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

July 2007 Archives

07.02.2007
Post-Game 7/1: Any Given Day
Giants 13, D-Backs 0. Quoth Bruce Bochy: "We got the runs we've been looking for for a while. This is more like the offense we thought (we had)." And only 11 games out. It’s like exploring the wreck of the...

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# posted by E.L.M.: 11:57AM
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07.03.2007
Home DePo
 Is Brian Sabean gone after this year? Over the winter Peter Magowan didn’t give the Giant GM a full vote of confidence, not by a long shot, and the team’s performance so far doesn’t bode well. Henry Schulman in today’s Chron...

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# posted by E.L.M.: 12:14PM


07.04.2007
Post-Game 7/3: Things Fall Apart
Reds 7, Giants 3. Yeah, Kevin Correia gave up a grand slam to break a 3–3 tie. Yeah, the Giants only mustered one run from two bases-loaded situations early. Sure, the home plate umpire had a nasty little strike zone....

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# posted by E.L.M.: 2:50AM


07.05.2007
Shooter Story
This comes from my teammate in the MSBL: “We were down in Arizona for the annual MSBL World Series, I believe it was 1993, might have been '94, and one night our whole team went out to a bar. Lo and...

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


07.05.2007
HR Derby Tix 4 Sale
A brief announcement from the ruthless capitalism division of El Lefty Malo: I have for sale two tickets for Monday’s Home Run Derby. They’re in Sec. 138, Row 3. For those unfamiliar with the Mays Field bleachers, that’s straight-away LF, three rows up from the...

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# posted by E.L.M.: 2:35PM


07.06.2007
Always Look on the Right Side of Life
  If as expected Fred Lewis and Nate Schierholtz are two pieces of the future Giant puzzle, the team has a problem. It may not be a whale of a problem, but unless said youngsters learn to hit major-league left-handed...

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# posted by E.L.M.: 1:45PM


07.08.2007
Halfsies
First-Half MVP: Barry Bonds. He’s his own man, he tells us with a dismissive wave of the hand. I wasn’t going to watch the Home Run Derby either way, but I understand a lot of people enjoy it. They’re disappointed,...

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# posted by E.L.M.: 9:29PM


07.09.2007
All This Chitter-Chatter 'Bout Schmatter Schmatter Schmatter
Mark Buehrle is off the market. According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, that makes Jose Contreras the most coveted starting pitcher. In a TV appearance, he also mentioned Eric Gagne and Mark Loretta. I’m not sure why Contreras. His own teammate...

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# posted by E.L.M.: 5:16PM


07.10.2007
You Can Get It If You Really Want
But you must try, try and try, try and try…. You’ll succeed at last....

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# posted by E.L.M.: 2:04AM


07.10.2007
All-Star Game Predictions
* A ferocious blast of fog sweeps Bud Selig’s toupee into McCovey Cove. * Willie Mays is not only honored before the game, he leads off the game with what would be a clean single to center if it weren’t trapped in...

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# posted by E.L.M.: 4:20PM


07.11.2007
Extend-O-Sabes
The Chron reports this morning that the Giants could soon extend Brian Sabean’s contract. I’m busy and will leave the discussion to you for now, but here’s something to chew on: if management, not Sabean, is mostly to blame for...

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# posted by E.L.M.: 11:10AM


07.12.2007
Elsewhere
As we all know, the Giants are right there in the NL West, just one zany win streak away from running away with the division. You haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen a rosterful of experienced, savvy veterans all jell...

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# posted by E.L.M.: 6:02PM


07.13.2007
2008 Payroll
P.M. UPDATE: The Giants have extended Brian Sabean’s contract through 2009 with a club option for 2010. *** There’s been some back-and-forth in comments about how much money the Giants have committed next year. Here’s the breakdown. All salary figures...

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# posted by E.L.M.: 12:57PM


07.13.2007
I Opened and Read It and Said They Were Suckers
Pee-Mags! My favorite letter writer. My main man. A missive from the big chief just arrived under the transom. I won’t bore you with the whole thing. OK, I will. ** Dear Lefty Malo, Not my real name. You probably...

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# posted by E.L.M.: 8:14PM


07.16.2007
P.U.
Not much on the blog today. It’s difficult to type when the stink emanating from Mays Field forces you to cover your nose with one hand. Perhaps the Dodger sweep was a blessing in disguise, like rubbing a dog’s face in...

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# posted by E.L.M.: 6:55PM


07.17.2007
Post-Game 7/16: A Whiff of Aramis
Cubs 3, Giants 2. Bruce Bochy got outsmarted by Lou Piniella. That’s not easy to do. Kevin Correia made two great pitches and gave up two cheap singles, then Randy Messenger threw a slider near Aramis Ramirez’s ankles, and Ramirez...

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# posted by E.L.M.: 12:33AM


07.17.2007
Tuesday Notes
* In yesterday’s BP Radio Rundown podcast, cohosts Joe Sheehan and Will Carroll were chatting about the A’s and whether GM Billy Beane would be a seller. Piazza, Stewart, Kielty: those names came up as trade bait, but Jason Kendall,...

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# posted by E.L.M.: 3:25PM


07.18.2007
7/17 Post-Game: The Good Barry
Giants 4, Cubs 2: This was the kind of game the Giants would be winning a lot if they were better. Starting pitching just a bit better than their opponents’, a resilient but not overwhelming bullpen, just enough key hits,...

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# posted by E.L.M.: 2:15AM


07.18.2007
Post-Game 7/18: Walk in the Park
Cubs 12, Giants 1: Matt Cain: five walks in four innings. Three relievers: five walks in four innings. Jack Taschner has now given up at least a run in four of his last six outings, and at least one hit...

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# posted by E.L.M.: 5:58PM


07.19.2007
Matty Mo Crunch Time
Why is today’s game crucial for the Giants? Read no further than this paragraph, from ESPN writer Jayson Stark’s assessment of the trade landscape: Five weeks ago, it would have been tough to find anything about Morris that clubs could grumble...

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# posted by E.L.M.: 1:50PM


07.20.2007
Seven Fifty Six
This weekend in Milwaukee? It could happen. We know the Giants desperately want Bonds to break Hank Aaron’s record — and probably tie it, too — at home. But after his superhero game yesterday, hitting moonshots into the teeth of...

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# posted by E.L.M.: 1:29PM


07.21.2007
Post-Game 7/20: Wild Gift
Giants 8, Brewers 4: Carlos Villanueva must be thankful to Brian Sabean for trading him to Milwaukee in 2004. The small-time deal led to Villanueva becoming a key part of the Brewers’ bullpen the last two years. Tonight he gave...

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# posted by E.L.M.: 12:21AM


07.23.2007
Countdown
A week and a day to the trading deadline. A few interesting developments: * The Yankees are 7.5 games behind Boston. That’s still a big margin to overcome, but it’s a lot smaller than the 12 game deficit they faced...

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# posted by E.L.M.: 4:04PM


07.24.2007
Post-Game 7/23: No Cain Break
Braves 4, Giants 2: Depending on which side of the diamond your sympathies lie, the difference tonight was either Matt Cain’s wildness or the Giants’ typically limp offense. Blame Durham and Klesko for looking foolish all night? Sure, but they were...

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# posted by E.L.M.: 1:26AM


07.24.2007
Happy Birthday...
to Barry Lamar. He turns 43 today. The last time I went to the ballyard on his birthday, the big guy threw Craig Counsell out at the plate in the top of the ninth to preserve a tie, then he...

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# posted by E.L.M.: 12:33PM


07.24.2007
Rare Bonds Interview
Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper have interviewed Bonds in a way only former players could interview him — some questions that get to the heart of the game, and some puffy softballs — and although his stream of consciousness and syntax is as convoluted...

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# posted by E.L.M.: 6:26PM


07.25.2007
Post-Game 7/24: Nearly the Improbable
Braves 7, Giants 5, 13 innings: Exciting game from the bottom of the ninth, unless your brand of excitement consists of batters pounding Tim Hudson sinkers into the ground, in which case you would have loved the first eight frames. That...

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# posted by E.L.M.: 3:28AM


07.25.2007
And They're Off!
Ladies and gentlemen, the first big trade of the deadline season! To the Brewers: Scott Linebrink To the Padres: Will Inman, Steve Garrison, Joe Thatcher Giants fans will know Linebrink, a killer out of the Padre bullpen since 2003 and,...

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# posted by E.L.M.: 8:19PM


07.26.2007
USA! USA! USA!
Today. Me. In it. Here. They took out all the dirty words, though....

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# posted by E.L.M.: 12:24AM


07.26.2007
Little Midget Man
In case you’ve missed it, Bob Costas interviewed major-league blowhard and johnnie-come-lately blogger Curt Schilling recently, and Schilling called out Barry Bonds and others on the steroid issue. A couple excerpts: "If someone wrote that stuff about me and I didn't...

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# posted by E.L.M.: 6:44PM


07.27.2007
Post-Game 7/26: Century Mark
Giants 4, Braves 2: One hundred games gone, 62 to go. The Giants are on track for a 70–92 season. You know what was cool about today’s game? Not just Lincecum pitching well, but also Bochy letting Jack Taschner pitch...

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# posted by E.L.M.: 2:01AM


07.27.2007
Deep Zito Thoughts
On KNBR this morning, Mike Krukow said he thought Barry Zito was on the way back from his struggles, and that the gem he pitched in Chicago was more indicative of his status than the poor outing five days ago...

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


07.29.2007
Weekend Update
A few questions to glean from the weekend’s games: 1) Will Pedro Feliz’s recent hot streak — 18–for-49 since July 15, raising his averages to a still-lousy .251/.293/.441 — make him tradeable? And if so, to fill his spot at least temporariily...

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# posted by E.L.M.: 11:28PM


07.30.2007
R.I.P. Bill Walsh
I usually don’t go off-topic into other sports, but this is sad news for anyone who grew up in San Francisco, whether or not a Niners fan. *** P.M. UPDATE: Two relatively minor trades today underscore the Giants’ weakness as sellers....

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# posted by E.L.M.: 3:12PM


07.31.2007
Doing 'Lines
Funny how the trade deadline and my 900–word story deadline are only half an hour apart. I’ll weigh in on the day’s trades once both deadlines pass. Meanwhile, start discussing what has — Wilson Betemit for Scott Proctor — and...

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# posted by E.L.M.: 3:02PM


07.31.2007
Matt Morris Walks the Plank
UPDATE: Let’s see what Pirate fans have to say: “Davis is a worthless major leaguer.” “Is this a joke?” “You have to look at it as going out and signing him for $10 million for one year… I really think...

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# posted by E.L.M.: 5:23PM