The Giants have taken steps to alleviate this downturn by implementing a new system of “dynamic” pricing for tickets, raising ticket prices on weekends and for series against opponents they believe will have higher demand, using the terms “premium” and “feature” games. Less people are in attendance, but the Giants are screwing the maximum amount of cash out of those who come. You may have experienced “dynamic” pricing in the past, if you’ve ever tried to purchase a dozen roses on February
14th. It is a very old scam.

With attendance levels hovering around 3 million, if we conservatively estimate $25 per attendee in profits, the Giants are taking in around $75 million per season from home game ticket sales. This does not include any income generated by away games revenue sharing (which I believe they get 20% of), advertising or television. It is pretty safe to assume that the Giants are making a profit, even after paying their loans, payroll, and so forth. While every major league baseball team lies about their profits as a matter of course we can discount their claims because we are not the idiots they take us for.

Even in these hard economic times, while the owner’s personal stocks are certainly taking a beating, they have a real cash stream coming from the Giants baseball team. This is money that they should be re-investing in the team. The owner’s claims that they will have to make some cutbacks because of these hard economic times really don’t hold water. The individual owners may have suffered horribly from the stock market collapse, but having your net worth drop from $200 million to $100 million doesn’t mean they can’t make the rent or buy groceries. It just means they might have to keep the “old” Lear jet an extra year instead of upgrading to the newest model. Perhaps they’ll have to ride with a friend when they fly to their homes in Vale this winter.

It is disingenuous crap like citing the economy for not spending money on players that makes me angry. The owners are gaming the system, taking money out of the team and putting it in their own pockets. They are feeding the fans a load of bullshit because they expect us to believe they are somehow like us; that they are losing money, or barely getting by. They assume that we cannot count, even using our fingers.

…We could use a guy like that. Or two or three!

Or how about 8? Or how about the entire concept of Team ABs. Or a system wide philosophy and program of team at bats. Something like the Dodgers and Angels do. The Red Sox and Yankees and Phillies are pretty good at this too.

I wish it were as simple as having guys take pitches, but it does no good to take pitches when your guys can’t hit for shit to begin with.

There is a reason pitchers like Aunt Alice and Jamie Moyer can go 9 innings without breaking a sweat against the Giants. They don’t have to nibble or hit the corners. Other than against Sandoval, pitchers can carve off big chunks of the strike zone against Giants batters to get ahead in the count, because they aren’t going to hit the fucking ball anyway. Once a pitcher is up a strike against a shitty hitter, its jam n jelly time, because he is fucking toast

Its one thing to be ahead in the count 0-1, 1-2 to Johnny Damon, and yet another to be in that same count against Aaron Rowand. If it’s Damon, your still potentially in a world of shit, but if its Rowand, Molina, Renteria or any of the rest of those clowns, ‘mmmmmm…break out the Wonderbread and Smuckers.’

So its just not a matter of approach and plate discipline. It helps, sure. But you have to have guys who can hit in order to force pitchers to make better pitches. Make a mistake pitch against Aaron Rowand or Freddy Snatchez and they may hit a grounder through the left side. And it won’t matter, because the guy behind him can’t hit for shit and even if that guy reaches, the guy behind him can’t move anybody over, can’t walk, and can’t hit. So if you’re a pitcher you can pretty much just throw shit across the meat of the strike zone early, and than breaking shit in the dirt to cruise to a long and rewarding outing.

JT Snow was kind of the exception to that rule. He was a guy that could wear out a pitcher with long ABs for the guys behind him in the order, which is where his perceived value came from on offense. And the fact that his career On Base Percentage (.357) was almost 100 points higher than his BA (.268). But that was back in the late 90s and early 0’s when the Giants were scoring 800 to 900 runs per season

As a 1b, he did not hit for a lot of power except for a couple of years. But he could wear out a starting pitcher and late inning guy alike. And there were actually guys in the lineup that could take advantage of Snow’s prolonged at-bats at the time. Guys like Bonds, Kent, Mueller, Hamilton, Burks, and some others. Not the collection of fly swatting nancy-boys that Sabean is overpaying to defile batter’s boxes in 30 cities every spring and summer.

With this collection of free-agent nothings going back to Winn, Rowand, Molina, Renteria, and now Sanchez, it does no good to take pitches. They cant fucking hit to begin with, so for the most part, they are going to be behind in the count anyway, so in their cases, the best pitch they are going to see is ironically, “the first pitch”.

If I’m Lincecum’s or Cain’s agent, I want to stay in the NL West where the weather is conducive to pitching, and I can get some guys to score runs. I would be looking real close at the Dodgers. They have hitters. They have money. They are committed to winning. And they got fame, fortune, great pitching weather, and babes.

A guy could do a lot worse. And staying in San Fran to be part of a mediocre circus act whose primary function is to pay off some real estate loans just isn’t something I see guys with Superstar potential wanting to do.

heres a thought….

IF FUCKING SABEAN HADNT TRADED TWO TOP PROSPECTS FOR SHITE, MAYBE THEY COULDVE BEEN PACKAGED WITH EITHER CAIN OR SANCHEZ FOR A REAL HITTER

The Phillies are looking to repeat as World Series Champs, though they have to sweep Wednesday and Thursday in Yankee Stadium to do so. But still. An incredible accomplishment considering this tidbit of contrasts from Robert down:

In the ten years since AT&T Park opened, the Giants’ total payroll ($789M) adds up to almost exactly the same as the Phillie’s ($794M). Yet the Phillies are playing in their second World Series in that stretch.

Thats pretty discouraging if you’re a Giants fan. Especially when the Phillies end up with guys like:

Rollins 8.5 Million vs Edgar Renteria at 9 Million
Victorino 3.25 Million vs Aaron Rowand at 13 Million
Utely 11 Million vs Sanchez 6 Million
Howard 15 Million vs Ishigarko 0.9 Million
Werth 2.5 Million vs Randy Winn 9.6 Million
Ibanez 7.2 Million vs Velez 0.4 Million
Feliz 5.0 Million vs. Sandoval 0.4 Million
Ruiz 0.4 Million vs Bengie Molina 6.5 Million

Phillies Starting Lineup about $53 Million

Giants Starting Lineup about $46 Million

And other than Sandoval, there is not a single Giants player that should crack that lineup. Not one.

Oh. Just so it isn’t all on the position players, Barry Zito makes more money than anybody on the Phillies at $18 Million. Scott Ayres, Chan Ho Park, and Ryan Madsen all made less than Bobby Howry.

Randy Johnson made more than any Phillies pitcher except for Brad Lidge and Brett Meyer.

Giants boosters need to take off the blinkers and look around the rest of Major League Baseball once in awhile. The Phillies and the Dodgers and the Rockies and Cardinals are not going away and they are only going to be satisfied with playing “meaningful games in November” …not up until Labor Day where Giants die-hards have only the annual pigeon migration from Fresno to look forward to.

Well as Robert also pointed out.

In 2001 the Giants had the second highest attendance in MLB. In 2009 they were down to tenth place in attendance. The trend is as follows: 2nd, 3rd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th 11th and now 10th. I’m not a mathematical genius but even I can spot that.

You may or may not be a genius, but you can at least count without using your fingers I presume. And to add some actual contextual numbers, the Giants ranked 7th in attendance in 2007 at 3,223,217. Bonds last year. About 100,000 more than the Phillies. In 2008, the first year since 1992 the Giants played without Bonds on the roster, attendance dropped to 2,863,837, a drop of about 360,000. Even with Tim Lincecum as the first Giants pitcher to win a Cy Young Award since Mike McCormick in 1967. Attendance dropped again this year although minutely, to 2,861,113. But considering the Giants won 88 games, up from 72, that is a piss poor statement on what a lot of folks are beginning to figure out about the Giants—

“All Hat, No Cattle”

Damon needs to be in the conversation but he’s being defined by two hugh AB late in the games. Utley has been a beast throughout.

I’ve actually been happy to see A-Rod perform well. The “he’s not clutch” nonsense and the endless comparisons to Jeter have gotten old. He’s one of the true greats in the game, let’s watch and enjoy, eh?

Damon is a pest–totally embodies the Yanks hitting philosophy (patience, patience, patience). We could use a guy like that. Or two or three!