Say what you want about the Giants offense: they can't drive in runs, they don't have enough power, their players fantasy-wise are about as enticing as the idea of Mo'Nique doing a spread for Playboy magazine. (In actuality, I really like Mo'Nique as an actress; I just want to see her clothed...she's not my type body-wise.)
I understand as a Giants fan the sentiment. However, while you can say those things about the Giants' overall offense, you certainly can't say those things of one player:
Pablo Sandoval.
On paper, the progress Sandoval has made at the plate has been incredible.
First off, I know some people at first glance may not be too impressed with his overall numbers. While his batting average (.373), OPS (1.031) and wOBA (.448) are incredible, the obvious statistics don't jump at you. He has only three home runs and nine RBI (granted RBI are kind of hard to get when you have Edgar Renteria and Aaron Rowand batting ahead of you, but for now, let's use the stat), and he has gotten lucky with a .389 BABIP (which is not sustainable if you consider the league average is .296 currently).
If you look at the whole profile this year though, and especially look at where Sandoval was as a hitter at this time last year, the progress he has made is as obvious as a Goodfellas picture in an Italian restaurant.
Here are Sandoval's splits during the month of March/April the past two seasons.
2009: .307 average, one home run, six RBI, three BB, 12 SO, .350 OBP, .790 OPS, 0.25 BB/K , .341 wOBA, 1.94 GB/FB, 5.9 percent HR/FB, 10.4 wRC.
2010: .373 average, three home run, nine RBI, 10 BB, eight SO, .441 OBP, 1.031 OPS, 1.25 BB/K, .448 wOBA, 1.38 GB/FB, 11.5 percent HR/FB, 20.1 wRC.
Sit with those numbers for a second. They definitely put a wrench in all those naysayers' arguments who felt Sandoval going into last year was nothing more than a glorified Randall Simon.
As you can see, Sandoval has improved in every statistical category from this time last year. Three numbers jump out the most: the BB/K ratio, the GB/FB ratio and the HR/FB ratio.
In terms of the BB/K ratio, Sandoval has made an incredible adjustment at the plate in terms of patience. At this time in 2009, Sandoval was known for swinging at pitches at his head (and sometimes making contact with them).
That hasn't been the case anymore. His walk percentage has improved and sits at 10.8 percent going into today's game against Colorado (his walk percentage was only 3.8 percent last year).
Yet the strikeout percentage and BB/K ratio, despite the improvement in walks, is still extraordinary. A guy who has a BB/K ratio over 0.50 is a solid player. A guy who has it over one? Chances are that isn't sustainable in the post-Bonds era unless his name rhymes with "Cool Hose". Nonetheless, it is still noteworthy (if temporary) considering the kind of hitter Sandoval was when he first broke into the league in 2008 (when his BB/K ratio was projected in the 0.40-0.60 range because of his lack of ability to take a walk in the minors).
What has been the reason for the decreased strikeout percentage? Sandoval is swinging less this year, but is making better contact.
Here's the evidence: his O-swing percentage (swinging at pitches outside of the strikezone) is 39.2 percent (down from 41.8 percent last year) and his swing percentage is 51.8 percent (down from 58.2 percent last year). However, he had made better contact on pitches in and out of the strikezone (77.5 and 90.9 percent, respectively, totaling a 84.5 percent contact rate; in 2009, those percentages were 75.2, 87.7 and 82.4 percent, respectively).
A lot of Giants fans, including myself, said that if Sandoval wanted to be less like Jeff Francoeur and more like Pujols or Miguel Cabrera, Sandoval was going to have be more disciplined at the plate. He has done that since last year, and especially since June of last season when his BB/K ratio was over 0.80 every month except for July (when it was 0.29).
When you look at the GB/FB and HR/FB ratios, they aren't exactly impressive either at first glance if you compare him to Cabrera or Pujols. Yet Sandoval, who primarily is known for hitting balls on the ground, has certainly gotten better in terms of putting the ball in the air, and putting some power behind it.
If you examined his HR/FB ratios last year, he sported a 5.9 and 7.4 percent HR/FB ratio in the first two months of play (closer to Eugenio Velez to be frank). The problem? He just hit too many balls on the ground. His groundball rate was 53.2 percent and 53.1 percent the first two months of play, and his line drive rate was under 20 percent and his flyball rate was under 34 percent both months in 2009.
This year has been a slightly different story. While his line drive rate could be better (17.3 percent), his flyball rate is up (34.7) and even better, he is making those flyballs count as evidenced by his HR/FB ratio (11.5). And, if Sandoval can break out in June, August and September/October this season like he did last season in those categories, then Sandoval not only will be a legitimate All-Star, he will be an MVP candidate by the end of the year (an "Inglorious Basterds for Best Picture at the Academy Awards" longshot candidate, but candidate nonetheless; it's hard to compete with Pujols).
Sandoval is far from perfect. His O-swing percentage is still far too high (despite his ability to make contact outside the strike zone, swinging out of the strike zone just makes pitcher's jobs easier) and defensively he hasn't show much improvement in 2010. He has committed three errors this year and his UZR/150 currently stands at negative-22.7 at third base. While he still can improve, it probably would be in the Giants' best interest in the long-run if Sandoval moved to first.
(Though that is certainly hard to do with Aubrey Huff blocking him there...curses "veteran" status! Brian Sabean organizes this team like a Baltimore stevedore union...sorry for "The Wire" reference; it couldn't be helped.)
Despite those negatives, as a Giants fan, you have to be happy with where the "Panda" is at in terms of his career. He is still incredibly young (only 23 years old) and he has shown a strong ability to improve his hitting skills and approach from month to month. If he continues that progress, he'll make it easier for Giants fans to forget about Barry Bonds and the Rowand contact (not completely of course).
There still is a long way to go this season for Sandoval and the Giants. However, it will be important to pay attention to him as the season continues. With Huff most likely a guy that will underwhelm in the cleanup hole, and so many questions concerning this Giants lineup (How long will Nate Schierholtz carry this hot streak? Will John Bowker play? Can Freddy Sanchez be the "All-Star Sanchez" pre-trade?) Sandoval not only will be counted on to carry this team offensively, but even more so than last year.
Judging by this first of month of play, he certainly is capable of doing it.
Showing posts with label 2009. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2009. Show all posts
Friday, April 30, 2010
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Retro B/R Article: 10 Reasons Why Being a Giants Fan Is Better Than Being a Dodgers Fan
This probably happened to be the craziest article I ever wrote for Bleacher Report. Seriously, I don't do drugs, but you would think I'm a meth addict after reading this thing. A lot of the stuff is just so "inside," I don't think any reader could possibly understand the references I make in this article.
I quote Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Dodgers Dogs, Leo Durocher and Fred Merkle in this piece. If that doesn't sound like a drug-addled piece, I don't know what does. If anything, this piece probably gives Lewis Carroll's "Alice In Wonderland" and William S. Burroughs' "Naked Lunch" a run for their money in terms of "Wow, what the hell was this guy taking when he wrote this?" status.
But for the record...no...I was not on drugs when I wrote this.
From Bleacher Report
It is one of the best rivalries in baseball, up there with the Boston Red Sox-New York Yankees and St. Louis Cardinals-Chicago Cubs rivalries.
Whenever the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers play, all baseball fans in the West Coast (and even some in New York) turn their eyes and ears to the Bay Area or Southern California.
Not many rivalries generate as much discussion and hatred between opposing fans like the Dodgers-Giants.
Not many rivalries in sports, let alone baseball, are as even record-wise as well.
However, this is not an article on which team is better on the field or historically.
This instead is a thesis, a proclamation of 10 well-justified (and maybe somewhat uncanny) reasons on why cheering for the boys in black and orange in the Bay is a whole lot better than rooting for the bums in blue and white down in Hollywood.
So, please as you continue reading, take these theses with consideration (or if you're a Dodgers fan, take them seriously and to heart because they are aimed at you).
1. Cheering for the Dodgers is unpatriotic.
The Giants were actually called the New York "Gothams" from 1883 to 1885, but they developed the nickname "Giants" after their owner and manager Jim Mutrie used to refer to his players as his "Giants" after wins, and thus the nickname stuck.
The name "Giants" correlates so much with America. "Giants" represent strength, courage, and fortitude.
Furthermore, the Giants name is also the nickname of the football New York Giants, which for a while was the exact name of the Giants baseball team until 1958 when they moved to San Francisco and changed from the New York Giants to the San Francisco Giants.
Even more signs to the Giants' connection to the football counterpart being patriotic? The football New York Giants' colors are red, white and blue, which are the colors of the American flag.
The Dodgers, on the other hand, do not have such a patriotic connection.
While the nickname originated from the term "Trolley Dodgers," the most well-known kind of "Dodger" in American history is a draft "Dodger" e.g. a U.S. citizen who skips out of the country to avoid military service.
The draft "Dodgers" were most prevalent during the Vietnam War, an era where not only the draft "Dodgers" were sticking it to America, but the baseball "Dodgers" were as well.
The Dodgers took the NL Pennant in 1966 and 1974, and studies are being finalized that prove the Dodgers' success in baseball at the time was the main reason why there were so many draft "Dodgers" during the Vietnam War.
Furthermore, the Dodgers colors are blue and white, which is the color of the Finnish hockey team that almost beat the beloved "Miracle On Ice" team in the Gold Medal game in the 1980 Winter Olympics.
Thank God Mark Eruzione and company came through. If the Finnish team won, the Dodgers would have as much trouble proving they belong in America as Danny Almonte did trying to prove he was only 12 years old in the Little League World Series.
2. Giants still lead the all-time head-to-head series.
I don't want to hear "Well, the Dodgers have won more since both teams moved to California" hoopla.
I don't want to hear the Dodgers won more World Series titles or pennants.
Overall series head to head: Giants, 1,156. Dodgers, 1,134. (With 17 ties).
Until I see the Dodgers pass by in the head-to-head, the Giants are the better team. No arguments
accepted.
3. Roger Craig was cooler than Tommy Lasorda.
Roger Craig had cool phrases like "Hum Baby" and got the most out of guys like Robbie Thompson, Kevin Mitchell, and of course, the dynamic duo of Matt Williams and Will "The Thrill" Clark.
In addition, Craig would have never been knocked down by a foul ball like Lasorda was in the All-Star game. It is heavily theorized that if Craig was coaching third base and the ball came to him, he would snatch the ball, smash it in his palm and eat it. That's how cool he was.
All Tommy Lasorda really had was a Sega Genesis video game that wasn't that fun to play, and had a weird "pseudo-drawn" portrait of himself on the cover of the box sporting a Sega Sports cap.
Studies have shown that Lasorda's video game cover picture was responsible for 75 percent of children's nightmares in the United States in 1989 shortly after its release on the market.
4. The Giants' former "steroid-riddled" left fielder is cleaner than the Dodgers' current "steroid-riddled" left fielder.
Remember Dodger fans; Barry Bonds was never suspended for steroid use while he played.
Never mind that there were no steroid rules in place while Bonds was in action.
Never mind that there was heavy evidence that he did indeed use "steroid products" from BALCO.
Never mind that his head grew like Ken Griffey Jr.'s in The Simpsons after Griffey drank that "Wonder Tonic" Mr. Burns gave him as a replacement for booze.
In this stat-driven age, it is only the numbers that count.
Number of games Bonds missed due to steroid suspension: zero.
Number of games Manny Ramirez missed due to steroid suspension: 50.
Furthermore, Ramirez has built on this "steroid-hoopla" celebrity as evidenced by his "Mannywood" fan section in left field.
What did Barry's steroid celebrity produce? He catapulted the ESPN careers of Mark Fainaru-Wada,
Pedro Gomez and Roger Cossack.
I'd say the results of Barry's celebrity are more honorable.
5. The guy who left the Dodgers for the Giants did more damage than the guys who left the Giants for the Dodgers.
One of the worst moments in my life?
Hands down, former Giants second baseman and 2000 MVP Jeff Kent and his press conference where he cried because he "always dreamed of playing for the Dodgers."
Things got even worse when our former ace, Jason Schmidt, left for Los Angeles the season after Kent signed with the Dodgers (though this ended up being a good thing for the Giants because Schmidt was at the end of the road career-wise and the Dodgers vastly overpaid for him. Thus, taking him off our hands was basically killing two birds with one stone for us).
However, despite Kent and Schmidt's crossover to Southern California, they didn't do much damage against the Giants.
The real double-crossing that did damage in this rivalry was when longtime Dodger player and manager Leo Durocher left the Dodgers midway through the 1948 season to manage the rival Giants.
The reason for his leaving? Dodgers ownership wasn't happy with the results of Durocher's managing, even though he compiled 738 wins and only 565 losses in eight-and-a-half seasons, which included capturing the NL Pennant in 1941.
So to stick it to his former team, Durocher managed the Giants in seven-and-a-half seasons to two pennants, a World Series title in 1954 and the single most devastating moment in Dodgers history:
The 1951 Bobby Thomson homer off of Ralph Branca, e.g. "The Shot Heard Around the World."
Kent leaving to the Dodgers looks pretty tame in comparison to what Durocher did to his former team.
Giants nation has been thankful for Durocher's decision since.
6. The Giants' famous "goat" has a better nickname than the Dodgers' famous "goat."
In 1908, Fred Merkle hit the game-winning base hit against the Chicago Cubs to win the NL Pennant.
Unfortunately for the Giants, Merkle, so caught up in celebration, forgot to touch first base in the process. The Cubs put out Merkle, the game continued, the Cubs won and Merkle was forever christened with the name Fred "Bonehead" Merkle in the press.
There will never be a nickname as good as "Bonehead" in the history of baseball.
The Dodgers' famous "goat", Ralph Branca, doesn't have a nickname (or any nickname I can think of) that can touch Merkle's.
Whether that is a good or bad thing is still to be determined, but I'm putting that on the list anyways.
Perhaps though the nickname Manny "I swear the estrogen stuff that was clearing out my system wasn't going to be used for steroids" Ramirez might surpass Fred "Bonehead" Merkle someday.
7. A game at AT&T Park is a better experience than a trip to Dodgers Stadium.
Going to a game at AT&T Park is more of a delight than a chore. You can take the BART train into the city. You can take the MUNI transit to the stadium. You can walk around the downtown Embarcadero, observing the beautiful, seaside view.
You get treated to a wonderful, old-fashioned park that is also technologically modern at the same time (You get Wi-Fi, for chrissakes!).
There isn't a lot to not like about AT&T Park. The overall experience can't be beat.
However, while Dodgers Stadium itself is nice, the fans at Chavez Ravine are incredibly rowdy and you basically fear your life if you're an opposing fan walking through the parking lot (the only worse place is the Oakland Coliseum during football season. If you're an opposing fan, you better have life insurance).
Furthermore, you have to deal with the notorious LA traffic.
If Larry David and the show Curb Your Enthusiasm taught us anything, the best way to get to a Dodgers baseball game is to pick up a hooker and put her in the passenger's seat so you can ride in the carpool lane to the stadium.
Does that sound like a relaxing way to travel to the ballpark?
8. The food is better on fans' mental psyches at AT&T Park than Dodger Stadium.
AT&T Park's staple food, Garlic Fries, only gives you bad breath.
Dodger stadium's "Dodger Dogs" make adolescent males self-conscious about certain regions on their body.
You decide which is worse.
9. J. Peterman Doesn't like Los Angeles.
J. Peterman of the J. Peterman catalogue said on the Comcast Sportsnet show, The San Francisco Chronicle Live, that he doesn't like living in Los Angeles because of the people. And, with that assumption, it can be safely said Peterman doesn't like the Dodgers either.
It is unknown how Peterman made the interview after living so long in privacy in Burma, and whether or not he returned to Burma after the interview was conducted.
(For the record, everyone knows the country of Burma is more widely known as Myanmar, but it will always be Burma to Peterman)
It is known however that he still mourns Elaine's dead friend, Susie, a former lover of his.
10. The moments for Giants fans of Dodgers-Giants games are just better.
Bobby Thomsen's "Shot Heard Around the World," coming back to take the pennant despite being 13.5 games behind the Dodgers in 1951, sweeping the Dodgers in 1997 to take the NL West, Brian Johnson's game-winning home run, Eddie Murray grounding into the key double play, "Hum Baby," 1954 and 1962 in general.
There are a lot of great moments for Giants fans to remember when it comes to this rivalry.
As for Dodgers fans and their best moment?
Benny "The Jet" Rodriguez stealing home against the Giants in the movie The Sandlot.
And that wasn't real by the way.
After all, who pinch-runs at third?
I quote Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Dodgers Dogs, Leo Durocher and Fred Merkle in this piece. If that doesn't sound like a drug-addled piece, I don't know what does. If anything, this piece probably gives Lewis Carroll's "Alice In Wonderland" and William S. Burroughs' "Naked Lunch" a run for their money in terms of "Wow, what the hell was this guy taking when he wrote this?" status.
But for the record...no...I was not on drugs when I wrote this.
From Bleacher Report
It is one of the best rivalries in baseball, up there with the Boston Red Sox-New York Yankees and St. Louis Cardinals-Chicago Cubs rivalries.
Whenever the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers play, all baseball fans in the West Coast (and even some in New York) turn their eyes and ears to the Bay Area or Southern California.
Not many rivalries generate as much discussion and hatred between opposing fans like the Dodgers-Giants.
Not many rivalries in sports, let alone baseball, are as even record-wise as well.
However, this is not an article on which team is better on the field or historically.
This instead is a thesis, a proclamation of 10 well-justified (and maybe somewhat uncanny) reasons on why cheering for the boys in black and orange in the Bay is a whole lot better than rooting for the bums in blue and white down in Hollywood.
So, please as you continue reading, take these theses with consideration (or if you're a Dodgers fan, take them seriously and to heart because they are aimed at you).
1. Cheering for the Dodgers is unpatriotic.
The Giants were actually called the New York "Gothams" from 1883 to 1885, but they developed the nickname "Giants" after their owner and manager Jim Mutrie used to refer to his players as his "Giants" after wins, and thus the nickname stuck.
The name "Giants" correlates so much with America. "Giants" represent strength, courage, and fortitude.
Furthermore, the Giants name is also the nickname of the football New York Giants, which for a while was the exact name of the Giants baseball team until 1958 when they moved to San Francisco and changed from the New York Giants to the San Francisco Giants.
Even more signs to the Giants' connection to the football counterpart being patriotic? The football New York Giants' colors are red, white and blue, which are the colors of the American flag.
The Dodgers, on the other hand, do not have such a patriotic connection.
While the nickname originated from the term "Trolley Dodgers," the most well-known kind of "Dodger" in American history is a draft "Dodger" e.g. a U.S. citizen who skips out of the country to avoid military service.
The draft "Dodgers" were most prevalent during the Vietnam War, an era where not only the draft "Dodgers" were sticking it to America, but the baseball "Dodgers" were as well.
The Dodgers took the NL Pennant in 1966 and 1974, and studies are being finalized that prove the Dodgers' success in baseball at the time was the main reason why there were so many draft "Dodgers" during the Vietnam War.
Furthermore, the Dodgers colors are blue and white, which is the color of the Finnish hockey team that almost beat the beloved "Miracle On Ice" team in the Gold Medal game in the 1980 Winter Olympics.
Thank God Mark Eruzione and company came through. If the Finnish team won, the Dodgers would have as much trouble proving they belong in America as Danny Almonte did trying to prove he was only 12 years old in the Little League World Series.
2. Giants still lead the all-time head-to-head series.
I don't want to hear "Well, the Dodgers have won more since both teams moved to California" hoopla.
I don't want to hear the Dodgers won more World Series titles or pennants.
Overall series head to head: Giants, 1,156. Dodgers, 1,134. (With 17 ties).
Until I see the Dodgers pass by in the head-to-head, the Giants are the better team. No arguments
accepted.
3. Roger Craig was cooler than Tommy Lasorda.
Roger Craig had cool phrases like "Hum Baby" and got the most out of guys like Robbie Thompson, Kevin Mitchell, and of course, the dynamic duo of Matt Williams and Will "The Thrill" Clark.
In addition, Craig would have never been knocked down by a foul ball like Lasorda was in the All-Star game. It is heavily theorized that if Craig was coaching third base and the ball came to him, he would snatch the ball, smash it in his palm and eat it. That's how cool he was.
All Tommy Lasorda really had was a Sega Genesis video game that wasn't that fun to play, and had a weird "pseudo-drawn" portrait of himself on the cover of the box sporting a Sega Sports cap.
Studies have shown that Lasorda's video game cover picture was responsible for 75 percent of children's nightmares in the United States in 1989 shortly after its release on the market.
4. The Giants' former "steroid-riddled" left fielder is cleaner than the Dodgers' current "steroid-riddled" left fielder.
Remember Dodger fans; Barry Bonds was never suspended for steroid use while he played.
Never mind that there were no steroid rules in place while Bonds was in action.
Never mind that there was heavy evidence that he did indeed use "steroid products" from BALCO.
Never mind that his head grew like Ken Griffey Jr.'s in The Simpsons after Griffey drank that "Wonder Tonic" Mr. Burns gave him as a replacement for booze.
In this stat-driven age, it is only the numbers that count.
Number of games Bonds missed due to steroid suspension: zero.
Number of games Manny Ramirez missed due to steroid suspension: 50.
Furthermore, Ramirez has built on this "steroid-hoopla" celebrity as evidenced by his "Mannywood" fan section in left field.
What did Barry's steroid celebrity produce? He catapulted the ESPN careers of Mark Fainaru-Wada,
Pedro Gomez and Roger Cossack.
I'd say the results of Barry's celebrity are more honorable.
5. The guy who left the Dodgers for the Giants did more damage than the guys who left the Giants for the Dodgers.
One of the worst moments in my life?
Hands down, former Giants second baseman and 2000 MVP Jeff Kent and his press conference where he cried because he "always dreamed of playing for the Dodgers."
Things got even worse when our former ace, Jason Schmidt, left for Los Angeles the season after Kent signed with the Dodgers (though this ended up being a good thing for the Giants because Schmidt was at the end of the road career-wise and the Dodgers vastly overpaid for him. Thus, taking him off our hands was basically killing two birds with one stone for us).
However, despite Kent and Schmidt's crossover to Southern California, they didn't do much damage against the Giants.
The real double-crossing that did damage in this rivalry was when longtime Dodger player and manager Leo Durocher left the Dodgers midway through the 1948 season to manage the rival Giants.
The reason for his leaving? Dodgers ownership wasn't happy with the results of Durocher's managing, even though he compiled 738 wins and only 565 losses in eight-and-a-half seasons, which included capturing the NL Pennant in 1941.
So to stick it to his former team, Durocher managed the Giants in seven-and-a-half seasons to two pennants, a World Series title in 1954 and the single most devastating moment in Dodgers history:
The 1951 Bobby Thomson homer off of Ralph Branca, e.g. "The Shot Heard Around the World."
Kent leaving to the Dodgers looks pretty tame in comparison to what Durocher did to his former team.
Giants nation has been thankful for Durocher's decision since.
6. The Giants' famous "goat" has a better nickname than the Dodgers' famous "goat."
In 1908, Fred Merkle hit the game-winning base hit against the Chicago Cubs to win the NL Pennant.
Unfortunately for the Giants, Merkle, so caught up in celebration, forgot to touch first base in the process. The Cubs put out Merkle, the game continued, the Cubs won and Merkle was forever christened with the name Fred "Bonehead" Merkle in the press.
There will never be a nickname as good as "Bonehead" in the history of baseball.
The Dodgers' famous "goat", Ralph Branca, doesn't have a nickname (or any nickname I can think of) that can touch Merkle's.
Whether that is a good or bad thing is still to be determined, but I'm putting that on the list anyways.
Perhaps though the nickname Manny "I swear the estrogen stuff that was clearing out my system wasn't going to be used for steroids" Ramirez might surpass Fred "Bonehead" Merkle someday.
7. A game at AT&T Park is a better experience than a trip to Dodgers Stadium.
Going to a game at AT&T Park is more of a delight than a chore. You can take the BART train into the city. You can take the MUNI transit to the stadium. You can walk around the downtown Embarcadero, observing the beautiful, seaside view.
You get treated to a wonderful, old-fashioned park that is also technologically modern at the same time (You get Wi-Fi, for chrissakes!).
There isn't a lot to not like about AT&T Park. The overall experience can't be beat.
However, while Dodgers Stadium itself is nice, the fans at Chavez Ravine are incredibly rowdy and you basically fear your life if you're an opposing fan walking through the parking lot (the only worse place is the Oakland Coliseum during football season. If you're an opposing fan, you better have life insurance).
Furthermore, you have to deal with the notorious LA traffic.
If Larry David and the show Curb Your Enthusiasm taught us anything, the best way to get to a Dodgers baseball game is to pick up a hooker and put her in the passenger's seat so you can ride in the carpool lane to the stadium.
Does that sound like a relaxing way to travel to the ballpark?
8. The food is better on fans' mental psyches at AT&T Park than Dodger Stadium.
AT&T Park's staple food, Garlic Fries, only gives you bad breath.
Dodger stadium's "Dodger Dogs" make adolescent males self-conscious about certain regions on their body.
You decide which is worse.
9. J. Peterman Doesn't like Los Angeles.
J. Peterman of the J. Peterman catalogue said on the Comcast Sportsnet show, The San Francisco Chronicle Live, that he doesn't like living in Los Angeles because of the people. And, with that assumption, it can be safely said Peterman doesn't like the Dodgers either.
It is unknown how Peterman made the interview after living so long in privacy in Burma, and whether or not he returned to Burma after the interview was conducted.
(For the record, everyone knows the country of Burma is more widely known as Myanmar, but it will always be Burma to Peterman)
It is known however that he still mourns Elaine's dead friend, Susie, a former lover of his.
10. The moments for Giants fans of Dodgers-Giants games are just better.
Bobby Thomsen's "Shot Heard Around the World," coming back to take the pennant despite being 13.5 games behind the Dodgers in 1951, sweeping the Dodgers in 1997 to take the NL West, Brian Johnson's game-winning home run, Eddie Murray grounding into the key double play, "Hum Baby," 1954 and 1962 in general.
There are a lot of great moments for Giants fans to remember when it comes to this rivalry.
As for Dodgers fans and their best moment?
Benny "The Jet" Rodriguez stealing home against the Giants in the movie The Sandlot.
And that wasn't real by the way.
After all, who pinch-runs at third?
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Retro B/R Article: Sorry Barry, But the San Francisco Giants' Ship Has Sailed Without You
I re-read this and for some reason, I strangely liked it. I figured it had everything: nostalgia with Bonds, analysis on why he shouldn't come back and a Seinfeld and Can't Hardly Wait reference. Seriously, that's the trifecta of sports blogging in my mind. Any time you can bring in George Castanza and Jennifer Love Hewitt in a Giants article is just unfathomable.
Anyways, at the time, there was a little bit of hoopla with the thought of bringing Barry Bonds back to solve the Giants' offensive woes. The move would have been an absolute disaster. Bonds hadn't played in a year and a half, and the Giants were finally building chemistry for the first time in over a decade. If Bonds was back, all of that would have been kiboshed in a second.
But, as the article states, I don't hate Barry. It's just that I don't want him back playing. He's not the same Bonds we once knew.
From Bleacher Report
After browsing on the blogosphere, I found this article on the Daily Dish, a SB Nation MLB trade rumors blog.
Basically, in summary, it is suggesting that if the San Francisco Giants are looking for an upgrade in power, they should look in their own backyard and sign Barry Bonds.
It is a very intriguing suggestion.
The Giants as of this moment are in a bind. Some fans and baseball experts feel that in order to be serious contenders, the Giants need to add another offensive player to solidify their lineup.
However, who to give away in order to acquire an offensive upgrade is a tough subject.
Jonathan Sanchez, an early candidate to be traded, has suddenly become harder to dangle. The difficulty is not because his trade value went down, as it did for most of the season.
On the contrary, his value has sky-rocketed since his no-hitter on July 10.
Now, that begs us to ask some questions:
Are the Giants willing to trade a guy who looks to be turning a corner?
Do the Giants want to get rid of a guy who could be something special down the road?
Therefore, it's inquiries like these that make it tough for the Giants to make a trade. They certainly have enticing players on the market that could garner some nice pieces in return.
Yet considering how well this team has played in the first half of this season, whether or not those players are worth trading away is a whole different animal altogether.
This is a franchise and general manager that is known for trading away good players who were on the cusp of reaching their peak, for over-hyped, underachievers, especially at the Trade Deadline.
To have that happen again this year would be absolutely devastating to Giants fans, especially considering all the struggles since 2005.
So in some ways, the Bonds signing is a win-win situation in theory.
The Giants don't have to trade anybody away. They can keep their roster intact and they would be
upgrading their offense at the same time.
Furthermore, as George Castanza said in the show Seinfeld, the Giants would "have hand" in the negotiations with Bonds.
After all, no other teams are exactly knocking on Bonds door with offer sheets. The Giants would be the only suitors, and thus, could afford to make strict demands.
Brian Sabean and Peter Magowan can make it very simple with Bonds:
"You want to play this year, you have to follow our rules and what we want. NO EXCEPTIONS. If you don't want to do that, you can forget about playing this season."
Bonds wouldn't have to be an everyday player either. Bonds splitting time with Nate Schierholtz could be a good thing.
Schierholtz won't have the pressure of having to deliver consistent performances at the plate game after game.
Instead, he can work on improving his plate patience, while Bonds, in platoon-outfielder duty, would provide the spark and power whenever he is filling in.
Yet the problem is that while all of this is great in theory, it never turns out like you want in the end.
Can Bonds handle being talked down to in negotiations after years of constantly being catered to?
Can Bonds learn to be a platoon outfielder after a career where he has always been "The Man"?
Is Bonds even baseball-ready after a year-and-a-half away from the game?
Sure, Bonds is in shape physically, but baseball is a game of skill. Can we be sure that those skills are still in tune after not seeing Major League pitching for so long?
If we were talking about this in April, I would be open to Bonds coming back. That way, the Giants could allow him to develop and get used to being in Major League lineup again.
However, this is July and to make things more pressing, the Giants are in a playoff race. The Giants can't afford to waste at-bats on a guy who is trying to get back in the swing of things after such a long lay-off.
This isn't like Pedro's signing with the Phillies. Pedro is a pitcher who can only affect his team every five days, if that.
Furthermore, he has only been out of baseball for less than a year (and this isn't even including his recent appearance playing for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic).
Bonds would be affecting his team on a more regular basis than Pedro, and to make matters worse, he is coming off a bigger lay-off.
Those two factors aren't exactly the recipe for success.
Unfortunately for Bonds, the ship has sailed on the chance to sign him this season. This team has gone through too much and has played too well for Sabean to make a crazy acquisition like signing Bonds at this point.
The Giants simply should stand pat with their current roster. If they are afraid that a trade may bite them in the butt, then the best thing to do would simply not make that trade at all.
This current team got them this far. Why can't they do it all the way?
In theory, a guy like Bonds would be perfect at this point. It is a very enticing scenario, even for those Giants fans who are glad the "Bonds Circus" is gone.
However, this isn't a video game. The chance that the Giants are going to get the Bonds of old is very slim, and if the Giants can't get the Bonds of old, then there is no point in wasting money, at-bats and possible wins on him.
Sorry Barry, but like Jennifer Love Hewitt in Can't Hardly Wait, we as Giants fans have learned better and moved on to different people.
And the results have been great since you've left. So you can understand why we don't want to go back, much like Hewitt didn't want to go back to that stupid, pompous jock.
Not that we're completely comparing him to you, though.
Anyways, at the time, there was a little bit of hoopla with the thought of bringing Barry Bonds back to solve the Giants' offensive woes. The move would have been an absolute disaster. Bonds hadn't played in a year and a half, and the Giants were finally building chemistry for the first time in over a decade. If Bonds was back, all of that would have been kiboshed in a second.
But, as the article states, I don't hate Barry. It's just that I don't want him back playing. He's not the same Bonds we once knew.
From Bleacher Report
After browsing on the blogosphere, I found this article on the Daily Dish, a SB Nation MLB trade rumors blog.
Basically, in summary, it is suggesting that if the San Francisco Giants are looking for an upgrade in power, they should look in their own backyard and sign Barry Bonds.
It is a very intriguing suggestion.
The Giants as of this moment are in a bind. Some fans and baseball experts feel that in order to be serious contenders, the Giants need to add another offensive player to solidify their lineup.
However, who to give away in order to acquire an offensive upgrade is a tough subject.
Jonathan Sanchez, an early candidate to be traded, has suddenly become harder to dangle. The difficulty is not because his trade value went down, as it did for most of the season.
On the contrary, his value has sky-rocketed since his no-hitter on July 10.
Now, that begs us to ask some questions:
Are the Giants willing to trade a guy who looks to be turning a corner?
Do the Giants want to get rid of a guy who could be something special down the road?
Therefore, it's inquiries like these that make it tough for the Giants to make a trade. They certainly have enticing players on the market that could garner some nice pieces in return.
Yet considering how well this team has played in the first half of this season, whether or not those players are worth trading away is a whole different animal altogether.
This is a franchise and general manager that is known for trading away good players who were on the cusp of reaching their peak, for over-hyped, underachievers, especially at the Trade Deadline.
To have that happen again this year would be absolutely devastating to Giants fans, especially considering all the struggles since 2005.
So in some ways, the Bonds signing is a win-win situation in theory.
The Giants don't have to trade anybody away. They can keep their roster intact and they would be
upgrading their offense at the same time.
Furthermore, as George Castanza said in the show Seinfeld, the Giants would "have hand" in the negotiations with Bonds.
After all, no other teams are exactly knocking on Bonds door with offer sheets. The Giants would be the only suitors, and thus, could afford to make strict demands.
Brian Sabean and Peter Magowan can make it very simple with Bonds:
"You want to play this year, you have to follow our rules and what we want. NO EXCEPTIONS. If you don't want to do that, you can forget about playing this season."
Bonds wouldn't have to be an everyday player either. Bonds splitting time with Nate Schierholtz could be a good thing.
Schierholtz won't have the pressure of having to deliver consistent performances at the plate game after game.
Instead, he can work on improving his plate patience, while Bonds, in platoon-outfielder duty, would provide the spark and power whenever he is filling in.
Yet the problem is that while all of this is great in theory, it never turns out like you want in the end.
Can Bonds handle being talked down to in negotiations after years of constantly being catered to?
Can Bonds learn to be a platoon outfielder after a career where he has always been "The Man"?
Is Bonds even baseball-ready after a year-and-a-half away from the game?
Sure, Bonds is in shape physically, but baseball is a game of skill. Can we be sure that those skills are still in tune after not seeing Major League pitching for so long?
If we were talking about this in April, I would be open to Bonds coming back. That way, the Giants could allow him to develop and get used to being in Major League lineup again.
However, this is July and to make things more pressing, the Giants are in a playoff race. The Giants can't afford to waste at-bats on a guy who is trying to get back in the swing of things after such a long lay-off.
This isn't like Pedro's signing with the Phillies. Pedro is a pitcher who can only affect his team every five days, if that.
Furthermore, he has only been out of baseball for less than a year (and this isn't even including his recent appearance playing for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic).
Bonds would be affecting his team on a more regular basis than Pedro, and to make matters worse, he is coming off a bigger lay-off.
Those two factors aren't exactly the recipe for success.
Unfortunately for Bonds, the ship has sailed on the chance to sign him this season. This team has gone through too much and has played too well for Sabean to make a crazy acquisition like signing Bonds at this point.
The Giants simply should stand pat with their current roster. If they are afraid that a trade may bite them in the butt, then the best thing to do would simply not make that trade at all.
This current team got them this far. Why can't they do it all the way?
In theory, a guy like Bonds would be perfect at this point. It is a very enticing scenario, even for those Giants fans who are glad the "Bonds Circus" is gone.
However, this isn't a video game. The chance that the Giants are going to get the Bonds of old is very slim, and if the Giants can't get the Bonds of old, then there is no point in wasting money, at-bats and possible wins on him.
Sorry Barry, but like Jennifer Love Hewitt in Can't Hardly Wait, we as Giants fans have learned better and moved on to different people.
And the results have been great since you've left. So you can understand why we don't want to go back, much like Hewitt didn't want to go back to that stupid, pompous jock.
Not that we're completely comparing him to you, though.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Retro B/R Article: Jonathan Sanchez's No-Hitter Reminds an Estranged Giants Fan What Fandom Is Like
This is one of the pieces I'm really proud of and unfortunately, it never really circulated as much as I really wanted it to. The article only got 334 reads, and I find that disappointing, especially when I've had other stuff that's gotten 1,000 or more reads but aren't as personal or aren't as good in all honesty.
Of course, I have nobody to blame but myself for this. I made the mistake of publishing the story immediately after the game and that killed me because everyone was putting up a write up about Sanchez that night. So, a personal story like mine gets lost in the shuffle or quick write-ups because every Bleacher Report writer knew Sanchez was going to get a lot of hits that night.
Oh well...that's the nature of the biz. I will say this though, re-reading this, I still wouldn't change a thing. One of my friends remarked that of all the stories I wrote on Bleacher Report, this was his favorite one. I think stuff gets a little too sappy at point, but at the time, I had to write like that. The high from the Sanchez no hitter was just coursing through me that I was forced to be overly-romantic about the moment.
Hope you like reading it as much as I liked writing it.
From Bleacher Report
As a Giants fan, I couldn't be prouder of Jonathan Sanchez. There wasn't a guy on this team who needed this moment more.
After all the tough starts this season, amidst all the trade rumors that had been centering on him since June and with his Major League career possibly on the line in a meaningless game against the last-place Padres in July, Sanchez was perfect on Friday night.
Yet despite his record feat, this isn't a column about Sanchez's no-hitter. Sanchez's no-hitter is part of the story, but it is only a piece, not the crutch of the tale.
This rather is a story of a fan's relationship with the Giants team itself.
For as most people know, being a fan of a team is similar to being in a serious relationship. There are ups and downs. There are good times and bad times. There are moments when you can't feel happier. There are unfortunate periods where you are just completely miserable.
My relationship with the Giants has been estranged for two years. I hadn't quit on the Giants or given up on the organization though.
Rather, for the past two summers, I was in a different state studying and working at my college, Gonzaga University, which is located in the state of Washington.
Let's just say it isn't exactly a state that bleeds orange and black.
For the past two years, watching Giants games had been a chore and a luxury. If I could find a bar that had the MLB Extra Innings package and was playing a Giants game, I thanked my lucky stars.
Rarely did that ever happen, though. I think it only happened on one occasion, and by that time the Giants were already out of the NL West race.
Instead, most of my summer nights the past two seasons were spent at college bars where there were barely any televisions at all, let alone one that would be showing a Giants game.
On some nights, I was cooped up in a cubicle on the fourth floor of the Spokesman-Review newspaper building recording box scores of American Legion baseball tournament games until 11 p.m. The only way I was able to follow the Giants was through Gamecasts and postgame recaps on ESPN.
Let's just say watching a Gamecast didn't exactly satisfy my yearning for Bay Area baseball.
In some ways, for the past two years, the Giants and I were apart much like a husband and wife going through a separation period. We weren't divorced, but we were certainly keeping a distance from each other.
Deep down, as those two years passed, I still loved the Giants.
That being said, I couldn't be with them, and during that time span, I wasn't sure when I would be back with them again, either.
My future with this franchise was unpredictable, much like a separated couple that had fallen on hard times, unsure what to do with their relationship.
When I came back home after graduating college, with no plans until August, I was able to once again watch Giants games on television.
It was refreshing to finally see commercials on television of Giants players like Brian Wilson and Tim Lincecum rather than ones of Mariners players like Richie Sexson and Adrian Beltre.
Yet for some reason, it was hard to get back into the groove of things as a Giants fan.
After all, I was two years removed from watching, following and being exposed to the Giants on a regular basis, so it was safe to say it took me back a little simply because I was prepared for it after such a long hiatus.
I enjoyed watching the games again, but as I watched the games, I questioned how deep my love for the Giants really went. It wasn't a question of whether I was going to stick with the team, it was a question of how my love for the Giants compared to other teams I liked in other sports.
Was I as big a Giants fans as I was a Niners fan? Was I a bigger fan of my alma mater, Gonzaga? Did I like the California Golden Bears above all my favorite teams?
In the beginning of this summer, I was unsure. I certainly liked the Giants, but where they stood in the pantheon of my favorite teams was hard to determine.
In the past, I always considered the Giants my favorite sports team without question. Yet when the baseball season started to take full swing, I found it more difficult to fully stand by that notion after years of up-close exposure to Gonzaga basketball.
Then, in late June, two days after Father's Day, I took my Dad to the Oakland A's-San Francisco Giants game.
Randy Johnson pitched the Giants to an easy 6-3 win, yet the victory was not as important as the feeling I got after Wilson shut the door in the ninth. For the first time since my senior year in high school, I went to a Giants game and once again recaptured the joy of watching Giants baseball in person.
Furthermore, I also realized that I loved this 2009 team.
As strange as this sounds to a lot of baseball fans, this is the kind of Giants team I always wished for. They have a scrappy, fun, no-name lineup, and a rotation that includes two budding aces and a legend.
Then again, it's not just the talent that endears me so much to this year's squad.
Every year there were guys on the team that I didn't like who prevented me from fully embracing the Giants that respective year. Last season, they had Dave Roberts, a former Dodger. The season before they had the overpaid, overrated Matt Morris in the rotation.
This season however, there hasn't been that guy, that player that holds me back from fully embracing this team.
Sure, there are guys I expect more from, but I don't hate any of the players. They're all likable guys on and off the field, and it seems everyone on the team realizes that as well.
Because in all honesty, I don't think I've seen a Giants team this jovial in the dugout in well...ever.
Or at least in my lifetime.
That's how special this season has become to me.
When you think about it, being back in California after graduation was sort of the beginning of my reconciliation with the Giants (much like a couple calling a truce after a separation period).
Furthermore, going to the A's-Giants game was like that moment when the couple finally moves back together into the house.
Just because I was back in the house however with the Giants, it didn't mean everything was back to normal like it was when I was a fan back before I left for college in Washington.
This was a team I liked, but I still wasn't totally comfortable just yet.
Despite that being the case, I was doing my best to mend that rift that happened for two years between the Giants and me. I watched games every day religiously. I studied this team, analyzed weaknesses, strengths, anything and everything about this Giants squad and organization as a whole.
Then I began writing about this team.
You see, after writing for three years for my college newspaper, I found myself in kind of a bind. I needed to write, but I had no subject.
I was away from the Northwest sports scene and away from Gonzaga basketball, so it didn't make sense to write about those subjects anymore like I used to.
So I started writing about the Giants every day.
Little did I realize though that it would bring me back together with this Giants franchise just like old times.
It was like couples therapy. I was actively doing my part, and was actively analyzing my partner, the Giants, in addition to myself.
I found out things about this franchise, this team and my own history as a fan of the Giants that were important, even if I didn't think they were very worthwhile before.
I got closer to this team. I got more involved than I ever could imagine as I started writing more and more, just like a husband and wife gets closer after those numerous sessions with a couples therapist.
However, it was not complete yet. The writing was great, but it was only buildup, not the ultimate goal just yet.
After tonight though, I found that completeness.
Once Sanchez's nasty curveball struck out the Padres' leadoff hitter Cabrera to end the game, there was nothing more emotionally I needed to do to try to regain what I lost after those past two years.
Sanchez's no-hitter finally brought me fully back to this team.
That moment reminded me why I continue to cheer for this team, despite the distance and challenges I faced those two summers I spent in Washington where I couldn't see a Giants game to save my life. Is it selfish of me to think of Sanchez's beautiful moment as something personal for me?
Probably. And I admit that a lot of this column most likely doesn't make sense to the common sports fan.
However, being a true sports fan rarely ever makes sense. It shouldn't make sense why I should feel such elation, relief and utter excitement after just watching a no-hitter.
Yet it does.
The no-hitter symbolizes more than that for a fan as torn as myself.
Watching that no hitter from beginning to end for me was that final confirmation that I am a Giants fan, and that nothing can sever my relationship with this team.
The no-hitter proved that those two years of separation and frustration in being away from this team was preparation for the ultimate moment that happened tonight at AT&T Park.
Because if things were the same as they were a year ago, I would have missed that moment. I would have been busy with "something else" and had to wait for another game to see my first no-hitter from beginning to end.
It is quite special the moment itself, getting to watch the no-hitter from beginning to end as a fan. It's like winning the lottery.
You don't expect it at first. Yet when it happens, you just don't know what to think because you're so happy.
I hope this is the spark Sanchez needs to revitalize his season and perhaps his career in San Francisco.
I hope all those fans clamoring for Sanchez to be traded maybe aren't clamoring as loudly as before.
Sanchez got a second chance, and showed us what to do when we get second chances: make the most of it.
This 2009 Giants squad has given me a second chance as well.
They given me a chance to love a Giants baseball team again as much as I did when I was a kid, when things weren't about stats and performance, but just about the team that took the field.
Some people don't get those chances. For whatever reason, they get distanced from a team and fade away either to a different team, or away from the sport altogether.
I'm not saying that was going to happen to me, but I saw myself drifting in that direction more than once.
Not after tonight though. Not after the no-hitter Sanchez pitched, the first for a Giant since 1976. After tonight, I'll be damned if I don't take advantage of this second chance as a Giants fan.
Of course, I have nobody to blame but myself for this. I made the mistake of publishing the story immediately after the game and that killed me because everyone was putting up a write up about Sanchez that night. So, a personal story like mine gets lost in the shuffle or quick write-ups because every Bleacher Report writer knew Sanchez was going to get a lot of hits that night.
Oh well...that's the nature of the biz. I will say this though, re-reading this, I still wouldn't change a thing. One of my friends remarked that of all the stories I wrote on Bleacher Report, this was his favorite one. I think stuff gets a little too sappy at point, but at the time, I had to write like that. The high from the Sanchez no hitter was just coursing through me that I was forced to be overly-romantic about the moment.
Hope you like reading it as much as I liked writing it.
From Bleacher Report
As a Giants fan, I couldn't be prouder of Jonathan Sanchez. There wasn't a guy on this team who needed this moment more.
After all the tough starts this season, amidst all the trade rumors that had been centering on him since June and with his Major League career possibly on the line in a meaningless game against the last-place Padres in July, Sanchez was perfect on Friday night.
Yet despite his record feat, this isn't a column about Sanchez's no-hitter. Sanchez's no-hitter is part of the story, but it is only a piece, not the crutch of the tale.
This rather is a story of a fan's relationship with the Giants team itself.
For as most people know, being a fan of a team is similar to being in a serious relationship. There are ups and downs. There are good times and bad times. There are moments when you can't feel happier. There are unfortunate periods where you are just completely miserable.
My relationship with the Giants has been estranged for two years. I hadn't quit on the Giants or given up on the organization though.
Rather, for the past two summers, I was in a different state studying and working at my college, Gonzaga University, which is located in the state of Washington.
Let's just say it isn't exactly a state that bleeds orange and black.
For the past two years, watching Giants games had been a chore and a luxury. If I could find a bar that had the MLB Extra Innings package and was playing a Giants game, I thanked my lucky stars.
Rarely did that ever happen, though. I think it only happened on one occasion, and by that time the Giants were already out of the NL West race.
Instead, most of my summer nights the past two seasons were spent at college bars where there were barely any televisions at all, let alone one that would be showing a Giants game.
On some nights, I was cooped up in a cubicle on the fourth floor of the Spokesman-Review newspaper building recording box scores of American Legion baseball tournament games until 11 p.m. The only way I was able to follow the Giants was through Gamecasts and postgame recaps on ESPN.
Let's just say watching a Gamecast didn't exactly satisfy my yearning for Bay Area baseball.
In some ways, for the past two years, the Giants and I were apart much like a husband and wife going through a separation period. We weren't divorced, but we were certainly keeping a distance from each other.
Deep down, as those two years passed, I still loved the Giants.
That being said, I couldn't be with them, and during that time span, I wasn't sure when I would be back with them again, either.
My future with this franchise was unpredictable, much like a separated couple that had fallen on hard times, unsure what to do with their relationship.
When I came back home after graduating college, with no plans until August, I was able to once again watch Giants games on television.
It was refreshing to finally see commercials on television of Giants players like Brian Wilson and Tim Lincecum rather than ones of Mariners players like Richie Sexson and Adrian Beltre.
Yet for some reason, it was hard to get back into the groove of things as a Giants fan.
After all, I was two years removed from watching, following and being exposed to the Giants on a regular basis, so it was safe to say it took me back a little simply because I was prepared for it after such a long hiatus.
I enjoyed watching the games again, but as I watched the games, I questioned how deep my love for the Giants really went. It wasn't a question of whether I was going to stick with the team, it was a question of how my love for the Giants compared to other teams I liked in other sports.
Was I as big a Giants fans as I was a Niners fan? Was I a bigger fan of my alma mater, Gonzaga? Did I like the California Golden Bears above all my favorite teams?
In the beginning of this summer, I was unsure. I certainly liked the Giants, but where they stood in the pantheon of my favorite teams was hard to determine.
In the past, I always considered the Giants my favorite sports team without question. Yet when the baseball season started to take full swing, I found it more difficult to fully stand by that notion after years of up-close exposure to Gonzaga basketball.
Then, in late June, two days after Father's Day, I took my Dad to the Oakland A's-San Francisco Giants game.
Randy Johnson pitched the Giants to an easy 6-3 win, yet the victory was not as important as the feeling I got after Wilson shut the door in the ninth. For the first time since my senior year in high school, I went to a Giants game and once again recaptured the joy of watching Giants baseball in person.
Furthermore, I also realized that I loved this 2009 team.
As strange as this sounds to a lot of baseball fans, this is the kind of Giants team I always wished for. They have a scrappy, fun, no-name lineup, and a rotation that includes two budding aces and a legend.
Then again, it's not just the talent that endears me so much to this year's squad.
Every year there were guys on the team that I didn't like who prevented me from fully embracing the Giants that respective year. Last season, they had Dave Roberts, a former Dodger. The season before they had the overpaid, overrated Matt Morris in the rotation.
This season however, there hasn't been that guy, that player that holds me back from fully embracing this team.
Sure, there are guys I expect more from, but I don't hate any of the players. They're all likable guys on and off the field, and it seems everyone on the team realizes that as well.
Because in all honesty, I don't think I've seen a Giants team this jovial in the dugout in well...ever.
Or at least in my lifetime.
That's how special this season has become to me.
When you think about it, being back in California after graduation was sort of the beginning of my reconciliation with the Giants (much like a couple calling a truce after a separation period).
Furthermore, going to the A's-Giants game was like that moment when the couple finally moves back together into the house.
Just because I was back in the house however with the Giants, it didn't mean everything was back to normal like it was when I was a fan back before I left for college in Washington.
This was a team I liked, but I still wasn't totally comfortable just yet.
Despite that being the case, I was doing my best to mend that rift that happened for two years between the Giants and me. I watched games every day religiously. I studied this team, analyzed weaknesses, strengths, anything and everything about this Giants squad and organization as a whole.
Then I began writing about this team.
You see, after writing for three years for my college newspaper, I found myself in kind of a bind. I needed to write, but I had no subject.
I was away from the Northwest sports scene and away from Gonzaga basketball, so it didn't make sense to write about those subjects anymore like I used to.
So I started writing about the Giants every day.
Little did I realize though that it would bring me back together with this Giants franchise just like old times.
It was like couples therapy. I was actively doing my part, and was actively analyzing my partner, the Giants, in addition to myself.
I found out things about this franchise, this team and my own history as a fan of the Giants that were important, even if I didn't think they were very worthwhile before.
I got closer to this team. I got more involved than I ever could imagine as I started writing more and more, just like a husband and wife gets closer after those numerous sessions with a couples therapist.
However, it was not complete yet. The writing was great, but it was only buildup, not the ultimate goal just yet.
After tonight though, I found that completeness.
Once Sanchez's nasty curveball struck out the Padres' leadoff hitter Cabrera to end the game, there was nothing more emotionally I needed to do to try to regain what I lost after those past two years.
Sanchez's no-hitter finally brought me fully back to this team.
That moment reminded me why I continue to cheer for this team, despite the distance and challenges I faced those two summers I spent in Washington where I couldn't see a Giants game to save my life. Is it selfish of me to think of Sanchez's beautiful moment as something personal for me?
Probably. And I admit that a lot of this column most likely doesn't make sense to the common sports fan.
However, being a true sports fan rarely ever makes sense. It shouldn't make sense why I should feel such elation, relief and utter excitement after just watching a no-hitter.
Yet it does.
The no-hitter symbolizes more than that for a fan as torn as myself.
Watching that no hitter from beginning to end for me was that final confirmation that I am a Giants fan, and that nothing can sever my relationship with this team.
The no-hitter proved that those two years of separation and frustration in being away from this team was preparation for the ultimate moment that happened tonight at AT&T Park.
Because if things were the same as they were a year ago, I would have missed that moment. I would have been busy with "something else" and had to wait for another game to see my first no-hitter from beginning to end.
It is quite special the moment itself, getting to watch the no-hitter from beginning to end as a fan. It's like winning the lottery.
You don't expect it at first. Yet when it happens, you just don't know what to think because you're so happy.
I hope this is the spark Sanchez needs to revitalize his season and perhaps his career in San Francisco.
I hope all those fans clamoring for Sanchez to be traded maybe aren't clamoring as loudly as before.
Sanchez got a second chance, and showed us what to do when we get second chances: make the most of it.
This 2009 Giants squad has given me a second chance as well.
They given me a chance to love a Giants baseball team again as much as I did when I was a kid, when things weren't about stats and performance, but just about the team that took the field.
Some people don't get those chances. For whatever reason, they get distanced from a team and fade away either to a different team, or away from the sport altogether.
I'm not saying that was going to happen to me, but I saw myself drifting in that direction more than once.
Not after tonight though. Not after the no-hitter Sanchez pitched, the first for a Giant since 1976. After tonight, I'll be damned if I don't take advantage of this second chance as a Giants fan.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Retro B/R Article: Can Pablo Sandoval Be "The Man" for the San Francisco Giants?
This was my first lead story on Bleacher Report. Unfortunately, this was before the "awards" system, so it went unrecognized. In order to get lead story status now, it seems that you have to right about a big news story with your own spin or you have to write about Manny Pacquiao. I don't like to do either, so I haven't had many lead stories on Bleacher Report since this one.
This was me in my typical element: wanting to combine movies and sports into my writing. Looking back, I'm not sure if it worked or not. I think I got a little too carried away with the "Man" motif to be perfectly frank, but at the time, it sure made a whole lot of sense when I wrote it.
Now that we're going into 2010 though, I will say this: Pablo Sandoval definitely is "The Man" for the Giants.
From Bleacher Report
It is difficult not to like the "Kung Fu Panda" if you're a San Francisco Giants fan.
Pablo Sandoval can do it all.
He can hit for power, he can hit for average, he can make that great defensive play, and for a guy 5'11" and 246 pounds, the guy has a little more speed than one might think.
There is no reason why Giants fans shouldn't vote for Sandoval for that final National League All-Star spot. He has earned a place in the Midsummer Classic after an amazing first half that has produced a .326 average, 13 home runs, 48 RBI, and a .379 OBP.
However, as a Giants fan, I am curious to know how the second half will unfold for Sandoval.
With the Giants in a very tight race for the NL Wild Card spot and still looking to somehow catch the Dodgers in the NL West, the Giants will not just need him to continue to be a strong presence in the lineup with his bat.
They will need him to be "The Man" for this Giants team.
Now being "The Man" isn't easy. Being "The Man" in baseball is similar to being a Clint Eastwood or Steve McQueen in the movie world: Many male actors aspire to capture that kind of status, but very few ever achieve it because of how difficult it is to acquire the kind of moxie those actors had.
Movie fans thought at a time Vin Diesel could be "The Man" in the modern movie generation. However, he starred in the terrible children's flick The Pacifier and lost that potential in one fell swoop.
Those kinds of stories are similar in baseball.
A lot of players certainly get the opportunities to be "The Man," to be that kind of player to a baseball team that Clint Eastwood was to the movie The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
However, many players often fall flat on their face because they can't handle the pressure and don't necessarily have the right stuff to put it all together.
Manny Ramirez is an example of a guy that can handle being "The Man." Albert Pujols is a guy that has been "The Man" since he was a rookie in St. Louis.
Hank Blalock, on the other hand, couldn't become one, even though we thought he was capable after his All-Star game-winning homer in 2003.
Ken Griffey Jr. used to have "The Man" status in Seattle but lost it after injuries and mediocrity in Cincinnati.
David Ortiz was the quintessential one after the 2004 ALCS but then lost it this year when he only hit one homer in the first two months of the season. On the other hand, he might regain it again if he can capitalize on his current hot streak.
As you can see, being "The Man" is a tough challenge. It requires a person to be not only the main bat in the lineup, but also be the guy everyone looks to when the going gets tough.
If an opposing pitcher is mowing down the lineup, players and fans look to "The Man" to get a rally started.
When it is the bottom of the ninth, the team is down by one, and "The Man" is three batters behind the leadoff guy, fans are praying that somebody gets a hit or walk so the pitcher will have to face "The Man."
Because if "The Man" gets up, the fans, players, and manager know he will win the game.
That's how much confidence "The Man" imbues in people. That's how good and how special he is.
Sandoval has all the tools to be "The Man" for this Giants team. Pitchers have a hard time getting effortless at-bats from Sandoval, unlike the rest of the team. You can get bad at-bats easily with the right pitching combos from guys like Aaron Rowand or Nate Schierholtz.
The same can't be said of Sandoval.
Sandoval can get behind 0-2 in a count and still hit a grand slam two pitches later.
Pitchers used to be able to get Sandoval to swing at that high fastball at the eyes.
Now Sandoval just spits on it as it passes by.
Sandoval is the only bat in the lineup who is capable of being dependable and dramatic at the same time—two qualities typically characteristic of a player who is "The Man."
If the Giants want to have a serious shot at the playoffs in the second half, they need him to become "The Man" and embrace it as soon as possible.
Now a lot of people will ask, "Why can't Tim Lincecum be 'The Man?' Or how about Matt Cain?"
A starting pitcher can't be "The Man" because "The Man" needs to be playing every day. "The Man" needs to be able to excel despite the fact that each day could easily make or break his reputation, as well as the team's momentum.
Starting pitchers can only affect their teams every five days. Hitters affect the team every day they're in the lineup, and for anyone who is "The Man," that usually is every game.
Closers have the potential to achieve "The Man" status, but that is even more difficult to see.
In the history of baseball, in my mind, only two closers have achieved "The Man" status: Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees and Dennis Eckersley of the Oakland A's.
Even now, though, it looks like Rivera's starting to lose that status after blowing save after save against the Red Sox since 2004.
As you can see, Sandoval is the only guy with a shot to capture this legendary standing on this Giants team, and whether or not he is able to be "The Man" will be the difference between the Giants making the playoffs and another season removed from the postseason.
The pressure will certainly be there. After this latest "Vote for Pablo" voting campaign, Sandoval is no longer a player that goes under the radar anymore. Pitchers will be gunning for him, as will opposing managers.
Teams will be sure to not make mistakes against Sandoval when he is up at the plate, and thus Sandoval won't get those breaks he got so easily when he was still relatively unknown.
Yet Sandoval is capable of rising above that. His approach to the plate has improved, and his swing has gotten better as well throughout the course of the year.
And when it comes down to it, it doesn't matter if the pitchers and managers have a plan for somebody who is "The Man."
"The Man" gets the job done regardless.
Is Sandoval going to be "The Man?" I certainly hope so. Like I said before, you have to be crazy not to like him, and not just for his bat either. The fun-loving way he plays the game and his crazy customs at the plate are a sheer delight not just for Giants fans, but for baseball fans in general.
On the other hand, you never know what can happen. For every Ryan Braun who successfully handles the pressure of becoming "The Man," there is an Alex Gordon who can't quite do it.
All I know is that every World Series champion has a guy that was "The Man" on their squad, and this is a Giants organization that has produced its fair share of "The Man" status players in the past.
Mel Ott. Willie Mays. Willie McCovey. Will Clark. Matt Williams. Barry Bonds. All those players were "The Man" for their respective Giants teams.
Hopefully "The Panda" joins that list.
This was me in my typical element: wanting to combine movies and sports into my writing. Looking back, I'm not sure if it worked or not. I think I got a little too carried away with the "Man" motif to be perfectly frank, but at the time, it sure made a whole lot of sense when I wrote it.
Now that we're going into 2010 though, I will say this: Pablo Sandoval definitely is "The Man" for the Giants.
From Bleacher Report
It is difficult not to like the "Kung Fu Panda" if you're a San Francisco Giants fan.
Pablo Sandoval can do it all.
He can hit for power, he can hit for average, he can make that great defensive play, and for a guy 5'11" and 246 pounds, the guy has a little more speed than one might think.
There is no reason why Giants fans shouldn't vote for Sandoval for that final National League All-Star spot. He has earned a place in the Midsummer Classic after an amazing first half that has produced a .326 average, 13 home runs, 48 RBI, and a .379 OBP.
However, as a Giants fan, I am curious to know how the second half will unfold for Sandoval.
With the Giants in a very tight race for the NL Wild Card spot and still looking to somehow catch the Dodgers in the NL West, the Giants will not just need him to continue to be a strong presence in the lineup with his bat.
They will need him to be "The Man" for this Giants team.
Now being "The Man" isn't easy. Being "The Man" in baseball is similar to being a Clint Eastwood or Steve McQueen in the movie world: Many male actors aspire to capture that kind of status, but very few ever achieve it because of how difficult it is to acquire the kind of moxie those actors had.
Movie fans thought at a time Vin Diesel could be "The Man" in the modern movie generation. However, he starred in the terrible children's flick The Pacifier and lost that potential in one fell swoop.
Those kinds of stories are similar in baseball.
A lot of players certainly get the opportunities to be "The Man," to be that kind of player to a baseball team that Clint Eastwood was to the movie The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
However, many players often fall flat on their face because they can't handle the pressure and don't necessarily have the right stuff to put it all together.
Manny Ramirez is an example of a guy that can handle being "The Man." Albert Pujols is a guy that has been "The Man" since he was a rookie in St. Louis.
Hank Blalock, on the other hand, couldn't become one, even though we thought he was capable after his All-Star game-winning homer in 2003.
Ken Griffey Jr. used to have "The Man" status in Seattle but lost it after injuries and mediocrity in Cincinnati.
David Ortiz was the quintessential one after the 2004 ALCS but then lost it this year when he only hit one homer in the first two months of the season. On the other hand, he might regain it again if he can capitalize on his current hot streak.
As you can see, being "The Man" is a tough challenge. It requires a person to be not only the main bat in the lineup, but also be the guy everyone looks to when the going gets tough.
If an opposing pitcher is mowing down the lineup, players and fans look to "The Man" to get a rally started.
When it is the bottom of the ninth, the team is down by one, and "The Man" is three batters behind the leadoff guy, fans are praying that somebody gets a hit or walk so the pitcher will have to face "The Man."
Because if "The Man" gets up, the fans, players, and manager know he will win the game.
That's how much confidence "The Man" imbues in people. That's how good and how special he is.
Sandoval has all the tools to be "The Man" for this Giants team. Pitchers have a hard time getting effortless at-bats from Sandoval, unlike the rest of the team. You can get bad at-bats easily with the right pitching combos from guys like Aaron Rowand or Nate Schierholtz.
The same can't be said of Sandoval.
Sandoval can get behind 0-2 in a count and still hit a grand slam two pitches later.
Pitchers used to be able to get Sandoval to swing at that high fastball at the eyes.
Now Sandoval just spits on it as it passes by.
Sandoval is the only bat in the lineup who is capable of being dependable and dramatic at the same time—two qualities typically characteristic of a player who is "The Man."
If the Giants want to have a serious shot at the playoffs in the second half, they need him to become "The Man" and embrace it as soon as possible.
Now a lot of people will ask, "Why can't Tim Lincecum be 'The Man?' Or how about Matt Cain?"
A starting pitcher can't be "The Man" because "The Man" needs to be playing every day. "The Man" needs to be able to excel despite the fact that each day could easily make or break his reputation, as well as the team's momentum.
Starting pitchers can only affect their teams every five days. Hitters affect the team every day they're in the lineup, and for anyone who is "The Man," that usually is every game.
Closers have the potential to achieve "The Man" status, but that is even more difficult to see.
In the history of baseball, in my mind, only two closers have achieved "The Man" status: Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees and Dennis Eckersley of the Oakland A's.
Even now, though, it looks like Rivera's starting to lose that status after blowing save after save against the Red Sox since 2004.
As you can see, Sandoval is the only guy with a shot to capture this legendary standing on this Giants team, and whether or not he is able to be "The Man" will be the difference between the Giants making the playoffs and another season removed from the postseason.
The pressure will certainly be there. After this latest "Vote for Pablo" voting campaign, Sandoval is no longer a player that goes under the radar anymore. Pitchers will be gunning for him, as will opposing managers.
Teams will be sure to not make mistakes against Sandoval when he is up at the plate, and thus Sandoval won't get those breaks he got so easily when he was still relatively unknown.
Yet Sandoval is capable of rising above that. His approach to the plate has improved, and his swing has gotten better as well throughout the course of the year.
And when it comes down to it, it doesn't matter if the pitchers and managers have a plan for somebody who is "The Man."
"The Man" gets the job done regardless.
Is Sandoval going to be "The Man?" I certainly hope so. Like I said before, you have to be crazy not to like him, and not just for his bat either. The fun-loving way he plays the game and his crazy customs at the plate are a sheer delight not just for Giants fans, but for baseball fans in general.
On the other hand, you never know what can happen. For every Ryan Braun who successfully handles the pressure of becoming "The Man," there is an Alex Gordon who can't quite do it.
All I know is that every World Series champion has a guy that was "The Man" on their squad, and this is a Giants organization that has produced its fair share of "The Man" status players in the past.
Mel Ott. Willie Mays. Willie McCovey. Will Clark. Matt Williams. Barry Bonds. All those players were "The Man" for their respective Giants teams.
Hopefully "The Panda" joins that list.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Retro B/R Article: How a Jonathan Sanchez in the Pen Could Benefit the Giants On and Off the Field
I wrote this article after Jonathan Sanchez had moved to the bullpen and saw his first relief action. At the time, every Giants fan was screaming for Sanchez to be traded. The only problem at the time? Sanchez had no value on the trade market. I mean, who would want a pitcher with little history of success and command problems?
In this article, I basically petitioned for Sanchez to move to the bullpen. I did it for two reasons:
1.) I noticed Sanchez started off games well, but seemed to blow up when he got into the fourth inning and on. So, I felt the best decision was the move him to the pen, where he would only face a lineup once.
2.) Brian Wilson was struggling as closer at the time, and I felt Sanchez would be a good change of pace. I figured a combo of Sergio Romo, Jeremy Affeldt and Sanchez would be a much better late-inning option than Wilson. However, by mid-season, Wilson blew me away and proved he was the guy to take the ball in the ninth.
What happened after this article? You'll have to find out in successive posts, but it's definitely interesting to see the feedback I got in this post (click on the Bleacher Report link to see the comments I got from commenters about Sanchez at the time).
From Bleacher Report
I’m not giving up on Jonathan Sanchez just yet. His stuff really is undeniable. He can frustrate hitters with his pitches and he has a presence on the mound that at times, looks like the makings of an ace.
In this article, I basically petitioned for Sanchez to move to the bullpen. I did it for two reasons:
1.) I noticed Sanchez started off games well, but seemed to blow up when he got into the fourth inning and on. So, I felt the best decision was the move him to the pen, where he would only face a lineup once.
2.) Brian Wilson was struggling as closer at the time, and I felt Sanchez would be a good change of pace. I figured a combo of Sergio Romo, Jeremy Affeldt and Sanchez would be a much better late-inning option than Wilson. However, by mid-season, Wilson blew me away and proved he was the guy to take the ball in the ninth.
What happened after this article? You'll have to find out in successive posts, but it's definitely interesting to see the feedback I got in this post (click on the Bleacher Report link to see the comments I got from commenters about Sanchez at the time).
From Bleacher Report
I’m not giving up on Jonathan Sanchez just yet. His stuff really is undeniable. He can frustrate hitters with his pitches and he has a presence on the mound that at times, looks like the makings of an ace.
Yet while he does not want to hear this, Sanchez is done as a starter. On Sunday he proved that as he retired the Brewers five, six and seven hitters all by strikeout in the ninth inning of the Giants 7-0 win over the Brewers.
But that is not a bad thing. Sanchez is a mediocre starter, a third guy in the rotation at best, whether it is on the Giants or any other team.
As a reliever though, he can be nails, not to mention the premiere left-handed option that has the makings of not only a quality set-up man, but dare I say it, a closer.
Sanchez in the ninth? It isn’t as far-fetched as it seems.
I believe we have seen the ceiling on our current closer Brian Wilson. He has been a great option for the past couple of years, and has been our best closer since Robb Nen was closing out games, and coming onto the field with “Smoke on the Water” playing over the loudspeakers.
As a result, Giants fans have fawned over Wilson. However, they have not become fans of the quirky pitcher because he is a dominant closer, but rather because Giants fans have had to sit through god-awful ninth-inning men since Nen’s departure.
Matt Herges? Brad Hennessey? Armando Benitez? Those guys were as skilled in the ninth inning as Miss Teen South Carolina was with the English language at the Miss Teen USA competition last year.
Thus, while Wilson has done the job so far, in no way should he be considered the closer of the future for the Giants. He is not up there in the current class of top closers such as K-Rod from the Mets or Joe Nathan from the Twins (who could’ve been our closer if it wasn’t for Sabean’s incompetence).
Wilson has thrived on getting the bottom of the lineup out in the ninth and one or two out saves. Yet when the game gets pressure-filled, Wilson has failed more times than he has succeeded. Granted, I like Wilson for now, but the fact of the matter is, he is expendable, and should be explored in deals to help the Giants upgrade for a better offensive threat.
And with Wilson being a guy we can let go, that makes the Sanchez in relief idea more enticing.
The Tampa Bay Rays exhibited to us last year that you don’t necessarily need one guy to close out in the ninth. Manager Joe Madden showed that if you mix it up and pitch on matchups rather than just go to a single closer, you can be just as successful. The Rays last year rode a trip to the World Series with a lefty in JP Howell and a righty in Grant Balfour mixing it up in the eighth and ninth innings, depending on the matchups.
What does Sanchez have in common with them? They were both former starters who failed as starting pitchers, but excelled as relievers.
There is no denying Sanchez’s skill, but his mental concentration on the mound has been another thing. The guy is a constant roller coaster, having one or two good innings where he’s fanning the side, and other innings where he’s giving back-to-back homers.
Sanchez doesn’t have the mental makeup to be a starter. He struggles when he faces the lineup the second time around because he doesn’t make adjustments on the mound.
Howell and Balfour struggled with that as well when they were starters in Kansas City and Minnesota respectively. But they’ve embraced and excelled as relievers.
Look at Howell for example, who’s very similar to Sanchez in terms of stuff and history. Since Howell moved to the pen, he has produced seasons where he has had an ERA of 2.22 and 1.67 in 2007, and 2008 respectively. Hitters have hit under .200 in both of his seasons as a reliever as well.
And the best part of this comparison? Sanchez has a better fastball than Howell. If Howell can excel against big-time hitters from the AL East as a reliever, just imagine what Sanchez can do in the NL West as an eighth inning specialist or spot closer.
Of course, I wouldn’t throw Sanchez in as the closer right away. Combine him with a guy like Sergio Romo, who also have very good stuff, and we could have that young, cheap, one-two closer combo that could be as effective as the Howell-Balfour duo in Tampa.
In my mind, Sanchez should explore this option, embrace it and do all he can to excel. This is not a demotion, but a massive opportunity. For him, it is a chance to reinvigorate his career in the same way Mickey Rourke did when he realized he couldn’t be a heart-throb anymore because his face got so beat up by drugs, chain smoking and boxing.
And if Sanchez pursues this, and is able to excel with a right-hander like Romo rotating in the ninth inning, we can explore what trade value we can get with Wilson. Everybody wants to deal Sanchez, but what would give us a better chance at a better hitter who can be a legitimate clean-up threat?
A spot starter with an ERA near six? Or a closer who was a former All-Star.
I guarantee you a contender like the Yankees, whose bullpen is an absolute shambles right now, would panic and overcompensate for a guy like Wilson.
Granted, we will still need to see more out of Sanchez. One outing as a reliever is just that, one inning. But if he continues this trend, and if Romo continues to improve in more seventh inning relief work, then I think we could solve the question of “who do we trade to upgrade offensively” a lot easier than we think.
And it would go through Wilson, not Sanchez as we would like to think.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Thoughts on Carney Lansford's Firing (Now that the fire has cooled off)
Now that the flames of the initial reactions of Giants hitting coach Carney Lansford's firing have cooled off a bit, I wanted to take a look at the overall picture about the Giants brass' decision not bring the Bay Area native back.
For starters, I understand how tough this is for Lansford and some of his fans. The guy is a Bay Area legend. He grew up rooting for the Giants, was a key cog of the great Oakland A's teams in the late 80's and admitted that this was a job he took for "sentimental reasons" according to San Jose Mercury Giants beat writer Andrew Baggarly.
Yet the fact of the matter is this: in his two seasons as hitting coach, the Giants ranked 29th and 26th in the Major Leagues in runs scored in 2008 and 2009, respectively. They ranked 24th and 30th in OBP in 2008 and 2009, respectively. They ranked 28th and 30th in OPS and 27th and 30th in walks in 2008 and 2009, respectively.
Ironically, this is a hitting coach that is supposedly known for preaching plate patience and taking walks.
Well...the numbers of his hitters certainly show he wasn't very effective in getting his points across.
Because those numbers are flat-out pathetic, plain and simple. Sure, the Giants won 88 games this year, but they had an incredible starting pitching staff and a much improved bullpen.
How they won 88 games is simply a miracle of God, and to think they can pull off the same kind of feat next year with the same anemic hitting really is asinine.
The Giants need something to spark the offense, and when you need a spark, it usually comes in the form of a change, either with the players, manager or coaches.
Bruce Bochy was deemed worthy of coming back at least for another season (despite his inability to make a lineup at times), and it's too early to tell what GM Brian Sabean is going to do in terms of the roster next Spring.
So it makes sense that Lansford was pushed out after two seasons. The Giants needed to make a change, and he was the odd man out. It really doesn't get more complicated than that.
However, while I do feel somewhat sorry for Lansford that it didn't work out here in San Francisco, I don't totally feel Lansford was a fault-less victim.
Too many times have Giants fans heard Lansford complain about the hitters he had.
Too many times have Giants fans heard that nobody was listening to his hitting instruction.
While you can partially blame that on the Giants players (I mean, it's not Lansford's direct fault that Bengie Molina doesn't know what a ball is), it also shows a vital flaw: Lansford must not be a good coach.
After all, coaches are going to get new players all the time. They are going to have to deal and adapt with the hitting styles of each individual player. They need to understand which guys have the propensity to be patient, Scott Hattiesberg-types, and which guys are going to be free-swinging, Vlad Guerrero-types.
Unfortunately, you never got the feeling Lansford understood that. He expected every Giant to follow one model, and if they didn't follow that he seemed to give up on them easily. Granted, that may have been the result of Lansford's blunt personality (the guy wasn't afraid to say anything and everything to the media), but most likely, it was an indicator of Lansford's impatience as a hitting coach.
Maybe Lansford got a raw deal, and maybe he was just not a good fit on this roster with the kind of hitters the Giants have. Perhaps the Giants need a guy that will have to live with what he has and work around it, even if it may not fit into his "agenda."
Who that is, I don't know. Apparently, Hensley Meulens, the Triple-A hitting coach in Fresno, seems to be a popular pick to succeed the position due to his ability to take flawed hitters and improve their approaches (as evidenced with Eugenio Velez and John Bowker).
The bottom line though? As good a guy as Lansford was, he simply didn't get the job done. The stats say it, and when push comes to shove, you have to judge him by the results. Numbers don't lie. You want to wish him luck, because he is such a likable guy, but in reality, he simply wasn't a fit as the Giants hitting coach, and this probably was a move for the best considering Bochy is staying as manager.
Sorry Carney.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Five Things Giants Fans (and Players) Will Want to Forget from 2009
I did the good parts about the Giants season already, now I figure it's time to be a little pessimistic. Granted, in the long run, this really was a good season from the boys in Black and Orange, but there was plenty to stew about if you were a San Francisco fan (and chances are, the Sabean and Bochy extensions didn't help things very much either).
1. Merkin Valdez: Glorified Mop-Up Man
Let's face it. Valdez simply doesn't have a future on this Giants pitching staff. Sure, he can throws heat, but that's about it. He doesn't have very good second or third pitches (as evidenced by him throwing his fastball 80.3 percent of the time), he doesn't know how to locate (especially on 0-2 counts) and he can't be depended on in tight games (I think his 5.66 ERA and 1.72 WHIP say enough).
And the worst part? He's old. He's 28, and he pitches like he's only been in professional baseball for less than a year, when in fact, he's bounced in and out of the majors and minors since 2004 (granted, he was out for the year in 2005 and 2007 because of injury, but that doesn't change his old age factor). I mean, Waldis Joaquin, has better command and he's only 22. Furthermore, he has only been in the Majors for 10 games total in his career, all coming this season.
Is that a sign of how good Joaquin is or how bad Valdez has pitched for the Giants? Both I guess. Joaquin is great, and he could be a deadly stopper behind Sergio Romo, but for the most part, that is an indicator of how far Valdez has fallen.
Remember, in 2004, this guy was the next big reliever not just in the Giants farm system, but perhaps in the Major Leagues. He was being compared to a better Armando Benitez (who ironically, pitched, badly of course, with the Giants).
Now though, Benitez looks like a Hall of Famer in comparison to Valdez. At least Benitez had that good 2004 season with Florida.
2. Sanchez and Garko: The Typical Brian Sabean Trade Deadline Acquistions
Giants fans knew it was going to happen. It had happened before countless times. Ricky Ledee. Sidney Ponson. Shea Hillenbrand.
Yes, the Giants needed to do something to get better offensively. Yes, they needed a power threat and had to solidify their middle infield (especially with Edgar Renteria having the season he was mired in).
Yet two home runs from Cleveland's Ryan Garko and 25 games from a "broken" Freddy Sanchez was far from what the Giants needed. And to make matters worse, those two "acquisitions" came at the expense of two very good pitching prospects in left-handed Scott Barnes and No. 2 pitching prospect (behind Madison Bumgarner) Tim Alderson.
I know you have to give something to get something, but this trade deadline was far too characteristic of Sabean's past deals where the Giants seemed to give up more than they received. While the Brad Penny signing in late August did ease things a bit (mainly because he performed well so cheaply), this Trade Deadline was another classic case of where less (e.g. not making so many drastic trades) probably would have ended up in more.
3. Burriss, Frandsen, Lewis, Bowker: Not living up to potential
A lot has been expected from these four guys who have come within the Giants farm system. That being said, they have not lived up to the hype in 2009 despite many fans and experts thinking big things out of them.
Despite a solid 2008 campaign, Emmanuel Burriss struggled in his transition to second base in 2009, especially defensively. He registered a UZR/150 (Ultimate Zone Rating in runs above average per 150 defensive innings played) of - 8.7 (Juan Uribe playing second base this year in comparison had a UZR/150 of 10.5). And to make matters worse, Burriss was a mess at the plate as well. While his inability to hit for any kind of power was well-known prior to this year (his slugging percentage has never hit the .400 range at any level of professional ball), Burriss struggled to get on base (.292 OBP and .560 OPS) despite his excellent speed (he had 11 stolen bases in 61 games).
Basically, Burriss, a ray of hope for the Giants after posting good numbers in 2008, suddenly became a huge question mark, especially when it comes to his future in San Francisco which looks shaky with Renteria and Freddy Sanchez likely holding down the middle of the infield next season due to financial reasons.
Though if you think the future is cloudy for Burriss, his year was nothing in comparison to what Kevin Frandsen experienced. After missing all of 2008 due to an Achilles injury, Frandsen simply couldn't catch a break. Frandsen lost the second baseman job in Spring Training to Burriss, and he couldn't buy a hit during the regular season, as evidenced by his .140 average, .204 OBP, and .384 OPS.
Sure, you could complain Frandsen hasn't got his shot at the Major League level, but other than a great last couple months of the season, Frandsen hasn't really shown the Giants brass enough to merit regular playing time. In order to play, he has needed to show more in his rare playing stints, and constantly, when Frandsen needs to show something to prove he belongs, he has often fallen flat.
As for Fred Lewis and John Bowker, here are two guys who came off great starts in 2008, only to have mediocre years in 2009. Lewis eventually lost out to Randy Winn, and eventually Eugenio Velez after struggling mightily in June, and John Bowker, despite putting up excellent minor league stats (.342 average, 21 home runs in Fresno), never really found a groove in his Major League tenure this season (.194 average, two home runs in 73 PA).
It's likely that Giants brass will stay patient with Bowker, mainly because his stock is so low and he still is relatively young (he's only 26). As for Lewis, who is 28 and has played two full seasons with the Giants, the future doesn't look so bright and most likely will be gone next season to make room for Velez, Torres and even Bowker in the outfield.
4. Aaron Rowand: Continuing the "Freefall"
Giants fans have seen bad in their tenure in San Francisco. Rick Wilkins at catcher in 1997. A.J. Pierzynski in 2004. Armando Benitez's whole career as a Giant.
Yet Rowand's 2009 season may have secretly ranked down there with the worst of them.
Sure his stats don't scare you "Tony Pena, Jr."-style, but if you look deeper, you can see how detrimental Rowand was to the Giants. While he hit more home runs (15 in comparison to 13 in 2008) and scored more runs (61 in comparison to 57 in 2008) in eight less games played, Rowand had alarming stats in many other areas.
He led the team in strikeouts with 125 and ranked fifth on the team in walks with 30 (and so you know, this is a team that was in the basement of the league in terms of walks. The leader for the Giants was Pablo "I swing at anything and everything, but still hit it" Sandoval who had 52).
Couple that with a .319 OBP and a .738 OPS (his lowest numbers in each category since 2006), and Rowand has been a flat out bust that has been a classic example of Sabean's overpriced, under-performing acquisitions.
Can Rowand turn it around? Maybe, but unless he gets a serious grasp of the strike zone, the chances of that happening seem very slim.
5. Bruce Bochy: Managing the "Right Way" (And "Right Way" meaning the opposite of common sense)
Giants fans knew Bochy played favorites. In fact, that's partially why Sabean hired him in the first place: he was one of the only managers in the league that would please the egomaniac known as Barry Bonds.
Yet that was in 2007, and in 2009 the best players available on the roster were not veterans like in the Bonds-Days.
Unfortunately, Bochy seemed to miss the memo.
While Nate Schierholtz wasn't having as great a season as many people thought, he certainly deserved some more playing time in 2009. Yet Bochy continued to rely not only on Randy Winn, but on Rowand as well, despite it being obviously clear Rowand was having an atrocious season. Bochy was more concerned about where Rowand should bat in the order at times than finding the best lineup possible, and that proved to infuriate Giants fans on more than one occasion.
Furthermore, Bochy continued to rely on Edgar Renteria even though Juan Uribe was clearly a better option. He buried Ryan Garko in September even though Garko should have gotten at least some at-bats when the Giants were facing left-handed pitching. He constantly forgot he had Brian Wilson as the closer and not Trevor Hoffman as he continued to stroll out Wilson to get four and five out saves (which usually ended disastrously).
There was so much to gripe about in terms of what Bochy did as a manager in 2009.
Thankfully, Giants fans will get to do plenty more in 2010.
1. Merkin Valdez: Glorified Mop-Up Man
Let's face it. Valdez simply doesn't have a future on this Giants pitching staff. Sure, he can throws heat, but that's about it. He doesn't have very good second or third pitches (as evidenced by him throwing his fastball 80.3 percent of the time), he doesn't know how to locate (especially on 0-2 counts) and he can't be depended on in tight games (I think his 5.66 ERA and 1.72 WHIP say enough).
And the worst part? He's old. He's 28, and he pitches like he's only been in professional baseball for less than a year, when in fact, he's bounced in and out of the majors and minors since 2004 (granted, he was out for the year in 2005 and 2007 because of injury, but that doesn't change his old age factor). I mean, Waldis Joaquin, has better command and he's only 22. Furthermore, he has only been in the Majors for 10 games total in his career, all coming this season.
Is that a sign of how good Joaquin is or how bad Valdez has pitched for the Giants? Both I guess. Joaquin is great, and he could be a deadly stopper behind Sergio Romo, but for the most part, that is an indicator of how far Valdez has fallen.
Remember, in 2004, this guy was the next big reliever not just in the Giants farm system, but perhaps in the Major Leagues. He was being compared to a better Armando Benitez (who ironically, pitched, badly of course, with the Giants).
Now though, Benitez looks like a Hall of Famer in comparison to Valdez. At least Benitez had that good 2004 season with Florida.
2. Sanchez and Garko: The Typical Brian Sabean Trade Deadline Acquistions
Giants fans knew it was going to happen. It had happened before countless times. Ricky Ledee. Sidney Ponson. Shea Hillenbrand.
Yes, the Giants needed to do something to get better offensively. Yes, they needed a power threat and had to solidify their middle infield (especially with Edgar Renteria having the season he was mired in).
Yet two home runs from Cleveland's Ryan Garko and 25 games from a "broken" Freddy Sanchez was far from what the Giants needed. And to make matters worse, those two "acquisitions" came at the expense of two very good pitching prospects in left-handed Scott Barnes and No. 2 pitching prospect (behind Madison Bumgarner) Tim Alderson.
I know you have to give something to get something, but this trade deadline was far too characteristic of Sabean's past deals where the Giants seemed to give up more than they received. While the Brad Penny signing in late August did ease things a bit (mainly because he performed well so cheaply), this Trade Deadline was another classic case of where less (e.g. not making so many drastic trades) probably would have ended up in more.
3. Burriss, Frandsen, Lewis, Bowker: Not living up to potential
A lot has been expected from these four guys who have come within the Giants farm system. That being said, they have not lived up to the hype in 2009 despite many fans and experts thinking big things out of them.
Despite a solid 2008 campaign, Emmanuel Burriss struggled in his transition to second base in 2009, especially defensively. He registered a UZR/150 (Ultimate Zone Rating in runs above average per 150 defensive innings played) of - 8.7 (Juan Uribe playing second base this year in comparison had a UZR/150 of 10.5). And to make matters worse, Burriss was a mess at the plate as well. While his inability to hit for any kind of power was well-known prior to this year (his slugging percentage has never hit the .400 range at any level of professional ball), Burriss struggled to get on base (.292 OBP and .560 OPS) despite his excellent speed (he had 11 stolen bases in 61 games).
Basically, Burriss, a ray of hope for the Giants after posting good numbers in 2008, suddenly became a huge question mark, especially when it comes to his future in San Francisco which looks shaky with Renteria and Freddy Sanchez likely holding down the middle of the infield next season due to financial reasons.
Though if you think the future is cloudy for Burriss, his year was nothing in comparison to what Kevin Frandsen experienced. After missing all of 2008 due to an Achilles injury, Frandsen simply couldn't catch a break. Frandsen lost the second baseman job in Spring Training to Burriss, and he couldn't buy a hit during the regular season, as evidenced by his .140 average, .204 OBP, and .384 OPS.
Sure, you could complain Frandsen hasn't got his shot at the Major League level, but other than a great last couple months of the season, Frandsen hasn't really shown the Giants brass enough to merit regular playing time. In order to play, he has needed to show more in his rare playing stints, and constantly, when Frandsen needs to show something to prove he belongs, he has often fallen flat.
As for Fred Lewis and John Bowker, here are two guys who came off great starts in 2008, only to have mediocre years in 2009. Lewis eventually lost out to Randy Winn, and eventually Eugenio Velez after struggling mightily in June, and John Bowker, despite putting up excellent minor league stats (.342 average, 21 home runs in Fresno), never really found a groove in his Major League tenure this season (.194 average, two home runs in 73 PA).
It's likely that Giants brass will stay patient with Bowker, mainly because his stock is so low and he still is relatively young (he's only 26). As for Lewis, who is 28 and has played two full seasons with the Giants, the future doesn't look so bright and most likely will be gone next season to make room for Velez, Torres and even Bowker in the outfield.
4. Aaron Rowand: Continuing the "Freefall"
Giants fans have seen bad in their tenure in San Francisco. Rick Wilkins at catcher in 1997. A.J. Pierzynski in 2004. Armando Benitez's whole career as a Giant.
Yet Rowand's 2009 season may have secretly ranked down there with the worst of them.
Sure his stats don't scare you "Tony Pena, Jr."-style, but if you look deeper, you can see how detrimental Rowand was to the Giants. While he hit more home runs (15 in comparison to 13 in 2008) and scored more runs (61 in comparison to 57 in 2008) in eight less games played, Rowand had alarming stats in many other areas.
He led the team in strikeouts with 125 and ranked fifth on the team in walks with 30 (and so you know, this is a team that was in the basement of the league in terms of walks. The leader for the Giants was Pablo "I swing at anything and everything, but still hit it" Sandoval who had 52).
Couple that with a .319 OBP and a .738 OPS (his lowest numbers in each category since 2006), and Rowand has been a flat out bust that has been a classic example of Sabean's overpriced, under-performing acquisitions.
Can Rowand turn it around? Maybe, but unless he gets a serious grasp of the strike zone, the chances of that happening seem very slim.
5. Bruce Bochy: Managing the "Right Way" (And "Right Way" meaning the opposite of common sense)
Giants fans knew Bochy played favorites. In fact, that's partially why Sabean hired him in the first place: he was one of the only managers in the league that would please the egomaniac known as Barry Bonds.
Yet that was in 2007, and in 2009 the best players available on the roster were not veterans like in the Bonds-Days.
Unfortunately, Bochy seemed to miss the memo.
While Nate Schierholtz wasn't having as great a season as many people thought, he certainly deserved some more playing time in 2009. Yet Bochy continued to rely not only on Randy Winn, but on Rowand as well, despite it being obviously clear Rowand was having an atrocious season. Bochy was more concerned about where Rowand should bat in the order at times than finding the best lineup possible, and that proved to infuriate Giants fans on more than one occasion.
Furthermore, Bochy continued to rely on Edgar Renteria even though Juan Uribe was clearly a better option. He buried Ryan Garko in September even though Garko should have gotten at least some at-bats when the Giants were facing left-handed pitching. He constantly forgot he had Brian Wilson as the closer and not Trevor Hoffman as he continued to stroll out Wilson to get four and five out saves (which usually ended disastrously).
There was so much to gripe about in terms of what Bochy did as a manager in 2009.
Thankfully, Giants fans will get to do plenty more in 2010.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Well...Another Giants Season Officially Comes to an End
After today's 4-3 win over the San Diego Padres, the Giants will be playing no more baseball during the 2009 season.
They are done, finished, the door shut for good this year.
Yet (while I know I may sound pessimistic in the headline), all in all, this really was a very good Giants season. There was so much to remember:
Pablo Sandoval's breakout, Tim Lincecum's second-straight great season, Jonathan Sanchez's no-hitter, Matt Cain's emergence. All those were examples of good stories Giants fans were reminded of on a consistent basis.
And don't forget the best story of all: the Giants going 88-74.
Yes, they didn't make the playoffs. Yes, they tanked in September when they needed to step it up. Yes, Bruce Bochy didn't know how to make a lineup. Yes, Brian Sabean screwed the pooch on the Freddy Sanchez and Ryan Garko trades. Yes, nobody on this team knew how to take a walk except Sandoval and Fred Lewis.
But you know what? It was still a great season, warts and all.
This was a Giants organization that was coming off four straight losing seasons. This was a Giants organization that was a mess less than a year ago after Barry Bonds left. This was a Giants organization that looked in the dumps after getting swept by the freaking San Diego Padres during the first week of the season.
Did they make the playoffs? No, but Giants fans shouldn't hang their heads completely. We sold ourselves on .500 being a very successful season and we surpassed that and more. At the very least, we should be encouraged by the results of the 2009 season. 2009 showed us that there is some hope for this Giants team, and we're not going through the same old "Kansas City Royals Syndrome" (e.g. always looking forward to the future as an excuse to look past the present).
That being said, the Giants management needs to make some moves. After this year, anything less than the playoffs is a failure. You can't have a season where you win 88 games, and not expect to make the playoffs next year. If the Giants miss the playoffs next year, not only will I be calling for the heads of Brian Sabean and Bochy, but I will think those pessimistic thoughts about this organization that I held back in 2007 and 2008.
But 2010 is still a year away, and if you look at the present, you have to be happy at least somewhat if you're a San Francisco fan. The future is bright...hell...it is more than bright. The Giants are a year ahead of schedule, and that should be causing Giants fans to jump for joy. Seriously, the Royals have been in rebuilding mode for almost a decade. Would you rather be in their shoes?
Then again...this could be a fluke. We've seen it before. The 2002 Royals. The 2007 Mariners. The 2004 Nationals. The 2009 Rays. All were teams that were on the verge of breakout, only to tank the following year.
But you get the feeling this is a different team from those other ones, and with the right moves, this team could be on the verge of being great. Those teams listed above were one-season wonders, and if we looked deeper at the time, we would have realized it at the time as well.
This Giants team, however, has the capability to not be a fluke. If they stay pat, yes, they probably will be a flash in the pan (simply because you can't win consistently with a team that ranks near the bottom in runs, walks and OBP), but not if they make the right trades or signings.
An adjustment here, a big signing there, and well...the Giants could certainly be a team worth watching next year.
Just you watch Giants fans.
2010 can certainly be something special.
They are done, finished, the door shut for good this year.
Yet (while I know I may sound pessimistic in the headline), all in all, this really was a very good Giants season. There was so much to remember:
Pablo Sandoval's breakout, Tim Lincecum's second-straight great season, Jonathan Sanchez's no-hitter, Matt Cain's emergence. All those were examples of good stories Giants fans were reminded of on a consistent basis.
And don't forget the best story of all: the Giants going 88-74.
Yes, they didn't make the playoffs. Yes, they tanked in September when they needed to step it up. Yes, Bruce Bochy didn't know how to make a lineup. Yes, Brian Sabean screwed the pooch on the Freddy Sanchez and Ryan Garko trades. Yes, nobody on this team knew how to take a walk except Sandoval and Fred Lewis.
But you know what? It was still a great season, warts and all.
This was a Giants organization that was coming off four straight losing seasons. This was a Giants organization that was a mess less than a year ago after Barry Bonds left. This was a Giants organization that looked in the dumps after getting swept by the freaking San Diego Padres during the first week of the season.
Did they make the playoffs? No, but Giants fans shouldn't hang their heads completely. We sold ourselves on .500 being a very successful season and we surpassed that and more. At the very least, we should be encouraged by the results of the 2009 season. 2009 showed us that there is some hope for this Giants team, and we're not going through the same old "Kansas City Royals Syndrome" (e.g. always looking forward to the future as an excuse to look past the present).
That being said, the Giants management needs to make some moves. After this year, anything less than the playoffs is a failure. You can't have a season where you win 88 games, and not expect to make the playoffs next year. If the Giants miss the playoffs next year, not only will I be calling for the heads of Brian Sabean and Bochy, but I will think those pessimistic thoughts about this organization that I held back in 2007 and 2008.
But 2010 is still a year away, and if you look at the present, you have to be happy at least somewhat if you're a San Francisco fan. The future is bright...hell...it is more than bright. The Giants are a year ahead of schedule, and that should be causing Giants fans to jump for joy. Seriously, the Royals have been in rebuilding mode for almost a decade. Would you rather be in their shoes?
Then again...this could be a fluke. We've seen it before. The 2002 Royals. The 2007 Mariners. The 2004 Nationals. The 2009 Rays. All were teams that were on the verge of breakout, only to tank the following year.
But you get the feeling this is a different team from those other ones, and with the right moves, this team could be on the verge of being great. Those teams listed above were one-season wonders, and if we looked deeper at the time, we would have realized it at the time as well.
This Giants team, however, has the capability to not be a fluke. If they stay pat, yes, they probably will be a flash in the pan (simply because you can't win consistently with a team that ranks near the bottom in runs, walks and OBP), but not if they make the right trades or signings.
An adjustment here, a big signing there, and well...the Giants could certainly be a team worth watching next year.
Just you watch Giants fans.
2010 can certainly be something special.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Aaron Rowand: the 2009 San Francisco Giants Least Valuable Player
I have been easy on Aaron Rowand in his two years in San Francisco. Maybe I was just being sympathetic because he had a decent first half in 2008. Maybe I forever have the image of him crashing into the wall at Citizens Bank Ballpark in Philadelphia burned in my mind. Maybe I like the fact that he chews Grizzly.
But I can't defend him anymore. Tonight proved, as most Giants fans have already known for a couple of months, that Rowand is the team's Least Valuable Player for the 2009 season. That's how bad Rowand has been this year, and that isn't easy to say when you have Merkin Valdez and Edgar Renteria on this roster.
Yet time and time again, Rowand has simply been unable to come up big on any occasion with the bat. Tonight's at-bat was a golden chance for him to at least somewhat improve upon his declining image, and still...he has a classic, "Your 2009 San Francisco Giants" at-bat. He looks at two very hittable pitches and then whiffs on a crappy low, out of the zone pitch.
I mean...well...I didn't die really on that strikeout. I was more devastated by Fred Lewis' strikeout to be honest, mainly because I want Freddie do well considering all the unmerited grief he has gotten this year (even on this own blog).
However, that is the problem with Rowand. It was almost as if I expected Rowand to get out before he even stepped into the batter's box. I was disappointed Travis Ishikawa walked the at-bat before despite the walk putting runners on first and second because I knew Rowand was going to strikeout, or even worse, ground into a double play. That is how bad it has gotten with him. We can't expect good things from him ever, and even when he does good things, the game is usually in hand.
I know there are the Rowand fanboys out there, and believe me...I was one of them for a long time. I want to have patience for Rowand because he seems to work hard (Kruk and Kuiper harp about how much batting practices he takes before games). However, Rowand was paid handsomely and expected to be a centerpiece for this team and he has been anything but in his two seasons in San Francisco. He has been anti-clutch in every sense of the word. Lewis or Randy Winn in my opinion would be a better option in the outfield next year, and when you say that...well...you're not having a very good tenure with your team to put it nicely.
Here are the two stats that clinch Rowand's putrid, award-winning season in my mind. He leads the team with a 119 strikeouts (the next highest total is Winn with 90) and Lewis has seven more walks than Rowand despite having almost 200 fewer at-bats.
I'm sorry. That's pathetic. Plain and simple.
Aaron Rowand. You're a likable guy. You chew Grizzly dipping tobacco (an underrated brand), you can make a great catch here and there, and you even look like Johnny Drama, my favorite character from "Entourage."
Nonetheless, you take this LVP award easily this year. You lead the team in strikeouts, you have a lower OPS than two backup outfielders, and you grounded into a triple play in Milwaukee. I think those accomplishments speak for themselves.
Congrats Aaron, and good luck on defending your title next season. With Randy and Bengie Molina likely gone next year, you'll certainly be the favorite to repeat (unless Brian Sabean idiotically resigns Rich Aurilia next year somehow).
But I can't defend him anymore. Tonight proved, as most Giants fans have already known for a couple of months, that Rowand is the team's Least Valuable Player for the 2009 season. That's how bad Rowand has been this year, and that isn't easy to say when you have Merkin Valdez and Edgar Renteria on this roster.
Yet time and time again, Rowand has simply been unable to come up big on any occasion with the bat. Tonight's at-bat was a golden chance for him to at least somewhat improve upon his declining image, and still...he has a classic, "Your 2009 San Francisco Giants" at-bat. He looks at two very hittable pitches and then whiffs on a crappy low, out of the zone pitch.
I mean...well...I didn't die really on that strikeout. I was more devastated by Fred Lewis' strikeout to be honest, mainly because I want Freddie do well considering all the unmerited grief he has gotten this year (even on this own blog).
However, that is the problem with Rowand. It was almost as if I expected Rowand to get out before he even stepped into the batter's box. I was disappointed Travis Ishikawa walked the at-bat before despite the walk putting runners on first and second because I knew Rowand was going to strikeout, or even worse, ground into a double play. That is how bad it has gotten with him. We can't expect good things from him ever, and even when he does good things, the game is usually in hand.
I know there are the Rowand fanboys out there, and believe me...I was one of them for a long time. I want to have patience for Rowand because he seems to work hard (Kruk and Kuiper harp about how much batting practices he takes before games). However, Rowand was paid handsomely and expected to be a centerpiece for this team and he has been anything but in his two seasons in San Francisco. He has been anti-clutch in every sense of the word. Lewis or Randy Winn in my opinion would be a better option in the outfield next year, and when you say that...well...you're not having a very good tenure with your team to put it nicely.
Here are the two stats that clinch Rowand's putrid, award-winning season in my mind. He leads the team with a 119 strikeouts (the next highest total is Winn with 90) and Lewis has seven more walks than Rowand despite having almost 200 fewer at-bats.
I'm sorry. That's pathetic. Plain and simple.
Aaron Rowand. You're a likable guy. You chew Grizzly dipping tobacco (an underrated brand), you can make a great catch here and there, and you even look like Johnny Drama, my favorite character from "Entourage."
Nonetheless, you take this LVP award easily this year. You lead the team in strikeouts, you have a lower OPS than two backup outfielders, and you grounded into a triple play in Milwaukee. I think those accomplishments speak for themselves.
Congrats Aaron, and good luck on defending your title next season. With Randy and Bengie Molina likely gone next year, you'll certainly be the favorite to repeat (unless Brian Sabean idiotically resigns Rich Aurilia next year somehow).
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Good Job Giants in 2009, On to 2010
I am officially throwing in the towel. I know. Four games back with 10 games to go. It's possible, but it's also possible Paris Hilton will join the Carmelite Sisters or Al Pacino will retake his Tony Montana role and do a "Scarface" sequel.
So what am I saying?
You can never say never, but right now it's like 90 percent never.
Thus, I want to give the Giants some props for this season, but not without some reserve. Sure, 2009 was good, but it could have been great. Like most Giants fans, I am a believer that two things characterized this Giants team this season:
1.) A lot of players Giants fans expected to be big contributors tanked (e.g. Bengie Molina, Emmanuel Burriss and Aaron Rowand).
2.) The players who were capable of making up for these "tanking" players weren't utilized quickly enough.
I blame 70 percent of that on on-field management (e.g. Bruce "I won't bat Bengie Molina out of the four-hole ever" Bochy) and 30 percent on the front office (e.g. Brian "I shouldn't, but probably will have a job next year" Sabean). Bochy should have recognized what guys were having stellar seasons and let it ride with them in the lineup on a consistent basis (e.g. Juan Uribe, Nate Schierholtz etc.), and Sabean should have been releasing guys (e.g. Merkin Valdez) who were having no impact, while at the same time, calling up young arms with big upside (e.g. Dan Runzler).
Yet, hindsight is 20/20, and the bottom line? Giants had a great season, but it just wasn't enough. I think for a lot of Giants fans, this season surpassed our expectations. We certainly didn't expect this team to be in contention for a Wild Card berth this year. For the most part, I think a lot of Giants fans were simply hoping for a .500 record. Well, after tonight's win, we got over .500, so all in all, it was a great season for the Giants as well as San Francisco fans.
That being said, this season has certainly raised the bar for next season, which means a lot of crucial moves will need to be made. Simply plus .500 ball won't be enough next year. The Giants will need to make the playoffs because to put it bluntly, that is what people will expect from them. People will expect Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain to be another solid 1-2 punch next year. People will expect Madison Bumgarner to make the leap to the rotation. People will expect an even bigger breakout year from Pablo Sandoval.
Those things added up should equal a playoff berth. Granted, you never know. As we seen from the Detroit Tigers ala 2007 and Florida Marlins ala 2004, things don't always work out like they should. However, judging from expectations alone, this Giants team is a playoff team next season, no doubt about it.
Granted, next year is just that: a year away. Sure, there are 10 games left, but if anything, we are seeing a last hurrah for some veterans with something to prove (e.g. Bob Howry and Eli Whiteside) while getting extended looks at some of the Giants' best prospects (e.g. Runzler, Waldis Joaquin and finally...Frandsen and Bowker). The positive way to look at this is that this is what we expected to see this year when the rosters expanded in September, only it happened about three weeks later than expected. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Well, it depends. It shows that we had a decent team for most of the year, but it also gave less big league experience to some of our top prospects who will be looking to make the 40-man and 25-man active rosters next season.
In the end, this Giants season will be a season known for some disappointment. However, it will also be known as either a turning point or a flash in the pan. We've seen the Mariners in 2007 show some life, only to tank the following season. Is that going to happen to the Giants?
Let's hope not. 2009 brought Giant fans, a fanbase struggling since 2005, more hope than we could have ever thought imaginable.
All I can say is that on behalf of Giants fans, I pray that owner Bill Neukom doesn't screw this up.
So what am I saying?
You can never say never, but right now it's like 90 percent never.
Thus, I want to give the Giants some props for this season, but not without some reserve. Sure, 2009 was good, but it could have been great. Like most Giants fans, I am a believer that two things characterized this Giants team this season:
1.) A lot of players Giants fans expected to be big contributors tanked (e.g. Bengie Molina, Emmanuel Burriss and Aaron Rowand).
2.) The players who were capable of making up for these "tanking" players weren't utilized quickly enough.
I blame 70 percent of that on on-field management (e.g. Bruce "I won't bat Bengie Molina out of the four-hole ever" Bochy) and 30 percent on the front office (e.g. Brian "I shouldn't, but probably will have a job next year" Sabean). Bochy should have recognized what guys were having stellar seasons and let it ride with them in the lineup on a consistent basis (e.g. Juan Uribe, Nate Schierholtz etc.), and Sabean should have been releasing guys (e.g. Merkin Valdez) who were having no impact, while at the same time, calling up young arms with big upside (e.g. Dan Runzler).
Yet, hindsight is 20/20, and the bottom line? Giants had a great season, but it just wasn't enough. I think for a lot of Giants fans, this season surpassed our expectations. We certainly didn't expect this team to be in contention for a Wild Card berth this year. For the most part, I think a lot of Giants fans were simply hoping for a .500 record. Well, after tonight's win, we got over .500, so all in all, it was a great season for the Giants as well as San Francisco fans.
That being said, this season has certainly raised the bar for next season, which means a lot of crucial moves will need to be made. Simply plus .500 ball won't be enough next year. The Giants will need to make the playoffs because to put it bluntly, that is what people will expect from them. People will expect Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain to be another solid 1-2 punch next year. People will expect Madison Bumgarner to make the leap to the rotation. People will expect an even bigger breakout year from Pablo Sandoval.
Those things added up should equal a playoff berth. Granted, you never know. As we seen from the Detroit Tigers ala 2007 and Florida Marlins ala 2004, things don't always work out like they should. However, judging from expectations alone, this Giants team is a playoff team next season, no doubt about it.
Granted, next year is just that: a year away. Sure, there are 10 games left, but if anything, we are seeing a last hurrah for some veterans with something to prove (e.g. Bob Howry and Eli Whiteside) while getting extended looks at some of the Giants' best prospects (e.g. Runzler, Waldis Joaquin and finally...Frandsen and Bowker). The positive way to look at this is that this is what we expected to see this year when the rosters expanded in September, only it happened about three weeks later than expected. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Well, it depends. It shows that we had a decent team for most of the year, but it also gave less big league experience to some of our top prospects who will be looking to make the 40-man and 25-man active rosters next season.
In the end, this Giants season will be a season known for some disappointment. However, it will also be known as either a turning point or a flash in the pan. We've seen the Mariners in 2007 show some life, only to tank the following season. Is that going to happen to the Giants?
Let's hope not. 2009 brought Giant fans, a fanbase struggling since 2005, more hope than we could have ever thought imaginable.
All I can say is that on behalf of Giants fans, I pray that owner Bill Neukom doesn't screw this up.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
An Inexplicable Giants Season: Succeeding Despite the Questionable Stats
From Bleacher Report
With a 65-54 record going into Wednesday's game against the Reds, the Giants certainly have surpassed expectations this year.
This was a team that was coming off a 72-90 season in 2008 and—sans the signings of Edgar Renteria, Jeremy Affeldt and Juan Uribe—didn't really make a splash in the offseason.
Giants GM Brian Sabean and the ownership group led by Bill Neukom passed on Manny Ramirez, even though there were relatively no suitors other than the Los Angeles Dodgers.
And still, despite the little change in terms of the roster, the Giants have succeeded and raised the hopes of Giants fans in the Bay Area.
However, when you look at this 2009 season from a statistical perspective, little makes sense in terms of the Giants success.
Granted, I am no sabermetrician by any means. In fact, this summer, I have slowly gotten more acquainted with the intense-but-effective language of baseball statistical analysis.
This summer, I have finally read the highly lauded book Moneyball by Michael Lewis. I have become a frequent reader of sabermetrics Web sites such as Beyond the Box Score and Fangraphs. And, as a college graduate with a degree in economics, I have become fascinated with the connection between economics and baseball and correlating the value of baseball players.
That being said, I am also a baseball fan, who played baseball in high school, so I can appreciate the little things that go beyond stats and numbers.
So basically, the Giants, have piqued my interest as a baseball fan who tries to balance both ends of the baseball analytical system: the objective, statistical side, and the subjective, "believe it with your eyes" side.
On paper, other than the wins-loss record, the Giants have not had that great of a season.
In team batting this year, the Giants hover around the basement of the National League in almost every statistical category of note.
In the NL this year, the Giants rank 14th in runs scored, total bases and slugging percentage. They also rank second to last in the NL in homer runs, OBP and OPS.
And in terms of an individual basis, the Giants don't have a player on the team that's reached the 20-homer mark yet, have only three regular players that have cracked the .300-average mark (Pablo Sandoval, Eugenio Velez, and Freddy Sanchez) and have only two players that crack the .350 mark in OBP (Sandoval and Fred Lewis).
The batting has been very statistically poor, more telling of a team that is hovering around the basement of the NL West like the San Diego Padres rather than one that is competing for a wild card spot.
Granted, you can credit the pitching for the Giants' resurgence this year.
The Giants pitching staff leads the National League in ERA (3.50), complete games (10), shutouts (15), strikeouts (934), and is second in batting average allowed (.237, five points behind the current NL-leading Dodgers).
Furthermore, the Giants have two stud, All-Star starting pitchers this year in Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain who both have 12 wins and ERAs of 2.37 and 2.49, respectively.
The bullpen has also been performing admirably, spearheaded by left-hander Jeremy Affeldt, who has 24 holds and a 1.81 ERA, right-handed middle relief pitcher Justin Miller, who has a 1.83 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP, and right-handed closer Brian Wilson, who has 29 saves and a 1.13 WHIP.
Yet despite those incredible pitching statistics, it doesn't automatically mean success.
In the Power Rankings put together by the sabermetrics blog Beyond the Box Score, which ranks teams according to batting, pitching, and fielding statistics, the Giants are around the bottom of the league.
The Giants ranked 22nd in the latest Aug. 12 rankings, behind losing teams such as Arizona, Baltimore, Cleveland, and even the Giants' Bay Area rivals—the Oakland A's.
So what gives? How do the Giants succeed despite most pieces of objective data suggesting they are simply a mediocre team with, as one obnoxious New York Mets fan put it on Twitter, "A Triple-A lineup other than Sandoval?"
Sometimes, baseball is just funny.
The Giants have just been a team of incredible ups and downs this year.
The Giants have an enormous amount of incredible successes, like their hot June, the emergence of the "Panda," the one-two punch of Lincecum and Cain, Jonathan Sanchez's no-hitter, and so on.
They have also had their incredible share of downs, though. The awful start to the year, the 3-7 road trip to start the second half, the Dodgers series Aug. 10-12 at AT&T Park, losing two out of three at home to the Cincinnati Reds.
Despite those depressing moments, though, the Giants seems to have had more positives than negatives. They have been a team that has been able to put things together on the field, even if they might not come in the prettiest or most statistically favorable way.
The Giants are proof that baseball sometimes goes beyond paper, and that teams can be successful, even if you can't prove it through numbers and figures.
And that is what makes this team so fun for a Giants fan. Every time you think you have figured out this team and know where they're heading, they come out and surprise you once again.
Like last night, for instance. Down four runs in a game to the Reds where Lincecum is having one of his worst starts of the year and Sandoval gets the hat trick in strikeouts, the Giants somehow come back thanks to Ryan Garko's four-RBI performance.
The same Ryan Garko that had been a bust in my mind until yesterday.
The win was also the first time the Giants had come back and won when down by four runs in a game.
Believe me, that certainly wasn't in my mind when I saw Joey Votto park one off Lincecum to make it a 5-1 game.
It really has been an amazing season to behold for Giants fans, baseball fans, and sabermertics enthusiasts alike. It simply has been baffling, but in a good way that shows not all baseball games can be absolutely predicted with numbers.
Who knows what the stats will ultimately mean for the Giants during this last month-and-a-half of the season?
Is it a sign of things to come? Or are the 2009 Giants an exception to the rules that have governed baseball and its fans and experts so firmly since Michael Lewis' book was published?
Whatever happens, I am happy about what the Giants have done this year, warts and all. As much as I like going by the numbers to help understand trends and predict results, I also am guilty of liking the Giants' free-swinging play, led by the affable and ever-interesting "Kung-Fu Panda."
As Giants coach and former Giants infielder Shawon Dunston said in the article about Sandoval in the Aug. 10 issue of Sports Illustrated, "You want to see a walk? Then go watch the mailman."
From a fan that appreciates baseball in all forms, statistical and live, I can certainly sympathize with what Dunston is saying.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
What the Giants need to do to make a run (please read this Brian Sabean!)
Dan Uggla would bring much needed power and RBI support to a Giants team that hasn't had those two things since Bonds' absence.I'm running high right now. The Giants have just won four straight as they swept the Atlanta Braves and took the first game against the St. Louis Cardinals, their last home series before they hit the road for an NL East swing against Washington and Florida. If the Giants can take two out of three at the very least against the Cardinals this will be big momentum before they hit their interleague series against the hated Oakland A's (yes they are rivals. They swept us in the 1989 Earthquake Series and I have declared Holy War on them since). The Nationals and Marlins are reeling and there is no reason to think why we can't take five out of six or even sweep both series. Well...that might be asking a lot, but we should take four out of six against the Nats and Marlins at the very least. Furthermore, we follow up against the D'Backs after the Marlins series and with the way that team is reeling (with the exception of Justin Upton), the opportunity is there for the Giants to make a big run to pass up the hot Padres and gain some ground on the scorching Dodgers.
The thing is though, our hitting is still lousy. The bats are starting to improve after that lousy 2-9 stretch in Mid-May, but in the long-haul, there really just isn't enough hitting in the lineup for the Giants to make a serious run. Bengie Molina is mired in an awful slump that exhibits why he shouldn't be the Giants cleanup hitter and Pablo Sandoval, our best hitter of the year so far, simply doesn't have the kind of power that can make the team contenders. He's a great contact guy, don't get me wrong. He puts the ball in play and the ball finds holes, but you can't count on him for that big home run or that big double. That just isn't his game nor his style of hitting. He's less reminiscent to a power hitter like Pujols or Bonds and more akin to a slow-slap hitter like Billy Butler. Great contact hitter, puts the ball in play, but you're pretty much getting singles out of the guy and that's it.
The only thing worthwhile is that the Giants pitching, especially starting pitching has been phenomenal. Tim Lincecum, whom I ripped in an earlier post after Opening Week, has looked like his old self. Matt Cain is finally getting some run support and looking like the ace we always knew he would be. Jonathan Sanchez is looking like he always is (great on some days, bad on days when his control is not on) but that is not a bad thing, because when he rides a hot streak, he can be one of the best pitchers on the staff. Even Barry Zito, the 100 plus million dollar man, isn't looking bad. He has been putting out alright outings, but unfortunately, a combination of poor defense and lousy hitting has been his Achilles heel so far that has produced his third straight poor win-loss record out of the gate.
The relief pitching really is the only thing holding the pitching back, mainly because Brian Wilson is a shell of his former self and the set up guys have been inconsistent. Bobby Howry is a perfect example. Totally shuts down the meat of the order against St. Louis last night, but he had nights before when he just gets rocked. If Howry can get some consistency, there is no reason our bullpen can't close the door on the close games. That used to be their MO last year: bullpen closing the door on tight games. And that was with less run support and worse hitting.
So what do the Giants do in order to get in the mix in this NL West Race which looks like Dodgers and everyone else? Well...first they need to solve the Padres. The Giants are a woeful 0-6 at Petco Park this year. While they did sweep a two game series from the Padres in April, that was at a time when the Padres were reeling as well. The Giants have played well against the Dodgers since getting massacred during the opening week. But the Padres have been a different story and the Giants need to get those woeful performances solved. If it's a three-team race between the Padres, Giants and Dodgers, things won't look so good. But if it's narrowed down to a two-team race between the Giants and Dodgers, the odds look a lot better.
Another thing the Giants need to do is get a legitimate power hitter. It's been the priority the fans have been clamoring for even though Sabean is a knucklehead and continues to think guys like Travis Ishikawa and Jesus Guzman are the answers to get it done. Look, I know the Giants are a different team from the Bonds days and I like it. I like that they're more about speed and stretching hits out. I really have come around on Emmanuel Burriss, who is starting to show people why he should be the everyday second baseman. Juan Uribe has been a nice little pickup who's given the lineup some much needed spark (and I think for the time being, we should start Uribe at third and put Sandoval at first. Uribe's a better hitter than Ishikawa and I think Sandoval is more suited for first base anyways). And Aaron Rowand leading off strangely enough has given the Giants lineup the perk that they needed after that woeful mid-May stretch.
Yet there still is that missing run producer that could take this Giants team from good to great. The good thing is, this problem is solvable. There are guys on the market that can come in and help the team immediately. The bad thing is, Sabean is the worst GM in the league and whether or not he has the smarts to make a moves is something to be determined. Here are a few guys I believe the Giants should make serious runs for.
Nick Johnson: I like getting Nick Johnson for various reasons, and reporters everywhere are sure that he's one of the first players to be moved this season. One, you can't overestimate the value of getting a guy that is in the same league. While we have seen exceptions to the rule before (Manny and C.C. last season) for the most part, there has always been a drop off when guys switched from one league to the other. Nomar had a drop off when he went to the Cubs down the stretch and the Cubs suffered for it. Renteria has struggled whenever he has gone to American League ballclubs. So getting a guy from the Nationals is a positive move, just because he is already used to the pitching in the National league. In addition, what makes this trade so tantalizing is Johnson is a northern California guy. He played at McClatchy High School in Sacramento, Calif. A guy familiar with the area can be a wonderful thing. He'll feel right at home and won't need much time to get used to the area. And lastly, and most importantly, the guy can hit. He's healthy for the first time in a while and he has been a catalyst for a rather meager Nationals ballclub. Currently, he's batting .335 with four home runs and 26 RBIs. In addition, he's always been a solid on base guy and can take advantage of the gaps, a quality that is beneficial in a spacious ballpark such as AT&T Park. If the Giants can land this guy for a few minor league arms, (which the Nationals need because there pitching is ridiculously poor), the Giants could make a tremendous leap in terms of improving their mediocre offensive numbers.
Dan Uggla: He's struggling actually right now (.207 average, 9 HRs, 34 RBIs) and the Marlins have always showed in the past that they always want to get younger. With a lot of young farm guys coming up and the Marlins looking as if they are going to be an afterthough in the competitive NL East, an expected fire-sale of big name guys could happen very soon, much sooner than usual. Uggla would bring much needed power to the Giants lineup and could be the kind of second baseman that might bring back for fans memories of Jeff Kent, one of the best second baseman the Giants have ever had. Like Kent, Uggla isn't much of a fielder, but they don't need him to be really. Kent was an average fielder as well, but he was able to take advantage of the Giants home ballpark and was a catalyst behind Bonds in the lineup. With Molina fading fast in the cleanup spot, Uggla coming to San Francisco could be the pop to help the Giants compete with the loaded Dodgers. Furthermore, this could be a win-win for both sides. For the Giants, they get a better hitter, and for Uggla, he gets a fresh start and gets to be "the man" something he really hasn't had in Florida with Hanley Ramirez the main headliner.
Carlos Lee: I've been reading up on this one on a couple of blogs and I'm not exactly convinced, but I'm not totally closed to this idea as well. There is a lot Lee can bring to the table for the Giants. He'll obviously be an immediate power threat not to mention a run-driving threat that Giants have lacked since Bonds was let go. Granted, for all of Lee's inadequacies (lousy fielder, shaky personality) the one thing he does have going for him is that he has always been a consistent hitter. In his tenure with the White Sox, Brewers and Astros his stats have always been around the same, and that is what the Giants have lacked in their lineup. Molina is up one month, down the other. Same thing with every guy in this Giants lineup 1-8. A force like Lee not only would give the Giants lineup a consistent threat, but could also add confidence in the hitters, who'll not feel the pressure like they usually do with runners on. Molina won't need to be the man, and can bat lower in the lineup which he is more suited for. The only roadblock in this is money. He costs a lot and his arrival undoubtedly would mean Fred Lewis or Randy Winn would be packing their bags (most likely Lewis, who I like a lot). But the Giants should definitely look into this, especially since a big-hitting veteran presence could do this young team some good.
So those are some of my thoughts about the Giants as of today. Hopefully they can take their fifth in a row but with Carpenter on the mound, I'm highly skeptical.
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