The Giants are currently in the middle of a six game road trip to both Philadelphia and New York.
Even though the Giants took 2 of 3 from the horrible Phillies it was very disappointing. Also upsetting was the fact that they recalled McGehee. Thought we got rid of that problem.
If you watched the games from Philadelphia on television you must have observed that the stadium was half full. It wasn't too many years ago that the Phillies sold out every home game for years. Oh how things can change. Philadelphia fans take their sports very seriously and show their anger by not attending the games.
The Mets
The 'experts' will say it was winning road trip. In my opinion it was a disastrous trip by losing the last game of the series to the Mets. You can blame the last game loss on the manager. He might be headed to the Hall of Fame but I could not believe the decisions he made Thursday night. It starts with the lineup. Why was Maxwell hitting fifth instead of Duffy or Crawford? In the first inning it killed them. They had one run in with the bases loaded and none out and Maxwell hits into a double play killing any chance of a big inning. Then in the eight inning with a runner on first and the game tied with one out and Posey up. The pitcher doesn't throw any pitch near the plate to Posey and ads insult to injury by hitting him with a pitch that would have been ball four Then Maxwell is an easy out. I hope the Giants remember Posey getting hit when the Mets come to SF and give it back to them.
The pitching decisions were horrible. He kept Lincecum in the game longer then he should have been hoping to get him a win. That's Bochy's way of keeping everybody happy and it works over a season but it does cost them games. Then with the Giants leading in the top of seventh inning he pinch hits for Petit who only needed fourteen pitches to finish the fifth inning and retire the side in order in the sixth . I thought Bochy should have given Petit a chance to go the distance or until he needed help. The relief staff was used unnecessarily from the 7th inning on and blew the game. Anyone wonder why the Giants relief staff is over worked.
Bochy's righty lefty BS back fired in the ninth inning by walking the Mets left handed batter with the winning run in scoring position to get to the best hitter on the team. One pitch and game is over. You won't hear this on the post game show and I assume that is the reason you read this blog.
Pagan went 0 for the series batting third. He is now hitting .279 a big drop from around .350 a couple of weeks ago. Panic although he got an infield hit to keep his hitting streak alive swung at a number of bad pitches tonight. Posey hit weakly back to the pitcher on a 3 and 0 count. That's not the first time he has done that this season. Give him the take sign on 3 and 0.
Another Feel Good Story
A few days ago the story was Pence will be okay in a couple of days. Sure. He is now headed for the DL again. Blanco got hit by a thrown ball in batting practice and is on the 7 day concussion DL. Remember last year the same thing happen to Belt and he was out close to seven weeks. There will not be any feel good predictions for Blanco.
A No Hitter for Heston
Heston pitched a great game in the Giants 5-0 win over the Mets showing that you don't have to throw 100 miles an hour to win. Just put the ball in different locations with different speeds like Heston did and the results speak for themselves. Almost every out was either a K or a weak grounder.
Now the question is what do they do with Heston when Peavy and Cain come back. The thought was that Heston would be sent down with an option because he has had some bad games. Maybe they can't do that now. One would think his competition of Lincecum, Hudson and Vogelsong pitched shut outs every time out. They don't and last nights game was a prime example. Peavy got belted in Sacramento in a recent comeback outing. The excuse being well, we don't know what type of pitches he was working on. BS! He got belted.
Home Run Contest
Both Panic and Duffy hit home runs Tuesday night. Maybe the idea of a contest between them isn't that bad. I was most impressed with Duffy's homer because he hit an inside fast ball with his arms close to his body. Tough to do. Duffy impresses me more each day with his play at third base and at the bat. Panic is now challenging to be an All Star. When it comes to infielders and catchers the Giants do a great job drafting. When it comes to outfielders they are terrible. They have drafted almost a hundred pitchers in recent years and you would think 5% would have made it to the majors.
Parker Recalled
Jarrett Parker was recalled from Sacramento to replace Blanco. I wrote in early spring training that I thought Parker had a chance to make the squad. He started hot and then quickly tailed off. I have always been impressed with his swing but I guess the problem is he doesn't make contact that often. He was batting .268 for the River Cats. I hope he gets a few at bats to see what he can do at the major league level. He will use the Giants hair stylist since he is a rookie and can't afford to bring his own on the road.
Skunks and the Building of Chavez Ravine
We recently mentioned that skunks had visited the Cardinals dugout at Dodger stadium last Friday night. Regular blog reader Pat O sent us the following history report.
If you watch the pictures of Dodger Stadium being constructed in the early 60's, you see that the hill behind the field was shaped so that stands could be easily constructed. That meant that many skunks and critters who were there first were ousted. They got some revenge last Friday.
Pat O taught in Los Angeles at Cathedral High on Bishop Road 1955-60. The school property had previously been a Catholic cemetery; that's why their nicknames were Phantoms, Spooks and Ghosts. Loyola High School fans had a nasty response to those names. Pat O coached the Cathedral varsity baseball team in 1957, not very successfully, but the diamond was fine, quiet and a little remote.
The Dodgers swung a sweet deal to get the land that had been set aside for housing for the poor, especially for those who had settled there 50 or so years before. Sadly, they were forced out of their properties. Politicians over the years had promised the housing but somehow the money set aside had disappeared. It's only right the smelly deal was confirmed by the skunks (not the creature but the politicians who screwed the poor original inhabitants.)
Trumbo Traded to Seattle
Our busy contributor from Texas sent us these comments from a happy D'Back fan. "The feeling of myself and many others is that to get anything for Trumbo was a gift. He was a disaster on defense and his offense was average at best. He was terrible in clutch situations leaving 9 runners on base in one game last week." Trumbo and Trout were both big home run hitters when they started their major league careers with the Angels. I always got them mixed up because their last names both started with a 'T'. When Trumbo was traded to the D'Backs a little over year ago I was thinking how nice it would have been for the Giants to have him as a power hitting left fielder. Could I have possibly been wrong? Trout on the other hand is considered by many one of the best players in the American League.
Did the Giants Draft a Girl in the First Round?
I am sure many of you have seen the AT&T ad about the first female major league baseball player. It's been shown hundreds of times. A quick look at the Giants first draft pick made me think that he looks more like a girl then the girl in the advertisement. I hope we don't start hearing reports from the instructional league that just because he wants to look like a girl doesn't mean he throws like a one.
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| Caitlyn Jenner |
College Basketball Changes
College basketball in an effort to increase scoring used a number of members from Mensa to make recommendations. The major changes were to use a faster shot clock and to have fewer time outs and provide more freedom of players to move whatever that means. The draft copy had just been completed and the group was having lunch. They asked the waitress if she was a college basketball fan and she said yes that she was great fan of the Stanford Indians. A quick reply was, "Don't you mean Cardinal?" Yes, she replied my uncle was a great fan of George Yardley and that's why I always remember Indians. They then asked her would she be in favor of a faster clock. She replied oh yes, then I would only have to work 4 1/2 hours instead of 5. They laughed and then they told her that they were trying to get higher scores for college basketball. She answered then why don't you just make the two point shot worth three and the three point shot worth four. Silence!
Congratulations
Denis Ragan and 'Skip' McDonald were honored recently for being St. Ignatius College Prep alumni of the year. In fact this web site would probably not exist if it wasn't for the promotion job done by Denis. Many of the blog readers are members of the class and know first hand what a marvelous job both Denis and Skip do for our class and the school. It was an honor well deserved.
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