Giants clearly being targeted

Things are tense around baseball these days, no?

You've got Manny Machado being a dick against the A's multiple times, the Red Sox and Rays having an "unwritten rule" pissing contest, and now, twice in a few games, two different teams have intentionally drilled two of the Giants' best hitters.

Things are different than they used to be, that's for sure.

In the old days.. like 10 years ago... you used to be able to hit their guy after they hit yours. Then both sides would get a warning, and that would be that. Now a guy could be tossed immediately for an HBP without obvious intent (Bud Norris) or inexplicably allowed to stay in the game after an obvious beanball (David Price). You never know how umpires will deal with things these days.

What should've happened on Sunday after Wheeler hit Pence for no reason, is we hit one of their guys. On Monday, some no-name nutsac Washington reliever hits Morse for no reason. We should've hit Werth or LaRoche, or whomever. That's the way this should work.

And FYI, I'm not tossing around hitting someone with a 90+ mph fastball lightly. The fact remains that they did it first, this isn't tiddlywinks or some sissy 12 year-olds' soccer league in Mill Valley. This is the big leagues.

If they want to take umbrage at being disciplined within the diamond and want to throw hands, let hands be thrown, and you sort it out later. Baseball is a man's game, and if you allow people to take an inch without consequence, they'll take a mile, and you'll still have bruised ribs.

Unfortunately, you never know how self-policing in baseball will go these days.

Now you've got veteran umpires parading around creating umpshows and young umpires trying to assert control by wildly tossing around warnings and ejecting everyone in sight for protecting teammates.

The Giants have never been much on brawling or retaliation, but they have also not been a team that instigates things. I honestly can't name any events off the top of my head when we've had a pitcher purposefully hit someone out of the blue. I also can't name too many egregious in-game celebrations, dickhead Puigesque bat flips, or violations of unwritten rules.

To me, the Giants play the game the right way, and have so for years. I'm biased yes, but we're the good guys.

In fact, we're very good. 20 games over .500 good.

And that my friends, is why there's a giant target on their backs.

They're winning too much, smiling too much, and having too much fun for Zack Wheeler and the loser Mets or Aaron Barrett and the Gnats to handle.

Wheeler I suppose I get. He was beaten by the team that traded him, and he didn't like it. Okay, well next time be better. Don't drill someone in the ribs. That's called being poor sport and an asshole. It's immature, and Hunter Pence and I won't forget it.

Judging by this story though, this wasn't the first, and won't be the last time Zack Wheeler is involved in some sort of brouhaha. He managed to stir up "ethnic tensions" in the minors by drilling his own teammate. Maybe I don't mind the Beltran/Wheeler swap so much after all.

As for the Nationals, I don't know what Barrett was doing, and neither does Morse. For a guy who openly recounted fond memories to the D.C. media yesterday about his time with the Nats, he sure as heck couldn't understand why he was hit. You could see him afterwards in the dugout talking to Posey, staring out at the field with his face scrunched up into confusion.

Well, I'll answer your question sir. They hit you because you're good.

What I do know, is that Barrett clearly acted on his own accord or on behalf of a teammate. There's zero chance manager Matt Williams would call for a beanball out of the blue. He's better than that, and we all know it.

With Madison Bumgarner the only guy on the roster (RIP Eli Whiteside) that openly shows some will and fire to confront the forces of evil, he will likely be the only one who will do anything about the open season that has been declared on Giants hitters.



Bumgarner fears no evil.

Bruce Bochy can talk about how he didn't like these HBPs and Krukow can promise retribution from the booth, but we all know nothing will happen, and the Giants will do nothing. They never really have.

What they will do though is keep winning, and likely take the high road-- something I would be unable to do. More power to them though.



Lincecum... oh Lincecum, what do we do with you?

If there's one thing I love about our fans is that they're loyal. Case and point, our undying love for Barry Bonds amid a sea of hatred by the rest of America.

We love our role players, our bullpen guys, and everyone in between (unless they're terrible of course).

Even me, The Dodgerhater, the mean guy that I am, feel pangs of sadness to see guys like Eli Whiteside leave our organization and bounce around.

If I feel that way about a light-hitting backup catcher whose highlights were his HR off Roy Halladay off the foul pole that one time, his eagerness to fight the Dodgers, his gray hair, and his Led Zeppelin entrance song, imagine how hard it is for me to watch our former ace, Tim Lincecum struggle so badly.

The tide is beginning to shift a bit when it comes to Timmeh.

More and more fans are losing confidence in our once unstoppable whirling dervish-- despite his past success and his forever-cemented place in our hearts.

The truth of the matter is that he was the worst starting pitcher in baseball in 2012. Barry Zito was better... and that is crazy.

Believe me, I remember his incredible performance out of the 'pen in the 2012 Playoffs en route to our second title in three years. It's hard to forget.

But the fact remains that he is not the same pitcher he was pre 2012, and I don't think he ever will be.

You can talk about the lost velocity, you can talk about dope smoking, his small frame, and everything in between. The fact remains that he has just not adjusted adequately to his diminished abilities and learned how to pitch. Sounds crazy, but he could learn a lot from Zito.

He still has swing and miss breaking stuff, and that really hasn't dissipated. It's the fact that now his fastball and changeup are too similar in velocity and that he hasn't learned yet how to pitch to contact and to keep the ball down.

The percentage of line drives allowed in 2012 was the 7th highest in the league last year, almost 24% of all contact, and of that contact, hitters were taking home a robust .309 average.

That sort of thing is going to get runs scored against you more times than not.

I can't help but be overly concerned about Timmy because of all this, especially because he's had an awful spring-- just as he did last spring. He's just not showing me many signs of improvement, and it scares me.

With all that said, I truly hope as a fan of the Giants and of Timmy, that he figures out how to locate and to pitch to "good" contact. If he doesn't, I fear that we can expect more of the same from Timmy in 2013, and that the talk radio circuit will have plenty to discuss.

We managed to win another title in spite of Timmy's regular season performance last year, but with his bullpen performance in the playoffs. If he struggles badly this year well into May and June, it's absolutely time to put him back in the bullpen and find a body to plug into the rotation. There's also the remote possibility that he could be dealt at the trade deadline. His contract is up, and he's pitching for his livelihood. If there's one year people have career years, it's usually in a walk year.

All this crap is purely speculation on my part, but we'd all be remiss if we didn't consider these outcomes. Unfortunately, all signs point to another poor season. Let's hope I'm wrong, because I'd love to see The Freak back to good form, just like you do.

Roster reactions & a look at 2012

I have to say that for all the complaints we Giants fans may have from time to time, I cannot say that management is incompetent. Cheap? Sometimes. Gunshy of big free agents? Yes. But inept? Absolutely not. With the group that reported to Scottsdale this spring, I really believe the best 24 came back to The City with the team.

"But Dodgerhater, isn't it a 25 man roster, not a 24 man one?"

Yes, but you forgot about Zito.

:'-(

Other than that waste of money, management did the best possible things to put the Giants in a position to win (with current talent) and to lock up the future (Cain).



I am a bit surprised that they designated Whiteside for assignment and traded Chris Stewart. Many believe that Hector Sanchez is too raw behind the plate to be counted on to play there 2-3 times a week as Buster does first base duty or gets a day off-- but here we are, for better or for worse.

Hey, I say it's for the better! Based on the way the kid is hitting and the way he skipped through the minors in a Sandovalesque fashion, why in the hell isn't it better? This offense has been too sickly and bitch for too many years. Finally Sabean and Bochy came to an agreement that they needed every single offensive weapon possible on the 25 man roster come Opening Day, and that's what happened.

Eli Whiteside, Mike Fontenot, and Chris Stewart-- you're all good guys and I wish you the best, but the guys that replaced you are just better with the lumber.

In regard to Whiteside, I will miss you the most, with your fitting white hair, your Mississippi Delta accent, and your Led Zeppelin entrance music. You were like a character out of a John Grisham/William Faulker book and I will miss you a little bit. Even if you never play another game in the big leagues, you helped us win a ring, and no one can take that away-- same with Fontenot.

The other surprises to me were that both Brandon Belt AND Brett Pill made the roster. The Giants are now loaded with first basemen, and I don't know how everyone will get ABs.

You'd think Huff is the primary, right? But is on a short leash, so if he sucks, he sucks, and that's the end of him. Grab a significant piece of pine, Meat.

Then there's Belt-- another lefty-- who seemingly has no place to play. Of course then there is Posey, the righty, who we have heard, nearly ad nauseum, will play there about twice a week, probably against lefties, while Belt sits.

But wait! There's more!

Nate Schierholtz can't hit!

That means what I just wrote got simpler and was completely pointless in writing and this article just took you 20 seconds longer to read than it should have!

It's looking like Nate Schierholtz and his cannon are now riding the pine, and HUFF is the one playing the OF. Whoa.

Look, it scares me too, but Huff will be playing LF-- not RF like he embarrassingly attempted to do early last season. He's not going to win any gold gloves out there, but at least against right handers, he adds some badly needed power (hopefully) to a lineup that desperately needs it.

There are three main lineups that Bochy will use:

Lineup #1: Right-handed starter

1) CF Pagan (S)/Blanco (L)
2) RF Melky Cabrera (S)
3) 3B Pablo Sandoval(S)
4) C Buster Posey (R)
5) LF Aubrey Huff (L)
6) 1B Brandon Belt (L)
7) SS Brandon Crawford (L)
8) 2B Emmanuel Burriss (S)

Note* - When Freddy Sanchez comes back, he hits 7th and Crawford hits 8th. I may be wrong and Crawford hits 8th from the get-go, but does it really matter?

Lineup #2: Left-handed starter w/Posey catching

1) CF Pagan (S)/Blanco (L)
2) RF Melky Cabrera (S)
3) 3B Pablo Sandoval (S)
4) C Buster Posey (R)
5) LF Aubrey Huff (L)
6) 1B Brett Pill (L)
7) SS Brandon Crawford (L)
8) 2B Emmanuel Burriss (S)

Lineup #3: Left-handed starter w/Posey playing 1B

1) CF Pagan (S)/Blanco (L)
2) RF Melky Cabrera (S)
3) 3B Pablo Sandoval (S)
4) 1B Buster Posey (R)
5) LF Aubrey Huff (L)
6) C Hector Sanchez (S)
7) SS Brandon Crawford (L)
8) 2B Emmanuel Burriss (S)

*Note - Depending how Crawford is hitting lefties (.133 against LHP in '11), don't be surprised to see Ryan Theriot (R) play 2B, and slide the switch-hitting Burriss over to short.

A few notes about all this...

-- Good God, do we have a lot of switch hitters! Five to be exact, but that is still crazy! (Pagan, Cabrera, Sandoval, H. Sanchez, Burriss).

-- Looks like the only time that Schierholtz will start will be to play RF against a righty when Huff is struggling or needs a day off, sliding Melky over to left.

-- Expect Bochy to play late-inning musical outfield every day with Schierholtz. We're used to it by now. The names have changed, the concept hasn't. Nate comes in for Huff, plays right field, and Cabrera moves to left. It will be a daily occurrence.

-- Can Melky play RF at AT&T as well as Nate? Well he's going to get a crash course in weirdness right away, and I hope to God that he's taking line drives off the archways as we speak so that he gets a feel for the caroms that the ball takes. As for the wind and the bullpen mound... well that comes only with trial and error, bud.

As for covering Triples Alley with Pagan or Blanco, yes, he is fast and covers a lot of ground. I don't think Melky will have any trouble chasing down fly balls to the deepest part of the yard.

-- Brandon Crawford is really important to the every day success of this team. We know the kid can field, but can he hit his weight? He's listed as 215 lbs.

Based on his stellar spring (18-54, .333/.410/.556, 3 HR, 17 RBI, 7 BB), I'd say he's capable of hitting at least .250. That seems to be everyone's wish. All I read about is "If Crawford can only hit .250, they'll be okay..."

Based on how awful he was at the dish last year, .250 would be awesome, but let's raise the bar a little bit higher than that.

I believe Crawford's contributions with that bat are the difference between making the playoffs and not. It's that important.

-- Who will replace Zito when he inevitably sucks?

Eventually it will be either Eric Surkamp or Yadsl;fknc,i Petit. Surkamp had his Spring cut short when he strained the flexor tendon in his elbow about a week ago. That sounds like he won't be ready for a minimum of 3 weeks-- probably around the time that Zito has fallen to 0-3 with a 9.00.

Right now, the guy that is first in line is the healthy Yusmeiro Petit. I rather enjoy hitting random keys after the capital 'Y' in his name, but I looked up how to spell it anyway.

Petit, a former Diamondback, last pitched in the bigs in '09 with Arizona, and wound up with a 5.82 ERA. He apparently blew out his shoulder, wound up in Oaxaca pitching in front of donkey carts, then ended up back in Venezuela pitching in front of Socialists and Giants hitting instructor Hensley Meulens. The rest is history. Check out the whole story from Baggs here.

The guy has pitched well in Spring, so bottom line, with Vogelsong on the DL for a few weeks, Surkamp out for a few weeks, and Zito sucking more than usual, Yadlfncamds;' Petit may be making a start for the Gyros sooner rather than later.

-- Also noted in that Andrew Baggarly article at CSNBayArea.com is that one of the guys that Petit pitched against in the Venezuelan Winter League was none other than Gregor Blanco, the speedy outfielding surprise that made the roster.

I don't know much about the left-handed Blanco other than the guy is major steal threat and plays a great OF. Also, apparently his nickname is "Tiburon Blanco". And for the 3 of you that are new to California, that means "White Shark".

Get it together people.

With Angel Pagan sucking big time thus far as a Giant, not getting on base, and making us miss Andres Torres and his Puerto Rican porno walkup music, there is a growing contingent of people that believe Angel Pagan will be overtaken by Blanco sooner rather than later as the starting CF.

The contingent begins with the all-important Me, and also includes KNBR's Larry Krueger and apparently (but subtly) CSN Bay Area's Andrew Baggarly.

Blanco's career stats aren't a lot to go by, but he holds a career .358 on base percentage and has safely stolen 26 out of 35 bases. In the OF, he has 12 outfield assists versus only 4 errors. Hey, I'll take it.

I have minimal rational reasons for why I think Blanco will usurp Pagan's spot. I basically think Pagan sucks and is a 4th OF at best. I also think that Pagan's name is obnoxious. It's like, okay, you're an angel AND a pagan? Pick one or the other dude...


Obviously we can speculate all day about what will happen and who will be awesome or who will suck. We don't have all day. We have TV to watch and work to go to and food to eat. With that said, Opening Day couldn't have come soon enough, and I'm looking forward to another maddeningly amazing year of Giants baseball.

Sabean cannot stand pat

I like the Beltran move, I really do. He's a real hitter, and he instantly made us better. I'm not going to buy a $35 #15 shirzey or anything, because it'll only get a few wears out of it before it's obsolete... I'm celebrating the move by praying for another.

Our catcher situation sucks, it really does... but there's not a lot that can be done. There's no significant upgrade available, and our pitching staff is doing well throwing to our no-hitting backup tandem of Whiteside and Stewart.

The glaring hole is at shortstop, where the sickening play continues.

The bluntly ugly truth of the matter is that Tejada sucks, Fontenot sucks, and Crawford can't hit.

Sorry. All good guys... maybe Crawford will be a serviceable starter someday, but if we're going to repeat as World Champs, this situation must be fixed.

Crawford must be sent back down. Sorry Stamos, you just haven't been able to adjust to big-league pitching as quickly as we'd all have liked. You'll get another shot in September, but if Burriss gets sent down, you need to too... neither of you are doing anything of note.


Secondly, if I see Mike Fontenot face just ONE MORE left-handed pitcher at ANY TIME, I am going to blow an effing head gasket on my truck and in my brain. In fact, as I'm writing this and looking up his splits, I don't want him facing righties either. How he looks so bad against southpaws on a regular basis (.256 avg) and somehow manages to hit .186 against righties as a full time lefty absolutely boggles my mind.

The man needs to be a pinch hitter and emergency infielder, and THAT's it.

Same with Tejada, the man is a backup at best, and I can't take it anymore.

I know our big deal was Beltran and that the Mets say that they're not looking to move Jose Reyes, but I believe now more than ever, that Sabean can't give up on getting him out of Queens forever.

If the Mets think they can keep him, they're mistaken. They're broke and in disarray. The Giants are one of the teams that can actually pay him long term if they so choose, especially with Rowand's disgraceful contract expiring after next season, Huff's contract expiring after next year, and Zito's albatross expiring after '13.

With all the success the Giants have had recently and the prime pitching staff they have assembled comes in gobs of money. They're not as rich as you think because of unfair revenue sharing and AT&T annual mortgage payments, but they're still doing as well as they ever have.

I know the urge is to keep the farm system intact and keep it rolling into the future, but the truth of the matter is that after Zack Wheeler, the desirable and/or blue chip prospect pool declined significantly.

There is no more Bumgarner or Posey, no Belt or Wheeler down there anymore.

There's speedy and impressive OF Gary Brown, a couple above-average hitting catchers, big hitting 27 year old 1B Brett Pill, a couple under-performing OFs named Neal and Kieschnick, and a surprising lefty starter named Eric Surkamp in AA-Richmond who has 140K's in 114 innings with an ERA around 2.00. And of course the typical list of middle infielders with good gloves and no bats (Adrianza, Culberson, Crawford, Noonan).

Honestly, that's about it right now. The minors ain't what they used to be because we've already harvested our crop down on the farm and sold off a lot of the rest of it.

This is why I say we go for it.

We're already better than we were at this time last season, and we somehow won it all. Filling the gaping hole at short with Reyes, and paying him long-term sounds crazy, but it is the best possible solution to our current problem of TeCrawfenot stinking it up at SS.


Check out Croix de Candlestick's workup on Eric Surkamp before this season started. He was ahead of the curve on the lefty.

There's enough to get a Reyes deal done but barely. They'll want Belt or Jonathan Sanchez, and surely that's in addition to Gary Brown and a lower level prospect like Crawford.

I say do it any way you can without giving up Belt. Do it and do it yesterday, because we have the unique opportunity to win it all again, something that hasn't happened in quite a while.

Lincecum and Cain won't be in their mid 20s forever. The time is now! It can be done without mortgaging the future, especially with an interesting crop of free agents available next offseason (Prince Fielder, Albert Pujols, Reyes, Beltran).

Anyway, sorry about this rambling rant, but I can't rest knowing that Sabean didn't take his best shot at Reyes and a back to back championship.

A dark day for Giants fans

If you stayed up Wednesday night to watch the Giants' heroic comeback fall short in 12 innings, you saw it.

It was gut-wrenching. Enough to make a grown man sick and a grown woman cry.

Our boy... our GOLDEN BOY Buster Posey suffered an ugly injury at the hands of a desperate young player trying to score a winning run.

As much as I'd like to rip Cousins as being a complete dickhead, we all root for our players to run into home plate at the same brutal velocity. Anything for a run... especially a winning run in extra innings.

No, it's not Cousins' fault. It's not even baseball's fault for not treating catchers like they coddle Peyton Manning in the NFL.

What happened to Buster Posey is for lack of a better term... baseball.

That's baseball.

Early reports put Buster's prognosis as a broken ankle and a possibly damaged knee. As someone who's personally undergone two serious knee surgeries and a broken ankle surgery, I know that if both of those things are true, he's out for 3 months... MINIMUM.

A broken ankle, depending on the bone, calls for a 2 month recovery for normal people, probably about 6 weeks for athletes. If his knee is only an MCL strain, it's 3-6 weeks.

But if we're talking ACL damage, multiple ankle fractures... I mean worst case scenario. We'll see him next year... as sickening as that thought is.

There is a small, yet growing minority in the Bay Area sports community that has been questioning how long or how often Buster Posey should play catcher. After all, he's a pure hitter with a great arm, and can LITERALLY play every position on the field. Why not move him to 3B or 1B? Maybe give him a shot at SS?

Well, the answer is simple:

BECAUSE HE'S A CATCHER.


He's not JUST a catcher though. No, he's one of the best catchers in baseball. And this is his second season... and his first full one.

The list of elite catchers in this league is a short one. The first one is Joe Mauer, then it goes to Brian McCann.

Then it's probably Posey.

Sure, Yadi Molina is up there, but he's not on the same map offensively. Victor Martinez is there offensively, but nowhere close defensively.

Buster Posey is an elite player, and he's a CATCHER.

It's his best position, and he makes us better in all ways by playing such a difficult, demanding, and offensively talentless position. Unfortunately, the wear and tear of a position like this is going to make us all cringe.

I'm a proponent of day games off after night games, putting Buster at 1B on Sundays regularly, but that's about it. He belongs behind the dish.

That being said, Posey's depressing absence means Eli Whiteside will catch indefinitely. Not a very sexy option... unless of course you're writing a William Faulkner-esque novel about a guy from the Mississippi Delta ironically named Whiteside, who also has white hair before age 30.

The guy who really gets an opportunity to step up again is Brandon Belt. He's been recalled, and will probably see a lot of time out there.

I don't know what Bochy will do with this mess on our hands... whether Huff will see a couple more days off, whether Belt will see some time in the OF, or whether a better offensive solution than Whiteside is sought.

It's a mess.

It's not the end of the season. It's not the end of the world. It's just a mess.

There's very little positivity around this situation, but at least Whiteside is solid defensively and handles the pitching staff well. Plus, we're coming back and winning games even while Posey and Huff have been average.

He's a big bat, and a great player, but this is not the end of days. We get Pablo back fairly soon, and maybe Huff will get hot.

As we know from our magical 2010, you can never count out this team, and they come back from adversity all the time.

For now, we'll just hope Posey will be back by July, and keep our heads up. We have a great team, we're champions, and our group of goofballs will step up in a big way... they can't help it.

Tied for the Wild Card: It's a whole new ballgame

I'd like to begin by saying the following:

If it were even possible for me to love the game of baseball and the San Francisco Giants any more, well it happened.

I have re-fallen in love with this game and this team.

It's some serious man love.

What we've seen from this ragtag group of youngsters, out-of-their-prime veterans, and scrappy perfomers is simply mind boggling.

More specifically, if your brooms are still in their closets, you should really consider taking them out and bungee cording them to your mailboxes in front of your house... perhaps attach them to your roofracks of your cars as you drive around; an even more redneck version of the window flag.


5-1 on the Homestand, a sweep of the Rocks

Lincecum gave us what we needed on Friday. A true Timmy-esque shutdown job.

Zito threw the gem of his tumultuous Giants career on Saturday, going 8.1 innings of one run ball. He was truly masterful, save of course the bomb he gave up to the Hawpester in the 9th.

No one knows what Romo and Affeldt were doing in that game, but we pulled it off, and it was amazing.

Kung Fu's HR's on Friday and Saturday were incredible, especially considering his injury.

Things just looked like they were inevitably going the Giants way, even with the blowout they sustained against Arizona on Thursday and the near 9th inning meltdown on Saturday. There was a certain confidence about these guys that somehow permeated the physical and media barriers that separate us from the team. It's like exuberant confidence by osmosis.

This team is the embodiment of what the baseball gods smile upon from their perch.


Sunday Best

From the beginning of Sunday's game, I will admit, I didn't feel a good vibe. Cain did not look sharp from the get go. The abominable call at first base with Cain covering didn't help my uneasiness.

Then there were those back to back jacks from Helton and Tulo.

I was squirming in a major way at that point.

When you're only down 1 game in the Wild Card race, it seems difficult to have two season-turning plays. Of course that is generally reserved for seasons that need to be turned around.

Not in this case.

The oft-maligned Edgar Renteria, a guy making $8 million this year and next, a guy that Sabean haters target mercilessly, showed up in a big way.

Before his at bat in the 6th inning, I stared at the television graphic of his stats with serious disdain. 3 home runs.

I muttered, "This would be a great time for your 4th homer you bum."

Boom. RBI Double off the wall. Giants down 4-2. I'll take that.

The bottom of the 7th came around with the Gyros down 5-2.

One thing led to another, and Edgar came up with the sacks full of Gigantes.

Instead of saying out loud what I'd muttered an inning before, I simply thought about it; and I definitely wasn't the only one. Bases loaded, down 3? What else do you think about?

Boom, just as we were all praying for the unthinkable, there it was. Grand Salame time. He almost hit the ambulance parked behind the left field wall!

Not only did this incredibly clutch swing of the bat give us a 6-5 lead, it renewed all kinds of hopes and dreams. Naturally, it renewed our dream of winning the game and sweeping the Rockpile for a share of the wild card. More importantly though, it renewed our faith in a player who for so long this season has disappointed us in so many ways.

Renteria has not been horrible. He has had timely singles and such. He's made a couple good plays. He went after Russell Martin in a brouhaha.

His best quality, not surprisingly, is his "clutchness". Look at this magnificent table below that I've put together for you. If you are reading this in an email newsfeed, you have to click here to see it.



Don't freak out, those stats are correct. A lot of the situations overlap.

But seriously, look at those numbers. Obviously your approach at the plate is going to be different without runners on, as you'll swing aggressively, but c'mon, there's no denying that this man does his best work when it counts.

Renteria has 24 ribeye steaks this year with runners in scoring position (RISP) and two outs. That, my friends, is the definition of clutch.

The game, and more importantly the season changed today with one swing of the bat from Edgar.


Quirky game notes and observations:

-- If you didn't catch this stat on CSN or in the papers, Barry Zito is now 105-4 when he gets 4 runs of support or more.

-- Zito this year has received 1 run or less of support in 12 out of his 26 starts and has received ZERO runs of support in 9 starts. Unconscionable.

-- Zeets is 4-2 with a 1.77 ERA since the all star break. His last two starts have been against the Rocks, and has combined for 14.1 innings, 1 ER, and 11K. That's a 0.62 ERA. Yeehaw.

-- Zeets got a curtain call. Well deserved.

-- How often are we going to score 9 runs when Kung Fu goes hitless?

-- Aaron Rowand walked. Alert the media.

-- Affeldt's recovery on Sunday to escape a jam and strike out both Garrett Atkins and Carlos Gonzalez was absolutely monstrous. He was able to shake off an ugly performance in Saturday's 9th inning to throw some absolute filth up there. The backdoor curveball to punch out Atkins was disgusting, and his subsequent ring-up job of Gonzalez was enough to fire anyone up. Especially him.

If you couldn't tell he was pumped up to exorcise some mound demons in the 8th inning, well, then you were blind. He was screaming and pumping his fists in a way that would make K Rod and Papelbon look like shamed altar boys. Rock on dude.

-- Eli Whiteside? Absolute Beast. Bengie Who?

-- Ryan Rohlinger's 2 RBI single on a 1-2 pitch was absolutely huge. Busted it wide open.

-- Alex Hinshaw coming in to a huge game in the 6th inning? Not so good. Bochy, come on man... you knew better than that. If you wanted to get his feet wet for the '09 season... you accomplished that. They're so wet that he's got a case of trench foot. Not a wise substitution.

-- Anyone remember Ryan Garko and Freddy Sanchez? Our two huge acquisitions have been nowhere to be found. With Sanch on the DL and Garks mired in a slump, they've been non-existent. The very guys that were here all along are the ones winning the games. Funny how that happens.

-- Garko hasn't started since the 26th, and is 1-10 since August 24th.

-- Was it me, but did Garko's shades today look like some kind of fashion glasses? They had shiny gold stems. Almost as if they were daytripping Ray-Bans or something. WTF Garks? If you need a tip for glasses, go with the extreme orange mirrored Fred Lewis glasses or the transparent yellow/orange NRA militia glasses that Jeff Kent used to wear.

-- Speaking of Jeff Kent. Good to see that son of a bitch back at the yard in a real hat. We will never forget that you played for the Dodgers, but we will forgive you. Kent was an absolute beast for us, and is a future hall of famer. I'm glad we've all reconciled. They put his picture up on the Wall of Fame with his moustache. Excellent. True sleaze.

-- With the stakes so high, have you ever in your life seen so many mound visits between Bochy, Dave Righetti, Jim Tracy, and Bob Apodaca? I think we're talking record for a 3 game series. I swear there was a mound visit per inning. Not even including the catchers.

-- Brian Wilson threw 4 pitches to Troy Tulowitzki on Sunday. All four were 100 mph. I was counting. Pure filth.

-- If you were on a hike in Colorado and saw Todd Helton emerge from a sheer cliffside with a bloody elk carcass strung over his shoulders and a .300 Magnum elephant gun slung over his arm, would you be surprised? Mountain Man. Why he's not Coors Light's national spokesperson is beyond me.

-- Remember how Clint Barmes hurt himself a few years ago, derailing a .400 season to that point? He was carrying huge pieces of vennison up his stairs with Todd Helton and fell down. Love it.

-- New idea for a reality show. Bear Grylls, Todd Helton, and Ted Nugent shoot guns and eat wild game. That's it.

Huge series coming up. Three in Philly, three in Milwauks. It's go time boys. The road is where the playoffs are made! We come back to play the streaking Padres and the Blue Bastards de Los Angeles.


I will leave you with some inspirational quotes from Krook & Kuip from the postgame wrap on CSN.

Kuip:

"For those who proclaimed Tuesday morning that this team was dead, and it was over for them... they're gonna have to try again.

Krook:

"The clown that said that needs to eat his words."

"I've got two words to say about this weekend: I'M IN!"



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49ers fans in need of a laugh about the Crabtree situation need to click here. Hilarious.

The Zito Reality: Anyone but Bengie

This is the first contribution by PJ, a new addition to the Dodgerhater staff...


How Zito can “catch” a break

If we are to reach the playoffs this season, every game counts.

We all know what we’ll get out of Timmy and Matt every five days, but the enigma known as Barry Zito continues to haunt us.

Despite his three strong outings to open the second half of the season, we cannot predict whether he will be the Zito yesteryear-- or even yesterday for that matter-- or a complete disaster.

On Sunday, he was very good. He gave us a chance to win while dealing with an extremely difficult order— arguably the strongest in baseball with the defending champion Phillies in town. He also walked nary a batter.

His battery mate? Eli Whiteside. More on that later.


His last start versus Pittsburgh, which inspired me to write this, was vintage Zito. He repeatedly gave us flashes of why we signed him to the most ridiculous albatross of a contract in the history of the earth. Even though his WHIP was a little inflated, he was able to battle and escape while still giving the Giants a chance to win.

More importantly, he managed to do it with Bengie Molina behind the plate.

As a former pitcher, I have always been intrigued by the impact that pitcher-catcher relationships have on performance and outcomes. Battery mates must be on the same page, and communication is of the utmost importance. The way a catcher frames a curveball can be the difference between a ball and a strike. This can even have an effect on a pitcher’s confidence to throw a certain pitch.

The nuances and tendencies of a particular backstop can mean everything.

Barry Zito is a fragile dude. Watching games earlier in the year, I noticed a huge discrepancy in how he would pitch from start to start. The difference was his comfort level.

Sure, maybe it was the bickram yoga, but I did some research to find out. There were very few discrepancies between Zito's home/road, day/night, and even right/left splits. What I did find though, was shocking.

I compared the breakdown of how Zito threw to each of the Giants' four catchers:

(Click here if you do not see the spreadsheet.)



The only statistic that is in Bengie’s favor is the increased strikeouts (good thing too, Zito has declined in strikeouts in each of the past 3 years). The quality start (QS) statistic (minimum 6 IP, 3 or less ER) is a great indication of how much better he has pitched to catchers not named Molina.



Could this just be a coincidence? Certainly. But the statistics don’t lie.

If you want to point to strength of opponent, you wouldn’t get very far in my book. 2 of Zito’s 3 starts against the Dodgers have come without Bengie behind the dish.

So what can we do?

Well first off, it’s not unheard of for starting pitchers to have their own personal catcher. Eddie Perez and Paul Bako had a career 60 home runs between them, but that didn’t stop Greg Maddux from sending offensive catcher Javy Lopez to the pine every fifth day. Knuckleball pitchers have also been known to require a “special” catcher. Doug Mirabelli and Tim Wakefield come to mind.

My question is this: Is Bengie’s bat a big enough difference maker to keep him in the lineup if its presence comes at the expense of an extra 2.5+ runs on Zito’s ERA?

Certainly, with these kinds of numbers at our disposal, we can see that Bengie Mo and his disappointing offensive dropoff would not be beneficial during Zito's starts. Despite Molina's abilities, he is only hurting the Giants while catching Zito.

The man needs a game off every week anyway. It only makes sense that Bochy needs to make sure that Ol' Eli Whiteside is back there when our favorite $126 million dollar man is on the mound.

And say what you will about the aptly named Whiteside, but if he hasn't proven to you that he's a major league receiver, just ask Jonathan Sanchez how he feels about it.
This brings another issue to the table:

What if Zito doesn't click with Posey? Certainly Posey's bat cannot come out of the lineup.

Certainly Barry will be around here for years to come, as his contract is all but unmovable. The question arises in my mind whether Posey should make a major league appearance to gauge his comfort with the pitching staff-- and the staff with him.

It appears that Molina will not return to the Giants next season, and although he's been great, and I love him, he is simply not in the plans.

Posey can certainly hit in the bigs, but he's still working on his game management skills in Fresno, and is probably not quite ready to call his own games at the big league level.

If Posey is deemed unready for the bigs in early 2010, what is the best course of action? Sign a free agent catcher to split time with Whiteside or Holm? Give Sandoval more looks back there a few games a week?

It is an interesting quandary.

Let's just hope Zito is comfortable with whoever he's throwing to, because it obviously matters, and we need him throwing strikes out there if we want to secure that Wild Card spot.

Go Gyros.

--Pete