GAMEBALL and JOKER--> ROCKS at GIANTS 8/30

I often hear than fans can allow themselves the luxury of having their emotions swing with the outcomes of games, whereas players as professionals can't let those things effect them. Well, that may be true to a certain extent but after Monday nights loss you can't tell me the players didn't have their heads down and their tails between their legs. But when faced with a situation like that in baseball, or in life in general…. you can go two ways…..roll over and die, or get mad get up off your ass and fight….. and dammit if the Giants didn't do just that….. fighting back with 2 late wins versus the DBacks, and then after two dominating performances, coming back from what seemed like a loss in the books to SWEEP the team responsible for the bad feelings in the first place and the teams emotions as so high, they probably didn't need a plane to fly to East Coast tonight

After a game like that, its Fangraphs time



Giants best performers
Renteria +87.4% WPA (that’s more than 1 1/2 wins)
Lewis +15.8%
Affeldt +12.4%

Giants worst performers
Sandoval +17.5%
Whiteside +17.2%
Cain +16.6%

GAMEBALL and JOKER--> ROCKS at GIANTS 8/30

GAMEBALL

EDGAR

In the Bottom of the 6th inning with runners on second and third and no outs, down by two…..Molina and Sandoval both struck out, not even managing a sac fly or a run scoring grounder……and then the pinch hitting Garko hit a easy broken bat grounder to third to squander a chance to tie the game with a simple basehit……Then in the 7th inning the Rockies pushed across another run to extend the lead to 3……the game was over right there…..but in the 7th the Giants would have another chance……the first two runners would reach, and the after a Whiteside K, and a Lewis HBP the Giants had the based juiced and the tying run on base for Velez……Another K with a runner on 3rd and less than two out and up stepped injured Renteria in the midst of his worst season in the majors …..he had hit the ball hard twice in three at bats, so perhaps we might have seen this coming…..but no way, this would not happen…..the Giants would surely squander this chance as well……on a 0-1 fastball location mistake belt high inside edge of the plate, Renteria UNLOADED on the ball hitting a NO DOUBTER over the cars in left, clearing the wall by at least 20-30 feet, and at that one moment everything changed, the park came alive, and with Affeldt warming in the pen you suddenly had the belief that we COULD beat this juggernaut of a team…..not only BEAT this team, but actually dominate and demoralize this Rockies team that has been rolling since May……so who knows how this season will end, or how Renteria will finish the year, but I know one thing…..despite the numbers and the disappointment, Edgar won a lot of fans today……..and by the way, the Rockies have now lost a season high 5 in a row….

TIP OF THE CAP :
URIBE
A tough AB to draw a lead off walk in the 7th to get the ball rolling for the rally, a single/ triple thing to right to help extend the lead in the 8th…but overlooked at the time and forgotten later, was a SLICK double play in the top of the 7th to hold the lead at 3……with 1 out and runners on 1st and 2nd and Medders just in the game, he ranged to his left to snare a hard hit 1 hopper, spun and fired a strike to Renteria, who relayed to 1st to just get Hawpe and send the Giants to the bottom of the 7th for the game turning rally….we can forgive the misplay on the popup in the 9th where Renteria and Uribe combined for the drop…..

MEDDERS
Came in 1st and 3rd and 1 out…..let the one run score, but got out of the 7th keeping the damage in check……

AFFELDT
With a fresh 1 run lead, Jeremy gave every one a scare…..a double and a single and there was 1st and 3rd with 1 out……and Jeremy got mad…..and proceeded with Back to Back punch outs and then a full body fist pump celebration to end the inning and send it to the 9th….

ROHLINGER
BIG add on double…..after looking bad twice on two swing and miss sliders, Rohlinger hit a hard line drive to Left Center to drive in 2 and give the Giants some breathing room….

LEWIS
Doubled and scored in the 6th, and then took a 97 MPH fastball in the ribs during the grand slam rally…and no Monkey, I don't think he rubbed it…..

VELEZ
Double plated the 9th run, and when it bounced into the stands he put me on TV….for about 1.7 seconds……..


JOKER

WEIRDO in LEFT

If you were at the game, you saw something ALMOST as stupid as the Kruk & Kuip bobbleheads…between every 1/2 inning…..1st row down the left field line..a Dude with Mickey Mouse Hands and a Fantasia style Wizards Hat…was doing his imitation of Michael J Fox being Electrocuted…..ok, I could understand if he was being paid by Red Bull or GoldenPalace or something like that, but as far as I could tell this was just the biggest attention whore I have seen since Paris Hilton…..lets just hope he doesn't make a sex tape……and yes, I did see something on his shirt, but searching the net I can't figure out what he was promoting…..I am thinking he is one of these court jester guys you hire for parties…..you know the jackass doing magic, trying to do sing alongs and generally acting like the village idiot……whatever he is, he should have been kicked out of the park once he started doing his "dance"….or at least taken out back and maimed…..

SMACK OF THE STICK :
CAIN
Been a horse all year, but dug the Giants an early hole after being hit HARD, allowing 2 Homers and a double that was as close as you can come without going out…..

HINSHAW
3 baserunners vs 1 out does not keep you in the bigs….sure 1 was a nice bunt, but then the one out was a pickoff too…never got a batter out….

UMPIRES
I can understand the missed call on Cain, but do they ALL go against us…..the ratio of getting the short end of a ball call seems to be 2:1 at least …..and why do we have the same umps for the WHOLE HOMESTAND????......but the real reason you are here is the called 3rd strike on Pablo….looked inside, but the Center Field camera is at a slight angle so I went to PitchFX to be sure….the ball was 6 inches off the plate according to Pitchfx…..and that system is pretty damn accurate in regards to inside outside and it is set to judge the strike zone on a plane with the FRONT of the plate….and that ball was moving even MORE inside when it hit the mit…..bad call……rookie umpire…..


FINAL THOUGHTS
After being at the game on Thursday….watching Friday's game on TV and then missing yesterday entirely, I felt I NEEDED a good game today as I took it in from the Left Field Bleachers……and the Giants delivered….a good crowd even when we were down got FUCKING LOUD when that ball left Renteria's bat, and then EXPLODED when the ball went over the wall….after that point, the place just kept BUZZIN with a playoff like atmosphere (an overused but in this case apt analogy*)……this was the BEST game I have been to this year, and actually its been years since a game this good and I go to a lot of games……the only game in recent memory that comes close would be Timmy's 15 K game this year……before that it was May 16th 2006 when the Giants scored 4 in the 9th to beat the Dodgers…..


*Analogy, Simile, what the fuck do I know, I ain't no goddamn fucking English professor….juts read the damn thing and smile….


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(The fine print: There will be cussing and bad taste. This is written with the heat of the moment feel you may have during the game, with rational though sprinkled in now and then. This is entertainment folks, sure there is a lot of truth and I am a genius, but this is all about having a laugh and enjoying the ride…….now lets go heckle Jeff Kent in when he gets inducted to Cooperstown..)