It was an open forum, which was very nice and questions trickled in at first. Most of the questions were for Neyer and Brown politely sat and added a thing or two from time to time. As the talk progressed, my impression (and this was just MY impression) was the Neyer didn’t appear overly interested in fielding fans’ questions and clearly knew that he knew more baseball than the rest of us. It wasn’t like he minded being there, it was like he was William Shatner at a Star Trek convention and that he didn’t really respect the audience…a “what do these guys know and why am I hear exactly?”

And, honestly (you laugh), it wasn’t a geek fest. My two friends and I aren’t drooling baseball nerds and most of the audience (adorned in various baseball gear) was “with it,” drinking a few pints and laid back (vintage Portland, if you will). A few kids were there and some who clearly knew either Brown or Neyer on a personal level.

Brown, on the other hand, grew on me. I wasn’t interested in him at first because the “business of baseball” stuff wasn’t why I was there. But, Brown, had (to me) a nicer demeanor and was more inclusive. I felt bad that he wasn’t getting any questions at first. But, slowly people started asking about money, the “baseball package” deal (still in the works at the time), NYC $, and general baseball questions.

I asked Neyer about Chris Young from Az. (so highly touted by BP) and his answer was something like, “he hasn’t done anything yet, the projections are too good for him.” It was Brown who jumped in and added some comments about the young Diamonbacks and how Young’s numbers might not be as good as BP projected, but that he still looked to be a good player.

I asked Neyer why he thought that Bert Blyleven wasn’t in the HOF and when (if?) he’d ever be credited with how good he was. I added a comment or two during the question to attempt to indicated that I knew about the controversy re: Blyleven. Neyer answered that Blyleven was a guy that sabermetrics liked, that he liked, and that there was a controversy over his value. He didn’t add any details nor really express his own opinion. I don’t recall if Brown said anything to this.

I asked why they thought the Giants had chosen to get so old AND had not prepared their roster for more flexibility. Neyer mentioned that Bonds was so good that the team and Bonds had really tied themselves to one another. Fair enough, I agreed. Then he said commented that the Giants weren’t very good. Thanks, thanks for that. Brown pipped in and spoke to Giants ownership and their stadium and their immediate cash availability. He spoke of the A’s talking of leaving Oakland and how the Bay Area would be fine in the long run. I don’t remember if Zito ever came up.

Someone asked about Lincecum. I don’t remember what Brown said, but Neyer was like, “he’s good, TINSSAAPP (sp?)…we’ll see.” Someone asked about the Mariners and Neyer admitted to being wrong about Ibanez (last year remember); Brown spoke clearly to the shitload of $ that the Mariners are making.

My buddy asked about the Matsuzaka (sp?) and Neyer predicted him to be good and that he was probably a good acquisition for the Red Sox. He commented that he’d probably win around 14 games at X number of $ and that this would likely be worth the price for the Red Sox getting to the play-offs. Fair enough.

With the Matsuzaka (sp?) question and with many others, Neyer seemed too “sabermetrically inclined” in that he wouldn’t predict anything definitive. And he is probably that way and for good reason. But, I suspect that he does have opinions and views of things baseball and he certainly wasn’t going to open up to the audience. That’s fine in a way, but baseball audiences (as we all know) know a hell of a lot about the game…and it wasn’t like Neyer was talking 17th Century China to an audience of nitwits. I sensed that he didn’t want to make a stand to the audience because he might be taken to task by others. But, that’s part of what drove me nuts. He seemed to want the easy way out, the Player X has a Y % breakout rate and that means this shit.

Someone asked that BP put an author’s name to the team reviews. Neyer commented that he was for doing so, but that many at BP were not. Neyer commented that it was a good way to tell who’d be accountable for what they had written about Team X or Team Y. He then hinted at what teams he did and made a few references to (I believe it was) the A’s, but he himself didn’t come out either and say which team’s he had done. Maybe he wasn’t allowed to, who knows.

Neyer was more polished–I had always liked him with Brian Kenny on ESPN NEWS–but Brown’s niche (business of baseball) was second to none. Brown KNEW his shit to be sure. Neyer–who clearly knows a hell of a lot about baseball–seemed to shrug his shoulders with most answers (ala Selig at the All Star Game). Why isn’t Goose Gossage in the HOF? Ehhh, people have different views of him. Why don’t more people respect Rickey Henderson for how great he was? Ehh, he was a great player; people were turned off by his personality. Thanks Rob, thanks for the fire.

I’m rambling, sorry for that.

1. We’re a bad team now.

2. Bonds, our only good hitter — and still one of the best in baseball — is probably gone, and whoever replaces him will almost surely be a downgrade.

3. The returning position players (Durham, Winn, Roberts, Molina, maybe Vizquel) will be even older, and they’re not good players now.

4. No one in our farm system is likely to make an impact, except possibly Schierholtz. (Sorry Fransden, Lewis, Ortmeier, and Rajai Davis, but none of you are better than grade-D prospects).

My prediction is that the big story of 2008 will the Giants’ fans realization that “going young” hasn’t helped much, because the kids can’t play. I’ve said it before and will probably say it again: until we develop some impact hitters — and we are years away from this, since no one in our system above A ball can hit (except maybe Schierholtz) — nothing can save us. The upside is that when ownership realizes just how awful this situation is, I expect that Sabean will be excused from his contract ahead of schedule.

they lie about his shoe and head size repeatedly

its like listening to tall tails

so they link to the brace story, but discount what the brace maker says about bonds’ arm size??

is neyer aware that bonds couldnt go elsewhere to buy this brace??

what a tard

What I know about Bonds and steroids and baseball almost certainly surpasses what they know. Their knowledge is completely mainstream, and diluted, like a Reader’s Digest condensed novel.

His head is two sizes bigger…. What a joke.

Costas and Lupica? I think that they actually believe that they represent baseball and, at the same time, have more knowledge than the fans. Long gone are the days when they were relevant. Fact is, the Internet has brought access and (greater) understanding of baseball to anyone who cares to see it. I wonder how much they really know?

Incidentally, Rob Neyer yesterday in his ESPN blog linked to the ridiculous article on Bonds’ elbow brace. I called him on it and he admitted that he hadn’t read the Will Carroll article — and then totally discounted the story by the brace manufacturer because he was “on Bonds’ payroll”. When pressed further, he said that Bonds’ head grew two sizes. Besides being false, what that has to do with Bonds’ elbow brace I’ll never know, but I expected more out of him.

I believe him.