It was quite a week in the Bay Area with the Golden State Warriors winning the NBA crown for the second time in three years and the San Francisco Giants finally passing those stubborn San Diego Padres to lead the pace for #1 draft choice next year.
The Warriors
In my opinion Game 3 was the key to the Warriors winning the series. Cleveland led almost to the last minute when Durant hit a 3 pointer, one of the most important baskets in Warrior history, to give the Warriors the lead. Those who follow the NBA know that this is not unusual that leads can change hands two or three times during the final minute. But for some unknown reason the Cavs were not ready. They seemed flustered, threw the ball around kicked it and soon the Warriors had control of the game. If the Cavs won this game we would be in a 7 game series.
Cleveland won big in game 4 but the Warriors rallied behind the home crowd to win game 5 and the series. A great accomplishment. Getting all those big egos to work together was an amazing feat. As Curry says "its not easy to win an NBA championship!" This year they were ready for the playoffs being rested and healthy which made a big difference. Durant lost about 5 weeks leading up the playoffs but this probably a blessing in disguise making him well rested for the final push.
The fans in the East Bay came to celebrate. I could not bear to listen to all of the speeches, but I am sure "greatest fans in the world" was said many times just like the fans in Chicago, Pittsburgh and Boston heard at their parades, but in the case of the Warriors it is really true. They supported their heroes win or lose for decades and the team responded playing exciting basketball thanks in part to coach Don Nelson's style of basketball.
How many players really told the truth? We apologize for stabbing you in the back and leaving for San Francisco. But lets face it, that's were the money is even thought San Francisco has never proven it could support a NBA team with prices as low as $3.00 for reserve seats. Corporations can afford the $50,000 for a seat license and we want to appease all of our Marxists friends from China. I know you can take BART across the Bay but its going to cost you plenty to attend our games. Hopefully you don't have to mortgage your home to come see us play. We will welcome you with open arms. If it wasn't for all of you I wouldn't be making $10 million next year. How I can thank you?
Changes can already be felt and seen at Oracle. Greg Papa observed that during the regular season the fans were not as noisy in fact rather quiet. Did they get tired of Curry making 45 foot shots to end a quarter? It was expected and became old hat. At least they didn't boo him if he missed. Or perhaps it was a different audience that is starting to invade the Warriors. Tickets given away by corporations to their clients who know nothing about basketball might also be playing a role.
Gone is Jerry West. Is this the start of the demise of the team which they are trying to hold together with creative financing? Does it mean they think 'they know it all?' They will have many questions to answer such as it is worth signing 33 year old to an expensive three year contract when more then likely like most old players, he would spend more than half the time on the DL?
Most of the 'know it all's' think the Warriors will repeat for the next couple of years. The incentive will be missing and the luck of having only a few injuries like this year would be surprising. It's tough to stay on top in any sport and pro basketball is no exception. The Warriors have big challenges facing them.
The Giants
First question is do you dismantle the entire team or just selected positions? If you could go to a super market and pick up a new team the former would be the correct answer. But that's not the way it works so the Giants will have to study their roster very carefully and think through who they keep or trade.
Its too bad they don't have a Jerry West like the Warriors had that could give opinions without any prejudices. I believe too many recent player decisions have been influenced by friendship or loyalty.
They believed the press and blamed everything on Casilla even though fans were screaming for a left fielder. They were the worst team in the major after the All Star break last year and continued it this year. They completely misread the team even with plenty of warning. Should Evans be fired? Yes. He won't be because the Giants don't have a Jerry West.
My thoughts on various players will follow later when I have more time.
This will be Bruce Bochy's last year. He will 'retire' because health reasons. Who can blame him. Another year like this one would give anyone a heart attack.
I would recommend making AT&T Park more hitter friendly. Its tough enough to hit in the heavy air of San Francisco especially with the addition of marijuana smoke hovering over the stadium. Close out triples valley and move the bull pins to the outfield. They won't do it because of the reputation of the park and the fact they don't have a Jerry West to give them unbiased opinions.
Attendance
I watched the Giants play in Philadelphia before thousands of empty seats. It wasn't too many years ago that the Phillies had something like 400 or more straight sell outs. Players got old and the team sunk and stunk.
Will San Francisco follow Philadelphia? I believe Giant fans come to AT&T to have good time. They would like to see the Giants win but its not the end of the world if they don't which was the not the attitude in Philadelphia. The Giants sell many of their tickets to ticket agency which sell them on Stub Hub and over a season have made a nice little profit because of the demand for tickets. If the demand drops then ticket agencies will back off and attendance will be noticeably smaller.
Baseball Draft
I was asked to comment on recent draft. I don't start following young players until they start playing for the Giants farm teams. I did check the national media about the draft and discovered that the Giants picks were severely criticized. They have a 17 years old outfielder as their first choice and a son of ex major leaguer that could have easily gone in the fourth round in the second. I did not see any comment on the 12 year 5th grader chosen in the 15th round.
I always wonder if these guys are such experts about these player why don't they work for the teams. In most situations, I really don't think they know what they are talking about which is common for the entire communications industry.
Giants Game
I will be having lunch on June 28th on the patio of MoMos across from AT&T starting about 11 am before attending the Rockies game that afternoon. If your in the area stop and say hello
Saturday, June 17, 2017
Friday, June 2, 2017
It's About Time
I know it has been a while since my last blog. I want thank all of you for letting me know how you miss my comments. There haven't been any emails but I know in your heart your thinking of me. I have just been very busy with three other very important projects and at my age I don't get as much done during the day as I used to.
Will Stanford Save Us Again?
It was in the late 1970s when a genius named Bill Walsh came out of Stanford and within a couple of years took a 2-12 49er football team to the Super Bowl Championship. The Niners now have John Lynch another Stanford product trying to bring the Santa Clara based team back to respectability which I think he will do within a couple of years. The Giants are looking at a Stanford product bringing up Austin Slater from Sacramento to finally solve the left field problem. An injured hand from winter ball has slowed his process but now he is back to full health and his record shows he might be the real thing. Lets hope that Stanford can save the Giants like they have the 49ers.
The Giants --- My Thoughts
I guess with age I don't take baseball as serious as I used to. I remember when I was very young I would cry myself to sleep after listening to the 'old walnut farmer' Jack MacDonald describe another Seals loss. I have learned that it is tough to stay in contention every year. The Giants management has done a marvelous job with the help of commissioner Bud Selig to win three World Series titles plus usually being in the race to the final week.
The management blew it this year and so did I. The collapse should not have been a surprise. The Mission Bay team had the worst record in baseball last year from the All Star game on. But who did management blame? Who else but Santiago Casillla for having the worst closing record in the game. To solve the problem they signed a closer Mark Melancon for something in the range of 1/4 billion to solve the problem. They didn't realize the Giants had to score a few runs in order for him to save a game a little detail they forgot. He participated in the World Baseball Fiasco and of course came up with an arm problem that put him on the DL. Those who read my comments know that I am not a fan of the world championships so every time a player goes on the DL who played in the series I am going to blame those games. Prove me wrong. You also noticed after those games that Giants shortstop Crawford could not run the bases without pulling a muscle and going on the DL.
Perhaps the Giants finally realize they need batters who can hit. This blog has pointed it out for a couple of years. The Giants use the defensive shift against teams very successfully. Now it is being used against them and ruining a few players careers.
The team has very little chance of reaching .500 for the year. They will battle San Diego for last place. Will the Black and Orange use the NBA strategy of tanking some game so they can get a higher draft choice? Not a bad idea!
The Giants called up a slugging first baseman Shaw from AA to Sacramento. If he can produce will he be taking over for Belt before the 49er first regular season game under the new regime? It was believed that by this time in his career Belt would be a solid .280 hitter to go with his 20+ homeruns. He is currently hitting around.240 and always walking to dugout after striking out.
The one big joy about the Giants is seeing Crawford and Panik field their positions. It is really appreciated when I see other teams play. Panik has been a victim of the shift and his batting average has tumbled from .300 for a couple years to around .240. Bochy has benched him a few game to look at other second baseman. Arroyo was very impressive at second. I think the Giants are a better team when Panik plays but he being a New Yorker, would fit right in at second based for the Yankees with their short right field fence. However the Giants would like to have from the Yankees is a player like Mickey Mantle who is not available. I am not sure the pin strippers have anyone else the Giants could use.
It is sad to see an all star year by Buster Posey go to waste. Perhaps you saw a couple of weeks ago he get a single to center field only have Neven the third base coach hold the runner from second at third. As TV showed Posey was livid! It was right after that that Posey started hitting homeruns. Where do the Giants train their third base coaches? One excuse for Nevin is the fact he getting very little experience at third this year.
Matt Cain has done a nice job. He has surprised me but at his age look for the DL a little after the All Star game. Ty Blach looks like a winner. Moore is good some days and bad others which is no surprise. Cueto still having fun win or lose and Bumgarner threw for the first time the other day and looked bad. I was asked why I didn't use his injury as an excuse for the Giants. The reason being he started four games and they lost all four. No big loss!
Slater, Orlando Caliyte and Arroyo are prospects that might make the second half of the season more interesting.
Thank Goodness for the Warriors
The Warriors are three games away from winning another NBA title with a 16-0 playoff record. Can they do it? I think they will be disappointed if they don't. If they do lose a game then win the title they will be the first championship team to celebrate by throwing Champaign bottles against the wall in disgust.
A couple of our readers from the south will be flying to Oakland Sunday to take in the game. I hope they see a blow out like the second game last year which the Warriors won by 33 points.
This week brings backs memories attending the 5th game of the NBA 1967 World Championship Playoffs at the Cow Palace. The Warriors lost to the Wilt Chamberlin 76ers that evening and eventually the series 4-2
Oh how I loved this team pictured at the right that included Rick Berry, Nate Thurman, Jeff Mullins, Joe Ellis Al Attles and Bill Sharman a great coach.
They were young and had the makings of a great future. Then tragedy hit. Franklin Mieuli the team owner was in his bath tub in the middle of some ocean and at the same time Pat Boone sold a few extra records. Result Boone offered Berry $75,000 to play for the Oakland Oaks of the ABL. Rick took the money and chances of an NBA title went down the drain. Finally after years, Rick retuned to the Warriors to lead them to the 1975 title. If Rick had stayed there would be a lot more championship flags decorating Oracle Arena.
Berry would have even been a greater player in the 3 point era along with Joe Ellis the ex USF star.
The teams in this era did not have the big television money. The 76ers carried only eight players on their roster to afford Wilt. Oh how the world of basketball has changed.
Join Us
I will be having an early 11 am lunch with my cousin Joan Leehane on the patio of MoMos before the Giants gamed on Wednesday June 28. If your walking along the Bay or are planning on attending the game stop and say hello.
Will Stanford Save Us Again?
It was in the late 1970s when a genius named Bill Walsh came out of Stanford and within a couple of years took a 2-12 49er football team to the Super Bowl Championship. The Niners now have John Lynch another Stanford product trying to bring the Santa Clara based team back to respectability which I think he will do within a couple of years. The Giants are looking at a Stanford product bringing up Austin Slater from Sacramento to finally solve the left field problem. An injured hand from winter ball has slowed his process but now he is back to full health and his record shows he might be the real thing. Lets hope that Stanford can save the Giants like they have the 49ers.
The Giants --- My Thoughts
I guess with age I don't take baseball as serious as I used to. I remember when I was very young I would cry myself to sleep after listening to the 'old walnut farmer' Jack MacDonald describe another Seals loss. I have learned that it is tough to stay in contention every year. The Giants management has done a marvelous job with the help of commissioner Bud Selig to win three World Series titles plus usually being in the race to the final week.
The management blew it this year and so did I. The collapse should not have been a surprise. The Mission Bay team had the worst record in baseball last year from the All Star game on. But who did management blame? Who else but Santiago Casillla for having the worst closing record in the game. To solve the problem they signed a closer Mark Melancon for something in the range of 1/4 billion to solve the problem. They didn't realize the Giants had to score a few runs in order for him to save a game a little detail they forgot. He participated in the World Baseball Fiasco and of course came up with an arm problem that put him on the DL. Those who read my comments know that I am not a fan of the world championships so every time a player goes on the DL who played in the series I am going to blame those games. Prove me wrong. You also noticed after those games that Giants shortstop Crawford could not run the bases without pulling a muscle and going on the DL.
Perhaps the Giants finally realize they need batters who can hit. This blog has pointed it out for a couple of years. The Giants use the defensive shift against teams very successfully. Now it is being used against them and ruining a few players careers.
The team has very little chance of reaching .500 for the year. They will battle San Diego for last place. Will the Black and Orange use the NBA strategy of tanking some game so they can get a higher draft choice? Not a bad idea!
The Giants called up a slugging first baseman Shaw from AA to Sacramento. If he can produce will he be taking over for Belt before the 49er first regular season game under the new regime? It was believed that by this time in his career Belt would be a solid .280 hitter to go with his 20+ homeruns. He is currently hitting around.240 and always walking to dugout after striking out.
The one big joy about the Giants is seeing Crawford and Panik field their positions. It is really appreciated when I see other teams play. Panik has been a victim of the shift and his batting average has tumbled from .300 for a couple years to around .240. Bochy has benched him a few game to look at other second baseman. Arroyo was very impressive at second. I think the Giants are a better team when Panik plays but he being a New Yorker, would fit right in at second based for the Yankees with their short right field fence. However the Giants would like to have from the Yankees is a player like Mickey Mantle who is not available. I am not sure the pin strippers have anyone else the Giants could use.
It is sad to see an all star year by Buster Posey go to waste. Perhaps you saw a couple of weeks ago he get a single to center field only have Neven the third base coach hold the runner from second at third. As TV showed Posey was livid! It was right after that that Posey started hitting homeruns. Where do the Giants train their third base coaches? One excuse for Nevin is the fact he getting very little experience at third this year.
Matt Cain has done a nice job. He has surprised me but at his age look for the DL a little after the All Star game. Ty Blach looks like a winner. Moore is good some days and bad others which is no surprise. Cueto still having fun win or lose and Bumgarner threw for the first time the other day and looked bad. I was asked why I didn't use his injury as an excuse for the Giants. The reason being he started four games and they lost all four. No big loss!
Slater, Orlando Caliyte and Arroyo are prospects that might make the second half of the season more interesting.
Thank Goodness for the Warriors
The Warriors are three games away from winning another NBA title with a 16-0 playoff record. Can they do it? I think they will be disappointed if they don't. If they do lose a game then win the title they will be the first championship team to celebrate by throwing Champaign bottles against the wall in disgust.
A couple of our readers from the south will be flying to Oakland Sunday to take in the game. I hope they see a blow out like the second game last year which the Warriors won by 33 points.This week brings backs memories attending the 5th game of the NBA 1967 World Championship Playoffs at the Cow Palace. The Warriors lost to the Wilt Chamberlin 76ers that evening and eventually the series 4-2
Oh how I loved this team pictured at the right that included Rick Berry, Nate Thurman, Jeff Mullins, Joe Ellis Al Attles and Bill Sharman a great coach.
They were young and had the makings of a great future. Then tragedy hit. Franklin Mieuli the team owner was in his bath tub in the middle of some ocean and at the same time Pat Boone sold a few extra records. Result Boone offered Berry $75,000 to play for the Oakland Oaks of the ABL. Rick took the money and chances of an NBA title went down the drain. Finally after years, Rick retuned to the Warriors to lead them to the 1975 title. If Rick had stayed there would be a lot more championship flags decorating Oracle Arena.
Berry would have even been a greater player in the 3 point era along with Joe Ellis the ex USF star.
The teams in this era did not have the big television money. The 76ers carried only eight players on their roster to afford Wilt. Oh how the world of basketball has changed.
Join Us
I will be having an early 11 am lunch with my cousin Joan Leehane on the patio of MoMos before the Giants gamed on Wednesday June 28. If your walking along the Bay or are planning on attending the game stop and say hello.
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