As in, I might be wrong. I might be wrong about our Giants. I might be wrong to assume that this team cannot buck the trends. I might be wrong to believe that we simply do not have the offense needed to think about contending.
The Giants, as of 3:41 pm, Sunday the 14th of June, are sitting at 34-28, with the third best record in the National League, which is fucking amazing. They also are sitting with the sixth best record in all of baseball, which is, well, I don’t have a superlative for that.
Honestly, I cannot believe I’m even writing that sentence. Their recent surge even has them at +14 in runs differential, and with Cain and Lincecum trading complete game destructions, Randy Johnson continuing his 300 win success, I must begin the process of accepting the very real possibility that I have been wrong all along.
We still need offense, but maybe our pitching is so dominating that one hitter might be enough, like say, a first baseman?
UPDATE: Well, a real team shows up, and next thing you know, the good vibes are gone in a hurry. In the eighth inning today, Lincecum watched the Angels score three runs without getting good contact on but one pitch. The winning run scored from third on a soft ground ball to Pablo Sandoval, playing third base after being a first baseman for a while. Sandoval double-clutched the ball before getting the out at first, prompting Lincecum to have this to say after the game:
”In that situation it’s clear where the play is, but he didn’t get a good grip on the ball. It was a mental mistake. … I threw good pitches, and they were hit in the right spots at the right time. In hindsight, maybe I’ll see that a quarter-inch could have made the difference. That’s the way the game is.”
I’ll mention that Lincecum shouldn’t have thrown his teammates under the bus, but he was massively frustrated by the seeing eye inning, so I’ll give him a pass.
Meanwhile, after that half inning was over, the Giants sent eight men to the plate, none of whom were able to even come close to getting a base hit, which, of course, wasn’t the least bit unexpected.
51 Backtalkers
I enjoy your blog. It’s very informative and has been spot-on about the Bonds Dilemma. I’ve thought you’ve been very harsh on Sabean, but your views are well-reasoned and worth considering. In the past year or two, you’re pessimism about Sabean has taken root and seems to have eclipsed the team’s positive aspects. Nevertheless, your views remain very logical. However, baseball and all sports include a large dollop of intangibles, which are inherently illogical. And that has been the grain of salt that made reading your posts tolerable through these dark years.
Today’s post seems to be a glimmer of recognition of an intangible at work with the team. Will this intangible drive the Giants to the playoffs? Well, it still seems unlikely. But with this team and all its flaws, I’m going to keep my eye on the glimmer (and will be glad if the team acquires a hot bat or two to spark that glimmer into a flame).
Keep up the great posts.
Nothing I would love more than to be dead wrong about the 2009 Giants.
Lets hope if we trade for a bat it won’t be for yet another vet on the decline like D.Lee. He clearly hasn’t been the same player since his injury a couple of years ago and while being better than Ishikawa, would not be a good pickup. I know trading for Adrian Gonzalez is nothing more than a dream but at least he is the type of player we should be targeting: young, talented and under control at a good price.
Lets hope that the winning continues and that many moves Sabean makes are actually smart
The family’s driving to SF today for a short trip to see friends. Included? The Wednesday Giants game of course. I think I’ve charted the rotation correctly and Lincecum’ll be pitching. Hope so!
Kent,
I’m there myself…good reason to blow off work for a day.
John,
I was dead wrong about Rowand and Renteria. Renteria’s avg with 2-out wisp almost makes him worth it alone. I was dead wrong about the NL West…as it may be the best in NL. Uribe has been solid. But, our pitching is that dominant…which makes anything possible.
I’ve been posting all along that the Gigantes have the inside track to the wild card…and it is ours to lose. All along…even with our anemic h;itting I’ve felt the wild card is attainable. I’ve stated all along there are only 3 teams which I feel are better(slightly) than us…only the Dodgers stand out. In a short series feel we have the advantage over anyone…No one wants to play us. Dont count out the Rocks either. I have the luxury of watching most teams play, and the Gigantes are better than most of what I see.
Taking care of business against the teams we should beat, and posting one of the best home records in baseball. Pablo is becoming the leader of this team. He’s made the adjustments, and now the league will have to change the book on him. He will only get better, and this make the Gigantes dangerous.
Angels and Rangers coming in. Need to go at least 4-2.
Keep the faith…it can be done.
Look who this streak was against- the Nationals, A’s, Marlins Arizona…all bad teams. I’m not convinced at all- this team cannot score enough to be a real playoff team, and that’s a disgrace because the pitching is more than good enough. Sabean again does 1/2 a job.
Well, I think the wild card is a crapshoot – contender, seems like, but playoff team? Who knows.
Bochy seems to be actually managing competently, which is a surprise.
Hard to say – to comment on previous threads re: RS vs RA, remember that there is a correlation, not a real causation there. Comparing statistical likelihood with boolean results. Fallacy #1 in probability theory. But, if one believes in Pythagenport, over the rest of the season the Giants are either going to lose more than their share of close ones, or have win more than their share of blowouts.
It remains to be seen if Rowand is an illusion this season, or if someone finds the hole in Sandoval’s swing. But I am really completely unimpressed with the wildcard competition. Scott S is right – it could be theirs to lose. Who else are you gonna pick?
Sure could use that extra bat though – I highly fear what Sabean might do in order to deal with that. Emphasis should still be on 2010 and beyond.
“But, if one believes in Pythagenport, over the rest of the season the Giants are either going to lose more than their share of close ones, or have win more than their share of blowouts.”
Not sure what you mean by Pythagenport, but keep in mind the future is independent of the past with regards to Pythagorean wins. On average, if you take the Giants win differential the rest of the season it will tell you their record for the rest of the season. Even if we’ve outperformed our expected record so far this season, we shouldn’t expect things to completely even out. We should just expect them to be even over the course of the rest of the season, leaving us above average. That said, assuming we’re about a .500 team, we should slightly outperform out pythagorean record from now until the end of the season because of our good bullpen (if they continue being good).
As for Chip – every team gets to play bad teams every once in a while. Right now we have a positive run differential and above .500 record for the entire season, which includes good and bad teams. Maybe this run has made us a little more optimistic than we should be, but the Giants do still have the 3rd best record in the NL over the season, and that’s something to be happy about. Hopefully we can keep it up. It’s not like we’re the Rockies winning 11 games in a row and still being below .500…
Watching Lincecum and Cain take the mound for 40% of our games is awesome. I love watching them pitch. It sure beats what we’ve had the last few years…
Marc,
Totally agree that the goal and vision should be 2010 and beyond. Sure…Sabean scares the hell out of me. A bat would be nice. 3rd or 1b with power….w/o giving away too much. Hopefully, Sabean leaves things alone. Would like to see if Bowker can succeed at the MLB level…before we play the upgrade/trading game.
Gigantes much stronger with Lewis on the bench. Torres and Nate solidify our outfield. I like Fred…but, cannot hit with runners on…and is a liability in left.
You’re spot on about the competition for the wild card…completely unimpressive. I too am surprised by Bochy…his head seems to be in the game…all nine innings.
Geoffrey is right about D. Lee. Would have to get him on the cheap if a deal were to be done.
If Sanchez can put it all together….will be a summer to remember.
You can see the change in the attitude on the Gigantes…they actually expect to win….and that’s been missing for some time.
This week will be a good test.
If Sanchez can put it together….
Just to be honest, Giants fans who think playing Torres instead of Lewis is a good thing are way off base. Sure, Lewis has been slumping lately, but he still has an above average OBP for the season. If we had a platoon partner for him, that’d be nice. If you want to give Nate a chance instead of Lewis, I wouldn’t be completely upset, either. But Torres? Really? He was out of the majors for the 3 years before we picked him up, but before this year his best season line is .220/.263/.298. It’s great that he’s been hot so far, but rest assured, pitchers WILL figure him out again and if we continue to play him it will hurt our team significantly.
As for “I like Fred…but, cannot hit with runners on…and is a liability in left.”
A players ability to hit with runners on and runners not on are the same. There has been a substantial amount of research done on the subject, and it’s all concluded this. Fred has merely, by random chance, not hit when runners were on. It was not a good thing for the Giants, but his past hitting with runners on has a 0% impact on his future hitting with runners on. This is faulty logic for not playing Fred. As for defense – I don’t know what to think. We know he’s fast, and defensive metrics tell us this. He gets to a lot of balls. Also, LF’s aren’t very good as a whole so to stand above the rest of the league he doesn’t have to be that good. That said, we’ve all seen the downside, too. Trying to figure out just how much his speed helps us and his defensive…awareness let’s call it…hurts us is tough.
B,
It’s cool. I’ve played at a high level…and in my opinion…there is a major difference hitting with runners on. I have not looked at the statistics as a whole on this subject, but, it’s more than random chance that some hitters are clutch…and others aren’t. It’s not random that Lewis is hitting a good .100 points higher with bases empty, and let’s forget that he is hitting .056 with 2-outs risp. I said the Gigantes were stronger with Lewis on the bench…didn’t go as far as saying he hurts us. Lewis also has the highest K ratio on the team…and failing to put the ball in play puts absolutely no pressure on the defense. That does hurt. When Lewis plays…it should only be against RHP. Nate should be starting…period. Tremendous upside. Torres should be a spot starter at best. Never said Torres should be a regular addition.
Past performance normally has a direct impact on future performance. That’s why teams have advanced scouting and books on every player. Hopefully, you’re right…it is only random…and Lewis will come out of his funk.
The sad aspect to Lewis…is he cannot catch up to a good fastball. Which is most hitters strength. I hate the word potential in sports…but, Lewis has probably the most potential of any Gigante. Just needs to realize it. I for one…would love to see it.
Haven’t read about the subject of “clutch hitting” in a while, but if I remember correctly I do believe players hit better with runners on (though it’s not a huge difference). Probably mostly due to better pitches to hit and defensive positioning. The thing is, this holds true for all hitters. As for individual players hitting better in the clutch, there’s no evidence that they hit any better than anyone else. The research has pretty definitively concluded that just because a player performed well in the clutch one year (or over any given time period) doesn’t mean anything to his future clutch performance – he’s no more likely to repeat this clutch performance than any other player.
For Lewis this means whatever performance you expect out of him normally is about what you should expect out of him in “clutch” situations. So far small sample sizes are making him look bad, but going forward there is no more chance of him repeating his unclutchiness (TM) than of any other player. That said, if he continues to struggle, his expected performance in the clutch should likewise be bad. It would have been nice if Sabean had the foresight to say, hey, maybe we could use a right handed bat for our lineup. Winn, Lewis, and probably Schierholz, too, could use a platoon partner these days…
B,
I will do some research on this topic before I comment further. You would think you would get better pitches with no runners on…But, I need to do my homework on this one. Just a side note…I was at Coors field amongst all the Rocks fans when Lewis hit for the cycle a couple years ago. Getting showered with beer and peanuts giving every Gigante a standing O. Lewis holds a unique record…fastest player(#ab’s) to reach two grand slams in a career.
I’d love to see Fred break out. If you know the tragedy he’s gone through in his life…you can only want great things for him.
My understanding is that, based on large samples, the overall AVG of batters in various base/out situations is generally the same.
What is more telling is that from year-to-year, many players who are considered to be clutch hitters (David Ortiz, as an example) exhibit fluctuations in situational AVG that are much greater than their overall performance. Apparently, in much the same way that pitcher’s BABIP can vary significantly during the course of their careers, batters do not show consistency in their ability to hit in the clutch from year-to-year.
It’s been a while since I read up on it, so there could be more recent research that changes that view or confirms it. But this seemed to be the prevailing wisdom three or four years ago, in sabermetric circles.
This is more or less right. It applies to offense in general (OBP, SLG, OPS, etc) rather than just average. I also do believe there are small (but statistically significant) variations in performance based on situation, but I’m a bit fuzzy on that detail.
The most important fact for the debate is there’s no correlation between a players “clutch” performance over a time period and their “clutch” performance over another time period of the same size. That’s definitive evidence that certain hitters aren’t “clutch”. When you think about it, it makes sense. If a player was capable of raising their ability level for certain plays, why wouldn’t they ALWAYS try to perform like that?
B & Tonus,
I’ll have to go along with your research on that….since I have not done mine. But, I do believe certain players have the ability to raise their level in pressure situations…just like teams play down to their competition. It takes incredible discipline to keep your concentration and motivation at high levels day in and out. Otherwise…as you put it…they would ALWAYS perform like that. In basketball there are players who want the ball with the game on the line…while there are those that hide.
I was just using Lewis as an example. With just 8 rbis’s in 183 official ab’s…no doubt his avg with risp is going to be horrible. Just to get a dig in here B…Torres has 8 rbi’s in only 35. I hope the league never figures him out…he is valuable to the team.
Zito picked a good game to throw BP…but, give the Gigantes credit…they didn’t give up. Pablo is cruising.
A basketball example
Good thing I know more about basketball than I do baseball. Let me tell you something people don’t know about basketball. In situations you would think are “clutch” where players focus more, like end of quarter situations or last shot with a chance to win situations, teams shooting %’s go WAY down. Some of this is just the fact that eventually they have to force a shot before time expires, even if they aren’t open. However, Kobe is the perfect example for this. I think I can speak for fans when I say Kobe is regarded as a clutch player that everyone wants to have the ball in these situations. Except he shoots terribly in these situations. If you watch closely, every time he gets the ball and waives everyone off for a 1 on 1 situation. Teams run offensive sets for a reason – it’s the best way to get a high % shot. Teams AVOID 1 on 1 situations as often as possible for a reason (if that 1 on 1 situation is a wing) because it leads to low % shots. Which is why Kobe shoots so poorly in these situations. It seems like the opposite because we remember those dagger to the heart shots he hits and game winners and what not, but we don’t notice all the times he misses, which is a lot. Granted, he does shoot much better than other players would shoot if they were going 1 on 1 in the same situation.
The point is you may believe something about players, like they can raise their ability in the clutch, but in this case, the evidence clearly and directly contradicts it. Not only do large data studies show this, but there’s not even anecdotal evidence to suggest certain players are outliers. I bet you can’t find a single example of a player who, over his career, performed much better in clutch situations than normally. As someone that does statwork for a living, I very, very often see fans who enjoy statistics misinterpret studies and come to conclusions that are far greater than the study actually shows, but this isn’t one of them. In this case, the data is very, very clear.
That said, I think it would be overstepping our knowledge to suggest someone can’t get “locked in” or whatever and have control over their performance over a small time period. Just like players get hot and go on streaks, even though they can’t maintain them, they’re doing something right when they do that and they can definitely go on a streak in the clutch. Or the opposite (FRED LEWIS). And it’s definitely fair to hold their performance against them. Fred Lewis has hurt the Giants this season by his performance in the clutch, while Torres has helped them. It’s just not a good idea to expect the past to continue into the future. Going forward, their expected clutch performance is pretty much the same as their expected overall performance.
It seemed like yesterday was one of the handful a games we seem to have a year where the wind is very hitter friendly. Unlucky for Zito, but our hitters benefited as well and if we had a real MLB quality 2B, we probably would have won. Our bullpen has been outstanding this year.
B,
I was thinking more about Robert Horry…on how many 3 balls he sank at buzzers…nobody was better.
Robert Horry…ugh. It’s funny, he’s going to go down as Big Shot Rob, but the truth is he was an underachiever who should have been a much better player than he was. Instead he’ll be remembered solely for those clutch shots. Stupid Lakers. Stupid Spurs. I kind of liked the Rockets though, after all, how can you not like The Dream?
Totally agree Horry was an underachiever. Just that he seemed to raise his level with the game on the line….and that was my initial point regarding players in the clutch. I’ll try to jog my memory and come up with a few others. I remember Mike Ivie was similar in the late 70’s for the Gigantes.
On to another topic…sending Burriss down…makes no sense. Yeah, I understand the need for him to work on his “small ball” game…and Fresno is probably a better place to do it…but Downs? Need to move Sandoval to 3b and get TI ab’s instead of Aurilia. Not that it would’ve made a difference…but, TI needs to play over Aurilia.
A must win today.
“On to another topic…sending Burriss down…makes no sense.”
Just another indication of Sabean’s incompetence. Burriss should never have been up to begin with. He was, he struggled, Frandsen was doing what he could to earn a spot from AAA…and so we somehow get into a situation where we decide to send Burriss down in the 10-day window we can’t bring Frandsen up. It’s sad how little planning appears to be put into a lot of these moves…
B,
It does appear many decisions seem half cocked. This definitely was not well thought out. I didn’t have the luxury of instant replay today…but Figgins line drive in the 8th appeared to glance off the middle of Downs glove…not the end. Would’ve been a great play…but from my vantage point looked very catchable. Instead of a line out double play…goes for run scoring double…and the rest is history. Sandoval has to at least take a shot at Figgins trying to score the go ahead run.
I said this week would be a good test…and so far…complete failure. Totally deflating today.
Hopefully we are not pretenders.
The interesting thing about this team, is they have made an accidental upgrade. Moving Sandoval to First gives them at least average for 1B. Uribe at 3rd is not terrible if only he can get back to 17-20HR power, which is 2 years in the past now. This teams entire offense is built on “if only”, which is why ultimately, it will not be enough to pull much more than .500 out of this pitching staff.
It seems that Sabean has become a bit gun shy about trading pitching, which is good. Sanchez should not be given away for an overpaid bat.
About the worst thing for this team would be to be in contention in July, when Sabean may feel compelled to do something stupid again.
A couple of things to note: The sweep of the A’s & the solid road trip under lousy conditions happened with Lewis, Burris, and Molina in deep slumps, Winn also struggling. The idea of acquiring a hot bat seems less urgent when, because of lights-out pitching, the team only needs half the lineup to be hitting well to win. If Rowand and Sandoval and Schierholtz and Torres cool off, the others may well heat up just in time.
One thing this team has an uncanny knack for is putting hits together in a strong inning, rather than scattering them ineffectively through a game. Again, with such solid pitching, that’s a formula for success. One three or four run inning works just fine much of the time.
They’ve also discovered how to win by exploiting the other teams’ mistakes and minimizing ther own. The “ground attack” has worked all season, and now they’ve added the “bloop attack” and are even finding some timely power. The Panda seems to have discovered his power, which is a huge shot in the arm.
Don’t play down the value of beating bad teams. It’s quite common to play to the level of your competition, and beating bad teams consistently is a very good sign. Also keep in mind that the main reason for the Giants’ road record is the two sweeps in San Diego – earlier they couldn’t beat a bad team on the road. If they’d managed even a split on those trips, they’d be in even better position. At home they’ve more than held their own against all comers.
I hope that folks here took note of the importance of defense in the recent run of success. It was bizarre to see the Giants charged with an error on a throw by Burris while the A’s had none while booting the ball all over the field. I can’t help but think that watching Cust in this series should give pause to the touters of Dunn. Sure he hit a solo homer and a booming double, but he was a dead liability in the field, handing the Giants runs on a platter. Holliday wasn’t much better. Sloppy defense (which those teams on the road trip also displayed in abundance) again and again gave the Giants extra bases or runs, and their own sharp defensive play shut down the opponents and squelched rallies every bit as effectively as the pitching.
Right now, having Lewis, Torres, and Schierholtz competing for outfield time may be as good as or better than having one solid everyday player. I too hope that Freddie can rise to the occasion. If any or all of them begin to realize their power potential, and Panda keeps bashing, the future will look even brighter.
Right now the Gigantes would be in first place in either Central Division. How about that?!
When Schierholtz hit that in the parker HR, my response:
“Oh my god what idiot put Jack Cust in RF in AT&T. Worst decision ever.”
Shortly thereafter, a ball was hit to LF, and I was like…ohhh, that explains a lot.
Solid outfield D at AT&T is a must. Especially with flyball pitches (which we’re loaded with). Glad we have the guys we do.
Hal,
All good points…especially pointing out winning with Molina,Lewis and Burriss struggling.
This team goes out expecting to win….and with our staff…we’ll be in most games.
Romo is looking like our set up guy…and is a good change of pace between Affeldt and Wilson.
This week should be a good test.
OK, now that we have John’s mea culpa, can +mia be very far behind? Of course, mia’s eviscerations of his own team got so nasty, he may never be able to admit what John does in the lead post. Does he now find himself in the unenviable position of hoping this is just a short-term aberration and rooting for them to start losing again, because he is in so deep that it’s less painful than coming on here and admitting everything he has written is completely wrong?
Geezo. I leave the state for awhile and all manner of lunatic fantasizing breaks out.
Sorry O. R. But to answer your question, “….can +mia be far behind?” the answer is not only yes, but not even in the rear view mirror can he be seen.
There are about a gazillion reasons to not be optimistic, (most of which I’ve detailed over the prior months and years) They are all for the most part, still in play.
Exceptions are Sandoval and Cain. His weight will eventually continue to wear him down, but he is still better than the cast of clowns who rotated at the infield corners last year.
Cain finally figured out that throwing mini-tantrums and getting stubborn with pitch selection was not a good combination with which to battle lack of run support, though totally understandable in a young guy. (Who the fuck wants to waste the prime of their careers pitching their asses off when management gives you guys like Aurilia, Frandsen, Ishikawa, Renteria et al to have your back?.
As a result, he and Lincecum and the rebounding of guys like Affleldt, Romo, have become the primary reasons the Giants have been able to beat up on teams even worse off then themselves with the exception of the Padres.
I’m sorry, but any team that features Barry Zito, a soon to be 46 year old over the hill power pitcher, and a wilder than a hares ass Sanchez, in the rotation along with no reliable run scoring capability is nothing to get me overly excited about in June. As a matter of fact, if Zito was not entitled to some 80 million more on his contract, he would be pitching in middle relief at best for the duration.
A lineup based on appearances and nostalgia and not merit is not a playoff contender
The Giants are keeping even with teams like the Cards, Mets, Reds, whatever because those teams are playing below potential, and the Giants are playing above potential. The season is 160 games, not 60.
The GM who put together a 10 dollar horse with a 50 dollar budget is still in charge. Career loser Bochy is still botching lineups, albeit without the intense condescension of his predecessor Alou.
Talk to me at the end of August. But in the meantime, like you, I will take the fun whenever it is offered. It is ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS better to win, than to lose. To suggest I would think or feel otherwise is to acknowledge that you don’t know shit about me.
+mia,
Lunatic fantasizing is better than most peoples reality these days. In fact…it’s far better. The Cards, Mets and Reds will most likely never reach their potential…and potential is a dangerous word. I watch those teams…and the Gigantes are better…day in and day out…whether it’s June or August. Save this post…and we’ll see where it all stands in Sept. Taking all bets.
Good to have you back…negativity and all.
I’ll take our over the hill power pitcher…but, having to roll Zito out every 5th game is a killer.
No suggestions here…we don’t know shit about you.
You got me watching these guys again…and, anthing is possible in this strange game of baseball. I believe this team can achieve the wild card w/o having to make any changes.
As usual..just my opinions…and I could be wrong.
It’s June fellas. There are many losses in our future. If this were September I’d be hopeful.
The last team to win a world series with an OPS as bad as the 2009 Giants have now was the 1988 Dodgers squad. The Dodgers had phenomenal pitching that year – Orel Hershiser had the best year of his career – their team’s ERA was 2.96 for the season. The Giants ERA is currently 3.70.
This Giants team does not have enough pitching talent to make up for its below average batting, AND they don’t have enough pitching to trade any away. What they need, desperately, is some home-grown batting. That is going to take time. The idea that there is a quick fix for this team is wrong. It is not worth trading young talent away in order to get crushed in the first round of the playoffs, which is the best this team could achieve this year. And that’s an optimistic outlook.
You’re not wrong. The Giants need to add a bat or two to be real contenders. They will almost certainly fade with the current lineup, unless we are watching one of the more improbable seasons to come along in decades.
Scott:
I try to look at facets, that go otherwise unexamined. In some people’s eyes, to not accept the mutterings of those charged with running and reporting on the Giants as ground zero for all that is Major League Baseball can be perceived as “negativity” I suppose.
Like you, and just about everybody else, I do not appreciate horseshit and gunsmoke in place of directness and honest assessments. And being constantly misled by the current collection of assholes running this franchise and the turd polishers in msm who are more concerned about their paychecks and player and personnel access than about any real journalism, is not something I I find very palatable. Particularly, in view of the 51 year emotional investment in this collection of tackle-twilled laundry, sometimes referred to as the New York Giants of San Francisco.
My basic premise is this. Those who have “access” are msm folks. Fans don’t. Not even family of players do. Access is a priceless commodity that is guarded fervently by those that have it. As a result there is little security for msm foot soldiers these days. Their livelihood hangs precariously on maintaining that access to players and management — particularly management. So it is get the story out first, worry about accuracy later, and context not at all. Unless they can advance a perspective predicated upon personal or political bias. (See the multi-year witchunt against MLB players for the most egregious of these examples.)
Ask yourself this: When is the last time any of the beat writers or local mouthpieces went after Giants management? Other than in tepid passing. When is the last time there was an expose by ESPN on ownership groups? When was the last time SI did any in depth investigation of Bud Selig and other ownership groups and their murky publicly financed land deals and stadium building/office park/shopping mall developments.
Sure the San Francisco Baseball Company likes to beat its chest and wax martyr-like at how they built Pac Bell Park with private money. Never mind the tax breaks and favorable rezoning worth millions. Just ask yourself, or better yet, ask Neukom and Baer, how many of the surrounding “redeveloped” properties around Pac Bell Park have ownership interests in both the Giants and those businesses and properties?
MLB is so enmeshed with msm on so many levels, it is hard to distinguish where one begins and one ends. For years KTVU and KNBR were part of Giants ownership. Now it is Comcast Fox Sports. The Yankees, Cubs, Braves and Red Sox are virtually little more than long running soap operas for YES, WGN, TBS, and NESN respectively. Giants Team President Larry Baer was a media relations mouthpiece from the time he was aggravating students and faculty alike at Lowell high school in the 1970s when he was opining away in the school newspaper. His background is and has always been media. So one has to consider this when evaluating what is being reported out and disseminated to we, the great unwashed consumer.
On the flip side you have a sometimes, unruly crowd of bloggers and their steady stream of commentators, who have access to neither players nor management. So they make up for it in other ways. The problem seems to be that many of the aforementioned are inexperienced in athletics, inexperienced in critical thought, and as a result come across sometimes as not much more than isotopic echoes of each other varying only in their degrees of snarkiness. But they they are unencumbered by the neccessity for “access” as result and are freer to write what comes to mind. But like the tools over at SI, ESPN, FoxSports etc, they can become repetitious images and echoes of each other, competing for audience share just as their msm counterparts as they evolve in popularity.
As a result, I find many baseball blogs to be indistinguishable from each other. Or from other blogs in general. This is what happens when a desire for “traffic”, lazy thinking and snarkiness are substituted for real observation, knowledge, and experience or even sound inductive reasoning when facts are spare for that matter. Obviously there are exceptions. Pericone’s contrarian viewpoint is a classic example of what good opining and commenting and thinking is about, without having “access” to players, management, or ownership. Most of the other good ones are interspersed throughout the listings on either side of this page.
What I find extraordinarily heartening however is that you are once again following the Giants. As others have philosophized, apathy, not hate is the cosmic antithesis of adoration. It has never been my intention to curry favor with the folks who read my stuff. I only want people to think outside of their comfort zone. It is the only way any of us have a real chance to get through life with any real integrity, and the peace of mind that accompanies it. It makes no sense to lie to one’s self. It is how one avoids unreasonable, ergo, unfulfillable expectations and therefore massive and irrational disappointment.
If you do not lie to yourself, you can get through a losing season and at the end build upon the lessons learned, the manageable objectives achieved, and the satisfaction that everybody concerned pursued the season with 100 per cent integrity, 100 percent effort, and 100 percent of the financial resources available. That is how you go from losing to winning. Not by misrepresenting. Not by applying half measures. Not by holding back on resources.
And certainly not by promoting a false agenda.
+mia,
Nice thesis.
How does one follow that up.
I’ll get back to you later on a couple points.
just swept at home by the halos
reality bites
When I saw the lineup that the Angels were throwing out there against Lincecum I immediately thought, wow, here’s a chance for a no-hitter. No Guerrero, Hunter, Napoli, or Abreu. As it turned out Lincecum gave up 8 hits of which one, maybe two were actually squared up. Morales’ double being the one for sure. The rest were mostly ground balls and several of them would have been outs if our infielders weren’t pylons.
I thought Renteria’s defence was particularly poor. If you can’t hit or field what’s your purpose exactly? Lincecum didn’t help himself either, when he double clutched on the Figgins bunt.
With so little offense there’s no room for the defense to make any mistakes. As I said, there are many losses to come.
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