Being Cool?" »


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# posted by E.L.M.: 8:51AM


02.05.2007
Happy Hammerin'
It's the birthday of Hammerin' Henry Louis Aaron, born in 1934 in Mobile, Alabama. Happy birthday, Hank. Let's review: 12,364 ABs (2nd) 755 HRs (1st) 2,297 RBI (1st) 1,402 BBs (23rd) 1,383 Ks (67th) .305 BA .374 OBP .555 SLG...

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# posted by E.L.M.: 10:19AM


02.06.2007
Mays v. Aaron
Yesterday's post brought one particular comment that deserves more attention: Lyle wrote that Bonds should break Hank Aaron's record for Willie Mays's sake, to help dispel any notion that because of the home-run tally Aaron was better than Mays. Lyle...

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# posted by E.L.M.: 8:36AM


02.08.2007
I Cursed the Gloom That Set Upon Us
Even with real games nearly two months away, I can usually take solace in February because our own amateur league gets back into gear. Nothing like getting out for the first time in months with one's mates to throw the...

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# posted by E.L.M.: 12:56PM


02.09.2007
It Just Seems to Be His Turn
One million Elvis Costello fans can't be wrong: it's time to turn our slightly-less-than-middle-aged fancy to young Matt Cain. The past couple weeks have brought a plethora of contract-related news items about arbitration-age players. For example: instead of signing a...

Continue reading... "It Just Seems to Be His Turn" »


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# posted by E.L.M.: 9:55AM


02.12.2007
What The Truck
Nothing tells us more about Boston's mania for all things Red Sock than Truck Day. For those of you unschooled, it's the day a semi leaves Fenway Pahk loaded with the team's geah for the warmer climes of Fort Myers,...

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# posted by E.L.M.: 10:16AM


02.13.2007
Now You See Him...
And now you don't. An eagle-eyed member of the McCovey Chronicles community noticed that Barry Bonds is no longer listed on the Giants' 40-man roster. When the Giants announced Bonds's contract and made some official happy-time with Barry in late...

Continue reading... "Now You See Him..." »


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# posted by E.L.M.: 9:07AM


02.14.2007
Shadowing Goldstein
As I wrote last month, I've been tracking Kevin Goldstein's team-by-team top-10 prospect lists as he's rolled them out on Baseball Prospectus this winter. About half way through, I decided to rank his top-10 rankings; I gave "Excellent" prospects 6...

Continue reading... "Shadowing Goldstein" »


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# posted by E.L.M.: 9:51AM


02.15.2007
Off The Record
So we finally know who leaked Barry Bonds's grand jury testimony to the San Francisco Chronicle. Yesterday it was revealed to be Troy Ellerman, the defense attorney for BALCO chief Victor Conte. After the Chronicle articles hit the streets with...

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# posted by E.L.M.: 8:22AM


02.15.2007
Zito Throws a Curve
Barry Zito today threw off a mound for the first time as a Giant...and had a completely different pitching motion. For those of you who don't see the big deal, this is like President Bush changing course in Iraq when...

Continue reading... "Zito Throws a Curve" »


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# posted by E.L.M.: 6:50PM


02.16.2007
Mad, I Tell You, Mad!
Busy today, but I'm fiercely pondering Zito's new motion. More to come this weekend, I hope. Meanwhile, check out this picture of The New Barry explaining to Steve Kline why a beard tends to decelerate one's aerodynamic tantric aura. And...

Continue reading... "Mad, I Tell You, Mad!" »


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# posted by E.L.M.: 1:55PM


02.17.2007
As In Wreck
Notice these? The Giants have ugly spring training hats with wavy swoosh lines on the sides. (That's Tim Lincecum modeling the atrocious lid.) It's not just the Giants. All teams seem to be wearing them this year (scroll through...

Continue reading... "As In Wreck" »


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# posted by E.L.M.: 11:32PM


02.19.2007
Barry Zito, My Libido (A Denial, A Denial)
After last week's brush fire, Barry Zito said over the weekend he's not really overhauling his pitching motion. It was all overblown. It was all taken out of context. He blames the media. "It's all a work in progress," Zito...

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# posted by E.L.M.: 10:53AM


02.20.2007
Omar Vizquel wants a two-year contract extension. This is the final year of a three-year, $12.25 million deal. The Giants will pay him $1 million in 2008 and $750,000 in 2009, thanks to a deferred signing bonus. The team des...

Continue reading... "Meatball?" »


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# posted by E.L.M.: 11:59AM


02.21.2007
Is Your Star Sign Ever Wrong?
Quick hits only today, like this quote from a BP interview with Shea Hillenbrand (subscription req'd): Q: What was it like playing with Barry Bonds? SH: Unbelievable. Barry Bonds is one of the nicest guys I致e ever met; one of...

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# posted by E.L.M.: 10:03AM


02.23.2007
Friday Notes
Item! The SF Chronicle has launched the "Sports Columnist" blog, which covers all sports. The first baseball-related entry gets off to a thoroughly confusing start. Bruce Jenkins (Jenkins? Confusing? Who knew?) describes Russ Ortiz "in his prime" this way: There...

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# posted by E.L.M.: 11:04AM


02.25.2007
Mound Mechanics, Part 1
As I mentioned last week, I recently had an email conversation about Barry Zito's new delivery with a minor league pitcher in the Brewers organization. Sorry, I can't say who. He asked that I not identify him any further at...

Continue reading... "Mound Mechanics, Part 1" »


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# posted by E.L.M.: 11:35PM


02.26.2007
Have a Naisude
Huh? Read this and you'll get it. SMALL PRINT UPDATE: Just added to the non-baseball blog roll is the food-related site The Bistro Hugo, a small piece of my expanding empire of online mischief. Please re-direct all Colossal Squid enquiries...

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# posted by E.L.M.: 11:20AM


02.27.2007
Mound Mechanics, Part 2
Here's part two of my e-mail conversation with a minor-league Brewer pitcher about mechanics. We started e-mailing when Zito seemed to be drastically changing his delivery to bring his body farther down the mound and his release point closer to...

Continue reading... "Mound Mechanics, Part 2" »


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# posted by E.L.M.: 4:15PM


02.28.2007
Raising Cain
The Giants are expected to announce later today a four-year contract with a fifth-year option for Matt Cain. I wrote about this three weeks ago and even predicted a contract of 5 years, $26 million. While we're waiting for the...

Continue reading... "Raising Cain" »


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# posted by E.L.M.: 1:35PM