Sabean on Pence move: “Right now, we needed all the help we could get.” | Giants Extra

I like the deal, I like Hunter Pence a lot. Always have from back when he was with the Astros.
However, it still smacks of 'the dog chasing his tail' of mistakes. If we don't let Cody Ross walk away, we don't have to give up two additional prospects for Pence.

The prospects were (over?) payment for the prior mistake as well as compensation to get the more premium player in the Pence vs. Schierholz tale of the tape.

Pence will add some heart, some soul, some flavor that's been lost since Ross left and Huff hit the couch. Sorely needed, as it seems as if the Giants were becoming a tad corporate lately. Time will tell.

from mercurynews.com:
Sabean on Pence move: “Right now, we needed all the help we could get.” | Giants Extra:

"The Giants had their eye on Pence a year ago but weren’t able to pull the trigger. As the Phillies fell out of the race, a deal came into place. Schierholtz was said to be “a required piece” and the Phillies were high on catcher Tommy Joseph. Sabean feels that Seth Rosin, the third player in the deal, has a chance to pitch in the big leagues at some point and the Phillies agreed.

“It was talent we had prepared ourselves to be able to move for various reasons,” he said. “And that’s what it took.”"

'via Blog this'

Top 2010 Sports Stories (PLUS ONE)

There's a month to go on the sports calendar, but here's my list so far. Your results may vary.

Many of the stories had as much or more importance and meaning off the field as they did on the field. That's why we love sports.

1 Giants win the World Series
2 The Perfect Game Grace of Armando Gallaraga
3 Michael Vick's Redemption
4 Tim Tebow drafted in the 1st Round
5 Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup
6 The Buster Posey Era Begins
7 Landon Donovan's Miracle World Cup Goal
8 The Cody Ross Experience
9 Edgar Renteria's Redemption as World Series MVP
10 Grant Desme leaves A's for priesthood
11 The Vuvuzela
12 Tiger Woods Apology
13 The Tea Party

I Love a Parade...

Tim Lincecum after bringing it home to San Fran

Brian Sabean gets to rightfully bask in the glow of victory.

The Giants President Larry Baer's quote about sums it up. A dream fulfilled.

from espn.com
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs/2010/news/story?id=5760521

Giants president Larry Baer captured the fans' long anticipation for a victory after decades of game attendance at Candlestick Park and at the new home stadium, AT&T Park. "The triumph of this team allows us to flash back and connect to our past, to experience the beauty of our memories and shared experiences with unbridled joy," Baer said.

"This day is a blessed reminder of a dream fulfilled for all of us," he said.

Buster Posey has quite the fan club

Even the police horses are stoked

Willie Mays - The Greatest Player Ever

Edgar Renteria - World Series MVP

Matt Cain - Future Ace

Posey with the Trophy

Cable Car - A San Francisco Treat

The Cody Ross Experience continues

Wilson, Lincecum and Cain

Future Giants fans - destined to never have to suffer than same fate as their older brethren in Gigante Nation

Next stop the Hot Stove League. So Soon?

It is a bad sign of the time when we are even discussing such matters before the Giants even have a chance to nurse their World Series hangover and before the San Francisco city parade. Can fans at least take a breath from the end of one season to savor, enjoy and take stock of the season past before turning to the business side of the next season? Shouldn't we allow to fans to riot, burn stuff in their neighborhood and tip over a car or two before we move on? Is that too much to ask?

And seriously Frisco fans are you people congenitally stupid or what? The best day in the history of sports for your city and you act like this when you have lived under the fecal stain that is Nancy Pelosi FOR YEARS with nary a whimper? You people ought to be ashamed of yourselves. I'm ashamed to be associated with you as a fellow Giants fan. Both for pillaging your own neighborhood and for harboring Pelosi. Act like you have the brains you were born with people.

All sports seem to go here with this sort of problem. So it's not exclusive to baseball.

In hockey, it seemed like even before the Chicago Blackhawks Dustin Byfueglin had time to capitalize or bask in the glory of being a Stanley Cup icon, the team had to literally dismantle said champion to get under the onerous salary cap rules.

There almost needs to be a "to the victor, goes the spoils" exception, similar to the Larry Bird or franchise exceptions of the past, whereby you can sign your franchise icons -- even if you go over the cap -- if your team wins it all. What could be more "fan-friendly" than that?

And we all know these guys are all about being fan friendly, right?

Yeah, Riiiiiiiight!!!

It is all about the Benjamin's. Franklin's that is, not Bernanke's.

Hey Edgar Renteria, you just won the World Series, what's next?

I'm going to Disney Wor....I mean, I'm going to free-agency?

This is the business end of the sport. At $10.5M with a body that was breaking down last year, the Giants will take a step back with Edgar and a step forward with Team Sabean & Bochy. And that makes sense.

As for the others:

Jose Guillen - GONE!! And take those DHL...er HGH packages with you. DANG FOOL!!!
Pat Burrell - Probably gone. Maybe back to the couch until May.
Jose Uribe - BACK
Aubrey Huff - BACK, BACK, BACK, BACK
Guillermo Mota - BACK, if you can afford him. Someone may overpay and promote him.

The arbs other than Fontenot and Chris Ray were significant pieces, keep 'em happy and see if they continue to develop.

But Sabean and Bochy know that. The rings are proof.

From mlbtraderumors.com

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/11/giants-notes-.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+MlbTradeRumors+(MLB+Trade+Rumors)

Giants Notes: Sabean, Bochy, Renteria

By Tim Dierkes [November 2, 2010 at 7:48am CST]

You just won the World Series. What are you doing next? A few notes from the Giants' celebration...

Giants president Larry Baer and owner Bill Neukom are expected to have discussions about extending the contracts of manager Bruce Bochy and GM Brian Sabean, writes Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News. Both are under contract through 2011 with club options for '12.

World Series MVP Edgar Renteria remains undecided about playing next year, reports Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Given the free agent market for shortstops, the 34-year-old would be able to find work. He's already filed for free agency; the team buying out his $10.5MM club option for $500K is a formality.

The Giants' other free agents, all of whom already filed: Jose Guillen, Pat Burrell, Juan Uribe, Aubrey Huff, and Guillermo Mota. They've got eight players eligible for arbitration: Andres Torres, Jonathan Sanchez, Ramon Ramirez, Mike Fontenot, Santiago Casilla, Cody Ross, Chris Ray, and Javier Lopez.

From the list of potential free agents out there, I like Jayson Werth of the Phillies as a good fit for a lot of reasons. He would bring the kind of pop that Pat Burrell gave the Giants, only more consistently. A side bonus, addition to the Giants while at the same time subtraction from the rival Phillies.

Bring on the Hot Stove League.

Wait a minute, what just happened here? I'm not sure how that picture got there. A virus perhaps? This is not the type of behavior we condone here at this blog even if it appears to be remotely linked to the subject at hand.

Clearly not appropriate or safe attire for the preparation of scalding hot food and food by-products. Is this what passes for culinary arts education in the public schools nowadays? What a scathing indictment of the system.

People, please if your cooking at home, or even if you're all by yourself....remember to wear a smock or an apron.

Giants are on the brink

A cursory look at the SF morning papers reveals how awe-struck some veteran baseball people, both friend and foe, were last night after the gem for the ages pitched by Madison Bumgarner that has this franchise on the brink of a victory that will remove 'long suffering' as a prefix used to describe Giants fans.

From Brian Sabean, Bruce Bochy, Giants teammates and Rangers manager Ron Washington. All weighed in on the magnitude and the magnificence of the performance.

From Bruce Jenkins, The Giants past, present and future.

SF Giants' rookie turns in a gem for the ages

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/11/01/SP581G4NRA.DTL#ixzz141pYSUws

It's hard to believe the Giants' story can get any better, for it reached an otherworldly state in Game 4 of the World Series on Sunday night. It left manager Bruce Bochy chuckling to himself in amazement. It had players shaking their heads in admiration. General manager Brian Sabean was so stunned, he barely could speak.

Such was the residue of Madison Bumgarner's eight shutout innings in the Giants' 4-0 win, viewed by World Series history as the most efficient by a rookie pitcher in 62 years.

Manager Ron Washington marveled that Bumgarner never threw two consecutive pitches at the same speed, and that was the key. He was humming the fastball around 92-93 mph. A couple of proud hitters, Vladimir Guerrero and Michael Young, flailed so badly on changeups that they resembled men groping for a light switch in the dark.

"That kid, I can't say enough about what he did tonight," Bochy said. "I mean, a 21-year-old kid on that stage, pitching like that. He's a man. A very special talent, and we're grateful we have him."

"He's fearless, man," said Huff, who aided Bumgarner's case immeasurably with a massive two-run homer down the right-field line in the third inning. "He came to the yard today and you could see he was just chilling. Nothing really bothers him. Put on some David Allen Coe on the playlist and let him go to town.

"I'll tell you, with the young pitching this team has and Buster Posey behind the plate, this team has a chance to do something special for quite some time."

That's what had Sabean in a near-trance after the game, a state of blissful amazement as he pondered the impact of Bumgarner and Posey on the 2010 Giants. "Certain guys you draft, you can tell they're cut-above people," Sabean said. "But I've been around scouting and player development for a long time, and this is just very unusual. The strength, the inner courage ...I'm shocked. They've shocked all of us."

With one more victory, the Giants will have shocked the world. They have come too far to turn back now.

----------

From Henry Schulman, Bumgarner is money in the bank.

Madison Bumgarner pitches SF Giants to brink

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/11/01/SPS61G4NQ3.DTL

Cody Ross said everyone in the clubhouse "can feel it, taste it and smell it - all the senses." As pumped as they are, though, the Giants are forcing themselves to remember it takes four wins, not three, to get a parade.

The faithful back in San Francisco must be struggling with emotions that could not be more mixed. On one hand, the Giants are a win away. On the other hand, 55 seasons without a championship and the fresh memories of the 2002 Series can harden a person's skepticism.

Shortly after the game, special assistant Felipe Alou stood by the front door of the clubhouse and recalled the first time he saw Bumgarner in spring training. Alou did not have to stretch his mind to see him pitching eight shutout innings in Game 4 of the World Series.

"When I saw the mound presence and the poise, I said, 'Wow. How long has this guy been pitching?' " Alou recalled. "It's really something to own a lefty of that stature with that kind of stuff. That's a lot of money in the bank."

--------------------

From Scott Ostler, Huff still rocking The Rally Thong

SF Giants 1 win away from city's 1st championship

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/11/01/MNS61G4NQ4.DTL#ixzz141opLaKi


Huff's Rally Thong, by the way, is more than just media candy or a passing fad. When I asked Huff after the game, in the interests of journalism, if he was still rocking the lucky garment, he jumped on the question like a belt-high fastball.

"Yeah, it hasn't left my body since we started playing (good ball), since 30 games (before the end of) the regular season," he said. "It's something you get quite used to after a while. I always wondered how women do it, but it's really not a big deal anymore."

Game 4: Giants - Rangers or "A Night with a Tortured Giants Fan"

Today, I'll just write my thoughts as the game progresses. That should be entertaining. I'll try to filter the language for the young people. But hey, NO GUARANTEES.

Fox Pre-Game nonsense:

We can't even get to the first pitch before I'm ready to turn the sound off on these guys.

First, in pre-game Eric Karros makes me reach for something to throw at him by saying, 'Whoever wins this game, is going to win the series'. Maybe Mr. Karros doesn't read my blog, but it's Game Five that becomes the pivotal game and that's IF the Rangers win Game Four. Sheesh, and this guy played in the bigs, he should understand momentum.

Then Buck and McCarver do the pre-game happy talk and Buck says that Bochy doesn't want to go to Game Five versus Cliff Lee even up at two games apiece. Certainly not the preference, but correct me if I'm wrong here Bucky-beaver:
a) the Giants beat Cliff Lee and
b) the Giants will have Tim Lincecum on the mound, a guy who does a lot to inspire confidence in a manager.

My wife says they are just trying to build drama and interest for the casual fan, who if we believe the initial rating returns (second lowest rated WS game), are not watching anyway. But by doing that, they lose credibility in the eyes of the knowledgeable, hard-core baseball fans who certainly are viewing these early games. A delicate balancing act, I suppose.

I put the remote outside of my immediate reach, since I won't be flipping tonight, and these guys are under my skin already.

Burrell and Sandoval are on the pine, replaced by Nate Schierholz and Travis Ishakawa. Right now, the right thing to do. Burrell has been a windmill for most of the playoffs. Sandoval has been one for most of the season. All about the approach. Both are hot / cold, 'all or nothing' type hitters as a result. Burrell is more patient at times, so his recent demise is more surprising. Plus he has been in the World Series before. Kudos to Bochy for utilizing the bench when he needs it.

1st inning: I don't know what Posey is looking for up there, he seems to be taking some hittable pitches lately and putting himself into bad counts.

Both pitchers searching for the whereabouts of the strike zone. Can't say that either pitcher is at fault. Blue seems to be a little tight today. Maybe they're getting paid by the hour tonight.

2nd inning: Giants catch a break on the Ishakawa DP, not called on the 1B side. Out by a quarter stride, that call has to be made at this level.

Hamilton makes a great catch to save a run in CF. Both pitchers are struggling with the umpires tight strike zone so neither one may go more than six innings. Hopefully, that favors the good guys innings 7-9. Keep it close guys and steal it in the end.

Umpire opens it up (a little) in the second, he must be hearing it from both sides. He's not calling pitches on 'the black' or on the border of Foxies Pitch Tracker service. Nobody will bitch if you call that one. And you don't get graded as a miss, within the margin of error.

Bumgarner still pitching behind too much. That's going to come back to bite him. We'll see who gets an easy inning or two first. Top of the order in the third for the Gigantes, gotta make something happen.

3rd inning: Torres leads off with a double and I finally agree with the announcers, 'why is Sanchez bunting?' This isn't Lee - Lincecum dealing aces where one run is precious. Swing away, Boche!!

The Rangers scouting report on the Giants must be littered with 'sliders away'. And that would make it a decent report. Sanchez battling. Usually good things happen for hitters when you see > 5 pitches in an AB. Nope. He doesn't move the runner, pulls it to 3B and grounds out. Bad AB.

HUFF JOINS THE PARTY THE WAY WE LIKE!!! ALBEIT SANS THONG. CRUSH DADDY!!! GIANTS 2-0.

Posey looks at borderline strike three. Pitch Tracker confirms, outside by quite a bit. That's what happens when your approach is confused up there. You lose the benefit of the doubt. Not much doubt about that one though. I thought catchers usually get the benefit of the doubt. Maybe not in the bigs. Or maybe Buster's not smelling so nice back there today. ;) I wouldn't want to see Bumgarner and Posey get crossed up. Somebody could get hurt back there. Nah, stakes are too high to screw around here.

That's a Ball / Strike miss and a Bases miss so far. One in favor, one opposed. They even out long term, but short term - still BRUTAL.

Fox shows the classic Nolan Ryan - Robin Vetura bout which Ryan won by TKO. CLASSIC!! There are some things that never get old.

Bumgarner settling in. A breezy third inning.

4th Inning: Uribe just missed one. He didn't think so, he struck the pose before he left the batters box, but the wind may have knocked it down. Now Hudson breezing, a rocket grounder to the 2B, two quick outs. Rangers bullpen busy already. Can't take any chances tonight.

Renteria hits a long single, nice play by Cruz to hold him there. Had double written on it. Cruz got out his eraser. Could be a big play, that doesn't show up in the score book.

Schierholz down quick two strikes. Now 2-2, not bad, making him work. Lazy fly ball ends the Giants half.

Young busts the no-no, not by much, great effort. Another great effort by Sanchez to get one on the tag of Young. Hamilton hit a rocket that Bumgarner deflects to Sanchez. One on, one out.
Vladdie tries to tie it with one swing. Bumgarner makes him chase. Good pitch. The change-up is so very underrated.

POSEY THROWS A SEED TO SECOND TO NAIL HAMILTON TRYING TO STEAL!!! NICE CATCH / TAG BY SANCHEZ.

If he's not the Rookie of the Year, a crime has been committed. I know the ballots must have been cast before all this happens, but how dumb do you have to feel now if you didn't vote for this kid and you see what he's doing in this environment. He didn't get demonstrably better overnight, right?

5th Inning: Ogando the new pitcher for Texas. Giants looking for a tack on or two. Torres hits a lazy fly. Sanchez up. Hey how many times do you see a guy make a great play in the field and bat second in the next half of the inning? OH, SHUT UP SLAVIK!!! No, I won't!!! Mathematically and in real-life it happens about as expected: about 11.1% or 1/9th of the time. In other words, it's a relatively random occurrence when the guys leads off, we just attach more weight or notice it more when it does happen, giving the impression that it happens more frequently than it actually does.

While I was typing that Stat 101 / human behavior / mind tricks primer, Huff struck out meekly, making Ogando look like an All-Star. Weak half inning offensively. TORTURE RETURNS!!

Speaking of which, I'm a bit torn here. I hope that isn't the only hit Bumgarner gives up but I don't want to see him get hit any further. Ross screws me up further with a great defensive play to rob Ian Kinsler. Way to screw me up further Cody!!! I love 'The Cody Ross Experience' And I kind of hate Kinsler. Maybe it's the hair. Or his demeanor. I'd like him if he played for us though, so don't go pissy on me Ranger fans.

Bungarner finishes the fifth economically. That helps. If he give six, all good, Seven and I might go all Chris Matthews and get a tingle up my leg. I'm sorry, that's just not something a man should say about another man. Don't remind me about some of my Buster Posey posts or things I've said in the past about Phil Simms, that's different. Simms won a Super Bowl, dude. So it's all good.

6th Inning: Speaking of Posey, weak grounder to third. They have a good report on him so far. Or kryptonite. Ross goes for the downs, on a ball in the dirt. These guys are starting to piss me off. Slider ends Ross. Good advance scouts these Rangers must have. Uribe hacks. Ogando throws a slider to Odessa. So wild he strained an oblique. Dude, a run of the mill slider usually sits Uribe. Just don't hang the sucker. Ogando leaves with a tummy ache. Hockey players worldwide ROTFLAO!!!! Me too. I just consulted my copy of the Rangers advance scouting report on Uribe and it says "pick a slider, any slider, even the cement mixer spinner - anywhere close, he'll hack". Rangers advance scouts worldwide Rolling On The Floor Puking. Not sure if ROTFP is a universally recognized acronym for that, but I have some time to kill while the Rangers reliever relieves himself, or warms up or whatever.

McCarver has a spider over his head, which a) I hope is real and poisonous and b) poised to strike if he says anything stupid, which he is due for. Darren Oliver in relief. Bad stuff happening, we're not capitalizing as Uribe skies weakly to Molina. Baseball gods will not be happy, are poised to strike Giants. You can just feel it. Bumgarner the only thing standing in the way.

Mitch Moreland has another great AB for a single. The Giants should tape his AB's and make their hitters watch it until their eyes bleed. Never mind the 'Tom Emansky: Teaching the Fundamentals of the Major League Swing'. Parts I or II. Just dial into the Moreland approach and good things will follow. Are you listening Hensley?

Another DP, looks like he may have beat that out, though. LOVE THE DP. Umpires best friend. No replay, must not have been as close as it looked. Oh no, here we go. OOPS, BLUE ANOTHER ONE!!! Dude is having a tough night over at first. Maybe that angle is not working out for him.....But,........he's the major league umpire and I'm not. Not to go all teenage girl on you but, 'Life is so not fair'. I wonder how Jacklyn is doing?

7th Inning:
Ishakawa 打席に弱い ( phonetically: Daseki ni yowai ) weak at bat in Japanese. Giants offense is as boring as it is torturous, so I was using some advanced Google features....oh look, Renteria gets another hit. Next game, he bats all times in the order. Schierholtz looks over a slider away, for a backwards-K. What a surprise, that these guys would pound sliders away against the Giants. What are they thinking? Ewwwwweeeee, Torres shoots the gap, double to knock in Renteria. Giants 3-0. And Sanchez taps back to Oliver to end the inning.

Nice rendition of God Bless America for the seventh inning stretch. Texas does patriotism right, we're really going to miss them if things gets worse in this country and they exercise their rights to secede. But I digress. As I often do.

O'Day warming up. He's the kind of pitcher that you love to see coming in and then he shuts you down. Bumgarner K's Michael Young, He's dealing. He got a break on one that Young didn't like, but Bumgarner is getting the benefit of the doubt. Young still had a chance to hit and Bumgarner threw one past him.

Hamilton gets sawed off and Uribe is so distressed, he boots it. That freaking hurt from here. E-Uribe. Bumgarner has to get tough here. He has Guerrero down 1-2.

Tries to make him fish again. No bite. 2-2. Big AB. Misses 3-2. Still just one pitch away.

GOT HIM WITH THE CHANGE!!! HAT TRICK VLADDIE!!!

Don't let up here. Cruz can hurt you. Base hit. Nice piece of hitting by Cruz. Shot it right up the middle

Kinsler brings the tying run to the plate. Strike One. Good pitch. Kinsler not happy. Lazy liner to Cosy Ross ends it. Now, Kinsler has a good reason to be not happy.

BUMGARNER, TOUGH AS NAILS!!!

Casilla warming up in the bullpen. Bummgarner starts the inning for me, somebody has to get on first. Maybe score a run. They may never get to Bummer. We'll see how Bochy handles it.

Eight Inning:
Oliver still in for Texas, Huff grounds weakly to 1B.

The Darren O'Day - Buster Posey match up Part II. Gosh, I hope Buster reads my blog. If he did, he would know exactly what to do.

I outlined it here:
http://slavieboy.blogspot.com/2010/10/moreland-explains-his-game-winning-hr.html

Buster Posey also had a disappointing key AB versus Darren O' Day. As soon as Washington brought him in I said I like the matchup, but it was clear O'day wanted to get him on the sidearm curve to the outside corner or darting off the black. Posey made no visible adjustment to his stance or position in the batters box to accommodate that pitch. The guy doesn't throw hard enough to break a pane of glass (easy for me to say, I know) so you crowd the plate more, dare him to fit one through a mail slot to hit the inside corner, at the same time Posey would be in better position to punish the outside corner. Not second guessing, I told my wife before the pitch, when Molina went out to talk, if he throws the curve to the outside corner, he'll get him, he's got to go the other way. And sure enough, he went there, and worse it seems as if Posey tried to pull it instead of going the other way (he may have been out front). Generally, if you try to pull an outside pitch, weak grounders to the pull side or popups ensue. Bad AB.

We shall see if he learned something. If he didn't, I'm going to be REALLY MAD!!! Not so much that he pissed away another AB, but that he doesn't read my blog. THAT WOULD REALLY PISS ME OFF, BUSTER!!!

1-2 pretty quick. No discernible change in approach so I can feel my pulse quicken. Fouls one off.

HOME RUN TO DEAD CENTER FOR BUSTER POSEY!!!!! OMG, MAYBE HE DOES READ MY BLOG!!!!

Or maybe he's just a major league hitter and I'm just a fan writing a blog. But who cares now, right? Giants up 4-0.

Cody Ross goes down, Uribe up. We got the tack on run we've been looking for. Uribe doesn't leave anything on the table with his swing. EVER!!! Have to take the good with the bad, I guess.

Uribe fouls to 1B to end it. Four up with six out left. I like our chances here.

Francoeur leads off against Bumgarner. 2-1 to start. Francoeur just misses leaving the yard to left. One out.

Bengie Molina up. Bumgarner dealing at 91. 1-1 to start. Misses outside 2-1. Still throwing hard. Molina hits an 'at 'em ball ' laser beam liner right at Cody Ross in LF for the second out.

Lopez and Wilson warming up in the bullpen. Bumgarner at 102 pitches. Moreland up for the Rangers. Good AB expected here. 1-2 count to start him. Moreland has him right where he wants him. MadBum misses 2-2 count. Misses in the dirt 3-2. I like this Moreland kids hitting approach a lot. Got him looking.

BUMGARNER IS NAILS!!!!

WE GO TO THE NINTH INNING - GIANTS 4, RANGERS 0!!!

9th Inning: Derek Holland in for the Rangers. Let's see if he can throw a strike. Starts 2-0. Maybe not.He throws a strike and the Rangers fans cheer. I'm detecting sarcasm. He walks Ishakawa. Now I sense building anger and disgust.

Strike one to Renteria. Throws one under his hands strike two swinging. Strike Three looking to Renteria. Looked good. Renteria didn't offer. No argument.

Schierholz up. Painted the black outside to Nate. He stays there he'll get him, lefty / lefty. Schierholz skies to center, two outs.

Torres from the right side. Torres even at 2-2. Fouls a 95 MPH heater off. Looking for a gapper here. Nope, grounds out third to second.

Here we go, onto the ninth, top of the order due up for the Rangers. I think Bumgarner starts the inning. This may be the last game he has to pitch this season. He's a little high in the pitch count, but with the adrenaline flowing, I think I let a batter tell me that he's done for the night, then go to Brian Wilson for the close. That's the Nolan Ryan approach to developing pitchers. Old School. I think I like it here for us too.

Nope. Brian Wilson opens the ninth. Great effort by Bumgarner. Beard don't fail us now.

Elvis Andrus lines to Schierholz in RF for the first out.

Michael Young. Strike One. Misses for a ball. Misses again. Strike Two. Got him with a half swing. Two outs.

Josh Hamilton steps in. Close the deal, Brian. Strike One. Swings at a slider inside, strike two. I think he has him. Got him on a half swing.

WILSON CLOSES!!! BUMGARNER GETS HIS DUE TONIGHT!!!

Giants are up 3-1 and look to close it out tomorrow.

We've been here before and closer actually.

So hopefully the boys take nothing for granted and close the deal.

Moreland explains his game winning HR and why the Giants are Boom or Bust

Mitch Moreland explains his approach to his game winning AB versus Jonathan Sanchez and by contrast demonstrates why the Giants tend to be boom or bust. IMO. Moreland may be on the verge of becoming the Rangers answer to The Cody Ross Experience. A folk hero in the making.

from espn.com
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs/2010/columns/story?columnist=crasnick_jerry&id=5748057

Moreland collected four hits in a mere 20 regular-season at-bats against lefties. But against Sanchez, he simply refused to be denied. After going up 2-0 in the count, he hit a long foul fly to right field. Then came a fastball for a called strike to even the count. Sanchez followed with four straight sliders and changeups, and Moreland fouled off all four to hang tough at 2-2.

"It was kind of down and in, and I just reacted. I'm not going to say if that's my sweet spot. I don't even know if I have a sweet spot."

Finally it came time for one more fastball, and Moreland didn't miss it. He drove the pitch into the right field seats to put Texas up 3-0 and give his hometown cause to bust its buttons with pride.

"I just wanted to stay short and get the barrel to it,'' Moreland said. "It was kind of down and in, and I just reacted. I'm not going to say if that's my sweet spot. I don't even know if I have a sweet spot.''

Moreland was willing to 'stay short' or shorten his swing to battle Sanchez. The Giants demonstrated in the ninth inning versus Neftali Perez, that they would rather go down flailing like windmills in overdrive than shorten up their swings to make contact. The pitcher is supplying the power, throwing 97-98 MPH. A screaming, line drive gapper in one of those spots would have worked just as well as a HR. And until you had at least one guy on base in the ninth, bringing the tying run to the plate, you have no business swinging from your heels. Just dumb, wasted, unproductive AB's. Not even a loud foul ball in the bunch.

Buster Posey also had a disappointing key AB versus Darren O' Day. As soon as Washington brought him in I said I like the matchup, but it was clear O'day wanted to get him on the sidearm curve to the outside corner or darting off the black. Posey made no visible adjustment to his stance or position in the batters box to accommodate that pitch. The guy doesn't throw hard enough to break a pane of glass (easy for me to say, I know) so you crowd the plate more, dare him to fit one through a mail slot to hit the inside corner, at the same time Posey would be in better position to punish the outside corner. Not second guessing, I told my wife before the pitch, when Molina went out to talk, if he throws the curve to the outside corner, he'll get him, he's got to go the other way. And sure enough, he went there, and worse it seems as if Posey tried to pull it instead of going the other way (he may have been out front). Generally, if you try to pull an outside pitch, weak grounders to the pull side or popups ensue. Bad AB.

Rangers win MUST game as Giants revert back to BOOM or BUST

The Rangers won a game they HAD to win. The Giants lost a game it would have been nice to win. Any time an NFL game features a game where one team MUST win versus another team that would LIKE to win, I go with the team that MUST win. The old cornered rat thing. Or the boxer, backed into the corner. The only way out is to punch back. If you curl up and take the hits, it's not long before you are counted out.

And so the Rangers win 4-2. The Giants will not sweep the series. But who really thought they would? If you told me after three games, 'the Giants will be up 2-1' I would have taken it. The difference in the game: The Rangers 2 HR's were a 3-run blast and a solo versus the Giants 2 solo jobs. That's it.

Andres Torres gets his signature hit. The Cody Ross Experience continues with another HR, his fifth of the post season. Huffie laces a laser beam double. Burrell is struggling. PAINFULLY STRUGGLING.

The Rangers still have to run the table at home and get one in Frisco, so we're still in pretty good shape.

I like the match-up today MadBum versus Hunter. Both young pitchers so who knows which pitcher shows up. If Bumgarner settles in early, he can be tough as nails.

GO GIANTS!!!

Giants torture Rangers and Cliff Lee

How great can life be when the day after your ace goes to the hill in Game 1 of the World Series, Giants fans are more thrilled with the performance of the offense than that of "The Freak". That's the situation we find ourselves in this morning.

Don't get me wrong. Old two-time Cy Young Award Timmy battled and won against another teams high profile ace. And the Giants are sitting very pretty, with a favorable pitching match-up on tap tonight, with Cain vs. Wilson.

Timmy and the boys have been making a habit of taking on some hot aces - and prevailing - on this magical run.

As noted in Yahoo Sports:
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-worldseriesnotebook

Six of the last seven teams to win Game 1 went on to win the World Series. … The Giants handed Cliff Lee his first postseason loss in eight decisions. They also gave Roy Oswalt and Roy Halladay their first career postseason losses in the past two weeks. Halladay had thrown a no-hitter in his only postseason start before losing to the Giants in Game 1 of the NLCS. Oswalt was 5-0 in the postseason before losing in relief in Game 4 that series.

Timmy overcomes an early "brain fart" to steady the ship and allow the offense to do it's thing.

Even without his best stuff, Lincecum lasted longer than Lee. The hard-throwing righty allowed four runs and eight hits in 5 2-3 innings with three strikeouts and two walks in a 93-pitch performance as the Giants were victorious kicking off their first World Series since a runner-up finish in 2002 to the Angels.

“When you get here and you get to the playoffs, you start to realize it’s not so much about your stats or if you get a hit here,” Lincecum said. “It’s just who comes out on top at the end of the day.”

Uribe continues to hit out of his mind, delivering clutch daggers almost nightly.
Posey continues to play beyond his years.
How cool is the continuing Cody Ross story?
And 'The Beard' makes an appearance, when it appeared as if he might get the night off.
Sanchez joins the party last night with his bat.

All against the seemingly invincible Cliff Lee.

This offense may be poised for a breakout. And it couldn't come at a better time. If Huff and Sandoval can join the party, who knows? Maybe Renteria rekindles some of that old Marlins playoff magic? I would never mention the contract again. Rowand too, if given the opportunity.

This is a chance to write a new chapter in Giants baseball history. Something that many past legends have tried - valiantly at times - but failed to do.

Lincecum, the new face of the franchise since Bonds’ departure after he broke Hank Aaron’s home run record in 2007, will try to lead the Giants to their first championship since the franchise moved West in 1958.

That’s something Bonds couldn’t do. Or Hall of Famers Willie Mays, Willie McCovey and Orlando Cepeda. Mays was ill and missed the game, but McCovey and Cepeda were among those recognized on the field before the start.

This crew would instantly elevate to a higher celebrity status than many current Hall of Famers in San Francisco enjoy. An opportunity like that does not come along very often.

It was nice to see Barry back in the yard - back in the House that Barry built - and it would be really nice to see Willie back tonight.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-worldseries-maysmccovey

Willie Mays was sick and missed throwing out the ceremonial first pitch before the World Series opener.

Mays was announced earlier Wednesday on a list of six Hall of Famers to throw out first pitches before Wednesday night’s game against the Texas Rangers.

With Mays absent, Orlando Cepeda, Monte Irvin, Juan Marichal, Willie McCovey and Gaylord Perry went on without the Say Hey Kid.

All that baseball talent and history, all but Monte Irvin a part of San Francisco Giants history, and not one Bay Area World Series title. There's just something not right about that. Maybe something the baseball gods are looking to rectify

Cain. At home, where he is generally a very, very lights out kind of individual.

Two to nothing heading to Texas would be ideal. In spite of the euphoria from last night, if the Rangers win tonight, they have done their job.

However, if the Giants do go up 2-0, I like our chances moving forward.

GO GIANTS!! Bring it home.

Win at home and split on the road and we're home free

The Giants cannot be dissatisfied with their work in Philadelphia. A split is about as good as you could hope for there. And if you defend your ground and take two of the next three at home, then all that needs to happen is you go back to Philadelphia only needing to split another two game set to advance.

Easier said than done, but that's what it comes down to at this point. Lincecum put the Philthees backs to the wall with his gem. Sanchez almost matches Oswalt before fading.

I like the match ups for SF. Cain vs. Hamels is a draw. Bumgarner vs. Blanton should favor the Giants. Then comes a Lincecum - Halliday rematch of heavyweights for the upper hand heading to Philly.

I can't see either team sweeping, so IMO it comes down to who takes two of three in Frisco.

Cody Ross continues his Cinderella post-season. I think he stays in SF next year and hopefully beyond. Burrell would be a good keep as well.

Perhaps Guillen, Rowand and Renteria should be looking for real estate agents ASAP.

Amazing that with all the Sabean back-slapping that nobody has mentioned that this may be the first team in recent memory to have it's TOP THREE players in terms of salary off the playoff roster or out of the lineup by choice of the team and not due to injury.

Zito $18.5M - Rowand $13.6M and Renteria $10M the TOP THREE - $42.1M of the team's total payroll of approx. $88M on the bench. ALMOST 50% of the payroll non-productive. Perhaps Sabean deserves a promotion to head up the Obama administration economic stimulus team or special advisor to Ben Bernanke's QE2 effort.

OK, OK. I'll say it, like a good little Giants fan - "If they make it to or win the World Series it's all worth it." But remember this, if they don't then -- much like the national debts effect on the economy -- this will considerably hamstring the Giants efforts to grow in the future.

Did I mention that DeRosa's $6M salary puts him in the 5th spot salary-wise behind Tim Linceum?

And that he has as many hits as I do in this post-season?

Oh, I have mentioned it in the past? Well good, because it bears repeating.

GO GIANTS!!!

The NLCS is set - Giants survive to face Phillies

The Braves self mutilation continued to aid the Giants efforts. First came 2B Brooks Conrad's debacle in Game 3 and last night SS Alex Gonzalez kept trying to hand the game to the Giants.

The Giants would oblige by trying to muff the game right back into the Braves hands. A veritable comedy of errors finally turned tragic for the Braves, who send Bobby Cox off into the sunset with a real stinker. He deserved better, but his great career stands on its own.

Derek Lowe pitched valiantly in defeat. Bumgarner nearly matched him on the other side. Burrell provided a portent of doom, doing his best J.T. Snow imitation getting thrown out at home.

Our #2 hitter can't bunt a guy over when we're trying to tack on an insurance run. Heck, he couldn't get him over at all. Then Renteria -- a major league SS -- can't make a Little League play, but gets bailed out by Gonzalez not running it out to 1B. AMAZING!!! Bad baseball, yet compelling drama and suspense.

For some reason, the baseball gods chose to punish Gonzalez more than Renteria. Tough choice there, BB gods. Could have gone either way.

Every game in this series was decided by one run, the Giants were fortunate to win three of them. Game 1 is scheduled for Saturday at Philadelphia and features a marquee matchup of aces - Tim Lincecum vs. Roy Halladay.

These Giants, I can't call it "Bochy-ball", because there really is no positive characteristic to how this team plays.

Maybe "Botchy-ball" because of the way they seem to win in spite of the, at times surprisingly glaring ineptitude and botched opportunities?

They are slow, they don't run, don't hit and run, don't advance runners, kill rallies with DP's yet somehow score just enough runs to win. Keep it up, eight more times, the fundamentals be danged. The Tom Emasky people will not be asking for Giants highlight reels for their video series on baseball fundamentals.

Hopefully when the Phillies read the reports from their advance scouts, they either become grossly overconfident or pull multiple oblique muscles from excessive and prolonged laughter.

The Giants are fortunate not to have been stretched to five games. They get to start with Lincecum on the mound and have about the same amount of rest as the Phillies. So we're starting off even in those two areas. Otherwise, on paper, the Phillies are clear favorites. Fortunately, the games are not played on paper, they are played on fields. And on the field, the Giants and Phillies have split six games this season. So we have a chance.

For the Giants, regardless of how things turn out against the Phillies, this NLCS series win makes for a very successful season. I would have hoped for them to be in the NLCS in the spring, but not reasonably expected it. Even though I predicted a Rays - Giants World Series.

So the team has exceeded expectations and set up the next couple of years to be solidly in contention and poised to advance into the playoffs. That's all you can ask for.

Cody Ross -- the guy the Giants claimed so that the Padres couldn't -- provides the offense. That's the difference maker right there, Giants fans.

BTW, if there are any ROY ballots still out there undecided how to vote, I think Mr. Posey made the decision a little bit easier, if the Joe Morgan contrarian indicator wasn't enough for you.

GO GIANTS!! And Go Rays!!!

Giants and Padres tango with lead while Rockies roar back

Giants pull into a virtual tie with the Padres, with the red-hot Rockies breathing down both teams necks as we move into the final stages if the season.

A productive four game series with the Padres this weekend sets the Giants up nicely for the final eighteen games. The Giants managed to bookend 7-3 and 6-1 drubbings around a trade-off of 1-0 shutouts with that seemed to demonstrate that the Giants are on the rise while the Padres magic appears to be running out of gas.

The next three series, home stands vs. the Dodgers and Brewers precede a three-game set at Wrigley Filed versus the Cubs and a huge three game set at Colorado. If the Giants can take six of the nine against the Dodgers, Cubs and Brewers -- who are playing out the string -- they should be in good shape for the Rockies series. The season ends with two, three-game series at home versus the D-Backs and the Padres.

The Rockies are on one of their patented annual late season runs and bear watching. All the while the Giants and Padres have been watching each other, the Rockies have spent creeping back in by simply refusing to lose. The three game set looms large for both teams.

But the Giants are looking good right now. A tough loss over the weekend with the injury to Andres Torres may throw Aaron Rowand back into the mix and give Cody Ross some more looks as well.

Giants get Ross, an OF they didn't really want

At least according to the San Francisco Chronicle report by Henry Schulman.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/08/22/SP6S1F1NKE.DTL

(08-23) 04:00 PDT ST. LOUIS -- It appears the Giants have a new outfielder, whether they wanted him or not. They placed what was believed to be a blocking claim on Cody Ross of the Marlins to prevent the Padres from acquiring him. Florida elected not to pull Ross back and instead handed him to the Giants, who must pay the $1.1 million left on his 2010 contract.

The only question in my mind is, why wouldn't they have wanted Cody Ross? This guy seems like he would be a better player overall than Jose Guillen. Career stat wise, it appears to be a virtual tie, same type player. Maybe after this season, you find a way to let Guillen walk and keep Ross around.

Ross has had some productive years for the Fish, he's down this year almost across the board. He's going to strike out 100+ times in a full season but will provide some pop. His O-Swing% is up this year around 33.9% from a career 28.6%. Maybe a change of scenery is all he needs.

This could be turn out to be one of the better moves the Giants never really wanted to make.

Cody Ross stats

Year AB HR RBI Avg. OBP
2006 269 13 46 .227 .293
2007 173 12 39 .335 .411
2008 461 22 73 .260 .316
2009 559 24 90 .270 .321
2010 448 11 58 .263 .315