F. Sanchez, Garko, and Villalona: The ugly truth

Well, things are looking bleak.

Despite Monday's win in Phoenix, the Rockpile is still up comfortably with a 4 game lead. There are 12 games left, and Colorado plays the rest of its regular season at home. Are we still in it? Yes, mathematically. Realistically... well I don't like saying it out loud.

You know when Brian Murphy is giving up during the Murph & Mac show, it's not good.

ANYWAYS... moving on to more pressing matters:

Freddy Sanchez's injury is not good. He twisted his knee and left early in the game yesterday. He's getting an MRI on it today. Worst case scenario... we're talking ACL. Best case, he's out for the rest of the season. It's increasingly looking like he won't be back with the Giants-- something inconceivable at the time of the trade.

Sanchez has only played in 23 of the 48 games since he joined the Giants-- disappointing on its own. His 2010 option would have vested with 600 plate appearances, something that obviously didn't happen due to the missed time. At this juncture, the Giants have 2 options:

1) Pick up his $8.1MM option for 2010, making him a free agent in 2011

2) Buy him out for $600k, making him a free agent, then collecting a compensatory draft pick from whatever team signs him. He's projected by MLBTradeRumors to be a Type B free agent

So much depends on the extent of Sanchez's knee health. If the guy tore his ACL, he won't be able to play until May 2010 at the absolute earliest. This of course would make his $8.1MM option a horrible idea. Not to mention the fact that other teams will not want to sign him because durability concerns and a loss of draft pick to the Giants.

This happened to Milwaukee this past winter. Ben Sheets was a type A free agent, who was diagnosed with a serious injury by the Rangers during the signing period. Not only did the Crew lose Sheets from its rotation, but since no other team signed him in 2009, they got nothing in return for one of the best pitchers in baseball.

In the Giants situation, the worst that could happen is that Sanchez's knee is blown out. Then they would buy him out for $600k, no one signs him next year, which would result in no compensatory pick, and the Pirates will have gotten Tim Alderson for free.

Excuse me while I wretch.

Of course, if F-Sanch's knee is okay, and he just sprained or tore his MCL, the Giants have more options. Not great ones, but options.

Obviously the worst case scenario is ugly, but sadly, it is a legitimate possibility.

Onto the Ryan Garko scenario. Having fun?

I remember the day we got Garks from Cleveland. My boy Damon Bruce was so excited, that he couldn't contain himself on the air. Hell, admit it, you were excited too. The guy's got pop, he was going to help a lot!


Well, the hype surrounding Garko was akin to the expectations we put on Inglourious Basterds. It was inflated and fan-driven. Just like when saw the movie trailer for I.B. thinking Brad Pitt would be killing Nazis non-stop for two hours, we looked at Garko's power numbers and his obvious complement to Ishikawa, and thought, "Playoffs here we come!"

Tarantino's movie ended up being an overhyped snoozefest, and the Garko acquisition has been a failure.

Going back to the Damon Bruce on the air the day of the acquisition, I remember one caller distinctly. Naturally he was clamoring about Matt Holliday and Jermaine Dye, like the rest of the unrealistic lunatic fringe. This guy said the Garko trade would be just as bad as the Shea Hillenbrand deal of 2006.

That deal seemed awful at the time, because Jeremy Accardo looked like a possible future closer. Now, we can see that that deal was inconsequential. Accards hasn't turned into much after filling in for BJ Ryan that one year, so it didn't end up mattering.

The Garko deal could look bad in 3 or 4 years when Scott Barnes is ready to join Cleveland's rotation.

Here are Garks' details:

1) He is arbitration eligible. He made $446,100 this year, and is due for a significant raise, putting him in the $3-5MM range

2) Garko could (but won't) decline arbitration, making him a free agent. Currently, Garko is not a Type A or Type B free agent, which hurts his value to the Giants (Here are the current Elias Rankings by category)

3) Could be non-tendered, making him a free agent, giving the Gyros no compensation

Sooooooo... we'd be better off offering him arbitration, him signing a deal, and then keeping him or trying to trade him. Not great.

Villalona update:

Andy Baggarly of the Merc has updated the Villalona situation.

The Giants prospect pleaded innocent down in the D.R. and was sent to jail while awaiting his trial. I guess they don't have bail down there... but then again, he is accused of shooting someone. Who knows how it works anyway.

Apparently he wore a bulletproof vest in the courtroom. Yikes.

I also wanted to state that in my previous post, I wasn't trying to convict the guy already. I was just saying that I believe that Villalona killed the guy. To be guilty, you need to commit a crime, and I never said that he did. What I was alluding to is that he probably shot this character in self-defense.

And look, this sounds callous, but this guy is a mega prospect, and I care too much about the Giants for Villalona to be locked up for 20 years in some hellhole prison in one of the poorest countries on earth. If it takes bribery to get this guy out of jail and into instructional winter ball, so be it.

These type of powerful youngsters do not grow on trees, and we'll never win a championship if we can't hit. I just hope he didn't gun this guy down in cold blood!

Let's channel our frustrations into hatred toward the Dodgers and Rockies. It'll make you feel better. I think. Just stay away from sharp objects.

Brian Murphy Article from 2001-- Giants, Dodgers & AT&T Park

This may be unethical or maybe not even legal, but I'll take my chances since this article is from 2001. It was in the SF Chronicle and written by KNBR morning host Brian Murphy-- a huge longtime Giants fan.

I for one tend to agree with a lot of aspects of this piece, and found it especially relevant for this year.

Games will never be like the sparsely populated drunken anger fests like we had in Candlestick way back in the day. The new park is the most gorgeous thing we've laid eyes on, but with that, as Murphy points out, came with a new set of clientele and codes of behavior.

With that being said, I really think that these last few years of ugliness has helped sort out the garbage fairweather fans. If anything, these growing pains have helped reinvigorate the real fans.

Make it a hostile atmosphere. Make Matt Kemp hate playing in San Francisco. Make their fans feel uncomfortable. Get loud and rowdy. Act like a Raider fan without being inappropriate around kids and stabbing people.

Plain and simple, bring back the old attitude that Giants fans used to exhibit. Burn a Dodgers flag by the cable car in right center, make these people think twice about coming into our yard.


Here is the article. It can be found here.


Beauty of a ballpark might end ugly rivalry

Brian Murphy

Wednesday, April 18, 2001

I WILL attend tonight's Dodgers-Giants game as a fan, but will do so with a pain in my heart -- and not because of the half-dozen Krispy Kremes I plan to wash down with a couple of Anchor Steams. That kind of pain is different, and will last well into the night before the Mylanta kicks in.

I speak of a deep, cutting pain. A pain that mourns the death of the Dodgers-Giants rivalry. A death perpetrated by, of all things, that monument to beauty, Pacific Bell Park.

Now, I'm not bagging on Pac Bell. Hell, I've seen the Roman Colosseum and I'm still waiting for a sight to top our little miracle on Third Street, the place that forces me to weep every time I see it -- though if anybody accuses me of going soft, I'll say it's my allergies.

But the one unfortunate casualty of Pac Bell is the Spirit of Dodger Hatred.

Not only has Giants geography changed, but so have demographics, and with them, attitudes.

A Dodgers-Giants game at Candlestick used to mean so many things, but mostly it meant an unmistakable scent of passion. (Or perhaps that was the storm front of marijuana smoke that accompanied every Dodgers tilt at the 'Stick.) Regardless, fists flew, traffic was terrible, the weather was abysmal and we loved every pitch of it.

The conditions bred toughness. It was awesome. It was a buddy following Tommy Lasorda down the right-field line in 1986 and bellowing, with all his might: "Hey, Lasorda, is that your belt, or THE EQUATOR?" It was Lasorda responding: "What mental institution did they let you out of?"

It was high-fiving a drunken stranger by the fourth inning, as if you had met your soul mate, and he was a bearded Hells Angel from Gilroy. It was watching a 7-year-old boy in Dodgers regalia get showered with peanut shells. The kid was wearing a Dodgers jacket and hat to the 'Stick. His old man should have known better.

It was marveling at the mayhem of Black Tuesday in '88, when the lads in the outfield seats went Soccer Fan on Kirk Gibson, forcing the Giants to put up metal barriers between the seats and the fence. Metal barriers, man! That's the stuff you read about on Reuters dispatches from Amsterdam!

Then it changed. Last year, the Dodgers played a night game at Pac Bell. The game featured a stunning development in the bleachers: Dodgers center fielder Todd Hollandsworth played the third inning while sucking on a Tootsie Pop, a display that would have unleashed havoc in the bleachers at the 'Stick. Two fans sitting near me understood. They roasted Hollandsworth without mercy. One tried to lead the crowd in the old '50s ditty, "Lollipop." The masses were mute. The other pleaded with a throat-scratching roar: "Dude, could you hook me up with one next inning? No, seriously! Get me, like, a cherry! Or an orange! But none of that stinkin' ROOT BEER!" That the fan channeled the Hanson Brothers from "Slap Shot" was funny enough; that he was devoting every ounce of his energy to ripping Hollandsworth was worthy of tribute from the surrounding fans. At most, a parade of the fan on shoulders; at the least, a round of beers.

Depressingly, the crowd's only response came from a guy sitting behind them who spoke the following words into a little machine: "No, look one section over. No, closer to left field. Yes! I'm wearing a yellow jacket! Yes, I'm waving to you!"

Now. I have nothing against cell phones. I have one. I use it for critical cases, like being all lost in the supermarket and calling my wife. I just can't see using it at a Giants-Dodgers game so, like, your friends know exactly where you are! And you can wave!

Bottom line: At Pac Bell when the Dodgers come to town, there is too much Chavez Ravine, not enough Hunters Point. And I've seen dozens of Giants- Dodgers games down there at that baby-blue stadium, witnessing Giants fans show up in full Giants uniforms, trying to incite anarchy. They go virtually ignored. Yet I fear that tonight, if some cat walked through my section wearing Dodger white and his back read: "GARVEY 6," he'd go as unnoticed as the guy next to him on the cell phone, directing his friends to his general area, so he could wave!

Let me be clear. I don't want Pac Bell razed. I adore the place. I don't want to move Giants games back to C-P. I just want to bring a little of the old ghosts up Third Street. I want some guy in a Mike Ivie jersey (No. 15, of course), to lead a rhythmic clap. I want some guy in a Dodgers hat to be shamed out of his seat, or, at the very least, to leave muttering: "Man, Giants fans, those guys are animals."

You know, I used to hate the "Beat L.A." chants. I thought the chant was a little provincial, a little sad, a little lacking.

Now, I miss them.

Heard they came back last night as Robb Nen was doing his overpowering job in the ninth.

Here's hoping they stay.

Jon Miller & Attendance

Jon Miller: Best in the business

Most of us watch the Giants on TV and are delighted to share that experience with Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper, one of the best broadcasting tandems in baseball. I don't need to tell you how awesome they are. Their chemistry is second to none, they are hilarious, and we all enjoy listening to their homerism and baseball know-how.

However, when we're watching at home, we are missing the true genius of Jon Miller and Dave Flemming on the KNBR radio broadcasts.

Flemming, for being a young guy, is simply superb in his delivery and knowledge... he's getting better by the season because he's learning from the best in baseball: Jon Miller.

Miller's diction, knowledge, and unparalleled ability to describe even the most minute details is quite simply incredible.

We are very blessed in the Bay Area to have such excellent broadcasters. Randy Hahn, Drew Remenda, and Dan Rusanowski for the Sharks are top notch. Bob Fitzgerald, Jim Barnett, and Tim Roye are great for the Warriors. Not a huge fan of Glenn Kuiper and Ray Fosse for the A's, but they're certainly not terrible. Greg Papa does a good job with the Raiders, and Gary Plummer is an excellent radio color guy for the 49ers.

Jon Miller is on a whole 'nother level though. Just imagine his baritone voice as he described Barry Bonds's 756th homer. It is simply the most amazing literary description of anything I've ever read or heard:

"Three and two to Bonds. Everybody standing here at 24 Willie Mays Plaza. An armada of nautical craft gathered in McCovey Cove beyond the right field wall. Bonds one home run away from history. (crack of the bat) AND HE SWINGS, AND THERE'S A LONG ONE DEEP INTO RIGHT CENTER FIELD, WAY BACK THERE, IT'S GONE!!! A HOME RUN! Into the center field bleachers to the left of the 421 foot marker. An extraordinary shot to the deepest part of the yard! And Barry Bonds with 756 home runs, he has hit more home runs than anyone who has ever played the game!"

And here's Jon's call of Reuben Rivera's horrible baserunning. Gotta click on that one.

I just cannot say enough about Jon. I've said the two following things to people and actually meant them:

"I could literally listen to Jon Miller describe an almond orchard or a city sidewalk and be thoroughly entertained."

And...

"Dude, I love tunes, but if I was stranded on a desert island, all I'd need was a tape of every broadcast Jon Miller has ever done. Seriously. That's all I would need."

God bless KNBR for its "Midnight Replay" as well. They replay the day's game starting at midnight in its entirety. Many times I will set the sleep button on my radio and fall asleep to Miller and Flem.

For instance, last night, the last thing I remember was Jon Miller describing in detail how Dom DiMaggio once had a 34 game hitting streak (after Joe's mark had been set). In the game Dom's streak ended, he hit a rocketing low line drive towards his brother Joe in the outfield. Joltin' Joe made an incredible catch to save the game and end his brother's march toward 56. Just amazing stuff.

Many of the all-time greats have passed away recently, Ernie Halwell, Harry Kalas, and the like. The best radio men alive right now in my option are Bob Uecker or the Brewers, Jon Miller, and Vin Scully of the hated Dodgers.

I should hate Vin, but he is simply a legend. He does a simulcast both on TV and radio by himself in LA-- truly amazing in its own right.

That is the last compliment to any Dodger employee you'll ever read on this site.

So... anyways, appreciate what we've got here, we've got it good here in Giants land.

Attendance issues

The Giants set another AT&T low attendance mark of of 23,934 Monday night against the Nationals. The crowd looked even sparser than that on television. Granted Washington isn't a very exciting draw and it was cold as hell out there, but this is a hard thing to witness.

We all know about the economy, it is certainly a factor. Another factor is the lack of "wow" factor that Los Gigantes give us. People would show up just to see Bonds hit, and the allure of our beautiful ballpark drew even the most indifferent breed of elitist and hipster to games.

Now, it's the gamers.

Brian Murphy was talking about this on KNBR a few weeks back. He is one of the true Candlestick nostalgists out there and is a huge fan of the home field edge. He said something to the effect of, "I'd rather have 25 or 30,000 real fans out there chanting and burning Dodger pennants in the upper deck, than 41,000 fairweather non-fans out there."

I for one agree with him. Although I wasn't there on Monday, it appeared to have a Candlestick feel to it. Trash was blowing around, people were bundled up in blankets. You could hear isolated hecklers. The serenades of "What's the matter with "so and so"? HE'S A BUM!" was going on the whole game. It seemed like a throwback night, and only the most hardcore of fans show up on a Monday in blustery 52 degree weather to games.

The A's attendance situation is no laughing matter, but when you go out to the Coliseum, you'll see the same type of fanhood being exhibited. Sparse, cold, and passionate.

As for the Giants, the numbers are not what I expected. Through 15 home games last year, their average was 33,824. Guess what this year's is?

33,397.

Huh? They're drawing only 427 less fans? I was sure the figure was going to be uglier myself. The only explanation I can think of is that people with season tickets are not going to the games and are either unable to sell them or unable to give them away.

The park just seems more sparse this year, and it's more than 427 people.

The Giants are playing good baseball though, and we will continue to draw at this solid, yet unspectacular clip.

Brian Murphy and I have no problem with it at all.