May 2009 Archives

Giants 5, Giants 3: The past two weeks I've stumped for the release of Rich Aurilia but tried to insert caveats and hedges in case games like today happened. Aurilia entered on a double switch, singled in the 5th to...
# continue reading

PM UPDATE: Sergio Romo is back, and Kevin Frandsen is heading to Fresno. Hank Schulman has tonight’s lineup: Pablo Sandoval is at first base, bumping Ishikawa to the bench. *** No surprise that the Giants are talking to other teams...
# continue reading

Giants 6, Braves 3: This was somewhat akin to the pasting the Dodgers gave the Giants in early April, though not quite as lopsided. None of the games were really that close, thanks to strong pitching and timely clutch hitting....
# continue reading

The Jesus Guzman Experience got unplugged yesterday after 10 at-bats, which probably wasn’t a bad idea. There’s no place to play him on a regular basis. Better to give him his regular work in Fresno, both at the plate and...
# continue reading

Hats off to Gamesix who noted in the last post’s comments that Travis Ishikawa is sporting unbelievable home/road splits: Home: .361 / .403 / .492Away: .077 / .217 / .077 He’s had 61 at-bats at home, 39 on the road...
# continue reading

Giants 8, Braves 2: Travis Ishikawa had the game of his life today, and the question is whether it's a sign of things to come -- of a young talented player making adjustments and feeling more comfortable -- or a...
# continue reading

I'm heading off the grid for the rest of the weekend, and I hope you are, too. Long weekends are not meant for sitting at the computer stewing in bitter juices. A couple wins between now and Tuesday's opening bell...
# continue reading

The Giants’ horrific (and not unexpected) offensive struggles this year often spark two reactions: 1) No need to panic. This is a rebuilding team, the rebuild is going according to plan, and there are a lot of good young hitters to...
# continue reading

Padres 3, Giants 2: Must...keep...head...from...exploding. Brian Wilson just handed the Padres a win on a platter. After a soft infield single, he lost all control in the bottom of the ninth against the squishy underbelly of the Padres' lineup, eventually...
# continue reading

No sense in harping on what's wrong here, unless you, like Malita Monkeypants now that she's discovered music, insist on listening to the same song over...and over...and over...and over. Because it's got counting in it, her latest obsession is Feist's...
# continue reading

I'm on the road for a rare bidness trip, doing some bidness, but I caught last night's game on ESPN in my luxurious Days Inn master suite. A few takeaways: - Joe Morgan and Steve Phillips are about as...
# continue reading

Mets 8, Giants 6: If you haven't guessed yet, this one hurts right down to the de la soul. For the second straight night Brian Wilson was more squirrelly than the thing sticking out of the back of his cap,...
# continue reading

Mets 7, Giants 4: The run run run part last night belonged to the Mets, who stole seven bases and made Jonathan Sanchez and Brian Wilson look like they had one too many bong hits* before taking the field. “Baserunners?...
# continue reading

First, a disclaimer: I hate rants about a team's former players who are doing well. If we'd only kept So-and-So! Now he's tearing up the league! The early success of Shairon Martis and his game yesterday is like red meat...
# continue reading

Nats 6, Giants 3: The Giants have won two of three of the last six series, not counting the two two-game splits in Chicago and Colorado. That ain't bad. Today they were shut down by a ghost of Christmas past,...
# continue reading

Not much time today, but remember Mike Krukow’s words of wisdom: Don’t get into a slugfest with the Nationals. After my Matt Cain disquisition yesterday, he pitched a beautiful ball game until Nick Johnson hit a home run in the...
# continue reading

I’ve heard the following hosannas about Matt Cain several times this year, most recently after Cain recovered from a horrendous start in Colorado last week to throw six shutout innings: “He’s becoming a real pitcher.” “This is his breakout year.” “Dark-horse Cy Young.” The...
# continue reading

For those who pay little attention to the minor leagues, say hello to Tim Alderson, the Giants’ second-best pitching prospect. At the tender age of 19, he led the extremely hitter-friendly Cal League last year in ERA. Now he’s moved...
# continue reading

Giants 7, Dodgers 5 (13 innings): Like Bill Murray said in the movie Stripes, as he and a female military police officer emerged, half-clothed or less, from a steamer trunk: "That was interesting."How the Giants managed to win a game...
# continue reading

Giants 3, Dodgers 1: If you love pre-1994 baseball, you loved tonight's game. Great pitching, immaculate defense, the forces of good beat back the forces of plastic surgery and water thievery. The evidence is piling up: Zito has allowed four...
# continue reading

While we chew over the Manny Ramirez madness, two other news bits this morning combine to make my afternoon post. First, Bengie Molina is reportedly agitating for a contract extension, or at least a yes or no signal from management. According to this...
# continue reading

It’s just Manny Being Enhanced. What a huge, huge break for the Giants — unless Juan Pierre, Ramirez’s likely replacement, decides to have the best 50 days of his career. UPDATE: What does this mean for the Giants? Here’s a back-of-the-napkin calculation. Let's...
# continue reading

Rockies 11, Giants 1: I've been saving the following video for a Giants' 11-spot, but what the hell. When it comes to Sesame Street, you can't fake the funk. Speaking of the 1970s, I have an idea for a TV...
# continue reading

Randy Johnson pitches tonight and could notch his 298th career win. As an out-of-context performance evaluation tool, W’s for pitchers are about as worthless as batting average or fielding percentage. But you have to admit 300 wins is a cool...
# continue reading

Giants 6, Cubs 2: A split in Wrigleyville? I'll take it. A bunch of guys wearing black and orange circled the bases today, scoring what apparently are called "runs," and the pitchers got their usual Freak on. When Merkin Valdez...
# continue reading

It’s tempting to use one month to put a decisive stamp on the Giants’ forehead: THWACK! great starting pitching. THWACK! historically bad offense. And THWACK! a bullpen that should work properly if used as directed. Do we even need to wait...
# continue reading

Baggs has posted today’s lineup. Winn is in RF, not Schierholtz. Boo. I don’t get it. Winn has terrible numbers against Dempster, and tomorrow the Cubs start lefty Sean “Cat Power” Marshall. Tonight seems a perfect opportunity to play Schierholtz,...
# continue reading

Giants 1, Rockies 0 (10 inn.): These days, when a Giant batter hits a leadoff double I instantly think Maybe, just maybe, the pitcher will throw two consecutive wild pitches. I'm grumpy to say so during such a great run,...
# continue reading

With twenty games behind us it’s silly to make grand pronouncements about the state of the team, but I feel confident about a few things: * The rotation can be as good as advertised. If Barry Zito keeps up his...
# continue reading