Results tagged ‘ Randy Johnson ’
Happy New Year!
It’s
a new year, a new baseball season, and even a new name for my mlblog. I just
changed it from “A View From The Bleachers” (which I began in April last year)
because a guy from St. Louis (named 15thtee) started an mlblog three months later
entitled “A View From the Bleachers”. When I pointed this fact out to him, it
didn’t faze him a bit. He said he thought it was a cool name (even though his
blog doesn’t have anything to do with sitting in the bleachers watching
baseball games like mine does.) Well, if imitation is the most sincere form of
flattery, then I say “Thanks, 15thtee. Enjoy using my name for your blog.” This
just gives me one more reason to hate the St. Louis Cardinals. Besides, my new
name (“At AT&T Park”) will be recognized as more Giants-centric to the
casual mlblog readers.
Now
on to Giants news: Welcome back Juan Uribe! We didn’t want to see you go
in the first place. I wondered why the Giants signed him last year when he got
off to a slow start but he ended the season with a big bang. The Giants fans
really got into him last September. He’s a great guy to root for, not the least
reason being that his uncle was the semi-legendary Giants shortstop Jose
Uribe whom we got from the St. Louis Cardinals along with pitcher Dave
LaPoint, first baseman David Green, and an obscure utility player
named Gary Rajsich for the fully-legendary outfielder Jack “The
Ripper” Clark. That trade was a total bust for us except for the fact
that it was this little unknown shortstop who endeared himself to Giants fans
as a clutch hitting gamer. I still vividly remember the familiar
call-and-response chant of “OOOOOOOO…… RE-BAYYYYYYYY” reverberated through the
foggy swirls of Candlestick Park in the late night innings when Jose came to
bat for manager Roger Craig with runners on base. And the amazing thing
was that the little guy usually came through. Humm baby! It was a truly unique
phenomenon that perhaps we Giants fans can better perfect this season for his
nephew Juan.
Common
wisdom dictates that we still need a power bat at first base or in the
outfield. I fully expect this will occur sometime before spring training begins
but I am fearful that such a move will displace Nate Schierholtz out of
his position in rightfield. Of all the current Giant prospects, I believe Nate
Schierholtz has the most to offer now, both offensively and defensively.
That leaves first base as the most obvious position to fill unless Bruce
Bochy decides to use Mark DeRosa at third base and shift Pablo
Sandoval over to first (which he has already indicated that he will not
do.)
If
the Giants do go after an outfielder, the most intriguing player out there is Vladimir
Guerrero. It would be a long shot signing, for sure. Mad Vlad had an off
year in 2009 by going on the disabled list twice. He heated up in the summer
months but cooled off in September. Signing him would be like signing Randy
Johnson last year: He fills a need but cannot be counted on last the whole
year. And would he be placed in AT&T Park’s tricky right field or shifted
to left field and shaded by the centerfielder? Would he be expected to provide
a couple early offensive runs and then replaced for defensive purposes in the
late innings? Does the Big Caribbean even want to play in the cool confines of
AT&T Park? He already proved he can hit here when he won the All Star Game
home run hitting contest a few years back. But with his questionable health and
defensive abilities, it would be almost like re-signing Barry Bonds to
play leftfield next season. Hey, now THAT would be a most interesting signing!
(ha ha)
Well,
enough for now. I’ll end this by wishing all my devoted readers a very happy
2010… even 15thtee! (hee hee) Go Giants!
It’s Déjà Vu All Over Again
Same teams. (Giants and Cubs) Same game times. (7:15
p.m., maybe a little later) Same playoff situation. (Four games behind the Rockies) And even the same
weather patterns. (A cool fog bank streaming through the Golden Gate on a warm,
early Autumn afternoon) Tonight, the Giants team presented their annual Willie
Mac Award to their most inspirational teammate this season. It’s a neat
award because it’s voted on by the players, coaches, and trainer themselves and
they bring back ol’ Willie “Stretch” McCovey himself to present the winner. This year,
young Matt Cain earned the accolades which was mildly surprising to me but a
good choice. Matt Cain is a true gamer.
And speaking of gamers, Tim Lincecum was facing
Carlos Zambrano tonight. And true to form, Tim Lincecum struck out two Cubs in
the first inning. But then again, Carlos Zambrano struck out two Giants in the
first inning. Juan Uribe (whom I suspected was going to win the Willie Mac
Award this year) got the first hit of the night leading off the second inning.
But John Bowker and Travis Ishikawa both flew out to the outfield and Carlos
Zambrano snuffed out the threat by striking out Gerald “Buster” Posey who was
his first big league start of the season.
Centerfielder Sam Fuld got the Cubs their first hit
leading off the third inning. Carlos Zambrano sacrificed him to second base.
Sam Fuld (I love that name) went to third on Kosuke Fukudome‘s ground out to
Travis Ishikawa playing at first base and died there when shortstop Brian
Theriot grounded the next pitch to Pablo Sandoval down at third base.
This was turning into a good pitcher’s duel when
Carlos Zambano struck out Aarond Rowand and Tim Lincecum leading off their
third inning. And, although he walked Randy Winn leading off the fourth inning
and Pablo Sandoval advanced to second base when Brian Theriot threw the ball
into the dugout trying to complete a double play, both Juan Uribe and John
Bowker couldn’t get the ball out of the infield and the score remained nil
apiece.
Tim Lincecum struck out the Cubs’ battery mates
(Koyie Hill and Carlos Zambrano) in the fifth inning. But the worm began to
turn when Kosuke Fukudome banged a double into the rightfield corner leading
off the sixth inning and Brian Theriot followed with a single driving in the
first run of the evening. And although Tim Lincecum led off the bottom of the
sixth with a single, he remained anchored at first base as Eugenio Velez, Randy
Winn, and made three quiet outs looking at total of six pitches from Carlos
Zambrano and haven’t we seen that oh too many times before this season.
Leftfielder Bobby Scales (another good baseball name)
greeted Tim Lincecum with a single leading off the seventh inning and
eventually came around to score on Carlos Zambrano‘s grounder to shortstop Juan
Uribe for a two run lead. And if I haven’t mentioned Carlos Zambrano‘s name too
many times already, just let me say he retired the last twelve Giants he faced
in order including three more strikeouts. He pitched a two-hit, complete game
shutout under a hundred pitches. At least we didn’t have to suffer too long
tonight because the game ended in less than two hours after it began.
The Cubs scored another run in the top of the ninth
inning off of future Hall of Fame pitcher Randy Johnson (pitching to a
hopefully future Hall of Fame catcher named Buster Posey) when Carlos Zambrano
(there, I said his name again for the ninth time) drove in Sam Fuld with a double off the outfield
wall to make the final score 3-0. Who knows if this was the final game Randy
Johnson pitched this season or even in his career. I doubt it but if it was, he
was a good Giant.
And because the Cardinals lost to the Rockies 2-1
tonight, the Giants slipped further behind both them and the Braves now. The
sun is slowly slipping below the horizon for the Giants this season. But when
it begins to rise again in the spring of next year, it may shine brighter and
longer than it did this year if they can make even further improvements to
their ball club during the off season. Go Giants!
I’m Stuck On A Feeling… High On Believing
It
was Randy Johnson Bobblehead Day so I got to the ballpark early to make sure I
collected my prize. The fog crept in overnight on its catlike feet surprising
me in my t-shirt and shorts as I took my place in line opposite the Willie
McCovey statue on the other side of his cove. The Giants Open Hand Charity 10-K
Run celebration was in full swing with booths, runners, and a loud disco cover
band who later sang the National Anthem (see pictures) got the party started
early this Sunday morning. To tell the truth, I was still hurting from my vain
attempt to catch Aaron Rowand‘s ball last Wednesday that he threw after
warm-ups just out of my reach and into the breezeway below. As a leaned to my
fullest extent over the railing, I re-injured my ribs again from the physical
starin. Ah, the vagaries of growing old.
So
I sat through the first few innings watching the Rockies run Matt Cain ragged
on the mound by getting multiple runners on base in every inning of the game
except the second (none) and sixth (one). In contrast, I watched the Giants
reward Rockies pitcher Jason Hammels by finishing the first five innings on
only 42 pitches albeit with one run scored on consecutive singles opening the
fourth inning followed by a sacrifice fly by rightfielder Nate Schierholtz. But
when big Nate came up again in the sixth inning with runners on second and
third trailing 4-2 and no outs, manager Bruce Bochy pinched hit for him with gimpy
Bengie Molina who struck out and the Giants didn’t score in that frame.
Truthfully, my mindset was resigned to failure this day as the Rockies were
roaring back fighting against a series sweep with back-to-back homers by first
baseman Todd Helton and shortstop Troy Tulowitzki the inning before. It seemed
the Giants were primarily concerned getting to the plane for Philadelphia ASAP
today after the game.
However,
the miracle began as the sun came out in the bottom of the seventh inning as
the Giants loaded the bases with only one out before leftfielder Eugenio Velez
struck out swinging. So when shortstop Edgar Renteria sent a high fly ball down
the leftfield line, I fully expected it to drift foul. It didn’t. The Giants
led the game 6-5. Even then I expected the Rockies to rebound in the next two
innings and third baseman Ian Stewart‘s lead off double against Jason Affeldt
affirmed my fears. But miraculously, the Rockies stranded runners on first and
third as Affeldt struck out pinch hitter Garrett Atkins and centerfielder
Carlos Gonzalez to end the threat.
I
finally began to believe when the Giants added three more runs in the bottom of
the eighth so that when Brian Wilson allowed two more Rockies to reach base in
the ninth inning, I still expected the Giants to win. They didn’t disappoint. I
was very happy to be wrong that day. The Giants tied the Rockies in the wild
card race. I didn’t even mind to discover that Randy Johnson‘s head was
detached from his springy neck when I got home later. I mended him with some
rubber cement and placed him on my computer. Randy Johnson and I will soon mend
our injuries and persevere. Go Giants!
Never Before Seen, Ladies and Gentlemen!
It
was a beautiful, sunny Wednesday afternoon out at the end of the South Beach
Harbor Pier as crabbers tossed their nets into the bay and strollers walked and
rolled baby buggies along the gray concrete causeway. The mellow ambience
followed into AT&T Park where I watched the end of the Giants batting
practice and the entirety of Diamondbacks warm up session. They didn’t hit too
many home runs into the stands except Mark Reynolds who consistently lofted bombs
into the stands. What surprised me later was that Diamondbacks manager A. J.
Hinch chose not to play that owner of 38 round trippers this evening.
But
it may have mattered not the way the game began. Jonathan Sanchez threw two
straight strikes to lead off hitter second baseman Ryan Roberts who then turned
around the next pitch pumping it into the left field stand. The anomalies
continued when Jonathan struck out the next batter, third baseman Augie Ojeda,
on a wild pitch in the dirt and to the backstop. But catcher Eli Whiteside got
to it in plenty of time to throw out the tardy runner at first except that he
short-armed a lollypop throw that bounced in front and then beyond first
baseman Ryan Garko. After shortstop Stephan Drew fouled out to third baseman Ryan
Rohlinger (who was making his first appearance thise season), Augie Ojeda stole
second base on Jonathan’s second pitch to rightfielder Justin Upton (who was
making his first appearance since coming off the injured list) and kept
motoring to third base on Eli Whiteside‘s second throwing error of the inning.
However, Jonathan Sanchez promptly struck out both Justin Upton and catcher
Miguel Montero with his next five pitches and the bleeding was staunched.
On
the other hand, the Giants could barely produce a scratch on Diamondback
pitcher Doug Davis who mowed through the first two innings on nineteen pitched
and a Ryan Rohlinger double play. He needed only eleven pitches to finish the
third inning despite two out singles by Jonathan Sanchez and leftfielder Eugenio
Velez. He then needed only six pitches to get through the heart of the Giants
batting order in the fourth inning. The game was moving fast and seemed to be
moving away from the Giants. In fact, the Giants didn’t get their next hit
until the seventh inning when second baseman Juan Uribe blasted a two out home
run deep into the left field bleachers that finally gave the Giants fans
something to cheer about.
Juan
Uribe‘s seventh inning home run would have tied the game up were it not for the
fact that Jonathan Sanchez walked Justin Upton on four pitches with one out in
the sixth inning and, after striking out Miguel Montero for the third time in
the game, was ordered to intentionally walk rookie first baseman Rusty Ryal
which I thought was a curious decision by Giants manager Bruce Bochy since Jonathan
was far from pinpoint in his control that night. Consequently, the Diamondbacks
increased their lead to 3-0 with successive singles by rookie leftfielder
Gerardo Parra and centerfielder Alex Romero before Doug Davis struck out on
three pitches.
It
was a credit to Jonathan Sanchez that he limited the Diamondbacks to just three
runs when he left the game before the eighth inning. He fought through errors,
wildness, and a high pitch count (108) to keep the Giants in the game by the
time reliever Justin Miller took over. He got through the middle of the
Diamondbacks order as a ballhawk sold me an autographed team ball of the 2008
Diamondbacks (including Randy Johnson) for just $40. Such a deal.
And
then the old adage “When you go to a baseball game, you’ll see something you’ve
never seen before” invoked itself. With Doug Davis cruising along in the eighth
inning on eighty-eight pitches and two outs in the book, he walked shortstop
Edgar Renteria on a full count and then rightfielder Randy Winn blooped a
single into rightfield on his first pitch. At that point, A.J. Hinch brought in
his closer Chad Qualls to face clean up man Ryan Garko but Bruce Bochy
countered by bringing in his normal but injured clean up hitter Bengie Molina.
It seemed all for naught when Bengie got two quick strikes on his. But while
the crowd cheered and I was pondering which pitcher Bruce Bochy would bring in
to pinch run for Bengie in the event he should get on base, Bengie Molina swung and
sent a flyball deep into leftfield that kept going… and kept going… and barely
cleared the leftfield fence for a three run homer and a 4-3 lead. The crowd
went absolutely wild.
And
then I saw something I had not seen before… at least something I can’t remember
the last time I saw it: A Giants closer came into the ninth inning and
protected a one run lead for the victory by throwing seven pitches… and all
strikes! And the closer was Brandon Medders getting the first save of his five-year career. Perhaps the Giants have turned this thing around. Maybe their mojo has
changed for the better. Could it be we will catch up to the Rockies? And there I
go believing again. I know it would be too good to be true. But wouldn’t it be fun if it
did happen? Go Giants!
Redbirds Fly Into Town
And
the local cream-colored birds are ready for them. The Giants opened the gates
this Friday afternoon an hour early at 4:15. It was interesting watching them
take infield practice and warming up for the first half of their batting
practice session. I understand that the Giants are one of the very few teams to
take regular pre-game infield practice. The picture below shows Tim Lincecum,
Jeremy Affeldt, Randy Johnson, and Justin Miller (or maybe Brandon Medders?)
warming up in left filed. The little guy in the home Cardinals uniform in the
lower right picture had numeral “5″ and “Pujols” on the back of his jersey so
that had to be Albert Pujols‘ young son.
The
wind was blowing pretty hard and the night was quite chilly but that didn’t
stop the hardy Giants fans from filling up the bleachers. Like Randy Johnson
last Wednesday, Matt Cain faced just one batter over the minimum for the first
three innings. However, the Giants jumped on pitcher Joel Piniero in the first inning
led off by Aaron Rowand‘s double followed by a walk to Randy Winn and a
fastball off the thigh of Bengie Molina. Pablo Sandoval came up for the first
time this week and drove the second pitch he saw into right field and Aaron Rowand and
Randy Winn home for the first two runs of the game.
The
Cardinals got their first two batters of the fourth inning on base with singles
by left fielder Chris Duncan and first baseman Albert Pujols. Although Matt
Cain struck out right fielder Brian Ludwick on a 94 mph heater and induced
centerfielder rookie Colby Rasmus to fly out to Randy Winn in right field, he
threw a wild pitch in the course of walking catcher Yadier Molina to load the
bases. But third baseman Joe Thurston grounded out to second base for the final
out. So the Giants responded in the bottom of the fourth inning by punching out
four hits of their own, the main one being Fred Lewis‘ triple driving in Pablo
Sandoval and Emmanuel Burriss singling home Fred Lewis from third base with two
outs and the pitcher Matt Cain due up next. I would have expected Cardinals
manager Tony LaRussa to walk Emmanuel Burriss there but Matt Cain also got a
hit next so maybe the question is moot.
The
Cardinals got to Matt Cain in the next inning with singles by Albert Pujols and
Colby Rasmus sandwiched around a walk to Brian Ludwick producing their first
run of the game. And second baseman Emmanuel Burriss threw the relay on a
potential inning-ending double play into the Cardinals dugout that allowed
Brian Ludwick to score their second (unearned) run. But Matt Cain then struck
out Joe Thurston on a 93 mph fastball to end the inning. Ironically, Emmanuel
Burriss may have had the defensive play of the evening in the next inning when,
with one on and two outs, he speared Chris Duncan‘s screaming liner through the
infield that prevented Albert Pujols from coming up with runners on base in a
4-2 game. And third baseman Juan Uribe may have had the next best defensive
play of the night in the next inning when he smothered Albert Pujols‘ hot shot
down the left field line and got up in time to throw and get the first out of
the eighth inning. And Edgar Renteria followed that on the next play by ranging
behind second base to barely glove Brian Ludwick‘s grounder up the middle and
spinning in time to just nip him at first base for the second out of the
inning. When Colby Rasmus next popped up to Edgar Renteria, Bob Howry had done
his job admirably.
Enter
Brian Wilson. Like relievers Jeremy Affeldt and Bob Howry before him, it took
Brian Wilson just ten pitches to get the job done. The three consecutive fly
outs were (1) to Aaron Rowand in centerfield; (2) a wind-twisted pop up down
the left field line that Juan Uribe caught in foul ground; and (3) a long fly
ball towards the right field stands that Randy Winn caught up to just before
having to run up onto the bullpen mound and caught it around his shin. It was a
nifty, well-pitched game that took under three hours to complete. I don’t
remember it being this consistently cold at night in San Francisco during the
month of May but maybe I’m just getting old. And maybe it works to the
disadvantage of the visiting ballplayers. Whatever. Go Giants!
299
It was a nice Wednesday for a picnic. Randy Johnson was gunning for career victory number 299. The Braves were on the verge of getting swept by the Giants just after they got finished sweeping the Toronto Blue Jays in Atlanta last weekend. It was still the first third of the baseball season and no one was panicking on either team nor those in the stands neither.
Randy Johnson set down the first nine batters of the game mixing in three strikeouts into the mix. The Giants were getting after thirty-three year old rookie pitcher Kenshin Kawakami from the get-go. After starting off with two strikes in the second inning, Fred Lewis eventually walked, stole second base on Travis Ishikawa‘s strike out, took third base on a wild pitch shortly thereafter and scored easily on Juan Uribe‘s single into right field. Aaron Rowand doubled on the first pitch of the third inning and took third base on a passed ball shortly thereafter. After Edgar Renteria walked on four pitches and Randy Winn popped out, Bengie Molina swung through a hit and run play but Renteria stopped short of second base to avoid the out and get into a run down. But Aaron Rowand broke from third base and when the throw back to catcher David Ross short hopped him and bounced back in front of the plate, Rowand beat the race to the plate for the Giants’ second run.
Randy Johnson was the master of all he surveyed. He pitched to only one batter over the minimum through the first five innings but then allowed a lead off single to rookie centerfielder Jordan Schafer in the sixth inning. After Kenshin Kawakami sacrificed him to second base, first baseman Casey Kotchman drove him in with a single to leftfield for the Braves’ first run. But the threat was squelched when Randy Johnson struck out fellow future Hall of Famer, Larry “Chipper” Jones for the third time in the game and after he started the at bat with three called balls.
The Giants answered
by getting R.J. two more runs in the bottom of the sixth with doubles by
Emmanuel Burriss and Aaron Rowand and a single by Randy Winn driving in the
latter. Unfortunately, Emmanuel Burriss let third baseman Martin Prado‘s grounder to him leading off the seventh inning go by him for an error and reliever Brandon Medders next walked leftfielder Matt Diaz. Although Medders got Jeff Francoeur to fly out on the next pitch to Aaron Rowand in centerfield for the first out of the inning, Giants manager Bruce Bochy lifted Brandon for Jeremy Affeldt who then walked pinch hitter Brian McCann to load the bases. Although Jordan Schafer struck out, pinch hitter Garret Anderson drove in two runs with a single up the middle. Fortunately, shortstop Diory Hernandez bounced Affeldt’s next pitch to Emmanuel Burriss who forced Anderson at second base for the last out.
As they did in the previous inning, the Giants answered with four consecutive singles by Travis Ishikawa, Juan Uribe, Emmanuel Burriss, and pinch hitter Andres Torres thereby pumping the score back up to 6-3. Giants relief pitcher Merkin Valdez came in the eighth inning to set down the heart of the Braves’ lineup on seventeen pitches punctuated by striking out the afore-mentioned Hall of Fame cinch Chipper Jones on a 98 mph fastball. I learned later that it was the first time in Chipper’s sixteen-year career that he has worn a golden sombrero (i.e. four strikeouts in a game). The 2009 Merkin is a far cry from the 22 year-old skinny rookie I watched in his 2004 debut getting rocked by the Cincinnati Reds in a late inning game. He seems much bigger today in both stature and poise. I am slowly gaining confidence in him. It is somewhat ironic that we originally obtained him in a trade from the Atlanta Braves.
Enter Brian Wilson in the ninth inning. Although he labored with a nine-pitch, two out double by former All Star catcher Brian McCann, Brian Wilson earned his tenth save of the season on the next pitch to Jordan Schaffer who popped up down the line to Edgar Renteria and Randy Johnson moved to within his remarkable milestone on his stellar career: Victory Number 299. Poor Jordan Schafer. He was being ridden rather hard tonight by the fans in the bleachers. He wore the golden sombrero in the first game and made the last out tonight. But who cares? Not us hard hearten, bitterly cold bitten fans in the bleachers. We swept the always-ominous Atlanta in three games. We were feeling good. Bring on the St. Louis Cardinals! Go Giants!
Mr. Bug, Meet Mr. Windshield
You know the old adage: On the road of life, sometimes you’re the windshield and sometimes you’re the bug. Well, last night, the Giants were the bugs. Big fat flying bugs like the huge moths that were flying in swarms about AT&T Park last night after the game ended. Meanwhile, the New York Mets morphed into a big, black and blue, fast-moving windshield that suddenly flattened the Giants 8-6 at the end of the game. The game started out well enough when the Giants answered the Mets’ one run with four of their own in the bottom of the first. And Fred Lewis‘ solo home run in the second inning gave Tim Lincecum a 5-1 lead to work with.
Tim did well enough getting into but working out of trouble. He had at least one runner on in each inning except the fifth. He had eight strike outs in the first six innings but also got roughed up in that last one for two runs on four hits to left fielder Gary Sheffield, right fielder Ryan Church, catcher Jeremy Reed, and pinch hitter Daniel Murphy. I can understand Sheffield and Church but who the heck are Reed and Murphy? Nonetheless, Tim Lincecum himself drove in the Giants’ sixth run of the game in the bottom of that inning on a drive down the left field line that Sheffield picked up and threw Tim out at second base to end the inning. The only thing more surprising than seeing Lincecum bat for himself in the sixth inning was seeing him start the seventh inning.
And just like other Giants pitchers I’ve written who had to go out and pitch an additional inning immediately after running the bases (Randy Johnson and Osiris Matis), Tim Lincecum didn’t fare well either. He gave up a single and a walk to start the inning. So Bruce Bochy brought in Merkin Valdez who walked Gary Sheffield on four pitches that weren’t even close. But Bruce had Merkin pitch to the next batter, third baseman David Wright, and he cleared the bases on Merkin’s second pitch with a double down the leftfield line to tie the game. It took and incredible effort by Jeremy Affeldt to stop the Mets’ momentum by striking out three of the next four batters to end the inning and preserve the 6-6 tie.
The Giants had a beautiful opportunity to grab the lead in the bottom of the eighth when Randy Winn‘s moon shot deep into right-centerfield tripled off the high brick wall less than a foot from being a home run. So with one out, Aaron Rowand swung at reliever Pedro Feliciano‘s second offering bouncing it meekly down to David Wright at third base who held Randy at third and threw on to first base for the second out. Aaron Rowand also had a bases loaded, one out situation in the first inning wherein he struck out. He has reverted back to his bad habit if trying to muscle every pitch out of the park but is only upper cutting his way into outs. I wish he would concentrate on using the entire field to hit line drives instead of aiming everything over the left field wall. Regardless, Rich Aurilia bailed out Aaron in the first inning with a single but could only line out to shortstop Alex Cora in the sixth inning.
Enter Brian Wilson. Not only could he not throw strikes to the plate when he wanted to, but he could not throw a batting practice strike to third base on an easy force play to get the first out of the ninth inning. Instead, he sailed it wide down the left field line and the Mets scored their winning run. It was astonishing. I don’t know what has gotten into Brian Wilson. Is Casey Blake in his noodle with his mocking crossed arms gesture? Is Brian Wilson holding on to that hate? Maybe he should take a tip from his savior and simply left it go. Turn your cheek, Brian, and love your enemies to death. Brian needs to change his mojo fast. Me, I’m listening to Disney radio this morning and it is like, OMG, so amazingly awesome, LOL!
Was It McCovey Cove or Bodega Bay?
It was a scene directly out of the movie “The Birds” concerning cawing aviaries circling above unsuspecting humans all the while slowly unmasking their unified malevolent intent to injure, torment, and/or destroy those ignorant bi-pedalistic behemoths below. But in the black and white Alfred Hitchcock horror film shot in Sonoma County in 1963, the motives of the feathered fear mongers were unspoken. However on Monday night in San Francisco, the message of those wheeling white flocks of seagulls was clear: The Giants were inviting doom by dilly-dallying around with the Washington D.C. Nationals baseball team late in this wackily played game. But I’m getting ahead of the story.
It was a bitter, biting wind that began to blow Monday evening. Randy Johnson gave up consecutive singles in the first inning before he ended the threat to rightfielder Adam Dunn and centerfielder Elijah Dukes on off-speed pitches in the 86-87 mph range. It was fortunate for Randy that he did since leftfielder Joshua Willingham led off the second inning with a majestic fly ball that bounced half way up the left field fair pole. But Randy Johnson ended that inning striking out pitcher Daniel Cabrera. In fact, Randy had at least one strike out in every inning he pitched tonight except the last one; the sixth. But I’m getting ahead of the story.
The Giants responded to Willingham’s big blast by stringing together three singles and a walk in the bottom of the second for two runs. The big knock came from first baseman’s Travis Ishikawa‘s bat driving in Fred Lewis from second base with the second run. Maybe hitting eighth in the line up agrees with Travis? And the Giants added a third run in the next inning on an identical three singles and a walk. But the Giants also left two runners on base in each of those innings and only led 3-1… soon to become just 3-2 in the next inning when second baseman Ronnie Belliard crushed a home run into the left field bleachers after Randy Johnson had struck out the first two batters in that inning on those same 86-87 mph sliders(?).
And then things got really interesting. Pablo Sandoval led of the fifth inning with a double and went to third base on Bengie Molina‘s first pitch ground out to shortstop. Randy Winn got hit by a pitch and Aaron Rowand struck out on an 80 mph piece of junk And then when Fred Lewis popped the next pitch high into left field, I was ready to mark it down as the last out of the inning in my scorebook. But Joshua Willingham changed direction and ran quickly back in to catch the ball only to have it sail over his outstretched glove by inches for a two run, too out error. Weird.
Even weirder was Daniel Cabrera walking pitcher Randy Johnson on four pitches just after walking Travis Ishikawa on four intentional balls to load up the bases. And then Emmanuel Burriss walked on eight pitches to drive in a run. And then Edgar Renteria walked on six pitches to drive in a run and drive Daniel Cabrera out of the cold night and into the warm showers. And then relief pitcher Logan Kensing walked Pablo Sandoval driving in Randy Johnson from third base with the Giants’ eighth run of the game. I thought this could conceivably go on forever until Bengie Molina swung at the second pitch he saw in the fifth inning to make his second (and last) out in the inning. And then I thought, “Uh oh, Bengie didn’t give Randy enough time to relax in the dugout.”
Sure enough, Randy started the sixth inning giving up a long home run to Ryan Zimmerman who had already lengthened his hitting streak to 29 straight games earlier this evening. When the next two batters, Adam Dunn and Elijah Dukes, produced the Nationals’ run of the game on a single and double, respectively, Bruce Bochy brought in Justin Miller to put out the fire. As if to squelch any Nationals thoughts of a comeback, Randy Winn, Aaron Rowand, and Travis ishikawa added two more runs for the Giants in the sixth inning and added another in the eighth inning on hits by Fred Lewis and Aaron Rowand capped off by reliever Osiris Matos legging out a single to second baseman Willie Harris in short right field driving in Rowand with the eleventh run of the game for the Giants. Those who were left of the 23,934 paid attendees of cold AT&T Park were very happy.
But like Randy Johnson in the sixth inning, running the bases in the eighth inning seemed to tire Osiris Matos in the ninth inning. Ryan Zimmerman‘s batting average stood at .363 after he blasted a three run homer in the last frame. And while the sea gulls began their aerial uprising by soaring sinisterly around the ballpark on this cold and chilly night, Osiris walked Adam Dunn and then the next reliever, Brandon Medders, allowed a single to Elijah Dukes. And the few freezing throngs left were worrying.
Enter Brian Wilson. Will he end this madness? Will the curse of the freaky feathery flocks be forsaken? Three straight fastballs to Joshua Willingham ended all doubt. The Giants triumphed and Randy Johnson won career victory number 298. And Brian dispelled the potentially fowl portent with his arms righteously crossed (barely seen below).
I trust Wednesday’s day game will be warmer, but who knows for sure? Nobody. Not even Alfred. Go Giants!
Giants Photo Day
It was raining when I woke up Saturday morning. I didn’t want to get up but I had to. It was Giants Photo Day and only the first 2,000 with tickets and cameras get into the park to take pictures of Giants players up close and personal. I don’t go in for this type of thing as a rule. I have no desire to get buddy-buddy with ballplayers. I am satisfied with watching their efforts from afar. But I’ve got my blog to feed now and I didn’t go to the Friday night game for personal reasons: I weenied out after going to all three Dodgers night games. I didn’t want to suffer through another cold and wet night game if I could avoid it. I’m getting too old for that now.
So I got to the ballpark at 10:00 a.m. and stood at the end of the line on King Street. Beginning 10:30, we marched around the perimeter of the park behind the left, center and then rightfields and entered through the Number One Archway beside the right field fair pole and onto the outfield grass. It was cold and wet but only drizzly. At 11:00, the Giants players emerged from the dugout en masse. I was positioned across from the Giants bullpen mound where most of the payers first went. You could tell the players thought this was weird; posing for pictures in front of a bunch of strangers. Or maybe I was projecting my feelings on the players because I thought it was weird. It was probably a combination of the two.
Randy Johnson led the group followed by Brian Wilson and others. Although several fans registered their recognition and approval to individual players by shouting out their names, only Randy and Brian responded in kind; Randy in a rather mocking tone but Brian in a like-spirited manner. Randy Johnson struck me as someone you didn’t want to mess with in a bar. Brian Wilson struck me as a guy you’d love to sit next to on a bar stool for a few hours. Brian really got into interacting with the fans. Tim Lincecum, who came out a little later, slowly worked the crowd patiently getting his picture taken and talking to the fans. He struck me as a guy who would never get let into a bar without proper identification.
Most players hung out in pairs or larger groups and slowly strolled around the crowd smiling and stopping when requested to have their pictures taken. Some players, like Brandon Medders, Justin Miller, and Steve Holm (above), rarely got asked to stop and get their pictures taken. Some players, like Bob Howry (below), didn’t mind getting up close and personal with the fans but others seemed very uncomfortable. Fred Lewis seemed painfully shy. He had a permanent smile as he strolled around alone with his hands in his pockets and stopping when requested but remaining silent throughout. I don’t blame him. He’s a millionaire because he is a baseball player, not because he is a politician. This was a weird and artificial situation.
But the best “poser”, if you will, was definitely Brian Wilson (below right). He could run for high office. He got a kick messing around with the fans. But the whole concept of making players interact with fans when they should be preparing for a ballgame seemed bizarre to me. It tore down the wall that usually separates the players from the fans. It changed everyone’s paradigms for the day and it showed during the game.
At 1:04, Matt Cain stood on the mound ready to throw the first pitch but the umpire instructed Ryan Spilborghs to step out of the batter’s box for a minute until the clock ticked down to exactly 1:05. Matt Cain just stood there statue still and not moving for a minute. It struck me as odd that he didn’t relax. And then, after throwing ball one, Cain threw a strike that Spilborghs killed by sending it halfway up into the leftfield bleachers. The crowd could only lightly moan its disapproval. And then Spilborghs led off the third inning with a walk and eventually came around to score on Todd Helton‘s single. And then Colorado Rockies pitcher Jason Marquis led off the fifth inning with a walk and came around to score two pitches later when Ryan Spilborghs hit another home run into the left field bleachers. And for good measure, Brad Hawpe led off the sixth inning with a home run.
The Giants were never in the game. They got two runners on in the same inning only once in the game. If Pablo Sandoval had not led off the ninth inning with a home run, the Giants would have been shut out. As it was, they went down meekly 5-1. And I wonder if spending the morning being all nice and easy around their fans somehow wore down their edge. I hope today they regain their focus. Barry Zito needs to drop in his curve balls in the strike zone and the Giants hitters need to drop in line drives into the outfield. Casey Moser is due to be the home plate umpire today. I hope he has a generous strike zone. If he has a small strike zone, it could prove to be a very long day.
Unito Grande vs. Snakes on a Field
I entered the ballpark Sunday at 11:15 a.m. amid hordes and hordes of uniformed Little Leaguers and their doting coaches, parents, siblings and such. It was Youth Baseball Day and twenty thousand red plastic bats and white whiffle balls were handed out to them like Halloween candy. The teams did not take batting practice as I had expected because these thousands of kids and their posses took almost an hour parading around the entire circumference of the playing field before the game. But I did watch Barry Zito conduct his in-between games throwing session under the tutelage of pitching and bullpen coaches Dave Righetti and Mark Gardner while Jeremy Affeldt and Bob Howry played catch off to the side.
It was a cloudless, windless day that made it hot between the green field below and the blue sky above. It also reduced everyone’s clothing to a minimum which I didn’t mind at all, if you know what I mean. I was in shorts, t-shirt, and my new Barry Bonds 756 HRs baseball cap for most of the game. Randy Johnson pitched against his former team like a man on a mission: Ten pitches and two strikeouts in the first inning. Eight pitches and a strikeout in the second. Ten pitches and a “K” each in both the third and fourth innings.
Meanwhile, the Giants struck out five times before they finally broke through on the Diamondbacks’ hard throwing (97 mph fastball) young righty Max Scherzer when Giants rookie Travis Ishikawa managed a bases loaded sacrifice fly ball to medium right-centerfield allowing Randy Winn (who led off the inning with an eight-pitch walk) to score. But Randy Johnson started the next inning with a six-pitch walk to cleanup hitting first baseman Tony Clark before getting centerfielder Chris Young to bounce a slow roller to Travis who threw a running side-armed strike to second base for a force out. It was a pretty play made even prettier when Chris Young broke prematurely for second base allowing Randy to get him out at second base via Ishikawa’s catch and throw. And when Aaron Rowand hauled in Justin Upton‘s fly ball, R.J.’s minimum batter streak through the first half of the game remained intact.
Randy soon extended that streak through two-thirds of the game with a sixth inning almost a duplicate of the fifth inning because he walked third baseman Ryan Roberts on eight pitches. But then, quick as lightning, Randy struck out his former battery mate Chris Snyder (who ungraciously tried to bunt for a base hit in the third inning) while looking at his fourth pitch and two pitches later, induced power hitting pinch hitter Mark Reynolds to ground into an easy inning ending double play. After six innings, Randy Johnson’s no hitter was still alive.
Oops, there I said it: “no hitter”. Jinx! No wonder why Augie Ojeda led off the seventh inning with a double down the left field line. The next hitter, (Barry Zito‘s buddy) Byrnsie, bunted Ojeda to third base but the next hitter, Felipe Lopez, grounded sharply to Edgar Renteria at short who smartly faked a strong throw to third before throwing on to first base for the second out in the seventh inning. And then, for good measure, Randy Johnson struck out Tony Clark swinging at the fifth pitch of his at bat (a 89 mph slider) and his seventy-second pitch of the game. That was it for the Unit. He handed his masterful shutout over to Bobby Howry‘s eleven-pitch (with one strikeout) contribution in the eighth inning and Brian Wilson‘s sixteen-pitch (with one strikeout) coup de grace in the ninth for a 2-0 hard fought victory.
It was hard fought because the Giants hardly ever get a hit when runners are in scoring position. The Giants got eight pitches today but could only score runs on a bases loaded fly ball and double play grounder. But I know how to get the Giants to score runs again. The secret? Bring back the kangaroo court!!! For every runner on base when a player makes an out, that batter has to contribute $100 to the pot. The money can eventually be donated to the Giants Community Funds but the intra-squad competition would refocus the players’ attention to the matter at hand much like betting on holes during a golf game makes it more exciting. It’s just a way to bring fun back to the game when players can compete with each other in RBI situations. Maybe I’ll shout my idea to Aaron tomorrow during the Giants Earth Day game… or maybe not. Maybe someone could tweet it to Barry instead?
mlblogssfgiantsfan
Recent Comments