Results tagged ‘ Randy Winn ’
‘Twas The Night Before Christmas…
…and at AT&T
Park… not a free agent was calling… not even as a lark….
So Nick Johnson preferred the Big Apple and Brad
Penny the Big Arch. And no seasoned catcher worth his salt is willing to sign a
contract for just one year. In a way, that suits me just fine. I much prefer
the Giants’ “wait-and-see” attitude this year over their customary
“willy-nilly” signing of the first free agent coming down the turnpike that
gave us the likes of Edgardo Elfonzo, Ray Durham, Randy Winn, Barry Zito, Aaron
Rowand just to name a few who achieved mixed results here before. I’m willing to wait
this off-season and see what develops in the free agent market if the Giants are.
Common wisdom dictates that the Giants must acquire a
power bat or two to protect Pablo Sandoval in the middle of the batting order.
I dispute that notion for two reasons: (1) The Panda does not need protection
because he is a notoriously bad ball hitter. Many times last year, he took
pitches a foot outside and slapped them into the opposite field for hits. He is
not at all like Barry Bonds who would not offer at pitches even a few inches
off the plate and thereby broke the major league record for walks in the process. (2)
Without a primary power hitter, the Giants can still thrive as a singles
hitting team in much the way the St. Louis Cardinals were
successfully constructed in the 1980′s. If Bam Bam Meulens convinces the Giants
to become much more patient and selective at the plate next year, AT&T Park
is conducive to an offensive strategy of small ball. Adding a strong defense
and a superlative pitching staff, just averaging four runs per game for the
Giants will achieve excellent results next year.
My biggest concern is whether Aaron Rowand can dial it
down and retool his approach at the plate next year. Many times last year, I
saw him take mighty swings with spotty results. But he had his best stretch of
the season last year while batting lead off and just taking the ball up the
middle for singles and doubles. Also remember that Fred Lewis started
off the season last year red hot while batting low in the order. It was only
when Bruce Bochy promoted him to lead off that Fred’s production waned
precipitously and he never fully recovered. Perhaps he will rebound next year by
batting lower in the order. Also, Travis Ishikawa batted .349 at AT&T Park
last year while only .162 on the road. If he can improve his consistency, he would be
a valuable contributor next year.
I just heard a radio report that the Giants were
closing in on signing Juan Uribe for next year. If true, that would keep most of
last year’s team intact. I would construct the lineup in this order: Velez
(Torres); Sanchez (Burriss); Schierholz (Bowker); Sandoval (Uribe); Ishikawa
(Bowker/Guzman); Rowand (Lewis); Posey/Whitesides; Renteria (Burriss). This
presumes that Emmanuel Burriss will beat out Kevin Frandsen again next year for
a spot on the team. Of course the Giants will buy a free agent this off-season.
They cannot afford not to or risk a general uprising by its fan base. And I
expect they will wait until spring training before acquiring a short-term catcher on
the cheap. I noticed ex-Giant Eliezer Alfonzo is available. That would be a
nice reunion.
Well, the Winter Solstice has passed and now the days
are getting longer. I won’t be long until pitchers and catchers report to spring
training and it all begins anew. So until that time, stay warm and let the
visions of sugar plums dance in your heads. Merry Christmas to all and… Go Giants!
The Last Hurrah
I got to the ballpark early Sunday morning (Sept. 27)
not because the Giants were giving away a freebie but because I wanted to
wander the stadium one last time this season and take pictures. (And also
because I wanted to get a good parking place.) This game was going to be the
last one I attended this season because I was going up to the Sierra mountains
in a couple of days.
The dear lovable Cubbies had all but knocked my
Giants out of the wildcard race with three straight wins this penultimate home
series. But on this beautiful day, the Giants were being afforded a fourth
chance at redemption in avoiding a sweep at the hands of the National League
central Division runner-ups however Pyrrhic such a victory may be.
Shortstop Ryan Theriot opened the game opened
the game with a line drive down the rightfield line off of Matt Cain‘s
first pitch that John Bowker dove for and caught just beyond the
visitor’s warm up mound. That was a good omen so it didn’t bother me much when
rightfielder Kosuke Fukudome fought through eight pitches to get a
double into centerfield because Matt Cain retired the next two batters on just
three pitches. Obversely, second baseman Eugenio Velez led off the
bottom of the first with a single into rightfield also on Randy Wells‘
first pitch of the inning, advanced to second base on the next pitch that
leftfielder Fred Lewis singles to leftfield and eventually scored on
shortstop Juan Uribe‘s ground out to third baseman Aramis Ramirez.
Then, leading off the bottom of the second, first
baseman Travis Ishikawa singled off of randy Wells after taking a ball
and then immediately scored on a double by catcher Eli Whiteside who had
a 0-1 count. After Matt Cain looked at a ball, he then sacrifice Eli
Whiteside to third base. But do you know what is really spooky? Leading off
the bottom of the sixth, first baseman Travis Ishikawa singled off of Randy
Wells after taking a ball and then immediately scored on a double by
catcher Eli Whiteside who had a 0-1 count. After Matt Cain looked
at a ball, he then sacrifice Eli Whiteside to third base. The only
difference is changing “second” inning to “sixth” inning. The two innings began
the exact same way down to the pitches! However, Eli Whiteside wasn’t
left stranded in the sixth inning. He scored the Giants’ fourth run of the game
when Eugenio Velez singled to leftfield. Eugenio Velez went to
second base when centerfielder Randy Winn singled to leftfield and
scored on third baseman Pablo Sandoval‘s single to make the score 5-0.
This day belonged to Matt Cain. Besides Kosuke
Fukudome‘s double in the first inning, Randy Wells hit a double in
the third inning and catcher Koyie Hill hit a single in the fifth
inning. Other than that, no other Cub reached base in the first seven innings.
And even after Matt Cain walked two cubs in the eighth inning, re
retired Ryan Theriot and Kosuke Fukudome on a fly ball and strike
out, respectively, to finish his day scoreless with 112 pitches thrown.
The Giants might have shut out the cubs this day but
reliever Sergio Romo gave up a two-out double to second baseman Jeff
Baker followed by a triple by leftfielder Bobby Scales. Even the
usually reliable lefty, Jeremy Affeldt, couldn’t get the third out of
the ninth inning when he walked Koyie Hill with a full count. Enter Brian
Wilson. Six pitches. Strikeout. Giants win 5-1.
It was a beautifully satisfying way to end my season
this year. The Giants performed up to my expectations. They even got me to
believe I should be expecting more. Well, maybe next year, they’ll deliver.
We’ll see. 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!
Code Blue, Doctor
We traveled through a fog bank on the bay to get to
the ballpark today. It was eerie voyaging through the brief dewy density and
emerging into bright sunlight bathing the bayside cityscape on the other side. But the afternoon air was bracingly chilly and by the time the game against the Chicago
Cubs began in Thursday’s dying twilight, the fog was swirling into AT&T
Park reminiscent of night games at Candlestick Park played in the last millennium. And
dying, too, have been the Giants chances lately on reaching the playoffs this season. But
with ten games to go, the Giants are still just four games behind the Colorado
Rockies in the National league Wildcard Race.
Rightfielder Kosuke Fukudome smacked Brad Penny‘s
first offering up the middle for a solid single. But eight pitches later, shortstop
Andres Blanco hit into a routine 6-4-3 double play and first baseman Derek Lee
also grounded to shortstop Juan Uribe seven pitches after that to end the
inning. It was a good start to this ballgame. And in the bottom of the first,
the Giants got two hits. Unfortunately, Cubs manager Lou Pinella correctly
called a pitchout when leadoff hitter Eugenio Velez unsuccessfully attempted to
steal second base. Oh well. At least we’re hitting tonight. That’s a good sign.
Brad Penny got through the second inning with just a
two-out double but Cubs pitcher Ryan Dempster got through the second inning
with just a two-out walk. Brad Penny got through the third inning giving up
just a single and a walk. The Giants went through the third three up, three
down.
Cubs leftfielder Micah Hoffpauir led off the fourth
inning with a double over the head of Aaron Rowand in centerfield and went to
third base on Mike Fontenot‘s single to John Bowker in leftfield. (Do the
Chicago Cubs own a French-Canadian pipeline to the Montreal baseball league or
something?) Micah Hoffpauir came into score the first run of the game on Jeff
Baker 4-6-3 double play ground ball.
The Giants answered in the fourth inning with a
two-out single by Juan Uribe followed by a screaming line drive double over the
head of Micah Hoffpauir in leftfield tying the score at one all. That was a
good sign as was the updated score on the rightfield wall showing the Padres
had tied the Rockies 3-3 in their game tonight.
From then on, Brad Penny bore down and got the next
twelve Cubs out in order (aided by a double play ending the eighth inning. In
contrast, John Bowker led off the seventh inning with a big home run into the rightfield Arcade. The Giants led 2-1 and the Padres were beating the Rockies
5-4 tonight. Everything seemed right tonight. The stars were aligning. All
things seemed possible.
And then the ninth inning happened. Enter Brian
Wilson. Derek Lee took a 2-2 slider leading off the ninth that looked like it
caught the outside corner. Umpire Brian Gorman called it ball three. Derek Lee walked
on the next pitch. But Brian got the Frenchies on a pair of pop ups so there
were two outs. Derek Lee stole second on the first pitch to third baseman Jeff
Baker spilling Eugenio Velez to the ground as he leaped to catch Bengie
Molina‘s high throw. After a second strike, Brian Wilson threw two balls. And
then, with the crowd cheering for once last strike, Jeff Baker sent the next
pitch deep in the leftfield bleachers for a 3-2 lead.
Everybody was dumbfounded. It was not supposed to
happen this way. And though Randy Winn and Travis Ishikawa were both able to
reach base in the bottom of the inning, Aaron Rowand and Freddy Lewis both
struck out on hard sliders ending our hopes tonight. But the patient is not
dead yet. The Giant is just flat lining a little bit. Maybe we can jump start
his heart tonight and get him back in the running to the finish line. Tony La
Russa and the St. Louis Cardinals will just have to help themselves (and us) by
winning the National League Championship on their own against the Rockies
tonight. Go Giants!
No Joy In Mudville
The Giants trail the Rockies by only 2.5 games this
Wednesday and a series sweep tonight would bring them a game closer with
sixteen games left to play in the season. And we have our 13-4 co-ace Matt Cain
facing the mile high boys and their 14-9 co-ace Jorge de la Rosa. I liked our
chances, especially when Matt escaped a two on, two out situation in the maiden
inning by getting Brad Hawpe with a ground out to second baseman Freddy
Sanchez.
However, I didn’t like our chances as much after
Jorge de la Rosa faced the minimum of Giants batters (twelve) over the first
four innings aided by an Edgar Renteria double play ending the second inning
and a Pablo Sandoval double play ending the fourth inning. Ouch. And shortstop
Troy Tulowitzki‘s solo home run leading off the fourth inning did not bode well
for the Giants. Nor did second baseman Clint Barmes‘ two out double driving in
catcher Yorvit Torrealba with the second run of that inning. Double ouch.
All in all, the Giants did not seem to be playing
with a sense of urgency tonight and the AT&T Park crowd also seemed a bit
complacent. The Giants did not help themselves when Edgar Renteria and Aaron
Rowand both struck out after Juan Uribe walked in the fifth inning. Oy. Nor
were their cause assisted when the top three of the Giants order all struck out
swinging after rightfielder Nate Schierholtz and pinch hitter Rich Aurilia
opened the sixth inning with a walk and a single, respectively. Double oy. So
when the Rockies hit back-to-back homers off of Matt Cain in the sixth inning
after two were already out, prospects for victory did not look good for the
hometown nine.
But trailing 4-0 in the bottom of the ninth inning,
Freddy Sanchez, Pablo Sandoval, and Bengie Molina all led off with singles
followed by an error by Clint Barmes made the score 4-2 with nobody out. But
after Edgar Renteria popped up and Randy Winn grounded out to Todd Helton
thereby driving in the their run and pinch runner Eugenio Velez to third base
with the potentially tying run… mighty Nate Schierholtz struck out.
Somewhere children are playing. Elsewhere, people
shout. But tonight the Giants slipped behind the Rockies by 3.5 games again,
though we have neither time nor reason to pout because sixteen games remain to
be played this year. Go Giants!
Make Mine A Pastrami On Rye
Monday
the 14th. The Giants are 4.5 games behind the Colorado Rockies for
the NL Wild Card playoff position and the Rockies are coming into town today.
Hoo boy! Now is the time the Giants’ A-Team to break out their “A” game. Enter
Tim Lincecum.
Although
Tim walked lead off hitter Eric Young, Jr., he struck out centerfielder Carlos
Gonzalez and induced successive ground outs from the power bats of first
baseman Todd Helton and shortstop Troy Tulowitzki to end the inning. However,
Rockies pitcher Josh Hammel threw two strike outs sandwiched around a Randy
Winn double to keep the game scoreless after an inning.
Tim Lincecum struck out the first two Rockies he
faced in the second inning to render the next walk and single he surrendered
meaningless when Josh Hammel popped up to shortstop Juan Uribe to end that
inning. And Josh Hammel did not fare so well in the bottom of the second
inning because Bengie Molina, Juan
Uribe, Travis Ishikawa, and Aaron Rowand began the festivities with consecutive
singles before lead off hitter Eugenio Velez drove in the third run with a
sacrifice fly to rightfielder Brad Hawpe.
Tim Lincecum escaped the third inning by again
sandwiching a walk and a single between two strikeouts. Bengie Molina then
answered that futile Rockies threat with a solo two out home run in the bottom
of the third. In the fourth inning, Tim Lincecum sandwiched a fly out to centerfielder Aaron Rowand between two strikeouts. And again in the fifth inning, Eric Young‘s single was also sandwiched between two strikeouts.
However, in both the sixth and seventh innings, Tim Lincecum served only allegorical open-faced sandwiches consisting of runners stranded due to two, identically nasty 84 mph strikeout pitches. All in all, it was a 117-serving of eleven total strikeouts by Tim Lincecum marred only by a Rockies run scoring on a pass ball that caused Todd Helton‘s two out walk in the seventh and last inning Tim Lincecum worked tonight.
n the meantime, it was fiesta time in the bleachers.
A delightful lady sitting behind me was constantly giving Carlos Gonzalez
coquettish “Carrrrrr-Loooooooos!” catcalls as he was stationed out in
centerfield followed by appropriate jeers of derision from fans all around us.
I even managed a well-timed, “Hey, que paso Carloscito?” Of course it helps to a secure lead when the
caterwauling begins.
And a secure 4-1 lead was locked up in the eighth
inning then the Giants earned three walks and three hits capped off by Eugenio
Velez‘s bases clearing triple for a 9-1 lead. By the ninth inning, it was all
over but the trip home. Fifteen of the Rockies’ 27 outs tonight came via the
strike out. Very impressive! The Giants are only 3.5 games out now. Go Giants!
A Bright And Shiny New Penny
I
was one of those conspiracy nuts who thought Tim Lincecum‘s “injury” was just
meant to push his start back to the Dodgers so the Giants could avoid Brad
Penny‘s start against his former team and avoid an escalation of the boisterous
behavior he exhibited against the Padres last Monday. But I was wrong. Tim
Lincecum really was hurt. And I listened to the radio commentators who
predicted Brad Penny would blow up against the Dodgers in the game he’d pitch
on Sunday instigated in part by his proximity to the always-verbal Larry Bowa in the Dodgers third base coaching box. But they were wrong. Brad Penny kept
his cool on a cool Sunday afternoon.
It
was a cloudy day on Sunday. The forecast even predicted rain later in the day.
I got there early to get my Giants Rivalry Cap which had “Beat L.A.” printed on
back. It was cool so I’m going to make it my game day hat from now on. Mike
Krukow‘s daughter, Tess Krukow, sang a nice, simple, slightly country-swingish version
of the National Anthem which was pretty cool. And to top it all off, our newest
ex-Dodger that we now like to like pitched six straight scoreless innings
against his former team mates to begin the game and that was an extra chilly,
freon-free cool! So the sellout crowd of 40,575 was in a pretty good mood when
shortstop Juan Uribe hit a two run homer that just barely cleared the leftfield
wall in the bottom of the second inning.
IThe
Giants scored another run in the fourth inning when rightfielder Nate
Schierholtz started off with a double followed by Juan Uribe‘s single and first
baseman Travis Ishikawa‘s double all into rightfield for a 3-0 lead.
And although second baseman Freddy Sanchez and leftfielder Randy Winn opened the fifth inning with singles to leftfield, third baseman Pablo Sandoval effectively ended the threat with an odd double play started by second baseman Rafael Belliard‘s throw to shortstop Rafael Furcal to force out Randy Winn before Rafael Furcal then pivoted and threw a strike to catcher Russell Martin who threw out Freddy Sanchez at home by plenty.
But the Giants batted around in the sixth inning when the first three Giants (Juan Uribe, Travis Ishikawa, and catcher Eli Whiteside) all singled off of Dodgers pitcher Jeff Weaver before leadoff hitter Andres Torres walked in a run, new reliever Ronald Bellasario wild pitched in another and then Freddy Sanchez drove in the last with a single to make it a 7-0 lead.
Although the Dodgers scored two runs in the next inning when Russell Martin blasted a two run homer off of his former battery mate, Brad Penny. But the die was cast and the Giants fled past the Dodgers to salvage a game in the series and get ready for the Rockies coming into town. Go Giants!
Welcome To The Show, Mr. Bumgarner
It was 4:00. I was at work. KNBR announced Madison Bumgarner was going to make his
major league debut in place of the ailing Tim Lincecum tonight. I couldn’t miss this
historic event! So I locked up the gates at 4:55 (five minutes early) and sped
home to pick up my game day knapsack (pre-packed with scorecard, mitt, peanuts,
camera, sweatshirt, clackers, tickets, etc.) and got to the 5:35 ferry with
five minutes to spare. Like myself, the Giants’ future was arriving at AT&T
Park tonight. The only thing better would have been if they allowed his AA
Connecticut Defenders battery mate, Buster Posey, to make his major league
debut simultaneously. But we are in the middle of a wild card playoff race so
that was not meant to be.
As
he strode out onto the field at 7:12 to take the mound, I could tell the young
lefty was a tall drink of water… and it had to be water because, at 20 years
old, he was too young to drink alcohol! Madison “Mad Man” Bumgarner threw a
called strike for his maiden pitch followed by three balls and then another
strike before Padres shortstop Everth Cabrera finally swung at the sixth pitch
and bounced the ball back to “Mad Dog” who knocked it down, picked it up, and
calmly threw to Pablo Sandoval at first base for the out and an auspicious
beginning to his big league career. Similarly, second baseman David Eckstein
hit the seventh pitch of his long at bat out to right field where Randy Winn
caught it and first baseman Andre Gonzalez ground the next pitch down to Freddy
Sanchez at second base for the last out of the first inning of the rest of his
life (to counterfeit a phrase).
To
help the under-aged rookie out, Pablo Sandoval started a two-out rally in the
bottom of the first with a double to the rightfield corner followed by catcher Bengie
Molina‘s seven-pitch single also into rightfield for a 1-0 lead. But “MB” gave
up the lead in the next inning when leftfielder Chase Headley took the
“Bumster” deep into the leftfield bleachers for a 1-1 tie. And then again, the
Giants got “M-Bum” the right back in the bottom of the second with
centerfielder Aaron Rowand‘s solo home run straight over the fence of his
“stomping grounds”. This time, “BumBum” held the 2-1 lead in the next (third)
inning but then lost it again when third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff pumped a solo
home run high into the left field bleachers leading off the fourth inning.
However, again like clockwork, the Giants answered immediately in the bottom of
the inning when Aaron Rowand led off with a single, took second base on
shortstop Edgar Renteria‘s ground out to Kouzmanoff, and finally scored on
leftfielder Eugenio Velez‘s line drive single off the glove of David Eckstein
for a 3-2 lead. This time, “The Future” protected the lead until Giants manager
Bruce Bochy took “B-Geezy” out after Adrian Gonzalez flied deeply to Aaron
Rowand to lead off the sixth inning. “He-To-Be-Nicknamed-Later” strode off the
field to a standing ovation.
It
would have been a fairy tale ending had the score not changed from 3-2 that
night, But, alas, the baseball gods were not so benevolent to the young phenom.
And why should they be? He was young and had to be taught the cruel and
heartless ways of the majors. Hey, at least he didn’t suffer a loss in his
debut the way Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain did when they started their first
major league games. Working his second inning in relief, Brandon Medders gave
up a long home run to centerfielder Will Venable that worked itself deep into
the right-centerfield bleachers for a 3-3 tie in the seventh inning. And to add
insult to injury, the usually reliable Jeremy Affeldt gave up three straight
singles to Adrian Gonzalez, Kevin Kouzmanoff, and Chase Headley leading off the eighth inning
giving the Padres the first lead of the night at 4-3 and although Jeremy
pitched nobly to staunch the bleeding by leaving the bases loaded when he
finally got the third out (helped mainly by a leaping snow cone catch by Freddy Sanchez off the bat of catcher Nick Hundley for the second out),
the damage was done and it was irreparable. The Giants could not score another
run this night.
The
crowd was lively out in the bleachers. The mood was festive. We had won
yesterday’s game and were keeping up with the Rockies. But by the time the
Giants lost Madison Bumgarner‘s lead in the seventh inning, the mindset had
turned dourer. Some fans behind me even jeered at Aaron when he resumed his
positioning the seventh after grounding out to Everth Cabrera “Way to ground out,
Aaron!” (and there wasn’t even anyone on base at the time). I shouted back,
“Hey, he’s already scored two runs!” I don’t know why some “backbenchers” tend
to get on him, except he does tend to hit fly outs when I would rather see line
drives. I even stood up in the bottom of the ninth when reliever Bobby Howry‘s
name was announced to local rumblings and shouted to the crowd behind me
something along the lines of “Hey, why don’t we cheer Bobby Howry?” and the
Cassandra cry answered, “Because he gives up too many game ending home runs!”
(which is true) but I retorted, “Not tonight. He’s Nuevo Roberto!” which also
was true because he retired the Padres in short order (and even hit Adrian
Gonzalez on the thigh for good measure).
But
we lost 4-3. It was not meant to be. As I was packing up, a fan in a Giants
jersey came down to sit down next to me and silently rest his head on my
shoulder as if to say, “Nice try but it’s over now.” I mumbled some words like
“It’s alright.” After a moment we stood up, exchanged a silent bro-hug, and
departed. It seemed appropriate. It was a bad loss. But the deed was done and
there was nothing any of us could do but get our daubers up and look to
tomorrow. 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!
A Crisis Of Faith
Reality
slapped me hard in the face this week. It was the Reality of the eventual fate
of our Giants’ hard-fought 2009 season. Specifically, it ruthlessly slapped my
metaphorical jowls last Friday when the Giants’ bullpen could not protect a 5-3
lead for Tim Lincecum‘s win. The Giants lost 10-5 after giving up five runs on
only one hit. Ouch! And that harsh realization was strongly reinforced last
Sunday when I watched Tim Cain‘s lackluster 5-2 loss to the comparatively
lowly, injured-riddled Cincinnati Reds from the plush comfort from my living
room couch rather that dragging my old, battered, sagging and sore body out to
cook in the blazing afternoon aluminum bleachers-reflected sun as I originally
had intended to before logic and reason was unmercifully imparted
intra-epidermally into the nether reaches of my until-then stubborn and hopeful
gray (and orange) matter that makes up a significant part of my unseen nervous
oblongata. And what (un)prodded me not to utilize my sole season ticket to
venture forth and claim my Giants Trading Cards Day prize was that I had come
to the personal realization that the Giants’ most improbable 2009 run had final
run its due course this year.
Let
me back, back, back track (with due apology to ESPN’s Chris Berman) to my youth
and state that based upon my personal experience as a Giants fan since I first
saw them over fifty years ago in Seals Stadium, I’ve seen this scene many times
before. Many seemingly strong and healthy Giants teams have faded on me late in
the summer as the other National League teams are making the home turn and
start sprinting for the October finish line. A stumble here, a falter there,
and the Giants slip back in the pack inexorably hobbled eventually to limp
nobly into Fan Appreciation Day.
Make
no mistake. I am not bitter. Nor am I particularly disappointed. In Spring, the
Giants were not expected to be doing this well this far into the season but I
bought a single season ticket nonetheless expecting something Tim Cain‘s lackluster 5-2 loss to the comparatively lowly, injured-riddled Cincinnati Reds
extraordinary might happen and something extraordinary did: Tim Lincecum, Matt
Cain, Pablo Sandoval, Jonathan Sanchez, and Nate Schierholtz to name a few. But
the tell tale signs of cracks in the engine are beginning to show. Randy Winn
is finishing his Giants career both weakly and inconsistently unfortunately.
Bengie Molina is still swinging hard but is either missing or pooping up (until
recently!). And ersatz rookie Pablo Sandoval is hitting only singles now
intermittently. And the temporary lift that the new additions Ryan Garko and
Freddy Sanchez provided the club when they first arrived this month were short
lived and mostly gone now.
So
it has come to this. Jonathan Sanchez pitched a very fine game last night if
you don’t count the fourth inning. His no hitting-vaunted arm slot inexplicably
slid down into an arm “slop” that one inning as he walked two batters before
allowing rightfielder Matt Kemp to clear the bases on a double that leftfielder
Fred Lewis all-too-typically had trouble digging out of the corner. Oh, the
Giants did hold their heads up high as first baseman Travis Ishikawa and
catcher Bengie Molina hit solo home runs both early and late in the game for a
4-2 loss. But it was too little too early and too late. No one was on. Nor was
I sitting in the bleachers. It was fun being a spectator listening to the
chatter of female Dodgers fans sitting behind me all night long. And there was
the spectacle of Giants-Dodgers fights always in play as the Dodgers protect
their lead in these home night games. But in my heart-of-Giants-fan-hearts, I
know this season is over for all practicable purposes.
I
hope I am wrong. I’d like to be surprised. But barring some miraculous
September turn around caused by the call up of rookies like catcher Buster
Posey and pitcher Tim Bumgarner and perhaps others, we will be watching the
collective behinds of the Rockies, Cubs, Cardinals, Marlins, and (baseball-gods-forbid)
Brewers finishing the season ahead of us. Ah, Cassandra cries and Giants fans
cry. But I will keep my dauber up and support my Giants as I continue to enjoy
this most improbable of seasons here. Go Giants!
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