GIANTS PLAYERS REPORT CARDS: The Infield

Buster Posey: A Regular Season, B+ Playoffs

Sure, .305 with 18 homeruns doesn't sound like A material for most. However, this kid was a rookie catcher, who also played top notch defense, called amazing games for our staff and displayed a maturity unlike any rookie I have ever seen. Did I mention that he won Rookie of the Year as well? Posey has a high ceiling and even if he stays around the same numbers as this year, he will be a great catcher for a long time. I think Posey could develop into a 30 HR hitter with that swing down the line, but until then,  I will take the .300 / 20 HR season. Great Season for Buster Posey...

In the playoffs, Posey wasn't quite as dominant at the plate as he was in the regular season, but his defense, clutch hitting and control of the pitching staff was fantastic.  Even though he didn't come up with a ton of big hits, he did enough to help the Giants win the WS. Nuff said. 

Eli Whiteside: Regular Season B

Whiteside was great defensively and for that he gets at least a B-. He had some clutch hits early in the season when we still had to deal with Molina, but overall his bat was just mediocre for a backup catcher. Would be fine with him as the backup catcher next year, but he is and always will be a decent  backup catcher

Mike Fontenot: Regular  Season C+, Playoffs C

At times I thought Fontenot could be a plus utility infielder and at times it seemed he couldn't do anything very well. He had some clutch hits near the end of the season, but his lack of a plus glove and no power what so ever makes him just an average utility infielder. I think he can still be useful on our roster, but my hope for him maybe making a run at SS for this year was short  lived and the best he will be is a utlity INF for us down the line

In the playoffs Fontenot was nothing special....I was not very impressed, but he also wasn't a disaster.

Travis Ishikawa: C+ Regular Season, C Playoffs

I like Travis, but I don't think you can say he really made any improvements this year and thats why I stuck him with the C+. He had some nice moments as a pinch hitter, but 3 hr in over 150 at bats doesnt cut it for a 1B. If he was a gold glove type defender at SS or CF, it would be different, but it looks like Ishikawa will need a good spring to stay on the big league squad. If he can keep moving that average up and hit for some more  power, I think a team with a hole at first might give Travis a year to prove himself, it just wont be the Giants.

In the Playoffs Travis didn't do too much. No memorable moments for me to recall.  

Freddy Sanchez: B Regular Season, B Playoffs

I have a feeling I may get some gripe about this, but Freddy Sanchez was better than expected this year, but not by all that much. His average was above .300 and his extra  base power was minimal at best. He played a Gold Glove worthy second base and for that he gets the B boost. For a guy making 6 million, he did enough to earn his paycheck, but I still would like to see him perform consistently throughout a season, instead of having crazy hot spells where he tears the cover off the ball. That being said, we could be a lot worse off than having Freddy at 2nd.

In the playoffs, Sanchez had some monster games in the field and the one memorable game at the plate. He definitely helped the Giants win some games, but he also had games where he provided very little (626 OPS in playoffs). For that he gets a B as well. 

Aubrey Huff: Regular Season A, B Playoffs 

If you told me that Aubrey Huff would hit 26 home runs, have an OPS close to 900 and play a great 1B at the beginning of the season, I would have told you that you needed to watch more baseball...I expected Huff to be a nice addition and not just the garbage vet that Sabean is known for, but I didnt expect this. For that, he gets a big old A. There seemed to be about 2 months where Aubrey Huff was the Giants offense and those big Huff nights were likely the difference in us making the playoffs (you could say definitely). I hope Huff returns, but I also hope we dont overpay for his services.

Huff had some big nights in the playoffs, but I was hoping for more than 1 HR. He had that big defensive play in the WS as well + the big HR, but I would have liked to see him do a little more against ATL and Philly. Either way, I cant give him the A range without a couple more big nights at the plate. He will however, always be remembered as the leader of this 2010 Giants WS champs.

Pablo Sandoval: D- Regular Season, C- Playoffs

Without a doubt the biggest let down on this team. I understand the normality of a sophmore slump, but its a slump, not a slumber. His OPS dropped 200 points, had 12 less HR's (in the same # of at bats), lost 70 points on his average and ground into 16 MORE DOUBLE PLAYS!!! The weight gain aside, this guy looked like he forgot how to swing a bat this year and all parts of his game were just off. He had little spurts where he showed shadows of his old self, but they were short lived. Never thought I would be cursing the Panda's name as much as I was this year. We need the old Panda back, or he may not be in the majors too much longer.

Saving Grace = Huge 2 run double in the playoffs. Other than that, he was basically useless in the playoffs as well. Also hit into 3 GIDP in 19 AB's. Yiiiiiikes

Edgar Renteria:C- Regular Season, A Playoffs

Can you say unexpected...If only George Bush's face was in this picture

He was much better this year than last, but that is not saying much at all. I know he was injured, but he didn't hit all that well and his range at SS was terrbile for most of the season. 10 million for a utility infielder is far too much. His improvement kept him out of D range, but he didnt do all that much for the Giants...in the regular season.

In the Playoffs, Edgar Renteria made me feel violated. How could I hate a player so much in their first 2 regular seasons and then watch them be a key part in winning a WS? He came in, took over for last years MVP of the giants and had 2 HUGE home runs and even played some solid defense. He will never earn the 19 million that we payed him, but he definitely made that sour taste leave our mouth and everyone will remember that old sac of beans having an absolutely  phenomenal World Series. Thank you Edgar, for your only amazing 2 weeks as a Giant..they counted.

Juan Uribe: Regular Season A-, B Playoffs

Sure the average is ugly, but 24 hr's and 80 rbi from "utility INF" is pretty damn amazing. He even played a great SS (especially great for someone of his "size") and seemed to be a good leader on the team. Without Uribe who knows where this team goes, so for that, he gets an A- (average 20 points higher and thats a straight A)

In the playoffs Uribe played solid D and had a couple big Hr's, especially the clincher against Philly. However, after the D and HR's, he didn't hit the ball very well consistently. Again, he did enough to help, but wasn't an impact player throughout the playoffs

Next time: Outfielders

GIANTS PLAYER REPORT CARDS: The Pitching Staff

So, I have part one of my Giants Report Card:



For each player I rate their regular reason (solely with Giants, not with their prior team) and their post season. I base their grade via season stats, my perception of their performance, their growth as a player and their importance to the team.



My first portion will be the Giants pitching staff, everyone on the 40 man roster who had any significant playing time.



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Player Grades:

Jeremy Affeldt: C-
Regular Season, B Playoffs

Jeremy didn’t pitch terrible down the stretch for the Gmen
and showed that he is still more than capable of being a shut down set up guy.
However, that being said, his performance on the field this year wasn’t close
to what we saw from the best set up man of 2009. Location issues with the
fastball and his issues with his curve made him half the pitcher he was last
year. 4.14 era and a 1.6 WHIP don’t cut it for Aflac and I expect a big rebound
this year. A 4.14 era isn’t exactly gas can bad, but its not what you expect
for a guy making 4 million and who got an MVP vote in 2009.

At least he showed some of his old self in the playoffs, but
he still wasn’t perfect.

Madison Bumgarner: A-
Regular Season, A+ Playoffs

3 era and a 1.3 WHIP aren’t exactly out of this world, but
when you consider that Madison was being tabbed the next great Giants failure
after losing velocity at the end of last year and a tough Spring, he deserves
all the credit for his success. While Madison isn’t the power pitcher some
might have expected from his minor league performances in A and AA, he has been
outstanding none the less. He reminds me a lot of a Tom Glavine type guy who
just goes out and throws strikes and while he can strike out guys when he needs
to, he doesn’t have to in order to win ballgames. He had some rough outing
early on, but his 1.13 era in September showcased that when this guy wants to,
he can be as good as anyone on our staff.

In the playoffs, Madison shined even more and had maybe the
most memorable start of any rookie pitcher in MLB history, when he went 8
innings in game 4, ensuring the Giants went into game 5 with control of the
series. If Madison doesn’t shut down the Rangers, who knows where the World
Series would have gone. It’s easy to forget that he went into Atlanta and beat
the Braves to prevent a 5^th game and that he pitched 2 massive
innings in the clinching game against Philly. Is there anything this kid can’t
do? (He can ever hit!)

Matt Cain: A- Regular
Season, A+ Playoffs

Shotgun, aka Matty Cain, had himself another stand out
season in the shadow of Tim Lincecum. Only difference is, that this year, he
might have been better than the Freak. While his era actually went up a small
bit, he improved his WHIP to a stellar 1.084. I thought this might be the year
where Cain makes a run at the CY and at times, he appeared more than capable. He
gave up more home runs than I would have liked, but you can’t argue with a
decrease in walks each season the past 2 years. Many teams would have Matt
penciled in as their number 1 and we are lucky enough to have him pitching
behind Timmy.

In the playoffs, Matt Cain was absolutely outstanding. 0 ERA
says it all and if you take away 1 bad pitch by Romo, he easily could have gone
3-0 in the playoffs. He mixed his pitches perfectly and kept his fastball out
of the middle of the strike zone. If the playoffs are a sign of anything, its
that Matt Cain may not even be at his peak yet…a scary thought. A + for the 0
ERA Texas Cainsaw Massacre…

Santiago Casilla: A
Regular Season, B+ Playoffs

Santiago Casilla was absolutely phenomenal for the Giants in
2010. He is a guy who had a lot of control issues previously in his career, but
he has appeared to have figured out many of them. With Affedlts issues, Casilla
stepped up big time for the Giants. With a 2 seam fastball in the high 90’s and
a nice 2 plane slider, most teams never had a chance against him. There were
games where he didn’t have his location and it causes issues, but he was
predominantly unhittable and a key member of the bullpen. A1.6 WAR is nothing
to complain about from a guy who couldn’t find a contract this offseason.

He had the one bad game against Philly, which ended up not
hurting us as we won in the bottom of the 9^th, but other than that,
he was pretty much great. Still can’t get a A when you nearly cough up a game…

Tim Lincecum: C+
Regular Season, A Playoffs

Not easy to give The Freak a C+ regular season grade, but he
wasn’t himself in the middle of the season and was hard to watch at times.
Statistically he regressed in about every statistical category, yet since the
team was so much better, still won more games this year than last. He had a lot
of trouble with location and his change up at points this year and it made him
look very human at times. He gets a passing grade this year however, because an
outstanding September helped the Giants make the playoffs. His new found slider
was as nasty as anything I have seen him throw and I can’t wait to see him come
back next year with his new 4 pitch repertoire (2 seam, Slider, Change, Curve).
I think he realizes that he cant stop working hard and we will see a CY Young
Timmy Next year.

In the playoffs, Timmy was outstanding. 4-1 with a 2.43 era,
including 2 wins against “one of the greatest post season pitchers ever” (can
you say Jinx Joe Buck and ESPN?). His game 1 against ATL and Philly were
statement games that set the tempo for the rest of the series. Timmy was vital
to our WS run and he was as good as he has ever been. Doesn’t get the A+
though, because he didn’t have the 0 era and he did have one loss. Still,
amazing from the freak

Javier Lopez: A+
Regular Season, A+ Playoffs

You think this guy likes not being in Pittsburgh anymore? I
don’t know if its our Hetch hetchy water, the clam chowder or the smell of
garlic fries, but this guy was as lights out as you can be. 1.42 era and a 0.68
WHIP!!! DIOS MIO! We traded to get a guy who could shut down Left handed
hitters, they hit .162 off of him, A GOOD TRADE! He might not be able to repeat
this year again, but its quite apparent that when this guy is on, he is
basically a terror for left handed hitters.

How do you follow up a near perfect season with the Giants?
You just do the same thing in the playoffs: 1.59 era, giving up 1 hit! 6 holds
and a win....Not too shabby Mr. Lopez

Ramon Ramires: A+
Regular Season, D Playoffs

Ramon Ramires was as good as Lopez in the regular season if
not better. 0.67 era and only 13 hits over 27 innings. I was amazed with his
ability to get the ground out in tough situations and I think he will be a nice
middle inning reliever for the Giants in the future

13.5 ERA in playoffs…ouch. Lets hope this was just a bad
bout of pressure getting the best of a good relief pitcher.

Chris Ray: C regular
season

If you have no idea who I am talking about, you are likely a
bandwagon Giants fan or you didn’t pay attention until the end of the season.
We picked up Ray in the Molina trade and I would say that Posey getting the
starting job was more important than anything Ray did. He started off hot and
it appeared that maybe we had hit it big with the hard throwing righty, but the
honeymoon quickly ended and he decided that a 4 era was more in order. He had 1
really bad appearance against Colorado which didn’t help his cause, when he
helped us lose a big game there. He was no on the playoff roster and will
likely have to earn his job this spring.

Sergio Romo: A-
Regular Season, D+ Playoffs

The bearded assassin was a big part of our bullpen this year
and at times was our go to guy. There were times where people were calling for
his head after a 2 blown saves against the Dodgers, but if you look at his
year, he was great. The fact that he went all September with no earned runs, 3
hits and a single walk, was just icing the cake on an already great season. I
still hope he develops a 3^rd pitch (he has a change, but never
throws it), but his slider is nasty and his fastball is quick enough to make
guys miss. Did I mention he looks like a lot of guys at Gitmo?

In the playoffs: 6 appearances, 3 were bad ones. His ERA was
over 7 and he coughed up that game against Atlanta. His last 4 outing produced
0 ER, but he definitely wasn’t the same guy we saw in September.

Dan Runzler: C
Regular Season

I assumed that Runzler had a poor season, because of
injuries and I don’t have many found memories. However, at closer look, he wasn’t
terrible (3.00 era). The walks were definitely an issue, but I definitely see Runz
having a bounce back year in 2011. He has got the stuff to be elite, excited to
see what he can do as a starting pitcher (http://www.kffl.com/gnews.php?id=679062)

Jonathan Sanchez: A
Regular Season, C- Playoffs

 While I still have
higher expectations for Sanchez in the future, this year was a huge step in his
development. He posted the lowest ERA of any Giants starter and at times was
flat out unhittable. He still had his games where you were pulling your hair
out, because the guy couldn’t find the strike zone, but those times were far
fewer than 2009. My key development for Sanchez was the growth of his change
up, which I think can help him become an elite pitcher in this league. He still
needs to get his walks down, a lot, but I am hopeful with his repertoire, that
he can become a Johan Santana type talent.

In the playoffs Sanchez looked tired and nervous. He had 1
great start against ATL and then the next thing you knew he was getting railed
by the Phillies and Rangers. He had never pitched that many innings and his
velocity was down, so interesting to see how he fairs as his arms gets stronger
with time.

Brian Wilson: A
Regular Season, A+ Playoffs

I wanted to give him a A- regular season, but I thought
people would report my blog for abuse, since the guy was possibly the best
closer in all of baseball this year. Not to mention, his ERA was down to 1.8
era and he had 48 saves. I feared the beard and I would hope every hitter that
faced him did too. The reason I think he still has room to improve, is that
every two or three games, he makes every Giants wish they were wearing Oops I
crapped my pants…

In the playoffs, Brian Wilson was perfect. 6 saves, 0 era.
He is a machine, hence why he is friends with the machine.

Barry Zito: C-
Regular Season, F Playoffs

This was actually a tough decision, because at moments
earlier in the season, Zito was as good as anyone on our staff. That being
said, he made no improvement over his stats from 2009 and his 2^nd
half was absolutely terrible. There was about 2-3 months where I thought Zito
might become a good pitcher again, but it appears he is destined for
mediocrity, at the highest paid level. The saddest thing about Barry is that
every year I have to root for him, because I know his 20 million dollar salary
will never be moved and we just have to hope he can put it all together (which
he has shown he can still do at times). I hope that next year Zito can combine
2^nd half 2009 with 1^st half 2010 to put together a season
where he actually earns a significant portion of his insane contract.

Playoffs: 20 million dollars, 0 innings pitched, FAIL!

Giants of Baseball - Check one off my Bucket List, Watched Giants win WS

Greatest sporting day of my life...without a doubt, not even close
I have been watching the Giants as a die hard for around 10 years now, going to my first game in the early 1990's. After 2002, I thought that we were cursed and that I might never see a WS here in San Francisco. Little did I know 8 years later, with a bunch of unwanted mercenary bats, we would be standing as the WS champion.

First off, I want to congratulate Timmy for his stunning performance. With the exception  of the 1 ab against Cruz, Timmy was absolutely off the charts. He was throwing every one of his pitches for strikes and the changeup was as good as I have seen. He established the fastball early for strike 1 and then kept the Rangers guessing by throwing a lot of inside fastballs, low change ups and nasty sliders off the plate. He went up against a great hitting team with their best pitcher on the mound, didn't get a run for 6 innings and still kept the Rangers blanked until the 7th. Timmy was huge to end the year and in the playoffs, he deserves a WS ring.

I have dissed Renteria for 2 years, at least weekly. Until the last couple weeks, it was deserved. However, for the WS, he deserves every second of praise, because he was HUGE for us. His WS stat line is amazing and he was so key to victories in game 2 and 5. He played good defense at SS (even though his range is limited), especially when turning 2 (which we did quite a bit) and used his veteran experience to get it done. Amazing, is that he has a completely torn elbow ligament, which was causing him a lot of issues when partially torn and actually was better once he completely tore it. I will eat my crow, Renteria was essential to our WS and I will always remember him for that. I hope he bows out on top and all I will remember is watching him hit that 3 run homer in front of city hall, with 10,000 other giants fans.

Also, Bochy deserves credit for out achievement and I will stop questioning his decisions...for awhile. I still think Brian Sabean is getting far too much credit, but I do think Bochy deserves a lot of this WS. He made great decisions with the pitching staff and his lineups did just enough to win it all for us. He built a real team, that played like a real team and cared about eachother. It resulted in the 1st WS in SF and for that, I will respect Bruce Bochy for the rest of my life. No matter what he does in the next couple years, I will remember him for his amazing decisions in this WS and the success it brought.

I still can't believe we just won, so I don't even know what to say. I will post more tomorrow when it really settles in...

I LOVE MY SF GIANTS, I LOVE MY CITY AND I LOVE LIFE!!!

Driving them Mad...Taking control of the series

Well, first off I would like to say I had an awesome weekend aside from being a SF Giants fan as my wonderful GF was back in town and it was  awesome watching some Giants playoff baseball with her...

Now, to tonight and the Giants this weekend, well done...
I had been saying that the Giants needed to win 1 of the first 2 games in  Texas, because we needed to take control of the series and ensure we left with at least 3 wins. My reasoning was that if we lost the first 2 games, we would be facing Cliff Lee with the pressure on us and I didn't want to have to come back needing to win 2 (especially with Sanchez the scheduled starter in game 7).

Game 4 will be remembered for one thing: Madison Bumgarner pitching like he was Tom Glavine...at the age of 21. This kid is younger than me and pitched maybe the best game he has pitched the entire season in a Giants uniform. I was hoping that Jonathan  Sanchez would be able to utilize his off speed stuff to regulate the strong fastball hitting Rangers lineup...he did not. Where Sanchez failed, Bumgarner succeeded and it looked like the Rangers hitters were often guessing wrong. He made one of the best hitters in the history of baseball, one who rarely strikes out even on balls in the dirt, look completely lost at the plate. He stuck the changeup low and outside and no one could make hard contact with it. He kept his slider down and whoever was unlucky enough to swing either fouled it off or struck out. A couple of balls were hit hard against him, but not hard enough as the Giants defensive minded OF was always there to make the catch. Its pretty amazing to have a guy like that as our 4th starter in the rotation...he won't be for long as he clearly is going to be a top end starter before too long.

Torres and Huff both had big games for us and did enough damage to get us through the game offensively. While the Giants didn't score 10+ runs again, the hitters for the most part were very patient and made pretty solid contact. Ross and Uribe both just missed hanging pitches that ended up landing at the warning track, even with the wind blowing in towards home plate. When Huff hit his HR, the camera angle made it look like it was a lot closer to the foul poll than it was, thankfully it wasn't close and he got us off to a great start.

Tomorrow isn't a must win, but I would be more than happy to beat their ace again and take the series in Texas...

Shout Outs: 
Madison Bumgarner: Amazing. Didn't try and get too tricky, just threw his stuff on the edges and worked his change up in when hitters looked to be timing his fastball / cutter. Timmy / Bumgarner / Cain = Best rotation in baseball for a long time...
Aubrey Huff: He was so key to our regular season success, especially in the middle of the year and he was key to tonights win. Madison utilized that lead in the way he pitched, by attacking the strike zone and making guys attack bad pitches. Plus, that ball was SHOT out of the park, only question was whether or not it was foul.
Giants Defense: Great work all around, could have easily been a different game without the amazing infield play and smart Outfield defense.
Troy Smith: I loved Singletary starting him over Carr, as what do we really have to lose. He looked off to start, but he made enough plays to get us the W. Some of his passes were scary, but you have to like this:

and you know Singletary loved this


Predictions for Tomorrow:
Lee vs Timmy, Survival vs Clinching....
I think this will be closer to the Game 1 we expected. Both pitchers will be dialed in and I think the Rangers will feel a lot of pressure, making those nasty breaking pitches of Timmy all that more appealing to swing at. The Rangers did a great job of laying off the change up and Slider in Game 1, with the threat of elimination I think they will be looking to swing early in the count. I think Lee will locate his curve better and will limit the Giants to a couple runs. I think Bochy will give Burrell a shot again to prove himself and it will work. I think the Giants win this game 3-2, with Wilson finishing the game with 2 runners on...perfect torture.
I will take a ten nothing shutout as well...

Take Control of Series...Game 4

Game starts in 30 minutes and don't want to be tied going into game 5 going against Lee in his home territory. This isn't a must win, but like putting the pressure on the Rangers in game 5, with a must win situation. We have the better pitcher going tonight and I like our lineup with Ishikawa in. I think Posey is due...

More to come later

Game 2 - Cain I Kick It? Yes We Can

Cody Ross...it may be time to hit some HR's if you want to keep your postseason MVP, because Matt Cain is making a strong push.

From NineBuck on SFGIANTs Forum

I have seen some great performances this year from our Big 4 (the 5 minus Zito) and this has to be one of the best. Cain wasn't perfect tonight, but when we needed him to be, he made perfect pitches to get us out of big innings. Cain's strength tonight was his ability to mix his pitches for strikes and keep the rangers batters off balance. When they guessed right, they were able to hit the ball well, but more often than not they were on their toes.

Cain was working his change up and nailing the outside corner with that tailing change up, getting most batters to lay off thinking it was a fastball. It was moving downward and it seemed no Rangers batter was able to get under it and drive it. His fastball was shooting out of his release and although the highest I saw him hit was 93, his change of speeds had the Rangers late on his fastball and early on everything else. He did exactly what hes done all postseason: limit base runners, pitch out of jams and not give up a single earned run. Timmy may be the Freak, but Cain is our workhorse who will hide behind the ace and have himself one hell of a career. This year, no one makes me feel more secure as a viewer than Cain, so in my opinion, he has been our best pitcher and always keeps us in the game.

Other Props:
I have hated on Renteria for 2 years and I still think he was a terrible pick up for this team in need of a impact bat at SS, at the price tag of 10 million. However, tonight he showed the fact that he can be quite clutch and turned on a pitch that 95% of the time as a  Giant he pops up near third base. I have not seen him turn on a pitch like that since he was playing in Boston.

Rowand, you still suck and you capitalized on a bullpen that was in shambles.

Moving On:
Was funny watching the game tonight at the same spot (Kennedy's in Lower North Beach), because you could tell people were still recovering from cheering and drinking too much the night before. The crowd was tamer, the glasses less abundant, but people were still having a great time. SF is the smallest big city I know of, as I managed to run into a: former coworker, former manager, former teammate from middle school baseball with 2 other kids from middle school and a family friend. This was just walking up Green street to get home...
Its going to be an intense game 3, because it is a must win for the Rangers and they go against a nasty lefty in Sanchez who can be lights out when hes on. I think the pressure on the Rangers will help the Giants out, as I think they will be looking more to swing than be patient, which will surely help the erratic stuff of Sanchez. Lewis is an under the radar guy who has a great tailing fastball and a nasty tight slider which is really tough on Right handed and Left Handed hitters. He is basically the Andres Torres of pitchers as he had to go to Japan for 2 years before anyone here wanted him back. Great story, but I hope we get to him early and put the pressure on the Rangers to make something happen. My key to game 3 is going to be Sanchez's change up, as that pitch will be huge in helping him get through all the right handed bats in that rangers lineup. Lots off these guys hit fastballs well, so without the change up, he will be in trouble if he isn't on with location. The development of the change has been huge in his improvement, so it will likely be key on Saturday night.


Shout Outs: 
Monte Ellis: Looks like he is back to caring about playing Bball and is laying off the scooters. He dropped over 40 in his first game and I look forward to seeing if he can go back to being that 50% efficient scorer that he was during the "golden age" of the Nelson era.

Shannon Brown: A little late, but boy did he look good against the Rockets. Everyone was talking about Gasol as the only key to that trade, but Brown was amazing at Michigan State and I knew he would be an impact player at some point. If they can teach him how to play a true PG and he makes some small adjustments, he could replace Fisher and be ever more dangerous. I hate the Lakers by the way...


Hope everyone has a good Friday, I don't know when I will be on next...but either way, GO GIANTS!

World Series Game 1!

Well...we won game 1...
 [Insert applause, hugging, drinking, dancing, celebrating]
I could not be happier with the result. There are some negatives to look at, but I am ecstatic

If there was 1 thing to take away from this game, it is that the Giants beat a pitcher who has never lost a game in his entire postseason history. Lee has been amazing in the playoffs, but tonight, our hitters were ready for his stuff and hit his mistakes. I believe the key factor in our success was looking to drive the ball up the middle and not looking for the home run. If you look at possibly our worst hitter (Burrell, who I suggested could have a huge game) he was swinging for the fences and didnt change his approach. Huff, Sanchez, Uribe and others were able to change their swing to connect with Lee's nasty stuff on 2 strikes. The big inning was a combination of not swinging at  slop and not looking to drive the ball out of the park. Lee got wild, we swung at the right pitches and didn't try and do too much

I thought Burrell would be a big part of the win and I was terribly wrong...but Uribe did hit a 3 run shot! (I called him against Lee, I know). We made Lee bring the ball over the plate and when he did, we shortened up our swings after the 2nd inning and drove the ball for base  hits. Our hitters made adjustments and Timmy made enough fixes to get us through the game with a win. A key for success. Timmy didn't have his nasty changeup today or even a slider or curveball that broke off the plate. He was throwing his fastball up and over the plate, was missing with his secondary stuff and we still won. He did enough to win today, but will need to adjust to win in game 4. His fastball was not hitting the spot low and away, so he wasn't as hard to hit. The changeup / split was either in the dirt or dropping into the strike zone, a bad combo. Either way, he did enough to get through almost 6 and we got the win, much to my surprise.

So, my predicton for tomorrow:
 Wilson is a fastball heavy pitcher, who likes to throw offspeed stuff to Righties, which doesn't bother me. Uribe, Burrell and Posey all like breaking pitches, and I expect us to hit him well.  Cain is dominant against Righties and Texas has many of them around their lineup, so I think he will do pretty well. I think Cain goes at least 7 against a team that tries to take a lot of pitches and I think Posey takes a big slider deep and gets a couple base hits. Giants take it tomorrow 5-1 after a dominant performance from Cain and a big game from Posey.

Either way, a huge tonight and more stuff to come tomorrow. Love my Giants and love my life...

I've got a BLOG! I hate these things, what was I thinking...

Real Fans Grow Beards...

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, it is time for Nick to join the blogging age. I have made fun of Blogs numerous times, because I feel most people create them to display their life to people, often forcing loved ones to view them and comment on all the things they think are cool (Not you Mom, I swear). However, at this point in time, I am starting to worry about forgetting everything I learned about writing in my 15 years of schooling and much of my work is technical mumbojumbo, so I am creating this Blog to assist in maintaining my writing skills. I figure a key component will be sports, because I love discussing sports and I think it's something everyone can talk about without freaking out. I also love politics and international affairs, but I think those might best be discussed by those who control the world (not because they do it better, just because they control everything). I hope that in time, I will develop my own personal writing style when discussing these things, because my studies focused on essays, history and things that will likely remain out of my blog for the most part.

So what will be my first topic of this Blog? Well clearly it will be the most important topic in the Bay Area in 8 years, the upcoming Sit / Lie...WORLD SERIES BABY!!!
Once you have watched the above link, we can continue to discuss the fact that San Francisco's own  Giants are in the world series. Now, when speaking to Dodgers fans, Padres Fans, Yankees fans and even other Giants fans I like to act like I am not surprised, but ARE WE REALLY IN THE WORLD SERIES? I mean, I get it, pitching and defense win playoff games, but how in the world did we get by the Phillies? The Braves, I wasn't really shocked, but we just beat the most complete team on paper in 6 games, without ever really scoring any runs.

At the beginning of the season, on one of the days when I was feeling optomistic I mentioned this team could be like the 2001 Diamondbacks, but I wasn't really being serious and I was thinking of Pablo Sandoval as our Luis Gonzales type "he hits or we lose" player. Lincecum was Randy J, Cain was Schilling, Huff was old Matt Williams, Pablo was Gonzo, Freddy Sanchez was Craig Counsell, you get the idea. Think about if I told you this before the season:
- Pablo Sandoval will hit .260 with 13 hr's and less than 70 RBI
- Tim Lincecum will have an era a point higher than last years and a Walks + Hits / Innings Pitched as high as his rookie years
- Aaron Rowand will hit .230 and put up 11 Hr's
- Barry Zito will have a terrible 2nd half
-Mark Derosa will suck and then sit for the whole season
- Affeldt will not be half the set up guy he was last year
You would tell me that we had no shot to make the playoffs and we were destined for 2nd to last behind Arizona, LA and Colorado (no one thought Padres would be good...enough to fall apart). Well, we are in the World Series, thanks to some fantastic pitching and some shrewd work by a GM that I cannot stand.

Brian Sabean (the Giants General Manager for those who dont know) deserves credit and blame for this season. He brought us into the season with a roster that was not playoff bound and lacked any real middle of the order. While the bats are still nothing to write home about, its good enough to support our pitching staff and get us to the world series, so good job Brian Sabean (This is hard to say after watching Giants baseball for the last 8 years). He still has a lot of work to do to get this team to be a every-year contender (GET A BAT: Dan Uggla, Dunn, someone who will hit 30 Hr's), but I will give him the benefit of doubt.

Well, tomorrow is game 1 and I have to admit I don't know what to think. We are going against maybe a top 5 playoff arm in the history of baseball (Check it Out) in Cliff Lee and I am not exactly excited to be facing him. My expert (in my own opinion) opinion believes that certain guys will do well against Lee and some will not see anything well out of his hand. Uribe is a guy who historically hits Lee pretty well and I think Uribe hits lefties pretty well because he doesnt have to worry about the curveball or slider tailing away like from a righty. Ross is another guy who could easily pull a Lee fastball into the left field bleachers, but I have to think after the NLCS, Ross will be seeing a steady diet of outside and low fastballs, with a curve or two in the dirt. My "key player of the game" tomorrow will be Pat Burrell as I think he will be hitting in front of Cody Ross and will see some good pitches to hit from Lee. I have a vision of Burrel getting a runner on base in the 1st and shocking the world by taking Lee deep, don't get too excited though, I also envisioned Pablo becoming a 35 hr hitter this year (seriously watch the two HR's he hit in Florida last year, SHOTS). With Timmy on the mound, our team always has a shot, but Lee is one hell of a puzzle to solve.

I have no idea where this blog will go, but I am sure it will be dominated by Giants baseball for the next couple weeks. I hope to develop some sort of cycle where I can talk about fantasy stuff, some currente events, good music and many other things.

So, my "check this out" item of the day is a unique song currently being used by the NFL in commercials and being blasted by a certain co worker, ENJOY!: