Pat Burrell. Let me congratulate you, my fellow native Bay Area'er-ite. Security probably won't let me get within 100 feet, but if I could, oh boy. Hugs. Big big hugs. Everything was right today. On our first day back from... # continue reading
I'm getting too old for this. For those of you who didn't see the game, the Giants had a 6-2 lead entering the ninth but didn't have Brian Wilson available because of back spasms. A parade of relievers gave up... # continue reading
Thursday's utter domination by Anibal Sanchez, who was throwing everything for strikes, even the knuckleball he doesn't throw, makes the Giants' Wednesday come-from-ahead Torrespalooza and Tuesday's victorious competence against the big, nasty Josh Johnson that much more important. Lucky to... # continue reading
Let me get this out of the way right now: Brian Wilson's 9th inning full-count fastball was the worst San Francisco Giant pitch of the year. Up one run, two bases open, hottest hitter on the black-and-teal planet in the... # continue reading
Not if they keep scoring runs off pitchers like Josh Johnson and Ubaldo Jimenez and they only need a couple innings of relief per game, with one of those innings supplied by an indefatigable Brian Wilson. It's exciting times down... # continue reading
You never ever want to see a player get hit with a ball the way Eugenio Velez did in the fourth inning Saturday night. Fortunately the foul ball off Pat Burrell's bat that found Velez in the dugout wasn't as... # continue reading
Before you sniff that it was only Arizona that Matt Cain shut out Thursday night, please know the D-Backs bring the lumber at home. A few other late-night notes from my mountain getaway: * The more I think about deadline... # continue reading
In a comment thread this week my main man OGC listed all the prospects he considers "keepers," which I take to mean players he's very unwilling to trade. It was a long list. I replied that I would soon post... # continue reading
LOLALOALALOL. Or something like that. I'm not usually one to gloat, but...Nice one, Mr. Joe Torre Genius. And how about Matt Kemp grounding into a double play in the 7th after....well, let me step back. For those of you who... # continue reading
Understandably everyone's abuzz about the Bumgarner-Posey show Monday night, but neither had a dominating game. Bumgarner buzzed through the first few innings then ran into a fifth and sixth inning grind that ran up his pitch count and drove him... # continue reading
Remember when the Giants called him up around this time last year, he went 24 for 54. This is what he does. Come up in July, rake like mad. It's just the way Geno rolls. So for all the patient... # continue reading
All Giants fans who vehemently defended the "human element" of the game when umpire Jim Joyce blew the now-infamous "perfect game" call in Detroit last month, please raise your hands. Still feel the same after Sunday's debacle? What if the... # continue reading
By now you've heard that the Giants are taking a no-risk flyer on Dontrelle Willis, who is so out of whack the pitching-starved D-Backs cut him loose after a handful of starts. He'll report to AAA Fresno and pitch out... # continue reading
Our recent little fireside chat about Stephen Drew, in which I blithely wondered out loud if a Drew-for-Sanchez swap would be fair, made me think a bit more upon the Ol' Dirty Dirty. (It also made a few people claim... # continue reading
Everyone knows the "keys to the second half" bullet points: Fix the Panda, acquire a big bat, get pitchers to cut down on walks, grab another arm for the bullpen. Here's one that hasn't been mentioned: Don't let Mays Field... # continue reading
And if Corey Hart wins the Home Run Derby, how many callers on KNBR tonight will cite his victory as a reason to trade for him? Discuss either one.All set? Let's review. On the pitching side, there have been... # continue reading
In which I interview myself late at night...Q: You wrote this on June 30: Go into the All-Star Break with a smaller deficit than they have now, 5.5 games. I'd be OK being down three. Four or more makes me... # continue reading
If you believe Ken Rosenthal, and perhaps that's too much to ask of you, the Giants are more interested in acquiring a left-handed hitter than a guy who looks like he should be playing bass in Limp Bizkit. The brass... # continue reading
Suuuure. Giants 15. That must have been the runners left on base. No, sir. And no ma'am. Welcome to the Buster Posey Era. It is very much like the Madison Bumgarner Era, which officially started Tuesday, but with less fail-beard... # continue reading
Congrats MadBum! Should he keep pitching well, get ready to debate: How many innings shd he throw this yr? Now at 104, previous hi is 141.... # continue reading
Madison Bumgarner'd his first major-league win tonight, but more important he threw like Cool Hand Luke. He didn't have good command in the first few innings, walking batters, falling behind, but wriggling out of trouble, most emphatically when he struck... # continue reading
The Bengie Molina trade got everyone's attention, now, didn't it? We all sat bolt upright -- Whoa, Sabes trades a vet! Can he do it again? The speculation about Aaron Rowand for Carlos Zambrano, with each team taking on bad... # continue reading
I wasn't in position to listen, watch or telepathically receive information about today's victory, but even if I were, I wouldn't have tuned in. After Sunday's stinking ebb tide of a game, I resolved not to make my off-days so... # continue reading
Now that our tears have soaked into the earth and the echoes of our heart-rending wails have faded down the fog-shrouded hillsides, we can objectively assess the Molina trade. (Wait...one last....snif....snif....goodbye, my friend. Goodbye.) Whew. OK. I'm good. I might... # continue reading
