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

10.17.2007
Early Returns

We’re all chomping at the bit for the Giants to do things that determine the makeup of next year’s team and beyond. Trades. Free agent pickups. Decisions on their own free agents. (Just put down the Feliz, walk slowly away, and no one gets hurt.)

Data, dammit, we need data! We need action. We need the Flight of the Conchords to come out on DVD because some of us don’t have cable. Come on baby, it’s business time.

The best we can do right now are the two fall leagues in Arizona and Hawaii, where the Giants have several prospects. For clues to the Giants next year, pay particular attention to Arizona, where rosters feature a few players who’ve already tasted the big leagues and others who haven’t but should be there next year. Do well there, and… well, nothing. No guarantees, of course. Small sample size and all that.

But if Dan Ortmeier can outhit his Scottsdale teammate and Tampa Bay uberprospect Evan Longoria over the course of 100 at-bats, at the very least it’ll make Ortmeier more of a household name in, uh, households that spend all their time talking about 26–year-old prospects.

Joining Ortmeier are Nate Schierholtz and Eugenio Velez. On the pitching side, keep an eye on Sergio Romo. He climbed to high-A San Jose last year and struck out 106 in 66 innings. If he continues to do well this fall (so far, 5 IP, 7 Ks, no walks or runs, 4 hits), might the Giants put him on the fast track to the big-league bullpen with a call-up by the end of next year?

Back to the playoffs: We’re one game away from a Rockies-Indians World Series, which I hope happens just to make Fox television executives soil their pants. I caved in and switched from radio to TV for last night’s game, and I was once again amazed and appalled at the horrendousness of Joe Buck. I understand that on TV, it’s OK to let the images speak for themselves, but the guy is so flat and affectless and offers so little insight, he bleeds all potential excitement out of the game.



Also on the Network:



[October 17, 2007 7:13 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Jordan Rising said

Oh man, finally, someone else acknowledging the black hole that is Mr. Buck. My brother and take turns yelling at his innane comments. Why is it that he's pimped out for every major baseball event, when he's so obviously subpar??

Of course, my hatred of his "style" (if you can call it that) may have something to do with his calling the '02 World Series. He might as well have ripped open his Oxford and revealed the Angels T-shirt he was sporting underneath.

Will someone please call John Miller and tell him the playoffs need him?

[October 17, 2007 7:18 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Boof said

The only thing worse than Buck is the incessant prattle of Tim McCarver. I can't figure out which one of the two is the worst. One thing for sure is that it only takes about 2 innings before my ears start to bleed and I reach for the mute button.

[October 17, 2007 11:06 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Chris said

Some of my favorite McCarver gems are on this site

http://www.shutuptimmccarver.com/gems.htm

Here's a favorite:

"He wears his hat like a left hander!"

haha

[October 18, 2007 11:38 AM]  |  link  |  reply
jim e said

I just remember Buck's story about how his dad tried to introduce him to Bonds before a game and how Bonds totally blew him off, like, "who the f*&k are you ... ?" Apparently Bucky was pissed, as if Bonds was going to be impressed. I'm sure his resentment never crept into any of the Giants games he called. ....

Bottom line: Joe Buck's voice will resonate with kids who watch baseball (if there are still kids who watch baseball) like Tony kubek's and Joe Garagiola's voices resonate with me. And, for that, I feel sorry for today's kids. So White bread.

[October 18, 2007 3:13 PM]  |  link  |  reply
trilljester said

Joe Buck and Tim McCarver.. ugh.

Just note that you can mute the TV audio and listen to Jon Miller on ESPN Radio.

[October 18, 2007 3:23 PM]  |  link  |  reply
ELM said

Unfortunately, Miller is paired with Joe Morgan, who brings absolutely nothing to a broadcast.

[October 18, 2007 3:48 PM]  |  link  |  reply
David said

Not true, Lefty. Joe Morgan consistently brings the consistency. That's his greatest attribute.

[October 18, 2007 5:20 PM]  |  link  |  reply
ELM said

Well played, David, no doubt a fellow FJM reader.

You'll love this: Two nights ago he and Miller were talking about the difficulty of hitting Wakefield's knuckleball, and how one of the Indians actually had good numbers. Morgan then said, yes, but you know who was the best at hitting the knuckleball?

I said to myself, "One of your old teammates, of course," and Morgan said, on cue, "Tony Perez."