It's Going To Be A Boring Spring Training

This year's Giants spring training has the makings of being very boring because the Giants know exactly the 25 member team that will open the season.  Spring training can be exciting when there is rookie or two battling for a starting position on a team.  This year the Giants do not think they have such a player.  Only Adrianza was considered last year because he was out of options.  I lost count of how many players played second base before the Giants panicked and called up Panic in a desperation move and he proved to be a gem that solidified the team.  There he was in Fresno all that time and the Giants didn't think he was ready.

There are two players that have been in Giants system for a few years that have an opportunity to open some eyes, make spring training more interesting and show that they are ready.   Adam Duvall  hit a few homers for the Giants last year filling in at first base for  about five weeks but obviously did not impress the staff who went out and acquired McGehee to replace the Panda at third.  Perhaps his experience in the majors last year will give him some confidence this spring.  Outfielder Jarrett Parker is a tall outfielder with a beautiful classic left handed swing.  His first couple of years in the minors have not been impressive until last year when playing at AA and AAA levels raised his season an average of 30 points.

The Medical Report  -  Pagan, Hudson and Cain all passed their initial days of spring training.  Pagan doesn't have a back brace, Cain a sling or Hudson crutches.  I didn't think it was possible, but it looks like they will all be ready to answer the opening bell.

Lead off  -  Bochy told Pagan that he wasn't going to lead off this year.  We mentioned in the February 10, 2015 blog that the Giants acquired Aoki to be a lead off man not as a replacement for Morse. Knowing Bochy I am sure Pagan will lead off some games against tough left handed pitchers.

Giants Clubhouse -   Its reported that a Boston sports writer is getting some insight information about Pablo from a Giant informer.  You don't see Andrew Baggarly reporting on the Giants for CS Bay Area this year do you?  You can thank the Giant clubhouse.

Belt  -  Sabean expects  Brandon Belt to have a break out season.  Belt himself said he wants to hit in the neighborhood of 50 home runs.  For this to happen Belt will need to bat third with Posey in the clean up spot protecting him so he will get some good pitches to hit.

Forget Cuba  -     How many times have you read in recent months that the Giants were close to signing a Cuban sensation.  Then we discover the price major league teams were paying for these players.  Congratulations Giants for not being stupid.  I would suggest you assign your scouts to other areas then Cuba to make better use of their time.

The Face of MLB  -  I read that Buster Posey was elected the face of MLB  whatever that means.  Seems to me the only thing missing is a beard and long hair.

Taxes  -  Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports wrote that Shields who signed with the Padres for $70 million would net less then $40 million primarily because of California high tax rate.  High California taxes are not new.  I don't remember any of the media for the 49ers or Giants using taxes as a major factor when the team was trying to sign a free agent.   One would think with the 'cat out of the bag' taxes would be a major topic when the 49ers attempt to sign free agents in the next couple of months.  Agents are aware that their clients who can read now know about the California high tax rate. The media will follow what it has always done and minimize taxes as an important factor so I doubt if they will become a big issue unless the Forty Niners are continually outbid for players.       

Sabean mentioned the other day that taxes was one of a series of factors a player considers before signing.  The Giants and the Dodgers for that matter cannot complain about high taxes.   They are in bed with same politicians who continue to squeeze every dollar possible out of their citizens to pass on to their cronies. It's really the same philosophy the Giants use.  Keep raising prices as long as AT&T continues to sellout every game.

Can't Blame Everything On Cepedes

The good news for all baseball fans was that Bruce Bochy was back in camp Sunday.  It all started a few days ago when Bochy had just confirmed  his starting rotation for the coming season putting an end to the speculation on this blog.  The future Hall of Fame manager relayed to the press that  his starters would be 1. Bumgarner, 2 Cain, 3 Hudson, 4 Peavy and 5 Lincecum.  He must have thought to himself, 'Oh if it was only 2012'.  Suddenly reality hit that it is 2015 and Bruce's heart started to send  him a message.  The Giant manager recovered quickly after spending a restful night at the hospital and perhaps dreaming about a miracle drug that could prevent further aging, injuries and loss of velocity on fast balls. The Giants could certainly use one this year.

Poor Pablo Sandoval has made the headlines before spring training.  Writers from other parts of the country got a good look at him at the Boston spring training  camp and announced to the world he was out of shape.  Giants fans know better.  In fact he looked relatively slim in the picture.  You hope he stays at 240lbs which is impossible, but he plays very well at 260lbs.  However the problems regarding fielding and injuries really hits when his weight is around 280 lbs. He's got a long ways to go to reach that figure this year but history has proven that Pablo can put it on easier then he can take it off.  In the end the 'Green Monster' at Fenway Park will make Pablo a hero.

The 'shocking' news out of Green Bay Wisconsin was that Packers TE Brandon Bostick was cut.  He was the player that fumbled the on-side kick that allowed Seattle to get into the Super Bowl instead of Green Bay.  Remember we chronicled recently what happened to the 49ers Preston Reilly back in the early 70's.  Same thing.  I  blamed the head coaches Nolan and McCarthy for their conservative play calling that provided the opportunity for the on-side kick.  The Packers special teams coach was also fired.

This does remind me of Billy Bean of  'Money Ball' fame.  Remember last season he traded Cepedes for the great left hand pitcher Lester from Boston who was going to propel the A's to the World Series championship. The Giants had proven to Billie that you needed a strong starting staff to win the series then the Giants proved everyone wrong including themselves and won it all last year with one starter.    All of sudden the protection of Cepedes in the lineup was gone and the power hitters Donaldson and Moss became easy outs.  Bean was blamed in the press that made him furious.  He didn't like it and guess who got traded this winter?  The very popular All Stars Donaldson and Moss meaning that the once very potent 3, 4, 5 lineup  for the A's was history.

Speaking of Cepedes - Remember the great play he made last year when he was still a member of A's catching a foul fly against the left field fence and throwing the ball on a fly to catch an Angel runner at home plate who had tagged up from third base.  I must have seen it 30 times on television so I am sure Pagan also saw it. It was the very next night at AT&T with the Giants leading the Rockies by two runs in the top of 9th inning.  Romo was in to pitch and first two batter got on base.   The next batter flew deep to Pagan in center field.  Instead of throwing to second to keep the tying run at first he shows off his arm by throwing on the fly to third trying to get a runner whose run meant nothing.  The entire inning blew up on Romo who eventually lost the game and soon his closing spot and the Giants went into a tail spin for about six weeks.  That was the start!

I know its a generation gap but I will say it  anyway.  Watching video of players reporting to spring training makes it look like some of them spent the winter on skid row.  Hats off to the New York Yankees!

Granddaughter Emi - 2012 

When I was younger back in the 1940s after World War II the San Francisco Seals night games use to start at 8:15 and normally they were over close to 10 o'clock.  Rarely did a game go over two hours. Last year major league games averaged over three hours.  This is great for the concession stands but bad for the game.  Major league baseball announced some speed up moves for the coming year one of which is the player is to keep at least one foot in the batter's box instead of constantly stepping out of the box and waving to friends in the stands. I would have also limited the number of times a player can tighten his batting glove in a plate appearance to three. The new rules also allow a manager to ask for a replay from the dugout.  Wasn't the time the manager took to walk slowly towards the umpire last year used for the coach in the clubhouse to review the replay to see if the team wanted to challenge the call?  How are they going to stall this year?   There are many culprits for the longer games including television commercials and replays but in my opinion the relief pitchers are the most guilty of slowing the game down to a snails pace and since almost every game includes at least four, the games this season will continue to be very long.

 More NFL News

The cities of Oakland, San Diego and St. Louis continue to be held hostage by the NFL.  Now its the city of Carson who would build a $1.6 billion stadium with private funds to house the Raiders and Chargers.  Living in the south land for 17 years I have never heard one person say they wanted an NFL team.  Some old Rams and Raiders fans might want their teams back but the rest could care less. It's the NFL looking for more welfare from taxpayers.  In case you missed it the Rams want to leave St. Louis and build a new stadium at Hollywood Park just a few miles north on the 405 from Carson. Its been so long since LA had a pro team and the fans think they can buy a ticket for $25. and go to a game.  Are they in for a shock! My solution is to tear down the Coliseum before USC waste too much money renovating the historic site and build a state of the art stadium that can house the Trojans and as many NFL teams that want to make LA their home.  With games now played on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday scheduling would be no problem.  Many do not know that there is a large four level parking garage below ground right in front of the Coliseum.

Pete Carroll Out At Seattle?

An email was sent to me by a good friend Tony G that ESPN said,  " Pete Carroll, head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, is reported to be very near signing on as a special consultant to the Pope in Vatican City. The Pope looks to recruit Carroll to be a spokesman for the Catholic Church because he is the first man in history that made 100 million people jump up and yell 'Jesus Christ' at the same time." 

When I decided to take on this blog I was warned to keep it to sports.  Some of you know when I get into politics and religion I can get into big trouble. So I have classified this as a sports story.

Older Catholics would remember that using the name of Christ in vain like in the above situation is a  sin against the second commandment of God.   We also did our research following  Pete's famous Super Bowl call and using a computer program model designed at Stanford University we figured over 50 million people yelled, "What in hell are you doing?"  So even if the Pope wants him, Carroll may already been spoken for.  Regardless 'come hell or high water', Pete will be coaching the Seahawks next year.

I Had To Turn It Off!

It was described by one writer  as "West Side Story".  If that was true it wouldn't have lasted two nights on Broadway.  I am talking about the NBA All Star Game which I thought was so horrendous that I turned it off at half time.  When I was young living in a different century we used to call a player who shot the ball every time he touched it a 'hog'.  I assume in this politically correct world  using such a word today would be a 'hate' crime.

A 19 year old drop out from UCLA revived the slam dunk contest which Jim Barnett the Warriors color commentator just last week said had gotten so bad he couldn't watch it. Then Stephen Curry the new NBA star from the Warriors set the net on fire winning the 3 point shooting contest.  Someone said a few years ago "It's too bad they had to play the game."  One of those 'hogs' was another ex Bruin Russell Westbrook who certainly showed he could shoot but the game illustrated very clearly that many in the NBA think they can shoot but can't.  I know some of you who read this blog are NBA fans while others can't stand it.  One thing I believe everyone can agree upon it that the season is tooooo looong! Have the Warriors worn themselves out?

Giants Notes:

I noticed a picture of Duane Kuiper getting ready for the season by having his toe nails painted orange and black.   I also go to a nail saloon but only to have my toe nails cut since I can't reach them anymore.  Best $7.00 I ever spent.

Read an article that Brandon Belt had given up Texas beef for a healthy food diet during the off season and expects to hit 50-60 home runs this coming year.  Is he full of bull?  I wonder if Belt read the book by Babe Ruth "My 60 Home Run Diet."  The book has been out of print for 75 years.  I assume we won't see Brandon at Don and Charlies famous Scottsdale prime rib restaurant this spring.

I will be missing Spring Training this year because of my wife Barbara's health situation which makes it difficult to travel.  It was always enjoyable time, great atmosphere, wonderful friends, close to the field seats, and that special Arizona weather.  I know the US government is printing money faster then they can cut down trees to make the paper, but I wish they would send me a few of their rejects. I would have needed them this spring to attend the Giants games at Scottsdale. In case you haven't checked tickets prices for the March 7th Giants-Padres game will cost $35. for standing room only on the outfield grass.  Wish it wasn't true but they will be sold out!  It's no wonder they can afford to pay Cain $10 million a win. 

The Kansas City Royals pitcher and World Series flop James Shields signed with the Padres for $75 million but primarily because of California taxes the poor guy will only net about $40 million.  And I thought all the Giants had to do was to bring in the fences in order to sign one Cuban slugger.

7th hole at Pebble Beach

Buster Posey playing this last week on the beautiful Monterey peninsula tied for fifth place in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am with his pro partner Nick Watney.  Posey happened to mention to a writer during the week that he was going to hit the weights more this year.   Be careful Buster!  As one of the Golf channel commentators said about Tiger Woods,  it wasn't his back operation that put him on disabled list but the fact that he worked out so much that he lost his flexibility. 

We have lost count over the years but it was just announced that baseball is again going to review the strike zone.  Seems last year that strike zone was bigger then normal and that was the reason for the lower run production.  Oh for those good old steroid years.  Giant fans know listening to Mike Krukow and Dodger fans Rick Monday that every umpire has his own strike zone and players just have to adjust.  That's the way it is.  The umpires have a very strong union which prevents them from being fired for incompetency.  The call that troubles me the most is the strike two call on a pitch way outside or low.   You can see the frustration on the batter's face.  He gives up and usually swings at the next pitch which is even further outside.  I believe this costs teams more games then an umpire missing a call at first base and for that reason I don't support instant replay.

The blog site is www.homersweeney.blogspot.com

Bochy Translated

Giants new alternate black jersey

Bruce Bochy's comments on the 2015 Giants provided the headlines  at the Giants annual Fan Fest Day that attracted around 30,000 fans to AT&T last Saturday.  The Giant players who were decked out in their new alternate back jerseys that will debut in May of this year, signed autographs and generally socialized with the fans.

Bochy was upbeat which one might expect while boasting  that he now has seven starting pitchers to choose from and elaborated to some degree how is lineup will have to manufacture runs this year. He expects Aoki to lead off once in a while and he only wishes that Barry Bonds could play left field instead of coach.

Bochy referred to almost all his pitchers in his comments that can be translated into the following questions.

Will Bumgarner after over 270 innings of pitching last year be his same dominating force? For the Giants season he's gotta to be!  The length of the baseball season especially for those teams making  the playoffs can be very harmful to pitchers.  Before former commissioner Bud Selig added an extra wild card game it was Giant pitchers Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum who lobbied  against such an extension because they knew first hand the toll it takes on a pitchers arm.  Isn't it ironic that both of their careers could be in jeopardy at relativity young age. They were unsuccessful in preventing the expansion of the playoff system  but they might have been the reason that kept the extra playoff to one game instead of a three game series.  Bud never passed up an opportunity to make another buck.  That's why he was so loved by the owners.

Matt Cain is reportedly feeling fine after a couple surgeries and has been throwing for over a month with this fast ball touching around 50 miles at present.  He is determined to be ready for the season.  So many athletes come back too early from injuries to the determent of their team. Lets hope Matt waits until he is ready even if he misses a couple of starts at the beginning of the season.

Tim Hudson is weeks behind and will definitely not be ready for the start of the season. Surgery on the same right ankle two years in a row cannot be encouraging.  Was it over use of his pitching arm or just being close to  40 years of age the reason Hudson became so ineffective at the end of last season?  Any help from Hudson this year will come in the latter part of the season and should be considered a bonus by the Giants.

Jake Peavy will most likely start the season as the Giants #2 starter.  He provided the team a tremendous spark in the stretch drive for a playoff spot last year.  He was not effective in the post season play or with the Red Sox the first half of last year.  Which Peavy will the Giants get?   

Tim Lincecum was rarely used in the last two months of 2014 season.  They couldn't trust him.  The Giants are counting on Tim to be #4 starter primarily because they are paying him $17 million.  Are the Giants dreaming?  Tim did not attend the fan fest so we are not aware of what he did his winter.  Last year he worked very hard in the off season which helped him have a fairly good first half of the season and for about a three week period looked again like one of the best pitchers in game.

Ryan Vogelsong is back again because the Giants needed a starting pitcher. He will give the Giants everything he's got for six innings.  No surprises.

The Giants would love to keep Yusmiro Petit  has their long man and spot starter.  Do they have that luxury this year?

The Giants have a veteran and very solid relief corp.  Can they keep the staff from being over worked?  Looks like a real challenge this year.   Young talent is waiting and ready to come from Sacramento when needed.

The Giants can have an effective starting staff if:
     -  Bumgarner continues to be a predominant starting pitcher      
     -  Cain returns to be a reliable  #2 starter
     -  A rookie pitcher from the farm system wows them this spring and makes the starting staff.
The fourth and fifth starter would come from Petit, Vogelsong, Peavy , Lincecum or possibly Hudson

Bochy explained scoring runs this year would be a challenge.  Losing the Panda and Morse would be   a devastating blow to any lineup.   They not only provided the needed punch but were continual threats and protected other batters in the lineup so they might get better pitches to hit.

According to Bochy the normal lineup is fairly well set.  Panic is a classic #2 batter while Belt, Posey and Pence will rotate in the order but will almost always bat 3, 4 and 5.  The new third baseman Casey McGehee will bat 6th and Crawford will be in his normal #8  spot.

Bochy mentioned that he had talked to Pagan, who did not attend the fan fest, and that he was feeling fine after his back surgery.  The Giant brass is not stupid and they know back surgeries can be very serious.  Tiger Woods also coming off back surgery, has felt great until he swings his driver a couple of times and has had to withdraw from his last two tournaments on the first day.  The Giants did not sign Aoki to replace Morse they signed him as a lead off batter.  His record both with the Brewers and Royals seems to indicate that he is very effective in that position.  Travis Ishikawa, Gregor Blanco and Juan Perez can be just as productive as Aoki in the #7 hole.

Andew Susac who came up last year and did a great job is the favorite over Sanchez to take the #2 catching spot.  Old reliable Joaquin Arias will fill one of the reserve infield spots.  Ehire Adrianza will get another shot at making the squad.  He was a big disappointment last season after showing lots of promise when he was called up September 2013. The Giants may want Matt Duffy to play everyday so he could start the season in Sacramento instead of sitting on the bench in San Francisco.



The Death of Dean Smith -  It was many decades ago when college basketball on television was a rarity and North Carolina was playing in Madison Square Garden in New York.  The Tar Heels were either tied or trailing by a point when their opponents missed a shot with less then 30 seconds to play.  Most coaches then and more so today would call a time out  to set up a play while also giving the defense time to do the same.  But not Dean Smith.  His team knew exactly what to do when they got the rebound executing  a quick fast break that won the game with an easy basket.  Now that's a coach.  College basketball today needs more coaches like Dean Smith.


  

Never Lose A Super Bowl Game

Coach Pete Carroll

Coaches at all levels of football make mistakes by calling the wrong play.  I am sure even the late great Bill Walsh regrets a call or two that he made during his illustrious career.  But never has a mistake been made like Pete Carroll's that likely cost the Seattle Seahawks the Super Bowl.  It was a stupid call. He had the best back in football just waiting to make that final yard; win or lose with your best! It is very hard to argue with people who are saying that it was biggest goof in forty nine Super Bowls and could also go down as most likely the worst call in the history of the game and maybe in all of sports.   It was that bad!  Will it cost Carroll his job?  Recent Super Bowl history is mixed.  The Steelers lost in 2011 and the Patroits in 2012 and both coach Tomlin and Belichick are still around.  The last two losing coaches Harbaugh with the 49ers and Fox with the Broncos now head other teams.

The Trophy after Brady hugged it.  OCR

I picked Seattle to win by four touchdowns so I was rooting hard for them to pull it out to save some face.  Fortunately I didn't have time to run over to Vegas.    I thought it was a great game with only one penalty in the first half and not that many in second half.  The game seemed to move quickly.   Carroll got all the press for the horrendous call at the end of the game but he also had the best call just before half when Wilson threw a TD pass to allow Seattle to tie the game 14-14 when everyone was talking field goal.


 Patriot's Super Bowl Ring.  Thanks Tony G

The tears have been flowing down the rain drains in Seattle this week as the mourning of the death of their NFL favorites continues.  The 12th man flags have been at half mask and the real sad part for Seahawk fans is that worst is yet to come.  History has proven that Super Bowl losers do not recover even though Seattle is currently a 5-1 favorite to win next years game at Great America which is just about an hour north of Salinas.

Miami lost Super Bowl VII then went on win the Super Bowl the next year.  Since 1973 not one team who has lost a Super Bowl has won the next year.

Since the year 2000 the Titans, Raiders, Rams, Panthers, Eagles, Bears, Cardinals, Colts, Steelers, 49ers and Broncos have lost Super Bowl games and have not returned to win one.  In  2001 the Giants lost then seven years later won in 2008.  It took Seattle eight years to recover from losing in 2006 to grab Super Bowl XLVIII in 2014.  The 2015 champion Patriots lost in 2008 and again 2012 after winning three times to be the team of the 21st Century.

Marino -Super Bowl XIX 

The Forty Niners lost in 2013 to Baltimore in a game they could have won if they were more prepared.  Colin Kaepernick became a national hero even though his team lost.  He was on magazine covers and all kinds of television shows.  It looked as if  the Super Bowl was  going to be an annual event for the tattoo covered 49er star.  Things started to change next season when Colin discovered as one might expect that he needed a new helmet since his old one did not fit on his head.  Will Kaepernick be the next Dan Marino?

Remember Dan Marino?  Veteran Forty Niners fans I am sure do. It was Dan who led his 14-2 Miami Dolphins against the 15-1 San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XIX at Stanford Stadium the last Big Party thrown in the Bay Area.  The local fans were not surprised with the 49ers lopsided 38-16 victory but fans from east were really shocked at the outcome.  This was only Marino's second year in the NFL and the thought then was that Dan would be back many times because he was unquestionably a great quarterback.  After fifteen more years in the NFL the only Super Bowl this member of the Hall of Fame saw in person was either from the stands or a television booth.

History is clear.  Never lose a Super Bowl game!