Let the Seasons Begin!

Giants

I know this is late.  But I did not know who was playing for the Giants.  Wanted to see what some of these new players looked like.  Seems the team was looking in the mirror.

My thoughts on some of the players I recognize:

Duggar - the lead off man.  Still think his status is overblown.  I said this last year and still have not seen much to change my mind.

Panik - Had a tremendous spring. Hope he didn't leave all of his hits in AZ.  Went hitless in the opener although hit one ball hard that the shift prevented from being a hit.

Longoria - will hit a few hone runs but don't count on him to get that two out rbi single.  Paying him too much money to have Sandoval take over.

Crawford-  Great in the field but horrible at the bat.  If he could only hit a consistent .260.  Last year he hit about .450 in May and June that propelled the Giants into the race that they did not deserve to be in.  Hit about .150 after that and Bochy always had him in a key batting position 4th, 5th and 6th which is one of the reason the Giants did not score many runs in the last part of the season.

Posey -  His surgery during the season was to help him become a power hitter again.  Has not happened.  They really need him to be a threat for 20 home runs.  Still may happen but it will take awhile.

Generally speaking none of the additions have impressed me but it really is too early to make an opinion.  Hell, I don't even know their names!

Pitchers

Bumgarner -  Considering that KC belted him in the last spring game, he pitched a very good game in the opener but when a team can't score you can't win.

Holland -  I guess he is the number 2 starter.  He needs 4 or 5 runs to win.

Samardzija -  After watching him in his last spring game, the Giants are kidding themselves.

Rodriguez -  Will always give you a good start.

Pomeranz -  Your guess is as good as mine.

Relievers look pretty solid but Melancon salary is the only reason he is still around.

It will be cheaper for the Giants to buy their own Greyhound bus for all the round trips the players will make between  SF  and Sacramento this year.

It's a long season so there is still hope a few young players will develop which looks like it is the major goal of the team this season.

The Warriors

The 6 month 16 team NBA elimination tournament is about over and the season is about to begin.  Still a few games to go but it looks like the Warriors will be healthy.  It takes 16 wins to be NBA champs.  A couple years ago the Warriors only needed 17 games to win 16.  That won't be the case this year.  It will be tough for the Warriors and any other team to win it.

The Warriors need to remain healthy and if Thompson can be on his game there is not an NBA team that can beat the California team in a 7 game series.

The 49ers

They now have signed four running backs.  The way the Niners backs get hurt they will need 10 to complete the season.  If they only have  four,  they will searching the waiver wire before the first pre-season game.

NCAA Bracket

My exposure to college basketball this season inlcuded seeing one half of the Gonzaga - USF basketball game on television.  Any game I might have wanted to see was on the Pac12 network which I do not get so I had very little interest.

In my bracket I won 37 of the first 48 games and had 12 teams in the sweet 16. My final four included Michigan, Michigan State, North Carolina and Tennessee with the Wolverines beating the Tar Heels in the final game.  If my wife Barbara a Michigan State grad was still alive, I would have never gotten away with picking Michigan and probably would have taken the team from East Lansing.

Home Runs

The Dodgers hit 8 home runs in their first game.  Your choice - Over or Under the Giants will hit 7.5 home runs in April

The White Elephant

Is the new Chase Arena a white elephant with the New Green Deal that would have eliminate plane flights in 12 years?  Since then, the Democratic socialist candidates for President all endorsed the New Green Plan until it came up for a vote in the Senate when none of them voted for it.  Guess they figured what they have planed would have eliminated the Armed Forces, baseball, the NBA, the states California and Texas whose land would have been needed to develop Solar farms.  One plan out of UC Davis would have permitted two air flights in a lifetime if you had a good enough reason.  The problem the Warriors will face is not  the Green New Deal but filling those seats after the first two years.  The team will  be older, the price steep and remember that San Francisco has never successfully supported an NBA team.