That old familiar feeling

This feels weird. Don't you think?

It feels right, but it feels weird.

How the hell did we get here? This wasn't supposed to happen, but it has. It's feels familiar, but it's just plain crazy. I don't know how to describe it, but the way I'm feeling is almost like I'm jetlagged or stoned off of prescription pills like after one of my knee surgeries.

Truthfully, I can't believe we're here, and it seems like the Giants have somehow managed to capture lightning in a bottle twice in three years. It's a phenomenon like fog or sourdough bread-- something virtually unique to this place and this team. It's something truly that lacks logic; of course logic and the lack thereof being the ongoing theme of this team in this postseason.

The Game 7 show we all witnessed was completely unexpected, but embraced by all, as if that 9th inning downpour was made of nothing but condensed water vapor and destiny itself.

Perhaps rather than logic or non-logic, the theme of this postseason should be to expect the unexpected.

The previous two opponents the Giants faced were capable and talented. One outperformed us all season, and the other was the reigning champs-- seemingly peaking in the same manner in which they did last year. I knew (and predicted) that each series would go the distance. Of course I had no idea why or how they'd go to 5 and 7 games respectively, but I just had that feeling.

To me, this upcoming series with the Tigers has a different feel. They are certainly more offensively talented. They have two guys in Fielder and Cabrera that scare the living hell out of me. They have an ace (with a capital 'A') in Justin Verlander, that could potentially pitch 3 games.

Justin Verlander is capable of shutting us out 3 times and then leaving the clubhouse with Kate Upton on his arm. That's how good he is.

Right now, we have 3 reliable starting pitchers and one of them is Game 1 starter Barry Zito.

The Tigers have a spontaneously combusted Jose Valverde removed from the closer's role and defensive liabilities.

You can break down this matchup however you want, but all you'll get is right back to where you started.

I can't put my finger on it, but I feel like the stars are aligning for us once again. Naturally I could be wrong, but just like 2010, there's just an 'it'  factor about this team that cannot be ignored.

Just like 2010, the Rangers were better than us on paper-- laden with sluggers and Cliff Lee. I see almost a mirror image of Texas in the 2012 Detroit Tigers.

I'm no expert, and I watched less than 10 Tiger games all season, but that's basically what I've gathered.

All I'm saying is it's happened once under similar circumstances, with a similar hodgepodge of players-- a veritable David/Goliath story. Why couldn't it happen again?

Prediction: Giants in 6

The day the West got weird

Laughter and giddiness, excitement and joy.

Those are typical behaviors of a fan whose team just swung the biggest deal of their lifetime.

The only thing is, that was MY reaction when I heard the Blue Bastards were on the verge of landing one star player and two former star players.

I wasn't the only one overjoyed.

Giants fans all over the place were rejoicing over the possibility of the Dodgers adding Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford, and Nick Punto. It seemed on paper to be the exact opposite reaction of what one would expect, but hey-- most of the time your first reaction is the correct one.

Did the Bums get better in the short term? Sure. Adrian Gonzalez is a stud. He's thrilled to be back in SoCal, and he'll piss us off for years to come. That sucks for us and I'll admit it. I was fired up to see him leave the Madres after his contract expired, and I'm not happy to see him back in our division.

Beckett? I'm fired up about him. When he's focused and healthy, there are few pitchers whose clutch ability and past performance can match that of Beckett's. The past two years however, have been nothing but a black stain on Beckett's permanent record. Instead of rehabbing, he plays golf. Instead of watching the game, he eats KFC and plays NCAA football in the clubhouse. He's one of the top 10 most destructive clubhouse presences in this league when he's unmotivated and unhappy-- on the very same list as new teammate Hanjob Ramirez.

Carl Crawford? Awesome player... 3 years ago with Tampa Bay. Now, he's a shell of himself-- a guy who just underwent Tommy John surgery and put up a paltry sub .300 on base % in two injury-riddled seasons in Beantown.

I stole this from ESPN. 

Now comes the really juicy part.

Guess how much money these guys make. Seriously. Guess how much money the Dodgers just took on in order to land Adrian Gonzalez.

Two hundred sixty-two million dollars.

$262MM. Simply incredible.

Obviously money is no object to the new idiots in charge of the Dodgers. That's fine. Money was no object to the Red Sox either, and look what happened to them.They're languishing around the bottom of their division, still saddled with John Lackey's corpse and alienating their obnoxiously devoted fans on a daily basis.

I know it's not the same situation or the same team, but I think history needs to be learned from, and the Dodgers are a little too eager and foolhardy to make the same mistakes Boston has made in the past 5 years.

Fine with me.

SB Nation estimates that the Bums will be right at or slightly above the luxury tax level of $178MM next year, and that their actual payroll will be around $160MM. The reasoning for this is that the CBA takes into account the average annual payout of players' contracts rather than the actual number per year.

All these reasons are why we're so excited as Giants fans. They have more money than God, but so do the Yankees. And you don't see the Yankees just doing whatever they want to excess. They didn't sign Prince Fielder to play alongside Mark Teixeira. There are limits, and it comes down to profitability.

The capitalists that bought the team only care about money. They'd sell their own mother to make a buck, and will run the team that way. They have a plan-- and that plan is to buy high profile assets (they see players as things, not people), raise their profile on ESPN, and attempt to rejuvenate a fanbase whose primary objective is to drink a 12 pack of Corona on the way to the game and not get arrested.

It's about money, and once these contracts begin to balloon and become dead payouts (Crawford, Kemp, Gonzalez annual contracts all balloon to more than $20MM later in contracts and Kershaw will have a similar number with a new contract), they'll be sorry they did this.

The still have inferior pitching to the Giants, and will continue to suffer the results. It's a joyous day for Giants fans, because we know that they've irreparably saddled themselves with dead money and poor clubhouse attitudes for years ahead.

We all know it'll come back to bite them sooner rather than later, and that, folks, is something to be excited about.

How to piss off a Giants fan: Do Nothing

Hey people. Sorry for my hiatus.

I won't go into a long soliloquy about the state of things and I can't sugarcoat my feelings:

I AM PISSED.

I am pissed that this organization has made no committment to improvement. I'm pissed that Zito will cost half a million more than he did last year, and I'm pissed that ownership refuses to eat one rough year of payroll in order to be better for a long time.

I really am disgusted.

It's not the fact that they won't wildly overspend on players that upsets me, it's the fact that they won't even try!

They never talked to Jose Reyes, they won't talk to Prince Fielder. They won't even send SO MUCH AS SEND A TEXT MESSAGE to Pujols's sleazy ass agent. There's not even so much as an illusion put forth by management that they are trying to improve the offense.

The Sanchez for Melky trade was okay, you know. I wasn't and still am not thrilled by it. I never liked Melky Cabrera and I consider him to be a fringe starter who had one decent year. I get that he's chasing a contract and yes I've heard that he's in shape, but I really don't care. Free agency may not be over, but Giants fans, if you're expecting anything more than Melky Goddamn Cabrera to help Timmy beat Kershaw, well... you're shit out of luck.

I've defended the Giants' responsible financial approach in the past. I know that their annual operating expenses include a $20MM mortgage payment for AT&T Park. That's $20MM that most other clubs don't have to worry about.

However, most other clubs didn't win a World Series in 2010 and make money HAND OVER FIST EVERY DAY SINCE THEN.

This team has the money, they choose not to spend it. There should be no confusion about that.

And yeah, absolutely, I agree that signing Lincecum and Cain long-term is the priority. Of course I get that. Pencil Cain in for at least $18MM a year and Timmy should get at least $22MM if not more. Pitching is expensive, there's no doubt about it. Pitching is also how you win day in and day out. It's our formula, and it shouldn't be messed with.

One has to think aloud though-- does Tim Lincecum WANT to stay with a team whose best improvement to an anemic offense is Melky Cabrera and a fourth OF like Ryan Ludwick to be named later? Would you sign with a team that gives you no relief from four losses to Clayton Kershaw in one year?

Seriously! Think about it. At a certain point, it's not about money or comfort or how much he likes San Francisco. If the guy doesn't get run support, he's going to lose faith in the organization.

In case you forgot, in 2011, Tim Lincecum faced Clayton Kershaw four times. Three of those games ended 2-1 and the other game was 1-0. The guy battles, and leaves his heart out there every time. What does he get?

Three runs in four games and Melky Cabrera.

With virtually the same team returning from last season, it just boggles my mind that that is an acceptable plan of attack. It was okay at the beginning of last season because we managed to win a World Series. Obviously, that didn't work out so well, and yet we're getting the same thing.

Payroll-wise, there isn't much left under their self-imposed $130MM salary cap. That payroll number, however includes the dead and decomposing weight of Aaron Rowand ($13.6MM) and Dickface Zito ($19MM).

Yes boys and girls, that is $32.6 million dollars to one guy on the road to retirement, and a second whose best accomplishment in a Giants uniform has been getting married.

As sickening as that is, it's almost over.

Rowand's money will be gone after this season. Zito's will be gone after next season. We're almost out of this.

In addition, Freddy Sanchez's $6MM will expire after this season, along with Aubrey Huff's $10MM (+$2MM buyout). As I count it, that'll be about $30MM opening up after this season.

Thirty million dollars.

Then, after the 2013 season, Zito will be gone, opening up another TWENTY million.

Based on the payroll figures and current contracts, there is just no reason why the organization couldn't sign a real hitter like Fielder or Reyes and backload the deal.

There will be more than enough money available annually to sign Timmy AND Cain for 2013 and beyond, if they'd just stomach one season of $150MM.

It's not like the 2013 crop of free agents is better than this year's either. The list is Brandon Phillips, Josh Hamilton, BJ Upton, Andre Ethier and Carlos Quentin. In addition, David Wright and Kevin Youkilis have expensive club options that may get them traded.

Are Sabean and Baer saving themselves for 2013's offseason? I just don't know. I just don't get it at all.

All I know is that the current roster is unacceptable and I've seen a minimal effort to improve the offense. We deserve more and it's just plain depressing from where I sit.

Another one run loss, Bumgarner looks solid

(Become a fan of The Dodgerhater on Facebook!)



I swear... this act is getting really, REALLY old.

I've just never seen anything like this in all my days. We are, in effect living and dying with a team that literally loses by one run nearly every time. It is just the most frustrating damn thing on earth, it really is. Being positive is becoming harder and harder... pretty soon we're all going to start having a recurring nightmare where we're standing up at the altar, and the Giants don't show up for the wedding-- I mean playoffs.

We have now lost our past 4 games by a total of, yes you guessed it, FOUR RUNS. I'm becoming enraged as we speak.

Serenity now, Mr. Costanza. Serenity now. Deep breaths.

You probably saw the game, so I'll try not to dwell on details. After all, you don't read this for recaps. Let's talk about Madison Bumgarner. Come on, you perked up a little bit just now, didn't you?

To be honest, I thought I knew more about the kid than I did. For some reason, I thought he threw harder... like 94-96. Heh. I kinda felt like a scout or a pitcher on his day off, charting Mad-Bum's pitches in my notebook.


True fans chart pitches!

Anyway. He threw 76 pitches (I missed 1 or 2 due to CSN) in 5.1 innings with 2 earnies and 4 K's. Certainly a very respectable outing for a 20 year old Double A callup who didn't even expect to start.

I got a pretty good idea of his three pitches tonight-- especially once he settled down. His three quarter release from the left side is certainly part of why he is going to be an effective pitcher. It's a deceptive and almost a total cross-body pitching motion. Coupled with pretty damn good control, he's certainly got the tools.

It's difficult to truly gauge what a pitchers strengths and weaknesses are going to be from just one sample size, but here are my observations:

-- I charted 43 fastballs, most of which fell between 88-92 mph.

-- He threw 15 circle changeups which fell between 81-86 mph. He got a couple of big swings and misses on them early in the game. If he can improve this pitch, he could be a seriously good pitcher. This appears to be his weakest pitch.

-- His slider is his most deceptive, and in my opinion, best pitch. It appears really slurvy and flat, but it takes hitters by surprise, and is especially filthy to lefties. He got Adrian Gonzalez to look foolish on a couple of these. He threw this pitch 16 times and it nearly always landed on 78 mph. Bumgarner seemed extremely comfortable with his breaking ball.

-- He needs to work on keeping the ball down. Too many of his fastballs were up, and the two dingers he gave up-- one to Chase Headley, and one to Will Venable-- were both fastballs, one was 90 mph and one was 92 respectively.

-- He simply doesn't throw hard enough to get away with fastballs up at the waist. Once he learns how to pitch, he'll be able to mix speeds even more effectively than he already does. I'm no pitching guru, but I'm thinking that if he is able to improve his changeup, he could really be something. Establishing his offspeed stuff first, then "blowing" them away with a 92 mph fastball could be filthy.

-- Bumster has incredible poise out there. He shows very little emotion, and seemed truly unrattled out there. He just strikes me as a confident, quiet Carolina kid that doesn't say too much and carries a big stick.

-- I really think we need to come up with a better nickname than "Mad-Bum". It's a cop out. My vote right now is "The Carolina Kid". I'm going to refer to him as that until someone comes up with something better. (This is what the comment section is for).


Game Notes & Quirky Observations

-- Hey Will Venable! Can you, like, not hit home runs against your hometown team? I'm happy to see a fellow San Rafael native do well in the majors, but dude! No more dingers for you!

-- Will's younger brother Winston is the starting safety for Boise State and his dad Max played for the Giants. San Rafael rules, but San Rafael High School sucks!

-- Jeremy Affeldt could be unraveling a bit. I really wouldn't be surprised. He's been incredible all year, but he's gotta be totally exhausted at this point. He's already appeared in 64 games, and is on pace to pitch in 75. Not a record, but still.

-- What a great play by Freddy Sanchez (I believe in the 7th). He saved the game from being a "three run blowout". A huge sno-cone job against Nick Hundley with the bases juiced.

-- Everything about David Eckstein bothers me.

-- Everything.

-- Krukow's first observation of The Carolina Kid (see, told you I was starting it) was that "...he's a walker." As in, he walks out to the mound. Guy never ceases to crack me up on the simplest, stupidest things.

-- The effing Colorado Rockies won a-goddamn-gain. Can we get a little help here Cincy? Please?

-- I'm burying the fact that we're now three games back in the wild card all the way down here, as to prevent our anger from boiling over.

-- It's not working.

-- Pablo Sandoval has the highest single season batting average for a switch hitter in Gyros history. Currently at .326.

-- Chili Davis had the previous record at .315

-- An amazing thing has happened. Juan Uribe is so awesome, that the AT&T faithful have brought back the "OOOOOOOOOOOOOO! REEEEEEEE-BAAAY!" chant back. It's effing awesome. It was originally Candlestick chant for the late, great Jose Uribe, Juan's second cousin.

-- Why do these worthless old Balldudes get to have a #1 on their uni's? Screw that. The only #1 on the Giants is Big Money Molina. Give those guys double zero. Disrespectful oversight. I'm gonna talk to some people... straighten this out.

-- On that note, we absolutely need to bring back the black alternate uni's for next year. They were awesome. Seriously, just wear them on Friday nights at home, like we did back in the day. They were slick, sharp, and they've got some great mojo in them. The hats were sick too.

-- No effing way. Aaron Rowand hit a home run at AT&T. He now has 14. He makes $12 million dollars

-- Juan Uribe has 12 dongs and makes one twelfth of what Rowand does.

-- Congrats to Randy Winn and Dave Flemming who just had a couple little bundles of loud, crying joy delivered by their wives in the last few days.

-- Merkin Valdez is not to be trusted anymore.

-- The only thing I'll say about the Milwaukee series is the following:

Prince Fielder, you better be able to run, because you are getting drilled in the ribcage with a 95 mph widowmaker the next time we meet. You sons of bitches will not get away with that grotesque, choreographed monstrosity of a celebration. That kind of crap belongs off the field. You're not LeBron James, and you can't do that crap during a game.

Completely unacceptable. The entire Brewers organization should be fined for that garbage. Eff you guys. If you Giants fans aren't outraged by this, you don't care enough.

Okay Zito. We need a shutout I guess. Work your magic!

We're still in this!