GAMEBALL and JOKER--> GIANTS at PHILLIES 09/01

Hey that Renteria Grandslam really was pretty fucking cool, wasn't it…. ok so that was over 48 hours ago, and I feel a little like that 8 year old kid about 1 hour after finishing my cotton candy…… no longer running around riding my high…. it has worn off and I am slipping into a post sugar rush coma which accompanies 2009 San Francisco Giants Road Trips….and the Giants road record is horrid, especially when considering what they have done at home… but really this road record is so horrid because of 3 nightmare trips where the Giants went a combined for 4-18…..of course these games count too, but the point is the Giants don't always go in the tank on the road…..The three trips in question are the season opening trip, the trip through San Diego and Seattle where they lost the 1st 4 games by 1 run, and the trip right after the All Star Break…..and the amazing thing is each of these trips were followed by 1 loss homestands……so heading into Phila and Milwaukee before coming home, the Giants are still in it basically no matter what happens…..cause if they tank you know they will make it up at home…….of course I might have jumped off a bridge by the time the Giants go 8-1 versus the Dodgers, Rockies and Padres…….

Here are home stands and the following road trips in chronological order…….
Home 2-1 then Road 0-6
Home 4-1 then Road 2-1
Home 4-2 then Road 4-2
Home 3-4 then Road 1-5
Home 5-1 then Road 6-4
Home 6-3 then Road 5-5
Home 7-3 then Road 3-7
Home 6-1 then Road 2-1
Home 2-4 then Road 5-6
Home 5-1 then Road 0-1

GAMEBALL and JOKER--> GIANTS at PHILLIES 09/01

GAMEBALL

SANCHEZ

Well there is nothing wrong with that pitching….. freaking impressive….. going into Philadelphia, facing a MASHING lineup in a BANDBOX of a stadium, the Phillies needed a bloop and a hot shot grounder to score their only run of the night…. If I am Jonathan Sanchez I am feeling pretty fucking good about myself, despite the loss….. forget the No Hitter versus the Padres, going 6 solid with 8 K's versus this lineup on the road is a feather in the cap…. surely he would have loved the win, but that would require the Giants offense ACTUALLY SCORING at least 1 run…..but I don't want to bore you with the details…….tonight Sanchez was the man…..

TIP OF THE CAP :
PENNY
A easy man to hate ever since he was part of that 2003 Marlins team…. fat, ugly and slept with Alyssa Milano….she has money and fame already…..so either it was a pity fuck, or he is hung like a horse……I really don't want to think about that, so lets guess it was a pity fuck….. hey, good for him…. you work any angle you got…… but back to baseball…. as reported his fastball velocity is still there…..so what gives??? well since I don't make it a habit to watch Red Sox games, I will go by the data…..despite his heater, he has never been much of a strike out pitcher….. and since his sterling 2007, his K rates have been falling…..comparing data from 2007 to 2009, looks like he has a 85 MPH pitch with changeup/ splitter movement……looks like he has backed off usage of this pitch quite a bit down from 15% of the time to about 7% of the time…. and looks like he has been throwing something with slider movement (according to Pitchfx AND Baseball Info Solutions) that he is throwing about 4% of the time…..this coupled with 5% more curveballs and he has been a different pitcher in 2009…..maybe he has lost the feel of his changeup….maybe he thinks arm trouble is associated with his changeup, whatever it is he has changed…….all that being said, he is still young and throwing hard, so he could flash that All Star form again at anytime…..and if he ends up a wash out as a pitcher, he is at least a valuable expendable big body with a good fast ball who hates the Dodgers, all valuable attributes if a fresh beanball war breaks out……and I would love to see a Padilla v Penny matchup in September……ouch…….

AURILIA
Did his job with a single hooked into left to lead off the 9th……and please kids, don't try that swing at home……Rich is a "professional hitter"…..

MEDDERS
Tired arm meltdowns aside, this kid has been lights out and gives the Giants a 4th arm in the pen that can shut them down……

JOKER

BATS

Bats suck, that is all………..




What…. if they mailed it in, why can't I?.... ok, ok I AM a professional so I will get it done tonight….ok a professional by day, an amateur by night (not talking about my porn career, so get your mind out of the gutter)…..The Giants had their best scoring chance in the 2nd inning with a Garko leadoff double….but that was the last time a Giants would reach 2nd base….so the Giants were 1st pitch hacking right??? well, amazingly enough the Giants only swung at the 1st pitch 9 times in 29 at bats…..and only 5 times in the first 7 innings ….that's a great tactic versus a pitcher with shaky control but unfortunately that wasn't Hammels tonight as in those 20 at bats theGiants took a 1st pitch called strike 12 times…..add that to 23 total swing throughs and it was an ugly night for the Giants offense….I won't keep harping on this, it was a case where the Giants hitters, as shitty as they are actually looked like they had a plan, too bad it was as well conceived as New Coke…..

SMACK OF THE STICK :
TORRES
Pinch Runner getting picked off (officially a caught stealing) is the definition of suck….welcome back to the bigs, now go watch some film……

SABEAN
That Sanchez trade looks worse by the day, and Garko ain't exactly been a difference maker either….Rohlinger??? really???? I mean, the kid got a big hit on Sunday but I GOT to believe that Frandsen would be a better piece right now….. are you afraid of poisoning the clubhouse???? hell you brought Penny in, so it CAN'T be that…..just swallow your pride and bring him up already…..

BOCHY
yeah Leftie v Leftie…..but I would have loved to see Nate and/ or Ishikawa in their for defense AT LEAST….and with Hammels best pitch being that Changeup away, a Leftie will actually take that pitch out of his arsenal…..Career OPS v Right = .706 Left .723… you can split the stats a few different ways, or take different stats….but the bottom line is that Lefties on the whole don't have a significant disadvantage to Hammels who lines up on the right side of the rubber, comes over the top, and features a changeup…..about as "Unfunky" as Lawrence Welk (can you believe I felt the need to link Welk's Wiki?

FINAL THOUGHT
Well the Giants have actually stayed relevant into September… and despite the emotional swings of the season they still have an outside chance at the postseason without significant damage to the farm system…. our fate will stay in question at least into our next homestand where we get 9 games, 6 of which are against the teams ahead of us….if we can manage a 2-4 trip, we should still be in position to stay relevant into the final weeks of the season….and of course, the Rockies end the season at the Dodgers in what could be a battle for the division…..the bad news??? The Giants end the season in San Diego, where the Giants have dropped 6 games averaging less than 2 runs scored per game…..

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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..)