If I was asked at the start of the season to vote if the Giants record would be above or below .500 after the first 41 games I would have voted below. The loss of key players during the off season, the injury to Pence and the many questions about the pitching staff were real obstacles the team had to face. The Giants record of 23-18 during the first quarter of the season has shown that they have overcome most of these obstacles and are now legitimate contenders in the NLWest. I can't say enough about the play of Crawford at short and at the bat and combined with Panik at second they are terrific up the middle. Bumgarner is still among the best and Lincecum has been a real surprise and we take Posey for granted.
Questions
The Giants still have some questions to be answered just like every team in the majors.
Third base is still a big concern. Can the Giants do anything about it? Not sure Duffy is the answer.
Can Peavy make a comeback? Whose place would he take?
Will it be Ishikawa or Maxwell? Ishikawa time is running out at Sacramento and in a few days he will be a free agent unless the Giants find room on the roster. It would be sad to see another hero from 2014 leave. Maxwell has been a great right fielder and he looks like he should hit .280. But he can't layoff that pitch in the dirt and will hit around .230. Who would you keep? Perhaps whoever they let go can pass waivers and then spend some time with the River Cats.
Cain is at least six weeks away and can he be the Cain of old? Don't bet on it.
Look for Evans to use the DL to help solve some of these immediate roster problems.
The Oakland A's
Oakland is currently 14-29 and 13 1/2 games behind the Houston Astros in the AL West. What happen to the A's? The Cepedes trade will haunt them for years. Yes, Cepedes did strike out too often but he was a constant threat in the lineup which allowed hitters like Moss and Donaldson to get better pitches to hit. Once Cepedes was traded Donaldson and Moss slumped. 'Money Ball' Bean got upset and traded them and many others. Now you see the results.
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| The golf course of the future |
Tiger Wood is at it again and Lidsey Vonn found out! What else is new?
The popularity of golf has started to decline. People have discovered it is expensive and not an easy sport to play. When I play I always wondered why they didn't make the last hole the easiest so players would want to comeback. The industry is now in the process of designing new golf courses (shown at the right) which will also include instant replay at every hole that will help bring back the games popularity.
Good-bye Grandpa Thanks Tony G
A father put his three-year old daughter to bed, told her a story and listened to her prayers which ended by saying,"God bless Mommy, God bless Daddy, God bless Grandma and good-bye Grandpa." The father asked, "Why did you say good-bye Grandpa"... The little girl said, "I don't know daddy, it just seemed like the thing to do."
The next day grandpa died. The father thought it was a strange coincidence.
A few months later the father put the girl to bed and listened to her prayers which went like this, "God bless Mommy, God bless Daddy and good-bye Grandma."
The next day the grandmother died.
"Holy cow!" thought the father, "this kid is in contact with the other side."
Several weeks later when the girl was going to bed, the dad heard her say, "God bless Mommy and good-bye Daddy."
He practically became apoplectic. He couldn't sleep all night and got up at the crack of dawn to go to his office. He was nervous as a cat all day, had lunch and watched the clock.
He figured if he could get by until midnight he would be okay. He felt safe in the office, so instead of going home at the end of the day he stayed there, drinking coffee, looking at his watch and jumping at every sound.
Finally midnight arrived; he breathed a sigh of relief and went home.
When he got home his wife said, "I've never seen you work so late. What's the matter?"
He said, "I don't want to talk about it. I've just spent the worst day of my life."
She said, "You think you had a bad day, you'll never believe what happened to me. This morning my golf pro dropped dead in the middle of my lesson!"
The Warriors
The Warriors after beating Houston last night still need six more wins to be crowned champions of the NBA. If they play like they did last night they are lucky to win one more game. The players keep saying its the playoffs but on the court its like the regular season with sloppy play, ridiculous stupid passes and a cockiness that can't be hidden. Will they rebound and play like champions on
Saturday?
The Drought
Those of you who live in California know we are facing a serious draught situation. I am sure your own water district has come up with many ideas on how to conserve. We have a couple of ideas that we thought you might want to add to your list that will conserve water. Eliminate ice from all soft and hard drinks. If you like scotch and water or bourbon and water drop the water. For those who love manhattans over ice drink them straight up.
Other Comments
The 49ers offered Santa Clara County $3 million to upgrade soccer fields. The Niners' would like to turn a soccer field into a VIP parking location for Levi Stadium. The County turned down the offer implying that they can't trust the NFL team. One councilman was overheard saying that if the money could have been used to enlarge the County Jail he would have voted in favor.
It has been reported that Robert Kraft owner of the Patriots has decided not to challenge the NFL about the punishment the team received for Deflate Gate. The rumor is that the Patriots owner received a 'deal' from the NFL to drop his appeal or he read my recent blog that outlined how easy the Lombardi Trophy winners got off. The Union will free Brady.
The New England fans are real patriots. They have taken up a collection to pay the $1 million fine for the team. Can't beat that loyalty but they should realized that they are going to pay the fine anyway through increases in ticket prices.
I assume many of you saw Curry of the Warriors make a 62 foot shot against the Grizzlies. He mentioned in a follow up interview that he practices that shot regularly. It reminded me of my days at USF when once in awhile a few of us took off to play basketball at the Sunset Gym. It was early afternoon and the kids were in school so we had the entire gym to ourselves for two hours. I always started practice by taking shots from mid court because it made other shots around the key look a lot easier. This routine didn't work at Rossi Playground because the wind took the ball all over the place.
The All Star Baseball game is already in the news. On the field at Great American Ball Park is the message Vote Reds. The Detroit Tigers have a similar promotion for their heroes. I thought baseball discouraged home team voting. The game is bad enough and this type of voting makes it even a greater farce. This could be stopped by implementing a electoral college voting system which I have written about in previous years.
In honor of Armed Force Day the Cincinnati Reds wore armed service type jerseys similar to those the San Diego Padres wear at home each Sunday. Across the front was the word 'Reds'. Did I miss something?
It made everybody feel good! The March 7 edition of this blog reported that on March 5th Pence had broken a bone in his forearm and the team announced he would be out 4 - 6 weeks. We wrote that the Giants press release was to make you feel good. We said at the time Pence would return around the middle of May. He came back after being out 10 weeks on May 16.
R.I.P. Rev John LoSchiavo (1925 - 2015)
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| Baseball coach 1950 |
Fr. LoSchavio was President of the University for 14 years died last week at the age of 90. He was a friend, neighbor and coach. The family lived just three houses from us at 105 10th avenue near Lake St. and he was my baseball coach at St. Ignatius High School in 1950. I will not be able to make the Vigil Service Monday night but will say a Rosary for the repose of his soul. May God have mercy on his soul!
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