This is my nightmare!

My favorite Jason Siegel quote from "I Love You Man" pretty much sums up the Phillies series. (More on this at the end of the post)

It's like, really? Are we really doing this crap again?

We all know the stats. We gave up 3 runs in 3 games, and we lost two of them. Unreal. Totally unreal. The road is not a good place for the Gyros.



It's a serious problem when we can't score three runs a game. Seriously, if we average three runs a game in that series, we sweep. Aggghhhghgh!

A nice wall post I received on Facebook yesterday from Kevin C.:

"Phils win 2 out of 3 by scoring 3 runs total. New idea for Kuiper/Krukow... Yell "goaaaalllll!!!!"-- like they do in soccer-- whenever the Giants score a run."

God... it's soooo true.

It's even more upsetting when we're getting shut out by an over-the-hill Pedro Martinez. I know that he's one of MLB's all-time greats, but the man is old balls and he was picked up off the dung heap because no one else wanted him. Either he's got a lot in the tank, or we're pathetic. Maybe a little of both.



Also, with each wasted Lincecum start, Timmy is in danger of falling significantly behind in the Cy Young Wins race. His numbers are sick, but the wins need to be there. He can't win one with 14 or 15 wins.

Let's just put this Philly series behind us. Gotta move forward, gotta keep the faith that the bats will awaken. We're getting Freddy Sanchez back soon, which is much needed. More importantly though, we've gotta get Pandoval back. He's been hitting like an injured man. I have to believe that if it were earlier in the season, he'd have already been on the DL. This whole "playing through pain" thing may be worsening his injury. It's a fine line.

But what choice do we have? None. He has to play until he can't walk. We have no choice. At the same time though, we may not have a Kung Fu at better than 75-80% for the rest of the season.

In his past 4 games, he's gone 1-12 with zero RBI. That's the difference when the margins are so thin.

New batting helmets are awesomely bad

-- The new and "improved" batting helmets are absurd, ridiculous, and hilarious. During the game, I got a text from my buddy Raph about it:

"Dude. Shane Victorino looks like a bobblehead with that new helmet."

So true.

The helmets are designed withstand impacts up to 100 mph, while the current helmets are technically rated to take a pitch of only 70 mph. While no one on this side of Timmy Wakefield is throwing 70, the new helmets are simply laughable.


They're oversized, jagged, distracting, and seriously look like some kind of headgear more suited to a "specially-abled" hemophiliac that rides the short bus on his way to some sort of social interaction therapy.

Jeff Francoeur, a cool dude, said of them, "No, I am absolutely not wearing that. I could care less what they say, I'm not wearing it. There's got to be a way to have a more protective helmet without all that padding. It's brutal. We're going to look like a bunch of clowns out there." (MLB.com)

Krook & Kuip are with Frenchie and the Flyin' Hawaiian on this one. After Victoreenz went 0-2 in that monstrosity, he switched back to his old helmet, which prompted some good ol' Krook & Kuip banter, in which they both not-so-subtly made fun of the new helmets and would have refused to wear them.

Kuip remarked, "I might wear it while I was hitting, but then I'd switch back to the other one if I got on base."

Krook jabbed at the helmets, saying the players would fight it and they might wear it in 15 years at best.

Regardless of the safety thing, baseball players don't want to look silly. They want to look cool, they want to feel cool. They are actually very vain creatures. Hence the jewlery hanging out of the jerseys, unnecessary wrist bands, eye black at night, etc.

They will fight these stupid-looking helmets until they get drilled in the head like David Wright, who has no problem with being safe after getting nailed by a Matt Cain fastball a few weeks back.

NEWS UPDATE:

David Wright has reverted to his old batting helmet, saying, "It's just not comfortable. The last thing I need to be worrying about in the box is trying to shove it on my head." (NY Daily News)

So, there you go Rawlings/MLB. Improve this thing or they won't wear it.

On to Milwaukee, Zito vs. Suppan today. It's go time.

A little Dodgerhater mojo

If you haven't seen I Love You Man, you're missing out. My favorite aspect of the movie's awesomeness is the dedication that Peter and Sydney (Paul Rudd and Siegel) have for the legendary band Rush.

Rush has been one of my favorite bands since I first heard them years ago. I think it's only appropriate to include these inspirational lyrics from my favorite song, "Limelight."

All the world's indeed a stage
And we are merely players
Performers and portrayers
Each another's audience
Outside the gilded cage

Living in the limelight
The universal dream
For those who wish to seem
Those who wish to be
Must put aside the alienation
Get on with the fascination
The real relation
The underlying theme

The Giants are in the limelight. The players and us fans dare to dream, and it's time to lock it up, Jobin.

Glad that one's over... On to Cincinnati

Despite the split in New York, it just didn't feel very satisfying. I suppose that's what splits will do to you...

A few observations on the Mets and Citi Field first though:

--The Mets are a team in shambles. Injuries have just racked this squad and you can tell its players are just barely hanging onto relevance. With David Wright now out for awhile, they simply have no one out there to lead the replacements. I've always loved Jeff Francoeur and Gary Sheffield, but neither are real leaders.

Then again, were Delgado, Jose Reyes, or Carlos Beltran?

Oh yeah, I forgot, this has been why they've collapsed year after year.

--I've always thought Mets manager Jerry Manuel to be somewhat of a dunce. He stabbed Willie Randolph in the back last year, and Manuel was dopey with the White Sox too. I never cared for him. But now... well now, I've really got a reason.

He also once said, "I don't like to rely on stats."

So flip a coin, Jerry.

Whether or not Manuel ordered the two retaliatory bean balls or whether the artist formerly known as Johan Santana did that on his own accord... pretty classless moves overall. That goes back to the culture and leadership of the Mets. That is on Jerry Manuel.

Matt Cain is not malicious, and he never would have hit anyone in the head on purpose, especially a class act like David Wright. To hit both Sandoval and Bengie was blatant and unacceptable-- not to mention totally unwarranted.

Absolutely moronic and classless.


--Citi Field looks, well... how do I put this?

Lame.

It looks like a futuristic version of old Shea Stadium. There are no background views, ridiculous wind tunnels, too much foul territory, and unhappy fans. There is zero about this stadium on television that makes it stand out. It's something like a bland version of Philadelphia and Washington. The best part about this stadium are the colorful ads. Seriously. The old school Pepsi sign is my favorite thing.


The trademarks of all new stadiums are the architectural styling, bold lines, and skyline backdrops. There are subtle and bold examples of this. Pittsburgh has a great view of the city, San Diego has the old brick building, Houston has the hill in center and the train tracks, Cincy has the riverboat smoke stacks, Milwaukee has the Bernie Brewer Slide. Hell, even the refurbished Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City looks better than Citi Field.

New York City has so many things to work with, and they just blew it. Like Nationals Park in D.C., there is nothing about this place that stands out. It honestly looks depressing in there. I see a nearly totally enclosed, cavernous, nearly Three Rivers Stadium-esque ballpark with bizarre dimensions.

Pathetic.

--As for the Giants, it was a so-so effort. Granted, the 10-1 win on Monday as well as the 10th inning win on Saturday felt good. It's just the other times when we can't put any offense together that just drag us down. Let's hope the awakening that occurred in the series finale can carry over into Cincinnata (that's how they say it).

-- Stay hot A.U. Velez! He's hitting .500 in the past two games with 2 runs and 2 RBI. He's now hitting .306 on the season.

I've been one of his harshest, most vulgar critics, but he's slowly but surely winning me over. He seems to be somehow getting how to hit. His plate discipline is greatly improved, and he's currently impersonating an offensive catalyst. Imagine that... a real leadoff hitter.

I would like to see him more active as a base stealer though. Despite his speed, he's only attempted to steal 3 times, being caught once.

--Bochy will have to make some decisions about the outfield. With A.U. and Nate The Great ripping the balls all over the place, how can they be kept out of the lineup? Randy Winn needs to sit. We are in a Wild Card race here, and despite his 4/9 stretch over the past two games, he should be the odd man out. All Schierholtz does is hit, and his arm is Francoeur-like. It's a sin not to start him every day.

-- Did you know, Randy Winn's real name is Dwight Randolph Winn?

-- Did you also know that D.R. Winn (Doctor Winn anyone?) is making $9.6 million dollars this season?

-- Did you know that Noah Lowry is being paid $4.5 million this season?

-- Did you know that when we released Dave Roberts earlier this year, we were required to continue paying him his $6.5 million dollar salary?

-- Aaron Rowand, Randy Winn, Noah Lowry, and Dave Roberts cost the Giants a total of $32.6 million this season alone. The stats we got from these four guys (obviously Rowand and Winn as of Sunday): .264 avg, 101 runs, 11 HR, 89 RBI, 14 SB.

That would be a really nice season for Matt Kemp or Bobby Abreu. Doesn't that just make your stomach churn?

-- Happy Lincecum day everyone! Homer Bailey is on the mound for the Reds on Tuesday. If you were ever going to bet on baseball... this would be the game.

--Breaking news as I'm writing this. Stephen Strasburg signs with the Nats for just under $16 million. Awesome. I'm so glad they didn't give him more. Eff you Scott Boras.

-- The Giants also signed the 6th overall pick, RHP Zack Wheeler. They gave him just under $3.3 million. Wheeler, out of HS in Georgia, had a 0.54 ERA in his senior season. He steps into the system void left by the trades of Scott Barnes and Timmy Alderson. Godspeed young Wheeler. Godspeed.