May 2007 Archives

News Flash! Highlights from Brian Sabean on KNBR this afternoon. Co-host Ralph Barbieri jumps right into it and slams Benitez: “When the bright lights shine, he can’t get it done.” When Ralph finally finishes his rant, Sabean laughs and says,...
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Not much shape to today’s post, but remember, kids, blog is an anagram of glob. * Ryan Klesko isn’t playing much these days because of injury. I like what he’s done when he’s played, but the Giants shouldn’t count on...
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Barry Zito may not be worth $126 million for eight years, but once in a while he sure pitches like it. The Mets had not been shut out this year until tonight. Zito threw 100+ pitches through six innings, but...
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On the radio this morning, Mike Krukow didn’t back down from his scathing comments last night during the wrap. He started with this: “I’d be a bad GM, because I’d be releasing guys right and left.” About Benitez’s performance, he said the...
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Dear Brian Sabean, A tall man wearing the baggy uniform of your baseball club just walked past me on the sidewalk, turned around and kicked me in the nuts. It made no sense, as I was wearing a black hat...
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Enough doom and gloom. Time to fire up the troops with some stunning visuals courtesy of BigO, a.k.a. the Man of Renown from Puget Sound. C’mon kids, don’t get your dauber down! ...
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Never so fast have fortunes turned. I thought entering the weekend the Giants could start this upcoming road swing with a seven-game win streak. Instead, they flew to New York today on the business end of the Rockies’ broom, looking...
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A few matchups to watch this weekend: * Garrett Atkins vs. Matt Cain: .409 BA / 9 for 22 with 5 XBH * Tonight’s Rockie starter Jason Hirsh vs. Barry Bonds: So far, Bonds has faced Hirsh three times and...
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Just to get you started… Willie: “Say hey, Condi, go tell the President that Omar should have been named Secretary of Defense.”...
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The Bengie Molinas just swept Houston. That’s a slight exaggeration, but The Pork Barrel of Boricua provided the necessary offense in games one and three and helped Timmy The Bellhop work through an evening when he didn’t have his A+...
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Slightly off-topic, but use this however you wish next time the A’s come to town: And: Speaking of doppelgangers, much has been made of the similarities between Tim Lincecum and Roy Oswalt. They’re short! They’re right-handed! They throw hard! They...
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Just back from the yard, where the Astros still didn’t look comfortable against Tim Lincecum, but it was obvious they made adjustments. “Put the ball in play” seemed to be the marching orders. Lincecum only struck out four but induced...
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Tim Lincecum pitches tonight, his first start at home since his shaky major-league debut against the Phillies more than two weeks ago. I’ll be there with Laz The Dog, going off the news and into a dry martini. Things to...
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It’s good to be home, not just for the Giants, who often looked saggy on their three-city, 10–day jaunt, but for me (three cities, 15 days). I didn’t have access to greenies in the clubhouse, but based on the way...
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Monday I looked at potential trade bait from American League teams that could soon hold fire sales, or at least be willing to trade overpaid veterans. Since then the Giants have wasted a decent pitching performance from Matt Morris and...
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I didn't watch the game last night, but from  the video highlights, the Giants shouldn't bitch too much about the "cheap" home run Hunter Pence hit off Benitez in the eighth to tie the game. Those Crawford boxes in left...
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I hereby declare getting on base via a fielding error should count toward a batter's on-base percentage. It would still be 0-for-1 in the hit column, but a 1-for-4 day that goes Single, F7, K, E4 should give a hitter...
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The last couple weeks, a few teams expected to compete have begun to fall to the side. Thanks to some lucky good health and a generally fabulous starting rotation, the Giants are not among them, though for some pundits the...
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Fred Lewis, five hits and the cycle? Frandsen four hits and a walk? Alfonzo three, Ortmeier two and a walk? I say God bless the child that's got his own, and praise the series split. Hallelujah. They're not exactly children,...
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Six weeks in, and the Giants' season already has a few kinks in it. The exile of Lance Niekro to Fresno was no big surprise, but last night's news that Todd Linden is following suit -- if he clears waivers...
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So, is Dave Roberts' elbow with its bone spurs a surgical candidate or not? This story says yes, definitely. His two-run homer yesterday suggests otherwise, though that may have been the powerful anti-inflammatories talking (his, not mine). As noted earlier,...
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A quick thought after watching the highlights and reading the accounts of last night's game, in which the Giants blew open the 5th after the Mets booted two two-out plays: It seems the Giants have done well to twist the...
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I speculated last week that Lincecum would likely be gigged up for his debut like Ray Liotta at the end of Goodfellas. I don't know if he really was, but he sure pitched like it. Fastballs that sailed wildly high (hello,...
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Ol’ Charlie Manuel couldn’t bear to see Barry Bonds take a shot at the fences and extend the Giants’ lead by a run, so he walked Barry with two outs in the eighth. Three runs scored to seal the deal. ...
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Now warming up in the bullpen… It’s not just Tim Lincecum we’re expecting. (By the way, Jon Miller last night pronounced it “LIN-suh-cum,” not “lin-SAY-cum,” as I’ve been saying). The Giants roster could look quite different next week in several spots....
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OK, maybe you heard it elsewhere first, but I heard it here first from reader BigO, and I didn’t believe it. It’s all but official that Tim Lincecum will make his big-league debut Sunday night on national television. Thank God...
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Once in a while someone pens a novel that’s missing a letter. Usually the writer is French, as denying oneself the use of a letter speaks to the existential void we all face on the cusp of creation. Because, as we...
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And I’m just getting warm. Fourth inning: Instant Home Run, Just Add Barry. As Krukow said on TV, “A screaming seed.” Eighth inning: Perhaps the least impressive hit by Bonds all year, a ground-ball single, and it’s perhaps the most...
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The buzz on this coast about Tim Lincecum couldn’t outhype the noise from other coast about Phil Hughes, the Yankees’ version of Lincecum: the can’t-miss pitching prospect who could have made the team out of spring training. Hughes is younger, bigger,...
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That’s what you call putting the RUS-(S) back in C-RUS-HED. By far the worst game a Giant starting pitcher has thrown this year. Coming on the heels of Ortiz’s heroic but extremely shaky performance in L.A., and with Timmy Franchise making triple-A batters...
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